Chapter Text
Nico was not supposed to have a funky dive through time and end up in the past, in the gangly body of a preteen stuck in a hotel with his not deceased anymore sister.
It wasn’t supposed to happen at all. A lot of things weren’t supposed to happen. His memory was fuzzy, memories not coming to him in the way they should. A film stuck in his brain like fog.
He knew he was back in time. He knew he was older than the skin he was in. He knew he wasn't supposed to be in the past. These were facts, like the sky is blue and the grass is green and he is a child of Hades. Facts.
But knowing where or when he was supposed to be was also unclear.
Nico was only aware that he was back in the nightmare of the hotel. The place where he had been unaware of the years that kept passing as a child. The place before everything started to end. Before his sister had died.
Before everything.
“Nico?” Bianca shook his shoulder, startling him back to his body.
He'd been drifting again, unmoored from his body as his thoughts took off. But it was hard sometimes, to stay present, when he wasn't even in his own present.
He turned to her, and only her concerned stare was what he was met with. She always looked concerned, since the moment he became aware he was in the wrong time. She had gained a furrow in her brow, her eyes that kept scanning him with concern.
He feels like he forgot what that concerned was supposed to feel like, since she died. But he also remembers it keenly. Like a dying plant that got watered again, like a bird relearning how to fly after breaking a wing.
He knows that in the hotel in his original past his memories had also been gone. When their dad had send them here.
He knows it's not the first time he can't grasp at memories. That they escape like sand grains through his fingers.
But Nico hates it anyway. The familiarity of the situation felt like a big joke.
If things are the same, and he cannot stop it from being the same, why was he in the past? It wouldn't help him either way.
Well maybe it did help. When Bianca cards a hand through his hair before he dozed off to sleep. When she snickered as he tried and failed to not walk into walls, because it was disorientating to be shorter and smaller again. When he got her to smile, and something he missed fiercely like the sun misses the sky, unfurled into his chest. Like a campfire song.
He surprised her too, with wisdom he shouldn't have. By relieving the pressure off of her, she doesn't need to parent her younger sibling anymore. And he's so glad, because even when she's concerned for him now, it doesn't feel like she's holding boulders on her shoulders.
There was the age old grief of course, always, but they shared that grief. Of losing their mama. Of losing their lives. Of not remembering before the accident. Fragments of a life they should have lived. The grief of parents that they'll never have again. But they shared that.
The pressure of being responsible fell on Bianca's shoulders, she argued she was older, that he needed taking care of. That she had to make sure he was safe and taken care of.
The thing that had dragged her down and caused her death before. Her care for her brother made her into a parent instead of a sibling. The need for freedom to be her own person again.
He never did blame her for it. Only himself. Even if he knew he had never had a choice in the matter.
“Bianca,” he murmured, pushing back his unruly bangs.
He forgot that he desperately needed a haircut when he was this age. Even though he isn't sure what this age is exactly. Ten, seventy, a thousand. Whatever.
He feels ancient. Too old for his bones.
“It's dinner time Nico,” she murmurs back, tugging at his bangs with a small smile.
A small action she's done a million times by now, and the reason why he never cut his hair too short.
He grins at her. “Pizza rolls?”
She rolls her eyes, fond. A quirk of her mouth that betrays her amusem*nt. “Yes, pizza rolls again. Now come on, let's eat.”
He chases her down to dinner, and they share matching grins as they eat. Laughter bubbling in the air like a soft lullaby. And even if he knows he's forgotten a lot of things he should know, knows that he doesn't remember much at all, he wishes he'll never forget this.
His older sister's laugh. Her smile. The way her eyes crinkled as she snorted.
The brown of her eyes, the freckles on her face. Even if she hides her freckles with her green cap. The constellations on her skin she didn't always want people to notice.
He wants to desperately etch it to his memory, stitch it into his being so he'll never forget at all. Something he had never thought to memorise when he was actually the age his body is because he had never thought he'd lose her. Not like they had lost their parents in ways they didn't remember.
But he also wants to make sure he won't have to, the thought of losing his sister all over again feels like a devastating blow that he cannot bear.
That means changing the future. Defying the fates. Telling time to f*ck right off.
She's a child, and it hurts to look at her and think that she'll die before ever reaching eighteen at all. Didn't see him grow up. Didn't grow up herself. Didn't become her own person. Didn't live.
So he doesn't think of that.
Later, back in their shared hotel room Nico lays on his bed and she on hers. Hers at the left side of the room, closer to the door, and his on the right side, closer to the windows. She insists it's because she can't stand the morning light, but Nico knows it's so if something goes through the door she will stand between it and her little brother.
She'll deny it of course. But Nico knows.
The lights are off, and only soft moonlight lights up their room.
It's later, and his mind is tracing a path through the universe. A potential he is slowly grasping onto.
“Bianca?” He whispers, clutching the covers closer to himself as he stares at the ceiling.
She hums, her bed creaks.
He inhales deeply, thinking of possibilities and more. “I want to leave this place.”
Change whispers to him like a sweet lie and he wishes to grasp it like the dying man he knows he is.
“But our lawyer said we had to stay,” Bianca points out, all of twelve and the surety it gives her.
Nico tries not to think too much about Alecto. And how she had taken the form of a middle aged man as a disguise to be their lawyer. Sometimes the universe liked to laugh at him and he tried hard not to think too deeply about things that gave him an existential crisis. He doesn't know why that was something he had to remember but it feels like the universe is laughing at him.
“I don't wanna be stuck here for the rest of our lives,” Nico tells her as sincerely as he can.
He doesn't want his memories of this hotel to be what they'll only have of each other. This cursed stupid hotel that they never really escaped from at all.
Another creak. “It's not forever,” Bianca whispers.
She doesn't sound confident.
“I know another place we can go to,” Nico whispers. “But–”
He cuts himself off. Nico is an adult, he's not insecure. He's not anxious. He's not nervous.
But he is.
“But?” Bianca echoes, probing.
“You're gonna have to trust me,” Nico tells her firmly.
The bed creaks and he can hear Bianca get out of bed. He sits up and turns to look at her. She's standing, looking at him.
Her eyes are unflinching as they peer into his soul.
“Is this to do with why you changed?” She asks.
A question asked like a gunshot, never to be taken back again.
It hurts the knowledge that burns through him. He is her little brother, but he also isn't anymore. Not little at all. He's lived years without her.
Taken the place of her actual little brother.
He nods, it's jerky and feels off. But he can't trust himself to speak.
She sighs, world weary and walks to his bed. She pokes him till he's shuffled to the side and then climbs in next to him. She lays on her side, throwing her arm over him and then does a shushing sound.
“It's okay Nico,” she whispers. “It'll all be okay, starlight.”
