Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the series PJO or HOO.
AN: Please let me know what you guys think. I haven't written anything in a while, so I would like to know if my writing skills have diminished or not. Any comments and favourites will be greatly appreciated.
I've never attempted an AU story before, so I am equally excited to see how this one will turn out. In this story, the characters are all a bit older, just for logistically reasons- I don't really want to sexualise children or promote illicit activities undertaken by underaged people.
After thinking long and hard about how I can convert elements of the original story to a more realistic real-world scenario, I have incorporated them into the storyline. I hope they amuse and entertain you all.
Happy reading!
-H.
-o-
As usual, Nico was seated opposite his father in the spacious limousine. The tinted windows kept out the glare, so the entire space was illuminated by LED lights embedded into the ceiling.
It was an unenviable position for Nico personally, but many would have killed to be in conversation-making distance of the infamous Hades, to whom half the New York skyline belonged to. Both land developer and billionaire philanthropist, Hades had it all- wealth, fame and fortune.
Even at eighteen years of age, and therefore a legal adult, Nico didn't have the guts to meet his father's gaze, which was still penetrating despite its owner's rapidly whitening hair ridges and fifty or so years of existence. He would never try to make conversation either. His father's judgement and forced queries about his only child's life were unwelcome intrusions into the comfort and familiar life he had.
Nico had finally finished his senior year and now existed in a limbo between university intermingled with the harsh reality of working life and the breeze that had been his secondary school. Certainly, he didn't think highly of his own skills or intelligence, but it hadn't taken much brains to get through a basic education and graduate with flying colours and no major media scandals to overshadow his adult life. Some of his schoolmates couldn't even do that.
Now that he was free of that trap, he was leaping head first into another.
His father had suggested that he consider a career in business, or perhaps even start some part-time work at the company that they owned fifty-one percent of- another way of saying they owned it completely. But Nico had been reluctant, for not only did he have no interest in a career in business, there was always a nagging doubt that the cruel reality of the working environment that his father seemed to glide through would crush him.
He didn't want to be part of the boardroom deals and sly partnerships that were necessary for upper management. Such cases of bribery, backstabbing and bullying happened more often than not. You did not maintain your position for long without being able to swim through murky waters.
And the waters that his father swam around in was dirty, shark-infested and on which corruption settled like an uncontrollable petroleum leak.
Instead of talking like a child and parent might, Nico settled his gaze on his father's shoes, which were polished until they shone. He could see his own reflection in them, head bizarrely small and long, like someone had stuffed his upper body in a bottle and then pulled him out right after. It made him uncomfortable. Nico tried hard to not make the atmosphere even more awkward than it was, but the silence was growing too long to bear.
"Father…" he hesitated, uncertain of what exactly to say.
Hades looked at him impassively like he was meeting a particularly tricky client. Nico felt his brain clam up in response. The car screeched to a stop abruptly and he felt like his stomach had been left a few metres behind them- bile rose in his throat and he forced it down.
Hades tilted his chin up slightly and sighed softly. "Child, I have told you before to never open your mouth until you are certain that the sounds coming from your mouth are useful."
The car continued on in the pale morning light of another Monday, they had turned off Park Avenue at a busy intersection and were not rushing along 57th Street.
Nico forced back the awful feeling that was making his chest tighten, "Yes, Father. I apologise."
"A man who doesn't speak nonsense has space in his head to listen to others. And the more you listen, the more you'll know." Hades adjusted his cufflinks as he continued on, "The more you know, then the more information you have to protect yourself and hold over others."
"Yes, sir."
Nico looked out of the window and saw that they were flanked with tall, nameless and grey buildings that probably would have housed thousands of workers all trying to get to the top. And here he was, already a step from the top, yet not having used a single bit of effort personally. Life just wasn't fair.
His father had all the answers, and Nico had none. He sighed and straightened out a crease in his pants. He wanted to adjust his tie as well, as it had started to choke him in the tension-filled atmosphere of the car. But then his father would berate him for fidgeting.
A man's confidence does not rely on his clothing, Hades would say again. It is about the way he holds himself. Society dictates what is appropriate to wear to certain situations, but a confident man can still stand out from the crowd whilst wearing nothing but rags.
