CHAPTER SUMMARY
Nico's group captures Melinoe. The war continues to escalate.
BEGINNING NOTES
Chapter Rating: General Audiences
Content Warning: Cursing, Sexual Themes (mild)
Word Count: 3909
Macaria is pronounced Mah-kah-RYE-uh. And Mnemosyne is NEO-sign.
Oli's at a sports tournament, so she couldn't get to today's chapter. We miss you, Oli!
This is the last one for today.
And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.
Credits at the end.
_NICO_
Cerus dropped them off at the banks of the River Lethe, gave Nico a big, slobbering kiss, then sprinted home to the Palace of Hades. Nico didn't speak to anyone on their way there. His friends kept asking what was wrong, but he pretended not to hear them. Will was just as silent.
"Did something happen, guys?" Percy asked. "Please tell me you didn't break up. Jason and I have a bet going about your wedding and-"
Nico shot Percy a perfect ten death glare. He shut his mouth.
But, now that they'd arrived, they had a mission to complete, one that required teamwork. As much as Nico wanted to shadow-travel to the other side, he couldn't take four people with him. Even if he could, there was no way Hades wouldn't sense dark magic so close to his palace. It was dangerous enough for Nico to be in his realm. Until they reached the surface, all child of the Underworld special features were turned off.
"How do we get across?" Blaise asked. "Percy, could you...?"
Percy shook his head. "I could barely hold it when it was just Nico and Thalia crossing. I can't risk it; if I lose my strength, that's it."
"One drop and everything's gone," Nico confirmed. "No, I have a better idea... how do you feel about petting zoos?"
Just west of Elysium, where the waters of the River Lethe met the waters of the River Mnemosyne, in the outskirts of the Fields of Asphestol, the parts where only the bravest and stupidest spirits dared to rome, the god Menoetes, one of the few damions who fought Heracles and lived, ferociously guarded a flock of Hades' sacred animals: a bunch of midnight-black cattle.
It was truly one of the biggest question marks in all of Greek mythology.
"Stay away from the cattle," Nico warned. "You get anywhere close, and Menoetes will end you ."
"Over a bunch of cows?" Percy asked. "Seriously? Why does Hades even need cows?"
"Are the cows going to split the Lethe for us? I'm really confused, Nico," Hestia said.
"I don't give a shit about the cows, guys. I just happen to know someone who's rather fond of them. Now, listen. Stay behind me, and don't say a word. She's pretty touchy, to say the least."
"Who is?" Will asked.
Nico's eye caught something shiny. "The Princess of the Underworld."
She had long, silver-blonde hair that fell all the way to her feet; half of it was tightly braided into a thick, spiraling bun in the back of her head. A golden tiara sat on her head. She looked about Nico's age, but those glowing golden eyes, so like her mother's, had the wisdom of a woman five times older. She wore a simple white sundress, and the feathery wings of an angel, identical to Thanatos's, except his was black and her's were white. Her skin was see-through if you focused too hard on it. When she walked through the cattle, she glided like any other spirit of the Underworld. But she wasn't a spirit.
She was Macaria, the goddess of blessèd death, also known as fading.
Nico stood there, waiting for her to turn around and see him. She scared too easily for him to approach her, and her parents were very, very protective. One gasp and the King and Queen of the Underworld would smite first and ask questions never. Nico was surprised they ever let her out of her room, much less the palace.
Finally, she saw him. Her eyes lit up, and she glided towards him, hands outstretched. "Brother! Whatever happened to you?"
Nico gave a small smile. "That's the question, isn't it? A lot, honestly. I don't think we have the time to go over it all."
Macaria laughed, and pulled Nico in for a hug. "It is so good to see you, Nico. Father told me you were dead, but I knew better. He's usually nice to his children after they pass on."
"I can't believe he told you I was fucking dead..." Nico grumbled. She gasped. "Gods, Cara. Freaking dead. Let me live, won't you?"
She giggled. Nico chuckled along with her. When she was in a good mood, she could be a breath of fresh air, one that Nico had taken advantage of many times before he ran into Hazel. He never meant to abandon her or anything, but then Gaea took up his attention, then school, then Riddle...