He tries not to burst into tears, but when she brings up her hand to wipe his face he knows he lost that battle.
He burrows closer towards her, hugs her like they'll melt together and he'll never lose her again. There's desperation fueling his actions that he knows he shouldn't let show. But all his sister does is hold him close and start humming a nursery song.
An Italian nursery song their mother used to hum. That they shouldn't remember but do because it was home.
“Love you moondust,” he tells her, remembering their childhood nicknames hurts. Like a barbed wire over his heart.
But the way she relaxes completely into him tells him she needed to hear the familiar comfort.
“Love you too starlight,” she whispers into his hair.
He resolves to never lose this again. His sister meant the world to him, and if he had to fight the gods early just to keep her he would.
Percy had done it, with no clue at all for how.
Nico knows it's at least possible, that's more than others know.
He'll change it all, just for a chance not to lose this again. And maybe, the effort would make the world better too.
He knows he's lost an entire life, memories too hazy to remember, a future he had, but he doesn't care. It doesn't burn, not when he has a chance to keep this.
It can't hurt, it isn't allowed to hurt. He doesn't want this to hurt.
“I trust you,” she whispers, and he falls asleep with the knowledge that the universe could burn for this.
It had been easier to convince her than he thought. The morning they packed their bags together. He almost forgot to pack his cards, and something about that had concerned Bianca.
He knows why, he doesn't want to think of it though. So they sat at the bottom of his backpack.
Two backpacks with all they owned. It was springtime, so they wore light jackets over their shirts. Jeans and boots on at Nico's insistence.
They were going to camp half-blood, alone. With no guides. And Nico knew it was dangerous, but he also remembers how to use his powers. How to travel by shadows. How to be unrecognisable. How to be dangerous even though he was in his ten year old body.
She had been sceptical, but she also didn't know about the knife he'd nicked from the weapon stack the hotel had from previous fighters that were well, not there anymore. He'd shoved into his waistband, with its leather sheath so he wouldn't accidentally cut himself. He also had one in his knife for Bianca, if things went wrong.
But for now it remained in his bag.
Bianca has money, she didn't tell him where she got it, but Nico is pretty sure she just got it from the people in the hotel that liked to throw money around and are, well, not polite. She was reliable like that. Not the stealing, but the righteousness for punishment to those that do wrong.
It was not a small amount either.
The morning they went to breakfast, pretending nothing was happening. Taking some food with them and then bagging it up and put in their bags.
And then they went back downstairs, bags on their backs. Just running a couple of circles around the hotel before both walking out.
It was simple in the end. Unnoticeable.
She held his hand and tugged him out.
They went to the nearest bus station, got a ticket to the station, and the morning bustle hid them well. Well enough to get to the station.
But they didn't get tickets there, because it would take almost three days to get there and Nico knew damn well they couldn't risk that. No, it was a cover. Because he was that paranoid apparently. He doesn't know why, but the instinct to cover his track was chasing his heels.
He tugged Bianca towards the nearest alley, where the shadows stretched well enough, hid them well enough.
From there he held her hand in his and stubbornly wished that what he would do wouldn't scare her.
He stepped through the shadow, tugging her with him. Her hand snapped to latch onto his wrist, almost dragging him back but he didn't let her.
They exited near enough the camp that they immediately stepped on twigs. The forest floor beneath them.
He staggers, exhaustion hitting him like a truck, Bianca's hands immediately come under his shoulders and hold him in place. His face smushes into her shoulder.
She gasps, quietly her head on his shoulder shifting around to look at their surroundings.
“Nico?” She whispers, almost afraid but the familiar tinge of stubbornness is still there in her voice.
Nico leans fully on her, trying not to fall asleep where he stands. He'd forgotten how hard it was to shadow travel, how exhausting the action was. How much energy is consumed and took from him.
He's glad his sister is here to hold him up, because he'd definitely be sprawled on the ground if it wasn't for her. At least it's not as bad as the time he shadow travelled to China.
He smiles into her shoulder hidden from sight. “We're close,” he whispers.
“What? To where?” She asks. “How did you do that?”
He shakes his head. “Don't tell anyone, it's a secret. We're special. But– different special, they can't know.”
He should've thought to warn her before maybe, but the less she knew the better. If she didn't know, then no one would be able to get the information out of her.
“They can't know our names either,” he forces out. “We're just Nico and Bianca, and we'll be safe okay?”
She nods, her embrace tightening on him. “Okay,” she agrees.
Thank f*ck his sister is willing to listen to him. Thank hell she trusts him.
He could cry, burst into tears for how fiercely he loves her. He doesn't, but it's a damn close thing.
He finally finds the strength to stand on his own two legs, pushing back. Her hand immediately finds his and her eyes promise him that this conversation is far from over.
“Follow me?” He asks her. It's not begging, but Nico knows it's closer than he'd like it to be.
She nods, once. Expression drawn tight. Brows furrowed in that same concern. “Lead the way, starlight.”
He smiles at that. “Always, moondust.”
Nico leads his sister to camp half-blood. To the hill with the tree of a girl that was trapped in time. That immediately told him he was between the time after Thalia got put in statis, and before the war with the gods.
He touches the tree once when he gets to her. Wishing Thalia safety and hoping he'll find a way to get her out soon. He knows how disorientating it is, trapped in time. He knows he wishes it on no one.
He knows that Bianca isn't aware of it the same way yet. How much time passed. He doesn't know how he'll explain, but maybe he doesn't have to either way. Maybe the camp will. But that's putting a lot of trust into a place he had never fully trusted as far as he remembers.
He hates that he can't quite remember anything. That besides some stupid facts everything dances away from his thoughts.
His hand on the bark lingers. He gives the tree a pat.
Bianca does the same, a hand on the bark before letting herself be tugged away by Nico. Her expression is thoughtful, and Nico knows his sister is perspective. She always had been and she still is.
They walk the path down. And he's glad that they are past the barrier. That no monster can come down to slay them.
It was far less troubling than any of the usual quests he's been on. But then again this wasn't a quest at all. He's glad for it. Grateful this wasn't as hard, even though he feels like sleeping for a week.
Finally they get over the hill and arrive at the Big House.
Camp is quiet, and that makes sense considering the fact that Nico is pretty sure school is in full swing. Most children would be at school, spring wasn't summer vacation. There wouldn't be too many all year round campers.
When they step before the door of the house it's quiet.
“Do we knock?” Bianca asks.
Nico leans on her, and he really is trying his best to stay away. Sleep sounds like a siren's call. But he can't, not without making sure everything goes smoothly.
He hums and nods. She cards a hand through his hair, lightly pulls at his bangs before raising her other hand and knocking three times.
