The cup of hot chocolate was an odd choice for a hot June day, but Percy didn't mind. He couldn't resist the tempting aroma of his mother's special recipe, complete with whipped cream and perfectly toasted marshmallows. As he took a sip, the rich, warmth of the chocolate filled his body and he couldn't help but let out a satisfied sigh. Licking his lips, he went in for another sip… if you could call it that.
"Honestly Percy, I don't know why you don't bring your friends over more often, it's so nice having Nico at home," Percy's mother, Sally said with a bright smile.
"So tell me Nico, does my son behave well when he's not at home," Sally asked, concern suddenly showing in her eyes.
"Your son is such a golden boy, he has the best manners and is liked by basically everyone," Nico said, stifling a laugh. "As that beautiful photo in your hallway says, Percy really is 'Mummy's Little Chickpea.'" One glare from Percy shut him up pretty quick. Sally on the other hand was beaming.
"See Percy! I told you it's adorable!"
Percy rolled his eyes, feeling embarrassed. Dislike was putting it mildly. He absolutely despised the nickname, but knew there was no point in arguing with Sally. He was already regretting bringing Nico along with him, but the son of Hades just wouldn't stop hoarding him to let him come as well, going so far as threatening to tell Hades what Percy had done with his jar of compliments (yes he really did have one), a confession Percy never thought he would hear himself say out loud.
"Mom, please stop," Percy practically begged, his face getting flustered. "This isn't a good idea." Oblivious to Percy's discomfort, Sally continued to chatter away with Nico. Percy couldn't believe his luck. All he wanted was a peaceful visit home, and now he was stuck with Nico, who was sure to make his life a living hell. Nico on the other hand was overjoyed. Boy, wait till Hades finds out what Percy wrote in the school bathrooms when he was twelve, the boy cunningly thought.
"Nico, did I tell you about the time Percy thought he broke the bathtub?" his mother asked, eyes twinkling with mischief. She offered him another biscuit which Nico graciously accepted without hesitation. Percy's mum sure knew how to bake, that's for sure.
"No, but I'm dying to hear this!" Nico said giddily.
"Mom, NO!" Percy stood up abruptly, his face annoyed. "Come on, that's private information!"
"Oh sit down and lighten up!" his mum scoffed, turning back to Nico, her eyes glittering with excitement. "So one time, Percy decided it was a good idea to go for a stroll in a muddy park, don't ask me where he got that idea from. Anyway, he comes back and it looks like he was rolling around in a pigsty. He was practically painted in that brown stuff. When I saw him, I freaked out and yelled at him to run straight to the shower upstairs and that I didn't want to see him until he was cleaner than my good china. Now after that, I kinda forget about him-"
"That's very reassuring," Percy mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"- and go to make myself a cup of green tea. I'm cuddled up and comfy on the couch, sipping my tea when all of a sudden, I hear a blood curdling scream of, 'MOM!' and crying. I rushed upstairs, barged straight into the bathroom and guess what I saw."
"What?" Nico said, eagerly leaning in, completely engrossed in the story.
"She saw me scrubbing myself like the good boy I am," Percy snapped. Again, Sally and Nico ignored him.
"Percy was sitting in the middle of the bathtub, eyes leaking and on the verge of a panic attack. He sees me come in and he says-" Sally faltered for a moment, bursting into a fit of giggles.
"He- he says, oh my I can't," Nico, on the edge of his seat, had to wait for Sally to take a couple of deep breaths.
"He says, 'Mom, the bathtub won't stop filling up!' but you don't get it, he had the most fearful face I've ever seen." The son of Hades roared with laughter and Sally nodded, tears leaking from her eyes as she relived the moment.
"Percy thought that he had blocked the whole bathtub when in reality, it was just him sitting on the plug." While Sally and Nico began laughing again, Percy's scowl only deepened. He crossed his arms, leaning against the wall, clearly not amused by the situation.
"Go on, get it out of your system," he muttered, pacing around the room.
"Thank you for that story, Sally," Nico began once he calmed down enough.
"Oh no, that's not the end," Sally giggled, her smile mischievous. "You see, after I found Percy sitting in the bathtub, looking like a drowned rat despite being Poseidon's son, I couldn't resist having a teeny tiny bit of fun with him." Percy groaned, sensing where this was going.
