Nico and Alabaster search for the Artifacts of Thanatos.

Chapter Rating: Teen and Up

Content Warning: Cursing, Violence (mild), Self-Harm (mentioned only)

Word Count: 2647

Ten points to anyone who understands the reference in today's chapter title.

Also--I can't put it up here, because of spoilers, but there might be something at the end of the chapter you find... troubling. WAIT FOR MY EXPLANATION before you get mad at me in comments. I promise I have a good reason!

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

Credits at the end.

____________________NICO____________________

"Gods, it's freezing. You'd think immortality would, you know, help with this shit."

Alabaster laughed. "I dunno. It's only temporary, so... maybe it's different?"

Nico sighed. "Just my luck. Immortality with none of the perks."

"Hey, stop it." Alabaster's tone went from teasing to serious. "You're saving the world. Stop being so down on yourself."

Nico rolled his eyes. "It's just a saying, Al."

"Not to you, and we both know it. Come on--we tracked down all three Artifacts, we might run into your friends, it's been three whole days since you last cut! Life's looking up!"

Nico couldn't help but smile at Alabaster's optimism. "I've gone three days without cutting before. Give me another few weeks and we'll celebrate."

"Little successes, right?"

"Gods, you make it sound like you're my A.A. sponsor. Now find me the secret passageway you promised before my frozen ass kicks yours."

Alabaster led Nico through Hogsmeade, to a shop called "Honeydukes". The lights were off, shutters drawn, and door locked. All good signs of the owners being away.

"Merry Christmas, Neeks," Alabaster teased as he closed in on the door.

And the wave of grief poured in again, as hard as Nico tried to shove it down. Grief was for times alone in the Santi Cosma e Damiano, when he could hide under the walls of the pews and cry. Grief wasn't for the middle of Hogsmeade, when their current mission relied on stealth, and was sure to be lost if Nico curled up into a ball and threw a tantrum.

Alabaster realized what he'd said half a second later. "Gods... Sorry... I didn't mean to-- are you all right?"

"No, but I'm dealing. I'll be okay," Nico forced a smile. "I miss him something awful, but it had to end. I fell in love, he didn't... It happens. First heart's meant to break, right?"

"...Right." Alabaster kneeled in the snow and finished picking the lock. The door opened with a slight creeeeek. "After you, my lord."

Nico laughed, which he was grateful for. "Don't ever call me that again."

As soon as he entered, the smell of melting caramel hit his nose. Through the little sunlight from the ajar door, Nico saw the black and white tile floor, with its green walls covered with shelves and shelves of candy jars. Alabaster and Nico exchanged a look of delight, but refrained from indulging themselves.

"A waste, though," Alabaster groaned on their way down to the cellar.

"Until the owners find candy missing and raise the alarm," Nico shot back.

"Ugh... fine, but you owe me chocolate once this all ends."

"Deal."

The dusty cellar had candy, though packaged in towering boxes rather than set on display. With a flick of his hand, Alabaster made a square tile pop open, revealing a trap door with an endless stone staircase underneath.

In silence, they walked down infinite steps to a labyrinth-like cavern. Alabaster created some Greek Fire in his palm to light the way, but even then they only saw a few feet ahead of them at most. After ten minutes of walking further and further into the Earth, Nico--walking ahead of Alabaster--hit his head on a stone wall/frame... thing.

Nico cried out in pain. "Sorry!" Alabaster called from behind, running to meet Nico and bring the light forward.

"Yeah..." Nico grumbled. His vision cleared a moment later, at which point he inspected the cavern; Alabaster wasn't touching anything with that death fire in his hand. "It's a kind of burrow," Nico declared. "Al, get rid of the fire. We'll have to crawl it blind."

Alabaster did so, and climbed into the tunnel after Nico. They snaked their way through for over an hour, until, at last, the dirt opened up and Nico could stand again. He wiped the soggy soil from his palms, elbows, and knees while he waited for Alabaster to roll out with an "oof."

"Light, Al?"

"Wow, someone's bossy."

Nico rolled his eyes in the dark; Alabaster whispered his incantation, and green flames danced in his palm yet again.

"You look like a swamp monster," he said with a laugh.

Nico raised his eyebrows. "And you look like an actual monster. Come on, the sooner we get to Hogwarts, the sooner we can take a shower."

He walked forward, and tripped, his knees hitting stone. Nico grimaced; he dared not try to stand--sticky blood already seeped into his black jeans.

"Nico?"

"Fine, just scraped up my knees. There's some stone here, can you--"

"Yeah."

With the strength regained, Nico stood. As Alabaster got closer, Nico realized he fell not on a rock, but a stone slide. A steep stone slide.

"Fucking wonderful," Nico muttered.

"What now?" Alabaster asked.

"We climb," Nico decided. "And hope we don't get scraped up too bad."

"Nico, that's at least a seventy-five degree angle."

"I passed Sophomore Geometry with a C-. I have no idea what that means."

"It means it's impossible to climb, unless you're Spiderman."

"And there's no way you can apparate us?"

