There we go! Remember when I promised I'd publish something happy and nice soon? And remember long, long time ago when I said I'd write some bonding between Hazel and Hades and Persephone and everyone? Well... here it is!
Some of you asked why was I so mean to Hazel, as I have given Nico a good, stable relationship with Persephone and Hades, but the Roman girl was never there, and in all honesty, you were right, I was leaving her aside, no matter the fact that I didn't mean to. So, she deserved a family just as much as Nico does and she's a sweetheart, but at first it was really hard for me to find a way to out-smart the fact that she was supposed to be dead.
So, after thinking very hardly on it, I finally came up with the solution that you'll be able to read just below!
I really hope you enjoy this little something!
Underworld Meeting
"You'll be alright" Nico murmured, giving a tiny squeeze to Hazel's hand just before he knocked at the door of their father's dining room.
"I hope so too" the girl let out in a shaky voice just when the heavy doors opened to reveal the spacious dining room, at which mahogany table both Persephone and Hades were already sitting.
What were they doing at such a place? What was he doing, taking his innocent little sister to the site most people really tried to avoid? Well, yeah, the answer was simple, they were demigods and, now, of course they'd go to the Underworld―their father owned the place.
In all honesty, Nico himself had no idea of what he was doing or of how things would turn out, but he could not let his worry show if he did not want ―and he really didn't― Hazel to worry even more
Sighing, they finally stepped into the room, holding hands so tightly their knuckles went white.
"Hello" Persephone greeted, standing from her seat as she extended her left hand to point at the chairs that had been prepared for the newcomers.
Sensing how Hazel immediately stiffened on his side, Nico felt the need to assure her with his own acting.
"A bit tense this atmosphere, isn't it?" he offered with a crooked smile. "Who died this time, P?"
"Very funny you" Persephone muttered, rolling her eyes and sitting down again, even when she was still smiling warmly. "Welcome, dear" she added, directing to Hazel, who at some point had decided to hide behind Nico.
"Dad" Nico continued, bowing slightly at the figure of their father, who was sitting at one of the heads, right across from Persephone. Only then did Nico notice how instead of a large table for ten or twelve people as Hades had the habit of using, there were only four seats in this miniature piece of furniture, as if the god of the Underworld had decided to make the distance between them smaller not only by openly receiving his living children in his realms, but also by literally drawing them closer to each other.
And that was another good question―what were Nico di Angelo and Hazel Levesque doing in the Underworld.
In all honesty, not even Nico, who had dragged Hazel along with him and affirmed it was not as bad idea as it sounded, was sure about that simple inquiry. Hades, to put it simply, had ordered him, more like pleaded, to bring his sister ―yes, the one and only that still lived, the one that was supposed to be dead― to the Underworld for a… for a family meeting, although those hadn't been his exact words.
Now, it was in fact dangerous to enter the after-world but… this was their father they were talking about and yes, yes, Hades and Pluto and whoever had made several, horrid mistakes in the past but… he himself had said it, this was a different life, a different opportunity to make things right and if their father ―their only living parent― was trying to do something good… then who was he to take that away from Hazel and from himself?
Besides, it had been Hades himself, the one who had pointed him to Camp Jupiter when he'd rescued Hazel and that, if you asked Nico, meant that Pluto was as worried about his daughter as he could allow himself to be.
"Be welcomed, my children" Hades let out in a strangled voice, sending anxious glances in Hazel's direction, although the girl missed them due to the fact that she was stubbornly staring at the ground.
Trying to not let show how nervous he was too, Nico stepped forward and placed the chair at Persephone's right for his sister to take a seat.
"You'll be alright" he promised, squeezing her shoulder as she sat, fidgeting with her fingers nervously.
Just when Nico sat down too out of somewhere skeletal butlers started to appear, carrying various plates, though there were only four people sitting at this tiny table.
Almost as if Hades doesn't want to give us a chance to turn this even more uncomfortable, Nico thought, noticing how tight the god of the Underworld was holding his jaw.
What a strange sight, one might have thought, a three-thousand-old almighty god anxious at the sight of two teenagers. Such a bravery display.
Only then did Nico dwell on the fact that he was the only one who had actually talked to each and every of the people sitting at the table in that moment. Oh, damn it, things were really bound to turn out wrong now.
"Dad, how have things been going here?" he asked, finally deciding that if anyone was going to say something, it didn't look like Hades or Hazel.
