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After interrogating Nico about everything he had seen of the Asgardian traitor, Thor strode from the room, announcing over his shoulder that he was going back to Asgard to find the traitor, and hopefully beat some information out of him that might be useful in the coming fight. Fury had left, bringing Coulson, Natasha, Clint and Steve with him to help with the evacuation efforts. Evacuating every single person in New York in less than a day wasn't going to be possible, so the Director was on the phone to SHIELD, organising areas as shelters. Luckily, after learning there might be an attack on New York, SHIELD had already begun the conversion of some areas, so there wasn't as much work needed to be done as there could be. Before Fury left, he ordered Nico to do something.
"Get to that Camp of yours, and gather your demigod attack force. Gaea's a Greek, this is your fight even more so than ours. I expect you back here by tomorrow morning at the latest with your people. Dismissed."
Although Nico was loath to involve his extended family in such danger, it was as much their fight as his. He wouldn't be able to stop Percy or Annabeth from fighting even if he tried. He sighed, said his goodbyes to the remaining team members, and picked up Fiend. He decided he would leave his new companion at Camp where he would be safe. He shadow-travelled to his room, grabbed his bag which contained his armour and his weapons, and disappeared into the shadows once again.
When he emerged from the darkness, he found himself in the Hades Cabin at Camp Halfblood. Fiend meowed excitedly, and Nico was confused by the fact that the kitten seemed to enjoy Nico's method of travel. Anyone he had ever brought through with him always told him it was an awful experience, something Nico couldn't understand. The fuzzball, however, seemed to enjoy it. He plucked Fiend off of his head, perplexed as to how the cat had gotten there in the first place, and placed him on his bunk. The kitten immediately latched onto a pillow, and curled into a ball, already falling asleep. Nico shook his head at the odd creature and made his way out of the cabin.
He could not help but relax as he took in the familiar surroundings, as he had not been back here in so long. Being an Avenger didn't leave much time for anything else. He scowled up at the bright sun, and then some more as he observed the teenagers running around before him, hanging out with their friends, or hurrying to their classes. He sighed, and shook his head. He inhaled some of the strawberry scented air, and released as a deep sigh. Time to ruin their day.
He sent a tendril of power into his throat to make his voice louder, and shouted, "All Head Campers, meeting in the Big House, ASAP!" All the campers froze, and their heads darted in the direction the loud shout had come from. They watched Nico's aviator jacket clad back as he headed up to the Big House to await his fellow leaders. Nico frowned as whispers broke out behind him. He was used to the usual mutterings concerning his dark attire, but today the words were different.
"That's Nico! He's the newest Avenger!"
"Most powerful son of Hades to ever live!"
"And he's the Ghost King!"
Nico began to walk faster, wanting to escape all the attention. He whirled around and snarled when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder.
"Whoa, Death Breath, someone woke up on the wrong side of the coffin this morning!" Percy greeted cheerfully.
Nico growled at him, "That wasn't funny the first time you said it, Kelp Head. This is the hundred and fourth. Get some new insults, idiot."
Percy just laughed at him, "So, what brings you to Camp, cousin? I thought you were all busy saving the world and had no spare time." Nico didn't answer, just stared at Percy meaningfully.
"Oh," Percy said softly, realization dawning on his features, "She's going to attack, isn't she?"
Nico nodded jerkily, and continued on his journey to the Big House, Percy following close behind him. As they entered the room, everyone looked up. The other cabin leaders were already there, and none of them looked happy. All of them wore varying expressions of worry and concern. They had their suspicions on what this meeting was about.
"Nico, my dear boy, how have the mortals been treating you?" Chiron asked him, kindly. Nico just waved the greeting away, preferring to get straight to the point.
"Gaea's attack is planned for tomorrow. She has an alliance with an alien race know as the Frost Giants, and I'm sure you can figure out their powers. She also has a large army of monsters, and an unlimited supply of Earthborn. SHIELD is evacuating as many mortals as it can from New York, and they need us there by tomorrow morning. Any questions?"
His fellow demigods looked shocked at his words. An attack already?
"Are you positive in this, Nico?" Chiron asked. "Mr. D. has yet to return from the last meeting on Olympus, and that was two days ago."
Nico scoffed at his words, "I wouldn't expect him to come back anytime soon. Gaea apparently found a way to force gods to fade, and according to Prometheus, all the gods are taking shelter on Olympus." Nico rolled his eyes, "Fucking cowards," he muttered. The clear sky rumbled with thunder, but Nico ignored it. His words were true.
