Zagreus

The voice receded and I could feel my body cooling down. The ounce of power I felt a moment ago receded into the chains, constrained once more. I looked at the boy above me. He looked exactly like me but different at the same time. This is my brother, I thought and for a while the idea lingered long in my head. I remembered a faint memory of my godly siblings – my sisters. Makaria and Melinoe, I now recalled. They were the exact opposite of each other, one was bubbly and bright, the other was mellow and conniving. The aura of Nico di Angelo glowed with a particular power. It wasn't as potent as the presence of Chronos, but it wasn't weak either. It was different. As he pulled the dagger away from my neck, I could now see the color and details of the weapon. It was a stygian blade. I knew it from the coolness of its touch and to the reddish gleam it emitted. The boy also had a skull ring fashioned for him, like the one I wore before, the mark that I am belong to the House of Hades.

"How do you know me?" he repeated. My senses popped from the haze.

"You're the other son of Hades," I replied.

"How do you know that?"

"The skull ring gave it away," I nodded at his hand.

"Don't be funny with me"

"I will tell you later, right now – "

"Nico!" Percy shouted. Nico jolted and quickly stood, leaving me lying on the ground. I waited for my muscles to relax until I sat myself upright.

"You're back!" Percy said with a smile. His jovial remark made Nico's eyes widen, and a faint color appeared on his pale face, which he shook off. I have a faint feeling my brother has harbored affection for this Perseus. He fidgeted for a while until he gained his composure and gave a blunt reply.

"Yes."

"I don't understand, really. But I am glad you're here. It's just sudden that you suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked Zagreus over here. We were just having a friendly game"

For a moment, his eyes widened. He must have recognized the name. He turned to me and I motioned for him to stay quiet. "Well, that's not how it appeared to be," Nico grumbled. I stood up.

"I'm sorry if it appeared that way, Percy. It escaped my mind that this isn't some battleground. I'm really sorry."

"It's alright. Most campers do tend to take the games too seriously. The haze from the Hecate cabin must have been messing with your head. I know Damien White has had an experience with that" he let on, "well, you must be wondering who's your attacker. I'll apologize for him as well, he can be a bit impulsive sometimes –"

Nico grunted at the last remark. "- this is Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades. The one I was talking to you about last time."

"Yes, I did recognize him. The skull ring gave it away," I smiled

"Yeah… it's really an underworld signature. Nico, this is Zagreus. He's a new camper and a son of Hecate."

Nico raised his eyebrows. He looked confused for a moment. I'll explain later, I expressed without saying a word. Nico offered his hand as a gesture. He must be trying to project something, I thought. I grabbed his hands to shake it. A sudden jolt bursts from his hand sent a shock into my head. I winced and was taken aback.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked, grabbing my shoulders.

"Uhh.. yes, yes. It's probably the haze getting into me or the strain from the fight."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive"

In the distance, we heard a horn blaring. "We missed most of the game, sadly. I think a team won already," Percy said.

"You can go ahead, I'll stay here for a bit. I might feel dizzy again if I suddenly move"

"I can bring you to the infirmary. I could just – "

"Go" I firmly said.

"I can watch over him. I think I dropped something when I showed up here, I'll have to look around this area to find it. Might as well stay," Nico interjected.

Percy seems hesitant to leave Nico and me alone. Though, no one can blame him, the kid has a potential to go berserk like what he did a while ago. I assured him with a nod. With unsure steps, he began to jog towards the creek then he disappeared.

"So, your name is Zagreus? But you're a demigod?" Nico began. His face more placid than ever.

"You have heard of the name before?" I said, genuinely curious. Thanatos hinted that the underworld has seemingly forgot about me after my thousand year sleep. No sign from my father or mother. And I doubt Nico went here to run an errand for my father.

"Yeah, I heard of it. The furies say it all the time. They go about saying they will drink your blood and all that. I thought it was a name of one of the souls they love to torment. But the furies do have a habit. I was told there existed a Zagreus before in the Underworld, a god I think. He must have been a really minor god. Even Hades doesn't speak of him and I'm not exactly that close to Persephone or Thanatos to asked about him," he went on, staring at the sky in wonder. My identity was a big mystery to him.

I chuckled. He stared, confused. "What's so funny about that?"

"As expected, they have no memory or the will to even mention the actual god"

"Well, Hecate must have remembered him, you're named after him"

"Nico I can tell you everything that is needed to be known, but can you swear on the River Styx for it?"

"Why should I do that for a person I just met?"

"Because the truth will only come out if you swear upon not revealing it to others. Don't you feel the weight of the truth if an oath is needed to guard it?" I said with such intensity that it made him fold.

"Fine. I swear to the River of Styx to shut up and keep the stuff you're about to tell."