"Can I… can I answer that one?" Persephone inquired, beaming and gesturing like crazy. On his side, Hades only let out a resigned growl. "Dark, cold, and, as always, filled with dead people!" the goddess recited, chuckling lightly until she could finally burst into laughter at the end and she would have fallen to the ground in her hysteria, if not because Nico caught her and steadied her back into her chair.
"Yes, yes, that too, Persephone, thank you" Hades nodded, sighing and messaging his temples.
"C'mon, dear, it's a good one!" his wife replied, still laughing until Hades let out a crooked smile.
Persephone and her weird taste when it came to movies, Nico though, rolling his eyes. Really, he should stop giving her string, but seeing Hades done-with-it face made it worth it. On the goddess' side, Hazel had in fact recognized the reference thanks to Leo and his constant attempts at "updating her", though that did not explain why Hades, the almighty son of Kronos, ruler of the Underworld, was going along with it.
"Thank you, son, as I was saying, things are going fine now that the issue with the Doors of Death has been solved and Gaea is not causing any more problems".
And just like that the tension was broken, and Hazel found herself raising her gaze from the ground for the first time to find Persephone still leaning into Nico's shoulder while covering her face and trying to catch her breath just as Hades massaged his temples with resignation. And it might have been a weird sight for a family reunion but… there was laughter and smiles and trust and… Hazel couldn't help but find it… incredibly beautiful, to say the least.
They continued talking like that, maybe about nimieties, about things of no importance, but they talked, they talked and that was more than could be said for a lot of the other demigods and, for once, weird as it sounded, it was Nico who was holding the baton in the conversation. So much for a 180 degrees change.
"And you, dear, why don't you tell us something about you?" Persephone proposed after a while, directing everyone's attention to Hazel, who had attended most of the conversation in a polite silence, nodding and laughing softly when she considered it to be proper, but all in all trying very hardly to avoid Persephone's or Hades' eyes and trying to not really be noticed.
Biting her lower lip, Hazel met gazes with Nico, who smiled at her ever so subtly in a silent promise of support.
"I'm… I'm Roman?" she offered, not really knowing what she was doing, but having the impression that if Hades was not the same as Pluto then why was Hades here? Better yet, did one form of his father know what the other one was doing?
Instead of pointing out how that was in no way original or unknown, Persephone and Hades limited to nod patiently.
"Have you… have you continued drawing?" Hades asked, actually directing to her daughter for the first time.
"I… I have, father" Hazel assented, fidgeting slightly. "It's just that…"
"Actually, she's helping Annabeth with the designs of some parts of Olympus and Jason with the temples for minor gods" Nico came to her rescue, bringing the gods' attention back to him.
"Is that true?" Persephone piped in. "That sounds amazing!"
"It's not like that, I just…" Hazel tried, but only to be interrupted by her proud older brother.
"Please, Haz, say it as it is: Annabeth is a great designer and she knows what she wants but she's not a great illustrator!"
"It's just the details, really" Hazel promised, shyly as she smiled, and that was more than Nico could ask for.
Just as everything seemed to be going perfectly, Hazel felt the well-known stringency in her chest and was back to biting her lower lip. Sure enough, when she looked back down to the table she found two rubies the size of her hand next to her plate, from which she had raised her gaze of for a few minutes.
"I… I'm so sorry…" she blurted, gesturing to pick them and―and what? Throw them away, hide them, take them with her? Would the curse even hurt the gods if they touched the jewels?
"It's okay, dear" Persephone assured before Nico could, reaching out for one of the precious gems, without any of them being capable of warning her, for the young girl's despair. "Now, now, this is beautiful" she murmured, sending a glance at her own plant-like jewel ornaments at the corners of the dining room, like one would have a potted-plant at home. "How did you do that?"
So she's unaware of my curse, Hazel thought worriedly, missing Hades' pressed-up lips.
"I… they… they just kind of appear when I get nervous or something... It isn't… it isn't that common now, but…"
"So when you get nervous jewels pop from the ground?" the goddess inquired, smiling. And oh, here it comes, Hazel thought. She'll say how lucky I am and how she wished she could do the same but she knows nothing about the curse. "Now, isn't that interesting? The only thing I can make appear from the ground when I get either nervous or mad are daisies. I'm serious, I'm fighting with my mother and I make a bouquet of daisies appear in my hands and I'm like 'Wow, so much for being a goddess'" Persephone said, twisting her right wrist to prove her point as three, perfectly white marguerites appeared at the center of the table, same that Hazel was only able to see because she dared raise her eyes at the exact moment when they became solid.
"P, I'm serious, you have no right to complain!" Nico piped in. "Whenever I get angry, skeletons appear or the temperature drops and someone gets a cold!"
