Chapter Text
nico, leo, and percy all lounge around the floor of the poseidon cabin, bags of mcdonald’s strewn about in between them. they were planning on hanging out, and leo had started lamenting about how he’d been craving mcdonald’s recently – leading to nico shadow traveling with cash from percy to the one near camp to get a huge order for them.
and now, with all three of them essentially having bottomless pits for stomachs whenever they crave something – there’s an obscene amount of nuggets, fries, and sandwiches in front of them, a drink, shake, and mcflurry also available for each of the boys.
leo pops a nugget in his mouth, chewing and swallowing before saying, “i still wanna see you shove the whole cheeseburger in your mouth, jackson.”
“i’ll do you one better and do two,” percy challenges, and nico watches with disbelief as percy folds two cheeseburgers on top of one another and shoves the whole thing in his mouth. leo cheers excitedly as percy struggles to chew a bit, but manages to get it all down. “told ya!”
“that’s fuckin’ disgusting,” nico says in awe. “how in the name of my father did you even manage that. or even find out about it.”
“middle school,” percy says simply with a shrug, shoving some fries in his mouth before sipping some of his shake. “we do dumb shit for fun.”
“yeah, i can fucking tell.”
“i did some dumb shit, too – i found out i can put like, 7 nuggets in my mouth at once.” leo shrugs nonchalantly. “that’s not even the worst of it. i committed arson on school grounds before.”
“i’ve accidentally caused for my class to drop from the platform and into a water tank at an aquarium once,” percy chuckles. “i think i subconsciously communicated with the animals to leave us be.”
percy and leo turn to nico expectedly, clearly waiting for them to say something ridiculous he’s done. nico pauses, thinking for a moment and trying to remember certain events from when he was younger.
“i think i gave a kid the black death for calling me the f-slur, when i was like… 6.”
percy and leo stare at nico in disbelief, and nico squirms uncomfortably, wondering if he said something wrong. then–
“holy hades, that’s cool ,” leo gasps, eyes wide. “how did you even achieve that?!”
“i dunno, honestly,” nico muses, frowning in thought. “it’s a little fuzzy. i just know he said it to me while i was out with bianca, on the way back from school. and then… there was just something that happened. it felt like the magic that i’ve used recently. and then next thing i knew, mamma was telling us he fell ill with the black death.”
“what the fuck, death the kid,” leo gapes. “when you were six ?! that’s so cool. and the black death of all things? i didn’t even think you could do that!”
“i don’t think i could now, if i tried, to be honest. pestilence isn’t even part of my father’s technical domain.”
“can we go back to the bit about you being called that slur when you were six?” percy frowns, and nico blanches slightly. “that’s ridiculous. i’m sorry, neeks.”
“it’s whatever,” nico mumbles with a shrug. “it was years – well, decades ago. it felt like years, though.”
“i think we all forgot that this was supposed to be us opening up more to one another since that last familial talk?” leo pipes up, and nico groans.
he forgot about that.
percy had reached out and gently offered to both leo and nico to meet up at any time, all three of them together, at his cabin, and talk more about what was spoken about in the conversation between the three of them, annabeth, and thalia. he had figured that it being just him might be easier, along with the fact that they didn’t get very far in their conversations before the waterworks kicked in.
“ah, balls, i made death the kid mad.”
“ balls?! ”
“yeah. cock and balls, even. specifically ja–”
“i am going to kick the both of you out and find a way to make you deal with harpies all night,” percy says with a deadpan expression, but nico can tell that he’s fighting the urge to smile. “are we going to be serious about this?”
“i suppose so, but you’re the leader of this meeting,” leo sighs, leaning back with his shake and raising a brow at percy. “shoot, water boy.”
“that is, quite frankly, the worst nickname you have ever given me.”
percy grabs another box of nuggets, opening it and popping one in his mouth. “who wants to go first?”
“oh, yay,” nico grumbles sarcastically, glancing around before grabbing the apple slices from one of the happy meals. “who would like to go first about their trauma. yippee.”
“don’t be homophobic, nico, he’s doing his best,” leo scolds, grinning at the two of them.
“i’ll be homophobic to you , you fucker.”
“i will ignite the catholic guilt from within you both.”
nico and leo groan loudly at percy’s statement, and leo whines, “you act like you have no guilt either!”
“i no longer live with it, is our difference,” percy points out, and nico throws one of the toys at percy. percy catches it with ease, tossing it in the air and catching it again as he says, “also, gabe was not a devout catholic, and neither was mom. we just grew up with the influences from the area.”
“i hate that,” leo groans, shaking his head with a scowl. “somehow, that makes it all worse! all the neighbors from when i was living with aunt rosa always spewed their catholicism even more on me, so i was basically hit from it at all angles.”
“in our region, if you weren’t catholic, you were essentially fated to die,” nico muses, munching on an apple. he furrows his brow in thought, adding on, “it’s still kinda fuzzy, but i don’t ever remember havin’ many non-catholic friends. mamma said it would be safer for us if we only interacted with catholics.”
“i mean, for your time period, that makes sense, i suppose,” percy says after a moment of thought. “even though it sucks.”
“aunt rosa used to always say donde el diablo puso la mano, queda huella para rato – where the devil places his hand, he leaves a trace.” leo reaches forward, rummaging through the food before grabbing one of the burgers. “she told me that it was clear that the devil had placed his mark on me the moment i was born, since i was the ‘cause’ of mamá ’s death.”
percy whistles lowly, a scowl on his face. “dude, that’s fucked. i’m sorry.”
