CHAPTER SUMMARY
Cho and Genevieve escape the Ministry. Nico and the others fight their way into the Doors of Orpheus.
BEGINNING NOTES
Chapter Rating: General Audiences
Content Warning: Cursing, Graphic Depictions of Violence
Word Count: 3919
Remember in chapter two the Camp Half-blood folks gave Nico a shield? He uses it in this chapter, didn't want ya'll to be confused.
And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.
Credits at the end.
_CHO_
No one saw Cho and Genevieve hiding in Umbridge's office during the radio broadcast.
After they snuck away from Marietta and Mrs. Edgecomb, they made their way as close to Fudge as possible. The Senior Undersecretary's office was next door to the Minister's, and the walls were thin enough that they heard everything.
And close enough to the Aurors that they saw the coup in action.
They saw the Auror's senior officer, Professor Lupin, and their allies assault Fudge's security team. They saw Ron, Hermione, and Percy Weasley sneak into Fudge's room. They heard every word of Percy's broadcast. And they heard what happened after.
Dead. Percy Weasley was dead. Fudge killed a hero, a boy with his whole life ahead of him. Cho regretted how she'd acted at the Leaky Cauldron two days ago; Percy had meant every word he said. Now he was dead, and she could never tell him she was sorry.
Mostly, though, Cho felt angry. The moment she heard Fudge shout, "Avada Kedavra!" and heard Ron's anguished scream, every muscle in her body clenched. She wanted to walk right out of there and show Fudge how well she could duel.
But Genevieve put her arm on Cho's stomach. "This isn't your fight," she whispered.
She saw Professor Lupin and the others run into Fudge's office. She heard more screams. A man shouted, "You killed my son!" and there was a bang as someone slammed someone against the wall.
"Up! Up! They're trying to kill me!" Fudge shouted. "Get up! They cursed us! Up, now!"
Then, there were so many grunts and bangs that it was clear Fudge had reinforcements in that room. Everyone had to be dueling. Cho wanted to join them, but Genevieve wouldn't let her go.
"Go! Now!" a woman commanded. "Take them, Sirius!"
"No!" Ron shouted.
"You have to, for Merlin and Hecate!" a man, presumably Sirius, pushed. "He chose you, Ron!"
Cho strained her neck so she could look out the doorway. A shaggy-looking man had Ron and Hermione clasped in each hand, pulling them out of Fudge's office. Cho pushed Genevieve away and sprinted for her classmates. Their backs were to her.
The man let go of Hermione's hand long enough to take out his wand. She stumbled and accidentally glanced behind her. Her eyes met Cho's. For a moment it was just the two of them, Hermione Granger and Cho Chang, two young girls, two champions of two gods on two different sides of a war. She opened her mouth to speak, but it was too late. The man apparated away, leaving Cho alone in the hall.
Genevieve sprinted to Cho's side. "Cho! What were you thinking?!"
"Ahhh!" Cho and Genevieve turned. Behind them, a man Cho knew must be Percy's father had a bloody Fudge pinned against the wall, hands at his throat.
"We have to get Marietta and get out of here," Genevieve breathed.
But Cho refused to move. Brick by brick, she'd vowed to tear the Ministry down brick by brick during that mob. Fudge was so close, if she could only find an opening...
"Cho!" Genevieve whispered. "We have to go!"
Fudge pushed Mr. Weasley back. He staggered long enough for Cho to raise her wand.
Make him feel every ounce of your pain, of Cedric's and Harry's pain. One body-binding curse and Percy's father will finish it for you.
Anger and grief bubbled in the pit of Cho's stomach.
"Cho?" Genevieve whispered.
Fudge saw Cho in his bloody haze. His eyes widened in recognition. "The girl from the mob-!"
Stupify.
Red light hit Fudge in the center of his forehead. Without so much as a glance, Mr. Weasley punched Fudge in the gut, in the head, anywhere.
One of Fudge's goons, however, decided to look for where the spell had come from.
"Run!" Cho shouted.