"Oh no, please don't tell me," Percy said, rubbing his eyes.
"Well I decided to tell Percy it was the Curse of the Mud. I told him that the bathtub had become angry that he had come into the house with so much mud on him, and the only way for it to stop filling was for him to promise the bathtub he'll never do it again, to stand up and to turn around three times. Percy did that so fast, and finally, the bathtub began to unfill."
"Right, fun time over, we're leaving now Nico," Percy muttered. Sighing, Nico stood up, downing the rest of his hot chocolate in one sip and stuffing a couple of cookies into his pocket.
"Sally, I can't thank you enough for that incredible story," he smirked, "but unfortunately, we are needed in the Underworld again, and the last time we were late… Well, let's not talk about that." She beamed.
"It was nothing, and of course, duty calls," she said, walking the two of them to the door where Percy and Nico grabbed their jackets. "Perseus Jackson, I expect you to bring your friend the next time you come as well." She opened the door and both of them stepped out into a light breeze.
"All jokes aside, please do come more often Percy, we miss you." She sighed. "Can you believe he didn't even come for his nineteenth birthday!" she said aside to Nico.
"Mom, we were busy!" Percy complained.
"Too busy to even send an iris message?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "And don't try and say you were, because you definitely weren't busy enough to not pull a prank on those poor tourists which for the matter I did see in the paper." There was a pause of awkward silence as Nico relieved an event he did not want to remember..
"I'm sorry mom," he finally said with a defeated sigh. "We'll try and make it up to you."
Sally smiled, wrapping her arms around her son in a tight hug.
"I know you will, Percy."
"Say hi to Paul for me please, I really wanted to meet him!" Percy yelled, breaking the hug and waving.
"I will honey!" she said before going back into the house and closing the door behind her. Sally couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness. She missed her son in more ways than words could express, and every time he left her, he took a piece of her with him.
The two demigods strolled quietly along the streets. Percy's mind was racing. Two years later and his mind still drifted towards Annabeth, amongst other things of course. Still, even though Aphrodite had assured him it wasn't his fault, Percy couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt and regret that lingered within him. He messaged Annabeth as often as he could, and the two of them did have amazing talks going all the way into and past midnight. Now, she was just a friend, something Percy didn't know whether he liked or not. The boy sighed. He could dwell on these thoughts later. For now, he and Nico needed to find a quiet place to shadow travel from. After all, it's best to not keep the Lord of the Underworld waiting.
"Is it true that you actually cried in-"
"Shut up Nico."
"Got it."
As Percy and Nico appeared in the realm of the Underworld, a chill ran down Percy's spine. Compared to the refreshing summer winds of Manhattan, Hades' lair was very chilly. The air was frigid. Percy had learned that most of the Underworld was shadow-travel resistant. In fact he was pretty sure that they could only travel outside the gates of Hades, along the Styx. That is assuming Nico wasn't hiding any secrets from him.
Today was a fortunate day for the two of them. The Underworld was oddly quiet. As Percy and Nico stepped out of the shadows into a dark, misty landscape, they both were giddy when they realised they could walk straight in without needing to hear the squabbles of the dead. Every single time there was always at least someone trying to convince the courts that they deserved better than the Fields of Asphodel.
Together the two of us began walking towards the EZ DEATH line. The air was thick with the smell of sulphur, and the ground beneath them was hot and cracked, a stark contrast to the cool mist that surrounded them. Despite having come to the Underworld many times before, Percy still found himself uncomfortable. After passing the queues, they made their way towards Hades' palace. The quiet stillness of the Underworld began to envelop them, and they could hear only the bubbling of a nearby river and the occasional howl of a lost soul. As the mist grew thicker, it became difficult to see more than a few feet in front of them. Percy had to trust Nico's instincts as they navigated through the labyrinthine of paths. The deeper they ventured into the Underworld, the more eerie the surroundings became. The ground shook with the movement of some unseen force, and the air grew thicker and muskier with each passing moment. The mist was so dense that it felt as though they were wading through a sea of grey.
