I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Nico and the Underworld

Nico made his decision two weeks before the spring equinox, a week before when he, Bianca, and Mamma would move down to Papà's palace in the Underworld.

"I want to go to Hogwarts," he told Mamma.

She nodded from behind the desk in her office, looking unsurprised at his presence despite the fact that it was five o'clock in the morning and he usually wasn't awake for another hour. "Alright then. I'll contact Headmistress McGonagall, and then send your rejection to Ilvermorny. I doubt there's going to be any problems, especially considering who I am and my position in Wizarding society over there. And the fact that Minerva likes me."

"Minerva?" Nico asked.

"Headmistress Minerva McGonagall," Mamma said. She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a piece of thick paper – not paper, parchment, she said the Wizarding World used parchment – a silver inkpot, and a black quill. She dipped the quill in the inkpot and began to write in a more elaborate fashion than her normal handwriting. Since it was cursive, upside-down, and English, Nico had no idea what she was writing. "She's seventy-three years old, fought in the First and Second Wizarding Wars, and taught every witch or wizard in Britain who's between the ages of twenty-three and seventy. And she's been Headmistress for everyone between the ages of twelve and twenty-three. She's very well known, very well respected, and one of the strongest witches I know. But she likes me. She liked my parents too, even if James and Sirius did their very best to drive her grey early."

Nico felt his forehead wrinkle.

"But James is five," he objected.

Mamma smiled sadly at him.

"Not your cousin James. My father James. Little James is named after him, just like Lily is named after my mother. James was your Nonno's best friend. All of your cousins were named after people who were lost. Teddy was named after cousin Andromeda's husband, who died shortly before he was born. Al was named after Albus Dumbledore, the former Headmaster of Hogwarts who died in the war, and Severus Snape, who did the same."

"Why dead people?" Nico asked.

"So that they'd always be remembered," Mamma said. "It can be hard, naming your children after someone who's gone, but it's a way of remembering them as well. Before I talk to Minerva, I have a question for you: do you want to go to Hogwarts as Nico di Angelo or as Nico Potter-Black?"

"Does it matter?" Nico asked.

"Both have upsides and downsides," Mamma said. "As Nico di Angelo, there wouldn't be as many expectations on you. But everyone would assume you're a Muggleborn, which you technically are, since Maria di Angelo was a Muggle. There's less prejudice than there used to be, but there is still some prejudice against Muggleborns. As Nico Potter-Black, you'd have the protection of two different Pureblood Houses, as well as my name in general, but you'd also have the expectations of being Amaranth Potter-Black's son on you. There would also be questions about where you came from, since you're eleven and I'm twenty-eight, though I suppose we could pretend you were born during my year on the run. But you'd be under scrutiny, and expectations, and possibly threats as well. The wards of Hogwarts will keep you safe from any – well, most – monsters that might try to harm you, but as ardently as most of the Wizarding World adores me, the other percentage hates me with equal fervor."

"But everyone would know that you're my Mamma?" Nico asked.

"Everyone would know," Mamma confirmed.

"I want people to know," Nico said stubbornly. "Even if it's harder for me. You're my mother, and I don't want to pretend you're not. And Teddy's my cousin and I don't want to pretend that I don't know him."

"Very well then," Mamma said, leaning in to kiss his forehead. "Minerva should be in her office at the moment."

"But it's so early!" Nico protested.

"Time difference, tesoro," his mother laughed. "Classes should already be in session in Britain. Why don't you go get dressed so I can introduce you to the Headmistress?"

He hurried back to his room and threw clothes on before returning, only to be sent back to his room and told to dress nicer, since this meeting would be important.

Once his mother judged his outfit appropriate, she grabbed a pinch of green powder from the jar atop the mantle of the fireplace, flicked her fingers towards the fireplace – causing it to suddenly ignite – and threw the green powder into the fire. The flames turned emerald green, nearly the same shade of green as his mother's eyes.

"Hogwarts, Headmistress' Office!" Mamma called out, before nearly giving Nico a heart attack by dropping to her knees and sticking her head into the flames. The only thing that stopped him from pulling her away was that she didn't seem hurt…and he could hear her talking, though he couldn't make out the words.

A minute later, Mamma pulled her head from the fire, brushed the soot out of her hair, and stood to her feet. The fire remained green.

"Minerva's free at the moment," Mamma said. "She's invited us to come through."

"Come through?" Nico asked warily.

