Hullo, public. Just so you are aware:

In this fic, Nico is not gay but more questioning. That is not a statement against gay culture. Honestly. I have family and friends who are gay and have been to my share of gay pride events. I just have an idea in my idea and this is way it's writing itself. So don't read into it.

Secondly, ages are a bit different here. I've moved Annabeth and Percy to 17/18 and Nico to 17. The other demigods are all 16/17/18 as well. Not that I don't love the way the books are, but I feel like certain concepts are deserving of an older cast.

This began as an idea I couldn't get out of my head and I was curious how the reception would be. After you've read it, please give me a review with feedback. Should I continue? Would anyone read it? Have ideas? I'd love to hear from you.

Without further ado…

A castle made from ice was not an ideal situation for a son of Hades. The walls, glistening in the gentle sunlight that was able to filter through, the cold chill to the air, and the quiet that seemed to permeate the air all reminded Nico how far he was from home.

He was still slightly fuzzy as to how he had landed himself stuck here. He had assisted Reyna in getting the Athena Parthenos from one side of the world to the other, he knew. It took a few days, seeing as he was responsible for carrying not only himself but also two demigods and a gigantic statue. Nevertheless, they arrived at camp and Reyna had ran off with Frank to sooth the Roman forces. Nico had chosen to leave them then, not wanting to see the camp he once had called home. From the tree that had once housed Thalia, to the lake that Percy used to spend his days lazing in with his blonde arm candy, the entire camp hurt to look at.

But then, it was all about Percy, wasn't it? It had started innocent; a young boy looking up to the hero of the century. Nothing unusual. But as time had progressed, Nico noticed his feelings of hero-worship morphed to something else entirely. He found himself imagining a universe in which he was with Percy, once and for all, without the girl who had snatched him up. And every time he saw the two of them together, it caused him to ache. It was dumb, the two of them were the power couple. They needed one another. But yet…

He couldn't hate Annabeth, not really. Yes, he was jealous with every fiber of his being. That was inevitable. But she kept Percy safe and led the group through trial after trial. Nico doubted he himself would have been able to act as she had. Thus, he was stuck.

It was this internal rambling that had put him into the position he was in now.

The mistake had been a moronic one. He had shadow traveled out of the camp, not picturing a place to go but rather reflecting on how cold he felt inside when Annabeth and Percy interacted and how desperate he was to get away. A little detail with catastrophic results. Because in that brief moment of time, some God out there had said "You know what we haven't done in a while? Mess with Nico." They had taken the opportunity to have him travel to the one place he couldn't get out: the goddess of Winter's throne room.

The room had been built purely of ice. This was hard enough to maneuver in itself, seeing as the floor liked to slip away from him, but ice also lets in light. This meant no shadows to speak of. This meant that Nico was now trapped in a throne room with a woman who hated his friend's guts and felt no particular love toward him.

"What is this?" she hissed in surprise, eyes widening upon noticing his pale figure, decked in black. "How did you get in here?" she questioned angrily.

"A mistake, I assure you," Nice muttered as he backed up and put his hand on his sword. Though he doubted he would be able to keep himself from being frozen on the spot, knowing the stygian iron sword was just a wrist flick away assured him.

"You're a demigod," Khione growled as she stood from her throne and stalked toward him. Her brothers, dumb and dumber, flanked her on either side. "Are you here for that nasty Piper girl?" she questioned him, stalking forward and causing snowflakes to swirl dramatically.

"Muffins!" Calais cheered from behind her.

"That girl," Zethes scowled. "To think, I used to want her," he scoffed, shaking his head. "Much happier with my little bird," he informed Nico, as if he was supposed to know what the immortal was referencing.

"No, I'm not here for anyone," Nico told her calmly, even as his mind whirled for an escape plan. "I'm not really sure how I got here, actually. But I'll just be on my way," he said as he turned on his heel and walked quickly toward the exit.

"Oh no!" he heard from behind him before he could no longer move his muscles. Glancing down, he noticed a thick block of ice encompassing his body. He internally groaned as the ice queen and her posse walked to observe his face. "Can't have you leaving quite yet, cutie," she purred as she tilted her head. "I think you'll make a wonderful statue, don't you, Zethes?"

"Oh yes," Zethes agreed as he eyed the teenager before him.

"In fact," Khione said suddenly, "he would look terrific with your little pet, wouldn't he?" Zethes looked uneasy at the suggestion. "Oh, calm brother. I'm not freezing her right his moment. But it holds promise, doesn't it?" she asked him with a purse of her lips. She reached over to him and Nico panicked internally but she merely grabbed his sword from him, observing it in the light.

"Promise! Statues!" Calais yelped in the background.

"But she's mine," Zethes frowned at his sister. "You said that because I lost the other one, I could keep this one. She's my pet," he grumped.

"Yes, yes," Khione said dismissively as she took another look at the sword and put it in the hanger on her hip. "Why don't we put this one in the dungeons right by her and if we decide later we don't want to keep her, we'll freeze them together. Hmm?" she looked to her brother. "Is that agreeable?" Zethes nodded, still looking thoughtful. "Charming. You two bring him down, then. And feed your pet. She's been looking a tad peckish lately." With that, the goddess walked back to her throne and watched as her brother lifted the frozen boy up and carried him from the room.