Hades actually had a pretty nice palace, if you could ignore the fact that it was night black and had odd hissing sounds coming from behind. As they finally approached the palace, the mist slowly began to dissipate, and they could see the imposing structure looming before them. It was a massive, dark fortress, blacker than Erebus in all his glory. The gates were guarded by skeletal warriors, their empty eye sockets gleaming in the dim light. As they made their way inside, they were greeted by a grand hall, dimly lit by flickering torches that cast long shadows across the walls. The air was thick with the scent of incense, and the sound of hissing echoed through the halls. Every inch of the walls was covered with carvings, telling the story of Hades' greatest achievements, including the notorious pomegranate that led to the strife between Demeter and Hades. The carvings were so intricate that one could spend hours examining them and still not take in every detail.
Hades sat on his throne, the god's piercing gaze fixed on Nico as he and Percy entered the room. The Lord of the Dead was not in a good mood, as the two boys could tell from the icy silence that hung in the air, colder than the actual air of the Underworld.
"Good morning Father," Nico began, kneeling.
"Lord Hades," Percy echoed, falling down next to Nico.
"Morning?" Hades scoffed, his dark eyes flashing with irritance. "If I didn't know better I'd say it was midnight-"
"Okay Father, that's a bit of an exaggeration-" Nico started to say before Hades interrupted him.
"SILENCE!" Hades bellowed. "I said 10AM, what was so hard to understand about that?" Nico and Percy wisely decided to keep quiet and let Hades go on a long rant about how Nico was his only son and was meant to listen to him, and how he thought he had more faith in Percy. Basically, he was gas lighting the two of them into coming early next time.
"You can both stand by the way, I don't know why you're so insistent on kneeling," Hades said, his voice slightly softening.
"Father, we are here, what do you want us to do?" Nico asked, slowly rising to his feet. For a moment, the god paused, stroking his beard as if trying to remember why he had summoned us here.
"Ah yes, Percy, Nico, I have a task for both of you."
"Good, I was wondering why we were here," Nico muttered to Percy under his breath, causing the son of Poseidon to smirk a little.
"You see, I asked Hephasteus to create some weapons for me out of Stygian Iron, umm purely for research purposes of course. I definitely do not want to pretend to start a fight with Hecate over the amount of space she's taking in my realm. Anyway something happened to them during delivery and it turns out Hephasteus has suddenly become unable to deliver them. In other words, he decided to ditch my stuff somewhere in Columbus, Ohio, which I paid good money for! Now, normally I'd task one of my helpers to fetch it for me, or even flash their myself, but I don't trust my minions with this much Stygian Iron, and I have a very important date with Persephone."
"And I'm sure by date with Persephone, you mean a date with Zeus and half the council," Nico smirked. "I don't know how you thought we'd forget it's the winter solstice today." The God of the Dead rolled his eyes.
"Yes yes Nico, laugh all you want, but in all seriousness, I do need this iron as soon as possible, and by as soon as possible I mean by the time I come back in a few hours." Nico nodded his head, determined to not fail his father.
"If that's everything, I believe it's time for me to get ready. There's no way I'm going to Olympus in anything but my best," Hades said, rising from his throne.
"Let us know if anything interesting happens," Percy piped up. The god gave him a wink.
"It's Olympus, nephew," he drawled, "where the gods play their games and indulge in their petty squabbles. Nothing interesting ever happens there." His eyes flickered with a hint of amusement. "But alas, I will keep you boys informed of any developments. Otherwise, happy hunting." With a final flourish, he swirled his black cloak around him and disappeared into the darkness, leaving Percy and Nico alone in the empty, hellish room.
"I don't know about you, Nico, but I always thought Hades was more of a 'fade into the shadows' kind of guy, not a 'swish my cloak and make a scene' kind of guy."
Nico rolled his eyes. "Can we focus on the task at hand, please? This whole Stygian Iron mini quest is emitting bad vibes faster than banana's emit radiation."
"So you DO admit they're radioactive!" Percy yelled gleefully. "I told you!" Mere days ago the boys had got into a fierce argument about why Hades doesn't have a punishment where people are force fed bananas.
"Oh shut up, it sounded ridiculous when you first said it," Nico glowered, shoving his hands in his pocket. It still didn't keep Percy from gloating.