Chiron looked troubled, "We have about one hundred demigods over the age of fifteen currently at Camp. I refuse to send anyone younger than that to battle." Nico nodded in agreement.
"We need to be in the city before tomorrow morning. That gives us the rest of the evening to prepare, and most of the night to rest. Make it clear that they only have to fight if they want to."
The others nodded, quite surprised at how Nico had taken control of the situation. He had become a strong leader, something no one would ever have expected have the lone son of Hades. Nico motioned for Percy to speak.
"Alright guys," Percy announced, "Hephaestus cabin, start the construction of as many traps and automatons as you can. Hermes cabin, we need you in New York and waking up as many of Daedalus' statues still functional, and setting them to defence. Ares cabin, arm the demigods and make sure everyone has armour. Apollo cabin, you better start enchanting your arrows, and see if you can collect all the godly food in Camp to ration out to everyone. We need to be prepared for casualties. Athena cabin, you know, do planning and stuff. The rest of you," Percy stared each of the cabin leaders in the eye, "Get your siblings ready for war."
Nico relaxed against Thalia's pine tree, the last of the evening light fading away, warming his face as it went, and he stroked Peleus' large scaled head as he watched the campers below rush around. Peleus was blowing clouds of smoke from his nostrils as he drifted off to sleep. The golden fleece glowed softly above him, and Nico was certain that if Gaea defeated them in the city, her next target would be the surviving demigods. Unlike Kronos, she wasn't interested in converting demigods to her cause. Well, except for Nico, that is. Nico frowned to himself, wondering what she wanted with him, and paused in his stroking of Peleus head. The dragon whined, and Nico hastily began petting him again. The activity in Camp showed no signs of stopping.
Nico musings were interrupted by a mechanical beep in his ear.
"Agent Emo Ninja, how goes it with the demigods?" Stark's annoying voice chirped in his ear. Nico growled before replying.
"We've got almost one hundred demigods willing to fight, all of which are over fifteen."
Tony paused before replying, "... Some of them are fifteen? Nico, I don't know about this, they could get killed." Nico scowled at Stark's words.
"Most of them have been training for battle since they were thirteen," Nico said, "That's when demigods get claimed. Also, they would have been undergoing daily attacks from monsters long before that if their godly parent was powerful enough. Don't underestimate us," Nico finished darkly.
"I'm not, Nico. I'm just not all that comfortable with sending kids to war," Tony replied, defensively. Nico sighed, and rubbed his eyes, tiredly.
"... I'm sorry, Stark. I'm not enjoying sending demigods to slaughter any more than you are, but that can't be helped when it comes to war, especially when you're a demigod. It's what we're bred for after all," he said bitterly, "To fight the god's fights so they don't have to."
"I'm sorry, Nico," Tony said softly. Nico heard him yell something at someone before he addressed Nico once again, "But look on the bright side, Emo Ninja! If we go down, you will never have to suffer the sight of a dandelion ever again!"
Nico's lips twitched from a suppressed smile, and he shook his head. "Fuck off, Stark," before ending the transmission. Nico let his head fall back against the tree, and stared up at the stars that were blinking into existence above him. He wondered which one Jotunheim belonged too...
"Whoa, Death Breath, you look deep in thought. Better not strain yourself," a feminine voice chirped from behind him.
"Thalia?" Nico asked.
"Who else, Goth Boy?" Thalia came into view, followed by the rest of the Hunters of Artemis. Nico got to his feet, and faced them, his hands in his pockets.
"My, my, Pinecone Face, it's been a year since I last saw you, and you're still as short as ever. What a pity." Thalia sent a bolt of lightning flying at him, but he easily dodged it. Hanging around a pissed off Thor during one of his Poptart cravings really sharpened up the reflexes. "Temper, temper. Is that any way to greet a beloved friend?"
"Beloved friend, my ass!" Thalia snarled, before laughing, walking up to Nico, and giving him a hug. "Whoa Death Breath, when did you grow up?"
"When I was ten," Nico replied, his voice instantly as cold as ice. His gaze swept over the Hunters, remembering how fast Bianca had abandoned him to join them. He closed his eyes, and calmed himself down. He couldn't blame the Hunters for Bianca's decision. It hadn't been her job to look after him. He had thought he was over his anger at his sister, but it seemed she had been right. Holding a grudge really was his fatal flaw. All these thoughts took only three seconds to travel through Nico's mind, and when he opened his eyes again, it was with a slight smirk. "Working with the Avengers doesn't tend to leave time for being lazy. I haven't had a full day off without it being interrupted by an attack on the city or a random assignment since joining. What I wouldn't give to be a Hunter, camping in woods, roasting marshmallows, you know, eating the day away..." he said innocently.