"Wait, her name's Macarena ? Like the dance?" Percy asked.
Macaria's eyes widened at the new face. She jumped twenty feet back, fading until she was nearly transparent. Nico stuck his middle finger up at Percy and ran to fix his mess. "He's a friend, Cara! It's fine! He's my brother-his family adopted me after I, um, fell out of favor with Hades."
Macaria inched forward. She was still translucent, but not completely see-through. "So that's why he hates you now."
"Define 'hate,' please?"
"I once overheard him tell Mother that if you came within a thousand miles of the palace, he would kill you and then throw your soul in the Lethe so he'd never have to see you again."
Nico swallowed, hard. He was definitely within a thousand miles of the palace.
"I don't think he meant it!" Macaria said quickly.
"Oh, he meant it..." Nico sighed. "We need to cross the Lethe, Cara. You're the only one besides Hades himself who could part the waters on command. I know it's a lot to ask, showing up after two years and all, but, I swear, once this war is over I'll come back and explain everything."
Macaria stared at him hopefully. "Even though Father wants to rebirth you?"
"Um, yes... I think. How about I get Persephone to take you to the surface with her and visit you in Central Park?"
Macaria laughed with glee. "I've never seen the surface world in the daytime! Will you show it to me?"
"Sure. Get us as close to Melinoe as possible. She's conspiring with Hecate, so we're taking her hostage for Persephone."
Macaria led the way. The walk to the cattle fields had taken at least twenty minutes, but it took them mere moments to get back to where they started. That was the nice thing about having an über-powerful god of the Underworld on your side: they could mold Erebos like clay. Where there was once an impenetrable river now stood a land-bridge too high and sturdy for a single drop of water to pass.
"Why didn't you do that last time?" Percy asked quietly so he wouldn't scare Macaria again.
"I didn't know her back then," Nico answered.
"Nico tells me about all his adventures," Macaria said happily. "I'm glad Mother and Father had him to help them since I'm too weak to."
Nico couldn't help but blush. How had Hades fathered such a sweet and optimistic child?
"It will be dangerous for you to face the goddess of ghosts with all that you've been through," Macaria told him. "Melinoe finds what leads you to Death and tempts you with it. You must hold onto what keeps you living. What you will lose if you give in to Death."
She took a beautiful gold and ruby necklace off and draped it over Nico's neck. "To remind and protect you, brother. I will send Mother to collect Melinoe."
Nico looked up at Macaria's golden eyes, but, for a moment, they were a deep, dark brown. Her skin turned olive, and a floppy green replaced her tiara. He felt as though all the air was sucked out of him, how could Bianca be standing there, why would Macaria do this to him?
He blinked, and the vision was gone. "Thank you, Cara," he said, forcing his voice not to tremble. He kissed her on the cheek, then led his friends across the land bridge to Melinoe. The entire way, he could hear the voices of his Italian childhood rising out of the Lethe's waters.
Oh, I am definitely going to die.
They approached Melinoe's cave as silently as possible. "What are the chances she's still, you know-Nico what do you call, like, upstairs?" Blaise asked.
"The surface world," Nico said. "And, next to none. The sun was already rising when Cerus took us down, and that was hours ago. It's probably dinnertime, and she doesn't ascend until midnight."
"Can't you check on your iPod?" Percy asked.
"He broke it," Will said, smirking.
"That was one-hundred percent entirely your fault," Nico shot back.
The air turned twenty degrees colder. Nico's feet stopped working. He could see the mouth of Melinoe's cave, a gray pinprick in the distance.
Could that be what the prophecy meant? Melinoe would dig up something so horrible from his past that it would kill him? " 'The flower and angel both reach out their hand / for the ghosts of millennia and the promised land.' " Rachel whispered in his mind. The angel reaches for heaven while he reaches for his millennia-old ghosts, summoned by a millennia-old foe. Nico didn't know where "flower" came from, but other than that, a di Angelo walking into the hands of the goddess of ghosts seemed to fit the bill.
"You don't have to go," Will said.
Sometimes I think you can read my mind, Will.