It's a clear sound, reverberating over the porch they're standing on. It's quiet, and distantly Nico can hear the sound of birds chirping and leaves rustling.
“Do I knock again?” Bianca wonders out loud.
And then the door opens.
Mr. D stands there. Squinting down at them. Dark eyes taking them in. Hawaiian shirt still on. It's spring, but this god has been consistent throughout all of the time Nico has known him.
Even when his memory is fuzzy. It's relief that courses through him, and he can't help the smile that graces his face as he beams at the god.
Bianca tightens her grip on his shoulder. Wary and tense immediately by the adult before them.
Nico almost stumbles forward in glee, refrains and just learns further into his sister.
“Hello,” he greets, and even he can hear the exhaustion of his own voice.
It's all an effort to stay awake. And by the slow blink of Mr. D the god is aware.
“This place is safe, right?” Bianca asks, skipping the greeting entirely.
Nico knows how much of a gamble that is for her. The way she tilted her head and made eye contact, the way she's firm in the front of the unknown. Her cap is still firmly om her head, but she's confident.
She had always been just and righteousness, had always had a too big heart. But she was nervous, a childhood thing that had followed her for longer than it hadn't. When Nico had been an actual hold and she had changed and leaned into her confidence, he hadn't quite known what to do. But now he's gleeful for it, the way she seems prepared to stand before anything.
She's growing up, and it makes something in Nico's chest sing with happiness.
“Yes,” Mr. D answers, glancing over the two of them. “Shouldn't you two have a guide or something?”
“A what?” Bianca wonders, sounding confused.
Nico tries not to laugh, instead he nudges his sister in the side. “Like a tour guide,” he whispers at her just to see the way that Mr D's face deadens a bit in exasperation.
“No, not like a tour guide. A guide, to camp half-blood. You know, Satyrs.” Mr D sounds down right exhausted.
“Half-blood?” Bianca sounds wary.
Right, no context. She wouldn't know what that means.
“We're magic!” Nico whispers at her again, hoping it sounds more like childish glee than the actual relish for chaos that it is.
Mr D takes a moment to stare at the sky. “The day Chiron leaves for a job. The first day. This happens. Why?”
Nico really tries to not laugh, but he can't help the snicker that slips past. The glare he receives from the god entirely tells him it's fine.
Their cousin always did have a soft spot for kids. Must be from dealing with so many of them and being constantly surrounded by them. And he had loved his own kids too. Nico knows this.
Maybe that's why he cheekily smiles at the god and Mr D immediately rolls his eyes.
“You're demigods.” Mr D tells them very unhelpfully. “This is camp half-blood, for children of the gods. I'm Mr D the camp director, don't ask me questions. I'm going to go call the head of a cabin, they'll answer your questions. If one's at camp that is.”
Bianca squeezes Nico's shoulder as Mr D turns around and walks off further into the house. Nico is sure the man is going for the back door to just call for any camper he can see near him.
“What?” Bianca whispers at him.
Nico leans into her, tilts his head and whispers back into her ear to hide it from view. “Real, trust me.”
When he leans back they meet eyes. Her eyes are sharp as they look over his face before she nods once.
They follow Mr D into the house and can hear him loudly talking outside of the back door standing on the back porch.
“I know there's no satyr that was planning to get two kids. Yes they just showed up. Now will you go and just show them around or something?” Mr D sounds done.
When they pass the threshold and see who the god is talking to Nico has to catch himself in the act of not freezing in place.
Luke. Holy sh*t he had forgotten about Luke, not because of fuzzy memory, but because he genuinely just had forgotten about the man. Boy now? He's not sure how old Luke is. Almost a decade older, he thinks. But he's not sure either way.
When the boy notices them he smiles at them and waves, his scar crinkling from how the expression pulls at it.
“Hello there, new campers huh? You two just made it here alone?” Luke sounds friendly, but the calculating glance in his eyes tells Nico a whole lot.
Bianca catches it too, from the way she tilts her head down to cover more of her face and her grip tightens on Nico. Nico wants to almost bet she'll pull him behind her if she felt it was necessary.
They don't answer. Luke brushes that off and steps towards them. “It's fine to be nervous. Most campers are. Tell you what, I'll show you two around and you two can tell me about yourselves?” He's kind still, obviously trying not to spook them.
Nico tries hard not to think too hard about Luke. Instead he yawns, almost cracking his jaw. Bianca snorts at him.
“My brother is tired. Can we rest somewhere?” Bianca is polite, exceedingly so. But Nico knows her and knows that she'd just as readily fight Luke if she thought she had to, politeness be damned in the face of danger.
“Right of course, I'll take you two to Hermes’ cabin, all unclaimed kids sleep there. We got free bunks too, most kids are with their family this time of the year.” It's a helpful explanation, but both Nico and Bianca grimace at it.
Luke squints at them. And Mr D simply leaves, clearly not wanting to get more involved. Nico fondly thinks his cousin is trying far too hard to not get too attached.
Luke leads them to the cabin speaking all the while about the camp, not that Nico's paying attention. Nico almost falls flat on his face several times but Bianca helpfully pulls him upright every time he trips over the dirt.
Very hard to listen to someone explain things when his brain feels like a slush that needs sleep. He's tired. Exhausted. And wants nothing more to drift off where he stands.
The second they're in the cabin and Luke points at a bunk bed for them Nico shuffled and faceplants on it. He hears Bianca snort at him, and a hand patting his head.
He groans, pulls off the backpack and shoes and then curls up on his side. This was enough to sleep for.
He hears a thank you and a voice moving away and then he's drifting off.
When he wakes up his head still feels foggy, but he's awake and it's enough.
Nico's eyes kind of burn when they look around the cabin, far too much light everywhere. It's still daytime, which consoles him that his nap didn't take too long.
His throat feels tacky and his mouth feels like something died in it. His limbs are sluggish.
He would rather go back to sleep, but he can't. His brain has rested enough, the lack of headache helps immensely.
He sits upright and looks around.
Their bags are on the ground, Nico can still feel the knife he had stored in his waistband there. Not the smartest idea of him to sleep with it but at least he hadn't been caught.
The bunk bed above him is dented a bit, so he hopes that that means Bianca is laying above him.
He gets out of bed to check. Having to stand on his bunk and hold the top bunk frame with his fingertips just so his head can pop over the railing properly.
There his sister is, faced towards him and sleeping peacefully.
Well, not for long. They had things to do. If Nico had to feel like something ran him over, Bianca was going to be inconvenienced a bit too. Them’s the rules.
“Bianca,” he whispers at her, one hand releasing the frame and softly shaking her shoulder.
He's a younger sibling, but that doesn't mean he needs to be too annoying.
Her eyes flutter open, and when she finally registers him she sighs.
“What is it Nico?” She asks, sleep in her voice.