They ran all the way to the main hall. Around them, Ministry workers were being ushered out of the building by security personnel. Others were running towards Fudge's office. Red lights were blinking, and a horrible noise came from every direction.
"Attention!" It was the woman, the auror upstairs that turned on Fudge. Cho didn't realize the radio broadcast was still going. "Retreat your forces-"
There was a loud bang. "Tonks!" Professor Lupin shouted.
"Young teenagers fled the scene- helped murder the Minister- find a girl-"
There was another bang, and the broadcast cut out. Cho and Genevieve bolted for the exit, praying that, in the commotion, no one would see them.
"No!" Mrs. Edgecomb shouted. Cho made the mistake of glancing behind her. Five security personnel had Marietta in their grip. Mrs. Edgecomb reached for her, but they was separated by the crowd.
"Marietta!" Cho screamed. She gripped her wand. Marietta wasn't the one who cast that spell and helped murder Fudge. She couldn't die too.
Marietta met her eye. She mouthed one word:
Go.
That's when one of the security personnel broke her neck. Cho screamed in anguish, but Genevieve pulled her away. She blinked, and they were in the English countryside, miles away from the Ministry.
Cho collapsed on the ground as familiar tears, familiar screams, escaped. Her best friend was dead and it was Cho's fault. That was her last good thing, there was no way she could go back to her family now that she was a fugitive, Marietta should be with them, no, no, not again...
Stop it. Get ahold of yourself. If you break down again, Marietta died for nothing. You have to keep going. For Marietta, Cedric, Harry, Mamma, Pappa, Sora...
Cho took a deep breath and stood. She wiped her face with the hem of her shirt.
"Fudge is dead," Cho said in an empty voice.
"You stunned him, Cho. He didn't feel a thing. I thought... I thought you were going to make him suffer." Genevieve lowered her eyes in shame. "I was afraid you would."
"I wanted to," Cho said, "but I couldn't. I'm not Umbridge. He saw my face, he knew who I was from the protest. His last thought was about me, how he would die because of what he did to me. That's my revenge. I'm not a monster. I don't need anything else."
"Cho... everything we have was in Mrs. Edgecomb's office." Genevieve realized.
"That doesn't matter," Cho told her. "Lord Hades told me that half-bloods are going to meet up with Ron and Hermione. They'll have supplies. We just have to figure out how to find them."
Genevieve thought for a moment. She fished a hand into the pocket of her robes and threw Cho a drachma, as Charon had called it. "Contact Hades, tell him what's happened. I'll... sleep on it."
Cho stared at the coin. "How...?"
Genevieve pointed to a puddle a few yards away. "Make a rainbow with your phone's flashlight. The words are, 'O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering,' then say Hades' name. Goodnight."
Genevieve curled up on the grass and fell asleep, leaving Cho alone with nothing but her phone and a drachma. She walked over to the puddle, shined a light on it, then threw the coin. It hit the water with a plop! and sank to the bottom of the mud. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Lord Hades. Um, he's probably in the Underworld..."
Miraculously, the image shimmered to life. There was Lord Hades and Queen Persephone, coming from the rippling puddle like a two-way mirror.
"The Minister for Magic is dead," Cho told them.
Hades' lips curled into a sinister smile. "Tell me more."
So, Cho did. She recounted everything that had happened since she woke up in St. Mungo's. Hades' eyes darkened at the mention of Genevieve.
"You should not have told that girl anything," Hades growled.
"Don't be so hard on Cho," Persephone said. "We need allies in this war. From what Cho tells us, she's cast no magic beyond what a follower would. In all likelihood, she's the child of a minor god and a wizard. A spy for Hecate would not have been so forward with her identity, nor saved Cho's life."
"Unless she thinks keeping the girl alive will give her more information!" The image trembled a little. Persephone cleared her throat pointedly.
"Our forces have enough time defending D.O.A. Recording Studios without an earthquake?" She posed the statement like a request. The image went back to normal. "Husband, Hecate has jurisdiction over all her lands. It would be like us putting a spy in the Fields of Punishment. Cho doesn't deal with anything Hecate would not already know."
