AN: I don't speak Italian and everything of the language is coming from Google translate, so it's probably wrong tbh
When Nico woke up, he was told about everything that had happened. Dwarfs in Bologna, the fact that everything had been handled. But he didn't dare lay down to sleep, nor did he plan to in the future. He already wasted too many hours staying still when monsters could be on him, tearing his flesh and breaking his bones and setting fire to the remains and-
No. He wasn't going to let one war, what he had seen to humans, mix with what happened down there. He didn't need anymore torture in his life, especially if it wasn't even real.
But the thoughts continued all night, the war seemed like yesterday. He wasn't sure the mentality behind it until the ship docked at a city he knew all too well.
"Venesia..." Nico whispered. "Siamo qui."
"English, di Angelo." Leo came up beside him and also leaned on the rail. "Or Spanish. But I don't know how the others would feel about that."
Nico shook his head in disbelief. "I'm back home. I never believed it...never thought we'd actually make it..." He climbed onto the rail and kept himself balanced as he looked across the now peaceful city. No more smoke, no more riots and bomb sirens and soldiers going off to war.
"You were born here?" Jason Grace came up to them, eyes blurred from the second half of the night watch.
Nico nodded. His legs itched to run into the city, to grab one of the gondole and ride it through the canal. But there were barely any left, and those that were there were packed with noticeable tourists.
What had become of his city? The lions of St. Mark still decorated the area, but nothing was as grand as it used to be. The waters were polluted, modern industry had taken over. He couldn't help but wonder if his old home was still here, or if even that had been destroyed, turned around, made into something he wouldn't recognize.
The rest of the demigods came up one by one, taking a place beside them at the railing. Last to do so was Frank, who took a spot by his girlfriend.
"What are they?" Hazel asked. Nico turned to see what she was looking at, finally understanding their uncertainty when he realized that they probably hadn't seen katobleps before.
"Mamma! Mamma!" Nico tugged on his mother's hand as he pointed to one of the animals tottering around. "Can I pet it?"
Maria looked down at her son, a familiar smile on her lips. "I've told you before, my son. No petting stray cani. It's dangerous."
As they walked passed, Nico looked at what everyone called cani. They weren't like other cani he had seen, with wagging tails and different colors and sizes that made every one unique. These were different. They were always the same color, same size and shape, same everything. And that same everything was what made him so curious.
"Dogs?" he asked for confirmation. "That's what they're called in America! Dogs!"
She nodded. "No petting stray dogs, Nico. Not even in America."
He was pulled back into the present violently by Leo's butchering of the Italian language.
"The Black House," Nico translated. "Calle Frezzeria is the street."
Nobody questioned his second language, mostly because his accent was still so thick.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, causing Jason's eyes to flicker upwards. "Maybe I should stay on board," he said. "Lots if venti in the storm last night. If they decide to attack the ship again..."
"I'll go," Frank spoke up.
Leo patted him on the shoulder. "Awesome. If you pass a hardware store, could you get me some two-by-fours and a gallon of tar?"
"Yeah, that's not going to happen." Nico smiled from his perch. "I'll go with Frank. You may need some more translating. And..." His smile turned cold. "Lots of death. Restless spirits, I can sense them. If I go, I may be able to keep them at bay."
Leo scratched his head. "Lots of death, huh? Personally, I'm trying to avoid lots of death, but you guys have fun!"
"I'll go, too." Hazel said. "Three is the best number for a demigod quest, right?"
"All right, then." Nico wasn't sure if he was excited or anxious. "Let's go find the owner of that book."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nico may have forced them to make a detour, first.
"The Mist should hide our weapons and...my skin." Nico had to force himself not to run as he made his way down the old street. Memories were coming up before him, he could see himself as a child running through the streets and over the bridges. The katobleps didn't attack but they never got close. "Don't pet the cani," he muttered.
"Hm?" Frank asked.
