Persie sank back into the couch, looking down at her hands, drained. Her life had a lot more content than she had initially thought, her throat was dry and her hands were shaking with a mixture of nerves and exhaustion. Nico clapped his hands together once, looking a little shocked himself at all the information she had unloaded but not as much as Wally and Paul. At least he had been present for lot of it and suspected some of what had been removed from the retelling. "Well, there we have it. Now, Perse, I got a message from...dad."

Persie groaned and slumped further into the couch, hiding her face in her hands. "What now? Another of his meetings?"

Nico nodded with a grimace. "I have to go too."

"Go? Go where?" Wally asked looking awkwardly between them.

"The Underworld." Persie said absently and looked up when Wally took in a shocked breath. "Oh, it'll be fine." she assured him, patting his arm. "Uncle has these gatherings every few months."

"Uncle." Wally repeated slowly.

"Yeah, my...father is Poseidon." she spat the name like a curse and Wally eyed her in concern but she shook him off with a small smile and a gentle kiss on the cheek. "So Hades is my uncle." she paused, nodding to her cousin. "And Nic's dad."

Wally still looked like he was half way to shock but nodded. "Alright."

Paul took pity on him and clapped Wally on the shoulder. "I know kid." he said bracingly. "It's a lot to take in. How about you come with me and we'll have a nice calming drink of something alcoholic." Wally nodded again and followed Paul into the kitchen like a lost dog but not after accepting a kiss from Persie.

Persie smiled fondly after him before she turned to her cousin who was watching her with a distinctly unimpressed look in his dark eyes. "What?" she snapped tiredly.

Nico snorted so that the hair that hung over his eyes flew across his face. "I never thought I'd see the day you'd be all lovey dovey." he spoke the last two words with such an expression of disgust on his face that Persie had to laugh.

"C'mon, dude." she said, slinging an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into her side. "Let's go see what your Dad wants."

Nico scowled but nudged her back his eyes smiling softly. "Yeah." he agreed. "Let's go face the music." he took her hand firmly in his and together they stepped into the shadows and the incredible adrenaline high that was shadow travel.

oOo

When they materialised again it was in the massive black halls of Hades' palace. A skeleton guard who were passing on patrols bowed to Nico and ignored Persie. Hades new attitude towards his niece had resulted in a change in his servants'. Before they had treated her with open hostility but now they simply ignored her existence. Nico was really in his element in the underworld as horrible as it was but here, among the shadows with the scent and pressure of death in the air he

flourished.

"C'mon." Nico murmured, snagging her wrist and pulling her along beside him through the halls of the palace. Persie always hated these trips. The underworld made her feel claustrophobic and smothered as though the air was too thin and the stench of death made her stomach roll unpleasantly. "I don't think it'll take long."

Persie nodded, stuffing her hands in the pocket of her jacket and ignored Nico's slightly wounded look when she pulled her hand from his grip. "Oh, shove off, Nic." she muttered. "Let's just get this over and done with before something kills me."

"Nothing's gonna kill you." Nico hissed petulantly, sounding exactly like the little brother he was to her.

"Be that as it may, I'm still trying to get used to Hades being nice to me. it really wasn't all too long ago that he was trying pretty hard to kill me."

Nico sniffed irritably and stalked through the halls while Persie snickered and jogged slightly to keep up. They burst through the doors of the throne room together and with a louder bang than either really intended. Hades' gaze met them from his throne, body much larger than any human could be, every inch the god. A lazy smirk spread across his face yet he still managed to look bored. "Son." he greeted slowly. "Niece."

"Uncle." Persie replied softly and heard Nico murmur a greeting to his father from beside her as they both bowed shallowly.

Hades nodded regally and Persephone's throne beside his was ominously empty. Persie always felt somewhat safer when her namesake was with her husband. The goddess had been incredibly flattered that her niece was named for her and so treated Persie with a little more preference than most other demigods even Nico who she had come to see more fondly. "Now I summoned you, niece because I believe you deserve to know."

Persie glanced at Nico who shrugged, looking just as confused as she did. "Know Uncle?" Persie asked slowly. "What do I need to know?"