The fire in Hades' eyes calmed about half a degree. "Fine. But you are forbidden to tell this Genevieve anything that would help Hecate or her allies. Let her help you, but I will not play into that Titian's hands." He said Genevieve's name like he was describing a week-old bologna sandwich.
"What interests me more is what Sirius said to Ron and Hermione," Persephone put in. " 'He chose you?' It sounds as though Hecate has secured a new champion to replace Nico di Angelo."
"Don't you dare!" Hades shouted. The image shook again.
"I'm allowed to say the boy's name!" Persephone snapped. "Now will you please stop!"
Charon did say he and Nico were estranged. I didn't realize it was so... explode-y, though.
"Find Weasley and Granger. And watch them." Hades commanded.
"Yes, my lord," Cho said. Then, the connection cut out.
_PERCY_
It was hard to concentrate on anything but keeping the thunderstorm going with Thalia. They worked in sync with each other, as though they'd done this a thousand times, but, even so, the work was demanding.
That didn't mean Percy wasn't terrified for his brother, though.
Nico had run into the thick of battle for the second time in the last hour, and this time it was towards an enemy they couldn't defend against. No one could see a tiny boy covered in black between the crowd, the storm, and the shower of arrows coming from Will, Roszí, and Ianthe. For what it was worth, Blaise and Hestia did their best to give the play-by-play.
"I think Nico's battling the skeletons! Man, he's taking out hundreds of them!"
"A dementor's diving at something!"
"He broke the patronus line! What's he doing?!"
Percy grit his teeth. He could see Thalia digging her heels further into the grass.
"I... can't..." Thalia grunted. She'd long since stopped knocking monsters out with her lightning. It was her job to keep those clouds in the sky, and Percy remembered how heavy the sky was. She had it worse than him.
"Hold... on..." Percy managed through his grit teeth.
"Percy... flood... them..."
Percy would've smiled if he had the energy. That was a really good idea. Thalia always came through. "One... two..."
"THREE!" they shouted together. Thalia dropped her arms, dropped the clouds, and Percy gathered all the water in the air in a thick layer, hovering over the heads of the battlefield. He groaned under the weight as more and more water piled on top of each other. Then, he let go. All the water slammed into the ground at full force, scattering their forces.
If they didn't know half-bloods were here before, they do now.
The archers stopped firing. "Come on, Nico..." Will said under his breath. "They won't stay like that for long... come on..."
A lone figure stood in the center of the battlefield. Percy felt a million times lighter. His little brother was okay. He laughed out loud. "He can't say no to you, can he, Solace?"
"No he can't," Will agreed, grinning from ear to ear.
Blinding, silver light exploded from Nico's hands. It morphed into every animal imaginable, each one stamped like a quilt on the wall of light. The dementors tried to fly away, but they were too slow. The light hit them, and all fifty crumbled into dust.
Percy drew Riptide and charged, his friends right behind him. They hacked down Hades' skeletal warriors and Hecate's di inferi as they made their way to Nico. Of course, the dead reformed immediately, but they were still too stunned to attack.
"Formation three!" Thalia shouted. She, Roszí, and Ianthe formed a triangle and, together, shot an odontotyrannus in the forehead. Thalia dove under its massive legs and shot five arrows in its underbelly. It roared and came crashing to the ground, forming a mountain of dust.
"Why are you just standing there staring at me?!" Thalia shouted. "Help Nico!"
They scattered. Thalia, Roszí, and Ianthe got to work on the other odontotyrannos; Percy ran into a crowd of keres and started hacking them down. In the corner of his eye, he saw Will scramble up a tree and open fire, doing his best to clear a path to bridge the wandless Blaise and Hestia and Nico.
They thankfully reached him in time. Nico threw them their wands, then shouted, "Shield them! Now!"
"Get between us!" Blaise shouted. Everyone did as they were told.
"Protego!" the two followers of Hecate shouted together.