"Nothing." Nico's heart beat faster as they grew closer and closer to his childhood. "We're going to need one of the boats."
"And how do we get that?" Hazel asked.
Nico shrugged. "It's been decades. I'll have to ask around. Just stay close and don't pet the dogs."
He was aware of Hazel giving Frank a questioning look, but he didn't bother to think much about it as he charged through the city, asking citizens here and there about how to get a boat. It was only then that he realized he didn't have a key anymore and someone had probably taken over his old house. Were their still di Angelo's to have inherited it? Or did it go to another family, an investor, someone who couldn't care less about this little dead boy who wanted to come inside.
"Nico." Hazel grabbed his elbow, stopping him from rushing off to a new person to question. "Please, tell me what's going on. What are you trying to do? Maybe I can help."
It had been years since he had been so exposed to his Italian roots. Ever since he had died on that battlefield in a pool of his own blood, mixed with the blood of so many others, he hadn't talked to another Italian. He hadn't had a conversation in his native language. Instead, he was forced to take in English as it was forced onto him. And even though he had gotten used to it, had gotten used to English and America and all the different races aboard the Argo... Now, it the midst of his childhood, of his roots, of where he belonged, he felt like English had faded to the back of his mind.
It took some effort to use English to answer Hazel's question.
(maybe he just didn't like to speak it)
"I want to visit my old home," Nico said. "Please. I just...I just have this feeling, like we need to go there. I don't know why, but we have to. And to do so, we need a boat. It's one of the ones on the canal. But..."
"But someone else probably lives there," Hazel guessed.
Nico nodded. "We would have to sneak in."
Hazel looked like she was thinking for a minute before getting another determined look. "I have an idea. Frank and I will go get Piper, you'll get a boat. Okay?"
Nico frowned. "Piper? Why?"
"Just...trust me." Hazel kissed his cheek before leading Frank off.
Then he was alone, but he wasn't scared. The city was familiar despite the years that had gone by. In his mind, he knew he could beat any mortal that messed with him. He had been through two wars, was in the middle of one now, had gone through Tartarus and made it out alive.
(if he was alive. was he still dead?)
Nico got a boat like Hazel told him to, and before long, he was driving them down the canal and to the house that sent shivers down his spine when he saw that it was still standing.
"What do we need, again?" Piper asked. She looked confused on why she had joined, maybe even disappointed that she couldn't stay back on the Argo II with her boyfriend. But Hazel had gotten her for a reason, they all knew it.
"Number 1704," Nico said. "We need to get in. Hazel, what's your plan?"
Hazel turned to Piper. "Can you charmspeak the owner, get them to leave for a couple hours so we're in the clear?"
Piper nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"What's charmspeak?" Nico asked, looking down at them. He was aware of his own smile, the wind hitting his face and blowing his hair and blurring his eyes. The water below him smelled like Percy, and he wondered how the son of Poseidon was doing in the deepest parts of the Underworld, a place he never should have seen or witnessed.
"A power from my mom," Piper answered. "It's...I can easily persuade people. It should work good enough on any mortal."
"Right." Nico steered to the front door, docked the boat and looked to the daughter of Aphrodite. "Do your work."
Just as expected, Nico didn't recognize the man at the door. But he kept his eyes on him as Piper's charmspeak worked, as he left without complaint or much conversation. Nico wondered how he had gotten the building.
"Let's go in," Nico choked.
The building...everything about it was still beautiful. He skipped the entrance rooms, however, and ran up the steps like he once had as a kid.
The living room was...was everything. It stopped Nico in his tracks and provided an onslaught of memories he had nearly forgotten. Coming back from Christmas mass, finally being able to open their presents, their nonno watching over them with strict love, the doors closed to the balcony but the canal just as beautiful and lively as ever.
Then their were the newer ones, ones Nico didn't like to remember. Bianca crying into her mother's arms on the couch, the boy she loved having been given a star and put on a train and never seen again. But they all knew the name Auschwitz by then.