"You see Nico," Percy said smugly, "It's because bananas have plutonium inside, and if we have more than three hundred bananas, we're going kaboom." He added a sound effect to make it sound more realistic, grinning. Nico looked at him with the most confused and annoyed look he had given someone.
"They don't have Plutonium, it's Uranium!" he said in exasperation. "And it's not three hundred bananas, it's eleven thousand."
"Says the boy who missed half of his education," Percy scoffed.
On the way back to the River Styx, the two boys arrived at a crossroad, one which they had totally missed on the way to Hades. Percy hesitated for a moment, considering the three paths before them. One way led to Hades' gates, which they had just come from. The other led back to the Fields of Asphodel, which is where they wanted to go. And then there was a third road…
"Do you want to pay Hecate a visit?" Percy asked, pursing his lips in thought.
"What, now? I don't think you heard Hades when he said he wants this iron ASAP." Percy rolled his eyes.
"It's a ten minute detour." Sighing in frustration, Nico grabbed Percy's hand and began dragging him towards the Fields of Asphodel.
"You know as well as I do, it's never a 'ten minute detour' when it comes to Hecate. Besides, we can go after we get Hades' iron. It's not like she's going anywhere." Reluctantly, Percy agreed. The last thing they needed was to get on Hades' bad side, especially Percy. It had taken him the better of six months before Hades began relaxing around him and even cracking the odd joke. Now, he'd say that the two had an amazing uncle-nephew bond, something he hadn't even known Hades was capable of.
"Oh gods, Cerebus is back," Nico muttered, to which Percy groaned. Cerberus was a really fun person to play around with… when you had time on your side, which as Nico had pointed out, they were lacking.
"Where was he before?" Percy asked, scratching his head. The three headed dog definitely wasn't guarding the entrance when they came through here earlier.
"Don't ask me man, he probably needed to take a leak in the Styx again." Both of them let out a quiet chuckle.
"What do you want to do then?" Percy asked, his eyes scanning for an alternative exit, finding none. Nico shrugged, his face grim.
"We could chuck a bunch of bones and hope he runs far enough that we can dash out and shadow travel our way to Ohio? We only need to reach the Styx bank before we should be good to shadow travel out" It wasn't the best plan, but it had worked before. If it didn't, Percy was already mentally preparing to have another saliva shower. Gods, Nico still didn't let him forget about the previous one…
Percy nodded.
"On three?" he asked.
"Yep," Nico replied, quickly summoning a couple of bones. Quietly, they both walked towards the three headed dog.
"Three," Nico whispered, crouching down.
"Two," Percy said, following suit, his muscles tensed and ready to spring into action.
"One," Nico said, gently swaying his arm.
"Go," Percy said softly.
With a war cry that sounded as dumb as it looked, Nico hurled a couple of bones right into the dog's eye, before sprinting as fast as he could towards the exit. Percy was right by him, too scared of a saliva bath to look back. To be honest, Nico's plan wasn't actually that bad, aside from him throwing the bones into Cerebus' eye. Percy didn't even blame him for getting mad and chasing them down.
"Percy," the boy said through gritted teeth. "Grab my hand, it's time to get out of here." Percy looked horrified.
"Nico! We've talked about this. No more spontaneous shadow teleporting while you clearly don't have control over your emotions."
"I do have control!" Nico roared, but the anger in his voice only served to further prove Percy's point. "Oh, shut up Percy," he muttered under his breath, his frustration mounting. Percy couldn't help but grin despite the circumstances.
"Either grab my hand and we pray to the fates that we get out in one piece, or we can spend another five hours playing fetch with your best friend." Reluctantly, Percy gave him his hand, taking one last lungful of icy Underworld air before being teleported into…
A busy highway. Of course they just had to end up there. Nico and Percy stumbled out of the shadows and onto the hard, black asphalt, gasping for air as they emerged onto the busy highroad. Cars zoomed past them, honking and screeching to a halt as drivers slammed on their brakes to avoid hitting the two unexpected travellers. Percy looked around frantically, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to get his bearings.
