It was breakfast time at Camp Half-Blood, usually a lively event that had become somber over time. The air crackled with nerves, and hushed whispers twisted throughout the tables. Something was wrong with the gods. The sky was pitch black and there were ominous rumbles far away. The sun was nowhere to be seen, hidden behind dark clouds, despite the fact that it was morning. The lake was angry, pounding the dock with waves over and over again. Nico sat quietly at the Hades table, Hazel across from him. He glanced over at the Zeus table, where Jason sat, staring at the sky.
It was supposed to just be a quick stop, a couple of the Seven, and Nico. To check on Camp, to check on Percy. Imagine Nico's mild surprise when Percy was missing. Imagine his shock when he heard what happened. It had only been a few weeks, but no one had been able to get in contact with the son of Poseidon. Iris messages failed, and all of the gods were silent. Not that they were super talkative anyway, but everyone could feel the thick tension choking the entire camp with Percy's disappearance.
Nico craned his neck to look at the nearby lake as the waves came to a standstill. The sudden silence caught most people's attention, and the hush of the murmuring quietened. The only sound left to be heard was the occasional scrape of a knife or fork on the plates. He glanced at Chiron who remained unmoving, yet a look of concern flickered across his face.
Someone at one of the tables gasped, and his head snapped to look at them. A child of Apollo was standing, pointing at the lake, silent. A figure rose from the lake, water falling off their shoulders with ease as they remained dry. He could feel the power rolling off the figure in waves.
At first, Nico thought it was Percy. Then, as the being continued to rise, even he couldn't wipe the look of horror off his face.
Poseidon slowly moved forward, an unmoving body clutched in his arms. He approached the Mess Hall, his footsteps echoing off the stone floor. The god stopped in front of the empty Head Table, and, with more care than Nico thought was possible for a god, he set the boy he was holding down.
Poseidon reluctantly turned around, and Nico tore his eyes away from the jet black hair that was splayed out on the table. The olive skin, covered in cuts and bruises, with dried blood stuck to his clothes. The boy's head was facing the other way, eyes closed, but Nico knew that if they had opened, piercing blue green would stare back at him.
"My son is dead." Poseidon whispered, yet the sound bounced around the Mess Hall, shaking him to his core. Nico shivered as chills ran across his arms, and he squeezed his fingers tight. No one dared to move, let alone let out a sound. An angry, broken god stood before them with clenched fists. "My son is dead," he repeated, "and Zeus killed him."
Shock rippled through the campers, and immediately quiet, angry whispers were shared between tables.
Poseidon held up a hand, and silence settled on the demigods like a chokehold. "He was scared of his power," He started, a lump in his throat. "Didn't understand him, didn't understand how anyone could turn down godhood, or be loyal to a fault. He wanted an example of what it meant to defy his word." Poseidon spat. "And now. . . my son is dead. And I couldn't protect him." His voice cracked on the last words, as he choked down tears.
Poseidon looked over at the faces staring at him. "All I ask is to give him a proper funeral, one befit for a hero who sacrificed himself to save Olympus. Who gave his all, but was left with nothing. That is all I ask of you." Poseidon spoke as he looked at his son, a shaking hand cradling his cheek. The god fell to one knee, resting his forehead on the cool table that his son was laying on. After a moment, he rose. He gazed at his child one last time, before he turned, stepping away from the table. The god ignored the stares that pierced through him as he walked towards the lake, disappearing the same way he arrived.
Blood roared in his ears, and the only sound that Nico could make out was the pounding of his heart. He stood quietly, drawing the attention of the Camp. Hazel looked at him, terrified, but he ignored her glance. He slowly approached his cousin. His dead cousin. Nico looked down. If he disregarded the dried blood that covered Percy, Nico could almost believe he was sleeping. His face was smoothed out, the tension that Percy usually carried in between his eyebrows was gone. If Nico ignored his too pale cheeks, and colorless lips, the bruises that splattered across his chin, the angry red lightning scars that climbed up his limbs. If he ignored it all. But, he was a child of Death himself, and he couldn't ignore that death clung to his friend with a fierce grip.
Nico had seen death plenty of times, but none had been more disturbing than this.
A burst of anger fled through him, lighting his muscles on fire, and he spun around on his heel. "So, that's it." He hissed, coldly, addressing all of the onlookers who watched him. A range of emotions crawled over their faces. He saw tears, horror, shock. He saw no expression at all, he saw everything at once. "Percy was the best of all of us. The strongest, the most loyal, the kindest. The gods' best soldier, but they marched him to his death." Nico paused to swallow down, choking down the tears that fought to rise to the surface.
