Chapter 20
I highly recommend reading the bottom with the rules before reading the chapter. The chapter is kinda confusing, so if you don't get it, go to the bottom where a summery explains what you really need to know.
Also, like I said, I am currently in the middle of the fourth Percy Jackson book so I might have missed some major points. let me know in any of my chapters and I'll change it.
Nico's POV
I sighed. It felt like I had been walking forever when I finally walked into a plain house. The walls were white, childish drawings were pinned to almost every one of them. In the middle of the living room, was the largest Mythomagic board I had ever seen.
" Hello Nico," I immediately drew my sword, every instinct told me to strike.
" Minos." I glared.
The former ghost king chuckled. He sat down on one end of the table. He indicated Nico to do the same.
" What are you doing here?" I said.
" Gaea made me," He said like a toddler." Dragged me from the underworld.
I nodded." Is this my trial then? A…Mythomagic duel?"
Minos snorted," Stupid right?"
I didn't say anything aloud but Minos could see I was saying, Let's get this over with.
" There are some additional rules." Minos added. I nodded, expecting this, ready for a cut a finger each card you lose or something but instead it was:" You cannot look away from the board."
That was stupid, why would I look anywhere else? Unless it was a trick. Either way, I had to pass this trial.
" And this game goes on till you have no cards left."
As I sat down, a two decks of cards immediately appeared. I had never seen such a thick deck before.
" That's because it contains every single card known." Minos smirked, reading my mind." No, we will not be using all of those. Just 18 like the usual rules."
I grabbed the top one, which I had to slightly stand up for, then a few carefully in the middle.
Minos was already choosing their positions.
'So much for that rule,' I thought.
I glanced at my cards. They were moderate. I thought Minos would cheat or something but my cards looked perfectly random.
I had Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Hypnos, Nikey, Hephaestus, Hermes, and a few others. Then drew my support cards.
" So, rock paper sizers? Youngest goes first? How are we going to do this?" I questioned.
" Youngest goes first, I'm not into more games than I have to."
I picked Athena out first, and laid it face down on the board. Minos got one card and also put it down.
" Ready."
" Set."
" Go."
We both unanimously flipped our cards over. Athena, which was my knight, glowed.
Minos pulled out a Ares, which was a perfect match in my favor. I quickly defeated the Ares. Much to my dismay, Minos seemed unaffected.
Next, I used Apollo, along with a support card that multiplied stat increases by 50%. So now Apollo could heal +45 hp.
Again, Minos lost horribly. I didn't want to brag or anything, but I was really good at Mythomagic, back at my old school, where Percy and the others found me, I was a champion. For the next few rounds, I called a doubles, winning most of them.(like 3/4 times)
Suddely, I heard a man talking. The voice was awfully familiar, like my father.
" Please my dear," he said." You must come to the Underworld. I don't care what Persephone thinks! I can keep you safe there."
" No my love." Another heartbreakingly familiar voice." Raise our children in the land of the dead? I will not do this."
My heart ached as I realized what this was. It was my mother and my father, just before Zeus killed her. 'So that's the test,' I thought.'They want me to be able to face my past.'
But what Gaea obviously didn't know was that I had already put up terms with Maria, and the Lotus Hotel. I felt the urge to look, but it wasn't strong enough for me to break by commitment to pass this damn test.
My Poseidon, my bishop, checked the king. Minos would have to win using his king in the next round or else the game was mine.
" Maria listen to me. The war in Europe has turned other gods against me. A prophecy has been made. My children are no longer safe. Zeus and Poseidon have forced me into an agreement. None of us are to have demigod children every again."
" But you already have Nico and Bianca. Surley-"
" No! The prophecy warns of a child who will turn sixteen. Zeus has decreed that the children I have must be turned over to Camp Half Blood for proper training, but I know what it means. At best they'll be watched, imprisoned, turned against their father. Even more likely, he will not take a chance. He won't allow any demigod children to reach sixteen. He'll find a way to destroy them, I won't risk that!"
I knew what was coming next, so I prepared for the explosion and my Hypnos.
" Fine."
I nearly dropped my cards as I heard those foreign words come from Maria di Angelo's mouth. I twitched to watch what was going on, but I resisted. She was supposed to argue. Say there was no way Zeus could reach them. She was supposed to die opposing Zeus.