Nico thought about that day in the bathroom when he was so close to slitting his wrists. He thought about Alastor, the thoughts he'd planted into his head to get him to try suicide a second time. He thought about that day in the graveyard when Alabaster had promised to give him the Artifacts of Thanatos. How eager he was to join his family, one way or another. How long he held onto that crush on Percy when it was well past its expiration date.
He remembered the way Will danced with him when he came home from Persephone's quest, how stupidly Hollywood it was, yet he did it anyway. He thought of Will singing Do You Hear the People Sing in his dorm's bathroom back at Hogwarts. How had Will pushed him out of his shell when he arrived at Camp Half-Blood with Athena's statue? When Riddle promised to torture Will into insanity, it hurt so much . He cared so much.
When he broke up with Will, his heart couldn't take it. Even though everyone was playing on his fatal flaw, what had he done when forced to leave the son of Apollo? Told him-begged him-to tell him to stay. "Tell me to stay, and I'll stay," he'd said. When he was dying after he defeated Riddle, his thoughts weren't on his past like they had been every time he got too close to Thanatos's grip. No, his thoughts were on Will. Nothing but Will.
"Come with me," Nico said. "You know all my secrets. You know all my ghosts. You'll keep me alive."
"What about the rest of us?" Percy asked. "Nico, we're all coming with you."
"No!" Nico cried. Last time, Percy hadn't had ghosts, but so many people had died since then. He knew about Blaise's absent mother and Hestia's death eater aunt and uncle, killed by the Furies for their crimes. He wasn't going to risk his brother or his friends. He didn't even want to risk Will, but he couldn't go in alone and hope to get back alive.
"We'll draw her out," Nico insisted. "When she gets close enough, Blaise, Hestia, stun her. Percy, protect them. And none of you get too close. Don't try to save us if we fall."
Will took Nico's hand. "We won't fall, Neeks. I won't let you."
Nico smiled. "I know. You always keep my nightmares away."
They pressed forward, and the world around him started to look all too familiar. "Listen to me before I go under, Will," Nico said. "I have a lot of ghosts, even more than I did last time I faced her. I'm going to be too good for Melinoe to resist. I'll be so overwhelming that she might not even notice you. Let her get close enough to get tempted, then drag me back to the others. No matter what I say or do, don't let go."
"Like the Sirens," Will confirmed. "Got it."
If Will said anything else, Nico didn't hear. In fact, he no longer knew the name Will Solace.
Bianca sat on the bench outside their old Venice apartment. Her black hair was in a messy bun, her bangs fell to her eyebrows. She wore a silver crop top and faded blue jeans. Her ears were pierced, and her nails were done midnight black. A thick book laid open beside her, on her lap was a spiral notebook.
"Oh, thank the gods, Nico. College is kicking my ass. Can you help me with this?" She slammed the textbook shut. "You know what? Nevermind. Homework can wait until Christmas break is over. We're in Italia , where the drinking age is sixteen, which means we can both go to a bar and cry about how life is unfair." She raised her eyebrows at Nico. "Come on, mio piccolo angelo ! It was my twentieth, like, less than a week ago. This technically counts as a birthday gift."
Her iPhone buzzed. She glanced at it, and her face lit up. "I got a 4.0 this semester! Okay, now we have to celebrate. I'm so close to veterinary school I can taste it. Three more semesters, and bye-bye calculus, hello Cornell!"
She closed the notebook on her lap and threw it and her textbook into a messenger bag at her feet. "Let me drop this off inside, and then we'll go looking for somewhere to get a bottle of wine." But, the textbook was too thick, and it wouldn't go back into the bag. "Dammit! A little help? I wish I was an octopus, I need more hands."
Melinoe was frozen at Nico's feet. He dropped to his knees and lifted his head towards the black, rocky sky.
I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't cry...
"Nico?" Will asked gently.
"Bianca was alive," he whispered. "She was alive, she just turned twenty, we were on vacation in Italia , and she was trying to get me to celebrate her 4.0 college semester. She..."
Will kneeled beside him and wrapped him in a hug. "It's okay."
"She was gonna be a vet..." Nico whispered.
"I love you, Nico. Everything's okay."
