CHAPTER SUMMARY
Thalia and Alabaster try to save Nico. Zeus's tornado continues to wreak havoc. Cho makes a decision.
BEGINNING NOTES
Chapter Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Content Warning: Cursing, Violence (mild), Sexual Imagery (mild), Torture (mentioned only)
Word Count: 3831
I'm going to be real with you guys for a sec.
So, I didn't post last week because I was kind of thinking. While I love this story, it's getting hard for me to get into it since I'm also posting my new fic, "Shoot and Arrow Through His Heart." That's why I keep missing uploads and uploading so late. I'm fatigued, in a way.
The thing is, I've been involved in this particular universe for a while, years, long enough that I'm getting a little sick of it. It's so much easier to post one chapter a week instead of three.
So, this is what I'm going to do. I'm just going to post it all in one dump. I'll post a few chapters each day, like maybe 2-3, ending on some major plot cliffhanger or whatever, until, in like two weeks, the story's over. I'll also answer comments on the first chapter of that day. It's just something I HAVE to do or I'm not going to finish posting this story at all. I know this means I'll get a lot fewer hits on this story, and that it might overwhelm you guys enough that you'll stop reading, but it's just something I have to do for myself. I hope you understand.
Three other quick notes for this chapter:
1. Fanous is the Roman name for Pan.
2. When something is both bold and italic, it's in Ancient Greek. I don't have access to the Greek keyboard so I had to improvise.
3. This is one of my favorite chapters. Hands down.
And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.
_THALIA_
No one rejoiced when they saw the "Welcome to Yellowstone National Park" sign as Newt made his descent. They didn't mind that the sun was finally rising over the horizon, bathing them in its bronze glow. They didn't notice that their divine blizzard had given way to green grass and crisp, winter air.
They couldn't care less, because Nico di Angelo was dying.
Alastor's poison didn't just kill him, it made him suffer. He cried out again and again as his sickly, feverish body convulsed in spasms that got more and more frequent with every mile they flew. Each time his anguished mumbles came out in a language Thalia could understand, she filled in another piece of the puzzle that was the Ghost King. She gathered that he was having the same dreams over and over again, and that, in part, the Pact of the Big Three linked them together. The worst sin of their fathers, but, clearly, one of them suffered more from it than the others. Beyond being a pine tree for a few years, Thalia didn't see what negative impact it had on her life. Nor Percy's, except having to vaporize his pre-algebra teacher when he was twelve. No, the Pact caused lasting, permanent damage on only one.
And he was being tortured right in front of her.
"Sarà tutto come prima? Stop lying, Bianca, hic est de quo dixi vobis," Nico moaned.
Thankfully, he chose to stay in Latin for a while. Italian and Ancient Greek were his favorites, and when he settled on Ancient Greek, she caught every word he said. Being forced to hear his agony was so horrible that, when it happened, Thalia forgot she was up in the air for the first time in her life.
"This is Yellowstone?" Roszí gasped when Newt landed in the park.
"Yup," Ianthe replied. "What about it?"
"I know these lands. Lady Artemis guided us here when the power of the gods shifted from England. A war raged, before thy Revolution, I do not remember-"
"French and Indian War?" Alabaster suggested.
"Yes," Roszí said, dreamlike. "Lady Artemis wanted us to see true archers in valiant battle. Few in Europe chose arrows over muskets, but these natives did. After, we journeyed west to Russia. We camped here. I remember a Nereid. She is a healer. She may help..." she tried to say 'Nico' but failed. "Thy friend."
As long as they're not arguing-wait did she say healer?!
"Where would she be?!" Alabaster demanded. "It's only nine-thirty, we can save Nico!"
"Centuries hath passed since I met this Nereid, boy . She may live here no longer. Time runs short! We must not-"
"Stop, Roszí, a kid is dying," Thalia snapped. "We can spare a half-hour. Do you remember where you met this Nereid?"
"A large lake."
