AN: as I said in my crossover story, I somehow managed to break my laptop again so I'm writing everything on my phone. So forgive me if there's a couple mistakes.
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Percy's POV (to change it up a little)
Nico di Angelo. Percy still wasn't completely sure how he felt about him. He was dead, or he used to be, and that was enough to unnerve anybody. But that wasn't what bothered Percy.
No, what bothered Percy was how Nico acted sometimes. The unusual anger, the way he was hiding something, the undeterred need to constantly train. When they were in the demigod world, he wasn't the same person as he was back at the apartment.
When they were home, Percy sometimes caught himself feeling as if Nico was his brother. He was a talkative kid, his gray skin not defining him. He was polite to Sally and Paul, though his 40's manners didn't quite get why they were living together before marriage. And to be honest, he could be pretty funny. Percy enjoyed sharing a room with him.
But then he had started going off and training, had started coming back nearly dissolved. Percy wasn't the only one that noticed the difference.
"Percy, can I talk to you?" Sally kept her voice low, Paul having gone to bed the hour before and Nico having already disappeared with that ghost.
Percy nodded and followed his mom into the kitchen, where she made two mugs of hot chocolate. When she was done, they sat at the table in silence.
Eventually, Sally spoke again. "Percy, are you going to tell me what's going on with Nico?"
Percy froze. He had been trying to keep it from her, not wanting her to worry. But here they were.
"I just...feel as if he's changing," Sally continued. "He's always so exhausted. He fell asleep at breakfast this morning, Percy."
Percy scratched the back of his neck. "From what he's told me, he's been training at night. He's practicing with his powers."
"Is he taking care of himself?" Sally asked.
Percy didn't touch his hot chocolate. "That's the reason Will Solace has been stopping over sometimes. He helps Nico."
"What can I do?" she asked. "How can I help him? He's such a nice boy."
"I don't think we can," Percy admitted.
Maybe after the war, things would go back to how they were. Percy could only hope. Because even after what happened that day, he still thought of Nico as a brother.
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AN: at this point, Nico and Percy visit Luke's mom and Sally just as they did in the books. Nothing really changes so I'm not going to copy it down, so just insert it here.
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They shadow traveled to Central Park. Mrs. O'Leary went sniffing around a cluster of boulders.
"It's okay, she just smells home," Nico said.
Percy frowned. He could never be as comfortable with this as Nico was. "Through the rocks?"
"The Underworld has two major entrances," Nico started. Percy could tell he was about to rant. "The first is in LA. Most souls go that way. But there's a smaller path, harder to find. The Door of Orpheus. You know who he was, right? I read about him in my English lessons."
"The dude with the harp."
"The dude with the lyre," Nico corrected. "He used his music to charm the earth and open a new path into the Underworld. He sang his way right into dad's palace and almost got away with his wife's soul. But he didn't trust dad and the whole quest failed."
"So this is the Door of Orpheus. How does it open?" Percy asked.
"We need music," Nico said. "How about your singing?"
Percy blushed at the memory. Nico often heard him singing in the shower before he eventually broke the news that it was able to be heard throughout the apartment.
"Um, no. Can't you just, like, tell it to open? You're the son of Hades and all."
"It's not so easy. We need music."
Percy turned around. "I have a better idea. GROVER!"
They waited for a while. Nico finally agreed to after Percy explained to him about the empathy link, sitting on the cold ground with his arms wrapped tightly around himself.
"This reminds me of something," Nico whispered after some time. Percy had sat next to him, the cold feeling finally mutual.
"What's it remind you of?" Percy asked.
Nico reached a finger out and trailed it over some of the dirt. "The war." It was the only thing he didn't talk about, and Percy knew better than to bring it up. Over the weeks of knowing Nico, he had learned to change the subject as quick as possible.
"Nico, why are you so okay with going back to the Underworld?" Percy asked. "Aren't you scared you're going to get stuck down there again?"
Nico moved his face into the shadows, something he only did when Percy caught him in a lie. "Everything will be fine. We're not going near the fields."
"Yeah, whatever you say." Percy looked away from the son of Hades, knowing that he was hiding something. "So, how does it work again?"
"I'll explain better when we're down there." Nico's shivers were growing more violent and intense. His teeth began to chatter. "B-But you'll have t-to anchor y-yourself using a happy thought. A s-strong thought."
Percy focused more on his link as the fear that Nico would freeze to death kicked in. Grover. Something hummed back. Then an image came into his head, showing Grover asleep in some clearing.
Grover, wake up.
Unnnh-zzzzz.
Dude, you're covered in dirt. Wake up!
Sleepy, his mind murmured.
FOOD, Percy suggested. PANCAKES!
Grover woke up, but it was more violent than Percy anticipated. Memories came shooting forward before the whole image shattered.
"W-What happened?" Nico caught him before he could fall on his side.
"I got through. He's . . . yeah. He's on his way." Percy pulled himself up.
A minute later, the tree next to them shivered. Grover fell out of the branches, right on his head.
"Grover!" Percy yelled. Nico jumped in surprise.
"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary looked up.
"Blah-haa-haa!" Grover bleated.
"You okay, man?"
"Oh, I'm fine." He rubbed his head. "I was at the other end of the park. The dryads had this great idea of passing me through the trees to get me here. They don't understand height very well."