Mamma looked surprised.

"I'm sorry, tesoro! I forgot how jarring it can be to see someone talking through the Floo. Wizards use fireplaces connected to the Floo network as both a communication device and means of transportation. If you just stick your head in, you'll simply talk to the person on the other side, but if you step into the fire and call out your destination, you'll be transported to their fireplace."

"Is that how we're getting there?" Nico asked apprehensively.

His mother smiled grimly.

"Unfortunately, yes. It's less nauseating that Apparition, but a bit messier. I tend to trip out of fireplaces, however. We'll go through together, to be sure you don't get lost. My first Floo trip, I ended up in the bad part of the Wizarding shopping district."

She offered him her hand.

Nico took it unhesitatingly, and didn't protest as she pulled him close to her and then into the emerald fire. A moment later, she was pulling him out of the fire and into a large, well-lit stone room. There was a desk atop a dais where an elderly woman in long green robes and a pointed hat sat, though she rose at their entrance.

"Darling, this is Professor Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Mamma said. "Minerva, this is my son, Nico."

"How do you do?" the woman said, smiling at Nico before looking up at his mother.

"So, do you care to explain, Amaranth?"

"I've been reincarnated," Mamma said bluntly. "I remember my past lives. Nico was my son in my past life, but he ended up trapped in a place where time does not pass. He was freed last summer and celebrated his eleventh birthday in January. We were surprised when he received an invitation to Ilvermorny. However, Nico has expressed an interest in attending Hogwarts, since it is my alma mater, and his cousin will be attending as well."

The elderly witch raised her eyebrows.

"You want to make me deal with a Potter-Black and a Black-Lupin in the same year? After already surviving the Marauders and your series of adventures?"

His mother smiled winningly.

"I'm sure it will be nothing you can't handle," she replied.

The Headmistress let out a laugh.

"Who am I to refuse Hogwarts' Champion?" she said. She moved over to her desk and pulled out a few pieces of parchment, then pulled out a quill and began writing on one.

Mamma grimaced.

"Please don't call me that."

Minerva McGonagall paused and looked up at her, eyebrows raised again.

"I could call you 'the Savior of the Wizarding World,' or 'the Woman-Who-Conquered,' if you'd prefer."

"How about Amaranth Potter-Black?" Mamma asked, looking pained.

"I suppose that will have to do, Lady Potter. Will your son be using your last name, or the one he was born with? Since I doubt that was the same as yours is now."

"Potter-Black," Nico said firmly. "I want people to know that I'm Mamma's."

Mamma kissed the top of his head.

The Headmistress simply watched the exchange.

"Potter-Black it is," she said. "Is 'Nico' your full first name?"

"It's Niccolò," Mamma said. "Do you need his full name for the rolls?"

"Please. I'll list Nico Potter-Black as his use-name, but I need his full name to magically enroll him in the school."

"Niccolò Salvatore di Angelo," Mamma said immediately.

The Headmistress wrote it down, then frowned.

"The roll isn't recognizing the name. Is that his full name, in magical terms, not just legal ones?"

Mamma frowned, then froze before her face twisted and she muttered something that Nico was sure he wasn't supposed to repeat…not that he knew what it meant, since it wasn't in English, Italian, or Ancient Greek.

"It's his full legal name, but I think I know why magic won't recognize it," his mother said with a sigh. "When Nico and his sister were born, I was…well, I was in hiding. My family was important, and it would have been too much of a scandal if one of the daughters of the family – even the only daughter of the known wild-child – showed up pregnant, out of wedlock, at only nineteen, and I couldn't simply say that I'd been sleeping with a god and be done with it."

The Headmistress started. Nico did as well, but for different reasons than the witch.

"A god?" she questioned.

"One of the Greek ones," Mamma agreed. "That is information I would prefer to keep quiet, if you please."

"Of course," the Headmistress said immediately.

Nic wasn't sure if it was because his mother was amazing, terrifying, or the fear of angering a god. He was leaning towards it being all on his mother.

"di Angelo isn't our last name?" he asked.

"Not really," Mamma admitted. "It was the name I went by for a good portion of my life, but it was my mother's husband's name, not my own. And it was never my mother's name either; her second marriage was morganatic – which means that since Mamma was of a higher rank than Papà, they were married in a way that meant that Papà couldn't claim Mamma's titles or inheritance – so she never took his last name."

Nico knew the explanation was for him.

