CHAPTER SUMMARY
The Christmas Eve broadcast. A battle rages at the Doors of Orpheus.
BEGINNING NOTES
Chapter Rating: General Audiences
Content Warning: Cursing, Violence (mild)
Word Count: 4760
This is the last one for today.
And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.
Credits at the end.
_HERMIONE_
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place reminded Hermione of the horcrux room the day of Riddle's invasion. No one spoke. No one moved much. They went over the plan again and again in their heads, praying to Hecate, to Merlin, and to any other god who might listen that things would work out the way they expected.
4:00 a.m. Thirteen hours until the Christmas Eve broadcast.
Fleur grabbed Hermione's hand, and the two disapparated. A flash of light, and they stood in front of Uncle Tyler and Aunt Sadie's house. "Down!" Hermione shouted, and pulled Fleur into a cushion of snow.
A door swung open in the house next door. A man stood with a flashlight, looking for the source of the noise that woke him. "There's nothing!" the man shouted to someone inside the house. "Probably some animal. I'm going back to sleep." The door slammed closed.
Fleur and Hermione stayed lying in the snow for another ten minutes in case the neighbors came back. Long after Hermione's fingers had gone numb, they pushed themselves out of the snow pile and onto the front stoop. Hermione took the house key from her pocket and unlocked the door.
"Emulgeo." Fleur waved her wand, and a gust of hot air steam-dried their clothes, bringing feeling back to Hermione's frostbitten body.
"Wait here," Hermione said, then dashed into the kitchen. Like Uncle Tyler promised, she found a box of body cameras in the drawer under the microwave, the kind that the police wear. Uncle Tyler was a bit of a tech geek, and Hermione thanked Hecate for it. With cameras, their back-ups could monitor those in the field and fix problems remotely if they arise.
"You 'ave them 'ermione?" Fleur called from the living room.
"Yes!" Hermione called back. She ran into the living room where Fleur had started a fire. Fleur threw Floo Powder into the fireplace, and it glowed green.
"Good luck," Fleur said. She would stay behind to put out the fire, then meet with Mrs. Weasley and Ginny in the American Wizarding World. They were their reserves; if the coup went horribly wrong, the three of them would break everyone else out of Azkaban.
Hermione stepped into the flames. "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!"
Hermione gave a waiting Uncle Tyler the box of body cameras. He pulled out his iPad, pushed a few buttons on the cameras, then smiled.
"All online." He looked up at a waiting Sirius, Percy, Bill, and Lupin. "Now, who's first?"
_THALIA_
After they said good-bye, Annabeth boarded a plane to London and Lou Ellen and Alabaster transported to Los Angeles. Argus dropped her and the rest of them off at the bus station in the Upper East Side.
"It's officially midnight," Hestia said, pointing to a clock on the overhead.
"December 24th," Blaise confirmed.
A tense silence fell over them. They had eight days until Ceres' trial now, and that wasn't nearly enough time to find the Artifacts, find the Philosopher's Stone, and save the Wizarding World from collapsing. Oh yeah, and the entire time it was up to her and Alabaster to guess where Hades and Hecate would fight, and to protect nearly every major city in America.
I hear Honolulu is really nice this time of year... until Vulcan chooses a side and blows Hawaii off the map.
They walked in silence to the Doors of Orpheus. The park was pretty empty; there was the occasional drunk person or college kid, but that was it.
"Do you think Hecate's captured the Doors yet?" Will asked.
"What dost thou mean 'yet?' " Roszí growled. Thalia sighed. Artemis supported Hades, so the Hunters supported Hades, even if they'd officially declared their neutrality. But did Roszí have to be so hostile about it?
"Hades might have some defenses up," Hestia reasoned. Thalia shot her a silent thank you, because Will didn't look too happy about Roszí's comment.
"That's true," Thalia said. "We should send a scout first so we know what we're up against."
"Who's the least likely to get killed?" Percy asked.