"Am I to assume that the sick one is you, dear, judging by how upset it makes you?" Persephone asked, blinking in faked innocence as she heard Nico growl.
"Maybe that'll explain why you keep going to the infirmary" Hazel chanted playfully, only to copy Persephone's methods and then pretend she was a white, innocent dove when Nico glared in her direction.
But sure enough, soon after they burst into laughter and it was warm and comfortable and it felt right.
"What about you, father?" Hazel asked before she even had time to reflect on what she was doing. "As this seems to be a hereditary thing, does something strange happen when you get nervous?"
When Hades only shifted in his seat and lowered his gaze, Persephone decided to answer for him.
"Oh dear, how do you ask that?" she mocked. "Don't you see that your almighty father never gets nervous?"
"Persephone…" Hades warned, but the goddess continued as if she hadn't heard him.
"Not even with an upcoming war or when autumn is coming or when my mother drops by?"
"Okay, fine, you win!" Hades yielded, sighing. "Whenever I do get anxious, hellhounds come out of the shadows. Happy now?" the god answered, pointing to a dark corning of the room as if to prove his words.
"Really?" Persephone inquired in amusement. "That solves the mystery of where they come from. I always thought they just crawled out of Tartarus or something".
"Then why are there so many of them?" Nico dared to question.
"Because I've been around for a long time, kiddo!" the god replied, trying to fend himself.
"Wait, so if they appear based on you emotions, then do they come out as puppies or as adults?" Hazel shyly asked, only to feel self-conscious when everyone fell silent. "I'm sorry, it's just a dumb…"
"No, it's not" Hades cut her off resignedly. "It depends on how upset I am with something, the bigger a hellhound is, the more powerful the emotion that precedes it was" he explained, as if he were talking to three-year-olds.
"Immortal words of Hades, god of the Underworld" Nico mocked, smirking when Hades tried to pulverize him with a piercing gaze.
"Wait, so that dog, the one that Percy Jackson has" Persephone started, ignoring a growl Hades didn't refrain successfully. "How did he train that hound?"
"Well, woman, how am I of all people supposed to know that?" Hades shrugged. "Maybe Daedalus got a hellhound puppy as Christmas present or something".
"Best gift of his life, I'm sure" Nico interrupted sarcastically. "Here, have a hellhound, they're deathly, dangerous and will grow larger than your house. I really hope you like it!
"But wait, if it's actually possible to train hellhounds, and if you can have the chance to get them as puppies, wouldn't it be a good idea to try to actually train them?" Hazel proposed. "Like, have a shelter or something?"
"And what when they grow to adults and don't fit their boxes?" Nico replied back, grinning.
"Teenagers" Hades sighed when Nico and Persephone started laughing again.
When they finally managed to calm down, they continued in a silence, a peaceful, comfortable silence for a short while, at least until ―weirdly enough― Hades broke it.
"Hazel can we… can we talk about the curse that your mother and I let fall upon you?" the god started in a low voice, although it was loud enough to be heard in the silent room. His words, thought and rehearsed a thousand times in the god's mind, still managed to make the girl stiffen and grip her fork tightly.
Across Hazel, Nico didn't take their father's actions very good either. If he hurts her, he thought. If he dares hurt her… But it was a distant thought, an influenced thought. Why would Hades have organized this entire thing ―the meeting, the reunion, the meal― just to say something improper to the Roman girl in front of him and Persephone? Why not go straightly to Hazel when she was alone? Why not―but his train of thought was cut short when Hazel herself answered.
"Of course we can, f-father" she let out, gulping. "I-I… it's not that much of a problem now, I-I learned to control it, it's just a matter of trying" she stuttered nervously, shifting her weight from one side to the other as she fidgeted with her fingers.
Next to her, Hades felt his eyes soften at the girl's words.
"No, you got me wrong, Hazel" he said, smiling subtly. "What I meant is that… that the curse is broken, daughter, you are free from it now".
"What?" the girl inquired, blinking in confusion.
"What did the line about breaking the prophecy said?" Hades asked back.
"It said that a descendant of Neptune would set me free" Hazel replied. "But how… did this…? I mean, who could have…?"
"How many descendants of Poseidon do you know?" Persephone inquired in return.
"Well, at first I thought that the one in the prophecy might be Percy, but then we discovered that Frank is a descendant of Neptune too, and then Arion is a son of Neptune, and so is Tyson so…" she trailed off awkwardly.
"And from those four, who do you think did the trick and why?" Persephone asked.