“eh, she said a bunch of shit that doesn’t really faze me as much anymore,” leo says with a shrug, unwrapping his burger and taking a bite.
“i think we had something similar,” nico mumbles. “i think it was… quando il diavolo ci mette la coda o lo zampino. when the devil puts his hand or tail on something. it ends the same way, implying that whatever he lays it on, it will never work out.”
“a win for the traumatized catholic youth,” leo sighs, putting on a dreamy expression, and nico snickers at him. “ ¡somos amigos del diablo! exciting!”
“ espero que el diablo aparezca en tus sueños esta noche ,” percy grumbles, and nico slaps his hand over their mouth to stifle their laughter, glad that he and leo and percy had mini italian and spanish lessons with one another to understand each other better. leo splutters in shock, and percy adds on spitefully, “ y además te voy a tirar agua cuando no lo esperes”
“what the fuck , dude!” leo whines, and nico ends up howling with laughter, throwing his head back as he wheezes at the threats percy had made. “i can’t believe you’d say that!”
“you should have never helped me speed up my relearning of spanish then!”
“i think siete entrambi idioti ,” nico snorts, shaking his head. “i can’t believe you didn’t expect for percy to hit you with threats, leo.”
“i didn’t think one of my own would betray me like that!”
“you act like i have colonizer blood in me!”
“you probably do! nico definitely does!”
“hey!” nico whines. “i have colonizer and colonized blood, thank you very much! you forget that part of my family emigrated to italy from the middle east!”
“wait, this will really determine it.” leo holds his hand up to pause the conversation. “from where, though.”
“palestine and egypt.”
“oh fuck ,” percy groans as leo screams with laughter in the background. “now that ’s colonized blood.”
“ mamma liked to give us the occasional arabic threat,” nico says cheerfully as leo attempts to catch his breath. “those usually came if bianca or i really fucked up. i don’t remember what it was exactly, but one she’d always tell us was like… this one saying that i think was more islamic than i expected. it probably was an actual verse, now that i think about it.”
“what was it?”
“it was like…” nico thinks for a moment, trying to remember – his mamma didn’t say it often, so the translation was a little difficult for him. “something like… the devil threatens you with poverty and orders you to immortal sinfulness, and god promises you forgiveness and pardon from him, as he’s all knowing.”
“ fuck?! ” leo wheezes, while percy gapes at him, jaw dropped in disbelief. “nico?!”
“kid, you sure you don’t just have catholic guilt in you?” percy says weakly, a look of disbelief still on his face. “that’s heavy for two little kids, holy fuck.”
“nah, i’m good,” nico says with a shrug, and he was – there was barely any islamic influence from his mamma onto him and bianca, especially since his mamma’s family became more catholic to fit in with the threats of the time. it didn’t mean that their mamma wasn’t taught some things that she subconsciously passed on. “you should go back to leo saying that his aunt basically said he’s the devil and he was the cause for his mom’s death.”
“okay, yeah, that was also a little fucked,” percy acknowledges with a nod, and he turns onto leo, who’s staring at nico with a betrayed expression. “please tell me you don’t believe that.”
“well, not anymore,” leo sighs, running a hand through his curls and ruffling them a bit. “i definitely used to. it is something that comes up in my nightmares here and there, though.”
percy nods with understanding, reaching forward and patting leo’s knee with a uncharacteristically solemn expression. “i’ll continue to remind you that it wasn’t your fault whenever you may need it.”
nico shoots leo a thumbs up, as he had chosen that moment to munch on a nugget, to indicate that they feel the same. leo rolls his eyes at nico, grumbling something about betrayals.
“you make me wish for a cigarette,” nico deadpans, and percy chokes on his drink in shock. “or codeine cough syrup to get you to stop coughing.”
“i forget how unsupervised kids were back then,” leo mumbles as percy wheezes, clearing his throat once he stopped choking.
“i think will should show you a photo of a smoker’s lungs to terrify you,” percy says cheerfully, to which nico counters with, “he already has. checkmate, dumbass.”
“you ever think about how fucked up it is when a member of your supposed family doesn’t accept you?” leo suddenly muses aloud, waving his shake at both nico and percy, who turn to him with raised brows. “you exist and then boom, you’re el diablo .”
“i think that’s why mamma didn’t really bring us around her family very much,” nico says. “i think bia and i would have been seen as bastard children, as mamma wasn’t married. that, amongst other things at the time, uh – well, she didn’t really want us meeting them.”
“as your mom should have.” leo nods in approval. “ mamá and i visited relatives occasionally, but not often. and then when i lived with aunt rosa, it was like everyone was there, and it got so overwhelming.”
“was it just continuous familial visits over and over?” percy asks, reaching over and stealing the last bite of leo’s burger, ignoring leo’s indignant yell. “that’d be annoying.”
“yeah, they visited at least once a week,” leo grumbles, still glaring playfully at percy, who happily chews the piece he stole. “some others came over like twice or three times a week. and then i already had relatives at the house itself.”
nico wrinkles their nose in distaste at the sound of that, knowing that he would have been overwhelmed as well if they were in leo’s position. “that is annoying. why would they want to visit so much?”
“beats me,” leo says with a shrug, retaliating by stealing one of percy’s nuggets. “i think it was aunt rosa’s way of torturing me, especially because the majority came on sundays.”
nico winces sympathetically, not noticing how percy was beginning to look at leo critically. “yikes.”