They looked around. Nico was an obvious no. Artemis sided with Hades, so Thalia, Roszí, and Ianthe were out if Hecate had the Doors. Zeus and Poseidon supported Hecate, so Percy and Thalia were out if Hades had the Doors. And Blaise and Hestia were followers of Hecate, a prime target for Hades, which left...
"I'll go," Nico said, panicked.
Everyone just stared at him.
"Uh, no, no you won't," Blaise said.
"You're a walking target," Hestia agreed.
"They hate me equally...?" Nico tried, but even he knew how lame an excuse that was.
"I'll knock you unconscious again if you try," Percy threatened.
Will put his hand in Nico's. "I'll be fine, Neeks."
"That's what people say before they die."
Will chuckled. "You're cute when you're worried." He turned to Blaise and Hestia. "Give me one of those two-way mirrors. I'll find a tree to climb and give you a bird's eye view."
Blaise pulled one of the mirrors out of their duffel bag, along with Will's quiver and arrows. Thalia remembered his skills from when they played Capture the Flag. He wasn't as good as his siblings, but he was leagues above any of the other cabins.
"Shoot straight," Thalia said as Will slung his quiver over his shoulder.
He gave her a thumbs up, then kissed Nico on the cheek. "I'll be right back."
Percy put a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. Nico's eyes followed Will up into the trees until he disappeared in the canopy of leaves.
The picture came in. The good news? Neither Hecate nor Hades was guarding the Door of Orpheus. The bad news? It was because a battle was raging below Will's feet.
Nico pointed to monsters with saw-like bones coming out of their heads. "Those are aeternae!" Then, he pointed to black monsters the size of elephants with three horns on their horse-like foreheads. "And those are odontotyrannos! Neither of them have left Tartarus since Alexander the Great!" There were keres too, and spartae. Plus hundreds of skeletal warriors with guns, knives, and swords.
Hecate had just as many. Acromantula (spiders the size of bears), cerastes like Ianthe had fought, di inferi... Hestia pointed to blue and brown dots hovering in the air. "The blue ones are billywigs, their venom is toxic. And the brown are doxy, biting fairies."
Hades' enormous odontotyrannos were tearing Hecate's acromantula apart. Billywigs and doxy swarmed them but could do nothing to stop it.
"Who commands?" Roszí asked.
"There's a man and a woman on Hecate's side, I can't tell-" Will turned the mirror to reveal a black-haired woman in a blue dress and a red-haired man in with a long, bushy beard.
Blaise was so surprised that he nearly dropped the mirror. "That's Ravenclaw and Gryffindor! But... how?!"
"They weren't followers of Hecate, they were gods," Nico said. "Ravenclaw's the goddess of the Mist-divination to you, and Gryffindor's the god of spells."
Will turned the mirror to Hades' side. "I think that's Alexander the Great!"
"That's why there's aeternae and odontotyrannos," Ianthe reasoned.
"Who's that man next to him?" Hestia asked.
"That would be Fritz Haber, the reason the Germans had mustard gas, chlorine gas, and a whole bunch of other chemical weapons in the Great War," Nico said. "Oh, and Zyklone A was his too."
"What the Nazis used?" Will asked.
"They messed with the formula a bit, hence the 'B,' but yep." Percy raised his eyebrows at Nico, stunned. "I'm allowed to know things, even if I'm not Annabeth."
"Will, can you get back here?" Thalia asked.
"On my way-" Fog overtook the screen. They saw the swish of a black robe, then the connection cut out.
"Will dropped the mirror," Blaise whispered.
Before anyone could stop him, Nico ran straight into the battlefield.
_HERMIONE_
10:00 a.m. Seven hours until the Christmas Eve broadcast.
