Skeletons
Another skull was found right next to the first, this one had half of its face blown off. Nico recognized it to be one of his father's skeletal soldiers, as it wore a helmet bearing his father's sigil. All around them were shattered bones, some even had metal shards etched within them. Nico recognized it to be the work of canons, the same that rocked the valley above.
"What happened here?" He muttered to himself.
41, now noticing his weird behavior, produced a flare from her pouch and lit it, she gasped at the sight.
On the ground were shards of charred bones, many looked like they had been corroded in some kind of acid. Aside from that, the dirt seemed greyer than usual. Tiny specks that resemble the color of the flesh tone of ghouls were scattered in the soil.
After the duo got over the shock of the entire skeletons-in-the-backyard thing, something else drew 41's attention.
"There's something over there," 41 pointed due west, "Can you dig that way?"
As they got closer, Nico could feel it as well, something powerful, ancient, and no longer vibrant… Something quite similar to the crater of Iapetus. The crypt of a fallen god. It had to be someone really powerful to radiate such energy even so long after death. The dirt was almost boiling with energy in front of them.
Soon, the soil turned a magical golden, the color of ichor. In fact, there was a circle of golden ichor-stained dirt shaped… as a crater. Nico estimated the remains to be roughly three millennia old, around the time of the first titanomachy. For some reason, Thanatos' words kept ringing in his ears.
"Some of the older ghosts still remember what happened in the first…" titan war. Could this be what Thanatos was talking about? A massacre that took out an entire army? It was a god buried in the earth and at least a million of skeletons and ghouls around him. As far as he knew, there were no ghouls in his father's service ever. Most likely they were fighting on opposite sides, this ancient god was ambushed, just as Iapetus had tried to do him. That would explain his father's odd behavior around the Valley of Death. The place was ground zero for another battle, fought millennia ago, one where a god faded.
"Is it what I think it is?" Breathed Nico.
"It's a titan," 41 confirmed, "Surrounded by a lot of your father's warriors and a good few ghouls as well, I guess your father pulled the same trick on him as well."
"Wait, a titan? No, it's a god." Nico corrected, "Trust me."
"No, there's titan blood in there, I can feel it. Calm your mind, do you feel the wrath?" Now that she said it, Nico did feel something eerie about the crater. No wonder it was so powerful, there were two deities in the mix. But how 41 could sense titan blood miles away, that was beyond him.
"What do you think happened here?" She asked. Her eyes still fixed on the golden earth before them.
That was a good question, what did happen here? A titan and a god blown to kingdom come, surrounded by two armies. Back then, they're not likely to be best buddies in a war. They were blown up by immortal killing cannons. Not exactly peaceful, probably a battle.
"Same thing that happened above." They muttered at the same time.
"Was that your guess or do you actually know that?" Nico inquired.
"Wild guess, I thought you knew. I wonder why nobody ever told us about this."
"Well, it could incite hate and fear among the soldiers, make them more loyal and fight harder. If it were up to me, I'd have it plastered on every wall."
"Propaganda, good thinking. However, neither the gods nor the titans told anyone about it. Which means either the gods and the titans all lost their brain cells, or, there's more to the story."
"Probably because neither would like to admit they sent one of their own on a suiside mission?"
No wonder they didn't release the details of the mission. A suicide mission and firing on their own troops? That'll tank trust in commanders quicker than anything. And now, Nico wondered if he should tell anyone about this particular mission. Hell, he didn't even know how to feel about it himself. His own father fired the shells above the ones that would've killed him, had he not spared his unexpected friend. Even though Hades might not have known he was alive, he still sent him on a mission that he assumed would prove fatal. As much as he refused to believe it, Hades wasn't a good leader or parent. It's not that his father didn't love him, he does, it's just that there were other things of greater importance. Nico was in turmoil, he never thought his father would straight out lie to him. Sure, he kept him out of the discussion on the Olympian Counsel, but that's it, that was where he drew the line. And it didn't help with the near constant whispering of 41.
"See, the gods didn't give a damn about you. Your own father sent you on a mission even he thought was suicidal, so he bombed the entire valley you were in. See the gods, they and their immortality, is paramount to them. Now see here, we have—"
"You ain't got nothing!" Nico finally cracked, "You ain't got nothing, you hear me? The titans ain't no better than the gods. Remember how I found you? You were lying face down on the ground from a suicide charge your uncle ordered. Your father didn't give two craps whether you lived or died, he made you as an experiment, a bunch of chemicals and whatnot that happened to produce a little baby weapon. You know what that makes you? Disposable! Easy to toss aside. He ain't have to do anything to have you cower before him. That's why he threw you to Iapetus, your own uncle, a sadistic dirtbag. The titans aren't any better. You ain't better off than I am. So don't walk around acting like you are!"