“that’s one way of saying it, yeah.”
“ mamma took us to church every sunday too, but i think she understood how bored i would get,” nico chuckles, shaking his head. “bia was better at hiding it than i was. but i was just straight up falling asleep sometimes, ya know?”
leo nods in understanding, clearly thinking back on his own experiences. “ mamá took me to church, but she at least more willing than others to quietly lead me out if i was overwhelmed or too tired to last the whole time.”
nico hums, thinking about how nice that would’ve been for him and bianca. he glances over at percy, and they furrow their brow in confusion at the look on percy’s face. “uh – perce?”
“did you aunt ever lay a hand on you, leo?” percy asks suddenly, voice and expression extremely serious.
nico and leo glance at each other in surprise, and nico motions at leo, as if to say, well, go on .
“well – no, she, uh, she didn’t, i don’t think,” leo stammers, still surprised at the question. “she might have, er, smacked me upside the head here and there. but it was all verbal and emotional, really. my cousins would shove me around, but that was the most of it.”
percy takes a deep breath and nods, turning away from them and quietly rummaging through one of the mcdonald’s bags instead. nico and leo share another confused glance, and leo carefully adds on, “uh – why’d you, um, ask, percy?”
“huh? oh, no reason,” percy replies, but his voice is oddly strained. he pulls out another box of nuggets, quickly saying, “oh shit, look, more nuggets–”
“percy.” nico stares him down, and percy stares right back, but nico could see his small, nervous fidgeting. “what aren’t you telling us.”
“nothing!”
nico narrows his eyes as percy shoves a nugget in his mouth to avoid replying, a calculating look in their eyes. he tries to think on why percy would ask such a question in the first place, and suddenly, it hits him.
“gabe?”
percy flinches violently, trying to play it off with a laugh. “what – no, heh, what makes you bring – uh, bring him up, huh?”
nico glances over at leo, who has understanding dawning on his face as well. percy never truly went in depth last time about gabe – only that he was a horrible man to both him and sally, and that he was gone now. but, with how percy’s reacting now…
nico scoots forward as leo scrambles over to percy’s side, and nico whispers, “perce? did, uh – did he ever lay a hand on you? or aunt sally?”
percy’s silent for a moment, before he lets out a quiet, bitter laugh, shaking his head with a shaky grin. “i couldn’t even protect my own mom from that monster.”
“perce, you were just a kid, man,” leo says quietly, not an ounce of playfulness in his eyes. nico likes that about leo – as hyperactive and constantly joking as he was, he knew when to turn it down and was actually a great listener. “you were like, what, 12 when he finally left you guys’ lives? so you were younger for however long he’s been there. any kid would be terrified, or not be able to retaliate fully.”
“i just wish we had done something sooner, you know?” percy whispers, voice hollow in comparison to how it was earlier. “or if i – if i had called the police on him. then mom wouldn’t have gotten so hurt.”
“and you also wouldn’t have gotten so hurt,” nico reminds him, knowing that percy was refusing to acknowledge what he had also gone through. “but that was not your responsibility – and that’s not to say it was aunt sally’s fault, either. she was trying to protect you, but it so happened that gabe was… awful.”
percy snorts. “that’s a fucking understatement.”
“do you need to talk more about him?”
percy falls silent before taking a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut for a second before opening them again. “mom thought i couldn’t tell that he was hurting her. i tried to make a deal with him, to let him – let him turn it onto me instead, so that mom didn’t get hurt.”
nico hears leo inhale sharply, and percy continues softly, “he kept it for a day or two, maybe. then i saw him – him hitting mom. but he lessened his blows considerably with her.”
nico keeps his eyes on percy, watching his expression carefully as he recounts his experiences. “i’m guessing it was a couple years…?”
“at least six or seven,” percy scoffs bitterly. “i wish he was never in our lives, even if he masked my scent from monsters. what was the point of being protected from mythological monsters if i had one living with mom and i at home?”
“that still does not make it your fault whatsoever, though,” leo points out. “if anything, you held up for your mom, and tried to protect her. now, i’m not saying offering yourself in place of her was a good idea – but again, you were just a kid . none of this is your fault, or your mom’s fault. anything that happened to you both is all his fault.”
“and he’s gone now,” nico adds, nudging percy’s shoulder. “aunt sally kicked him out.”
percy’s lips quirk up into a smile, and he chuckles, “yeah. sure.”
nico and leo blink in confusion, and percy adds, “remember how i fought medusa on my first quest? and sent it to olympus?”
they both nod, and percy’s chuckles grow louder. “it got returned to my room. let’s say that mom’s sculpture masterpiece is what got her the money to get into university and get us a new apartment.”
nico and leo gape at percy in shock, and suddenly leo throws his head back and howls with laughter. nico stares in disbelief, choking out, “aunt sally used medusa’s head on him?!”
“oh, she’s so amazing!” leo gasps, wiping at his eyes as he continues to wheeze with laughter. “oh gods, that’s fuckin’ iconic.”
“yeah, she is pretty great,” percy says softly, a small smile still on his face. it drops after a moment, and he sighs, rolling up his sleeves and holding out his arms. “i’ve still got scars on me, it took a while for me to not wear only long sleeves again.”
leo sobers up quickly, and he and nico peer over percy’s arms curiously. nico gasps quietly in realization just as leo asks, “are those–”
“cigar burns? yeah,” percy sighs, biting his lip. “i didn’t want mom to know, so i just – only wore long sleeved shirts or hoodies. they hurt like a bitch. mom never got any, thank the fates. her scars… they’re much more faded than mine.”