Ron and Hermione hovered anxiously over Uncle Tyler's shoulder, watching the body cam footage. Fred and George had the Ministry's broadcast equipment in pieces around them. With a mixture of magic and hands-on inventing, they outfitted every piece of equipment with their secret, handmade trap. "Whatever you do, don't take these out of the box until it's go time," Fred instructed.
"Right..." Charlie sounded a little wary. Hermione didn't blame him.
The Weasley twins carefully put everything into unmarked boxes and handed them to Charlie and Bill. Between the two of them, they could carry everything in one go. Thankfully, wizard radio had fewer moving parts than muggle television.
The Weasley brothers made their way through Diagon Alley, doing their best to pretend they weren't holding bombs. Not that they were holding bombs, but the way Fred and George talked about them, they had a nasty surprise in store for the unaware.
They carried the supplies into the Ministry without a problem. Soon, they were in Fudge's office, placing the boxes down under the watchful eye of Percy Weasley.
_NICO_
Nico heard the shouts of his friends behind him, but he didn't care. The love of his life was alone on a battlefield. He already had nightmares about Will dying after Riddle kidnapped him last year. They wouldn't come true. They couldn't.
Nico saw a smoky black cloak beside Will's glowing mirror. He channeled every ounce of anger he'd ever felt and desperately shouted, "Damn to Hades!"
The spell exhausted him, but it worked. Whatever it was faded into the night. Nico ran to Will and helped him up. "Are you okay?"
Will grimaced but nodded. "That thing... it was like... anything good was sucked out of me. I can't explain it."
At that point, everyone else had caught up to Nico. "Dementors," Blaise said. "Not good."
"Ravenclaw and Gryffindor called for reinforcements," Thalia said, pointing to the sky. Fifty dementors flew overhead, blotting out the full moon. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor summoned dozens of shimmering silver lions and eagles; their creations circled their side of the battlefield. Alexander the Great and Fritz Haber collapsed. The dementors dove for Hades' forces. One by one they attached themselves to a monster and reduced it to dust.
"Make us silver animals," Nico said to Blaise and Hestia.
"That's difficult magic, Nico," Hestia said. "Neither of us can do it."
"Shit. How long until we're affected?"
"As soon as a dementor notices us."
Think. There's a way out of this. I wish I had Lou Ellen or Al... wait...
"I have an idea," Nico said. "Will, when the dementors got to you, you fainted, right?"
"Yeah... Neeks, where are you going with this?"
Nico took a deep breath. "Percy, Thalia, I need a thunderstorm. We have to make it as damp as possible so the monsters can't smell us. Blaise, Hestia, cast lumos and give me your wands. I'll get in close."
Roszí looked at him curiously. "Thou puts thyself in great danger. What is thy plan?"
"No time," Nico said. "Guys, I need that storm now ."
Blaise and Hestia handed him the lit wands. Soon, dark clouds poured sheets of rain on the battlefield. The storm forced the billywids and doxy to retreat. Thunderclaps made terrified acromantula scatter. Thalia's precise lightning strikes plus Roszí, Ianthe, and Will's shower of arrows made monster after monster turn to dust. Together... they barely made a dent.
Nico made his way into the throng. With so many troops gone, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were forced to fall back. The silver animals widened their circle, pushing the dementors closer and closer to the Doors in a last-ditch attempt to overwhelm Hades' forces.
Nico drew his sword. He ran towards Hades' skeletal warriors and cut through them like butter. In a matter of minutes, a hundred were back in the Underworld. Soon, he'd created enough of a commotion that a dementor noticed him. It soared towards him mouth-first.
The color drained out of the world. Nico ran towards the silver animals. Hecate's forces let him by, assuming he was on their side. But the dementor remained in pursuit-ally or not, it wanted fresh meat.
He dove behind the silver line. He only had a second before he blacked out.
Take me to Westover Hall.
_HERMIONE_
3:00 p.m. Two hours until the Christmas Eve broadcast.