She clearly wants to go back to sleep. Jokes on her, so does Nico. But they really should have an alibi for how they got here and explain things a bit. And he need Bianca there for it as she would always thrown down with whatever the f*ck Nico comes up with if it got them out of trouble. She was nice that way.
She had this look to her as if she'd never break a rule ever. But Nico remembers how she'd always take his side in ways so he'd never be alone. United front or something.
Nico guesses it's a sibling thing. To make sure both of them keep out of trouble or face trouble together.
“C'mon I wanna see the pegasis,” Nico demands childishly.
It works too, because his sister's eyes snap fully open from where they had fluttered close. The look she shoots him tells him she absolutely doesn't believe him at all. Unfair that.
“They do not have pegasi Nico,” Bianca tells him very seriously. “Your card game is not right about mythical beings.”
Nico pouts at her. Fully using his ten year old face to get what he wants.
She sighs, rolls her eyes. “Fine, let's find some pegasi then.”
She doesn't tell him she's right and he's wrong. She doesn't rub in his face that they're mythological creatures that shouldn't exist. She just says they'll go find some. Even if she believes they don't exist. Simply to keep him happy.
Sometimes he can't describe how much he loves his sister for simply being herself.
She gets out of bed. Nico loses balance, because he still had only been using one hand to hold onto the frame and then fell down towards the floor.
He landed on his back, slightly knocking the wind out of him. It didn't hurt at all, so that was great. But he still stared at the ceiling wishing for the ground to swallow him whole for this embarrassing moment.
Bianca giggles at him, the sound making him smile at her from where she's using the ladder to climb down the bunk.
He gets back up, stretching his back till it pops just to make Bianca make a face at him.
“Let's go!” He cheers, pointing towards the exit.
Bianca laughs, following him out.
Outside it's the same camp he can remember, or maybe not. It feels wrong too. Like there's things missing. He's not sure. But he knows it still, so that should be enough.
They walk around, first stop at the show and toilets so they can both wash their faces. Nico tries to get the feeling of rotting things out of his mouth with the water but doesn't really succeed.
Either way he at least feels cleaner and more awake.
Then they wander on, and they arrive at the mess hall. It was deserted though, so no food yet.
At least they had some in their bags if they really did get hungry.
They turn back and wander past the cabins, the arena coming in sight. Bianca got interested then, and they spent far too long tracing the place and its architecture.
“It's so beautiful,” Bianca was using her hand to trace a pillar's grooves. She sounds wistful.
Nico squinted at the arches, the paintings on the inside of the arena walls. And maybe he could admit there was beauty there to be found, even if it was a place they learned how to fight.
He nods though, agreeing with her either way.
He eyed the swords that were left out and wondered if anyone would notice if he grabbed one. But then again he's ten, and he knows for a fact he didn't develop enough muscles yet to truly be dangerous with the sword any time soon.
He'd have to get back into training and he's not looking forward to it.
“Let's go then,” Bianca finally declares, probably having realised the weapons were in reaching distance and unwilling to find out if Nico would give in and grab one.
They walk past the armoury and forge. Where Bianca holds his hand so he doesn't wander off. He doesn't mind, knows that in her eyes he's still the ten year old nerd that would go and inspect weapons.
He's not really anymore. Even if something bursts fierce in his chest, almost like longing, when he looks at the well crafted shields and swords. Delicate weaponry.
Finally they get to the stables.
And here Nico can hear the pegasi and other beings going about their day. They don't enter, but watch from the opening of the stable.
And a pegasi pops their head over towards them and Bianca gasps.
Nico grins in glee, watching his sister look at the pegasi in disbelief.
“What?” She mumbles before turning to look at him. Her eyes wide and her hands coming to settle on his shoulders.
“Nico,” she says. “Tell me what is going on right now.”
The demand makes him snicker. “We're demigods, remember?”
This clearly didn't explain anything to her because she looks like she might throttle him.
“Nico I swear to–” Bianca gets cut off by a branch snapping.
They both immediately turn around and see Luke, who has his hands in the air and a sheepish expression on his face.
Oh they were being followed the whole time, weren't they? No wonder it's been so peaceful and quiet.
“Hey there, are you guys hungry? We got lunch in a bit.” Luke sounds friendly enough that Bianca's grip on him loosens.
She nods, and Nico follows her lead.
They follow Luke back to the hall. The demigod chattering away again.
“During summer camp is full of life, the forge constantly on, campers running around. Pegasi flying with campers on their back. We have classes too, like sword fighting.” The information isn't anything new to Nico, so he just looks at the way the tree branches dance with the wind.
They finally arrive and the smell of food makes Nico's mourn water. He almost immediately goes to sit down at the wrong table, before stopping in his pace and looking around.
Luke laughs and points at a specific table. “You two are going to have to sit at the Hermes table for now.”
Nico wants to sigh at it. But obediently follows Bianca and sits next to her at the Hermes table.
Luke sits across from them.
There's some other campers around the place, some sitting alone.
Nico recognizes Annabeth sitting at the Athena table. He doesn't let his gaze stay on her and looks at the other campers there.
He doesn't recognize many of them. It's hard to, when his memories are a puddle of constant motion. He knows he should recognize some of them, but staying to think about them gives him a headache so he focuses on his lunch.
“So it's real?” Bianca asks Luke, eating a grape.
The girl is as serious as can be, frowning at Luke like he'll reveal all the answers to her if she pressed hard enough.
Luke smiled and nodded. “We're demigods. Children of gods and humans. This is camp half-blood, where some stay year round or just in the summer.”
Then he tilts his head, eyes sharp on them. “How did you both find this place? I ask because most campers get a guide.”
Nico perks up cheerfully at this, smiling wide at Luke. “I'm the best detective around!” He declares loudly.
Luke blinks. Bianca blinks. The other campers look at him like he's insane. Nico can see Mr D just squinting at him.
Bianca immediately rolls with it and nods. “Nico likes mysteries. And mythology.”
She lies as if she was just as in on it as Nico. Seamlessly.
Nico grins at her in thanks and nods enthusiastically.
Luke clears his throat, looking confused. “How did you figure out where the camp was?”
Nico keeps grinning, and he might look a bit deranged actually but no one's pointed it out yet so he won't stop.
Time to lie like there's no tomorrow, because if he doesn't do it well there won't be a tomorrow.
He kinda wishes he had a PowerPoint presentation. Not that he should know what that is but it would add so much chaotic energy to this entire situation he'd be so happy.
“My powers in deductive reasoning, like the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes himself, are far above your paygrade.” Nico informs Luke primly. “But! I can do an attempt to unravel what I have discovered for you and take you through it step by step.”
Bianca discreetly taps her foot against his.