Nico drew his sword and held up Leo's shield. Each time he swung his sword, any monster within twenty feet exploded into dust, even if he hadn't touched them. "You want me to what, Al?!" he shouted to no one. He cocked his head as though he were listening to someone, then cried, "You're crazy! ...Fine, I trust you, but you'd better deliver!"
He dropped his sword and shield, defenseless.
"What are you doing?!" Thalia shouted, but Nico didn't respond.
Nico ran towards Hecate's side of the battlefield, surrounded on all sides by his shadow shield.
He's going to fight Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Defenseless.
"Stay here!" Percy said to his friends, then ran after Nico.
Outside Blaise and Hestia's shields, the air had dropped at least twenty degrees. Percy's breath was cloudy as he panted, sprinting through the gap Nico left in his wake. "Nico!" Percy shouted. Ten yards from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, he'd finally caught up.
"What are you doing here?!" Nico shouted.
"No way I'm hiding when my brother's fighting two gods," Percy said. "We take them together, or not at all."
Nico grinned. "I love you, bro."
Nico dropped his shadow-shield. Percy charged at Gryffindor, slicing and stabbing with his sword. While each spell he fired back took a hit on Percy's shield, nothing had gotten through yet.
"You will not die?" Gryffindor asked. "You should not take on a god, hero."
"Not my first rodeo," Percy said, slicing again.
But Gryffindor disappeared, and Riptide hit air. He reappeared a few feet away; a lion the size of a school bus stood by his side.
They charged at Percy.
"Nemean lion! Gryffindor's sacred animal!" Nico warned.
"Oh, you've got to be shitting me!" Percy shouted.
"You've killed one before, just do it again!" Nico advised.
"Yeah, when I had Zoë, Bianca, and Grover helping me!" Percy pointed out. He ducked and rolled past the lion's paw, narrowly missing its sharp fang. Its fur was indestructible. He couldn't kill this thing without the help of freeze-dried astronaut food.
Gryffindor raised his hands and the ground exploded, pushing Nico and Percy too far apart to help or speak to each other. The Nemean lion pounced again, barely missing Percy's neck. He knew it was hopeless; he couldn't dodge this thing forever. He was up against the god of spells-Gryffindor knew more about dueling than the son of Poseidon ever would. He was stronger than any hero...
Maybe even strong enough to kill his own lion.
While the Nemean lion got ready to charge again, Percy did the stupidest thing imaginable: he grabbed the lion by the tail and climbed his back. The lion roared and swiped, but Percy was able to dodge claw after claw. Gryffindor pushed the air in front of him, and it was as though a boulder had slammed into Percy's stomach. He fell off the lion, gasping for breath, and hit the ground hard.
Unfortunately for Gryffindor, the boulder-air had also hit his sacred animal. And the beast wasn't happy about it. It turned and ran towards its master, fangs bared. It jumped, ready to crush the god of spells under its massive claws... but Gryffindor, in a panic, disappeared in a flash of golden light. Without its master to sustain it, the lion turned to dust.
Percy pushed himself off the ground and ran to Nico's side. Nico wasn't doing so well with his fight. No matter what he tried, every blow seemed to hit him. "Foolish mortal!" Ravenclaw shouted. "I know every move you make! You cannot surprise the goddess of divination!"
Percy felt himself rise into the air, trapped by Ravenclaw's magic. "Stand down, Nico di Angelo, or I will kill your brother!"
Nico stopped dead in his tracks. But he wasn't afraid... he was grinning. "You're forgetting something, Ravenclaw. Your prophecies are self-fulfilling. If I don't save him, you can't see into my future anymore."
In response, Ravenclaw tightened Percy's invisible cage. He didn't know what would happen if he touched the edge, and didn't want to find out.
"Save your brother, or save yourself," Ravenclaw warned.
"You sure I won't die?" Nico asked. It didn't sound like he was talking to Ravenclaw anymore. " 'Damn to Hades' at the incantation... 'damn to Hades' at the incantation..." Nico chanted to himself.