"Thanks for helping out." Percy ushered two wizards into the office. "Minister Fudge wants everything to be ready for him at half-past four. Now, the amplifier stand should go exactly six feet over the desk, with the wand-holder at a seventy-two-degree angle..."
The wizards got to work. Everything seemed normal. The process was slow as Percy micromanaged every tiny detail, but by half-past four, it was all set.
Percy walked out of the room and shouted, "Everyone in! The Minister's arriving soon!" He ushered another handful of wizards through into the room, then shut the office door.
Cornelius Fudge walked briskly towards his office. "Is everything set, Weasley?"
"Yes, sir. The catering is downstairs. I'll see to it while you prepare for your broadcast. Make sure you keep the door closed, sir, or the noise from outside the office will disrupt the sound. Auror Tonks will be head of security."
"Yes, yes, see to it, then."
_CHO_
Mrs. Edgecomb checked Cho out of St. Mungo's around six a.m., December 24th. Cho told her and Marietta that she'd been separated from her parents at Diagon Alley the night of the mob, and hadn't been able to get in contact with them. "I didn't mean to get mixed up in it all," Cho had said, "it just sort of... happened."
"Poor dear..." Mrs. Edgecomb replied. "You aren't the only one who's suffered. The Ministry's been up to its ears with missing people's reports."
"Have there been any incidents since then?" Cho asked.
"Small things here and there, but nothing to worry about," Mrs. Edgecomb reassured her.
Mrs. Edgecomb worked in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, International Magical Trading Standards Body division. It was her job to represent the Ministry in diplomatic business meetings and negotiate important trade deals. She got to travel all around the world on official business, sometimes taking Marietta with her. Cho had a special interest in economics and was quite good with people. She spoke Japanese fluently and loved traveling to Asia. This was what she wanted to do since she was a little girl. And yet, with everything that had happened in the past week, it didn't have the shine it once did. Cho had so much to think about now; her old life was a distant memory.
Mrs. Edgecomb's office was small: a desk, a couch for visitors, a bookshelf filled to the brim with thick volumes, and a filing cabinet for legal documents. "It's not much, as you can see," Mrs. Edgecomb said, gesturing to the space around her. "I meet Ministry officials here and get instructions on my upcoming meetings with foreign officials. And, I read through transcripts of old trade negotiations and other legal documents. This job isn't all traveling and showmanship, Cho. You have to be prepared for the boring work, too."
The day progressed in that fashion, and soon it was late in the afternoon. The entire day, Cho's mind wandered. She wasn't as enthralled as she would've been a few weeks ago. These days, she had bigger fish to fry than an internship. She and Genevieve were here to gather intel for Lord Hades, not to file papers and tour offices. She had to slip away.
"Is there a toilet?" Cho asked.
"Down the hall, to the left," Mrs. Edgecomb said.
"I'll go with her!" Genevieve said and followed Cho out the door. Marietta made a move to follow, but Mrs. Edgecomb held her back. Cho smiled. This was her lucky day.
"What time is it?" Genevieve asked.
Cho searched in vain for a clock on the wall. The sun was already setting.
"I have no idea. Why?"
There was sadness in Genevieve's eyes, one Cho knew all too well. "My fiancée. I don't know where she is. I lost her in the mob, Cho. I- I prayed for help... I had a dream. We need to be at the Minister's office at five when he starts his Christmas Eve broadcast. I don't know what that has to do with Wendy, but..."
Grief hit Cho like a cannonball. She hadn't thought of Harry or Cedric since she'd died, but with Genevieve's words, all those emotions came crashing back. A little voice in her head wanted her to tell Genevieve to suck things up, there were worse things that could happen than losing someone in a crowd.
Her fiancée could be dead.
And? At least she has hope. The world gave you no hope. Why should you be her rock with everything you went through? Let someone else deal with Time's torture. It's not your fault Wendy's lost. Why should you help Genevieve? You already died for her! You have a mission for Lord Hades!