"I'm Zagreus, the son of Hades. The god of rebirth." I said. The wind appeared to be knocked out of him as I said that. He stood there, with his eyes wide open. I could feel him tremble.

"You're… you're the god Hypnos and Thanatos were talking about…" I raised my eyebrows, he let on "They were talking about you – you waking up and – and Nyx has to know about it and – and you're – you're my brother then?"

"Yes, I'm your half-brother," I smiled. I placed a hand on his shoulder, "And are you okay with that?"

His lifted his head and our eyes met, "You're the god of rebirth. Bianca, she's my – "

"I know. She's your sister. Our sister. Percy told me about what happened to her."

"Then you can maybe help me. I've been searching everywhere for her in the underworld. Maybe you can do something to –"

I know where this was going. I gripped his shoulder "Nico, I understand what you're trying to say. But I don't have my powers anymore. That's why I ended up here."

"What do you mean? Your eyes a while ago, they turned a different color!" he said, trying to make sense of it all.

"It's better to tell you everything then," I started recounting the events that my memory could recover, from the day I woke up at the rooftop to my dangerous encounters. I explained how bursts of power flood my body in times of great need, and how I pass out afterwards. I told him about the dreams that came and how I couldn't identify the voice I kept hearing.

"But why did you tell them you're the son of Hecate. The demigods could help you if they know about this"

"The son of Hecate part, I didn't intend that. They sort of figured that I may be her son since that magic trick I pulled. They assumed the power came from me being the son of Hecate. I went with the title because I am not yet sure with what I am entering here. The primordials are keeping a watchful eye, and the voice kept warning me…" I stopped at that part. I wasn't intending to tell him that the voice warned me about Percy Jackson, seeing he harbored some affection for him.

"But what you are to do then?"

"Hecate told me to seek out the oracle here to tell me what to do. I have been intending to do so, but I haven't found the opportunity to ask people here how to find the oracle or if the oracle is even here in the first place."

"Rachel, she's the new oracle! She resides at the creepy attic at the big house. Maybe we could go and find her right now," he said fervently.

"Calm down, Nico. We have to think things through for the meantime. I can't let them know I'm the son of Hades yet. We need to go to the oracle inconspicuously."

"I know it sometimes go out of the attic to blurt out prophecies. Like that time me and Bianca first came in camp. They were playing capture the flag when the oracle suddenly approached Zoe and blurted out a prophecy"

"Let's keep the idea open. For now we have to go back as others may be already worried about us," I turned the other way.

A grunt escaped from one of the trees near us. "What was that?" Nico turned around.

Sabrina. Has she heard everything? I saw a pool of blood seeping from the roots of the tree. Shit.

"Nico, can you call medic for help, hurry!" I said with urgency as I approached the tree.

"Wait, what happened – "

"Hurry!" I pressed. The boy started to bolt towards the creek. I went around the tree and found Sabrina leaning on its base, her left hand clutching her leg. The bleeding was coming from her ankle.

"What happened?" I asked. Her blood was red that means my suspicion was wrong. She can't be Nemesis.

"You idiot! I was hit by your sword when you landed on the ground" she winced, more blood gushed from her leg. Her jeans were soaked in red; her shoe was already removed.

"I'm sorry." I got to my knees. Her blood was pouring from the wound fast. "I asked Nico to call medic. They're coming in quick. I'll try to lessen the bleeding. I removed the jacket I was wearing and tried to press it against the wound. Sabrina bit her lip and winced.

"You're an idiot. Why didn't you just tell me that you were a miserable god in the first place?" she suddenly said. I accidentally pressed her wound which made her scream.

"You heard all of it?" I asked.

"I didn't intend to, but I wanted to find out what you were about to tell that boy so I stayed back and listened. You told more to him than you ever told me and Celine."

"He's my brother. You can't expect me to babble much about my life history to you two. And you won't care anyway." I started to wipe more of her blood.

"Because you don't trust us or any of the demigods here. Hmm… perhaps we're not so different after all"

She does sound familiar. "You won't tell this to Celine now, we'll you?"

"Why? Would you make me swear to that Styx thing too?"

"Sabrina…" I said with all seriousness. I don't intend to drag Celine into this mess, especially since she has been a big help to me.

"Fine. I won't and I'm doing this to protect her too. Just make sure you don't harm her anymore and I'll keep your secret until the day I die. I think that's fair game."

"You and your fairness," I tied the jacket to her ankle. "The medic isn't getting here any faster. I can bring you to the infirmary or at least meet them half way. You're getting paler than the moon," I placed her right arm onto my shoulder.

"Wait, what are you – "

Placing my arms carefully under her knees and back, I started to lift her, "I'm carrying you there. Obviously, we can't fly there, can we?" I looked at her and smirked. She rolled her eyes at my remark and turned her head away. A bit of color surfaced to her cheek.

I walked towards the creek.