"The Founders are gods, powerful ones. I can't get through their protection spells."

Nico groaned and sat on the dirt, at the base of the slide; Alabaster plopped down next to him. To procrastinate the slide problem, Nico focused on his knees. He pulled at the jean and yelped--the blood had already dried and stuck to his open wound. He held the jean as far from his knee as possible, and used his sword to cut a hole in the fabric. With care, he cut a knee-sized hole in each leg, to give the wound air. Then, he reached into the pocket of his aviator's jacket, where he--thank the gods--found some cream and gauze left over from his early cutting days. He applied the cream, then wrapped both knees with the bandage, hoping it enough to keep infection out when he was wearing more dirt than clothing.

Gods, he needed Will. But the boy made it clear he never wanted Nico again.

"Okay," Nico announced, shoving that thought down. "I can use the darkness. I shadow-travel my sword to dig it into the rock, like that stake climbers use on TV. It won't take as much out of me as actual shadow travel, but I have no idea how high this slide goes. So, prepare a magical parachute or something if we fall."

"If the thing existed... but what about me? We can't both hold onto the blade."

"Loop your belt through my sword belt, we can use it like a harness. Hold onto my shoulders and scale the slide with your feet to take as much weight off of me as possible."

"This sounds like a cartoon stunt that ends with a coyote-shaped cloud-hole."

"You got a better idea?"

"Climb out of the passageway and get to Hogwarts on foot?"

"With my knees? Al, gauze will only do so much. I get that much dirt in the wounds, and not only will I get gangrene or something, but I'll be screaming in pain the whole way. Besides, what if someone notices we broke in and out of Honeydukes? It's not two a.m. anymore! Hades is already on the warpath over my allegiance, your mom told me so herself. If he discovers us... we're dead."

"You can't die."

"But you can. And trust me, Hades isn't gonna be fair to a child of Hecate right now."

"Fine, let's do it. But if I end up in Punishment, I blame you."

Alabaster extinguished his flame again, turning the cavern pitch black. Nico forced the shadows around his blade, and slammed the hilt as high as he could reach. He and Alabaster scaled the slide a few feet, until the blade was too low to facilitate movement. They both dug their hands and feet into small cracks in the rock, and Nico tore the sword out and plunged it in again, as high as he could reach.

It was tiring, painstaking work. After twenty minutes of the steps repeated over and over, Nico was covered in sweat with aching limbs and strained eyes as he used his powers over the shadows to see. The wounds on his knees opened up again from the effort, soaking the gauze to far beyond what was healthy.

When Nico reached with his sword for the hundred-millionth time, it buried itself not into an angled wall of rock, but a stone landing. Nico let go of the hilt and grabbed onto the edge of the platform with both hands.

"Al, we made it! Grab up!"

He extended his arms as far as they would go and just made it, grabbing on beside Nico.

"On the count of three," he said. "One, two, THREE!"

They heaved and pulled with every joint in their fingers aflame, and climbed up onto the sweet, cold, flat stone landing. They rested on their backs, eyes closed and panting, as though they lay on the world's softest mattress.

"What now?" Alabaster asked.

"Now, we get ourselves into Hogwarts, find a bathroom, and shower. After that... I think the Staff will be easiest, so we should get that first. Wait until dinner for the Robes, since everyone'll be eating. And the Orb? With luck, we'll run into Percy by then, and he'll just give it to us."

"Sounds like a plan."

They lied there for another few minutes, until Alabaster pushed himself from the ground and cried "Dissendium!" As Nico stood, he saw a square of the wall open to the light of a corridor. He squinted as he walked inside with Alabaster, letting his eyes adjust. When he could finally make out his surroundings...

Hogwarts.

"We're on the third floor," Nico said. "I know a bathroom a few minutes from here; I can't promise a shower, but definitely a sink. And we have to make sure no one sees us; if Umbridge finds me... or anyone in Slytherin minus Blaise and Hestia..."

"Got it."

Thank the gods most of the castle's teachers and students were spending Christmas with their families. Nico and Alabaster had no problem making their way to the bathroom and cleaning themselves up. His aviator's jacket was so filthy that Nico had to let it soak in the sink, making it impossible to wear the slimy leather. It felt jarring, his arms uncovered, but Nico no longer cared who saw the scars; if all went to plan, no one he cared about would see him--outside of Percy, anyway.

Nico tore off the gauze, so mangled it was useless, and used a handy mixture of toilet paper and tape--stolen from the desk of Professor Burbage, Muggle Studies professor--to bandage his knees. Sure, there were still two gaping holes in his pants... but if people paid money for pre-ripped jeans, maybe this made them more valuable?

The six o'clock sun rose over the hills of Scotland when Nico and Alabaster made their way from the bathroom. Nico looked out from the windows in the hallways as he passed them. So tranquil... so permanent. Unless Nico could stop it, the world would end in one week to the day, and yet Hogwarts kept its impossible serenity. "I stood for centuries," the castle seemed to say, "Nothing will erase me from existence."