"Where are we?" he asked, his voice rising in panic. Nico grimaced. He had shadow travelled them into trouble before, but usually it was trouble they could quickly escape, not busy highroads or volcanoes (yes that had happened before, but it's a long story involving him, a roman praetor, and a crazy lunatic of a satyr.)
"I don't know," he said, "but we need to get out of here before we get hit by a car." Percy nodded, his eyes widening as he realised just how dangerous their situation was. "Okay, okay," he said, taking a deep breath. "Let's just shadow travel out of here, right now." Nico nodded, his hands clenched together as he concentrated on their destination. "Columbus, Ohio," he repeated to himself, barely audible over the roar of the traffic.
Suddenly, a car horned loudly in front of them, its tires screeching loudly. Nico and Percy froze like deers gazing at headlights, their eyes widening in terror as they realised they were seconds away from being run over. For a split second, they thought that they were going to die. They could see the driver's panicked expression through the windshield, and they knew that there was no way he could stop in time. Only by the miracle of Demeter's cereal, Nico put every joule of energy he had, half grunting-half screaming, concentrating with all his might. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, enveloped by the shadows the son of Hades had grown so fond of, leaving the driver staring in disbelief at the empty road in front of him. The car screeched to a half, and the driver jumped out, looking for the two boys. Unbeknown to him, they were a couple of hundred kilometers away by now, most likely joking the whole event off already.
As they emerged on the other side in a deserted alley, Nico and Percy collapsed onto the ground, their bodies trembling with exhaustion. The son of Hades rolled around on the floor, while Percy was wheezing. He looked up at Nico, a grin spreading across his face.
"You know," he said, laughing between his pants, "I'm starting to get used to this shadow travel thing." Nico chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement
"Yeah," he said, "but let's not make a habit of almost getting run over, okay?" Percy nodded, something they could both agree on. Nico attempted to lift his head up, before realising it was futile. Even Dionysus must have more energy than he had right there.
"Take five," he muttered, before crashing his head back on the floor and closing his eyes, a grin forming on his face. Percy agreed as well. The poor boy had just seen his entire life flash before him, only for it to then… unflash before him? Either way, he was thanking his lucky stars that he was still alive and well.
"Alright, let's get up then," Percy said, sighing wearily as he got on his feet. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the grogginess that had settled in. Stretching his back, he extended a hand to Nico, who groaned as he was pulled to his feet.
"So do you know where we're going?" Percy asked, trying to shake the last of the shadow-travel from his mind. "I mean I can tell we're in Columbus…"
"No way, you already knew we were in Columbus?!" Nico said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "What gave it away? Was it the twenty feet tall sign that says in bold letters, 'COLUMBUS, OHIO'?" Percy glared at him before mumbling something about it not being obvious. Nico scoffed.
"Fortunately for you, I am able to detect Underworldy metals, and Stygian Iron is…'' he pointed at Percy to finish the sentence who just stared dumbfoundedly.
"From the River Styx?" he asked. Nico facepalmed.
"The important thing is I can detect the metal, and luckily for us, there is a lot of it." Percy slapped Nico on the back, ignoring his little "ow" of protest.
"Well lead the way, Mr Metal Detector," Percy exclaimed with a grin. Grumbling something about hating nicknames, the son of Hades walked towards the highroad, where they took a left and kept walking straight. The bustling noise of the city surrounded them, but they were so focused on Hades' mini quest that it all faded into the background.
As they walked, Nico kept up a running commentary on the camps. Occasionally, whenever Nico was free, he enjoyed popping up in one of the camps and scarring the campers to death, while having a quick catch up. More than once Percy had been offered to come with him, but he declined. For Percy, he wasn't ready to face his old home again. Perhaps it was the fear of what it had become without him… or maybe the opposite? He was really conflicted. The camps had been the other love of his life, but now they were only a reflection of his pain. I must sound so selfish talking about my pain, when in reality, others must have suffered so much more than me, Percy muttered to himself in his head.
"Anway, it turns out that he needed to make a pitstop in Atlanta, so of course she was just droning on and on about it," Nico groaned.
"Wait, who was droning about what?" Percy suddenly asked, realising he had missed the whole of Nico's gossip.