“and they lie in a more psychological sense instead now,” nico muses, raising a brow when percy shoots him a look. “what? you act like i don’t see you both flinching on a rare occasion.”
percy shakes his head in exasperation, and it’s silent for a while, the three of them just sitting together. nico finds the silence a little too suffocating, and suddenly blurts, “when i was five, someone was being mean to bia, and so i jumped them from behind and wrapped an arm around their neck while hitting them with a stick.”
percy and leo slowly turn to stare at nico with blank expressions. suddenly, leo lets out a snort, and the two of them burst into laughter, imagining a tiny nico letting out a battle cry and jumping a kid bigger than them in bianca’s defense.
“that is not what i expected you to say,” percy chuckles, wiping a tear from his eye. whether it was from laughter or from the previous conversation is unknown to nico, but they won’t press. “you’re ridiculous.”
“says the fucker that shoved two cheeseburgers in his mouth earlier!”
“i’ll make you repent for that.”
“that’s what the kids at my school used to tell me.”
leo howls with laughter as percy splutters in shock, staring at nico, who merely gives him an innocent expression in response. “what the fuck–”
“i think we should test leo’s statement about the nuggets,” nico says cheerfully, ignoring percy’s shock. “can you fit eight?”
“probably!” leo grins, a sparkle returning to his eyes. “want me to try?”
“that’s fucking disgusting. do it.”
“i bet i can fit ten,” percy challenges as leo scrambles for another box of nuggets in their pile of food. “i refuse to be beaten.”
nico leans back and chuckles as he watches them bicker, watching carefully as they notice percy’s spark slowly returning after his previous confession.
perhaps a visit to their father is due.
and indeed it was. the next morning, after giving will a quick good morning kiss and promising to be back by dinner at the very latest, nico melts into the shadows, closing his eyes as they envelop him. they open his eyes as he takes a step forward, finding himself on the pathway to hades’ palace.
nico straightens, twisting one of his skull signet rings. hades had given it to him if they were to dress ‘formally’ in the palace – whether due to guests, or due to a serious offense having occurred in the underworld.
nico glances down and watches as his clothes shift into something more fitting for his role as prince of the underworld. nico and hades had come up with a compromise on the outfit, so that nico was comfortable at the same time.
his clothes shift so that they’re now wearing a thick, black turtleneck, with a dark gray toga draped over one shoulder on top. on the shoulder it was draped over, a large, decorative skull lays on top of it, the decades of decay on it evident despite it looking in pristine condition. the chain-belt around their waist was decorated with miniature skulls and crossed bones, and he still had his ripped black jeans on. their shoes change to black combat boots, and nico can hear the faint whispers of souls that were magically woven into the leather. he had on a black leather jacket with the same sherpa inside as his usual jacket, hanging on by his biceps. nico raises his hand, inspecting the delicate skull hand chain bracelet that now adorned it.
nico reaches up, gently brushing his fingers by their hair, and hums in approval as he feels the telltale coolness of the metallic silver laurel wreath behind his ears. they know that if he were to look in the mirror, he would find himself staring into black eyes flaring with the same purple fire that hades’ eyes has.
nico marches straight up the path towards the entrance of the palace, letting his aura flare out towards the ghostly and skeletal servants and guards along the pathway. they quiver at the sight, each of them bowing a knee to nico as they walk passed.
nico enters the palace, glancing around before pinpointing a small shadow in the ground a few feet away. they move towards it, stepping foot into it and feeling himself melt into the shadows once, falling forward until he falls back upwards, standing in the throne room.
hades and persephone are both on their thrones, quietly conversing with one another. they turn their heads, clearly feeling nico’s aura flaring out, and nico strides up to them, knowing that the look in his eyes meant that this was no normal meeting.
hades sits up suddenly at the sight of nico, clearly noting the outfit he has on, and persephone straightens as well, her gaze no longer as warm as it was mere seconds ago.
nico unsheaths his sword, stabbing into the ground as he kneels before hades and persephone. “father. lady persephone.”
“rise, son,” hades rumbles, and nico obeys immediately, standing up tall and staring hades in the eye. to others, this may seem like an act of defiance, and would consider the demigod in question to be struck down without question.
but between hades and nico? it meant that nico had come down to the palace for important reasons, one that required hades’ immediate attention.
“what brings you here, son?” hades questions, and nico watches as his own outfit morphes into something different – hades takes on a more modern look, surprisingly, with a velvety black suit with souls also woven into the fabric, with a deep red tie to accompany it. his hair is pulled back into a slick half up, half down style, and the fire in his eyes blaze brightly.
persephone, similarly, adjusts her own outfits to the situation. she shifts into a gorgeous, cream tulle dress, the sleeves and collar adorning deep red petals that nico can tell was also woven in with souls. the red petals scatter down her dress, and her hair changes to a similar style to hades’, prickly and poisonous flowers weaving throughout her hair as her makeup darkens to a deep red and black.
“i have a – rather odd request to ask of you, father,” nico says carefully, gripping his sword tightly. now that they were all dressed for the situation, he can proceed with why he was here.
“the mere act of you striding into the throne room with your formal outfit on is a statement in itself,” persephone muses, raising an eyebrow at nico. “whatever could you ask, dear?”
