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The Gods Decide Everything's OK

"Can you two stop doing that?"

"What?" asked Nico, breaking away from Will. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked up a Jason, who was hanging over the seat in front. "Kissing?"

"Yeah. It's really getting excessive."

"You don't have to watch," pointed out Will. "Besides, if Piper was here –"

"Ah, that's the problem," sniggered Nico, watching Jason's face fall. "He's jealous. Though you'll see her at Olympus."

"That can be rectified." Will leaned towards Jason and puckered his lips. Jason quickly backed away, and Will was rewarded with a light slap from his boyfriend. "It was a joke – it was a joke!" he protested, rubbing his red right ear.

"Hmph." Nico folded his arms and turned away to look pointedly out of the minibus window. Will glared at Jason.

Jason grinned wickedly. "I knew I could get you two to stop being so lovey-dovey!"

In a flash, Nico was cuddled into Will's side.

Jason screwed up his face. "That's – that's –"

"That's what, Jason?" asked Will, laughing.

"So unfair!"

There aren't normally parking spaces in front of the Empire State Building. Particularly not for a couple of minibuses. But, as it turns out, if you're there for a meeting of the gods, there are.

As they all piled out onto the pavement, three figures ran up to them. Percy, Annabeth, and Piper.

Piper threw her arms around Jason. Will and Nico exchanged glances.

"How's school?" Will asked Annabeth, over the sound of the kissing couple.

"It's going really well!" she said. "And not a single monster."

"Yeah." Percy looked quite disappointed at that. "We keep out of trouble."

"Plenty of time for that a camp," said Nico.

Percy grinned. "I hope so!" He shrugged. "It keeps Mum happy. Which keeps me in blue food."

At long last, Jason came up for air, and was immediately tackled into a hug by Percy.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "So, how are things at the camp?"

"Oh, pretty quiet. We've got a new girl."

"Don't even mention her…" groaned Connor Stoll, exiting the other minibus. "The sooner she gets claimed, the better."

Nico gave a taunting smirk. "She might end up being a Hermes."

Connor paled. "Oh, gods, no!"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "How can she be that bad?"

"She never stops asking questions!"

"I remember a kid like that," said Percy. "No good came of him."

Annabeth sighed. "Come on. Time for the family reunion."

"And aren't these two just adorable together?" cooed Aphrodite. In front of a number of the other gods and demigods. Some of whom he respected. Aunts! Or whatever relation she was to him.

In his mortification, Will wanted to sink into the ground. Nico actually did, only realising when his ankles had disappeared through the marble.

Amazingly, it was the arrival of Will's dad that made everything less embarrassing. They first noticed when the clouds around them started to evaporate. As more and more of New York became visible around them, they then heard the roar of an engine. Percy's head whipped round.

"Everybody down!" he cried; quite unnecessarily, for there were already nymphs, gods and heroes making undignified dives to the floor out of the way of the blazing red bullet which was hurtling towards them.

The car hit the pavement of Olympus and skidded, the brakes locking. The was a squeal of tyres as it executed a handbrake turn and came to a halt.

Apollo jumped lightly out of the car. "Hi, all! Am I late?" He looked around. "Where is everyone?"

One by one, divine and demi-divine heads popped up from behind fountains, shrubs and statues.

Artemis was the first to speak, walking calmly towards him. "No, brother, you are, in fact, early. The shortest day got a little shorter." She pulled the keys out of the ignition and dropped them into a pocket of her tunic.

Apollo's face fell. "You can't take that!" She ignored him and walked on by.

"This is why you should park in the garage. I made it especially for you," said Annabeth, shaking her head.

Biting his lip, the god shrugged. "So, what was everyone talking about without me? What's the hot gossip?"

Will felt himself blush, and noticed that, uncharacteristically, Nico was too. He saw Aphrodite start to grin.

"Are we having this meeting, or not?" asked Athena, sweeping up the steps behind them. "You don't want Zeus to push everything through while you're all out here chatting, do we?"

As ever, she was right. They trooped in after her.

The gods took their thrones. Even the minor ones had exquisite thrones, while the demigods had a section of comfortable looking chairs. No more were they to be wholly shut out of negotiations: the campers now had the authority represent the camp.

Not, Will thought, in a slightly sceptical moment, that the gods had made clear exactly how much their voices counted, but it was, he supposed, a start.

The demigods sat down, in no particular order, which let Will sit next to Nico. He saw Nico nod to his dad, saw Percy (keeping a careful distance from Annabeth) smile at a girl by the fireplace, and then noticed his own father giving him a thumbs-up. It made it all worthwhile, really.

Then the speeches started.

In all honesty, it was a pretty speedy session. There were really only so many ways that 'everything's kind-of OK' could be said. Chiron had made a few sharp remarks about the care that gods should show to their children, which had resulted in a few guilty-looking gods – Will was not surprised to note that his dad's was one of them – and approving nods from Nico, Percy, and (in a rare moment in which she and her daughter's boyfriend agreed) Athena. There had been a general resolution passed directing there to be more satyr patrols – a slightly stressed-looking Grove bit down hard on a tin can at that – and a renewal of the commitment to claim their children.

Then more boring stuff about how much gods could claim on expenses. Then Will noticed something

"Nico," whispered Will.

"Mmm?" murmured Nico, stifling a yawn.

"Is your dad wearing jazzy socks?"

Nico took a surreptitious look under the hem of Hades' robe. He smiled proudly, and leaned in to Will's ear. "I sent them to him for his birthday," he said under his breath. "Well, I mean, I just sent them. It's not like there were calendars then. I didn't think he'd actually put them on!"

He broke off as he saw his father looking over at them and frowning. Nico pointed subtly to his feet. Hades – and Will could hardly believe he was seeing this – smiled and stretched out his legs, making the patterns more noticeable.

Sometimes, the gods didn't seem very godlike at all.

"Nico?" Will frowned as he was led by the hand through the palace. The meeting wasn't quite over – it turned out that there were things that the gods wanted to discuss without their children present. Not even Percy. There was, much to the disappointment of many who'd been before, no party this year. So they were all trooping back to head to ground level. All of them, that is, except Will, who had been pulled off to one side by Nico as they'd left the throne room. "This isn't the way to the lift!"

"We're not going to the lift."

"What are going to do to get back to the minibus? Jump?"

"We're not going back to the minibus."

"Then where –"

Nico stepped into the shadow of a massive vase, covered all over with carvings of – well, other vases. It was a sort-of self-referencing vase. Meta. Even –

Will saw – even felt – all the light being pushed out of his world. With a gasp he felt his feet fall through the solid ground, and then, equally surprising, slam back into it.

Blinking, he felt his vision return, though there was not, at first, much difference, as he found himself in a place very dimly lit.

Nico, so pale that he seemed to glow in the dark, as still holding his hand. His pale face twisted into an apologetic grimace. "Sorry, Will. But it's the only way to get here. Well, not technically, but it's the most sustainable."

"Go where?"

Nico bit his lip, suddenly shy. "Home, I guess. This is me, er, inviting you over for Christmas."

Will stared at Nico in confusion. Christmas? But surely they didn't celebrate – he hadn't got Nico anything –

Wait. That wasn't the most troubling thing about Nico's last words. Home? Here?

Will looked around. At the torches on the wall. At the black bedspread. At the skull embedded in the wall.

He'd been invited for Christmas in the Underworld.

Of all the boys to fall in love with…