_RON_
The last thing Ron needed was to sit in a dark and empty house, waiting to find out who else would die at the Ministry. But, that's what he got.
Percy was dead. His brother was a hero and a martyr. His father had killed the Minister of Magic. Bill and Charlie were somewhere in the Ministry, fighting to get out before someone noticed their distinctly ginger hair. Fred and George were trapped in their joke shop, surrounded by a mob of Ministry loyalists after they heard Dad's shout of "You killed my son!" on the radio and saw the name "Weasley" on the store's sign. Mum and Fleur were somewhere in America, protecting the underage Ginny from the Wizarding World's wrath.
And Ron was alone, safe in an empty house, protected by a Fidelius Charm, with nothing to do but wonder how many more family members he would lose before the dust settled.
Sirius, Hermione, and Hermione's family left him alone to grieve. It was the right thing to do, of course; still, part of him wished for them to distract him from his own mind. But it was one in the morning now, one hour into December 25th. They would all be in bed, asleep.
So Ron did the only thing left to do. He prayed.
"Give me a demigod dream, Morpheus. I need to know what's going to happen to my family. Tell me what to do, Merlin. You spoke to Hermione, well, I need you to speak to me. Tell- tell Hecate that I'll do anything she wants. Ask her how to save our world."
He laid in his bed and closed his eyes.
An island of cliffs sat in the middle of a violent sea. Two women stood on top of the highest cliff. The older of the two was seven feet tall, wearing a blue dress and a goatskin cloak over her shoulders. The second had auburn hair covered by crisscrossing cords of metal and a gray-blue dress extending to her bare feet. He recognized the older woman as Juno, but he had no idea who the younger woman was.
"Where are your dementors, Angelos?" Juno asked.
"Hecate summoned them," Angelos spat. "Why have you called me here, Mother? To mock me?"
"Daughter, please," Juno said. "You know I hate to see you like this, serving an ungrateful mistress. You are a princess of Olympus! Not a pawn of Hecate's."
"Then tell Father to set me free!" Angelos yelled, bitterness in her voice. "I did not ask for Merlin's affections! For Hecate to trap me here over his wandering eye... this is an injustice Father should have corrected long ago!"
Juno held up a hand to silence her daughter. "Jupiter will not set you free. But I will."
Angelos rolled her eyes. " If Jupiter ever found out about Merlin there would be war among the gods, Angelos. Better to stay here, after all, it is an honor to be patron of any island, even Azkaban ."
"There is war among the gods already," Juno informed her. "Hades fights Hecate. Her power and influence have extended too far. Your imprisonment is a prime example. I have decided to fight with him. You must remember Hades from your time in the Underworld."
Angelos's face softened. She got a glassy look in her eyes. "Hades asked you to set me free?"
"I brought your imprisonment to his attention. He was eager to assist."
That was enough for the infatuated Angelos. "What must I do?" she asked.
Juno smiled and pointed to Azkaban, looming on the horizon. "You are the goddess of dark magic. The remainder of Lord Voldemort's forces sit in prison, eager to take revenge against the titan who betrayed their master. Hecate's lands fall into civil war. Lead the death eaters into battle. Destroy Hecate, and Hades will forever be in your debt."
Uh oh...
His dream changed to a grand hall. Merlin stood by the podium, watching Hecate with wary eyes as she stormed down the aisle. "You, erm, have new information, I assume, Hecate? My darling wife, whom I love with all my heart?"
"Shut up, Merlin," Hecate snapped. "Azkaban was too good for that scoundrel. I should've put her in chains and thrown her into the River of Pain. Why I ever showed kindness to your precious little -"
"Diana enchanted me, as I've said-"
"Oh, yes, Dianais the one who taught Angelos my secrets and brought her to my cave and laid with her in my bed for months upon end!"
"Yes, and Angelos is the one who trapped me in that cave until you found me! You, my wife, who, if I recall correctly, kept me there for a decade! Have I not been punished enough?"
"I am not the one at fault here!" Hecate shouted. "That little monster you created will tear down our realm when it's on its last legs! Do you care nothing for the people we swore to protect and defend?!" He didn't respond. She scoffed at him. "And 'Nimue' is the stupidest pet name I have ever heard in my entire life."