"What is our last name?" he asked.

"Buonoparte di Savoia," his mother said quietly.

The Headmistress choked. Nico wasn't sure why. His mother continued quickly.

"Nico's full name is Niccolò Salvatore Vittorio Michele Buonoparte di Savoia. I want him to be referred to as Nico Potter-Black. Niccolò if it is truly necessary. I do not want his full name in any other documentation, and I would prefer to have the di Angelo name hidden as well. The harder it is to find my son outside of Hogwarts, the better."

Headmistress McGonagall recovered her composure and said, "Of course. However, we will be discussing this later, Amaranth."

Mamma sighed.

"As you wish. But not now. Now is for enrolling Nico in Hogwarts."

"Birthdate?" the Headmistress asked, quill poised over the parchment.

"January 28, 1935," Mamma said. "He didn't actually turn eleven until a few months ago, due to the magical stasis."

"Graduated a decade ago and you're still causing problems," the elderly witch sighed.

"I never technically graduated, since I was on the run for my entire seventh year," Mamma pointed out. She looked over at Nico. "You are required to graduate, unless you have a Dark Lord specifically targeting you who has already taken over Hogwarts."

"Don't tempt fate," the Headmistress said. "Knowing your family's luck, I wouldn't doubt it could happen again."

"I hope not," his mother said. "We have enough problems in our world without problems in this one."

The Headmistress paused in her writing to look at his mother searchingly. Finally, she sighed and went back to her parchment. "At least the problems you're causing me now are more paperwork and fewer Dark wizard attacks," Headmistress McGonagall sighed. "I'll make sure that the accessible roll has his birthdate listed as 1998, just as it will avoid his full name and either of his actual surnames. I'll also do my best to divert any questions, though I may have to tell Filius."

"I'm fine with Professor Flitwick and Neville knowing," Mamma said. "I know they can be trusted. Everyone else I would prefer not know, for secrecy's sake. The more people who know…"

"…the more likely it is to get out, yes, I do remember how secret-keeping works, Amaranth," the witch behind the desk said. She signed the bottom of the parchment, flicked her wand at it, and then folded it and sealed it with candle wax and a large seal with Hogwarts' crest on it.

"The roll is complete," the Headmistress said. "Now there's just one more thing…"

She dug around in her desk for a moment before pulling out another piece of parchment, which she handed to Nico. The top of the page read, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Supply List." Below, it listed everything that first year students would require.

"Thank you, Minerva," his mother said with a smile.

"Of course, Amaranth," the elder witch smiled back. "I couldn't imagine your son attending school anywhere but Hogwarts, even if he was born to your previous incarnation."

"Thank you, Headmistress McGonagall," Nico said with small smile.

The Headmistress smiled back at him.

"You're very welcome, Mr. di Angelo – or should I say, Mr. Potter-Black. I hope to see you on September 1st…though I dearly hope I won't be seeing you in this office as often as your mother managed to visit."

"I wasn't that bad," his mother protested as Nico laughed.

The Headmistress ended up inviting them to stay for lunch, but Mamma declined, since Nico had to get ready to go to school, which hadn't started yet in New York due to the time difference. Nico honestly wished he could skip – he'd love to see the castle that he'd be attending school in next fall – but didn't protest too much. Bianca would worry if she woke up and neither of them were home.

One week later, Nico, Bianca, and Mamma moved down to Papà's palace in the Underworld. Mamma ran over their new daily schedule with them as they walked through the halls.

"We'll shadow-travel to the apartment every morning, and from there you'll go to school as normal, and come home as normal. Until you two can shadow yourselves, someone trusted – me, your father, Zagreus or Makaria – will take you home and pick you up in the evenings. After school, you'll either have your extracurricular activities or you'll go back to the apartment and train with Percy until five, at which point someone will pick you up and bring you back here for dinner, unless there's something going on that night, in which case Sally has agreed to feed you and keep an eye on you overnight," his mother explained. "On weekends, you'll either train with me or you'll train in Elysium."

"Why are we training so much?" Bianca asked.

Mamma stopped short.

"There's a war coming, my darlings," she said quietly, reaching out to place a hand on each of their faces. "I will do whatever it takes to make sure you survive it, even if that means training you into the ground. I would rather you never have to fight at all, but I'm not so naïve to think that will happen. I've never been that lucky."