There was Nico, his uniform on and his hair cut short, hugging his family one last time as he prepared to go off. Combattente per la liberta, Bianca liked to call him. Freedom fighter. He wanted to promise he'd help liberate her old boyfriend, but somehow he knew he'd never make it to Germany.
"Nico." Hazel put a hand on his arm, her voice light and soothing. "You okay?"
He nodded, and suddenly the past wasn't playing out before his eyes any longer. "Memories."
"So, this is where you grew up?" Piper asked. "Nice place."
"Nonno was rich." Nico stuffed his hands in his pockets and moved to another doorway in the room. "My old room's still on this floor. I just...I just need to check it."
(they didn't stop him, but their minds were still on that quest with giants and monsters and a flying boat while his was on nothing more than a family home and bomb raids and canons that did more damage than guns)
His room had been turned into an office. The windows were open, showing the view and letting the cool air in. A desk, lots of books and notebooks, papers scattered everywhere. But he ignored this as he went to the corner, kneeled down next to the wall and edged out one of the bricks.
"We can leave notes where no one will find them." Bianca took the brick out and held it in front of her younger brother's face. She wasn't more than twelve but already knew the need for secrecy. "If you check and there's a note there, read it. Replace it with one of your own."
Nico looked at her, reached in and took the note laying there. His eyes read over the fancy script. 'Penso di amare un ragazzo' I think I love a boy.
He looked up at her, grinned, wrote back on the paper and stuck it in the hole. 'Does mamma know?'
Bianca read the paper, looked at him and shook her head. The message was clear. Nobody else needed to know.
Nico's heart nearly stopped when he saw the letters inside, still neatly folded and addressed from a girl so many years prior. A girl changed from war just like her brother.
"They're from Bianca." Nico extracted them as the three other demigods watched. Beneath the last letter was an old shoe box, which he also took out. "It's where we hid everything. These must have piled up after I had left."
Nico,
We might leave before you're back. Dad wants to take us to America again. If you need to find us, he's trying to get us to go into this hotel. I don't want to, but he said it'll keep us safe from the war.
Bianca
The next was more rushed.
Nico, we're leaving in a couple days. Mamma finally agreed. I don't want to leave you, but dad thinks you're not coming back. Please come back.
Then one last final one. The last words from the sister he so desperately missed.
Nico, he won't let me pack much. I'm leaving everything here. Bring it with you when you come looking for us.
When you come looking. She had been so hopeful, still waiting for a brother who would never return.
But would he? She was still in that hotel, still waiting, trapped in limbo without another familymember around...
"All of you, listen to me." His voice was hoarse with emotion, he wanted to curl up and cry for a couple days. "Please."
"We are," Hazel assured. "Tell us what's wrong."
"Bianca, my full sister, she's in a hotel somewhere in America that slows down time. She's probably still around my age. And...And she's just sitting there, waiting for me. And we're at war, who knows who will make it out alive. I need you to promise that if I don't, one of you will get her and bring her to Camp Half-Blood."
Hazel looked like she didn't want to think about it, the prospect of any of their deaths, but she nodded her head and her curly hair bounced. "I promise."
"We'll try our best to figure out what hotel," Piper agreed. "We'll get her to safety."
Nico handed each of them a note. "So you don't forget. I can't...I can't have you forgetting. Just keep it, please."
They each pocketed it, and Nico wondered how he had gotten so close to the other two demigods to the point of trusting them with this.
(but war either made family or enemies, and it didn't care about blood relations)
Nico picked up the old shoe box, handed it to Piper. "Take this back to the Argo. We'll continue looking for the book."
Piper accepted it easily, holding it to her chest protectively. "Will do. Where do you want me to put it when I get there?"
Nico thought back to the ship, to the many different rooms. "Percy's cabin. Put it under his bed for me. If we don't survive, someone will find it."