"Good to see you, G-man," Percy said. "This is Nico di Angelo."
Grover kept a noticeable distance from Nico but kept the question in that might be seen as rude. But Percy could tell what Grover wanted to ask. Why are you in Central Park with a shade? Nico still shivered to himself, either not caring or not noticing Grover's look.
"Perrrrcy!" Grover bleated. "I missed you! I miss camp. They don't serve very good enchiladas in the wilderness."
"I was worried," Percy said. "Where've you been for the last two months?"
"The last two-" Grover's smile faded. "The last two months? What are you talking about?"
"We haven't heard from you," Percy said. "Juniper's worried. We sent Iris messages, but-"
"Hold on." He looked up at the stars like he was trying to calculate his position. "What month is this?"
"August."
He paled. "That's impossible. It's June. I just lay down to take a nap and . . ." He grabbed Percy's arms. "I remember now! He knocked me out. Percy, we have to stop him!"
"Whoa," Percy said. "Slow down. Tell me what happened."
He took a deep breath. "I was . . . I was walking in the woods up by Harlem Meer. And I felt this tremble in the ground like something powerful was near."
"You can sense stuff like that?" Nico asked, having curled into a small ball.
Grover nodded. "Since Pan's death, I can feel when something is wrong in nature. It's like my ears and eyes are sharper when I'm in the Wild. Anyway, I started following the scent. This man in a long black coat was walking through the park, and I noticed he didn't cast a shadow. Middle of a sunny day and he cast no shadow. He kind of shimmered as he moved."
"Like a mirage?" Nico asked.
"Yes," Grover said. "And whenever he passed humans-"
"The humans would pass out," Nico said. "Curl up and go to sleep."
"That's right! Then after he was gone, they'd get up and go about their business as nothing happened."
Percy stared at Nico. "You know this guy in black?"
"Afraid so," Nico said. "Grover, what happened?"
"I followed the guy. He kept looking up at the buildings around the park like he was making estimates or something. This lady jogger ran by, and she curled up on the sidewalk and started snoring. The guy in black put his hand on her forehead like he was checking her temperature. Then he kept walking. By this time, I knew he was a monster or something even worse. I followed him into this grove, to the base of a big elm tree. I was about to summon some dryads to help me capture him when he turned and . . ." Grover swallowed. "Percy, his face. I couldn't make out his face because it kept shifting. Just looking at him made me sleepy. I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Just having a look around. You should always scout a battlefield before the battle.' I said something really smart like, 'This forest is under my protection. You won't start any battles here!' And he laughed. He said, 'You're lucky I'm saving my energy for the main event, little satyr. I'll just grant you a short nap. Pleasant dreams.' And that's the last thing I remember."
Nico stood up, shaking as if he was in the Arctic. Percy knew the cold night couldn't be helping Nico's lack of heat. "Grover, you met Morpheus, the God of Dreams. You're lucky you ever woke up."
"Two months," Grover moaned. "He put me to sleep for two months!"
"Why didn't the nymphs try to wake you?" Percy asked.
Grover shrugged. "Most nymphs aren't good with time. Two months for a tree- that's nothing. They probably didn't think anything was wrong."
"We've got to figure out what Morpheus was doing in the park," Percy said. "I don't like this 'main event' thing he mentioned."
"He's working for Kronos," Nico said. "We know that already. Minos said so. A lot of the minor gods are. This just proves there's going to be an invasion. Percy, we have to get on with our plan."
"Wait," Grover said. "What plan?"
Percy quickly told him their plan to go to the River Styx.
"You're not serious," he said. "Not the Underworld again."
"Again?" Nico whispered.
"I'm not asking you to come, man," Percy promised. "I know you just woke up. But we need some music to open the door. Can you do it?"
Grover took out his reed pipes. "I guess I could try. I know a few Nirvana tunes that can split rocks. But, Percy, are you sure you want to do this?"
"Please, man," Percy said. "It would mean a lot. For old times' sake?"
He whimpered. "As I recall, in the old times we almost died a lot...okay, here goes nothing."
Grover played a few tunes and eventually, the rocks split open, revealing a triangular crevice that opened up to a black staircase.
Percy turned to Grover. "Thanks . . . I think."
"Perrrrcy, is Kronos really going to invade?"
"I wish I could tell you better, but yeah. He will."
"I've got to rally the nature spirits, then. Maybe we can help. I'll see if we can find this Morpheus."
"Better tell Juniper you're okay, too."
His eyes widened. "Juniper! Oh, she's going to kill me!"
He started to run off, then scrambled back and gave Percy a hug."Be careful down there! Come back alive!"
Percy finally turned to Nico when Grover had gone, stopping in his tracks when he saw how he had changed. After the entrance had opened, the son of Hades looked as if he was staring into his worst nightmare.
"Are you okay?" Percy asked, reaching out to touch Nico's arm. He had never felt something so cold.
Nico didn't move. "Just wake Mrs. O'Leary."
Percy did as he was told. As soon as the hellhound was awake, she bounded down the steps and out of sight.
"Ready?" Nico asked him. "It'll be fine. Don't worry."
He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Did he think he wasn't going to ever come back? Percy saw him stare up at the stars as if he would never see them again.
And then they walked into the darkness.