"Fuck, can you be more specific? There's a million lakes out here-"
Ianthe cleared her throat. She pointed to a bright blue arrow on the wooden road sign to their left.
Duck Lake. 0.9 miles.
Thalia pat Newt on the shoulder blade. "I know you're tired. Alabaster can carry death boy for you. Why don't you run into the hills and find yourself a nice meal? Meet us over there soon, okay?" The thestral roared in approval, then flew off towards the plains.
Alabaster took the squirming Nico in his arms. "I got you, Nico," he said, voice thick with guilt, "We've gone through worse. You'll get out of this, too."
_PERCY_
For the first time ever, when Percy laid down to force himself to sleep, he wanted to dream. He was on the cold, metal floor of the Ares cabin with Hazel and Rachel; all his friends were somewhere else, and he wanted to know where. He needed to know Annabeth was okay most of all. He couldn't lose her less than a week after they promised each other that they would have forever.
Luckily or unluckily, Morpheus answered his prayer.
Jason, Leo, and Piper ran through camp. Leaves and branches fell like rain around them, and every few seconds another huge branch fell off and joined the fray. More than once, a tree close to his friends was hit by lightning and fell to Earth in a fiery blaze of glory. The three of them screamed and dodged like they were running an obstacle course. The debris in the air obscured their vision so much that they kept shouting each other's names like they were playing a high-stakes game of Marco Polo.
"Look! Leo!" Calypso yelled. She ran to a smoking golf cart attached to an enormous bronze frame. It was at least twenty feet in diameter, charred, and smoking. Leo was trapped underneath, bruised, bleeding, and gasping like he couldn't breathe. They ran to his side.
"Calypso? Piper? Jason? What are you doing here?" he asked weakly between bloody coughs.
"We came to get you, you annoying- oh, Leo!" Calypso turned to the others. "Help me!"
The three of them pulled at the frame, trying to lift it off Leo. "It's too heavy!" Jason grunted. "Please, Dad, Nico won't listen to you if you let us die!"
"Push the horn," Leo instructed, his voice growing weaker by the second.
"Right!" Jason smacked himself on the head. "I'm so stupid! Piper, press the button, I'll hold the cart up, so it doesn't fall over and hit Leo. Calypso, you pull him out when the shield retracts!"
They got into position. "One, two, three!" Piper shouted over the wind, then pressed the button. Jason grunted with effort as he held the golf cart upright, despite the amount of force the tornado put on him. His arms failed him, but Calypso pulled Leo out of the way just in time. The golf cart hit the ground, right where Leo's chest used to be.
Leo fainted in Calypso's arms. "We have to get Leo back to Will!" she screamed.
The three of them ran towards the Big House in the distance, avoiding object after object being thrust in their way. Percy tried not to notice how limp Leo seemed in Calypso's arms.
Now, Blaise Zabini and Hestia Carrow stood in an alley with his mom and Paul. Cars, flipped upside down in the tornado, blocked both ways out. There was no way to escape the alley without climbing one of the car-mountains, which would be impossible in the current weather. Fierce winds whipped their grimy hair and tattered clothes. "We can't go on foot anymore, Sally," Paul said.
"I know. But they could have a concussion. How much energy do you have to apparate?"
"Paul's right," Hestia said, "We have to apparate to Camp Half-Blood. It's the only place we might be safe, and we can't get to Long Island on foot without dying."
Blaise nodded. "We took lessons at Hogwarts. We know how to do it. We have to try."
Mom pursed her lips. She clearly didn't want to risk hurting them, but one look around confirmed they had no other option. "What do we have to do?" She sounded so tired and defeated. Percy wanted to smack Zeus in his divine face for hurting his mom. She wasn't easily worn down.
"Take our hands," Blaise said. Mom and Paul did so, and the four disappeared with the sound of a car backfiring. They materialized on a Half-Blood Hill. The situation was no better for them than it was for Jason, Piper, Calypso, and Leo.
