CHAPTER SUMMARY

Will attracts unwanted attention at the banquet. Nico discovers something he was never supposed to know.

BEGINNING NOTES

Word Count: 2170
Rating: General Audiences
Content Warning: None

For anyone who was following my last update, things are much, much better now, which is why I'm able to resume the fic. Thanks for sticking with me.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

February 27, 1943

Dear Luke and Thalia Castellan,

I wanted to send a quick note now that I've docked in Hamburg. I know you were particularly worried about the journey, Luke, but all is well. Not that you had any reason to be afraid; German ships are made of hard stuff.

It is wonderful to see my dear Bianca again. It's been so long-we have much catching up to do! And to meet Colonel Octavian is an even higher honor. It is refreshing to find a man of such standing who also displays the proper strength worthy of his title. I once thought they were few and far between, but, here in Berlin, they are a dime a dozen.

Take Lieutenant William Solace, for instance. He is the Führer's new personal guard. He is new to Germany, like me, and Bianca saw it fit to introduce us. He's a charming fellow, and handsome too. I have to admit, I am already quite smitten with him, and he seems to return my affections. He escorted me to a dinner in honor of Admiral Nakamura of Japan's arrival to this fair city. He impressed everyone, the Admiral especially. A nearly impossible feat when one sits among greats like Colonel Octavian, but this Lieutenant Solace stepped up to the task and then some. I hope he is as taken with me as I am with him.

I think I will stay here for longer than I intended. I want to see what is blooming between the Lieutenant and I to its conclusion, or I may regret it forever. I know I will be missed by those whom I consider family, but I must stay. Bianca is thrilled at my decision-I know she will be rooting for me, and I hope the two of you will, as well.

Heil Hitler,

Annabeth Chase

_WILL_

I would have died five times that night were it not for Annabeth Chase.

I mean it. Without the comfort of her presence, I would've been so nervous that something dangerous would've come out of my mouth. And if that didn't happen, such nerves coming out in the open would've surely come across as some kind of guilt, and the Nazis had no time for the guilty.

Somehow, Miss di Angelo found it fit to place me two seats down from Admiral Nakamura himself. Hitler was at the head of our table too, which was thankfully out of earshot and far from sight. As long as I glanced over in his direction every once in a while to make sure he was still breathing, I was good. I could pretend he wasn't there at all.

Colonel Octavian and Miss di Angelo were across from Miss Chase and I. I assumed that would be the case if Miss di Angelo and Miss Chase were good friends. And they seemed to get on quite amicably.

For the first half of the meal, I kept to myself and no one spoke to me. Despite how hungry I was, I ate slowly so as not to attract attention. Colonel Octavian entertained the Admiral, and the women conversed with each other. I was more than happy to be the fifth wheel.

But, my luck couldn't last forever. Eventually, Admiral Nakamura directed his attention to me.

"You've been quiet," he said with a slightly amused smirk. What's your name?"

"Lieutenant Will Solace, Admiral," I said robotically. I focused on Miss Chase's leg pressing mine under the table to keep my nerves at bay.

"And what brings you to Berlin?" he asked.

"Lieutenant Solace is the Führer's personal guard," Miss Chase said to spare me from conversation.

"A great honor for one so young," Admiral Nakamura said.

"Yes, sir," I said. "The greatest honor of my life."

"Lieutenant Solace more than deserves it," Miss di Angelo put in. "He was the most talented sharpshooter in the Greek ranks."

Colonel Octavian rolled his eyes. "You act as though that's a difficult feat. Mediterranean's are so lazy, I doubt a single one of them practiced."

"And he tested among the highest scores in all of the German forces," Miss Chase shot back. Her words were sweet on the surface, but you couldn't miss their bite. "Lieutenant Solace was handpicked by Himmler himself."

"Women, with their flattery," I said quickly, trying to make it sound teasing. The Admiral looked impressed, and the last thing I needed was to attract more attention from those in power. "There are many talented soldiers in our military. It is the greatest in the world."

"In Europe, perhaps," Admiral Nakamura told me.

Oh God, I thought. I just insulted the Japanese military in front of one of their highest officers.

I must've hid my worries poorly, because Miss Chase nudged me with her knee, warning me to calm myself. She chucked pointedly.

Oh, he's joking, I realized.

I smiled. "Don't say that in front of Colonel Octavian. He may start a war with Japan just to prove you wrong."

Admiral Nakamura laughed out loud. "Is that a challenge?" he asked me.

"Don't tempt my hand," Colonel Octavian said, fishing for the attention of the Admiral.

But, Nakamura's eyes were fixed firmly on me.

_NICO_

Sometimes I wonder how I got here. I'll sit back and think, what was the day-what was the moment-when everything started? I could pick a million days: when I left for Italy with Papà, when I met Will Solace, hell, maybe it was inevitable from the moment Victor Emmanuel relinquished power to Mussolini. But, as of right now, this is the day I'm picking:

It started like any other. Cliché thing to say, I know, but it's the truth. I woke up, saw Papà off, got to work on his correspondence, all that jazz. I wrote letters to Bianca, Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank, and Chiron, who were all stationed throughout Europe and Asia. I ate, I napped, I went for a walk...

I went for a walk.