“i wish to go into the fields of punishment.”
there’s a pause, and hades inclines his head, refusing to show his confusion. “and why do you ask of this?”
“i must make a – visit to a certain someone down there.”
“and, pray tell, son, is this particular person?”
“gabe ugliano,” nico states, waving his hand and allowing for a mystical projection of the man to appear in front of them. his magic was, naturally, stronger in the underworld, and he found that he could use it with ease. “sentenced to the fields of punishment 6 years ago.”
persephone wrinkles her nose in disgust at the sight of gabe, and hades stares down the projection, clearly trying to think. “he seems… familiar.”
“you may recognize him as former step-father of perseus jackson.”
a look of realization dawns on hades, and he raises an eyebrow at nico. “the young perseus’ former step-father? why do you wish to pay him a visit, son?”
“because,” nico starts, rage filling them as he thinks about what percy had told him and leo the previous night. as the night progressed, percy had quietly confessed more of gabe’s abuse, sharing stories of his scars and how he had to defend himself at such a young age. “he is – was – scum on this earth. and i do not say that lightly.”
“what has landed him in the fields?”
“he had abused perseus jackson and sally jackson for the better part of six to seven years, in all forms possible.”
persephone gasps softly, her gaze turning steely at what nico said. if there’s one thing that nico’s learned about persephone when she was able judge a soul, it was that she holds no mercy when it comes to abusers.
hades’ eyebrows raise in surprise before his own expression turns steely. despite his rocky history with percy, nico knew that hades cared for his nephew, especially as he had fought hard to keep both nico and bianca safe to the best of his ability. and as for aunt sally – the mere fact that she willingly takes him in whenever needed and treats them like her own son was more than enough for hades.
“all forms, you say?”
“physically, as both perseus and sally bear multiple scars of his abuse,” nico says, his voice hardening as they explain. “i do not know of sally’s, but perseus bears cigar burn wounds all across his arms, lashes across his back, scars across his abdomen, and healed over scabs all over his legs.
“he had emotionally abused them both as well,” nico continues, watching as hades and persephone’s auras flare out in anger, making the guards and servants take shaky steps back. “he had belittled them to the point of no self-esteem, and even lower. verbally, in telling perseus that he was good-for-nothing and deserved death, and to sally in saying … rather vulgar things. financially, as he used sally’s income for his gambling, alcohol, cigars, etc., and held her income over head. and religiously, by trying to instill the fear of the catholic god into perseus and telling him that he is the devil himself. along with that, he held power as a white man above them, ripping apart their identity all the while. there are… other rather untasteful things he had committed that i prefer not to say aloud.”
hades inhales deeply, the purple fire in his eyes blazing brightly as he took in all the information. persephone’s gripping her throne tightly, vines beginning to decorate their way across the throne and around the throne room.
“tell me, son,” hades starts slowly, staring nico down. “why should i allow you to see him in the fields, as opposed to me sending him straight to tartarus instead?”
“because i wish to invoke fear within him,” nico says, a grin slowly forming on his face. the temperature of the throne room drops to an icy degree, and hades regards nico curiously. “i wish for him to feel everything that he had invoked onto perseus and sally before being damned to it in tartarus for all eternity.”
hades hums in thought, turning to persephone for her opinion on the matter. persephone simply turns her nose up, sneering at the projection of gabe ugliano as she says, “i believe niccoló should be allowed to do as he pleases, so long as i am able to have my turn before you damn him to tartarus.”
hades nods in approval, turning to nico and saying, “you are permitted to enter the fields to visit gabe ugliano, and only him. you will be protected, and no other beings in the fields will be able to distract you or harm you. however…,” hades adds with a sinister grin, “your powers will still work on them. if you wish to instill fear in them as well… i will merely turn a blind eye.”
“thank you, father,” nico responds gratefully, a wicked grin still on his face as he bows to hades and persephone. “i will report back to the throne room when i have deemed my task complete. must i be back by a certain timeframe?”
“you are free to stay as long as you wish, but if i call for you to return, you must do so at once.”
“understood, father.” nico bows their head in respect at them both, and raises his arms at their side, allowing himself to fall backwards into the shadow puddle they instinctively knew was behind him.
nico falls through it, allowing the shadows to take their hold on him, and he suddenly finds himself standing in the fields of punishment. they feel a different aura surrounding him, and he can tell that it was a layer of protection casted on him by hades himself.
nico squares their shoulders, head held high as he walks through the fields. nico instinctively knows how to avoid certain parts that could potentially harm them, but he knew that hades’ protection would keep him safe regardless.
his aura flares wildly, and nico can see spirits from a mile away shifting nervously at their power and aura. he knows that his aura strikes even more fear than the spirits are already experiencing, even if it may not be at the same level as hades.
ignoring the screams of the damned, nico continues to stride forward, smirking internally as he steps over cracks of lava and mines, hearing the spirits behind him deal with the aftermaths as opposed to him.
soon enough, nico reaches his destination, eyes trained at a single figure in the midst of the fields. spirits move out of their way, whimpering and quivering at the sheer rage that nico was exhibiting.
“gabe ugliano,” nico calls out, voice carrying across the field. others glance over in nico’s direction, but quickly turn back to their punishments. nico can tell that they’re still listening to whatever may be going on, but he couldn’t care less. he can hear their whispers of confusion – it’s rare to see hades, much less nico, come down to the fields.
the figure turns around, and nico wrinkles their nose in disgust at the sight of gabe. he was much uglier in person, and somehow had kept his same appearance as he had before his death. gabe lazily raises an eyebrow at the sight of nico, sneering, “what do ya want, punk?”