"Look out!" Paul shouted. He pulled the others to the ground, and not a moment too soon. A tree crashed right where they were standing. Percy expected them to flee, but they didn't. They cowered behind the tree, using it as a bunker of some sort.
That's when Percy heard the sound of wings flapping in the air. The thin, wrinkled, golden arms of a gargoyle reached out to his family and the followers of Hecate, teeth bared. Hestia pointed her wand at the monster. "Pertrificus to- AHHH!" Far too human-like hands stretched towards her. Four screams echoed into the night.
Then, they were suddenly silenced.
Percy woke in the Ares cabin. The storm outside raged, but he only heard the sound of his heart drumming in his chest.
_CHO_
CONSPIRACY INSIDE THE MINISTRY:
HOW A MINISTRY COVER-UP ENDANGERED OUR CHILDREN
LONDON-It has been a year-and-a-half now since the late Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore first claimed to have seen He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named return from the dead. Many ministry spokespeople have dismissed these claims as rumors and lies, saying Dumbledore has lost his senses and Potter was using the Headmaster of Hogwarts's declining mental health to gain more fame. With ample evidence to these claims in the media, much of the public has accepted this as gospel.
But is there more to the tale? An anonymous informant has given this reporter some information that challenges the narrative the Ministry has given.
What do we know? Minister Cornelius Fudge passed a series of decrees known as the Hogwarts Laws to rein in Albus Dumbledore's recent questionable decisions. Fudge appointed Dolores Umbridge, a well-known and well-respected member of the Ministry, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts after the headmaster failed to find a replacement in time. She was exceedingly popular among the staff and students when she taught last year, eventually choosing to return to her former work in the ministry now that Dumbledore rehired Remus Lupin to take Umbridge's former position.
A ministry insider, however, paints a very different story.
Our informant alleges that the Hogwarts Laws passed were not to improve the school and rein in a man who saw the ghost of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but to increase Minister Fudge's own power. Umbridge purposefully taught the students at Hogwarts little to nothing in an attempt to keep them from resisting an increasingly harsh and powerful government. When students misbehaved, she allegedly used torture to keep them in line. Umbridge did not choose to leave Hogwarts-Dumbledore forced her to resign after such accusations came to light.
Where was the ministry in all this? According to our informant, the department heads not only knew of these intentions but applauded them. By all accounts, Umbridge's actions at Hogwarts came straight from Minister Fudge himself and were subsequently covered by the ministry staff and contacts at the Daily Prophet.
The Wizarding World must now ask itself: how much of what we know about Dumbledore's deteriorating health is true, and how much came from a ministry who planned to seize power? Did Potter and Dumbledore ever genuinely claim He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named returned from the grave? How independent is the Daily Prophet from its government? And, most importantly, what should be done to keep such events from happening again?
This was her proof. Somehow, her dream was real. Cho realized now that You-Know-Who would be her call to arms. The official story of Harry's death-the Whomping Willow killed him during an evening out with Ron, Hermione, and the American exchange students-didn't add up. Cho knew Harry. He wouldn't be that careless, no matter what Annabeth said. And it couldn't be a coincidence that Harry died the same year he came back into power-he had taken Harry too. Harry and Cedric.
She had to get to the bottom of it all; she had to know how Harry died and make sure both he and Cedric had got some sort of justice. She wouldn't let them die in vain. But, doing so would make her a traitor, and she knew Fudge would do anything to hold onto power; he'd proven that already. Her call to arms, her quest, so to speak, had a terrible price, and no one should pay that ransom but her. She had to protect the few people she had left. No one else would die on her watch.
So that was that, then. She needed to find that informant and she needed to hear the truth. Marietta mentioned a protest, and that seemed like the perfect place to start. It didn't matter that everyone Cho loved lived in this house. She knew she'd never see them again. Her holiday bag from Hogwarts was already repacked. She made her decision.
