As Nico and Will, accompanied by the camper who had brought them the message entered the small amphitheater, they noticed a few new things. For instance, there were three figures standing on the central raised, circular stone dais of the amphitheater, forming a vague semicircle around a motionless figure who was sitting on, well more accurately, was draped over, a small chair, with green smoke issuing from her mouth. It was Rachel. Looks like the three of them had just missed the prophecy. By a matter of seconds, apparently, considering the fact that the Oracle's smoke was still coming from her mouth (And, judging by how everyone was looking at them, well, looking at him specifically, with a wide, uneasy, almost scared, look, Nico felt extremely grateful)
The first was, obviously, Chiron, though he seemed a little worse-for-wear, his beard longer and scragglier than it had been when they had last seen him, with many more white streaks. He was in his wheelchair-bound form, and appeared to be arguing with another man. This man was tall and imposing, dressed in midnight-black armor, a black silken cape billowing out behind him, his head covered by a helm that looked like it was made of cast-iron, and forged into the shape of a snarling, writhing mass of... insects ? Who was this man ?
Nico tried to mentally sieve through all his years of reading fervently about every myth he could find, of playing Myth-o-magic, of training at his father's palace, for any information about someone who looked (or could have potentially looked) like him, and came up blank. And yet, there was something familiar about the man, about the way he waved his hands as he shouted at Chiron, or the way he clenched them into fists as he listened to Chiron, as if he was seconds away from punching the centaur.
"I will not send my son back down into that hell again !", the man roared, his voice echoing oddly off the interior of his iron helm, making it sound echoey and metallic
"You do not have a choice, My Lord. If the Oracle decrees it - if the Fates decree it...", Chiron attempted to reason with the man, in a calming, soothing tone of voice. Unfortunately, this only seemed to infuriate the man further
"To Tartarus with the Fates ! Do not patronize me, spawn of Kronos ! You may be willing to let your wards die to appease them, but I. AM. NOT !"
Chiron reeled back, as if he had struck by those words, and there was instantly an uproar throughout the amphitheater as every demigod in Camp Half-blood, outraged by the accusation being levied at their beloved teacher, got to their feet and began shouting at the man, only to fall silent when the man turned his gaze to the crowd, silencing them with a single, terrifying look
The man's eyes were terrifying by themselves, pinpricks of blood-red that shone out through the mass of insects, bringing fear wherever their light fell. Pure, bloody red, like the red of dying stars, and the red of dying men. Wherever it's terrible gaze fell, the campers fell silent, blanching with fear as they did so
And it was no surprise, for, as the man's gaze passed over Nico, he felt a strange sense of primal fear grasp his heart and begin to squeeze it, and felt his breath catch in his throat, his fight-or-flight instincts activating immediately. Judging by how tightly Will was holding on to his hand (and Nico would forever deny feeling a strange sense of joy at that), and how pale he was, he was experiencing the same level of fear.
Chiron, who had by now recovered from his shock at the accusation that had been thrown at him, said quietly, "My Lord, I regret every demigod that dies under my command. While I respect you for your status, this is my camp. Do not presume that you can simply order me to disobey the Fates and expect it to be obeyed."
The man turned to face Chiron, appearing at least slightly calmer, and spoke, in a voice that seemed genuinely choked with emotion, "Chiron. I... I have already lost my daughter to Hephaestus' creation. My other daughter... I haven't seen her in months. In any case, she isn't my daughter, but rather the daughter of my Roman form. My son... as much as I hate to show weakness... my son is all the family I have left. Please... Even if you ordered me to kill him, it would be kinder than forcing me to send him down there"
Chiron, appearing far older than Nico had ever seen him look, looked at the man, pity and empathy evident in his eyes, " I understand completely, my Lord, but I, regrettably, cannot disobey the Fates. To do so would be suicide. If it's any consolation, the prophecy doesn't necessarily have to be about Tartarus"
The man shook his head and spoke, less emotion-filled this time, though not as angry as he was before, "I know, but... the only other option is Erebus, and that isn't much better"
Finally the third man, a young, fairly good-looking man, with brilliant purple eyes, wearing a gaudy, terrible-looking Hawaiian shirt and an oversized straw hat, standing a little behind the two, interrupted the conversation, gesturing towards Nico, Will and the messenger, "Hey, this conversation is nice and sweet and emotional, but those guys haven't heard the prophecy yet. They're probably confused as hell"
The man and Chiron looked up at the three newcomers and reacted almost immediately, with the man stiffening as he looked at Nico, his eyes shining with what looked like sorrow, and Chiron searching through one of the small pouches hanging off one of the handlebars of the "wheelchair", looking for something
At last, with a small triumphant noise Chiron pulled out a small piece of parchment, which presumably had the prophecy written on it, and gestured for the three to come closer. In a voice that cracked with emotion very few lines, and sounded in general extremely gloomy, Chiron began reading the prophecy,
"Deep beneath the Earth, in the caverns hidden away from light
Shall venture a hero born on the starless night
A Lotus separated him from his past
But now it's come to bite him at last
Deep beneath the Earth, stirs the Ancient Hate
And his children rejoice, for they are bound to their fate
Kaos awakens, his malice has been given voice
To the Ghost King, now comes the choice
The Heart of Night, magick arcane
Take it away, and her power will wane
With foes old, thou must join hand-in-hand
Or watch as devastation swallows the land
"
As the prophecy progressed, Nico grew paler and paler, outright stumbling back in horror when he heard the words "Heart of Night" . Similarly, Will also seemed to be horrified by the prophecy, tightening his grip on Nico's hand and intertwining their fingers, as if he was trying to reassure him.
And Nico needed it. Oh boy did he need it. Breathing in short, panicked gasps, Nico choked out, "T-that... that..."
Chiron bowed his head in sorrow, and confirmed, "It... is very likely referring to you, Mr. di Angelo."
Confused and still reeling with shock at what he had just heard, Nico turned to the man, "But... you said... your son... Dad ?"
The man also bowed his head. With a snap of his fingers, his helmet receded into a black-and-silver choker around his neck, revealing a very familiar face - greasy, slicked-back, long black hair, pale, almost-bluish skin and crystal-clear blue eyes.
If that wasn't confirmation enough, Hades looked up, tears visible in his eyes, and said, "I... am so sorry. This is my form as Aidoneus, the unseen one. It's the form I take to rule my realm. I.. came as soon as I heard the Oracle mention the Lotus"
Hades. It was Hades. Which meant that when he said "his son", he had meant...
No. No. Nico couldn't do this right now. No.. No. NO. Never again. He couldn't go back down there again. He couldn't face those beasts again... No
Nico reeled back, feeling as if he couldn't breathe. The world around him was a blur, and tears were rolling down his face. The only thing he could see was the maw of Tartarus, all-consuming, rising up from below... about to consume him...
With a final, terrified, teary look at his father, Nico turned and ran