While watching the conversation take place, Nico had become more and more antsy. He remembered hearing of Zethes' obsession with Piper and how he had tried to steal her away to be his "pet." Apparently he had found a new girl to keep under wraps. If Nico could scowl, he would. He wasn't a big fan of being kept in a small space, not since he spent what seemed like years in a box with nothing but a few seeds for nourishment. No one deserved to be treated like that -he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy.

"Bird!" Calais sung out as they entered the dungeons. His shout was met with silence as they dragged Nico to an open cell.

"Your new home," Zethes sneered as he shoved Nico in and locked the door behind him. "You'll be able to move in a few minutes," he told him, eyeing the gothic teen. "Don't be stupid or you'll be frozen," he threatened before turning to his brother. "Go join sister. I will be up in a minute."

"Sister?" Calais questioned.

"Yes, you oaf," Zethes growled. "Go." After watching the younger brother leave, the immortal turned to the cell next to Nicos'. "Hello, pet," he said lowly as he stalked toward the bars. Nico strained his ears, but could not make out the response other than a quiet mumble. "Now, now," Zethes chuckled. "Let's be nice."

"Why should I?" a quiet, feminine voice snapped back. Nico was struck by how rough the words were, spoken from a dry, neglected throat.

"Well you've been here for how long now? Months? And no one has come looking," Zethes reminded her with a mocking frown. "No one cares enough to search for you, do they? But I care. I protect you from sister. I protected you from those rude humans."

"I would have been fine!" the voice growled. "And it's no wonder no one has come looking, my friends are normal and human. Unlike whatever the hell you are!" Nico winced internally at the words, knowing they would meet an unkind response.

Zethes froze for a moment before shaking his head slowly, condescendingly. "You still think you are human, silly bird," he chuckled as he walked up to the bars and leaned against them. "You still hold out hope that you will be rescued. But the problem with that is this," he paused, eyes flickering to Nico for a brief moment before turning back to the cage. "No one knows you're here and no one cares," he simpered before turning around and walking to the door. "You can wait another day before being fed, can't you?" he laughed before swinging the door shut with a bang.

The room fell into a heavy silence. Nico couldn't hear anything from the girl in the cell next to him so instead focused on getting out of his ice encasement. After a minute of wriggling, he was able to move his head, hands, and feet. He clawed at the ice on his arms desperately wanting to be free.

"It's not use," the voice called out. Nico froze and looked up. "The ice," she clarified. "It melts as it wants. All you'll do is tear your fingernails."

"Are you speaking from experience?" he snapped, raising a brow at the dark corner. He couldn't see into where she was but there was a torch behind him so chances were that she could see him.

The voice, however, was silent.

Nico sighed and closed his eyes. "Look, sorry. I'm just not a fan of not being able to move, ok?" he asked. "I don't mean to be rude." He went silent and groaned internally, figuring he had ruined his chances of making a comrade in the imprisonment.

"It's fine," he could hear from right by his right side. He jolted and spun his head quickly to look where the voice had been. To his surprise, however, all that stood before him was a wall.

"Where are you?" he questioned, eyes darting frantically around him. His question was met with a quiet giggle from a coarse throat.

"I've had time on my hands," she told him. "I know just where to speak to have it echo," she gave a dry laugh. "At the moment, I am in the cell next to you whispering into a crack in the wall."

Nico was surprised but did not dwell on it seeing as he could feel his control over his muscles returning. He took the opportunity to stand and stretch, breathing easier now that he was not completely helpless. Reaching for the ceiling, he heard a quiet gasp from her and he quickly pulled down his shirt, hiding the scars from her sight. He couldn't blame her for reacting to the obvious and ugly marks that adorned his skin. She was probably accustomed to looking at the perfection of Gods at this point. "Sorry," he muttered, feeling his face redden. He sat with his back against the cold wall, facing the black cell before him.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes before he heard shuffling. He looked up and had to bite back the automatic intake of breath at the sudden appearance of the body before him.

The girl stood shorter than him, likely 5' 7 or so. Her brown hair tumbled past her waist but was greasy and obviously unkempt from spending time in the dungeons. She wore jeans (the skinny kind humans seemed so fond of) and a t-shirt with some kind of blue phone box on it and the worlds "Smaller on the Inside" written in curly white below it. Her shoes looked almost like snow boots, but were made from a light leather instead of sturdy plastic, making them seem fairly feeble. The things that he noticed most about her, however, were the ice crystals that clung to her skin. Her lips were blue and her skin as white as his, though as she moved it glittered from the crystals that clung to her. She looked like she had been dipped in dry ice and had somehow survived.

She smiled slightly; a tilt to one side of her mouth. "I'm Robyn," she told him.

Little bird, he realized. Robyn, bird, made sense. She reminded him or himself, cold and white and skinny as the bones that supported them.

"Nico," he told her as he smiled back slightly, the first smile he had given anyone in months.

"Nice to meet you, Nico. Welcome to Hell frozen over."

Please excuse my errors that I am sure I missed. I did not have anyone to aid me in proofreading.

Again, shall I continue? Anyone interested? Honestly, I need reviews to feel inspiration to continue. So please let me hear from you!

Much love,

R. Jeanette