Cho looked around her room with one last, sad smile. Familiar tears rolled down her cheeks. She finally got her wish to drop out of school, but it wouldn't be to stay here, at home, in the only happy place she had left.
By the time anyone notices I'm gone, I'll be far, far away.
_THALIA_
Duck Lake was a more popular destination than Thalia assumed it would be. It wasn't tourist-trap levels, but it was impossible to find somewhere secluded. Besides, they attracted attention because of their odd-looking Hunter's clothes and the boy slung over Alabaster's shoulder. Tourists were giving them weird looks.
"Under here," Roszí whispered. She pointed... to the lake.
"We have to swim in there?" Alabaster questioned. "Are you serious? It's, max, twenty degrees out and I have a seventeen-year-old in my arms. I can't swim!"
"Does thy friend mean so little to thee?" Roszí shot back with daggers in her voice. "You insisted we make this detour. Therefore, thou hast no right to moan!"
"Break it up." Thalia stepped between them. "Alabaster, give Nico to me and distract everyone while we make the plunge. Then-can you go invisible?"
"Yeah, no problem." Thalia appreciated how hard it must be for him to let go of his dying friend, but he was pretty gracious about it. He whispered, "three, two, one!" He snapped his fingers, and a fireworks display shot into the sky. Tourists oohed and ahhed as Thalia and her sisters jumped into the freezing water.
The four of them emerged in a small, underwater cavern. Thalia gulped the frigid air as she surfaced, then pulled herself onto the cave floor. Clear, flowing water lapped onto the gray stone, and jagged stalactites of the same color hung from the rocky ceiling like icicles. Alabaster and Ianthe worked some magic together to warm them before hypothermia set in. She was grateful, but she'd be more grateful if Roszí's nereid showed up.
"I'll fix myself, I'll never let myself be-this-again." Nico moaned. The Ancient Greek, as always, translated in her head, no matter how little Thalia wanted it to.
"There!" Ianthe called. She pointed at the water, where a greenish-gray figure swam towards the cavern. The figure surfaced and... it wasn't a nereid. It was definitely a sea nymph, though. The top half of her body looked human, but the bottom half was a mermaid's tail. Both her skin and scales were the color of algae. Her hair was pitch-black, her eyes dark brown, and her lips bright red. But, there were also algae-colored tentacles on top of her hair; in the water, it looked like snakes grew out of her head.
"Hello?" the sea nymph asked. "What are half-bloods doing in my cavern?" She pulled herself onto the rock with a grunt and started to squeeze water from her human hair.
"Dost thou remember me?" Roszí asked. "The Hunters of Artemis passed through thy lake many years ago."
"Hunters, ay?" She asked with a half-mouth smile and eyebrows raised. "Yes, I do remember a few times you took a dip. I always love a visit from Diana-where is she?"
"It is the Winter Solstice. Lady Artemis is at council."
"Ah, well, tell her Elladora says hi!" She giggled and shook her head like a dog to dry out her tentacles.
"Wait... Elladora? Like Elladora Ketteridge?" Alabaster asked. He was stunned.
Elladora studied him. "That's a name I haven't heard in centuries. You're a son of Hecate?" He nodded. "Well, then, look at your mom's fine work!" She opened her arms so Alabaster could get a better look at her naked chest. He pulled his eyes away. "Aw, come on! I'm just teasing, the whole gillyweed fiasco was what? 1673?" She giggled again. "What can I do for you, hot stuff?"
Alabaster blushed. "I thought you were a follower of Hecate."