Cho swallowed those words before they could come out of her mouth. "Yeah, of course. We'll go there now," she said instead.
Genevieve's face broke into a gracious smile. "Thank you."
_HERMIONE_
4:55 p.m. Five minutes until the Christmas Eve broadcast.
Hermione ran down the halls of the Ministry of Magic with her wand raised. She stared at the iPad in her hand. Tonks was by the door; Sirius, Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, and Mr. Weasley were in position behind Fudge's other security personnel. Ron and Percy stood side-by-side in the room adjacent to the Minister's office, waiting for the signal.
Silence.
4:58 p.m. Two minutes until the Christmas Eve broadcast.
An auror turned to Tonks. "Shouldn't we hear the countdown by now?"
Tonks turned on her team. Mad-Eye, Sirius, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley jumped from their hiding spots, wands drawn.
Flashes of red light stunned the entire security team.
4:59 p.m. One minute until the Christmas Eve broadcast.
"Go, go, go!" Tonks shouted. Ron threw open the door. Like Fred and George promised, the Minister and his entire crew had passed out from traps hidden in the equipment.
Hermione, Ron, and Percy ran inside. "Soronus!" Percy shouted. He took Fudge's wand from the amplifier stand and put in his own. Fudge's wand clattered on the floor.
"In the closet," Percy told them. "Don't come out, no matter what happens. They may wake up and I don't want you getting hurt."
Hermione watched Ron and Percy embrace. "You don't have to do this," Ron told him.
Percy kissed his brother's hairline. "I do. Now go."
Hermione pulled Ron away from Percy and shoved him into the closet with the iPad. They shut the door. "Colloportus," Hermione whispered. The door locked. They were sealed in.
"Good evening, witches and wizards. I'm Percy Weasley, Junior Secretary to Minister Fudge. I'm here to tell you that everything we thought we knew is wrong."
_NICO_
Mamma sat in the parlor of their villa in la Valle d'Aosta . Her belly was swollen with child. Nico had never seen someone that pregnant before-Sally was only three months along with her and Paul's daughter-to-be Estelle, and not showing yet. Mamma had to be close to her due date.
Hades was there. His face was dark and serious, full of concern. "Let me take it, Maria," he said.
"They do not know you," Mamma insisted. "No one will stop a woman with child." She smiled her crooked smile, the one she and Nico shared, the one that meant they were either lying or playing a trick. "If anyone suspects, I could 'go into labor...' "
"No," Hades said flatly. "I let you last time, but things are worse than they were two years ago. I can't lose you, Maria. I'd-" his dark eyes were suddenly full with grief. "I'd have nothing left."
Mamma put her hand on Hades'. "Persephone is a fool, my love. And your brothers. But I cannot stop my life at your command. I will not."
Persephone? What happened to Persephone?
"I love you and your bravery... but I'm immortal. I can't get hurt the way you can. Your message will get to the Americans, I promise you that."
So that's what they were talking about: Mamma's information for the resistance against Mussolini. Hades wanted to take them, but she was resisting. Nico flinched at the word "promise." He didn't swear on the Styx, he simply promised. A promise he could break without any consequence. It was yet more proof that Hades was using Mamma. That he was supporting his son Hitler and Hitler's allies. That those messages would never reach their destination.
Before Mamma could say anything, a bullet of black hair darted into the room. It was quickly followed by Claudia, Nico's old nanny. She was just as he remembered her-chocolate skin, small hands, thick hair tied into a bun, white apron tied over a long, brown dress, and a smile that lit the room. Her age startled him, though. He always thought of her as an adult. In reality, she was the same age as Nico-eighteen at the most.
"Vieni qui, tu!" [Come here, you!]
Claudia said as she scooped Bianca up. She was smiling but shaking her head.
"Che cosa ho detto di correre in casa?" [What did I say about running in the house?]
She wagged her finger at his infant sister.