Ravenclaw's victorious smile faltered. "A child of the Underworld needs no incantation-"
"DAMN TO HADES!"
There were thousands of troops on the battlefield, even though half of them had already retreated. There was no way anyone could hope to take them all out.
And yet, Nico did. As far as the eye could see, every monster exploded, each forming a black cloud, the signature black that Nico's 'damn to Hades' created. Blaise and Hestia were the only ones left, with Thalia, Roszí, Ianthe, and Will standing between them.
But why did Nico look so scared?
"It didn't work on her..." Nico whispered.
Ravenclaw shouted, and a beam of light hit Nico square in the chest. He fell over, clutching his stomach. He coughed, and blood came out of his mouth. Ravenclaw's smile returned as another beam of light formed in her hand. "Die, traitor to Hecate."
A bull the size of a train slammed into Ravenclaw. She sputtered back, sticky with golden ichor, the blood of the gods. Ravenclaw eyed the bull as it geared up to charge again. "I know when a battle is lost," Ravenclaw said. "Tell your patron that Hecate will be victorious, no matter Hades' plan! I have seen it!" She went the same way as Gryffindor. Percy fell from the air and landed on the soft grass.
"No problem, thanks, Al," Nico said. He laid on the grass and coughed some more. Blood covered his lips like red paint.
Will ran to Nico's side, grabbed Nico's hand, and whispered a healing spell. "Why are you always the one who gets hurt?"
"To spite you," Nico replied. "Help me up."
"Guys! The bull's back!" Blaise shouted in alarm.
"Whoa!" Nico shouted, and ducked instinctively. The bull dove for Nico and knocked him to the ground with his massive nose. Its tail wagged like a dog as it licked Nico's body, covering him in slobber. "Down, boy! Down! Ah! Stop it!" Nico was laughing hysterically. "Cerus, sit!"
The bull sat.
"Lie down!"
The bull lied down.
"And, chill!"
The bull rolled onto its side.
Nico turned to Will. "Give me some ambrosia."
Will gave him some ambrosia.
Nico pat the bull's head and fed him the ambrosia. It licked it up eagerly, knocking Nico to the ground again. Nico fell on his butt, laughing. "It's okay, guys. He's friendly."
"Not to Ravenclaw," Percy pointed out.
Nico looked up from Cerus and shot Percy one of his wicked smiles. "Scratch that. He's friendly unless you try to kill me. Isn't that right, boy?"
Cerus wagged his tail.
"Where did you even get a ten-ton bull?" Thalia asked.
"He's Persephone's," Nico said. "In Ancient Greece, he was a wild bull. He trampled entire villages and destroyed farmland on a whim. No one could stop him until Persephone caught him trampling one of her sacred flower fields. She calmed him and tamed him. When she rises from the Underworld in March, she rides home on Cerus's back, and they make the spring flowers bloom together."
"It is December," Roszí said.
Nico rolled his eyes. "Gee, is it? I had no idea."
Thalia glared at him. "Nico, stop it."
Roszí shot Nico a glare of her own. "Cerus becomes the Taurus constellation in the winter. Why is thy bull not in the stars?"
Nico sat down, leaning against Cerus's massive stomach. He was pretty relaxed, considering he almost died a few minutes ago. "Persephone decided to start using him year-round. When the whole Zeus and Europa thing happened, Zeus plagiarized Persephone's constellation and remade Taurus." Nico looked up at his giant bull. "Cerus kept me company in the Underworld after Bianca died. Sometimes Persephone loaned him to me when she needed something done. He's like Mrs. O'Leary on steroids."
Cerus whined, so Nico stood. Cerus rolled over and put his chin on the ground. "He wants us to get on top," Nico said. "This is our ticket to the Underworld."
"I'm off, then," Thalia said. "I'll get Camp Half-Blood to put some defenses up, then get one of Hecate's kids to teleport me to L.A. with Lou and Alabaster. Roszí, Ianthe, join the rest of the Hunters in England-they'll need you there."
