Disclaimer: I only own my OC and the plot. All the rest belongs to Rick Riordan.
Nico's POV
I shadowed travel with Theodore to a battle field my dad had in the underworld. It was a magic battle field. Whatever you needed, just with the thought of it would appear brought by a ghost. First of all, I thought of something that would make him angry. Suddenly, someone appeared. It was a woman I had seen on TV when I was just a child, on Italy. I wasn't sure who she was, but Theodore looked sad at first, but then disappointed and finally angry. Really angry. His black eyes grew until there was no white in them, and, as I expected, his black aura started surrounding him. Shadows came out of him and he started walking towards this woman.
"How do you dare appear again, mother" he said nearly spitting in the word mother .
"Theodore. Look, I am sorry, since my second so…" she started when she was cut off by the angry Theodore.
"NO EX-CU-SES!. YOU WEREN'T THERE WHEN I NEEDED YOU. YOU WERE ALWAYS DRUNK!" Theodore cried angrily, his aura still there. " You. Deserve. To. Die." And with that, a Crack opened and ghostly hands took her mother down. She disappeared and Theodore's aura retreated.
Theodore's POV
Nico looked at me with a full smile. He didn't smile a lot, so I was kind of happy for my brother. I couldn't understand how my mother has appeared there, and I couldn't explain the black shadows and aura that grew from me when I saw her. She wasn't a good mother. She used to get drunk, as if she didn't have any sons, as if I had never existed. She would always talk about my sister who had left home and my brother who had been adopted. My mum used to say he had been given as a gift from his father, but it made no sense. He should be around eighteen now, 3 years more than I have. Of course, I never met him, as his dad had given him away when he was 2. Then, a year later, I was born, and I had never met my father until today.
I came back to reality.
"You did well. That's one of your powers. Controlling the underworld. You can sense tunnels, know where you are in them an, as you did, make it swallow people. The aura will appear automatically when your feelings get… moved. This should leave you near to death, but as you are down here, you won't get tired, black out or fade." Nico said. "But you have to control it, you can't get enraged and make the earth swallow people because of nothing. Thinking in god things can help, but there is a part that depends on you and your will. Control your will, and you shall use when you want."
Hmmh. I was sweating, but I was fine. What Nico had said was true. I couldn't start killing people just because I was mad.
"I understand. Let's try again, but this time I will try not to harm… that woman"
Nico's POV
He said that as if it was the worst thing someone could say, but I didn't mind. I didn't like him much, he was quite annoying. He took all the attention, and, again my fatal flaw, I kind of grudged him. Of course, I had never like too much attention, but some could do, I was son of one of the big three, after all. But everyone seemed to avoid me and that hurts.
I thought again of that woman and appeared. As soon as she appeared, Theo's black aura appeared. It was huge. It radiated power, the power of all three. He would be stronger than me in underworld powers in some years.
As soon as her mother appeared, he closed his eyes. I didn't know what he could be thinking about, but it worked. Her mother spent like four or five minutes, but nothing happened. After that, I made her disappear.
"Well done, Theodore. It's not easy to control the aura. The first time I did it I sent to the underworld 3 skeleton warriors. But when I could control it, I did almost impossible things. And if you can do it so quick, it means you will be powerful, even more than me."
"Hmm… I don't think so. I mean, you are powerful." Theo answered me.
"You have some hidden things. I can't tell you what it is, you have to discover it by yourself". I told him "Well, let's go on with your powers. The next power I will teach you I call it silence, because it basically does that. It silence everyone in a room or place. The more people to silence, the more energy you will use, but nothing will happen if you silence, it's a difficult thing to learn, but easy to use once you learn it"
I started to think in an amphitheater full of people, and it appeared on a similar to the one in Camp, with us in the middle. Everyone was talking. It was the perfect situation to use it. I walk to Theo and whisper him
"You have to close your lips and press them. It may be difficult with so many people, but in a few tries, you will be able to silence some of them"
"Okay -he whispered back- thanks Nico"
Theo's POV
I saw how the amphitheater appeared. It was immense, full of people chatting. I concentrated in their speaking, and pressed my lips. I waited. Nothing happened. Everyone seemed happy talking. I tried three or four times more and I couldn't do it. I was starting to sweat an get nervous. I concentrated more -it's difficult to concentrate with ADHD, but I managed however- and pressed my lips. Suddenly, the first and some of the second row shut up and kept their breath, as if they didn't know what was happening. Some seconds after that, everything disappeared, and only Nico and I were left there.
"You've done well, the more you start using it, the more people you will be able to shut up. You can practice at camp trying to silence cabins or when the Stoll prank the Demeter cabin and everyone starts to cry -they really are annoying" Nico said. "You have to remember that down here you don't get tired, but up there you do"
"Yeah, you already told me that"
"Well, just for you to remember" Nico told me. "Now, tell me, what do you feel under where we are?"
I concentrated of what was under us. I could feel metals, but not so strong as I could feel the bones, souls, dead people, entire skeletons and, above all, death.
"It's weird, cause I've never felt so many things so powerful. I feel death, bones, souls, everything that is under the earth. Why is that?"
"It's a power we have, we can feel what's under the earth and call them to help us, or, if something comes from it, send it back" Nico answered me. "Try and make a bone come out of the earth and levitate. Watch me and then do it"
He put his arms in front of him and his hands looking down. Then, he closed his eyes and something started to shake below us. As I looked, I saw a bone coming out and after the first one, a lot more! He started forming something, am skeleton. When he made it he smiled at me. His smile want a I think you are nice but it was more like a I-bet-you-little-insignificant-thing-cant-do-it-better-cause-im-the-best smile. That guy really scares me.
I concentrated. I could feel the bones approaching where we were. Suddenly, a bone jumped out of nowhere and hit me in my nose. It started bleeding, but just then, it healed, and the blood stopped pouring. I looked at Nico for an explanation.
"Easy, it's because you are in the underworld, this place heals you as it heals me if something happens to us" he told me.
Hm. Nice, I thought. But I still hadn't been able to control the bones or make skeletons as Nico had. I'm pretty sure it had took him a lot of time to do it, but it's obviously cool to do it. But then again, he was way more powerful than me, and he told me I had done well, so I was fine with me, but I had to try again.
"I'll try again" I told Nico as he put a shocked face.
"Hm, okay. But don't hit me, or you'll see" he answered me.
I really didn't wanted to see. I focused back and felt everything shaking. I felt bones going of and forming something without even knowing it. I just left my instinct drive. Suddenly I heard Nico.
"LEAVE US!" and everything I had made come out went back to the underworld. I opened my eyes. I could see Nico looking at me with fear and astonishment.
Wha… what have I done? What happened Nico?" I said with some fear.
"You… you summoned entire alive skeletons. That's like… very advanced. I… they follow only your orders or Hades' or Pluto's sons. You can make them follow someone non-stop, and they are incredibly difficult to kill. You… you have to learn to control them and only summon them in real case of urgency. There's only one more thing I have to tell you. It's a clue to your two ultimate powers. The first, is that the souls that are in the underworld can be used, and the second it's about the shadow. All shadows are the same element, the same maker, the same thing. You can use them to go around. But be careful, the firsts times will make you sleep for a while. Class is over"
And with that said, we went in a black poof to the Hades cabin to sleep.
