Now we're getting to the part that actually started this story. It would help a lot if I got some feedback on this: I think what i'm writing here makes sense in terms of the story and character-wise, but I'm not entirely sure. Let me know what you think.
Child of Pluto, Child of Hades
The giant doors of Hades' throne room burst open. A small, pale boy marched inside; his stride speaking of urgency. He didn't so much as glance at the skeleton guards with their imposing army issue rocket launchers.
"Father!" he called out. "I need to speak to you!"
The two gods on their thrones turned their heads; hands raised in different states of agitation. They seemed to have just interrupted a heated debate.
"Nico. Lower your voice, please; your father is unwell." That was Persephone.
"Nonsense!" Hades' deep voice boomed through the hall, seeping with annoyance. He waved his wife away briskly. "I'm fine, woman! Just a little upsetting. Must have been your mother's blasted oat cakes again. I swear; one day she and her 'gluten-free food' will be the death of – arghh!"
The god of the underworld bent over on his throne. His face twisted as if in pain, as his form started to shimmer and change. For half-a heartbeat, a tall, regally dressed man sat in his place, looking around in confusion. Then the hall rumbled angrily and Hades reappeared in his black robes. He looked ruffled, and not at all amused.
"Half-Bloods!" he shouted, shaking his fist at the ceiling. "What are you doing up there?!"
"Father! I need to talk to you!" Nico persisted, trying to ignore what had just happened – even though he was pretty sure he'd just seen Pluto, his father's Roman aspect. Hazel's father… That shouldn't happen. On the spot, Nico decided it would perhaps be wise not to mention her name. "You have to act; urgently. A ghost has given me a warning. There's a danger to you and all of Olympus, possibly."
"There's always some danger to Olympus." Hades waved him away. But the gesture held only a fraction of his usual impatience. In fact; Hades himself just looked like a fraction of himself, now that Nico looked at him closely. Even the mad fire that always burned in his eyes seemed almost dull. The god shook his head, in the way of someone who was slowly losing control of a situation and knowing it. "We have greater problems at the moment. Someone has stolen my Death!"
Nico blinked. "Your – what?"
"Thanatos!" Hades fumed. "He's gone. He's not patrolling my borders anymore. Things won't die properly!"
Nico blinked in surprise, then swallowed. What Hades had just said should have sent alarm bells going off in his head, but instead the first thing he felt was disappointment. Had this happened a few months sooner… Was he obsessed for thinking first of the chance this would have been for Bianca before the problems that the god's absence would cause? Probably. What he certainly was, though, was absentminded. Nico felt like hitting himself: As Hades' son, he needed to have noticed this earlier. It was his responsibility to keep an eye on that his father's realm worked smoothly. But no; you've been too busy chasing the fantasy of a normal life, haven't you?
With this news of Thanatos, the strange behaviour of the monsters he'd encountered finally made sense. They'd been acting more confident for a while now. Worryingly, none of them seemed to care when he killed them, and at one point he could have sworn he'd run into the same batch of Cyclopes several times. Now he was pretty sure he had. Over his conversations with Hazel, he hadn't really spent much time thinking about it. He really needed to stop and get his head back in the present.
"Do you have any ideas who could have done this?" he asked his father now. Just after he'd asked the question, an answer popped into his head, but he immediately dismissed it. Surely she couldn't be that powerful yet, could she?
"If I had, they'd be in here screaming for mercy by now." Hades growled.
"Let's not overreact." Persephone chimed in. "Who knows; there might be a harmless explanation for Thanatos' absence. Maybe he's just taken the week off."
The god of the underworld slowly turned to her, speaking with barely controlled patience: "Thanatos has never abandoned his post. He knows his responsibility. The only time he didn't perform his duties was when that upstart Sisyphus tricked and chained him. Somebody must have done it again. And once I find that somebody; I swear I will think up a much worse fate for them than Sisyphus'!"
Nico glanced out the balcony, beyond which the Fields of Punishment spread out for miles. He couldn't see the tiny man rolling his boulder up the hill, but he knew he was there somewhere. A shiver went up his spine. He believed his father when he said he'd come up with a worse punishment. Still, he didn't think the matter would be quite so easy.
If his theory was right; how did one punish the earth itself?
"Father," he started again, not meeting the angry god's eyes to avoid the manic fire, "I will do what I can to find and free Death. But we may have a much larger problem…"
"Father?!" and indignant voice interrupted. It sounded almost like Hades', but with a sharper edge to it; and more authority behind the word. "Who are you calling father here, boy? In fact; who are you and what are you doing in my throne room?!"
Nico turned back to the dais and found himself face to face with Pluto. Hades was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Persephone. The Roman god had stepped down from his throne, his long ornamental clothes billowing around him like mist. He was towering over Nico. His features were sharper and more pronounced than Hades', but his eyes held the same mad fire.