"You got it," Ianthe said with a smile. Roszí nodded too.
Percy scrambled on top of Cerus. It was like climbing a small mountain, one that smelled like a barnyard. He and Nico helped Hestia up, then Blaise. Thalia waved good-bye, then she and her sisters disappeared into the woods.
The Doors of Orpheus split open for Cerus. Blaise and Hestia cast lumos so they could all see each other in the dark, twisting tunnel.
"What's the plan?" Hestia asked.
"I thought that was obvious," Nico replied. "Who's the one person who'd know where the Artifacts are?"
"Persephone," Blaise realized. "She was the one who hid them last time, in the Wizarding World. Hades would give them to her again for safe keeping."
"Right," Nico said. "Think about it. She meant to send me alone to barter with Ceres. Then, yesterday, when I was asleep in the infirmary, Persephone spoke to me about the war. Now, she saved my life with Cerus."
"You think she's on our side?" Percy asked.
"I'm not sure," Nico said, "but something's bugging me. Why would she delay the trial? She'd've gotten the exact same outcome if Hades refused to show up to the Solstice meeting, and without a time-consuming, risky quest. Everyone knew the trail was a front for war. She said she wanted time to prepare, but she only bought herself a day. Something else is going on."
"She's not going to speak to us just because we have her bull," Percy pointed out. "And if you get anywhere close to the palace Hades will sense you and kill you."
Nico nodded. "I know. That's why we're going to offer up a prisoner. I happen to know someone in the Underworld who's working for Hecate, someone Persephone already has a vendetta against."
"Who?" Percy asked.
"Melinoe," Nico said. "Goddess of ghosts, and Persephone's daughter."
END NOTES
Body Count: 4 (yes I was serious last time I'm totally keeping track)
This week's beta commentary:
STORY: Our forces have enough time defending D.O.A. Recording Studios
LISSY: Ten years and I literally just realized D.O.A. is short for "Dead on Arrival." I am dense.
OLI: lol i only realized this cuz of the theme song for friends
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
I like how Nico just told the Fates to f*** off XD You go Nico!
Me too. They deserve it sometimes!
Ghosts of millennia, huh? I guess this is where the title came from :) Nice prophecy making too
Yep, that's where it comes from. And thank you, I do my best.
The Goode Ravenclaw
this is finally working so I'm sorry for not commenting for the last couple chapters, but I was able to comment on wattpad. when I read the chapter name, I though it was a different kind of talk...
I really like Percy Weasley a whole lot more now. I'm glad he has redemption and ***
Yeah, I saw your comments on WattPad! I'll respond to them soon if I haven't already. The title was supposed to have (You'll Wish It Was That One) at the end, but this site has a limit on how many characters you can have in a title. I'm glad you like Percy! I always thought his redemption was pretty rushed in the original books.
ok, first of all, Lou, how dare you attack my baby boy Nico?!
I honestly love Percy Weasley and his redemption track. I gotta say, the wizard sides of things are a whole lot easier to follow than the demigod side.
I'm glad that the demigods were able to relax a little bit with capture the flag... for a little bit. I really enjoyed the capture the flag scene and Alabaster and Nico coming out of no where. And we finally have the prophecy and the origin/reason of the story name!
I really like the whole thing with Cho, Hades, and Persephone. it came out of nowhere, but I love it (other than the whole torture thing because Cho is my baby)
Remember, Lou attacked him as part of Alabaster and Annabeth's plan, so she didn't mean it. I'm sorry the demigod side is a little confusing, but I hope that now that the true quest has started it's easier to follow. The problem was that between the two quests (Persephone's and this one) I have to set up a lot of stuff so it can get confusing. If you ever choose to reread once the fic is done it'll be a lot easier to follow. I'm glad I did a good job at Capture the Flag, too. I read and reread the two we've seen in TLT and TTC to make sure I got it somewhat right. As for Cho's thing, why do you say it came out of nowhere? That she died out of nowhere or that Charon captured her out of nowhere? I thought I did okay on that, but I'm always willing to take critique.