“i do not think that is the way to speak to the prince of this realm,” nico says lightly, and he can hear all the spirits quickly drop to one knee in respect. they stare down gabe, who clearly tries to defiantly ignore nico, but finds himself kneeling on one knee with a growl. “rise. all besides ugliano, proceed with your punishments.”
the spirits obey immediately, and gabe scowls at nico, who takes in his appearance. his clothes are tattered, and there’s a multitude of scars and wounds littering his skin. “whatever can i do for you, your highness? ”
nico waves his hand, and watches as gabe stands straight, frozen in place with wide eyes. nico stalks over, slowly circling him as he assesses his punishment. an eternal game of poker, in which gabe was clearly continuously losing. from there, his punishments would vary greatly – chased by hellhounds, running across broken glass, dips in the rivers of lava, cleaning portions of the fields, and so much more. nico nods to themself in approval of the punishment, knowing that it was well deserved.
“it would be in your best interest to not reply with such sarcasm or rudeness, ugliano,” nico chuckles quietly, continuing to circle him. “now, tell me – do you remember the jacksons? sally and perseus?”
gabe scowls, hissing, “that punk and bitch? what about them?”
gabe’s face whips to the side, an invisible force slapping him across the face at his comment. nico raises an eyebrow, saying, “i had warned you, ugliano. i am glad to hear that you remember them. but do you remember what you have done to them?”
with a scowl still on his face, gabe spits out blood onto the ground, glaring up at nico. “i helped that punk grow up and stop being such a brat. and as for sally, she should be grateful that she was still able to work and i didn’t get rid of that punk–”
“ do not speak of them like that! ” nico roars, aura flaring out wildly in response. the temperature around them drops dangerously, the terrain frosting over and nearby cracks of lava suddenly freezing over into igneous rocks. gabe’s form is suddenly bound by a flaming whip, and nico ignores his screams in favor of glancing up to see alecto holding onto the handle of the whip. they nod to one another before nico turns his gaze back onto gabe, raising an eyebrow as they watch him scream and gasp and whimper at the pain. “you are pathetic. all of what you committed, and the amount of time you have been here, and you cannot handle this?”
nico proceeds to circle gabe slowly again, being sure to keep a short distance from the whip in case gabe were to try anything. “you have condemned them both to abuse for all the years that you have lived with them. you have harmed them in all ways possible.
“you have laid your hand upon your wife and stepson, who was only 4 or 5 when he had first met you,” nico continues with a snarl. “you have cast all forms of pain upon them both for years.
“you have burned perseus’ arms with your cigars,” nico says as he pauses in front of gabe, flashing him a wicked grin. gabe’s expression morphs into one of confusion before he lets out a yell, staring down at his arms in disbelief as cigar burns begin to litter his arms, spluttering, “wh– what are you–”
“you have lashed your belt onto perseus’ back,” nico continues, watching as alecto relieves gabe from his bindings, only to lash her whip onto his back. nico cannot bring himself up to feel any pity or mercy as he watches gabe crumble to his knees at the impact, all while alecto lashes out again. “rise, ugliano. do not be even more pathetic than you already are.”
gabe is lurched upwards, standing straight once more. his eyes are filled with fear, worriedly scanning nico’s face to see if they would retaliate further.
“you have hit sally with one of your many beer bottles.” nico watches as gabe’s head jerks back, the phantom impact hitting him as his head begins to bleed. “you have slashed perseus with the broken shards of your beer bottles. you have stabbed a young perseus with it. you have beat perseus and sally until they were black and blue.”
gabe’s knees buckle as he screams in pain, said injuries appearing all over his body. alecto’s whip lashes back out, binding him once more and keeping him standing up straight.
“this is not even accounting all of the emotional, verbal, and religious abuse that you have put them through as well,” nico growls, taking a step closer to gabe. “must i remind you of the sins you have committed whilst married to sally, and the unspeakable crimes you have committed as well?”
gabe looks up at nico, a bruise forming over his eyes. before nico could say anything, gabe rears his head back slightly, spitting blood onto nico’s face.
the surrounding spirits, clearly having still been watching, fall silent in shock. to defy nico was one thing, but to spit on him? word would travel to hades quickly, and nico can’t imagine the rage that would fill their father once he heard the news.
nico slowly reaches up, touching the blood on his cheek before wiping it off with a look of disgust. they can hear alecto growling from her position, knowing that she was wanting to dive down and rip gabe apart for him. however, nico raises his hand at her, and she unbinds gabe immediately.
gabe grins, clearly thinking that he’s won and gotten nico to back off, but nico’s hand whips out, backhanding gabe with such a force that gabe stumbles back in shock, having not expected for a scrawny fifteen year old to hit him so hard. nico’s arm slashes downwards, and the shadows roar around them, enveloping the two of them and plunging them in complete darkness. alecto appears in the bubble as well, as nico knew that she was his extra guard of protection as well.
“what–” gabe looks around frantically, gasping as he holds an arm over his bleeding abdomen. “what the fuck – where the fuck are we – who are you?”