" Alright. Let's go tell the kids and pack their things."
With a shaky hand, I placed down my card. Minos saw this was getting to me. Especially when I (the younger me) laughed, laughed, as Hades said something about "Who's my little superhero?"
I slowly flipped the Hypnos card over. Minos exposing his king: Zeus. The scenes behind me were so distracting. My family, complete, took a hike and entered the Underworld. Maria gave Bianca and I a bath. The water, the giggles, the utter happiness of it that could've been mine if my mother had just agreed. I was aware of the changing scenes around me. It went from a child infested home to a serene looking hotel, then in the dark Underworld. It was all too distracting.
Minos took my Hypnos.
" Bye mom, I think it's best if me and Nico go to Camp Half-Blood, after all, we're already over sixteen, there shouldn't be any problems." Bianca said.
I wanted to cry.
" Yeah! And I heard the instructor was Chiron! A half horse dude! Who wouldn't want to see one of those?" Nico yelled enthusiastically. The brat was more immature than the current me, and I was three years younger.
" Alright, take care. I love you both so much." I heard two jabbed smooches.
It all went downhill from there. I lost one after the other due to ridiculous mistakes I didn't think I would normally make.
My heart ached. That's not me. It's an impostor. I'm suffering, please help me. How I wanted that smack on the cheek. I wanted to be cared for. I wanted to be that innocent child who knew nothing yet loved everything. I wanted to go to Camp Half Blood with my sister.
But Thanatos is the only one who loves me. Or maybe he cursed me. My mom died, and with my sister. My dad now thinks I'm some worthless boy who just happened to be chosen for a big prophecy, and that's the reason he's paying attention to me now.
I was left with one card. The last pathetic Dionysus. It was king because kings were useless.
" What's wrong Nico? You were doing so well in the beginning. What happened?" Minos said mockingly.
I stared at the one, pathetic card.(Don't tell Dionysus. He'll kill me) Useless. I was stupid. Getting riled up about something that defiantly will not happen. Now I jeopardized Annabeth, and I guess Merope's lives.
I put the card down in the middle. Minos had three cards left. The odds we're in his favor.
" Ready."
"Set."
"Go."
Minos exposed a Artemis, and I showed my pathetic Dionysus.
In the blink of an eye, I lost. Minos smiled victoriously.
" Looks like you still could get a few extra lessons from your old teacher."
Frustration built inside of me. I shouldn't have let the lie get to me. I dreaded the worst. Annabeth and Merope could be dying right now. Going through the same torture I endured with the Giants.
But at least now I can look right?
Suddenly, I remembered something left in my pocket. I pulled it out of my pants. It was a dark figure with black robes and pale skin. Hades. I smiled. This was Bianca's present to me.
I put down my latest king on the board.
Minos raised an eyebrow, asking what in the world I was doing.
" You said we'd battle till one of us has no cards left." Hades' cards manifested in front of me." Well I've got one more."
Minos frowned."You're smart Nico, but I still think that's cheating.
I put my last card face down. Minos did the same.
" Ready."
"Set."
" Go."
I saw Minos flip over his Artemis.
" I know the skill of Hades. He has a massive attack power. But It can only be used once so kids use it as a one shot win, or else you're dead."
Minos attacked first. I only sustained -400 life.
" Yeah, but I think you forgot that if Hades is attacked first, his power goes up to 5500."
I annihilated Artemis. Minos frowned.
For the next few rounds, I continuously won using just Hades.
" I'm here to help you on your first test." Hades said.
" Really!? Then can I borrow your Helm of Darkness or something?" Nico said.
" Nico, we don't need a Helm of Darkness." Bianca said, exasperated.
Lies. Lies. Lies.
I burned in anger as I regretted everything that had happened to me. My sister, my mother, even my father. Why couldn't I be living that life? Why do I have to feel so lonely all the time that I embrace the dark? I want to be the Nico I hear being an idiot right now.
Then be him. What's stopping you?
Everything.
Like?
...Myself.
Exactly.
Suddenly, my card glowed. Hades' attack and defense multiplied. The original stats went up by almost 300%. Minos stared, struck.
" What is happening?" He roared.
The card, yes the card released a blast of dark energy, knocking Minos back. I immediately understood.
