Muspelheim, it turned out, was a hell in and of itself.

How he'd managed to even get there, Nico wasn't sure. Anubis had said this and that, and Nico had shadow-travelled here and there, and somehow, they ended up in Muspelheim.

"This place is the worst!" Nico yelled inside his mind. The muscles in his thighs burned from the exertion of running from the various creatures he'd encountered. He finally got a break after running from a few fire elementals. He managed to hide in a cave of sorts, the elementals soaring past him.

He tried to catch his breath. The air felt near burning as he shakily drew in lungfuls.

"I admit it's not the most pleasant of planes," Anubis muttered in his head. "But the plants that manage to grow here have some very interesting properties, that being the reason we are here, after all."

Nico grimaced as he heard a screech from a creature above him. He slowly looked up at the ceiling in the cave, four glowing, red eyes gleaming in the dim light in the cave.

"Fuck," Nico groaned.

Two lizards wreathed in flame dropped down onto the floor of the cave, hissing at him.

The son of Hades grasped his sword, raising it defensively.

The lizard on the left let out a gurgling sound as it suddenly spit fire towards him. Nico jumped backwards to avoid the yellow flames, and the other lizard lunged at his leg. They were smart enough to attack at the same time, unlike many of the other monsters he had fought over the years. The lizard managed to bite his leg, a burning heat searing his skin.

"Hades!" Nico cursed out loud. He jabbed the point of his sword into the reptile's back. Its essence was immediately absorbed by the blade.

"Are you okay?" sounded Anubis' worried voice in his head.

"Megera! Morire!" Nico grumbled angrily. He turned to the remaining lizard. It had raised up on its haunches. Fire-like saliva was dripping from its maw, probably the reason the other's bite had hurt so badly. He made a feint to the side, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The lizard fell for it, launching itself forward, only to be sliced in half. The lizard let out a surprised gurgle before being absorbed.

Nico sat down, pulling his pant leg up. The skin around the wound was an angry red, the bite itself having closed up, most likely from a cauterizing effect of the fiery saliva. The wound didn't seem fine, though.

The demigod cursed in ancient Greek. He grabbed a bandage from his backpack, wrapping the wound tightly. It hurt, but was survivable. He broke off a tiny piece of ambrosia from his travelling stash. As it melted on his tongue he leaned back against the cave wall, waiting for the medicine to take effect.

"You sure you're okay to continue?" Anubis asked.

Nico closed his eyes, resting his head on the warm surface of rock. "Yeah. I'll be fine once the ambrosia starts working."

"That's pretty strong medicine, huh?"

"Yeah, demigods can't eat too much of it, or we'll be poisoned by it. It's meant for the gods, but since we're half god, we can have a little of it."

"What does it taste like?" Anubis wondered.

"It depends on the person," Nico explained. "It usually tastes of what you like the most. But I think it can be affected by the mood of the person eating it."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, this time it tasted like a certain sweet treat that we got at the Lotus Casino, and I certainly don't love that place."

"Who's we?" Anubis asked.

Nico smiled softly at the memory. "Oh. My sister, Bianca, and I spent around 70 years in a magical casino. Time passed at a rapid pace outside, but felt like nothing on the inside."

Anubis was silent in his mind, clearly waiting for him to continue.

"There were some seriously nice sweet treats there, and Bianca and I gorged ourselves on those." He stopped to laugh softly. "We actually stole some from the other guests sometimes. We would hide under tables with super long tablecloths and eat them in secret." He paused to grab his backpack, getting up. "I don't want to ever go back there, but some of my few memories with Bianca were there, so as much as I hate that place, I still remember some things fondly."

"It sounds like she was very important to you," Anubis said, his voice soft.

Nico smiled sadly as he let his mind fill with memories of Bianca, letting Anubis see what she was like when she was alive. "Yeah. She had to take care of me after our mother died."

He could swear he could feel Anubis' sadness at his words. "I'm sorry that you had to be alone for so long."

Nico stopped in his tracks at that. Tears welled in his eyes. It felt like Anubis immediately knew what he feared the most, and what he had been forced to endure after his family members had been ripped from this world.

"Thank you, Anubis," the son of Hades said, his voice shaking with emotion.

Anubis was quiet in his mind, but Nico could feel his emotions like a warmth on the back of his neck.

It hurt to put weight on his wounded leg, but not so bad that he couldn't walk. He carefully tested it by jumping a little. A stinging pain ran up the length of his leg. No jumping then.

He grit his teeth and started walking.

"The fiery fir seeds grow around the base of a mountain not far from here," Anubis' voice spoke up in his head.

"As long as we don't have to run into any more lizards," Nico grumbled as he trudged on.

Anubis laughed softly, making Nico smile. It was a surprisingly pleasant sound.

He slowly made his way towards the mountain, careful to stay away from any potential threats. As he walked he couldn't keep himself from asking some burning questions he had for the god.

"Okay, you'll probably be stuck in my head for some time, so I have some questions," Nico said.

Anubis was silent for a second. "Okay, shoot."

Nico ducked beneath the branch of a red palm tree. "What exactly are you the god of?"