Elladora shot him a winning smile. "Oh, a loooooong time ago. Neptune looooves your mama's mermaids. He really gets around. My mom was one of those lucky many. I grew up in the lake at Hogwarts; I loved watching all those kids go to school in those cool black cloaks! One day, Fanous saw me and fell in love. He told me he'd grant me one wish, and I asked for legs. I actually heard one of his sons wrote a story about me-don't know, haven't read it. He granted it, condition was, if I ever swam in the lake, I'd turn back into a mermaid. 'Course, when the seven years were over, Fanous got to keep me as his consort and I couldn't have that. I ran away, see, but gods don't like it when you run away. Fanous asked Hecate for a favor. When I ate some seaweed for dinner, she turned it into gillyweed. I couldn't breathe the air anymore, so I dunked my head in a bucket of what turned out to be lake water. Funny how that happens. Fanous was lovely though, but I haven't heard from him in a century or two. Huh."
She slapped her tail flirtatiously at Alabaster. "Don't worry, I can still do this:" The last drop of water left her scales, and her tail dissolved into legs. "I didn't think you were into the whole fish thing," she said as she stood up. "Now, what can I do to get a little kiss?"
"I- uh-hum..." Alabaster's eyes were darting every which way to avoid the now completely naked woman currently throwing herself at him. Elladora's giggles were starting to get annoying, but she did it anyway.
"You don't say much do you-?"
"Al... abaster. C. Torrington."
Elladora grinned. "Alabaster C. Torrington. The best men have middle names, you know."
"My friend!" Alabaster exclaimed a little too loudly in an attempt to get himself back on track. Thalia and her sisters rolled their eyes.
Boys are real easy to distract, aren't they?
She took off her furs and threw them to Elladora. "Here. Before you kill him."
"What? Oh! Oh, right! How rude of me!" Alabaster's face was as red as a tomato. She took a second to put the furs on, then spun around for him to see.
"How do I look, Alabaster?"
"Uh, great! Cool! Perfect!" He cleared his throat and coughed into his arm, but Thalia caught him mumbling, "She's green, you idiot."
"So, your friend?" Ianthe prompted. She clearly didn't have the patience for this.
"Right! Elladora, my friend was poisoned. He's- he's dying, and Roszí said you might know how to help him."
Elladora gasped as she noticed Nico squirming on the ground for the first time. "And your eyes were on me, Mr. Torrington!"
As Elladora ran over to her new patient, Thalia heard another cough.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"Uhhh... Elladora!" He ran to Nico's side, where Elladora was ferociously tapping any bit of Nico's exposed skin. "If there's anything you need me to do-"
"Yes, I need you to stop crowding me! I mastered potions in school and nature magic with Fanous, so if you give me some time-is that the drink of despair? Yes but why so little... oh, oh, my gods..." She opened his mouth. "Say ahhh! Good-what is his name, Alabaster?"
"Nico."
"Good, Nico! But the River Cocytus doesn't induce sleep or convulsions..."
"Wait!" Thalia cried, recalling Annabeth's stories of Tartarus. "Did you say the River Cocytus ?!"
"One part water of Cocytus, yes," Elladora dismissed her, "and one part weakness potion, two parts draught of the living dead... someone's trying to supplement something all right... hmmm..." She sniffed around his neck. "There's some alihotsy, and..." more sniffing, "...murtlap? That can't be right... no, there's definitely murtlap, Jupiter only knows... oh, there's water of the Styx in here, that's why he's dying. There we go."
Alabaster, you should get your mouth checked, because the 'close' function is broken.
Elladora walked to a corner of the cavern, a little alcove, where she had a cauldron set up under a campfire, surrounded by thousands of different items on hundreds of shelves that stretched all the way to the stalactite roof. Alabaster followed her. "You're telling me he has water of the Cocytus, water of the Styx, drink of despair, draught of the living dead, alihotsy draught, weakness potion, and essence of murtlap in him all at the same time?!"
"Yes, you're a smart one, Alabaster, you really are. Don't worry, I used a bezoar."
"A bez-" He turned from Elladora, took a step or two, shut his eyes and ran a hand down his face, then turned back to her. "How is that even possible?! He should be dead with all that in him!"
"Isn't that the idea of a poison?" Elladora asked as she mixed another plant into her cauldron.
"Yes, but, what was Alastor trying to do to him?"
