A surprised Nico gets a birthday present from his father.

Chapter Rating: Mature

Content Warning: Self Harm

Word Count: 3509

This was originally posted on Archive of Our Own, so I do have beginning and end notes. I used to post this up here, but then I had computer issues and when I got back, WattPad deleted my account. So if you've already read the first seven chapters... sorry.

All the books are canon in this AU. Takes place a year after BoO ends, so Nico, Jason, Piper, and Leo are 16, Percy and Annabeth are 19, and Will's 18. It's end of August, so the whole Leo/Calypso thing cleared up and Leo's back at Camp Half-Blood where he belongs. Also Nico and Will are friends.

I include an Italian lullaby in this chapter--I didn't write it. You can find the words, and an audio recording of it being sung: here: https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1447

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

Nico woke up with a groan, a few rays of sunlight came into the Hades cabin. Nico hadn't wanted windows for this exact reason, but Chiron had insisted. He rolled over to try and fall back asleep, accidentally hitting play on his iPod instead. (Lou Ellen enchanted it to ward off monsters--she owed him a favor.) Fall Out Boy blared through the earbuds still in his ears.

Gods damn it. I just can't win, can I?

Nico slid down from his bunk and dressed, careful not to look at his arms until after he put on his aviator jacket. If he didn't see it, he didn't have to think about it. And if he didn't have to think about it, he could stop. Probably. Ok, maybe not, but whatever made him comfortable, right? Right?

He grabbed his sword and went off to do some early morning training before breakfast. When he got to the combat arena, he saw Percy had the same idea, slashing against some straw dummies. Nico whistled, making Percy turn, a stunned expression on his face.

"Whoa, Nico! You scared me!" Percy exclaimed.

Nico rolled his eyes. "So the big bad son of Poseidon is afraid of a sixteen-year-old kid? Wait, it's me we're talking about, so yeah, smart."

Percy laughed, making Nico roll his eyes again. He tried not to smile--it didn't fit in with the image of a son of Hades. "Sixteen?" Percy asked.

Shit. I've been awake for less than an hour and I already slipped.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"Wait... is it your birthday?" Nico's head nodded a fraction of an inch, his eyes trying to meet Percy's look of surprise. He hated birthdays, ever since the Lotus he'd stopped celebrating them. Sure, first he just forgot when it was. As time went on, though, it morphed into a desperate longing. His earliest memories were of his birthday back in Italy. He soon remembered his mother's warm smile, Bianca's macaroni cards... He recalled how Mama always lifted him on her lap, and whispered the words to a familiar lullaby in his ear. It became a tradition for her to sing while he tore macaroni off Bianca's card and played with it. All these years later, the Italian words still served as a source of comfort for Nico:

"Fa la ninna, fa la nanna [Go to sleep, go to sleepy]

Nella braccia della mamma [In the arms of your mother]

Fa la ninna bel bambin, [Go to sleep, lovely child,]

Fa la nanna bambin bel, [Go to sleepy, child so lovely]

Fa la ninna, fa la nanna [Go to sleep, go to sleepy]

Nella braccia della mamma." [In the arms of your mother]

Clovis had put him in a trance to surface the memory as a thank you after he'd helped stop Gaea. It was an incredible gift, but it also kind of ruined birthdays for him. Back in the present, Percy seemed to realize the sensitive nature of birthdays for Nico. He decided to change the subject to a more pleasant one.

"Want to duel, di Angelo?"

Nico nodded, walking towards Percy, his Stygian Iron sword at the ready. Percy was good, but so was Nico. Soon a half-hour passed, they were both dripping with sweat, and there was no clear winner. Jason, Piper, and Annabeth had woken up and started to watch the fight; Jason was rooting for Nico while the girls rooted for Percy.

Of course, Percy had to bring it up. "How does it feel to be so unpopular with the girls?"

"Don't care, so 'bout normal."

Nico heard the onlookers laugh. In the back of his mind, he wondered where Will was. A son of Apollo should be up at this hour, and he must hear the noise of the swords. No one could know about Nico's super secret crush on Will; it would ruin the whole mysterious-recluse-son-of-Hades thing Nico had going for him.

A jab from Riptide broke Nico's thoughts, bringing them back to the sword fight.