He could almost feel the amusement of the god. "Well. I'm the god of embalming, as well as funerals. I am also in charge of leading the souls of the dead to the Hall of Judgement."

As the son of Hades walked on, Anubis explained how the judgement worked, with the feather of truth and Amit devouring unworthy souls. The god told him about his family, about which gods didn't get along, about his father Seth, and what he was like as a father figure.

"I haven't had the best relationship with Hades either," Nico said. "But, he's trying now, y'know. And I have Hazel too, so that's something at least."

Anubis hummed. "I'm happy for you. It's never too late to try."

Nico smiled. He walked up a steep hill, almost having to climb some of it. His shin burned when the muscle tensed. He grit his teeth and continued his journey upwards. At the top, he almost collapsed from the strain on his body.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Anubis asked.

"Yeah, just peachy," Nico grumbled.

He looked up, and was met with the sight of a red forest. A tall mountain rose up from the ground in front of him. Hundreds of red fir trees surrounded the base.

"Is this the place?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Nico breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't wait to leave this place. He started walking towards the trees, looking for whatever those seeds looked like. "What am I looking for exactly?"

"The seeds are inside pinecones, and they only open when exposed to open fire," Anubis explained.

Nico paused. "Can't I just grab a pine cone then? They have loads of seeds, and we only need two."

Anubis was silent for a second. "I didn't really think about that."

Nico laughed out loud.

He made his way over to one of the trees. He looked up into the branches of the tree. "I'm guessing the cones are way up there, huh."

"Yup."

Nico put his backpack down at the roots of the tree and started to climb. As he ascended, he could just barely make out the shapes of pinecones in the upper branches. He scrambled to get up there, feeling his calf scream in pain at every step.

He grabbed the branch above him, pulling his weight up slowly, trying not to put too much weight on his right leg. He hauled his body up on the branch, seeing the cones just above his head. He balanced with weight on his left leg, gripping the branch above to stay still. He saw lots of cones in the spiny branches over his head. He stretched up and grabbed two cones.

He started as something suddenly stuck to his hand. It looked like spider web.

Not wasting any time, he sliced off the web. He looked around, on guard. A chattering sound above him made his head snap up. There was a spider in the branches.

How the hell had he not seen that.

Pocketing the cones, he started to climb down.

"Shit, shit, fuck!"

"I had no idea that would be up there, sorry!" Anubis said apologetically.

Nico slipped on the branch beneath him, falling down to the next one. Unfortunately, he landed on his feet. His calf burned as his full weight landed on it and he buckled at the pain, losing his balance.

He felt like a cartoon character grasping at air as he fell from the branch. His back hit the lower branches, a sickening crack sounding as he landed.

"Aaaugh!" he shouted.

"Nico!" Anubis' voice sounded terribly worried.

Nico's body wasted no time in falling farther down the tree. He hit a branch with his front. He felt a stinging pain in his abdomen as well as his breath getting knocked out of him. He fell from that branch onto the ground, landing painfully on his arm, his head following suit, smashing into the ground.

"Ah… Fuck…" he muttered. His eyes tried to focus on the spider climbing down the side of the tree-trunk. Black spots covered his sight. Shit. He was losing consciousness.

"Nico! Please stay awake!"

Anubis' shouting in his head made his vision clear a little, but it soon started to swim again. He could barely see the spider descending menacingly as his vision faded to black.

"Nico! Please wake up!" Anubis shouted in his head.

Something was shaking his shoulders. He opened his eyes and saw Anubis' worried face stare down at him.

"Hey," Nico said dumbly. "What's up?"

Anubis looked even more worried. "You have to wake up!"

Nico felt like his head was scrambled. "But I'm awake."

Anubis' hands cupped his cheeks and closed his eyes.

Nico studied his facial features. His mouth was set in a firm line, but his lips looked full and kinda soft. His eyebrows were drawn together in concentration, his dark eyelashes gently resting on his cheekbones. Nico frowned. He wanted to see the god's eyes.

Raising a hand, he poked the side of Anubis' face. He blinked his eyes open. They were a deep brown colour, a little darker than Nico's own.

The demigod giggled. "Your face is pretty."

Anubis didn't seem to think that was amusing based on his expression. He put Nico down gently on the deck of the boat. As he sat back on his heels, he ran his hands through his hair.

Nico looked at him from his spot on the deck. The god looked uncertain. He mumbled in some language Nico didn't understand. Anubis had ditched his jacket and Nico felt his eyes drawn to his biceps. They were surprisingly well-toned. He couldn't resist the urge to touch one. He reached a hand out to squeeze the other's left bicep. It was well-toned. He felt Anubis jolt at the touch.

"You're strong," Nico said, his fingers sliding along the god's tricep.

Anubis ignored him, mumbling to himself. "It's no use, I have to do it…" He turned to Nico. "I gotta do something. You might not hear me for a while."

Nico frowned. "I don't wanna be alone…"

Anubis grasped his hand. "I know. I'll try to make it quick."

Nico blinked, dark spots invading his vision. He felt his strength leave him as his vision grew dark.