" You're the king." I said, laughing."Because you're the Ghost King and you're my opponent!"
That was a bad pun.
Minos screamed in pain as the card dragged him back down to the Underworld.
The game was over. I wanted to look behind me, but I knew better. To look back was to hate the life I have right now, and now more than ever, I felt refreshed. If it had not been for my mother and father, I wouldn't have met Percy, Hazel, or any of the others. So why would I regret.
A wooden door opened in front of me, where the board used to be. As I took the handle, I heard it Bianca, or was it my mom, say something I would never forget.
" We love you, Nico."
I know I had just come to terms with myself about this alternate reality, but still, I regretted not seeing them one last time. I closed the door behind me.
The Mythomagic game is supposed to actually go more like magic the gathering, but I have no idea how to play that so I kinda made it chess-like/Pokemon, sorry if it kinda seemed weird. The real Mythomagic is most likely 100x more complicated than this. The rules are:
-draw 18 cards to start with on the 'deck', whether from the middle, or on top. or the bottom, but the deck has to be randomly shuffled. You cannot look at the deck or the twelve cards.
-Then draw 3 support cards.
-Choose which cards represent which people on the board.
-Once your opponent has also drew his 18, you go rock paper sizers, or some other such game to decide who goes first. After that it goes back and forth.
-The player can now look at their cards, make sure the other player can't see.
-for the first round, each person draws one card without looking at the other person's, and lay it face down on the middle of the board.
-at the same time, both players flip their cards. The one who goes first respectfully attacks.
-This keeps going until the other player is defeated.
-The person who wins can move the person the card used represents with their respective chess abilities. ( If the card won was a rook, then it can move in strait lines.)
-If the person on the board cannot make a move but their card won, then nothing happens.
-One person can request a duo, which is a fight between two cards, the player who wins the duo can move both cards in one turn. However, once requested, both players must agree.
-One person can also request a trio. Nothing beyond that
-Once a card is beaten, they must go to the bottom of the deck. The player cannot get it back unless by using a support card.
-A player loses when they have no more players.
The power and defense points are as follows(I made them up):
Zeus: Defense, 7000 Power, Lightning bolts that do 600 damage, intellectuality, 100
Hera: Defense, 3500 Power, 400 intellectuality, 600
Hades: Defense, 6000 Power, 4000 and 5500 is opponent attacks first(Can only use once a round unless refreshed, and also summon skeletons that do 50 damage along with whatever Hades does. He can summon up to 3) Intellectuality, 750
Poseidon: Defense, 6500(Power and Defense gets raised by 500 when in water)Power, 550 intellectuality, 350
Athena: Defense,4000 Power, 450 intellectuality, 1500 intellectual damage, 300(Once her opponent's intellectual stats are 0 or below, the opposing cannot attack for 3 turns)
Ares: Defense, 5000(endless blood for 3 turns) Power, 600 intellectual, 200
Aphrodite: Defense, 1500 Power, 100 intellectual, 200 Charm, 8000(opposing male gods assist her or beat themselves up.
Apollo: Defense, 5500(+30 every turn) Power, 400(Can also play music to make his opponent fall asleep for 2 turns) intellectual, 350
Artemis: Defense, 5500(can summon wolves to aid her. she can summon up to 3 with 30 attack power,) Power, 400(+30 every turn) intellectual, 600
Dionysus: Defense, 3000 Power, 500 intellectual, 300
Hypnos: Defense, 4500 Power, 450 (when ever he attacks, the opponent's attack the next time decreases by 20%; Once he attacked three times, the opponent falls asleep for one turn) intellectual, 600
Kronos: Infinite attack and defense, Intellectual, 600
That took forever...
Sum: In Nico's trial, he duels Minos in Mythomagic. Nico was victorious for the most part in the beginning, but then the true face of the trial is shown. He senses all around him, of an alternate reality where his mother didn't die and instead went to the underworld like his father had wanted. As a life that could never be his revolves around him, Nico struggles with himself, regretting, ad trying his best not to look back at the past, because if he does, he loses. In the end, Nico accepts that he would not want to be in that other time, only because then he wouldn't have been able to meet all his friends. He realizes just because my past is depressing doesn't mean I have to. Nico defeated all of Minos' cards with the Hades his sister died to get him.
Chapter 20 end