What ended the fight wasn't a win, nor the conch shell announcing breakfast. It was a voice in Nico's head, whispering his name, like wind whipping through the trees. "Nico."

Nico held up his hand to stop Percy from slashing his sword again. There was only one voice that could be. As loud as he could, Nico responded in his thoughts:

Father?

"Come to Bunker Nine," Hades said in that windy whisper. He had to have his helm of darkness on, Nico was sure of it.

"I'll be right back guys, I just remembered I left something at Bunker Nine." Nico wasn't exactly amazing at thinking on his feet, but that sounded like a decent excuse to him.

Percy furrowed his eyebrows. "You were in Bunker Nine?"

"Helping Leo. I gotta run before breakfast. I'll see you guys there." Nico ran off without further explanation, hoping the excuse was enough... but, it wasn't. The second he took off, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper all ran after him. Nico cursed under his breath; his father wouldn't like other demigods interrupting them--even his friends.

"Faster," Hades whispered, causing Nico to sprint, the trees zipping by in a hazy blur. Finally, he reached the woods of Bunker Nine. Nico stood, panting, and, in a moment, the god appeared before him. Nico knelt, his head bowed in respect.

"Father." Nico did his best to make his tone of voice as respectful as it could be under all the panting. He had outrun Percy and the others, thank the gods. "Father, my friends are right behind me. We have maybe ten minutes before they're within earshot."

"Then, I'll be quick." Hades' voice bore no emotion; Nico wasn't sure if that was good or bad. "Today is your sixteenth birthday. Today you become a man." Nico stopped breathing in utter shock. His father... remembered?

"Yes, Father." Nico silently thanked the gods that his surprise didn't reveal itself in his tone of voice.

"Stand," Hades commanded. Nico rose. "I am granting you a quest, your own quest. It's what you've always wanted, correct?" Nico nodded, he'd dreamed about that for so long, but he didn't dare interrupt. "In northern Britain, there is a school for the followers of Hecate."

Children of Hecate?

"Not children, followers," his father continued.

Great, he can read my mind.

"The followers of Hecate are less powerful than real demigods, but they have power in their own way, given to them by the goddess. They are her chosen people. There is a powerful follower among them: Tom Riddle. He's cheated death once before; this past summer he did it again. I will not tolerate this insult. I'm sending you to bring his soul to the Underworld."

Nico nodded again. To cheat death once was unforgivable, but to do it twice? "How's he managed to get away with this, Father?"

"Riddle created seven horcruxes, spread across England. It's your job to find them... and destroy them."

Seven horcruxes?! Nico never heard of such a thing! One horcrux, maybe, but even that took advanced magic and skill. His father was right, this follower of Hecate was strong.

The Lord of the Dead continued, this time not addressing Nico's unspoken question. "I don't care what Hecate's prophecy says, I'm not waiting another two years for some child to kill him. I want him now." A dangerous look glinted in Hades' eyes, he looked like he wanted to blast Hecate over that prophecy. Knowing his father, Nico assumed he did. With Hades in such a violent mood, bringing that up would get Nico blasted, so, he thought it best to change the subject.

"What do you mean, a child will kill him?"

"A follower of Hecate, about your age, Harry Potter, I believe. According to the prophecy, he's the key to destroying Riddle. Befriend him, he might be able to help you somehow."

For a third time, Nico nodded. "I'll be able to sense the horcruxes, right, Father?" It was Hades' turn to nod. "Can my friends help me? You know, on the quest?" The answer should be yes, since this was a demigod quest, but, Nico figured this was a special case. Gods didn't appear to demigods and assign quests in person. It only seemed right to ask his father's permission, with all the trouble Hades had gone to to get Nico alone. More than likely, his father wanted the quest done with a particular kind of secrecy. It wouldn't be the first time he'd asked something like that of Nico.

"Who did you have in mind?" Hades' tone suggested he already knew the answer.

"Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. They're good fighters and have done this kind of thing before. I could use their help."

"If their help will make this quest faster, they can go."

Nico let out a sigh of relief; he didn't want to go to a strange part of the world alone. The last time he did that... let's just say it wouldn't surprise him if he ended up in a pickle jar next time.

