BEFORE YOU BEGIN...
ALL POVs WILL BE CHARACTERS WHO HAVE ASSOCIATION WITH DEATH. LONG LIVE HADES! (that doesn't sound right...)
Plot overview:
This is a story in which, after the Greeks and the Romans became aware of each others existence, they will come to notice the existence of other cultures. But time is an illusion, and as for all wars, history will repeat itself. The Romans will invade Egypt. The Vikings will pillage. Four, from the west, of the Nine shall rise and battle, as the five, from the east, watch. The gods shall wage wars.
Behind the scene, there is one group who watches these developments; Immortal INFORMATION BROKERS who uses a peculiar combination of magic and technology. But they won't let the gods destroy themselves. So they move to recruit two more demigods to complete their EQUATION...
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter, or the House of Life. Those belong to Rick Riordan.
"The hard thing about being a Greek or Roman god is the fact that however strong you become, you are bound to both your divine attribute and your divine flaw. You were born at level 100. If the enemy's HP is lower, you become a bully; but if the enemy's HP is higher, its game over. Well, that's the reason why heroes are born from the gods."
- Pavla to Nico
: I :
: 2012 NICO:
Dreams and Hopes
It was still only sunset. I frowned at the color of the sky. It was a mixture of orange and purple. A pang on anger, distress, and frustration hit me on the chest. Those colors reminded me so much of the past, particularly those acquaintances I left at Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.
Acquaintances wasn't even the proper term for that. Friends? Not even. Most of them were obviously afraid and creeped out by me. Maybe that's the only thing children of Hades are capable of.
Scrap that. Bianca was welcomed by the Artemis Hunters, and Hazel even has a boyfriend.
Not fitting in was only for me.
I continued walking along the Green-Wood Cemetery at Brooklyn. The cemetery was empty. A good thing too. I would always take strolls at cemeteries if I were feeling uncertain. Cemeteries were great hang spots for me, especially during the half of the year when Persephone stayed in the Underworld.
"Where do I go?" I muttered to myself as I sat on the steps of one of the mausoleums. I sighed. I didn't want to stay at his father's realm with stepmother Persephone around, and after that battle with Gaea a year ago, I stopped visiting both camps. Though I regret that decision, I was too proud to take it back. Ergo, I don't belong anywhere.
Besides, Hazel already fits in, and Percy doesn't need me to be happy. What do they need me for?
I really am a miserable loser.
Reality was even more horrible than demigod dreams. I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
I found myself in Elysium, though, that was not what surprised me. In front of me was my sister's soul, Bianca's soul. I wanted to shout her name, for her to look at me, the only person who truly cared, but I knew that this was only in my dream. Damn Hypnos.
Bianca still looked the same. Her silky black hair was braided in a long plait, her eyes, black, with a dangerous gleam. She looked a lot confident than she was before she became a Hunter of Artemis. She no longer hid under that green cap of hers, unlike me. I became weaker in spirit.
Maybe that was why she never came back with me. She was disappointed it what I have become.
She was talking with someone, and this someone doesn't look like a spirit. This someone was solid. I couldn't see because the stranger kept a hood on. Yet, he, or she, was radiating an aura I could swear I was familiar with.
"So, you want me to get out and not choose to be reborn?" Bianca asked.
My eyes widened. I couldn't believe my ears.
All those time that Bianca didn't want to be summoned, those times she refused me, all those time I thought she chose rebirth. And to hear to her listen to the wisdom of a stranger?
The hooded figure spoke. It was a female voice.
"Yes, if you understand the plot. I want you to help me," the figure said.
Bianca fidgeted her fingers. "I don't like it. I don't like cheating death. But we have been friends for some time. And if what you say is true, then there is no other way. But, why do you need help? Aren't you strong enough?"
The figure sighed. "Every hero needs a party to accompany her. Oh, I'll toss in immortality for you if you agree."
I remembered the last time Bianca chose immortality. I tried hard to repress the memory. Bianca chose immortality, not me. It was really painful back then. And it still was.
The pause seemed like an eternity. At last, Bianca said, "I'll go in one condition. You have to recruit my brother Nico too."
I felt his heart skip a beat. For the first time in many moons, someone loved me back. Someone wanted and trusted me. And that someone was his sister, Bianca di Angelo.
The figure raised her right hand to shake in agreement. "I, Palva, swear by the River Styx, to grant you and your brother Nico immortality, under the deal that you both help me stop the coming of Ragnarok."
The surrounding shimmered, and I felt myself falling. Then I bolted up. It was now night time, yet I felt more hopeful than I had ever been in a long time. My sister was alive, and better, immortal. She was going to meet me, under Palva's pledge. Though that Palva was to me, a stranger, Bianca called her a friend. Besides, she swore on Styx. But something was definitely fishy. It was her choice of words which bothered me. Ragnarok, she said. That was not a Greek or Roman concept.
It was late, but I guess it wasn't that late to visit an acquaintance of both mine and death.
A/N: I haven't written anything in a very long time! Magicians and demigods underway! I hope this was okay! I was definitely not okay after Nico's bloody confession! This is going to be a very long long long story! It's going to have new characters, information dealers, ancient history, and the World Tree! Yes, I am going to put in some Norse in here. So, stay tuned! Feel free to comment and suggest.
Up next: Nico's going to visit the Egyptian god of death and funerals!