They were woken up, late that morning, when the door of Nico's bedroom suddenly opened.

"Hey, I—oh Gods, I'm so sorry, I—"

The door slammed shut between Cecil and them, and Nico couldn't help but burst out laughing. His laughter gained in intensity when he glanced at Will. He seemed very focused on the fact that they were naked and hadn't bothered to get under the covers, and a blush was quickly spreading on his face and down his chest.

Nico gave him a quick kiss. "He'll live."

"I'm not sure I will."

Nico bit back a remark pointing out that Will didn't technically have to live with anything. "Well, you're gonna have to. I'll have to remind you that you're sitting the apartment while I'm having lunch with my stepmother. And that includes keeping an eye on Cecil."

Nico got dressed as he spoke, and he didn't quite catch Will's answer, though he thought it had something to do with not being able to look Cecil in the eye.

Cecil looked equally mortified and red when Nico came out of the bedroom. "I'm really sorry, I didn't think—I don't really know what I thought. I was just worried, because it's late in the morning and I thought sons of Apollo always woke up early, but—"

"Hey," Nico said, placing his hands on Cecil's shoulders to force him to stand still. "It's okay. There's no harm done." Cecil finally quieted down, and Nico let go of him. "I'll be leaving until…probably way into the afternoon, but Will's staying, so if you need anything, ask him. Though—try to make sure he's dressed this time." He hadn't been able to stop himself from teasing Cecil, and the boy's blush deepened. "Try to—I don't know, figure out what you're going to do with your life, okay? You shouldn't dwell on what happened yesterday too much."

If he was honest, Nico felt a little guilty leaving Will and Cecil alone in his apartment. Between the grieving, confusion, and embarrassment, he almost wished he had a camera to see how the day would go down for them.

However, having to have lunch in Persephone's greenhouse eased that guilt a little bit. The place was a small extension of the Underworld on Earth—like the entrance that led to Charon's boat and the River Styx. That meant the Queen of the Underworld could come here, even in the fall and winter, when she was supposed to stay in the Underworld proper. The only restriction was that her mother Demeter could not enter it. From what Nico had gathered, Persephone herself had insisted on that—though she'd forced Hades to make the suggestion himself, "for the sake of fairness".

Though the greenhouse's roof was made entirely of glass panes, Persephone didn't actually grow any plants in here—not the regular way, at least. The flowers in the greenhouse were entirely the product of Persephone's divine magic, bustling with more colors, shapes and scents that was entirely natural. A lot of those were poisonous, Nico knew; for some, just a touch could already induce sickness or paralysis. Persephone took her dual nature very seriously.

Nico entered the building, immediately facing a veritable jungle of vines, tall flowers, and small bushes. He slid between them, taking care to touch the plants as little as he could, and wishing he could just summon his sword and hack at them. He doubted that would please his stepmother, though.

Finally, he reached the center of the greenhouse. An area had been cleared from the overgrowth there, and all that remained was a table and benches. Nico remembered how proud Persephone had been to tell him that all the furniture in the greenhouse was made from limestone imported directly from the Stone Forest, in China. Her grin had scared him more than most monsters he'd faced before—or since.

There was no one yet, but Nico expected Persephone to want to make an entrance, so he sat down and waited.

He was wrong, as it turned out. When Persephone appeared from the opposite end of the greenhouse, she made no pompous entrance. She was dressed to impress, that much was certain: her vaporous, lilac dress was cut to look like petals of a flower draped over Persephone's body; a golden net was wrapped around her hair, dark as fertile soil; and the staff and cornucopia she held thrummed with power. But her eyes were too worried to be a mask of divine serenity, and her pace was businesslike, though not inelegant.

"Thank you for meeting with me," she said, sitting down on the bench across from Nico. She waved, and dryads emerged from the vegetation to Nico's side, carrying platters of food—fruit and pastries, mostly—that they laid on the table between them.

"What Bianca said made me curious." Nico couldn't help but feel worried about Persephone's attitude. Persephone's relationship with her stepchildren had been complicated at first—they were, after all, the fruit of infidelity. It had taken years for her to manage meeting Nico without turning him into some kind of cereal, and a few more for them to have a decent conversation. "Is everything all right?"

"You already know that it is not. There's no time to play pretend; the Underworld's royal family needs to unite." Nico frowned at her words—she may have grown to tolerate, perhaps even like Nico and his sisters, but she had never called them family before. "Chthonian gods feel threatened by the Olympian demigods in our stronghold."

"Most of them are dead, though."

"Yes, but their coming at all is an offense."

"So you don't know what brought them to New Orleans either, then?"

