"Norse creatures?" If the past few months hadn't happened, this new information could have been too much for Nico to take. As it was, it still felt like a lot to process. "So the Olympians aren't the only gods around?"

Hazel nodded insistently. "I know it sounds crazy, but—"

"No, it actually makes perfect sense. It's just…more than I feel ready to deal with." He slumped on one of his couches, and Hazel sat beside him with about as little grace.

"I know the feeling. We thought we were trying to avoid a civil war, and now we have other gods to deal with."

Nico didn't like that she'd voiced his own fear—it felt more real now that she had. So he remained silent, unable to find something to say. What was there to say?

"There's actually some good news," Hazel said after a silent moment.

"Is that even still possible?" Nico retorted, side-eyeing her.

"The wolf you fought is a descendent of Fenrir. The wolf who'll start the end of the world in Norse mythology."

"And that's good news…how?"

"They're not affiliated to anyone. And I've done some digging—none of the Norse gods would have used them, from any of their factions. They're all pretty afraid of messing with Fenrir in any way, because it might trigger Ragnarök, and…well, then they'll all die."

"Along with the rest of us. And I don't know much about Norse mythology, but I'm pretty sure they get better."

"Our monsters reform after a while. It doesn't make them any more keen to die."

Nico sighed, giving up on the argument. "So what's your point? If it's not one of the Norse gods, then who?"

"One of ours, most likely. Throw in an unknown creature, and everyone starts being afraid. Starts pointing fingers."

"So we're still on civil war as our explanation?"

"Pretty much."

"But—if that's the case, didn't we more or less stop that by becoming friends? A civil war between gods would have to start with us fighting each other, right? That's how it goes."

Hazel frowned at him. "You know, I'm not the one who inherited our dad's keen eye for judgment. You shouldn't ask me."

Nico stared at her in confusion. "But Bianca didn't—" He paused at her smug grin. "Please. I didn't inherit the instinct for godly justice." Hazel only raised an eyebrow, still silent; Nico scoffed at her. "So what, we should trust my instinct? Because so far you're the only one who's made real progress."

"Is that why you've been summoning ghosts in here?" Hazel chuckled. "Come on. I'm not the best with the death powers, either, but I can still sense when you call multiple ghosts from the other side. What were you looking for?"

"A pattern," Nico said, trying to remain neutral. "In what brought all those other demigods to New Orleans."

"And—?"

"And I have a theory at best. They all came as a result of snap decisions. Most in anger, but not all. One was just trying to reveal the existence of other gods to his siblings as a prank. One was escaping a bad relationship."

"Well, it's not anger, but it's still pretty close, right?"

"Right. But unless we can figure out what it is, knowing there's something in common doesn't help much. We're not finding out who's plotting all of this at this rate."

Hazel shrugged. "You know what you need? Some rest. Take a break, sleep on everything we found out. I'll do the same. And in the morning—who knows, maybe we'll have it all figured out." She rose to her feet as she said that, stretching casually. "We'll do it, Nico. I'm sure of it."

Nico wished he had her confidence, but he guessed rest was as good an idea as any, at this point. Hazel could show herself out; Nico lay down over the couch and closed his eyes.

He woke up startled by Cecil and Will's return, in the evening. Or so he thought—when his heart rate slowed and his senses cleared up, he realized it was just Will, humming to himself in a low voice. When Will caught sight of Nico, his face lit up with a bright smile.

"Hi! How are y—were you sleeping?"

"Um," Nico said, looking down at his rumpled clothes. He could feel his hair sticking out in a massive bedhead, too; it would be a miracle if the couch hadn't left a mark on his face as well. No point in denying it, then. "I may have taken Hazel's advice too literally."

"Well…does that mean you're well-rested and full of energy now?" Will smirked as he closed the distance between them, and wrapped his arms around Nico's waist.

"Shouldn't you tell me where Cecil is first?"

"He's on a date."

Nico frowned at him. "On a what?"

"A date. He met someone last week, and they're spending the evening together. He's been here for months, I don't know why you're so surprised that he found someone."

"It's just—he didn't tell me anything."

Will shrugged. "He didn't tell me anything, either. I just found out because he forgot about it until the last second, so he had to tell me why he was ditching me."

Nico wasn't convinced by that explanation, but he decided to let it slide and focus on what mattered. "So what you're saying is…we have the apartment to ourselves all night?"

"Oh yes."

"Then the question is, Will: why do you still have clothes on?"

There were few things that ruined an afterglow better than a sudden string of thoughts about the doomed aspect of one's relationship, so of course that's what Nico's brain decided to busy itself with the moment he came down from the high of orgasm. And Will—wonderful, attentive Will—noticed immediately, meaning Nico couldn't try to just move past it.

"Something's bothering you," Will said, absently tracing across Nico's chest with the tip of his fingers.

"Kind of," Nico replied. Part of him hoped Will would drop it, then another part of him felt bad for even trying to hide this from his boyfriend. "It's just—all these breakthroughs in the investigation, they reminded me of my meeting with Persephone."

"I thought it had gone well."

"It did, but…" Nico forced himself to sit up, to instill some seriousness between them. He doubted it would change Will's reaction, but it was the least he could do. "She told me something about you."

"I thought you said she was okay with us," Will said, the hint of a frown forming on his face.

"She is, she—it had nothing to do with that. She—" Nico breathed deeply. "I can't exorcise you. I mean, none of us can."

"This again? Nico, I'm not—"

"Going to turn into a vengeful spirit? Eternity's a pretty long time to be certain of that. What about—" Nico's voice broke off, unable to complete his thought.

Will raised an eyebrow. "What about what?"

"What if we break up? Or what if we don't, and I die? I'm still mortal. What then?"

Nico was amazed at how much control Will retained over his own features: his eyes widened slightly as he realized what Nico meant by 'eternity', but that was all he gave away. But then, to Nico's surprise, he shook his head.

"I'll figure it out. Me, and…whoever else is there. I'll ask the gods if I have to."

"The gods are the reason why I couldn't exorcise you. If the Olympians learn Hades and Persephone have let you roam free as a ghost, whoever's trying to cause a civil war between the gods will get exactly what they want."

"So I—what's that about someone causing a civil war?"

Nico shook his head. "I'll explain later—it's just a hypothesis. The point is—"

"I can ask Cecil, then. His dad carries the dead to the afterlife, maybe he can. Or one of his siblings. I'll figure it out, Nico."

"You don't know that."

"I know it doesn't matter for now," Will said, reaching out at last. Nico shivered where Will's hand brushed his skin, barely material at the moment—yet another hint of how truly upset Will was—but he leaned into the touch anyway. "I know that I'll do everything I can. I know I love you."

Will pulled Nico's head back against his chest, and Nico buried his face against Will's skin, sighing deeply. "I know that. And I love you. That's why I'm worried. I don't want you to become—like one of them."

Nico felt Will's hand in his hair, and he tuned out the world, barely registering Will's litany of 'I'll figure it out' and 'I love you'.