"No, not Alastor, this is Hufflepuff's work. As for what she wanted... I have a hunch but don't worry, it's impossible."
"We're half-bloods. Impossible means it's gonna happen."
Elladora took a vial of her new antidote from the cauldron and poured it down Nico's mouth. His convulsions slowed, then completely disappeared. "There you go. Now, Alabaster, I could tell you... if you kissed me."
Aaaaand he's red again.
Elladora didn't see, she was too busy forcing a second potion into Nico's mouth. "I know, I know, it's okay, don't worry, buddy..." She rubbed his back as he violently vomited on the stone floor. "I'll have an anti-nausea for you soon, but you gotta get it out of your system... good, Nico..."
Five potions later, Nico was ghostly, bruised, and probably exhausted, but very much alive. Alabaster, on the other hand, was the color of the pomegranate that started it all. "You'll tell me first?" Alabaster asked weakly. Elladora nodded. Thalia and her sisters turned their backs as Elladora whispered something in Alabaster's ear. A few moments of silence. Then, Alabaster started laughing hysterically. "You're- you're kidding me, right?!" He didn't sound happy. Thalia turned around; he was staring at Elladora like she was some madwoman, "What does that even mean? You just made that up... right?"
Elladora nodded her head vigorously. "I told you it was impossible."
"...what's going on?" A weak voice asked.
Alabaster's eyes darted between Elladora and Nico. He went to Nico's side and scooped him up. "Nico! I got you, let's get to Montana." Being a Roman demigod, he didn't understand what Nico was asking him in Ancient Greek, but he sure as Hades was using any excuse to get away from his little mermaid and the questionable feelings he'd inevitably have to grapple with once they returned to Newt.
Nico looked too exhausted to say anything. Or, maybe he was too weak to understand Alabaster's English. "What did I miss?"
"Nothing," Thalia answered, eyebrows raised at Alabaster, "Absolutely nothing."
END NOTES
Admit it. You were worried when I said this was my favorite chapter. I may enjoy torturing ya'll but even I need something light every once in a while.
This is exactly what that potion does:
Cocytus = makes one remember their worst memories/thoughts and uncontrollably despair forever.
Styx = puts one in immense pain and eats away at the body.
Emerald Potion/Drink of Despair = puts one in a deep depression.
Draught of the Living Dead = puts one in a deep coma.
Alihosty = induces hysteria
Weakness Potion = weakens the user and makes them more susceptible to whatever else they might be under.
Essence of Murtlap = helps to heal scrapes, wounds, and cuts.
Aka the mixture's making him relive his worst thoughts and memories from the worst possible angle in an unwakeable sleep while he's cannibalized from the inside, all while keeping his superficial wounds from hurting him so accidental self-harm never eases his emotional trauma.
SOURCES:
Harry Potter Wiki /Elladora_Ketteridge
Harry Potter Wiki /Alihotsy_Draught
Harry Potter Wiki /Draught_of_Living_Death
Harry Potter Wiki /Emerald_Potion
Harry Potter Wiki /Murtlap_Essence
Harry Potter Wiki /Murtlap_Essence
Harry Potter Wiki /Weakness_Potion
This week's beta commentary:
STORY: She [Umbridge] was exceedingly popular among the staff and students
OLI: LMFAOOOOOOO
LISSY: This is known as an "alternative fact"
Credits:
Melody Rose - Author (Tumblr melody0rose)
Oli - Beta Reader (Tumblr paradoxicalpsychic)
Suhalia - Beta Reader (Archive Of Our Own users/milkandtahoney/)
Please comment so I know what you think! See you tomorrow!
COMMENTS
ShadeFireDragon
My poor heart *sniffs* But now my fanfiction infected mind's gotten an idea in which an angsty Nico shadowtravels into Avengers Tower... I guess this is what happens when people make me sad like this lol
Aw I'm sorry! But at least you've got a fanfic idea?