She sighs loudly, giving Luke a look. “If he starts now he won't be done for a while. Can we at least have lunch first?”
Luke looks distinctly overwhelmed. “Right, yes. I'll hold my questions?”
Nico dramatically sighs, pouting at his lunch. He eats another piece of bread and drinks the chocolate milk he asked for.
The other campers are looking at him like he doesn't quite make sense at all. Nico tries not to grin in victory.
Though he is painfully aware that Annabeth herself might hound him just because of his declaration. Athena kids in general would want to know.
But then again, asking them ‘isn't it obvious?’ would work on them. For them most things are obvious, and he knows some of them discovered it themselves too. It's not a reach.
He's just being a menace.
If it works it works.
They finish lunch, and Luke looks a bit hesitant to ask again. That's fine though, Nico grasps the opportunity immediately.
“Well you see my good sir, losing all your memories means you start from scratch. The world realigns in a unique way. A fresh perspective even. All information is new, there's no point in being sceptical when you don't have the memories that would tell you otherwise.” Nico begins.
“Nico don't tell people we have amnesia like that, it's rude,” Bianca says, but her eyes have that look in them that tells Nico she's fully on board with what he's doing.
Nico might be an agent of chaos, but Bianca is just as much as one. They're gremlins, the both of them. She's taking just as much glee out of this situation as him.
“You have what?” Luke asks, looking concerned.
Nico shoots the demigod a look. “We lost our mother in a tragic accident, our brains decided to cope with the tragedy by vanishing our memories.”
Bianca snorts. “He’s joking, we can still remember some things. Like our names, our ages, that he's a nerd.”
He gasps in mock offence. “I am not!”
She raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms.
He deflates. “I am,” he nods and admits.
Bianca takes over. “Our lawyer kind of told us some information before letting us stay at a hotel.”
Nico grins with unholy glee again, and eyes are immediately on him again.
“Leaving two children alone, with access to travellers. And a library.” Nico tells them.
Luke looks like he just regrets asking anything.
Bianca sighs. “I was parental supervision over Nico.”
She says it as if she wasn't just as bad as him. Their captive audience shudders in sympathy. Oh she's going to get away with a lot. Nico can already see the future unfolding in front of his eyes and how she's gonna get a lot of fun things just by playing the sympathetic older sibling card.
Nico sticks out his tongue at her and she rolls her eyes back.
“Anyways!” He declares, calling attention back onto himself. “From there it involved mythology books, a Traveller I'm 54% sure was a satyr, the powers of deduction, a knife of specific craft and a gamble.”
He then decided to take out the knife he stashed in his waistband, still in its sheath.
People blink at it.
“Isn't that a camp half-blood knife?” Someone wonders out loud.
Nico's grin stretchers wider. “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”
Bianca nods along. “Arthur Conan Doyle.”
The looks he gets makes his grin wider, he stops waving the knife around and stuffs it back in his waistband.
“Child of Athena?” Someone wonders out loud.
“No, maybe it's all some elaborate prank and some satyr just told him instead?” Another wonders.
Nico sticks out his tongue in that direction. “I am a man of logic, how dare you insinuate I'm lying!”
Bianca sighs and pats his shoulder and gives Luke a look. “Does that answer your question?”
Luke is looking at Nico like he doesn't know what to do with him.
All in all, Nico considered it a roaring success. He's both made people not want to ask more questions and let them fill in the blanks themselves. Whatever conclusions they draw just is a boon to him.
“So either way, we're here to stay.” Bianca concludes for Luke.
Luke nods in agreement. “We'll have to look to see how we'll handle your mortal education.”
Nico groans. “No more school! I'm too smart for school. Bianca, they're gonna send us to school, ew, let's run again.”
Bianca shoots him a look and he just crosses his arms back. She rolls her eyes and he sighs, giving up.
Luke clears his throat and looks at them with amusem*nt.
“We got camp schooling for the regular school system. It's dangerous to get off camp for young demigods that know they're demigods. We rather avoid the risk. But if you have parents and a failsafe we always try to send them back with protection. In your cases, I suppose we got new campers that join us through the entire year.” Luke explains patiently.
“Chiron is in charge of education, we have nymphs, satyrs and older campers who help with education. They're qualified for it after all. So you'll be fine to continue schooling here.” Luke sounds far too adult and reasonable to Nico's ears.
Nico kinda wants to shove the guy and demand he goes back to being a dude trying to fight the gods.
Oh wait, wasn't Kronos trying to get into Luke's head? Should he do something about that? Yes, probably, but also how would he do something about that?
Maybe he'll just wait till Percy's at camp. But putting any kind of responsibility on an actual child leaves a bad taste in Nico's mouth. He's not the gods, he'll solve his own issues.
Maybe he should also convince Bianca to go join Artemis again, that would protect her.
Wait. The prophecy was about the oldest kid of the big three right?
Isn't he the oldest one? Technically?
Well then. Maybe getting claimed would be a good idea. Or talking to Hades sometimes soon. Visiting good old dad again before the bond they formed.
f*ck, Hades was probably already watching them and wondering how the f*ck they got there. At least the god wouldn't out them for being idiots and lying their asses off.
Man, Nico should've made a game plan or something. This was gearing up to be far too many things he had to solve. Avoiding a war is a good thing though, he definitely doesn't want to risk his sibling dying, or himself. Or literally anyone. Dying is unpleasant that way.
Killing Kronos it is. How does he kill his grandparent? He's forgotten what Percy did.
But he's also sure that it involved murdering Luke. And Nico kinda doesn't want to do that either.
Killing a dying titan it is, but how?
He's fully checked out of the conversation that is still going on, and Bianca has put her ankle around his, hooking it. Which means she's covering for him. How nice.
He's got so much to think about and not a lot of time.
Wasn't there a field trip? Were Luke stole the lightning bolt? That resulted in everything going down.
Maybe Nico should steal everything first. What are they going to do then? Pout? Wait no that's a bad plan.
But it would be so funny.
No, bad plan.
But Luke got away with it? Nico doesn't remember how but he knows Luke got away with it.
Facing the wrath of the gods sounds inconvenient though. But he's going to have to face them eventually if he wants them to not be dicks to their kids.
Who in the f*ck left Nico in charge? Genuinely? Without even all of his memories? This was asking for chaos.
Maybe he can con Luke into not stealing the bolt and the helm? Oh who is he kidding, their dear grandpa is far too good at gaslighting.
Maybe he can invoke Kronos and get the old being to just keep talking to Nico? That also sounds like a bad plan. It's not even a plan. It's just hopes and bad dreams tugged together and masquerading as a plan.
Nico needs a plan, well that would be ideal, it's not a strict need. But then it would give him an idea on how to tackle this entire situation. He can already cross off getting Bianca not killed from his list. She's perfectly alive and they're both out of the hotel. So that's fine.