Except legions of homicidal, dead soldiers bent on killing everyone inside of you.

"We're here," Nico announced. "Be ready, I don't know how he'll react."

Alabaster whispered a final incantation to the gargoyles, and they parted. He and Nico climbed the staircase in silence, using hand movements to communicate, rather than speech. The door--open, as always--revealed that the room was occupied.

"Headmaster Dumbledore?" Nico called.

Dumbledore glanced up from his parchment and put down his quill, eyes sparkling behind his half-moon glasses. With an air of a scheduled appointment, he replied, "Yes, Mr. di Angelo. Come in."

"I brought a friend." Nico motioned for Alabaster to reveal himself. They both walked into the room; Dumbledore brought two chairs forth with a calm and collected expression. "Alabaster C. Torrington, son of Hecate," Nico introduced him.

"Ah." Dumbledore motioned for them to sit. Alabaster shot Nico a glance reading, 'is he serious?' Nico nodded in answer and snagged one of the chairs. Wary, Alabaster settled into the other.

"Have you heard of the Deathly Hallows, Professor?"

"I dislike disingenuity, Mr. di Angelo. I have no doubt you or your allies dug into my past and discovered everything of value, or you would not be here."

"I need your wand."

"What use would a demigod have with the Elder Wand?"

"I can't tell you."

"Then we find ourselves at an impasse."

Alabaster tensed; Nico caught his eye.

I can do this. Trust me, Al.

"I don't want to fight you, Professor; I need your wand, over your corpse if necessary. But I plan to do everything in my power to prevent that."

"And yet you refuse to explain yourself."

"Because you don't trust me. You side with Hades, I serve Hecate. If word gets back to Hades' allies what my patron's plan is, everything crumbles. I won't risk all that due to a stubborn old man in a tower."

Dumbledore pushed his chair away and stood. He walked to his bird cage, where a beautiful bird with bright red feathers and a long, golden plumed tail greeted him. He opened the cage and let the bird settle on his finger, pondering Nico's words.

"You ask me to trust you, when everyone I've spoken to declares you brainwashed. You ask me to aid you, when I hear that the mistress you serve plans to save Lord Voldemort instead of kill him. If you know my past--and I know you do--you know that I can never let another dark wizard gain such power, whether or not I think my aid harmless at the time."

Nico pushed his chair, and stood. "I won't sit here all day and try to convince you of this."

Dumbledore stroked his bird, smiling to himself when a feather fell from the thick plume. He put the bird back in its cage, staring at the feather with surprising intensity. He met Nico's eye, his face stoneish, as usual.

"Not two months ago, Miss Chase sat where your friend does, delving into the mind of Lord Voldemort to try and unmask him. And she is brilliant; she saw connections in moments that it took me years to realize. In fact, she only ever asked me one question... which I refused to answer for her. I knew she what she wanted to hear, so I gave it to her for the good of her mission. I needed her to trust me, trust that I would guide her in the way she expected; but, I cannot pretend I notice nothing. She feared you were like her enemy... I know you are not. You are nothing like Tom Riddle... You are Tom Riddle in every possible likeness."

Nico took a step forward. "I know, sir. And that's exactly how I plan to defeat him."

Dumbledore smiled as he removed his wand from the pocket of his robes. He held it out for Nico, saying, "I give this to you, warrior of Hecate, and assign its allegiance to you. In return, I hope you plan to clear my name in the Ministry."

Nico took the wand from Dumbledore, a smile slithering across his lips. The shadows spoke to him with the Staff in his hand, faint whispers as all the magic in the room poured into the instrument's true wielder. With nothing more than a thought, the shadows poured around his arms and legs, circling with such force that wind whipped his hair. When the darkness rescinded, the scrapes on his knees were gone without a trace.

As was every scar on his arm.

"If I get the chance," Nico promised, staring at the Staff with reverence.

BEFORE YOU COMMENT READ:

I know it's a really taboo thing for self-harm victims to hide or get rid of their scars. It promotes shame and closed-doors and never talking about experiences--I know that. The reason Nico healed his scars is NOT because I'm advocating to hide them, but because it's what he would've done. It's one of those moments where the character and the author have two different moral responses, and it would feel cheap if I kept him from doing it just because I had an issue with it. Also, it shows the power of the Staff--healing skinned knees is one thing, but scars not even ambrosia can heal? That's another all together.

And I WILL address the letter--trust me, it's all coming in due time.

And Giulia... sadly... is still in Africa. COME BACK GIULIA!

This week's beta commentary:

STORY: "It means it's impossible to climb, unless you're Spiderman."

SARA: kay let's assume that nico is 150 pounds okay let me just do this math real quick i'll be back

SARA: so it's not technically impossible but it would be difficult if my calculations are correct

SARA: which is doubtful because summer

LISSY: Ok, but Al's guessing, and... hon, there's no way Nico's above 120. Hell, THAT's a bit high.

Credits:

Melody Rose - Author ()

Sara - Beta Reader (http://icomparemyselftoyou.tumblr.com)

Please comment so I know what you think! See you next week!