Bianca continued to squirm in Claudia's arms until Hades relented and held his hands out. Claudia handed the baby off, careful not to meet Hades' eyes. "My apologies, Maestro Devin," she said in heavily accented English.
"That is Bianca," Hades said. His eyes never left his daughter. Startled, Nico realized he was smiling. Actually smiling. Like... like a dad .
Bianca squealed as Hades bounced her on his knee. It was hard to see her so innocent, oblivious of who her father was, ignorant of all the suffering that her parentage would bring. She would die because of her relationship to that man. He wondered if she'd be squealing if she knew her fate.
Mamma tried to smile, but the warmth didn't reach her eyes. Now in the presence of her daughter, guilt entrapped her. Right in front of his eyes, Nico saw his mother break. She'd never wanted Hades to take her messages. But she let him... she let him so she'd live for her children. For Bianca. For him.
Claudia noticed Mamma's smile falter.
"Il bambino sta calciando, signora?" [Is the baby kicking, madam?]
Mamma shook her head with her usual smile, one hand resting on her swollen belly.
"Quello era il lavoro di Bianca. Questo non farebbe mai una cosa del genere. Questo è il mio piccolo angelo." [That was Bianca's job. This one would never do such a thing. This one is my little angel.]
Nico couldn't help but smile himself.
So that's where that nickname came from. I'm glad it stuck.
He watched Bianca attempt to climb onto Hades' head and laughed outright.
For the first time in over a year, Nico woke up in his old bed at Westover Hall. It looked the same as usual, minus one thing:
Alabaster was asleep in Matt's bed.
He woke Alabaster; it took his friend a minute to realize exactly where he was. He sat up and turned to Nico, bewildered. "What? How did you...?"
"Empathy links go both ways. Figured psychic links do too. I was afraid you severed the connection, but obviously not."
Alabaster stretched. "I never got around to it. Why am I here? What's going on?"
"Do you remember the first time I cast 'damn to Hades?' In the graveyard, with Tonks. It took forever for me to relearn how to do it, yeah?"
Nico hoped that would get some reaction from his friend, but his poker face was too good. "Okay? And?" Alabaster asked.
"I have to be angry to cast 'damn to Hades.' But I wasn't angry at Tonks." Alabaster clenched his jaw. It took him effort to stay calm now, Nico could tell. "You cast damn to Hades through me, didn't you?"
Alabaster's façade broke. He put a hand on the desk beside him to keep the bed from shaking. "Fine. Yes. But I can't do this now, Nico. My past isn't a happy one. I have a quest to lead; I can't do that if I wake up reliving it."
"I don't care about your past. I need you to do it again."
Alabaster vigorously shook his head. "Never again. I only did it then because your life was in danger."
Part of him was curious about what was going on with Alabaster, what any of that had to do with his past, but he made a mental note to press it further at a different time. This wasn't the time for a long conversation.
"I need you, Al. We're at the Doors of Orpheus, and there are at least fifty dementors. Hecate's side cast silver animals that protected them. I need you to do magic through me so we can defend ourselves."
At first, Alabaster looked relieved. Then, he realized exactly what Nico had just said. "Nico, you could already do dark magic. You can't cast a patronus."
"Persephone spoke to me in her garden yesterday. She cast that same spell you did after the boggart attack, then I could do nature magic when she guided me."
Alabaster bit his lip; from the look on his face, he was close to saying a few choice words about the goddess of spring. "Cast a shield, it works the same way. Dementors are blind."
"You don't get it," Nico pressed. "There's an entire battle going on around us. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are commanding, and they don't have bad eyesight. If they see a my shield, they'll know it's me, and we'll be overwhelmed."
Alabaster swallowed hard. "How do you know that was really you who cast the nature magic?"
"I don't."
"Nico, cast your shield. Please. I'm hundreds of miles away, I'm out of practice with these psychic links, I don't know how good the connection is... there's no way this is going to work."