The Hunters grumbled and glared at him, awkwardness forgotten, muttering about how stupid boys were, but Thalia just laughed. "Moving on, we heard that the attack is happening tomorrow from Lady Artemis. She told us we could fight, and to ask you to inform the mortals that she will be assisting them in the battle. Our Lady does not fear death like some cowards," she said, proudly. Nico gave her a half smile. At least there would be some godly assistance.
"You might as well help the Apollo campers. There enchanting arrows to explode, and shit like that. I'm sure they'd appreciate your help, because they need to work on healing ointments and stuff as well."
Thalia stared up at him, questioningly, "Why aren't you helping out, Nico?"
He shrugged. "I'm no good at that sort of thing. My skill set focuses mainly on killing things and I'm damn good at it. I'm heading down to the Underworld in a bit to see if I can convince Father to help out. Besides," he added, gesturing vaguely at the Camp, "Most of them get to nervous to talk when I'm around. They start stammering and tripping over things. It's ridiculous," Nico said in disgust.
"Either they're intimidated by you, or something else," she said with a smirk.
"Something else?" Nico asked in confusion.
"Yup," Thalia replied, "But we'll let the children of Aphrodite explain it to you." Nico glared at her, but he could feel his cheeks darkening slightly. He stalked off, muttering under his breath.
"Godsdamn fangirls." He entered the first shadow he could, but not before he heard the Hunters laughter echoing behind him.
He appeared in his father's throne room, to see Hades lounging on his throne of bones, moodily shooting balls of black fire at the beautiful plants Persephone had placed around the room. Nico wrinkled his nose in disgust at the sight of such cheerful flowers, an expression mirrored by his father. Hades looked up, and noticed his son.
"Nico, what a pleasure it is to see you. You've heard about Gaea's plans, I assume?" Nico nodded. "Hmmm, quite irritating. Another war so soon after the last. Thankfully, she has expressed no more interest in freeing the Titans since her last assault on the Underworld. Our guess is she doesn't wish to share the glory of our defeat with them."
Nico raised an eyebrow, but was pleased to hear at least they were safe from the Titans. "Father, I have come to make a request of you."
Hades sighed deeply, "You wish for me to fight?"
Nico blinked in surprise, "Well, yes..."
Hades raised his own eyebrow, "You really thought I was going to let my only son and heir fight an enemy as powerful as Gaea without my assistance?"
"Ummm," Nico replied, intelligently.
Hades sighed, and shook his head at his son in amusement, "I will be joining the fight, son. I believe Artemis, Athena, Poseidon and Ares will be fighting also. The others have allowed their fear of death to cloud their judgement. At least in the event we fail, Olympus will have a few protectors."
Nico gazed at Hades in confusion, "Father, if two of the Big Three, Artemis, Athena, AND Ares are fighting alongside the demigods and the mortals, how can we fail?"
Hades sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, "Gaea is the Earth, Nico. She is the most powerful being to have ever lived. That is why we gods are able to fight alongside the demigods in this. So far, she has used but a fraction of her full power, and that is because she has yet to fully awaken. If she had captured you today, there would have been no escape for you. Whatever she wants with you, you mustn't allow her to have it, son. Tomorrow she will awaken fully, and she will have an unlimited supply of Earthborn at her disposal. Our only hope is that we take her down before she destroys too much of New York," he finished with a slight smile.
Nico approached the throne beside his father's and Persephone's, and dropped into in. As Prince, he had a place in the throne room. Hades gazed at his son in pride, before worry clouded his features. "Nico, you must promise me you will survive this. I have already lost your mother and Bianca. To lose you also would be unbearable."
Nico waved away his father's concern, "Don't worry, Dad. If I die, I'm sure you will soon after. You won't have to bear it too long. I've played Halo with you. If I die, we're all doomed." Hades swatted Nico's head, and could not help but laugh. Nico smiled back, but in his mind, happiness was nowhere to be found. Gaea will die by my hand, he thought viciously, If it's the last thing I do...
Thanks for reading, I'll update again tomorrow hopefully. Midterm, I have so much free time. Won't be anything on Thursday though, I'll be recovering from Halloween. Review if you want, as usual. I appreciate all the compliments. My ego has grown rather large since starting this. Blame yourselves!