"Oh come on Percy, ignoring me in the first ten minutes of the trip?" The son of Hades smirked. "That really is a new record."
"Just tell me," he mumbled to which Nico laughed.
"So Jason came back to camp ten or so months ago-"
"Finally," Percy breathed.
"-only to leave two months later to go to Chicago or something." Jason was on a whole other level. Percy had seen Jason's girlfriend more in the last two years than Jason himself had, and Percy hadn't been at camp for the last two years!
"I feel so bad for Piper, but boy is that hilarious," Nico chuckled, taking the words out of Percy's mouth. He nodded. Some relationship drama was always a good laugh, as long as it wasn't your own relationship of course.
"What about Frank and Hazel?" Percy asked.
"You know, if you had been listening for the last ten-"
"Well you know I wasn't, so stop trying to act all smug and just tell me!" he snapped. Gods, Nico really knew how to get on his nerves.
Giving Percy a cheeky smile, he said, "They're doing surprisingly well actually. Hazel is trying to get a degree in something and Frank is…"
"Being Frank and trying to be a good praetor when we all safely know he's risked someone's life a least twice in the last twenty four hours?" Percy finished.
"That sums it up." They both laughed.
"I can't ever imagine Hazel sitting in a room, listening to someone lecture on about the most useless topic. She'd freak out so fast." Nico nodded.
"You'd be surprised, I'm pretty sure the girl is top of the class." Percy's eyes widened.
"Well then good job Hazel," he said softly, and the two walked in silence for the rest of the journey.
Percy almost walked right into Nico. One moment they're walking fine, and all of a sudden, the son of Hades decided to go full brake mode.
"Nico!" Percy hissed, straightening up and trying to see what had interested the kid. They were now off the highroad, and staring at a petrol pump which clearly hadn't been used in the last couple of years. The abandoned pump sat desolately on the side of the dusty country road, its faded red and white paint peeling off in large flakes. The once-bustling gas station now stood silent and forgotten, its rusted metal sign creaking in the gentle breeze as if trying to remind the world of its existence. A thick layer of grime and dirt covered the glass windows, obscuring any view of the interior. The door, half open, swung eerily in the wind, creaking with a sound that echoed through the empty surroundings. The pumps themselves, once polished and gleaming, now stood as a testament to neglect, their hoses cracked and their nozzles broken. Weeds and grass sprouted up through the cracks in the concrete, entwining themselves around the metal fixtures like the arms of a long-forgotten lover. The only sound was the distant chirping of birds, and the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind. Yep, Nico had definitely lost the plot.
Nico took a wary step closer to one of the pumps. He took his own Stygian Iron sword out, and it gleamed brighter than Percy had seen before, pulsating.
"Oh, we're here," Nico murmured. Taking his own blade out, Percy walked behind, his eyes peeled for threats.
"Gods, I haven't felt this much Stygian Iron since back in that dodgy corner of the Fields of Asphodel. You know that one where Hades decided to-"
"Yes, yes, how could I forget?" Percy smirked. "But let's get out of here before we reminisce about the good time." Nico shrugged, before continuing his weird ritual of touching anything touchable. I don't know how he could detect the metals, but it was giving me the creeps. I'm pretty sure he could only do it for Underworldly metals. Anything else and they'd need to call in the big guns, aka Hazel. As Nico frowned, tapping on a half ruined car, Percy felt uneasy. This much Stygian Iron was sure to attract some monsters, be it Telkhines, Laistrygonian Giants or… Cyclops?
"Can we just get out of here?" a voice cried out. Without hesitation, Nico quickly grabbed Percy and pulled them both down behind a nearby car, muffling Percy's grunt of complaint. They exchanged a quick look, and Percy could tell that Nico was just as surprised to find monsters in this part of town.
"Quiet!" another, more authoritative voice hissed. "Do you really think we spent these many hours travelling just so that I could hear your snivelly comments and go all the way back?"
"Umm, yes?" the first voice replied meekly.
"Shut up! Now that we're here, where's that metal detector?" the authoritative voice demanded. Curiosity getting the best of him, Percy risked a small peek, and what he saw was both amusing and concerning at the same time. There were two Cyclops, one standing at about five feet tall and the other towering over him at six feet. Both of them were carrying massive duffle bags, and the taller one had a metal detector that looked older than Hazel. Rust flakes were falling off of it and being carried away by the wind.