“i am niccoló di angelo, prince of the underworld” nico whispers, slowly stalking forward, voice echoing around the bubble that they’re in. the same purple flames found in hades’ eyes flare in his own, and gabe regards him fearfully, realization dawning onto him. “i am the son of hades. i control the shadows, and you bow to me .”
nico makes a downward gesture, watching as gabe’s knees buckle and he falls onto one knee, head forcibly inclined upwards so that he was still staring at nico. nico, who’s enveloped by shadows of his own, spirits whispering all around them and adding onto gabe’s fear. their aura is even stronger in this small bubble, and he watches with amusement at how much gabe’s shaking with fear and horror.
“gabe ugliano,” nico says firmly, drawing his sword and pointing the tip so that it was just touching gabe’s chest. gabe gasps, light slowly draining from his eyes as he struggles to breathe, staring up at nico as they continue, “your crimes have been reassessed by lord hades and lady persephone themselves. you are to reappear at the judgement pavillon whenever you are summoned, and face direct judgement by not only whomever may judge you then, but lord hades and lady persephone as well. perhaps, even, myself included. for now, you are to continue your tasks in the fields of punishment, to which your punishments will increase by various degrees until it will be reassessed.”
nico pulls back his sword, and gabe hunches over with a gasp, catching his breath. nico bends down in front of gabe, who stares at him, trying to appear strong and defiant, but nico can see the fear in his eyes as he spits out, “why – why are you–?”
“perseus jackson is one of my closest friends,” nico sneers at gabe. “he has saved my life and protected me on multiple occasions. he is, at this point, like a big brother to me. and one thing that i do not take kindly to, is my friends and family being harmed in any way.”
the shadows dissipate from around them, and nico stands as they return back to the fields, raising an eyebrow at gabe. “return to your punishment. await your new trial. pray that lord hades, lady persephone, and i may show you any form of mercy.”
nico nods at alecto, who nods back and flies away to inspect other parts of the fields, and nico senses a puddle of shadows behind him. they take a step back, allowing himself to fall into it, and he suddenly reappears in the throne room in front of hades and persephone.
persephone is at his side in an instant, conjuring a handkerchief and wiping off the blood that remained on nico’s face. hades stands behind persephone, a snarl escaping him as he watches persephone quietly make sure that nico was not harmed in any way.
nico gratefully accepts the vial of nectar that persephone hands to him, sipping it quietly and smiling when he tastes hot chocolate the way his mamma used to make it.
“son,” hades says lowly, and nico turns to hades immediately, bowing their head with respect. hades gently tilts nico’s head up and to the side, inspecting where the blood splatter was and making sure there was no wound before the nectar’s affects hit. “he spat on you?”
“he did,” nico confirms, and hades growls lowly, fire blazing brightly in his eyes. “but i put some sense into him, do not worry.”
“i think you will have to add this to the charge, dear,” persephone says to hades, a calm anger washing over her face. “to spit on your son – that alone is a major offense.”
“indeed it is, my flower,” hades agrees. he let’s go of nico, and asks him, “did he harm you in any other way?”
“i think you should be asking if i gave you room to harm him ,” nico says lightly, and persephone nods in approval as hades chuckles quietly. “he has been told that he will be facing rejudgement amongst the panel, along with you and lady persephone. perhaps myself as well, if you will permit it, father.”
“i will even allow young perseus to join us if he so wishes,” hades hums. “i will not subject sally to visiting the underworld once more when it is not her time, as she is still fully mortal.”
“understood.” nico nods. “i will be sure to let perseus know, then.”
hades and nico hold eye contact for a moment, and nico’s shoulders slump down as he twists his ring, allowing for his clothes to shift back into normal. hades and persephone’s outfits morph to do the same, and hades asks quietly, “are you alright, son?”
“he held no remorse,” nico whispers, shaking his head. “i… i gave him chances to potentially redeem himself, to not have to be judged into tartarus, but he just…”
nico takes a deep breath, willing for the tears that had suddenly sprung into their eyes to not fall. “he called aunt sally a bitch. he said they should be grateful for him… he had intended to kill percy at some point, father, said that aunt sally should be glad he didn’t–”
persephone reaches out, and when nico doesn’t resist, she gently pulls him into a hug, rubbing his back gently. hades inhales, and nico can imagine fire being exhaled if hades were able to.
“allow young perseus to know, at least, that that being is indeed in the fields,” hades says carefully after a moment of thought. “if you wish to give him the details, then feel free to do so. offer him a place at the judgement pavillon for his reassessment – i will call for you both whenever it occurs.”
“yes, father,” nico whispers as persephone gently lets go of him. “i appreciate it. thank you for… hearing out my request.”
“your father would halt the lines of the dead coming in if he could if you were to ask, even if it were to just play with cerberus for a moment,” persephone chuckles softly, brushing nico’s bangs away from his eyes. “he cares for you greatly, as well as for those that you deem close as well.”
nico raises an eyebrow at hades, and a small grin forms when they see hades’ cheeks become slightly pink tinted, knowing that hades would attribute it to the lighting. “i see.”
“i would advise you go up to the mortal realm now, son,” hades says, after clearing his throat. “i will transport you there myself, so you do not have to exert yourself any further today. be sure to tell solace that you used a great deal of powers, and that rest is required.”
nico nods, thanking hades and persephone once more and bidding them a quiet goodbye before hades waves his hand.
when nico blinks, they’re at the sword fighting arena. he turns, seeing percy taking a brief break after training solo. “percy?”
percy turns immediately, instinctively tightening his grip on riptide before relaxing. “oh, hey, neeks. what’s up? i haven’t seen you around all day.”