Merlin closed the gap between them, grabbed Hecate, and kissed her more aggressively than Ron would've ever liked to see. Hecate threw her hands on the sides of his head.
Okay, if they start going at it, forget what I said, Morpheus, and wake me up.
Merlin pulled his lips back a fraction of an inch, leaving Hecate panting. "I have never loved another, Hecate. No one but you."
"I will reduce the world to ash before I let Jupiter take you from me," Hecate whispered to him. "I will win this war for you, for my children, for my people. I will make myself an Olympian and force the council to keep you by my side, I will take you to America, to every center of Western Civilization, build you the finest throne you have ever seen and walk with you through Olympus. My people will walk among the mortals again, and they will know that you are so much more than a mere wizard. I will win you the respect you deserve, my beloved, I swear it."
Her hands fell from his cheeks to the crook of his arms. Her voice softened. "We're losing this war, Merlin. All I want, all I've ever wanted, is to protect my family. Persephone must face consequences for murdering hundreds of my children. Hades has caused too much destruction to stay where he is. Is this what I get instead of justice? My lands crumble to ruin while the Underworld stands strong?"
Merlin pressed his forehead to hers. "You are a compassionate ruler, involved in every aspect of your lands. Hades cares nothing for the dead and rules with a passive hand. That is why the Underworld is unaffected by the war."
"It doesn't matter why, all that matters is the Wizarding World. If I take the time to rebuild it, Hades will swoop in, and I'll be forced to surrender. But how much longer can it hold out? Fudge has been dead less than twelve hours, and there are riots across the country. Whole cities have shut down. I can't call it anything less than anarchy."
A small smile crept across Merlin's cheeks. Hecate's face lit up, hardly daring to believe it. "You've already taken care of it, haven't you?"
"Days ago, my darling. I have been in contact with Albus Dumbledore and, more importantly, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Annabeth Chase is set to meet with Ron and Hermione in mere hours. A spy in the Underworld has informed me that Pluto sent Hazel Levesque with Annabeth to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone. The Order will keep your lands from collapsing until their quest is done. When we have the Stone, we can heal the injured and bring the Wizarding World back to life. Hades will lose his advantage-you will have an army of immortal soldiers just as he does."
Hecate laughed with delight. "Oh, Merlin... "
He pressed a finger to her lips. "Save your praise. Juno has Angelos, yes, but I have secured an ally of my own. The goddess Bellona has pledged herself to us."
Hecate was near speechless. "How have you done such a thing?"
Merlin smiled triumphantly. "With great difficulty. Trust my instincts, Hecate. I won your lands from Jupiter's Roman fleet before I was a god. We've secured Mars's wife. It won't be long until we secure Mars himself. When he turns the tide of this war, Athena shall see Hades has no hope and join the winning side. I will win you both gods of war, my darling. I will pry victory from the hands of an Elder God."
"As you have before," Hecate agreed and leaned in to kiss him again.
Ron woke up, unsure if he should be jumping for joy or very, very afraid.
END NOTES
The thing about Diana? True to the legend.
I would like to point out that the Arthurian legend is the FOURTH mythology I've had to research for this story (Greek, Roman, and Wizarding). Make that SIX if you count the canons of both the PJO/HOO and HP series. And SEVEN if you count the history of Italy in the 1930's. I feel like I'm lowkey trying too hard for a fanfic but fuck it I'm going to.
SOURCES:
wiki/Macaria#Goddess
.
culture/mythology/children-zeus-hera/
wiki/Angelos_(mythology)
wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake#In_medieval_literature
. #Lake
This week's beta commentary:
STORY: "You, erm, have new information, I assume, Hecate? My darling wife, whom I love with all my heart?"
STORY: "Shut up, Merlin," Hecate snapped.
LISSY: That one moment where this suddenly becomes a BBC Merlin fic
LISSY: I can't stop reading "Shut up, Merlin," in Bradley James's King Arthur voice.
STORY: "Come closer, Nico," Il Duce said.
LISSY: For perspective, the US is only 2,500 miles wide.
SUHAILA: oof
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!