Persephone shook her head. "That's what worries me the most. Few gods could act in such a surreptitious way."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? It limits the number of suspects."

"Unless it's a god so obscure we can't even consider them a suspect."

Nico paused. "So where do I come in? If you can't detect the, what can I do?"

"What we gods can't. Talk to the demigods. Investigate. Perhaps find out what that giant wolf was." Nico gasped in surprise, and Persephone had a small grin. "I have my eyes and ears in the city. And even if I didn't, the victims came straight to us."

"So you don't know what that was, either?"

"I have an idea…but it's not one you'll like. I'd rather make sure with Hazel first. She'll tell you when we reach a conclusion."

Nico frowned. What could Hazel know about this? "All right, so I just investigate with the demigods until you and Hazel find something about the wolf. How do I do that?"

"Well, from what I gathered, you're already doing really well. One lives with you, and you befriended the other two living demigods. And of course, there's your lover." She smiled softly. "And since we're talking about him, I'm really happy for you, Nico."

"I'm pretty sure you shouldn't, since he's a ghost."

Persephone chuckled. "Well, you are the Ghost Prince. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

Nico felt himself blushing. "I should really let go of that nickname."

"It suits you so well, though!"

"Can we come back to—"

"All right. I just wanted you to know that you had my support—and your father's. So, as I said, you've already established contact with the demigods."

Nico nodded. "Yes, but I also tried to find out why they came to New Orleans, and I didn't find anything in common."

"Perhaps you didn't dig deep enough? How could you, when you're stressed all the time about making a living."

Nico immediately raised his guard. "Yeah. Your proposal."

Persephone nodded. "I want you to be my knight-servant. A fancy title for nothing, really."

"I'd like to know what that 'nothing' is."

"What you should have had all along. Your father thinks his children should earn their own place in the world, but I've advocated for years that you should receive an income from us, just like your sisters."

Nico scoffed. "You're offering me charity? How generous. What makes you think I want it?"

"I thought you might refuse. Which is why my offer will only last for as long as you're investigating, in my name, to make sense of this mess." She leaned over the table. "Let me make this clear: I won't have a war between the Underworld and Olympus. Not only because I care about people on both sides, but because it would ruin us all. So take my offer now, Nico, because I won't suffer your pride trumping your practical sense on this matter."

There she was: the goddess that had scared Nico for years. He'd be foolish to pretend otherwise. "The moment this is over, I return to my regular job."

"If that's still what you want, then I'll concede to that. But you'll still have my support for whatever you do. You deserve more success than you've received, Nico."

"That's a discussion for some other time." Honestly, Nico just wanted to leave this place as soon as he could. "So all I have to agree to is investigate the reason why demigods are coming to New Orleans?"

"Nothing more. Unless you want to. Then we can renegotiate our terms."

"Sounds straightforward enough." Nico sighed. "All right, I'll take your deal. Can I go now?"

Persephone chuckled. "Yes. But there's one last thing you might want to know—" Nico froze at her tone. "We're closing an eye about your boyfriend. This means that, should it ever become necessary, a regular exorcism won't be enough to get him to the Underworld. It would mean admitting we bent the rules for you."

Nico frowned. "What are you saying?"

"If you ever need to send Will to the Underworld—you'll have to find a method on your own. None of the regular ways would work. It's that, or obliterate him completely."

A shiver ran down Nico's spine, but he didn't say anything. He just got up and left.

He came home to find Will and Cecil, laughing on his couch. They had dug up Nico's old Playstation—Nico didn't even know he still had that—and were racing off in a Crash Team Racing tournament.

The moment Will noticed Nico, however, he dropped his controller. In a few quick strides, he came across the living room, taking Nico in his arms. "Everything okay?" he said softly.

"Yeah, I—I took Persephone's offer. I'm going to try to find out what's going on in this city."

Will backed away just enough to stare at Nico in the eye. "That's not what I mean. You're white as a sheet. Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened. She just said a few things—about you." Nico glanced over Will's shoulder at Cecil. He wasn't sure he should tell Will what Persephone had told him, but he definitely didn't feel comfortable telling him in front of Cecil. So he chose to keep quiet—for now, at least. "But it won't happen. I'll make sure of it."

Will's eyebrows twitched into a half-frown, but he nodded. "Okay."

Nico looked up at him, hating the look of worry on his face. He leaned forward, catching Will's lips with his own, kissing to express what he didn't manage with words. "I'm glad I'm home," he said when they pulled apart, forcing a smile. "Mind if I play with you?"

Will grinned back. "Only if I get to kick your ass."