“i paid my father a visit,” nico says nonchalantly, walking over to percy. percy raises an eyebrow at him as he gives nico a one armed hug. “i had to discuss somethin’ with him.”
“and what was it that you two had to talk about?” percy asks, a knowing look in his eyes. “surely it had nothing to do with the conversation last night, did it?”
“oh, most certainly not.”
percy sighs, running a hand through his hair. “okay. shoot. tell me.”
“are you sure?”
“i know that he’s gone and that he’s in the fields,” percy says with a shrug. “i can damn him there all i want, and i know lord hades would hear me.”
nico takes a deep breath, trying to figure out how to tell percy what he had seen. “well… he is indeed in the fields.”
“what’s his punishment?”
“he plays an eternal poker game where he consistently loses, and with each loss comes a new punishment – chased by hellhounds, walking on broken glass, cleaning the region he’s in, so on and so forth.”
“oh, man,” percy chuckles, shaking his head. “that definitely checks out. that’s the perfect punishment for him.”
“i… cornered him,” nico says carefully, trying to pick his words wisely. “he was… as vulgar as you had mentioned. and rude.”
percy frowns at that, lost in thought, and nico continues quietly, “he… didn’t feel any remorse, for what he did to you both. he actually essentially said you should both be grateful.”
“ grateful? ” percy seethes, eyes flashing with anger. “oh, that bastard…”
“he mentioned that aunt sally should, uh…” nico swallows, taking a deep, shuddering breath before saying, “that aunt sally should be grateful that he didn’t ‘get rid of you’.”
percy stills, taking a moment to register what nico said. when he does, he sighs quietly, mumbling, “i figured that he was.”
percy raises an eyebrow at nico, adding on, “you’re hiding something from me, though.”
nico sighs, knowing that there’s no way that he can hide it from percy. “well… father had let me have my way, when i visited the fields.”
“did you give him hell? please tell me you did.”
“oh, of course,” nico chuckles, and percy cheers. “but, er…”
percy narrows his eyes at nico, and nico smiles sheepishly at percy. “what did he do.”
“well… some injuries can cause one’s mouth to bleed, yes?”
percy stares them down before realization slowly dawns onto his face. “no.”
“he decided he would spit out that blood.”
“nico.”
“onto me.”
“mother fucker !” percy yells, and nico backs away as percy turns and slashes his sword in an arc, cleanly slicing a dummy diagonally in half. “fuck!”
“hey, perce–”
“that fucking asshole –”
“percy–”
“did he hurt you?” percy demands, turning back to nico with wild eyes. “did he?!”
“no, he didn’t,” nico reassures, placing his hands out in front of percy. “i swear on the styx that he didn’t harm me at all.”
percy’s shoulders sag with relief at that, although his form was still shaking slightly. “i’m – i’m sorry, i just–”
“i get it, percy, really,” nico says softly. “but – there is something else you need to know.”
“hm?”
“he is getting a retrial in front of the panel,” nico says, and percy blinks in confusion. “i told father and lady persephone about some of what you said – and of course, they were watching over me. attempted harm towards me is a major offense in itself.”
“okay…”
“i am also on that panel for his retrial.”
percy’s eyes widen in realization. “wait–”
“father would like to offer you a spot on that panel for the retrial as well,” nico confirms. “he would’ve brought in aunt sally too, but – he felt that she didn’t need to go through the underworld before her time again.”
“you’re kidding,” percy breathes, mouth agape in disbelief. “s-swear it?”
“i swear it.”
“but – huh, why–”
“father felt that your judgement would also be useful, especially in the case of a retrial,” nico says with a shrug. “hades wishes to condemn him to tartarus, for you and aunt sally. but if you feel that the fields is more fitting, he would want to hear how you feel.”
“huh,” percy says softly, a small smile appearing on his face. “i didn’t think lord hades cared that much about me.”
“i care for you, and you did what you could to protect bianca and i – and even hazel,” nico points out. “because of that, he does care for you like a nephew – he just won’t say it out loud.”
“i really do appreciate it,” percy says. “i’m guessing i can talk to mom about it…?”
“oh, of course.” nico waves him off. “she deserves a say just as much as you – it’s just that she won’t be physically there.”
“thank you, neeks, really,” percy whispers. he returns riptide back to its pen form and shoves it in his pocket, opening his arms and saying, “mind if i give you a hug?”
nico steps forward and gives him a hug, letting percy hold onto him tightly. nico smiles softly at the smell of the sicilian beach that came from percy – they had found that everyone smelled a different body of water that they enjoyed being around when percy was there. “i … also said to gabe that you were basically my big brother.”
percy’s silent for a moment, and when he pulls back slightly, he’s smiling down at nico, unshed tears in his eyes. “and you’re practically my little brother at this point, too. you know i’d do anything to make sure you were safe.”
“and the same to you,” nico hums. “wanna join will and i for lunch at the hades table? i’m condemned to a day of rest by my father, and i haven’t gotten to tell will that i’m back.”
“sure, i’ll bring annabeth too, if that’s alright.”
nico nods, and they part from their hug. percy squeezes nico’s hand, whispering, “thank you again, nico. truly.”
nico smiles at percy. “of course. you’re family, and i don’t do well when my family is threatened.”
“and the same to you, kid.”
nico pauses on their way out of the arena, and adds, “maybe i’ll be willing to try again with that skeleton dog on a skateboard thing again.”
“ yes! ”