"About my brothers." Hades said, shifting in his throne. Persie's face darkened instantly and she snarled under her breath. Hades nodded with a smug little smile and fixed his niece and son with a look that was almost proud. "As you know from my first summons after your ridiculous exile I told you that they had finally stopped monitoring your activities."

Persie nodded again. "Yes. Has that changed?"

Hades frowned. "I believe some of the other...children have noticed you on the TV and at least some of them would have recognised wither you or your fighting style and they are beginning to turn their eye back to you."

Persie snarled, clenching her hands into fists and turning away. Nico nudged her arm and Persie let out a shaky breath, slowly unclenching her hands and turning back to her uncle who stood from his throne, towering over them for a moment before he shrank down to human size and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, the cold of his skin seeping through Persie's hoodie and shirt, finally reaching her skin and she knew there would be a livid white mark on her otherwise tan skin for several hours. "What are they gonna do? Finally gonna kill me are they? Kill the girl that gave Luke the effing dagger, fulfilling the prophecy only to be condemned by another?"

Her voice had risen several octaves almost to a shriek and Hades' fingers dug into her shoulder and he gave her a warning glare which shut her up pretty fast. "You finished?" Hades asked in an almost pleasant voice and Persie nodded with a small scowl. "You know that despite your hatred of him, you are extraordinarily like my brother. Not just in looks." he added, gripping her chin to tilt her face while she scowled at him. "More in temperament." he mused idly. "You do look like your mother." he admitted. "But you definitely have his eyes." he let go of her face and watched her try and control her temper. "And his temper."

"What do you want, Uncle?" Persie whispered, snagging Nico's wrist in her hand.

"What I want is my brothers to suffer as I suffered. I want them to know what it feels like to live in guilt from the suffering of their children. I want them to see their children exiled as mine were. I want them to know what it feels like to fail as fathers. As I did." he finished softly, staring at his son who looked back at him, their identical eyes meeting and Nico's pale skin even paler than usual. "I have gotten one son back, one child out of the very few I have ever had. They have always had many children, lately not many granted but their children have always been less...precious than my own."

Hades turned away, stalking back to his throne, growing in size as he did until he sat back on the huge chair, glaring down at them. "Is that all, Father?" Nico asked watching Persie try to control her emotions.

"No." Hades replied. "They're watching you very closely now. It is only a matter of time before they send someone after you."

"Who?" Persie demanded. "Another god? A minor god?"

Hades shook his head. "I doubt it. It will probably be one of their brats. Just watch out." Nico and Persie both stared at him incredulously. He scowled darkly down at them. "Do not interpret my actions as solely compassion. I do...care for you. Both of you but I also hold leverage."

"How?" Nico whispered, his voice carrying in the echoing hall.

"My niece, the great Persephone Mariana Jackson, trust and loves me, the Lord of the Underworld more than her own father."

Persie couldn't deny it. Her father had abandoned her at the first mention of that damning prophecy. There was no other daughter of Poseidon after all and the Oracle was unusually clear this time. She nodded shortly and Hades smirked. "Can we leave now...Uncle?"

Hades nodded, waving a hand. "Yes, you may return now." black smoke billowed around the cousin's legs, twining around their bodies and when they opened their eyes again they were in central park the stone with the symbol for the Underworld weathered and worn but still evident on the rock before them and a green stem spiralling out of the ground and sprouting three white and yellow flowers.

"Daffodils." Persie murmured, bending down to inspect the plant. Nico shook his head. "Narcissus. Symbol of my father."

"There's three. Like Cerberus."

Nico snorted softly. "Little joke." he looked up at her, his dark eyes intense and he frowned. "Do you reckon they will come for you?"

Persie smiled wryly. "I bet Annabeth will be first in line. She believed that prophecy pretty quick and she was the first to scream that I was a monster destined to destroy us all."

Nico pulled her to her feet and slung an arm around her shoulders, Persie realising absently that he was several inches taller than her at long last. "They won't get you." he declared firmly. "Wally won't let them. I won't let them."

Persie smiled, a real smile and kissed Nico on the cheek. "Thanks kid. You know I love you, yeah?"

Nico nodded, a flush staining his cheeks. "Yeah, I know." he coughed. "You too." he removed his arm and walked a few feat ahead of her, ignoring as she laughed and ran to catch up.