He'll probably have to wait till Percy is at camp regardless, as it would lower the chance of Bianca and him being murdered by Zues.
But that comes after Luke, who is definitely going to steal the helm and the bolt.
Wait, which year is it? Is that even something he has to stress about right now? Will the campers even notice Bianca and him are misplaced in time? He gives it a coin toss of a chance, it's not something that'll come up in conversation as fast.
And with Bianca and his memory problems it wouldn't even be a thing anyone would know about, including themselves.
But then he could tell Bianca, based on the entire fact their alibi resolved around him being a self proclaimed detective. f*ck he really did need to tell Bianca.
He zones back into the conversation, Luke is saying something again.
“ –glory is what gets their attention,” Luke says.
Oh f*ck that bullsh*t.
“Nu-uh!” Nico very eloquently chimes in. Only then realising he has zero credentials and shouldn't know sh*t about anything.
No, no he's the self proclaimed detective. It's fine.
He can feel Bianca giving him a what the f*ck look. He doesn't turn to look and confirm.
Luke is looking at him in pure confusion, but there is a weight in his eyes that does not belong to a mortal at all. That Nico knows in his bones does not belong there.
“We're demigod children! The most impressive and glorious thing we can do is something they can do with the snap of their fingers so I feel like glory ain't sh*t!” Nico declares.
“No swearing!” Bianca immediately chimes, elbowing him.
He makes a face. “My point still stands!”
“You have an interesting little brother,” Luke says to Bianca, a weight to the words.
Who makes the same face as Nico.
“Don't talk about me like I'm not here,” Nico hisses.
And his plan comes together in his own mind. Like dice falling into place and giving the highest score, the probability of it all coming together.
He needs Kronos to pay attention to him. He needs to be more interesting. He needs a Titan to want him on the other side.
He needs Luke to become irrelevant. Unneeded.
Because Luke was efficient, he was good for Kronos’ cause. Was the poster boy that turned on the titan at the last moment. Luke had led an army, and had convinced far too many campers to leave and join Kronos.
The camp needed a Luke that believed not in the gods, but in them. In the half bloods. And not in the resentful way he did not, where he blames the gods and wishes to make them hurt the same as them.
No, Luke had to be too busy being protective.
Nico needed to hit him where it hurts, distract him completely. Get him out of the way of Kronos’ master plan.
So that Kronos could focus on Nico and get trapped in the game that the titan didn’t know he was playing.
He needs Hades to claim Nico and Bianca, he needs to convince Bianca to play along with him. He needs her to be safe though. Artemis it would be, she had joined before. And though it makes Nico nervous, he can’t let her join him. If Artemis is even her choice again. She might simply stay at camp.
Nico needs to weaken the titan while giving the illusion of giving strength.
Luke grimaces at him raising his arms to placate him. “Sorry sorry kiddo, didn’t mean to.”
Bianca puts her hand on Nico’s shoulder, concerned.
Fate falls together and clicks into Nico’s mind. His path was sealed.
He makes an upset face and turns away and mumbles. “It’s fine.”
Ten years old his body might be. But he isn’t.
He needs time. Before or after Percy comes to camp?
He needs to be the thief regardless. Kronos would be the one to be impressed by a regular demigod that had no titan whispering instructions doing things on his own violation. Even if that demigod messed with the plan. Nico’s dreams would start getting weird and annoying, but that’s fine.
Nico mentally apologises to Percy, the boy won’t catch a break. But this was important.
His dad will have to claim him after Percy, that’s the only thing.
So trip to Olympeus, then Percy comes, then the rest.
Either way, Luke was going to have a very not great time the next few weeks, just so Nico can be sure that the guy was too distracted to plan things properly.
Lunch ends, they leave the table. Luke looks far too awkward to join them so another camper leads them back to the cabin. Another two kids, Hermes kids, actually because Nico remembers these siblings. Travis and Connor, one of the few other siblings at camp.
Travis walks on Bianca’s side and Connor next to Nico, boxing them in. “So you’re a short detective,” Conner says with a grin.
Nico squints at the boy before smiling. “You’re short for a teenager.”
Connor chokes on a laugh. “Hey! I’m still eleven. Not a teenager yet. You’re just very short yourself kiddo.”
“I’m ten for your information!” Nico snipes back.
Bianca sighs. “You’re both children.”
Travis nods in agreement. “Tiny babies.”
Both Nico and Connor glare at them protesting the accusations at the same time. “We’re not babies!”
“Yeah, you’re still twelve Bianca, you’re not even a teenager yet!” Nico adds on.
Travis looks delighted. “So I’m the only teenager here?”
Connor scoffs. “Barely, you’re just thirteen. That gives you nothing.”
Travis pulls his nose up and looks down on all of them. “Yet it gives me more than you all.”
It’s a genuine miracle the boy doesn’t get tackled by all three of them. By either luck or just happenstance, Travis trips over a root and faceplants on the ground. Probably because he’d been so busy looking down at them instead of the ground.
Everyone bursts into laughter, even Travis himself.
Bianca helps him stand back upright.
“You guys are hilarious,” Connor tells them earnestly.
Travis nods in agreement. “I’m glad the newest sibling pair is just as fun as us. I mean sure Castor and Pollux, the twins, are fun. But it’s not the same you know? They’re older than us and well, twins. We’re not.”
Bianca nods. “It’s different being older and younger siblings and not twins.”
“Yeah!” Connor grins. “We younger siblings are way cooler.”
Bianca rolls her eyes and Travis sticks his tongue out at his younger brother.
Nico feels happy at this entire situation. They never did meet like this. Bianca had been gone when he had come to camp, and seeing the brothers with their easy interactions had burned in a way he hadn’t wanted to see.
But now it was fine. Now he had this. And if he kept denying everything, kept not thinking about it, he’s sure it’ll be fine. This was real after all, and it was fine to indulge.
They get back to the cabin, and the bunk bed next to them was for the brothers, so they kept talking till dinner. Messing around and unpacking.
Sometimes Travis and Connor grabbed something from their stuff, but neither Nico or Bianca minded much. They only had packed essentials, and of course the knives. Nico had to give the one in his bag sheepishly to his sibling who had not been very impressed with him. But that was fine.
Even the cards he didn’t mind the brothers grabbing. Bianca had been sharp eyed when that happened, but seemed to relax when she noticed that Nico hadn’t really minded at all.
Nico tries to remind himself that past him had been obsessed with those cards. But knowing how the story ended, with his sister dying for a stupid thing that was a part of his obsession? It was hard to care much about the cards now. He wants to be fond of them, but every time he sees them all he remembers is grief, heavy and pressing down on his shoulders.