Nico was sick and tired of his father always quietly explaining some self-made philosophy to him as a father does to an infant son still in diapers. And that was the thing that irked him the most- Hades never berated anyone loudly, would never raise a hand against anyone, yet he always got his way.
He did not have his father's skills, he was not going to achieve them anytime soon. But he wanted them so badly without knowing exactly why and it felt like he was being driven insane.
Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if his mother and sister were still around. His mother was gone, killed in a gas explosion when they were only toddlers. And then, just a few year ago, his sister Bianca had- No, don't think about it now. Nico fought to repress unwanted memories that were threatening to resurface.
His father always got his way. Even now, he was being driven to meet his uncle Poseidon against his will, even though they had not met for many years. Poseidon was the owner of a small shipping company, who in his spare time liked to try his luck fishing in the ocean. His uncle, just like himself, had benefited from the influence of his brother. Yet, he was every bit a foil of Hades as one could imagine.
Whilst Hades was serious, slim and graceful, like a panther stalking prey, Uncle Poseidon was well-built and portly, with a booming laugh and a smile so wide that you'd have thought he won the lottery every day. Despite that, Nico didn't want to meet him. His uncle made him nervous, he wasn't sure what to think of that man- something had always seemed off about him, even though the corners of his eyes were wrinkled with smile lines. No one could remain that happy after all that life threw at them.
He constantly felt that he was standing at crossroads, uncertain of which route to take. Ultimately it most likely won't matter, Nico thought as he turned his attention back to the present- he would walk wherever his father ordered him to.
Suddenly the limousine screeched to a stop. Hades lurched forwards as the unexpected stop and a rare frown appeared on his face.
Nico figured out from the noise that they were near a construction site. The whirring of machinery, possibly cranes was obnoxiously loud. Nico saw the car that housed their security detail veer to a stop behind them.
Charon, his father's driver didn't look back but shrugged apologetically, "Sir, there is an obstruction on the road ahead. A large truck is stalled sideways. Should I look for an alternative route?"
Nico turned his head and caught a glance of what presumably was a petrol transporter in front of them, blocking not only their car but several lines of traffic next to them. He craned his neck to see if he could figure out more about what was happening.
Without warning, there was a sound like a firecracker right beneath his feet. Only louder and more menacing. The consequences were much more disastrous too.
The limousine was flung over and up, several tonnes of metal blown into the air as though it weighed nothing.
Nico didn't have time to think. His seatbelt jerked painfully on his collarbone and his vision swarmed with coloured dots so fast that he couldn't think. If the car hadn't been reinforced with some high-quality steel, it would have been mashed into a pulp along with its occupants from being flung up so high and then dropped.
But the di Angelo's had money and they never shied away from using it when security was concerned. So instead of ending up with a crushed skull, Nico found himself hanging sideways in a mess of semi crumbled metal and glass. His ears were ringing unpleasantly, and he screwed his eyes shut against the waves of nausea that bringing bile up into his throat. Pain streaked across his ribs.
He heard a loud groan and then realised that it was coming from himself. Vision dancing with patches of black, he was only vaguely aware of a stream of hot liquid running into his left eye. His head hurt. Scratch that- everything hurt.
"Gods…" He could feel a burning pressure on his ribs as the seatbelt tightened on it. "Father? Father?! What are you doing-" His breathing ragged and dragging, Nico stopped at the scene that before his eyes.
Hades was crouched uncomfortably into the narrow space of the flipped car, freed of his own seatbelt. His hands worked at his son's, fidgeting and fiddling, moving more swiftly than Nico had ever seen. His father's hair no longer neatly pressed back, and his suit was dusty and torn with glass shards. A line of red run across his hairline.
"Nico," Hades said, as he reached into a hand into a compartment of the car and reappeared with a knife. With a flash of silver and a sharp quick pain, the straps that trapped him were cut. "Listen to me!"
He had never heard his father raised his voice before, Nico thought numbly, as he pressed a hand to his chest. "You cut me. Father! What you are doing?"
Hades wasn't a man fond of physical contact, but now he gripped his son's shoulders, half supporting his rolling head with a shaking arm. His grip was strong, and his voice was desperately high pitched, "Talk to your uncle. Remember, you have to talk to him. Trust him. Him and Thanatos." He patted his son's face, his heavy wedding ring colliding against cheekbone painfully and confusing what might have been a tender moment, "Nico, repeat it back to me. Repeat it back to me!"