I usually do that, just to get outside and stretch my legs, but, today, I actually had a place to go. Mrs. Jackson had sent her letter to me, even though it was addressed to the Castellan's. I assumed she wanted to make sure Papà and I saw it so we could alert Chiron that her part in Operation: Half-Blood was going well. The Castellan's were forbidden from writing Chiron; in case anyone was keeping track of our correspondence, we didn't want to have so many people writing to the same person. It wouldn't make sense that two families with such different lives would know the same person in a distant city like Venice. The Castellan's had never lived there, as far as anyone in court knew, so it made no sense for them to know Chiron.

But, the letter belonged to them, so I had to deliver it. I knew Agent Castellan in particular had been incredibly worried about Mrs. Jackson, so I wanted to make sure he knew as soon as possible that she was all right.

Since it was time for my usual walk anyway, I decided to make the trip to their home on foot. It was a nice walk, peaceful, and not too cold despite the fact that it was February. That was one of the nice things about living in southern Italy; it was warm all year 'round.

It was good that I decided to walk instead of drive. In fact, it's probably one of the luckiest breaks of my life. While the events that spiraled from that decision were... less than pleasant, I can't imagine what would've happened if things went differently. But I know one thing for sure: things would've been even worse.

There was no winning in the midst of war. Nowhere except the battlefield. And I wasn't on the front lines... yet.

It took me about an hour to reach the Castellan's house. But, when I knocked on the door, no one answered. They must be out, I thought, though that struck me as odd. As far as I knew, court wasn't having any sort of event today, and it was near evening now, well past the time Agent Castellan should've been home. He must've stayed late, I decided. That was rare for him, but possible. And Mrs. Castellan, well, she got up to a lot, and most of it was a mystery to all but her husband. She being away didn't shock me a bit.

I had intended to speak with them when I delivered the letter, to update them on the rest of Papà's correspondence and the news that had come with it. But, it looked like that wouldn't happen, unless I sat on their stoop and waited for them. And I was in no mood to do that. So, I slipped the letter under the door.

I decided I wanted to walk by Villa Ada on my way back home. It was a short distance from the Castellan's house, and it was one of my favorite spots in Rome. I decided to cut through their backyard-a shortcut back to the road.

That's when I heard Agent Castellan's voice drifting from an open window. "I don't believe you," he said. His voice was broken and horace, like he'd been crying. I stopped in my tracks. If he was home, why hadn't he opened the door? Why was he so upset? And who was he talking to?

Despite my better judgement, I peeked through the open window. It was the master bedroom. I had to put my hand in front of my mouth to stifle my gasp, lest I be seen. Mrs. Castellan was lying in bed, sweating and shivering at the same time. A cold compress was on her head and she was wrapped in blankets. Agent Castellan knelt at her side, his back to the window. Next to him stood a man I didn't recognize. He was tall and heavyset, with olive skin and curly black hair. From his pointy chin sprout a long, pointy beard, too long to be a goatee. He looked like a painting of the devil himself.

"You may believe whatever you want, Luke," the stranger said. I was shocked at how familiar he sounded, using Castellan's first name like that. Castellan noticed it too-he bristled at the sound of his first name-but he didn't correct the stranger either.

"That's the problem. I don't believe you're telling the truth," Castellan said. "di Angelo and I have our disagreements, but you have much more incentive to lie to me than he does to poison her."

...Poison her? I thought. I was frozen with shock, so much so that I couldn't process what exactly I was hearing.

"Incentive? Who else has the incentive to do such a thing?" the stranger asked Castellan. "I have known about your secret affiliation for weeks now, Luke. I could have destroyed you by now. But, I have not."

"You've been pushing me to betray the C.I.A. since the day you found me out," Luke shot back.

"Pushing you? No. Attempting to right your egregious wrong, yes, but in your own time, in your own way. No, Luke, I did not do this. I am on your side, whether you believe that or not. Now di Angelo... he has always been jealous of you, of your place in court, of the fact that you have your wife while his is stuck on the other side of the continent. He is fiercely loyal to the C.I.A., cruelly so. If he were to, say, find out about us, about this little arrangement-"

"There is no arrangement!" Luke snapped.

"You've kept our secret, Luke. You haven't reported me to Chiron. If di Angelo were to discover this, what's to keep him from... sending a message?"

Luke's breathing went ragged. His eyes darted back and forth from the stranger to his dying wife.

"He would, wouldn't he..." Luke breathed. "He's the only one who... Thalia might've..."

And then, Luke Castellan transformed before my very eyes. I can't explain it, because he looked the same of the surface, but the air in the room changed with his soul. In an instant... everything that made him him was gone.

"Take out Hades di Angelo, and Operation: Half-Blood falls apart," the stranger told Luke, his lips twisting into a wicked smile.

"It's terrible, Kronos. There will be an attempt on King Victor Emmanual's life at the dedication this evening," Luke announced. "It's a tragedy that Hades di Angelo will be so close him."

I backed away from the window as quietly as possible, then ran, ran as fast as I could all the way back to my apartment. "Father!" I screamed as soon as I came through the door, but he wasn't there. Of course he wasn't. He'd be getting ready for the dedication ceremony, the one that would spell his doom. The one where Luke would kill him.

No, I thought. Not if I kill Luke first.

END NOTES

And now... things get interesting.

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