"I accept the quest," Nico announced, a sense of pride making its way into his words. "I'll make you proud. I'll prove myself worthy of being your son."

"Then you must go to the Oracle."

Less than a second after the words left his mouth, Hades vanished. Nico's whole body relaxed, and his breath came easily again. Whether it came from his father's aura, or the knowledge that he was a huge disappointment as a son, Nico always felt on edge around the god. But this quest would change everything. He would make Hades proud.

Right on cue, Nico heard the sound of feet thundering towards him. Before anyone could say anything, Nico held up his hand. "Let me explain." He took no time to tell them the conversation he'd just had with Hades.

"What's a horcrux?" Piper asked immediately.

"It's a part of a person's soul, put into various objects of his or her choosing," Nico answered. Annabeth, who'd also opened her mouth to speak, looked annoyed that Nico cut her off.

Dead things are my territory, wise girl.

"It acts like a failsafe," Nico continued, ignoring Annabeth's glare. "It sounds innocent enough. You die, you come back with the soul that you stored away. But creating them isn't so innocent, because you have to kill someone to splinter your soul. Then, you perform complex magic to place them in objects. It's a demanding ceremony; I've never heard of anyone doing it, much less seen it myself. No mortal ever does it more than once--not even my father knows of a mortal powerful enough to do such a thing."

"Why?" Piper asked. Everyone else--except maybe Annabeth--looked too stunned to speak. "Wouldn't, theoretically, it be easier to perform the ceremony each time? Because the person has, you know, killed before?"

"Theoretically, yes," Nico answered. "But, think about it, Piper. You split your soul once, half of it goes into an object. The next time, you have to break that half in half, which means you have less of your soul to work with. Soon, it becomes harder to find, harder to splinter. Not to mention that less soul means less humanity. Whole, intact souls are powerful: they give emotion, sense of self, morality, memory. The less soul a mortal has, the weaker they are, the less alive they are. That makes the ceremony much harder to perform each time."

Jason spoke next. "So, this Riddle guy killed seven people, and is powerful enough to do what no one else has ever done? Even though he's a mortal?"

Nico shrugged. "Basically, yeah." Even Annabeth looked shocked at Nico's nonchalance about the situation. They shouldn't be, though. Nico had seen enough death to be able to take his emotions out of it.

"Thank the gods I'm going with you, then," Percy put in. "Wouldn't want you getting hurt."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I can take care of myself, Jackson. Come on, I need to talk to Rachel."

The five walked back to camp, where Nico told the entire story again to Chiron, Mr. D, and Rachel at the Big House. They were all silent through the whole thing; even Mr. D wouldn't dare question orders from Hades himself. After he had finished his retelling, his not-so-thrilled audience remained in a palpable silence.

"Come with me." Rachel motioned towards Nico while she spoke, then walked into the Big House. The son of Hades followed, giving his friends one final look.

Each step he and Rachel took echoed off the walls. His heart pounded with every passing second, his mouth grew dryer and dryer. He'd never spoken to the Oracle before, though he'd heard the stories of when his friends had. He'd seen the mummified Oracle when he was ten, and again in the memory of the death of his mother when he was twelve. Needless to say, the entire concept freaked him out... even if he liked Rachel well enough as a person. Once they were alone, Nico gave himself a second to work up his courage. Then, he looked right into Rachel's eyes, uttering the words he hoped to Hades he wouldn't regret in a minute.

"Tell me what I need to know."

As usual, Rachel fell into a trance. When she spoke, a raspy voice came out. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, and Leo all had tried to describe that voice to Nico, but, somehow, they'd all failed to describe its creep factor. Miserably.

"Three demigods shall travel to the followers of Hecate...

The monster inside lets the dark one blood see...

On the brink of destruction, Poseidon and Athena unite...

The father of blackness has a great insight...

The friend is an enemy,

The enemy a friend...

Against a weak but powerful army,

The child must reveal his true self in the end..."

Nico was still attempting to comprehend what he'd just heard when Rachel fainted. Still in a numbed shock, Nico caught her. His motions were robotic. His mind was quiet. He could only replay what he'd just heard.