"Without Percy, Olympus would have razed to the ground in a flurry of flames. Twice. This is how they reward their best demigod? With a death sentence? So, what? They use us to save their own asses, and then throw us into Tartarus to rot?" He spit, the anger festering in his chest with each word he spoke. "What the fuck is the point? We pray to them with every meal, we fight for them when they call on us, but it isn't enough, is it? It will never be enough." Nico glanced down at Percy, before squeezing his eyes shut, turning his face away. "The gods are cruel, crueler than anything that exists on this Earth. We should have brought them to their knees when we still had the chance." His speech sat heavy in the cool darkness of the night. A traitorous tear slipped down one of his cheeks.
"He's right," a voice rang out as Will stood up. "I've known Percy since the day he set foot in Camp Half-Blood. He offered himself up to save the world, and wanted nothing in return. They stole his happiness, his sanity, his life. They should have been forever in Percy's debt. If this is what they do to him, what does that mean for us?"
Furious whispers erupted as he finished his thoughts. Nico glanced over at Jason, sitting quietly at the Zeus table. He had come nowhere close to Percy's legacy in Camp Half-Blood, no one had, but he had come closer than most. Jason was a rule-follower, that Nico knew, but he could see the inner war that raged within the son of Jupiter. His sky blue eyes were dark with emotion, eyebrows furrowed.
Malcolm rose from the Athena table. "They've already killed us." He said, firmly. "The attack that killed our friends, our brothers and sisters. Only a god could have summoned that many monsters and let them through the borders. They murdered us. Who's to say they won't do it again?"
"So, what do you suggest we do?" Clarisse said, gruffly, staring at Nico from the Ares table. "This has always been the life of a demigod, worthless to a god unless they want something. How do you want to change that?"
Nico opened his mouth to speak, but a voice interrupted him. "We fight." Heads turned to the speaker, and Jason lifted his eyes from the wood in front of him to face the others. "Only this time, no Titans, no Primordials. The only ones who care about demigods are us, no one else."
Clarisse smiled a bitter smile, as the lust of war raged in her. "I guess we better get to training, then."
Cheers surged from the crowd, campers banging on the table in agreement. Calls for the death of the gods rang through the hall, and feet stomped on the floor, dinner abandoned.
Nico gave a look to Hazel as he disappeared into the shadows. His vision went pitch black as he melted into the darkness. He took a step forward as soon as he reached his destination, with no time to waste. His boots left imprints in the ground as he walked quickly, his hands balled into fists at his side. He just hoped he wasn't too late.
His pupils dilated as they adjusted to the near darkness of the Underworld, his stride unbreaking as he walked towards the shore of the River Styx, glancing over at Cerberus on the other side. His feet stopped at the edge of the river, just next to a hunched over figure, who was fixed on their reflection in the murky water.
"They were scared you would unite the demigods and march on Olympus, you know?" He asked quietly. Percy didn't reply, and the only indication he gave that he heard Nico was a soft exhale. "They thought that if anyone could bring down the gods, it would be you. And well. . . I guess in the end, their fears came true."
Percy's head snapped towards Nico, and the son of Hades met the intense stare of his friend evenly. There was an awaiting quiet, before Nico spoke again. "They're going to march on Olympus. For you. For what they did to you. We're going to burn it all down."
A ghost of a smile graced Percy's lips as he looked back over to the other shore, at the Judgement Pavilion. It seemed like he would get his revenge, after all. He knew there were gods who didn't want him to die, and he only hoped that they spared mercy on the ones who had voted against it. Spared his father, for fighting for him. For Hermes, for Apollo. The gods who were always a bit more caring about demigods than the rest.
"They need a leader," Nico's words broke him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the pale, outstretched hand. "They need their leader." Nico whispered.
There was a beat, a moment. A consideration. A million things at once, yet nothing at all. Percy carefully grabbed Nico's cold hand. "Together," Percy rasped. "We burn it down together."
The gods had no idea what was coming.
a/n: and the end! thank you for reading. i really loved writing this story. i originally had the idea for it almost 4 years ago during lockdown when i was doing a bit of writing. i finished the first 5 chapters at the time, and i recently found it in my drafts. despite the fact that i knew i could make it much longer, i have a bad habit of not finishing works. i always have a lot of long drawn-out ideas that could probably fill up 3 books worth. but i simply don't have the time nor the drive to finish something like that (i claim that i don't have enough time to write anymore, but if only i wrote for as long as i read, i would surely finish some more). so i wanted to make this one short enough to be manageable, hence why it's only 12 chapters. but i love the last two chapters a lot, even if i wasn't particularly proud of the rest of it. i am proud that i finished something longer than a one-shot, though. again, thank you for all of the lovely comments and support you have left, and i hope you enjoyed :)