"Ohian metal detector," Nico whispered next to me and I grinned.
"Do we take them out?" Percy whispered to Nico. He had faced cyclops before, but never in such close quarters. These were the kind of monsters that could take on an army single-handedly. Nico shook his head.
"Let's wait and see what they're up to. Maybe we can use this to our advantage." They listened in as the two cyclops continued to bicker. The shorter one seemed nervous and eager to leave, while the taller one was more determined to find what they were looking for.
The monsters were taking their time. With how little knowledge they knew of metal detectors, they must've nicked the first thing they saw with the label metal detector, without knowing how it works.
"Ah, there we go!" The taller one exclaimed with a happy sigh. He smacked the detector to the ground and moved it side to side, before furrowing his eyebrows.
"Oh my days you idiot, I told you to get the Underworld version of the metal detector. How are we gonna find Stygian Iron with a mortal detector?"
"The same way we got here in the first place." Tall cyclops looked like he was on the verge of tears. Either that or he wanted to bash someone's brains in… Probably the latter.
"I said to you," Tall cyclops said with gritted teeth, "I only got here because Hephaestus let slip to the Elders that he dumped some weapon for some irrelevant god-"
"Irrelevant god!?" Nico suddenly roared. "Oh, I'll show you!" Abruptly standing up, the son of said 'irrelevant god' brandished his sword. Both cyclops turned to face him, mouths gaping.
"Welp, looks like someone beat us to it again… time to leave…" The short cyclops was tugging at the taller one's shirt, but it didn't matter. Nico was raging, and there was no stopping bloodshed (or dustshed?)
Quickly, Percy also stood up from his hiding place, giving a little wave.
"Hey guys, yeah sorry to be a bummer but we've claimed this spot now, so it's time for you to scurry along and irritate someone else." The cyclops didn't like hearing this. Throwing down their duffle bags, they glared at Percy.
"Either you're leaving, or there's going to be a fight," Tall cyclops said, baring his teeth. Percy sighed.
"Of course they couldn't just choose the easy way out," he grumbled, raising his sword.
"Oh no you don't!" Nico yelled. "My prizes!" Smirking, Percy held his hands up in a surrendering motion, letting the son of Hades take care of them.
Like a menace, Nico leaped into battle, swinging his sword into Short cyclops. Letting out a high pitch girl scream, the monster leaped back, narrowly avoiding the blade. Without faltering, he raised the sword, jabbing it to the Tall cyclops. Unfortunately, this one seemed to know what he was doing. Sidestepping, the cyclops brought his metal detector down, blocking Nico's strike. Gods, who knew rusty metal detectors from the eighteenth century were that strong. Nico tried attacking from a downwards angle, only to be blocked again. This time, the cyclops went on the counter attack, throwing a small jab, which of course Nico blocked with ease. To give the cyclops credit, Percy was sure it's not easy fighting a Stygian Iron sword with a metal detector, yet it was holding up. The short one was a different story. The poor thing was still staring in shock at Nico's sword.
"Do something useless!" Tall cyclops screamed. It was clear that Nico was simply toying with him, pushing him back, and then letting himself get pushed back. If one saw Nico's grin, they'd probably call him a sadist.
"Finish him off, I'm bored," Percy yelled at Nico who just rolled his eyes.
"Let me play with my toys," he whined, going for a lazy feint, which the cyclops didn't see. It got hit in the nose with the hilt of Nico's sword. Stumbling backwards, the cyclops screamed a mixture of Greek and Latin curses, before Nico shut him up… the hard way.
"Now do the other one," Percy said impatiently.
Nico turned around, only to be greeted by the view of a cyclops-less abandoned petrol pump. His eyes widened.
"Wh-where did it go?" he stuttered. Percy growled.
"It appears you spent so much time playing with toys that you let Short cyclops run away. Nico snorted.
"Well I guess he managed to 'get out of here' eventually," he snickered. "What!? Oh come on Percy don't give me that look, I know you're cracking up inside."