"Well, I… I think that it must have been Frank" Hazel replied shyly, blushing furiously as she bit her lower lip. "Because he… he was the first one I met and he… he's been with me ever since, no matter what, so I… I think that he…"
"And who is this Frank we're talking about?" Hades inquired, raising an eyebrow.
Only then did Hazel realize what she had just said.
"Frank is… hm, Frank is… he is the praetor of New Rome" she hurried to explain.
"And Hazel's boyfriend" Nico chanted in return, faking he'd said nothing when his sister sent a panicked glare in his direction.
"Her what?" Hades questioned, his tone dangerously low, though it was more a 'tell me all you know' tone than a 'tell me or I'll kill you' one.
"Her boyfriend" he repeated contentedly.
"That's not… that really isn't…" Hazel tried to explain, but not before Hades made known by his piercing glare that he wanted that information.
"Whom?" the god repeated.
Noticing Hazel's incapacity to do anything other than awkwardly deny, Nico decided to be decent for once and fix the disaster he'd started.
"Franklin Zhang, son of Mars, great-great-grand something of a son of Neptune, praetor of New Rome and Hazel's boyfriend" he explained, smiling mischievously.
Brow furrowed, Hades decided to ruminate over the information he had just been given while staring at Hazel with a piercing gaze.
"And how is he like?" Hades asked, still looking at his daughter, but Nico understood he really was directing to him because of the tone he'd used.
"He is a little clumsy, not the best speaker I've seen…" the boy started to explain, which caused Hazel to look at him pleadingly, knowing that whatever Nico said, good or bad, was the reference of Frank Hades would be taking for the future. "But he is loyal and kind, so I think he's not that bad of a catch".
"And can he be trusted?" Hades questioned again.
Sighing, Nico allowed himself a soft smile.
"He's worth our little girl" he answered, blushing slightly to everyone's surprise as he turned his eyes to the ground after having stared right back to his father's during the exchange of words.
Only then did Hazel realize how fast her heart had been running, how agitated her breathing was, how worried she really had been about Frank―or about her. And only then did she feel a warming sensation blossom in her heart―the feeling of belonging.
The words had left Nico's lips so naturally, so unplanned-ly. After everything that had happened, after the very few precious moments in which her mother had actually said something nearly as nice to her, after how she'd been treated by her classmates at Saint Agnes Academy for Colored Children and Indians―maybe, just maybe she had finally found the people that fully accepted her and sure, Nico had blushed and broken eye-contact as he said it, but that didn't take back the fact that he had said it, said it as if he had thought about them a thousand times and took them for a statement.
Her musings became interrupted when her father suddenly cleared his throat.
"If you say so, then" Hades assented, finally blinking his terrifying glare away from his eyes. "But I still believe that it would be convenient for us to meet him" he added, directing to Hazel again.
"Honey, was it too hard to just say that you want to make sure he is good enough for your daughter by yourself?" Persephone finished, breaking the almost grim silence that had fallen upon them after Hades' tacit menace.
When Hades let out a not-so refrained groan both Nico and Hazel were able to see that Persephone had actually become quite successful at translating from Hades to English.
And just like that, they were laughing again and talking came naturally, evenly, as if they had actually been doing that for years, as if they really belonged together.
Absently, Hazel noted how upon all the nervousness she'd felt when Nico had told her Hades wanted to see her and the anxiety she'd experimented before entering the dining room but now… she felt comfortable, at ease, maybe… maybe this really was her family and this… this whole thing, the conversation, the laughter… it was… it was something simply meant to be.
Not even Hazel, with all the jumpiness she'd felt as she returned to the Underworld ―not as an inhabitant, but as a guest― noticed how fast time passed, or how soon enough it was already ten to twelve o'clock, which was until Reyna had given her permission of staying out.
"Hazel, when is your curfew supposed to be?" Nico asked, suddenly aware of how late it really was.
"Hm… at twelve, I think. Why?" the girl answered, a bit confused.
"Because if it's then, we should get going" the son of Hades informed, already standing up. As she followed her brother's example, Hazel let the slightest of grimaces cross her features. This had actually been kind of fun, after all.
"Does that mean you do not have a curfew at Camp Half-Blood?" Persephone questioned Nico, bringing herself to her feet and approaching her stepson to hug him.
"It means I can shadowtravel and fool the harpies in charge" Nico mocked, returning Persephone's gesture.
In all honesty, Hazel was so fascinated by Persephone's and Nico's interaction ―so casual, so natural, so beautiful―, that she didn't even notice when Hades himself stood up and neared her, not until the god reached out to touch her right shoulder, startling her.