Nico caught his friend's eye and refused to let go. "You told me yourself, you can do anything when your life is on the line. Well, fuck this up, and your best friend is going to die."
Alabaster was shaking again, trying to keep fear behind his shattered poker face. "I said almost anything."
"Wake us up, Al. It's now or never."
_RON_
Please, Merlin. Keep him safe.
"Good evening, witches and wizards. I'm Percy Weasley, Junior Secretary to Minister Fudge. I'm here to tell you that everything we thought we knew is wrong.
"I'm Wizarding Weekly's informant. I overheard a meeting between all the department heads one week ago, December 18th. And what I heard made me regret everything I've ever done as a Ministry official.
"In that meeting, Cornelius Fudge said outright that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back. He knew. All the department heads knew. And they lied to us. That was what their meeting was about: how to maintain the lie.
"You-Know-Who invaded Hogwarts last December. Harry Potter killed You-Know-Who but died in the battle. He died for us, and the Ministry defamed him. Pius Thickness and his Aurors wiped the memories of every student at Hogwarts so no one would remember the battle. They humiliated anyone whose memory they couldn't wipe so no one would believe them.
"This Ministry has put us all in danger to expand its own power. I was unwittingly a part of that, and for that I am-" A moment of silence. "We're on air, Minister," Percy growled.
Someone took a step forward.
"You, Percy Weasley, have betrayed your Ministry."
"I serve the people, not you."
"Do you know what the punishment is for a traitor, Weasley?"
Ron's palms got sweaty. Something was seriously wrong, he knew it. All he could hear, over and over again, was that prophecy. When the first meets their end... when the first meets their end... Ron tried to push the door open, but Hermione held him back. He struggled, but he couldn't open the door without Hermione's wand.
"Let the people see who you really are, Cornelius."
"HERMIONE!" Ron shouted.
"I, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, with the power vested in me by the English Wizarding World, sentence this lying traitor to his country to death."
"HERMIONE LET ME-"
"Avada Kedavra!"
And there was the sound of Percy Weasley hitting the floor.
END NOTES
Let the body count begin...
Actually, it will. Body Count: 2 (Cho technically died so it counts)
Fritz Haber stuff: I imagined Nico doing more research on Hitler and going down one of those google search rabbit holes. (The first source link is a short video on Fritz Haber and you should watch it this man is interesting in all the worst ways.)
"You cast damn to Hades through me, didn't you?" For the record, this was always the intention, I just couldn't find a place to throw this into the first fic. You'll see that a few more times when it comes to Alabaster. He sorta got his backstory confiscated and not returned.
Also, I realized that, for all the Nico's past stuff, I never clarified my timeline. So, for those of you who care: This would be summer of 1929.
Nonno: Born 1869. 38 when Maria's born, 45 in 1914, 60 here, 70 when he died.
Maria: Born 1907. 19 when she met Hades, 20 when Bianca's born, 22 here, 32 when she died.
Bianca: Born 1927. 2 here. 12 when she entered to Lotus (obviously)
Nico: Born 1929. I think you know the rest.
SOURCES:
YouTube /watch?v=tdEE5uvFhOM (This is about Fritz Harber)
Wikipedia /Aeternae
Wikipedia /Odontotyrannos
Pantheon
Harry Potter Wiki /Acromantula
Harry Potter Wiki /Billywig
Harry Potter Wiki /Doxy
This week's beta commentary:
STORY: [Okay this is an email again but shhh]
LISSY: Chapter up in two days, guys! I actually really like this one. It's no Hitler chapter, but it's still fun.
OLI: OOF OMG THAT CHAPTER ENDED...NOT IN OUR FAVOUR
LISSY: Anarchy begins with a martyr. But, hey, at least Percy redeemed himself...? (I'm sorry)
LISSY: LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR
STORY: "I'll go," Nico said, panicked. / Everyone just stared at him.
LISSY: You are literally the worst person to go, Neeks. Stap
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!