"Can we just get this metal and get out of here," Percy grumbled. Nodding his head, the son of Hades quickly walked to a petrol container. Out of the eight containers, this was the only red one, and it was… large wouldn't do it justice. More like the size of Nico's inflated head when he beat Percy in a casual sword fight. Carefully opening the container, Nico's grin grew even wider under a faint purple pulsing light.
"Guess who found what?" Nico explained. Percy sighed.
"Yay, now get them out of here and let's flash our way to Hades." Stealing the multiple duffle bags from the cyclops, both of them took their time loading the Stygian Iron weapons in. It took some time, mainly because neither of them wanted to get a cut from this metal, but in the end, the two of them had bags filled to the brim with Underworld ore strapped around their shoulders.
"Ready?" Nico asked, giving Percy his hand. Shooting him a dirty look, he took it.
"If we don't get to Hades' realm on the first try, I will use a Pegasus to fly us there, with you tied on its tail. Shuddering, the son of Hades assured Percy there would be no need for that.
"There better not," he mumbled, before the shadow swallowed them up.
Fortunately for them, Nico got lucky. The next thing the boys saw was the inside of Hades' dark realm. Percy breathed a sigh of relief. Upon arrival, Cerberus was waiting for them.
"Ugh, I don't wanna deal with this dog right now!" Percy groaned.
"Don't worry, because this time, we have a little trick I like to call role play."
"Nico, if that's really your plan, be prepared to have the biggest-"
"Oh shut up with your empty threats and listen. We have some Stygian Iron, and if you remember, Cerberus ignores any living being so long as they have a decent amount of Stygian Iron on them. He thinks they're related to Hades or Nyx. It's how Belari snuck in back in 1962."
"So what, we just walk in?" Nico nodded confidently.
"Cerberus will ignore us, fear not." Percy was still hesitant, but he trusted Nico. They both stepped forward with the Stygian Iron in their hands. Cerberus saw them immediately and growled, making Percy gulp. However, even though his eyes were fixated upon them, the dog never made any advancements, letting them pass through swiftly.
"See, I told you it would work," Nico said, grinning triumphantly, as they continued through the dark realm.
Hades was waiting for them at his hellish castle, a splitting smile on his face.
"Well, well, well look who's back," Hades said, clearly amused. "You guys will not guess what happened at the solstice-"
"Father, we brought your Stygian Iron weapons," Nico said proudly, showing the duffle bags stacked with pulsating purple light. Hades waved it away without a second thought.
"Yeah yeah, I knew you guys would get it. It wasn't even a hard task. Now, who's ready to hear what happened?"
"ME!" Percy yelled, his hand shooting up into the air. He was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. "Tell us, tell us!" Hades laughed while Nico glared, still wanting some validation for completing Hades' quest.
"So firstly, it turns out that Hephaestus only dropped my weapons because his forge lost some WiFi thing and his autobots all crashed. Then, he couldn't even fix it because Aphrodite and Ares were up to mischief, and Hephaestus just had to catch it on TV. The good news is I got a healthy 50% off my next order!" Percy smirked. Gods, he loved his discounts and coupon codes.
"Now, the other thing is about you Percy." His mouth opened in shock.
"Wa-what did I do?" he asked, a feeling of dread creeping up his spine. "Don't tell me Dad wants to 'check up' on me again. Why couldn't he do that when I was twelve and I actually needed it?"
"Well your father does want to see you, but no it's not that. It's even more juicy." Even Nico was leaning in now, eager to know this secret.
"The council is looking for you!" Hades jeered. He pointed at Percy, and laughed loudly.
"I can't even have a few years of peace in my life?" Percy muttered. "When do they want me to meet them then?" Hades' grin was growing wider by the second.
"Well yes Percy, ideally they want to meet you in a few weeks, but you see, no one actually knows where you are. I didn't say that you've been with me this last year or so." Percy's eyes widened as he realised what Hades was trying to say.
"You mean, they don't know I'm here?" Hades shook his head.
"Nope. Now Poseidon, Hermes, Artemis and Apollo were tasked with locating you in the next week," Hades began, standing up from his throne and straightening his robe. The God of Death had a mischievous glint in his eyes..
"How about we play a little prank on them?"