Rachel woke up a second later, and stood up. Devoid of emotion, Nico repeated the lines to her. (She had this thing about knowing the prophecies, being the Oracle and all.) They both walked back outside, where the others waited. Nico registered that Leo was there, standing beside Piper. More than likely, he'd noticed none of his friends at breakfast and look for them. Still in his robotic trance, Nico met Rachel's eye. Thank the gods, she understood, and repeated the prophecy for him. All he could think about was that last line. If it was about him... no, it couldn't be.

Annabeth's voice finally snapped Nico awake. She'd want to discuss the prophecy, and he should be a part of that. "Three demigods shall travel to the followers of Hecate," Annabeth murmured. "That's easy enough. But the second line--"

"--It's about me," Nico interrupted. "Dark one? Has to be me, but what does it mean, the monster inside? And the whole blood thing... does that mean I'm going to die?"

"Don't say that," Percy cut in. "It might just mean that a monster attacks from inside wherever we are and you get wounded or something."

"Maybe," Annabeth offered, though she didn't look convinced. "But what about the third line? That has to be about Percy and me. I don't see either of our parents helping us on a quest, much less uniting over anything."

"Uniting in battle, maybe?" Jason asked. "But you two do that all the time. Maybe it's a special fight?"

"The father of blackness has to be Hades," Piper said. "He's associated with that color, and he's Nico's dad." Nico agreed, but, for the life of him, he couldn't guess what his father would find out. That he wasn't a total disappointment?

"And the friend/enemy thing?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth admitted. "But I think, since someone is going to betray us, we shouldn't tell them who we are. They could use it against us."

"Not trusting people?" Nico questioned. "I can live with that." That got a laugh from his friends, though Percy also nudged him in the arm with his elbow.

"Trust no one but me, right di Angelo?" The son of Poseidon's teasing tone made Nico scoff.

"Riiiiight. The army would have to be something Riddle and his allies cook up. That way they'd be weak to us but powerful to the other followers of Hecate."

"And the last line," Leo prompted them. "It could be any of you guys, right?"

"Yeah," Nico replied, repeating Leo's words to himself.

Anyone. Not just me. Anyone.

"I'm going to go pack," Nico declared. He needed a moment to himself. The morning's events gave him a lot to think about.

"You should," Chiron agreed. "Best not to keep the Lord of the Dead waiting."

At the apparent dismissal, Nico was able to go back to his cabin without anyone raising an eyebrow. When he entered, he found toast on his dresser, complete with Nutella and strawberries. A note sat on the plate. Despite his dyslexia, Nico could recognize the handwriting as Will's. For some reason, Will had never inherited dyslexia, which meant that he often sent Nico little notes. It took Nico a few minutes to decipher the message, but it was worth it.

Saw you weren't at breakfast, thought you might be hungry. Will.

Nico allowed himself a small smile, dragging his thumb across the words. Will had thought about him. He'd looked for him, seen he wasn't there, and decided to act. He knew at his core that someone like Will could never return his feelings, but, still, that kind of caring made Nico's heart pound with happiness, and skeletal butterflies fly in his stomach.

Nico couldn't help but dream... the outgoing, popular, kind, smart, and--he could admit it--hot son of Apollo? He couldn't help but pray that Will might look his way one day. He knew Will was bisexual, Will had said so himself, but that just made Nico's feelings all the more cruel. At least with Percy, he could blame the unrequited emotions on his sexuality. With Will, Nico knew what those lack of feelings came from. Nico, between his less-than-average looks and messed up personality, had the desirability of dirt. Will wasn't just out of Nico's league, Nico was in a different solar system.

He forced those thoughts from his mind--he had to focus on the quest now. Taking a portion of his food, he stood over one of the green torches in the Hades cabin. "Let me make you proud, father," Nico prayed, before burning the offering. The smoke smelled comforting, a mixture of rich, deep earth, and fresh clay.

Mom's garden.

He devoured the rest of his breakfast in seconds flat. Then, he began to pack his things in a duffle bag, a list of the necessities forming in his mind. He kept thinking about what the quest might bring, so he'd know what to pack, but thinking about the quest and prophecy made him more and more anxious. That anxiety triggered stress, which made him obsess on Rachel's lines even more. Thoughts and emotions cycled, then spiraled, out of control in his mind. He couldn't let his father down, he couldn't mess up, he couldn't--

Do it.