"Talk to Uncle Poseidon- I'll remember. I'll remember." Nico struggled to focus, "What happened? How do we get out?"
"Someone's let off a goddamn landmine under us, that's what." Hades pushed at the door now above their head.
Abruptly a harsh light landed on his face- someone had forced open the door above them. "Sir!" It was Charon, their driver. His unclipped grey tie fluttered in the wind. "You have to get out. People are shooting!"
And indeed, they were, for Nico could hear sounds like sharp cannon fire and a loud authoritative voice shouting command. "Protect the principals! Cover fire!" More gunshots. A cry of pain.
Nico was redirected back to the present as his father shook him. There was a wild light in Hades' eyes as he began to hoist his son up, and he swore as his own legs became stuck in the tight space.
"Charon- take his arms. Nico, don't trust anyone! Only my close team. No one else!" Some arms, most likely belonging to Charon, hooked under his arms and pulled him upwards. "Your sister! Someone needs to-"
Nico never got to hear the end of his father's sentence, because at that moment he was wrenched free of the vehicle. The sudden movement jolted his entire body, and a fire spread outward from the left side of his chest. Somehow, Charon pulled him off the sideways car without breaking any more bones and started to transfer him over to the second car behind them.
"Gods, I don't get paid enough for this shit." He muttered.
Charon hesitated in his dragging as Nico cried out in pain, but then resumed. He was dumped into the arms of some awaiting bodyguards, who had emerged and now were taking cover behind their unharmed vehicle. They had their weapons out and were shooting unknown figures in the construction site. Charon dropped him with them like a sack of potatoes and sprinted back to the direction of the wrecked car.
Frank, the youngest guard there, who had started to be personally trained by their head of personal security a few years ago dragged him upright against the vehicle. "Nico! Are you okay?" He held up the barely conscious boy as the latter fought off the darkness that was threatening the overcoming him. They were more like friends than employer and employee, and it concerned him how dazed Nico looked.
Frank ran his hands urgently over Nico's body, getting a groan of pain as he pushed against his ribs. He spoke urgently into his earpiece. On the other hand, Nico struggled to get up. He had to get to his father! How strange it was that the safety of the one man whom that he had had so much distaste for nearly all his life was now so important to him?
"My father! Where is he?" He struggled to get up, nearly dragging Frank on the ground as he clawed onto his arm. Frank struggled and said something about staying still. Finally, unable to persuade him from getting up, the bear like bodyguard slipped an arm under his shoulders and supported him up into a standing position.
But at that moment, an explosion rocked the car that they were hiding behind. A shower of rocks clattered against the metal body, while a blast of hot air whipped hair, sand and the grime of the city road into their faces.
Mustering up courage and strength that he never knew he had, Nico pulled himself up with the car on one side and Frank on the other and stood unsteadily, repressing the urge to scream as it felt like someone was pouring molten lava on his side. Blinking the lazy trail of blood from his forehead out of his eyes, he took in the scene.
The limousine that Charon had taken care to keep clean and waxed almost daily was now the site of some messy metal bonfire. Its windows had all been shattered and the road around it was littered with debris. Rocks, asphalt, glass and goodness what else had been dislodged by the explosion. A badly burned body, most likely from the explosion was lying some metres away, the material of his suit torn and stained, half a grey tie still wound around his neck.
He was still.
Worse, at the car, there was also a figure slumped halfway out of the entrance. His body was bent awkwardly and with the smoke and fire, it was hard to tell who it was. But Nico saw the solid silver band on his father's ring finger and knew.
The realisation that his father was dead came suddenly and painfully. Feeling like the breath had been knocked out of his body, Nico's knees buckled, and he passed out.
-o-
Well, that's already one major character dead, and it's only been a single chapter! What a terrible person I am. Never fear though, next chapter, more essential people will be introduced.
For those that are new here, thanks for reading and I hope to hear your thoughts as you go through the story!
For those who have returned- I welcome you back with open arms and the promise of a good twisting and turning storyline.
See you next chapter,
H.