It was cloudy. No stars. No moon. The soil, black and torn, was cluttered with human remains. Masses stacked together, between them dry patches of skin and rotten flesh, accompanied by the occasional chunk of hair clinging to a grizzled skull.
Grinding at each other the bones begged to rise once more, though there was no connection, and the desperate crusade was foiled by their own weight holding them down.
The sound they created was sickening. Low it hummed and rattled. Whimpers filled the air, merging with the ominously crackling fire in their midst to complete the lone dirge of death and decay. Large green flames lashed out, thrusting back and forth. Hades' son didn't seem to mind when they reached through the ghostly mist for him.
Above a harpy screeched as her flock circled the night. They wouldn't dare harm someone favored by the underworld, but that didn't mean they had to like the intruder.
Nico couldn't care less about his audience. Let them watch. He lifted his hand, face turned to stone and the world got quiet. At his feet, a set of bones started to move. It quivered and trembled, slowly shifting and groaning till it finally came together. When the skeleton stood before him the demigod lowered his arm. Chills spread inside him and sweat was forming on his forehead. His eyes glowed as his hoarse voice disturbed the silence in a language only the dead remembered.
The ambassador of Pluto leaned forward and fed another offering to the circle of blazing heat, the color intensifying while it licked greedy at its treat. The deed was done. Body and soul had melted into each other.
It was a little unsettling to watch not gonna lie. Jason smiled nonetheless. For never had the former praetor known a skull could look that flustered or bashful when the Ghost King bowed to it, thanking the solider for his service.
The wind ripped Nico's words away, and from where Jason was hiding he could only guess what the other was saying, but the corpse appeared more than pleased. Being buried by an actual child of Hades was the highest honor there was. For some it might have been their first time the rites were performed properly, Jason was sure.
Soon it crawled back into the earth's depth to continue its eternal rest, however, a blueish hue lingered. It appeared to have other plans. Around Nico the small light bounced rambunctiously up and down, bursting with energy and life. For a second, Jason saw something in Nico's face and he didn't know what it was. Before he could comprehend Nico gently hushed the thing away, dipping his features back into darkness. Excited the tiny soul joined his brothers and sisters by the fire, in what the son of Zeus now recognized as a giant ghost party.
The next skeleton was waiting. Nico had his work cut out for him. It would take him all night - if he even managed it in one go.
Something in Jason's heart changed, creeping in like the shadows Nico so easily controlled. He left him to his task with a strange new feeling nipping at his heels.