Nico swallowed thickly. There were too many things happening at once. Somehow, he was losing track of this situation. "Lord Pluto." he said hastily. "I'm so sorry. I am Nico; Lord Hades' son."
His address to the god was a lot more formal than anything Nico had used in years. He was on uncertain ground here. His father's two personalities seemed to be more at odds than he'd thought. Though still just as irascible. He sincerely hoped the Roman god remembered him in some form, at least; otherwise he might well end up leaving through the five-storey high balcony.
Pluto considered him for a long moment. His sharp expression twisted into a frown. "I suppose there must be some merit to what you say. Otherwise, I'd have blasted you long before you reached this room. I am not fond of demigods."
"Yes, I'm aware." Nico replied.
Pluto's eyes flashed. "I'm not going to kill you for your insolence – yet." he finally decided. "You said something of a problem. What could be important enough to risk your miserable life by coming here?"
"Yes, the problem!" Nico answered hastily. "You see; your grandmother, Gaia…"
"ARGH!"
Suddenly, Hades was back in the god's form. He immediately started pacing and cursing – by the looks of it, at himself. "Will you stay away, you wolf-bred waster! No one asked for your presence!"
He twisted back into Pluto, who took up the argument without wasting a breath. "My presence is sorely needed, by the looks of things here! Look at the run-down state of this place, you stingy hoarder!"
Nico could only stare at what was happening in front of him; for the first time in his life completely dumbfounded. He raised his hand tentatively. "Excuse me…"
"Stop meddling!" both gods shouted at once. The hall rumbled. A crack appeared in the black onyx beneath their feet.
Nico decided it was in his best interest to make a quiet retreat.
"They were just – changing back and forth?" Hazel inquired, looking as puzzled as Nico felt.
"Yes. I've never seen that happen." Nico was sitting next to her, hugging his knees. The encounter had shaken him more than he was willing to admit. Let's face it; he didn't particularly like his father, but until now the god had always seemed in control, at least. More controlled than most other Olympian gods, even. Now, though, he evidently wasn't. And considering his sphere of influence, this new erratic behaviour was extremely unsettling.
Especially now, after what Hazel showed him. What Nico had seen in his sister's memory terrified him. They were dealing with a power more ancient than even Hades, and probably much more malevolent. Granted, Nico didn't know much of the myths about Gaia, the earth goddess; just that she was the mother of the titans. But that voice in the cave, and the stone spire erupting from it, sent a cold shiver down his spine. She had killed Hazel, even asleep. His hands clenched into fists. What would she do if she was awake?
Unbidden, his Mythomagic knowledge made itself heard again. What it contributed now didn't reassure him: aside from the titans ad the gods, he remembered there being a Gaia card in the game. It had an insane amount of hit points. And when it was played, the match was instantly over.
Hazel spoke up again. "Maybe you should stop seeing me. I might be the cause of all that." She was wearing a look of guilt.
Nico laughed humourlessly. "Don't say that. I doubt that us just talking could have that effect on a god. Besides; you might be the one sane person I have left."
"But I'm dead! I –" Hazel broke off. She lowered her eyes. "I don't want you to go, Nico, but you can't keep visiting me. I think father needs you, and you need someone alive; not me."
Nico didn't answer. He rolled her words over in his mind.
I'm dead.
Thanatos.
Bianca…
As the pieces swirled around and connected, Nico looked at his ghostly, sad sister (when had he started referring to her like that?), who wouldn't meet his eyes. The idea had been there before; possibly since the moment she told him that Bianca was gone. Hazel wasn't her, but just like his actual sister she didn't deserve to die. She was caring and still so full of energy, and she might have been the only thing that kept him sane. If he couldn't bring Bianca back…
It was stupid. It wouldn't work, now that Hades knew that Death wasn't working anymore. He'd have all the exits sealed. And even if by some stroke of chance it did work; his father – or Pluto; it didn't really matter which – would be utterly mad at him and probably undo everything; take her right back.
But life owed him.
Nico jumped to his feet. "Come on." he told Hazel.
She looked up at him, not understanding. "What? Where are we going?"
"Just follow me."
"Nico, I can't leave this place."
"I am the son of Hades, and I say you can." Nico took a deep breath and met her eyes. "Do you trust me?"
Hazel looked at him for a long time. Then she nodded. "I do."
Two so simple words. "Then come." Nico insisted, starting to walk. His heart throbbed anxiously. How long had it been since somebody had really trusted him? His resolve doubled at that thought. He would make this work; for her. His eyes fixed on the distant cave wall that marked the edge of the underworld.
Somewhere in the black rock, he knew, was a passage to the surface world.
