"Ah...Nico...welcome back son."
Hades ushered in his son, a boy with raven black hair and an aviator jacket. He had a skull t-shirt and a sword that looked like it was made of obsidian.
Nico rolled his eyes. Hades had been a jerk father his whole life and was happy only at certain accomplishments.
"I hear that, er, your friends are dead."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Imagine how I feel! Hazel was a child of mine too."
"You sure never act like it. Wait...I thought she was in the Underworld, here with you. That was the only reason I came to visit."
"Well, I have been waiting for Charon to ferry their souls to Elysium, but they aren't showing up."
"What?"
"I can only imagine that the forces of Gaea have managed to capture the souls by reaping them before Thanatos comes..."
Suddenly, a ghost floated in and spoke to Hades in latin, "Domine in inferno. Nuntius horrendus, non estis sub impetum!"
Hades' face turned pale. "What, now?"
BOOM!
The obsidian wall exploded. Monsters ran in. Hades and Nico both closed their eyes and skeletons came up to fight. As werewolves rushed in, Hades lobbed purple wisps and they screamed. Gryphons dive bombed them, and dropped vials of greek fire. Hades' throne of bones shattered into bits. Skeletons hacked at monsters, and were smashed into rubble. Arrows flew everywhere and the ground started opening up, swallowing monsters and skeletons.
Nico slashed his Stygian iron sword, a gift from Hades when Jules Albert, also a gift, arrived at his door and presented the sword to him. Hades twirled his staff and more wisps and dark magic flew around the room. Cyclops stormed in, smashing their fists at everything they could find. The skeleton's rotted weapons bounced off them. They also crumpled easily, with fragile and brittle bones. Hades simply closed his eyes and his helmet radiated waves of terror. The cyclops ran out and intercepted arrows from the telekhines. Vials of greek fire exploded everywhere and rotting weapons clashed. Cerebus charged in and slammed into the archer telekhines, starting a dog fight. Nico looked at his father who suddenly looked scared. A giant dressed in black armor marched in, carrying his own staff.
"Alyconeus."
"Hades."
They charged at each other. Oil spilled as Alyconeus was struck and Hades bled gold ichor. Their staffs collided and shades were raised to fight Hades' skeletons.
"Hades, I have fought your children. I would've taken down your Levesque girl and her horse if her friend never interfered. I have fought her friends and would've won if my giant brothers weren't so stupid. Now we stand again, facing each other off. As soon as I am finished with you, your son will be demolished."
Nico trembled but still fought. He killed any monster who dared stepped 5 feet near his father and Alyconeus. Cerebus and his hellhound friends helped him, but soon ran off after more and more hordes appeared. The shades were easily defeating the skeletons. They were trained Roman Legionaires with gold weapons. They had turned their backs and fought for Gaea and their giants. The skeletons were Greek demigods, who were rash and had little or no experience. After all, few make it to Camp Half Blood. There was only one skeleton who was doing well and Nico recognized it.
"Gray!"
Frank Zhang's personal skeleton was the only effective fighter. His rib cage was used as an actual cage. Hips were thrown like boomerangs. His arm dangled in his other arm like a club. Although it was a little disturbing, Nico and Gray saluted to each other.
Meanwhile, Hades was struggling. Alyconeus taunted and jeered as he stabbed with his staff.
"What is the matter emo lord of darkness? Losing your touch? Don't have the help that rarely comes to you?"
Nico could feel his power draining away. Shadow magic was dangerous and consumed a lot of energy. To much could kill you. Looking ahead, he saw Hades, who summoned more and more magic. Even as a god, he might be destroyed.
Nico ran to help, but the monsters would be happy to kill him if he turned his back to attack Alyconeus. This was as much help he could give.
The underworld's soldiers were still failing. Grey, who had lost a lot of his bones, had been disintegrated by a blast of Greek fire. Less than a quarter of the shades were killed. Nico looked at Hades for the last time, who was being pinned down by a staff. His helmet was knocked over to the side.
"Nico, go! Take my helmet and shadow travel to a safe place! I will use my remaining energy to cover for you. Run! Rescue your friends and let the Olympians live on! Bring back..."
He was cut short as Alyconeus put his foot on Hades' chest, bring up his staff.
"A-aand...I am sorry for not being a better father. I am sorry for Bianca and Hazel. Someday I hope you will forgive me."
Alyconeus thrust his staff into Hades' heart. Hades' eyes turned purple. His body glowed and disintegrated into purple ash. The bident clattered on the purple tiled floor.
"Ah, emotional last words. How ironic the god of the dead is well, dead. Gee, wouldn't you love to share the same fate?"
Nico collapsed on the floor as his staff struck him. Then, something weird happened. Hades' bident staff floated up towards Nico and transformed into a bubble of fiery wisps. It surrounded him and floated towards the upper world, carrying the Helm of Darkness with it. Alyconeus bellowed curses as Nico saw the beautiful palace of Hades being destroyed. Zombie servants ran everywhere and the ghosts wailed. The furies were bound in ropes of fire and Charon was tied to his raft that was floating towards Tartarus.
Nico saw the faces of the punished being freed: Tantalus who cooked his son in a stew, Sisyphus who had tied up Death, Bryce Lawrence who had betrayed his legion, and Gabe Ugliano who had abused, lied, and acted like a pig. He saw Medea, who had killed her family, Daedalus who killed his nephew and created a monster, and Tityos who attacked Leto. They all were free, with Daedalus as the only good one.
"Child of Death, you may run away now, but remember my warnings: you can never escape death. Not for long. And remember your father boy, because soon you and all the gods will join him! I have finally taken control of the Underworld, and I hope you will die soon enough for me to meet you again."
Nico watched as the bubble popped, leaving him with a hat and a sword. He whistled for Jules Albert.
"Take me to Camp Half-Blood."