"Hazel, can we… can I tell you something before you leave?" he asked, in an insecure voice that the girl had no way of identifying with her father's.
"Hm… Hm… Sure, fa-father" she stuttered, shrugging. She was not conscious that she had instantly turned to the floor, bowing her head in something that was between respect and fear.
"I want to start by apologizing to you" Hades said, surprising Hazel once more to the point she raised her eyes in disbelief.
"What?" she let out.
"What you heard, girl" the god replied. "I wasn't able to recognize you until now because I feared that my brothers, especially Zeus, found out that you had… that you had come back to life" he explained. "I want to let you know that now you're freed of that burden. After the Giant War was over, I personally spoke to Zeus and as your role defeating Gaea was proven to be very important we will all turn a blind eye to this broken rule. You shall not live in fear anymore, my daughter".
The words struck Hazel strongly, making her forget that she in fact was worried plainly about meeting with Hades, let alone talk back to him.
"Excuse… excuse me?" she let put, but she wasn't really asking for Hades to repeat himself, but just for some time to process the information she had just received, and the god let her have that.
"I'm… I'm glad that you continued drawing, Hazel" Hades asked after a few seconds, his voice so low it almost sounded shy… shy or ashamed.
Hazel nodded, managing to not stutter. "In fact I believe I never really thanked you for the colors you gave me back then" she offered in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Before you went to Alaska, you mean" he pointed out grimly. Alright, maybe that hadn't worked, but at least she had tried. "It was never enough, Hazel, I was never enough. I should have done something else, stopped your mother…"
"Father, what are you―?" she started, just to be cut off by the god.
"Please thank your brother for me, will you?" the god muttered, confusing Hazel once again. "For seventy years I thought about freeing you from the Asphodels myself, but I never dared to. It wasn't until your brother came and had the guts to do it that you finally were able to live the life you deserved" Hades concluded, looking at her wistfully, a soft, almost pained smile placed upon his lips.
"Father…" Hazel managed, unable to think of anything else to say. "I-I never… there's nothing to forgive" she assured, staring into those astonishing black eyes. He did look a lot like Nico ―or Nico looked like him, anyways―, the rebel, black locks falling on his forehead, the pale skin, the worried expression from his eyes―and yet, he was so different, with a stronger jaw set tight and that longing gleam in his orbs that she hadn't seen appear into Nico's for a beautifully long time.
"Father, I―"
"Hazel, are you ready?" Nico cut her off suddenly, sending yet another surprised chill down her spine.
"Give me―give me a second" she managed, wincing. "Father just―thank you" she said, finally deciding that she was in no way a reliable speaker and choosing to act instead, standing on her tip-toes to reach Hades' right cheek and kiss him, then turning on her heals to catch up with Nico, who was already awaiting for her to shadowtravel them back to their respective camps.
—*—*—
"Are you alright'" Nico asked as they stood in front of the Little Tiber.
"I… I am" she affirmed, although she continued to smile absently.
"Listen, I know things can get a little weird down there, but it really isn't that bad" the sod of Hades offered nervously.
"I―thank you" Hazel cut him. "It was very nice, it does look amazing" she assured, smiling sweetly as she stared back into Nico's eyes.
"You liked it, huh?" he inquired, returning a tiny smile.
"Guess I am a child of the Underworld after all" she replied. "I… I'd love to do that again" she said, shrugging.
"Nothing burned, so I guess it could have been worse" Nico mocked, accepting the playful punch he had earned from his sister. "But you're right and we should totally do this again".
"Maybe I should bring Frank next time, would that be okay?"
"You'll kill the poor guy of a heart-attack, but I guess it's okay" Nico nodded, realizing he should shut up if he didn't want a bruised shoulder. "Alright, alright, he'll be fine! Listen, Persephone and Hades are not bad guys, really, they just… have a kind of dark humor".
"You like them" Hazel dwelled on, feeling no surprise when the only thing left for Nico to do was nod shyly, still smiling.
"Maybe, but you'd still kill Frank of fright of you tell him Dad wants to meet him. Though, it's your boyfriend, not mine, so do as you wish" he finished, leaning in to give a tiny peck at Hazel's left cheek. "And it's also late, so you should get going if you don't want trouble with praetor Ramirez-Arellano".
"Maybe" Hazel mimicked, letting Nico do. "Good night".
"Night, sis" Nico replied before vanishing into shadows once more.
Who knew, Hazel thought once she was left alone. Maybe… maybe meeting at the Underworld was way more cheerful than it sounded.
How did that go? You know how much I love the Underworld family, and Persephone is always so fun to work with!
Now, please let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Read you soon! :3