So no, they didn’t mind the sticky fingers of the Stoll brothers.
At dinner they sat together, and scraped off their food to the fire together. Nico just said hello dad and left the fire. Bianca had whispered something longer to the flames.
Nico didn’t like to think about how this might have meant something to him if he had really been the age his body was. The fact a parent lived and they still had one. But he knew Hades, and sometimes it’s not fond how he remembers his dad.
It’s been years to him, not to Bianca. She had to reconcile a lot of information to what she knew. But then again, she didn’t remember their mother. And Nico didn’t either. What memories he might have had were completely washed away.
And Nico was fine with that.
It didn’t matter now.
They are dinner, and that night all of them went to bed at the same time.
Travis distracts Bianca by talking about the camp, Connor and him talking about the best pranks the brothers had played at the camp. The night spent with laughter in the air, and it’s more people than just Bianca and Nico. It’s company and safety and surety all in one.
It’s what they never had before. Not since their mom had died, and even then they wouldn’t ever be sure if they did have it either.
It’s new and foreign in no way they can recognize, except for what they have had together. And this foreignness to this lighthearted fun, to something new but familiar in a way they only ever equated to each other was something that broke something in Nico’s chest.
Especially when Bianca looked surprised by her own laughter. When she grinned and was so very twelve and Nico wanted to burn the world and tear it apart for the reason why he couldn’t remember her ever being so twelve before.
The talk with Bianca about the time Nico does with her a few days later, where he asks the brothers to go ahead of them and drags her to the empty Hermes cabin.
She looks confused but willing to let it happen either way. “What’s going on?”
Nico keeps his face serious, and the lighthearted smile on her face washes away completely.
“Nico?” She asks, her expression starting to match his.
“I’m about to tell you something that is going to be a lot more than the whole demigod thing.” Nico tells her.
It is a warning to her and to himself. And he knows that the changes he makes are going to affect her just the same. And she needs a warning, needs to be able to trust her little brother. Even if what he is planning is going to make it harder for her to do that.
She looks confused. “More than the demigod thing?”
At least she takes what he says seriously. Fully willing to believe him. The trust is sacred Nico knows, it hurts the more he thinks about it.
“It’s 2006, Bianca.” He says it as factually as possible. “It’s not 1942 anymore.”
It had been a shock to learn that they ended up just before Percy came to camp. Which was fine though, it meant Nico didn’t have to wait too long before starting everything. And he didn’t have long with her anymore either. When things started, he knew he could not set it back or take it back.
He’ll have to do it all right the first time or everything has the potential to be worse.
Bianca’s disbelief is painted on her face like denial, her legs give out as she sits on the ground looking up at him. “No it’s not Nico, don’t joke about that.”
He looks back at her and knows she sees how serious he is. Knows that she knows just as he knows that he isn’t lying. That this is the truth.
That they are seventy years out of time.
“It can’t be– Nico.” The gasp she lets out is filled with horror, and so are her eyes. “It was just a few months.”
He shakes his head and kneels before her. “It felt like it. But it wasn’t. Bianca things are going to be dangerous. I need you to know that you can’t stop what is going to happen.”
She looks more confused. “What? Nico what?”
He smiles at her. “Don’t worry about it for now.”
There’s a glint in her eyes and she shoves him. “Dummy, I’m older than you, it's my job to worry.”
He laughs, relief crashing in his chest like a wave. The smile he gives her feels more real and less like a facade. She rolls her eyes at him and for a minute the world and the universe is less of a threat that will pull him under and simply just what it is.
Just the two of them. And she’ll have more. She’ll survive him in the way he never survived her.
But that’s too grim to think about. And he really doesn’t want to think about it that way. The things he might have to do that’ll be hurtful to her.
He can’t. He doesn’t want to. And so he doesn’t think of it. Not now.
“So we really are in the future?” Bianca asks, as Nico sits next to her on the floor.
He nods. “Yeah, and honestly? Not a lot has changed.”
She snorts. “Obviously, else I would have noticed, don't you think?”
Nico hums just to mess with her and she rolls her eyes and throws an arm around him, dragging him into a one armed side hug. He hugs back, closes his eyes and breathes.
“It’ll be okay.” She tells him, she sounds so sure of herself and Nico wants nothing more than to believe her. Wants nothing more than for her to be right.
He doesn’t know what he’ll do if she isn’t.
They eventually make their way back to the group, and the brothers drag them into a dare to climb a tree. Bianca wins the race to get up to the highest branch first. Nico was too short to get over half the way up. Travis got third because Connor tripped him twice.
He tries to forget he’s older than the skin he is, he doesn’t know how successful he really is.
The day they visit Olympus is chaotic. The entire group is disorganised, Luke looks like he really really hates what’s happening.
Well, that happens when Nico, Bianca, Connor, Travis, Pollux and Castor banded together to organise a specific kind of hell for him.
It wasn’t even Nico’s fault. Apparently the moment Pollux and Castor met their four people train wreck, well. All the chaos that was barely contained before unleashed like the floodgates of hell. At least according to Luke’s complaining.
In a single week, from the day they met till the day of the trip, they caused so much havoc that Mr D himself now knows when they are together. The god does not let it slide either, and because Chiron seems to be busy with his mission and the god is in charge, it means they get to do a lot of chores.
Probably believing that it’ll keep them too distracted to cause chaos.
It doesn’t work. Travis and Connor are far too good at talking their way out of trouble, Bianca keeps an amazingly great poker face and grabs sympathy so easily when cornered no one ever believes she is involved even though she always hangs with the group. They just assume she’s not doing anything and instead calming them all down. That is so far from the truth they might as well think the sky is on the ground.
Bianca knows exactly how to make their plans fool proof. Connor and her are scary banding together. Travis and Pollux always have an idea for a new prank, a thousand other ways to attempt them. Castor though? Castor is the man on the inside somehow, knowing everything happening in the camp and everyone too. And not only has information on the people that stay year round, but also those that only visit in the summer.
Nico is always assumed to be the instigator or led by the older ones. His chaotic first impression didn’t endear him to all the campers. And Mr D always squints at him in suspicion.
It doesn’t help that Nico takes glee in making life hard for Luke specifically. Sometimes by just being very cryptic towards the older camper or challenging him.
And in the way that his dreams have started to become clearer, he knows that it works. That he's gaining attention from the old titan. He knows that he’s changing the future.
Luke meanwhile, has started to look like he'd rather never talk to him at all. Ignoring his existence. It's a little funny to Nico. Only a little, oh who is he kidding, it makes him cackle in glee.
Either way, by the time of the visit to Olympus, Luke has far too much chaos to deal with and is steadily ignoring Nico.
And Nico just needs a moment really, just a second at all.