After his screaming rant, Nico proceeded to sit down against the wall, with his face buried in his arms and curled up into a ball. He had wanted to let it all out for quite some time now. The yelling, though satisfying, also took a toll on him. Before he could shy away from the truth, drown himself in training, pretend that he did not see the signs. He became the perfect son and soldier, obedient, diligent, cold and loyal to a fault. Hoping that if he did his part, his father would shower him with love and care in return. He even went out of his way to be nice to Persephone, put up with the bland gardening lessons. Yet he still fell short. He knew that long ago, yet he didn't believe it. Saying it somehow breaks the magical spell and now he is exposed to the cold hard truth. His father really abandoned him, like his sister.
Tears began streaming down his cheeks in beads. Nico snatched the Mythomagic Hades figure from his pocket and held it to his chest. He was alone, again. How could he be so useless, so worthless? His sister loved him, but had more important things in life. His father kinda loved him, but he too had more important things. Nothing had changed. He was still the little boy in the woods, still the useless gods-damned little boy in the woods, shedding tears himself with that worthless gods-damned toy.
41 sat beside him, silent. She was quite taken aback by Nico's sudden outburst, really. She was prepared for yelling, silence, even a punch to the gut. But this was honestly unexpected. She was a hundred something years old (courtesy of Father Time), and she never allowed herself to cry. Normally, when she encountered some scaredy-cat new recruits, she'd punch them in the face and tell them they were cowards to cry. That was not the case with the kid in front of her. He'd seen a lot, trained probably as hard as she had, carried himself as a soldier. He'd even took on multiple titans without even getting much of a fright. Heck, this was a guy who had reached such heights that he casts a shadow of shame over all those around him by virtue of meritocracy. How could someone so strong cry so vulnerably?
41 reached over clumsily to pat Nico on the back. But as soon as her hand touched him, he shot up, suddenly self-aware that he had cried in front of a random stranger. He snuffed out the flare and enveloped himself in darkness, unwilling to show this embarrassing naive side of himself.
After who knows how long the sniffs grew less frequent and Nico blew his nose.
"What do you fight for then?"
His voice was raspy from the sobs, making him sound even huskier.
"What do you fight for then?" He asked again, noticing that 41 had zoned out staring at him in the dark.
"The people." she replied simply. "Utilitarianism, remember?"
"And you think you know best?" Nico blew his nose, finally sitting up a bit.
"Well, I for one thing have nothing to gain in the war, and nothing to lose. That makes me impartial."
"And you think the titans are the best choice?"
"Who said anything about that? I think the world would be best without immortals altogether."
"Huh?" Nico snorted, 41 was sounding even crazier. "And you're gonna do something about it?"
"Yup, not only me. Many other demigods are plotting the same thing. Luke, for instance is planning to take over. I don't exactly agree with him on that matter though, but he would be an ally."
"And you're telling me this why?"
"I think you have seen things, the injustice. And I think you're someone who could see sense in this. You're lost, you no longer know what to believe."
"How would you know?"
"The fact that you did not kill me in the valley." In the darkness, Nico could see her sly smile, "You do not want to hurt me, which means you are not some brainless puppet of the gods.."
"Yeah? What if I was planning to get information from you and kill you later?"
"Then I'd die, might as well get all buddied up with you. Maybe you might put in a few good words with the Underworld judges." She joked. "Besides, you just confirmed it."
"I'm not going to be a part of it, do you hear me?" Nico stated flatly, instinctively in his father's defense, "You and your revolution nonsense, why would I help? I am not going to betray my father."
"Well, you don't know what the immortals have been keeping from you," 41 winked, she had a remarkable talent to converse dead serious topics with an almost playful attitude. "Besides, it's not like the gods care about you either, what do you think is going to happen to you after the war? My guess is that it's not going to be pleasant."
"That's not true, father does care about me. He — he trained me, pulled me out of the hell after my sister left."
"Really? And when is your birthday again?" 41's innocent smile seemed almost menacing in the dark, Nico shuddered but met her charge head on.
"I will turn 16 next year on June 15, but don't tell me haven't figured that out yet."
"Oh, no, not that boring date, I'm asking about the day you were born, the day you have cake and blow out candles on."
Nico fell silent, he never recalled such a day. After his new life, he never had time to celebrate anything, only then that he realised that he had nothing to celebrate. His birthday was long forgotten even before his new life, he had no memory of it, not even the memories his father salvaged from the Lithe shown anything of that matter. No, his birthday had been lost, what remains is yearly reminder of a deadline on June 15th.
"But what about you, when's your birthday then?"
"That's the beauty of the thing, I don't have one, which means as far as I'm concerned, every day is my birthday, until I decide otherwise."
"When will that be then?"
"Someday when I accomplish something great. Something that defines who I am. I'll know it when I do it."
"If you were so bold, then why not ask your old man about it?"
"Here's the thing," 41 leaned in, "I do not define myself from my lineage, I shall decide who I am, NOT my biscuit of a father. For you… you are a different case. When you decide to grow a pair, ask Hades about your birthday."
With that she flashed away, wearing a mischievous smile.