'Nico di Angelo?' I looked over. Dionysus was sitting on a concrete block near the climbing wall. I sighed and walked over to where he was sitting. 'Sir.' He pushed a mug into my hand. 'Is there an emergency that you want to talk about right now?'

I raised my eyebrows. 'No. I thought there was something you wanted to discuss. Because you were the one to call me over, push a mug into my hand and with that announce that therapy is in session.' I sat down next to him.

'That's true, but if there is something urgent going on, I'd rather we'd talk about that than about what I had in mind.'

'Thanks, but there is nothing. We can go on with what you had planned.' Dionysus nodded. My mug filled itself with Anise milk. I held it in my lap while I prepared myself for what was about to come.

'The next thing I wanted to talk about was…' yeah, yeah, Bianca. '...Hades.'

Wait. What is this that you are saying? '...Hades?' I almost let the mug slip from my hands. 'As in… about the Underworld? The place?'

'No, I meant your father. Now, I know, Nico, that this will be a difficult subject…'

'Didn't you… I thought you wanted to talk about Bianca. Because… last time...' I was so confused that I couldn't say anything else.

'I wanted to talk about a few things, in multiple sessions, that all tie back to your sister.' He got a concerned look in his eyes. It almost seemed as if he thought he had made a mistake. 'But as I was saying: I know this will be a difficult subject. Yet, I also think it will be one of the cornerstones on the way to recovery.'

Oh, he knows this will be difficult. That apparently makes it better. I looked him dead in the eye.

There were a few seconds of silence. 'Can you tell me what you are thinking right now?'

'Probably exactly what you think I am thinking: why did you not give me any word ahead, so I could prepare? I just... I was there, and then I was here, and...And… why did you not give me any word ahead, so I could prepare? I just…' I shook my head. And… why did you not give me any word ahead, so I could prepare? I just…'Also, I... I mean... why would I tell an Olympian god what I, or, the son of another high-ranking god, feel about that god? I…' I stopped. This might as well be received as disrespectful. 'Go on, Nico. It's alright. I understand what you are getting at.'

Sure, sure. 'Well… that… hm.' I hunched over my shoulders. 'Whatever I say might as well become an arrow in the quiver later down the line. Maybe that will take years, or centuries, but it might as well be next … why did you not give me any word ahead, so I could prepare? I just…' I tapped the bench and shook my head again. 'I just was walking through camp, and...' I pressed my mug against my chest.

Dionysus nodded slowly. 'I… know. I understand that you are uncomfortable with this subject.' He looked at the concrete for a moment. 'And… that I could have warned you beforehand.'

I did not answer. I felt repulsed to saying anything right now. 'I am going to the bathroom for a moment.'

'Of course.'

When I came back, I still did not know how to talk or what to say. So instead of using words, I just looked at my mug. After some time, Dionysus coughed. I did not look up, but I could hear the remorse in his words. 'Maybe… I should have told you in more detail how I am planning to help you.' You think? 'I think I might have gotten the wrong impression that you easily adapt to most subjects.'

'What… How…' My hands were shaking a bit. A droplet of milk fell onto my pants. 'Can you do that now, then? Explain it, I mean?'

He nodded. 'Well, eh... first of all, we can take as much time as you think you will need with what I've got planned.' I slowly nodded, but still did not look up. 'What I want to do is try to get to the very core of the grief you feel for your sister, so we can try to work through that and help you manage it. Not just because it will make carrying that grief, that went unchecked for so long, easier, but also because I think it will be a way to talk about other stuff that is plaguing you. For example, how you felt about Percy Jackson…' At this point, my heart skipped a beat, until I realised he was probably talking about how I hated him. I still felt like I would never tell Dionysus about how I had truly felt about Percy. '...but also about Jason Grace and, not a small feat, your journey through Tartarus.' The word 'journey' rubbed me the wrong way. As if it had been a fun walk through the woods. 'And I think that when we combine all of those issues, we might be able to actively work on silencing the voices in your head, not just on living with them. I think Hades is someone who had a part in how you feel about Bianca and that is why I wanted to talk about him first. He is something that deserves his own conversation, but also something that ties into a bigger issue. I think we first need to talk about Hades, before we can properly talk about Bianca. Now, as I said before, I might have ran ahead of you.' A short break, a few seconds of silence. 'Now I ask you: how do you feel about all this?'

I took the time to think of an answer, and Dionysus respected that. In the meantime, I drank up my anise milk. 'I think that it is a good idea to try and tackle the subjects like that, even though we both know that it will be hard and difficult work. I think it will be worth it if it will really help me feel better. But…' I looked at my hands. '...I would have really appreciated it if you had told me ahead what you were planning on doing. Because the talk about king Minos also ties into this, doesn't it?'

A nod.

'Yes. So… that.' I put my hand over the cup.

'I am glad you still trust me enough to go on. And, Nico…' he wiped a lock of hair out of his face, 'I… I guess I feel sorry that I did not tell you earlier. That was a mistake and I'll try not to make it again.' It dawned on me that it was the first time during the therapy sessions that he had truly apologised to me. Actually, it was the first time ever that I heard a god apologise.

'Thanks.' Now, I looked up. We were both smiling. 'I think I will be ready for the next session in a couple of days.'

'Then you are free for now. I'll throw you a juice box sometime soon.' I put down my mug and stood up. 'Bye, Dionysus.'

'Bye, Nico.'

My smile faded while I was walking to the Apollo cabin. I knocked and asked for Will, who immediately came to the door, put his arm around my shoulders and walked towards my cabin with me. There, we sat down on the porch. 'It's alright, Nico.'

I softly grabbed his face and kissed him. He put both of his arms around my waist. After I pulled back, I slumped against his chest and slid my own arms around him. 'Dionysus just told me… it will be difficult. In short, he wants to tackle a few things so that we can get on the road to feeling better about Bianca. After that, he wants to continue with everything that happened after her death.' I pushed my head against his chest. I felt afraid.

'That… that sounds like it will be a rough next few weeks.'

'I'd… I'd say months.' Will pulled me closer and pressed a kiss onto my forehead.

'You can do this. I know you can. And what is a few months, or even a few years, if it means a happier rest of your life after that?'

I did not answer. Will´s arms were warm and comfortable and it made me feel a little, a little safer. He would understand it.

A/N: This was a difficult chapter to write, because I set out to write a chapter about Hades, but then I realised I needed this in order to make that. Nico would not just trust Dionysus out of nowhere. It took a lot of thinking, coca-cola zero and Hadestown in the background to get to this.

In the next chapter, they'll continue about Hades. I got a suggestion that I should write about Nico talking to Hades and not only about Hades as well, and I think I am going to try to built that in somewhere.