Luke is so distracted, the group is chaotic, no one notices Nico and when he pats Bianca’s shoulder and disappears for just a moment no one bats an eye.
She makes sure no one does, the others simply assume it’s going to be another prank. And Nico knows that that is a good thing for him.
He is in the place he needs to be in seconds, the gods gone for a moment, grabbing the helm and the bolt is so easy, slipping it in the bag he was allowed to bring with is just as easy, hiding it. The helm does not mind coming with him, calling to him with a welcome.
It would blow his cover but the helm knows just as easily how to be quiet, how to keep the bolt as quiet too. Darkness cloaking both objects. Helping him. He’d thank the helm, but it already knows and hums to him with happiness.
He hides them and leaves back to the group, not even moments passed and he’s walking among the others again.
Nico grins and makes eye contact with a nymph, and at that moment a sparkle of dizzying lights goes off. He had planned it in advance.
The group laughs, Bianca ruffles his hair. Recognizing the sparks as the fire crackers he bought. The campers think it’s funny and the halls are brighter.
And it all begins, things set in motion that he cannot undo. He’s doomed a future or he’s saved it. But all he knows is that what he does is for a future he never got, that he doesn’t remember. And all the bloodshed and tears he does remember does not deserve a repeat either way.
Nico keeps smiling even when they arrive back at camp. Keeps his head down as the following days things start going wrong. As he hears about the god’s fighting each other.
As he keeps eye contact with Luke and Luke looks back with something lurking behind his eyes that isn’t his.
It takes four days for his dreams to become more.
Four days for Nico to prepare, to draw the lines in the sand, to decide on a future. Four days for him to think of how to end a titan and knowing he can.
The dream starts. A broken record, skeletons on the wall. Music, a slow waltz that Nico doesn’t quite know. Cannot name but recognizes in some ways.
The world is white marble floors, dark halls, the decor a mess, red curtains over windows that do not let any light in.
“You young demigod, think to best me?” The voice echoes through the hall they find themselves in.
And even in his dreams what he sees of Kronos is a being too much to perceive for Nico. A being made out of shadows but light, horns, no discernible features. It is almost as if Kronos is attempting to scare Nico.
Nico is still in his ten year old skin, even in this dream. And that tells him all he needs to really know. This dream might have started his but it is Kronos painting this entire place. Perceiving him. How he wants to show himself.
The titan was far too confident.
That’s fine though, Nico can work with that.
Nico looks up, wide eyed, at the titan before him. Makes his body language smaller, fearful.
“What?” He asks, voice shaking. He’s trying really hard not to laugh but it works because it makes his voice sound thin.
Kronos shakes his head, looking both disappointed and disgusted. “You think I don’t see?”
Admirable, how badly the titan needs Nico to know how much he isn’t good enough.
Nico just stares and shakes. “Are you a god?”
The question makes the titan laugh. Nico tries not to choke on his own mirth. The room flares with light and darkness and spots dance across Nico’s vision. A show of power that Nico knows is meant to intimidate him but all it does is make Nico want to bear his teeth and tell the titan he is nothing scary at all.
“A god? Child I am what comes before gods, I am a Titan, I am the father of your gods. I am the nightmares you do not know of. I am everything you cannot perceive or understand.” Kronos tells him with confidence.
Nico thinks Kronos is exactly how Nico imagined him. Overconfident. Self important. A titan. The tyrant titan that ate his children in fear for the fate he delivered to his own father.
What a f*cking joke.
“A titan?” Nico murmurs, makes his eyes widen and snap to where he assumes the titans face to be. “Are you… Kronos?”
Kronos laughs, the sound a broken thing, like glass shattering. “You really are well read child. Yes, I am Kronos.”
Nico looked at him in confusion. Their surroundings were starting to become darker, the waltz music slowing down, mournful notes ringing through the air.
“I know what you have done child, do not assume I do not.” Kronos tells him.
Nico takes a step back, makes himself look fearful. “I–” he starts but gets cut off by the titan immediately.
“Don’t you worry child, I do not seek to punish children rebelling against their parents. I understand, really. They have shown you no care at all.” Kronos’ crooning voice makes goosebumps appear on Nico’s skin.
He knows this isn’t real, that he isn’t in control but really is.
“Then,” Nico takes a deep breath, peaks at the titan through his bangs. “Will you help me ruin them?”
The laughter that the titan lets out in surprise almost sounds like a puzzle clicking in place to Nico.
He’s sealed his own fate. And that shall be it. This is what he decided.
The titan comes closer to him, extending an arm. “Of course child,”
They shake hands, Nico feels his soul burn when he touches Kronos’ hand.
That’s fine. He’ll pay the titan back. Tenfold. For every lost soul, for every grieving sibling, for every tear someone shed because of him in a time that no one but Nico remembers. He’ll make the titan burn with him.
And he’ll dance to the music and the death of this titan. He smiles, and then the dream simply falls away. Waltz musing finally comes to a tortured stop.
He needs several deep breaths after he wakes up, cold air making him shiver.
When he goes outside and sits on the porch in silence, he sees Luke leaning against the bannister looking up at the moon.
“What do they care for?” Luke asks him, not being specific at all.
They both know either way.
“What do you think?” Nico asks, amusem*nt choking him like a bad joke.
Maybe he might finally realise how scared he really is. Of the future, of his actions.
Of who he might become.
Luke glances at him.
Nico laughs, finally. It sounds sad even to his own ears but Luke makes no comment on it. Expression drawn tight, and there might even be concern there.
But all Nico can notice is that that presence is not behind Luke’s eyes anymore. The nineteen year old was completely alone before him. And it has been weeks since Nico came here, and since the moment he was here Luke had not been alone.
Now he was.
“What do you care about Luke?” He asks instead, a grin forming.
Luke’s face twitches and his words are spitten out in bitterness. “Not the same thing as them.”
Nico shakes his head, closes his eyes and turns to face the moon.
“Are you sure?” He asks instead.
The silence that falls between them is far too loud. Not a single rustling of the leaves, not a breath taken at all.
Luke is completely silent next to Nico.
That’s fine though, Nico needed no answer at all. He already knew that the push was coming and Luke was going to fall out of Kronos’ hands.
And Kronos would have Nico instead, a son of Hades, even if the titan didn’t know yet.
And he would not survive Nico. That, Nico will make sure. The future that he knows about and no one will know about, the future that no one will catch a glimpse of.
The future that shall stay in Nico’s nightmares forever.
Sometimes second chances are what people make of them. Nico supposes that is why they are rarer. He’s chosen to mess with the fates as if there are no consequences. But then again, inside the cabin, his sister sleeps, peacefully.
And that is worth everything.
Percy arrives to camp a week later.