Training was hard. While Nico focused on a sword and Bianca focused on her bow and arrows, Mamma made sure that they were capable of fighting with all weapons. Papà recruited the greatest heroes of their ages to train them: Perseus, Theseus, Achilles. Mamma expanded on the recruitment by adding in swordsmen and bowmen from more modern times, as well as recently-deceased soldiers who could teach them how to use guns. Neither of them particularly liked guns, though they were both decent shots, and Bianca turned out terrifying with a sniper rifle. Mamma said that it was important to know how to shoot, even if very few people in their world used guns.

The only interesting thing that happened before summer was a monster attack while they were at the mall. Bianca was in the middle of a growth spurt and needed new clothes, and she'd dragged both Nico and Percy along to carry things. She'd also occasionally turned them into dress-up dolls, and promptly informed Percy that Mamma's AmEx was buying, so he could shut up and try on what she told him to.

They had just exited Macy's, Percy and Nico loaded down with bags while Bianca walked ahead of them, intent on their next destination. They were hoping to purchase Mamma's birthday present early, since they knew the summer would be busy. Nico was also hoping to find something else for Bianca, since her birthday was in less than a week. He and Mamma had already gone shopping, but he wanted to get his sister something that he'd found on his own as well.

They had no warning. It was only Percy's battle-honed instincts that had him pulling Nico to the floor and yelling a warning to Bianca, who dropped to the ground in time to avoid the ball of fire that went through where her head had just been.

Nico fumbled for the Stygian Iron sword glamoured at his hip. Mamma had insisted that he and Bianca be armed wherever they went, even school, but Stygian Iron apparently didn't hide as other objects like celestial bronze and Olympian silver could, so their weapons weren't hidden like Percy's sword/pen. Instead, Mamma had enlisted Hecate for semi-permanent Mist/magic glamours to hide the weapons in most situations and to hide their true appearance in other situations. He was glad she'd insisted on it now.

Percy already had his sword out and had charged one of the…some sort of giants? They certainly weren't normal-person-sized. And they were throwing flaming bowling balls. Nico rolled out of the way of another one, before finally managing to unsheathe his sword and charge at one of the giants.

There had been over a dozen originally, but Percy had made short work of four of them, while Bianca was firing arrows at the rest. They didn't always hit their mark, due to the flaming bowling balls, but she was doing a great job of finding the holes in their armor.

Nico kicked at the unarmored part of the back of his giant's knee, causing him to yell out and rage and crumble. He thrust his sword into the now-reachable chest of the giant, watching in fascination as the monster's essence was absorbed into the black blade.

He yanked his sword out of the remnants of the giant's armor, which was quickly fading to dust, and moved on to another giant. This one noticed him before he could attack, so Nico spent most of his time dodging flaming bowling balls before being able to slash at the monster's hand, which caused it to dissipate.

He took on his third giant head-on again. Percy was across the center aisle on the other side of the mall, engaged in a yelling match with the giant. Percy was calling him…Joe Bob? Bianca was occupied with a giant of her own, who had gotten close enough that she'd shouldered her bow and instead pulled out the long knives (or were they short swords?) that Mamma had trained her to use.

The third giant Nico faced was smarter than the others. He was more obviously afraid of his black blade, and he did his best not to let Nico get close enough to use it.

It was a frustrating fight.

It finally ended with an arrow protruding from the center of the giant's forehead. Nico turned to see his sister lowering her bow.

"Do you think it's time to call Mamma?" she asked.

Percy trotted over, sword already turned back into a pen.

"If she's available," he said. "Chrysa's always good to have around when you need to clean up a mess. Nico and I'll grab the bags, you call her."

Bianca nodded and pulled out her cell phone – well, it wasn't technically a cell phone. It didn't run on the cellular network, after all. It was on the same sort of network that Thanatos used to run his lists of the deceased, and that the Furies used to track down their prey. While the others on the network could connect to normal cell signal, Mamma had made sure that his and Bianca's phones could not. She didn't want them to be even more of a target then they already were.

Mamma didn't show up, but she sent one of her attendants instead.

"Lord Nico, Lady Bianca," Logos greeted. "Perseus Jackson."

"Um, hi," Percy said. "Who are you?"

"This is Logos," Bianca introduced. "God of stories. He's one of Mamma's attendants."

"My siblings and I determined that I would be the best to weave a story around what happened here," Logos said mildly.

He always said everything mildly, unless he was telling a story. Then he'd wrap you in with his words that it was hard to get out. Mamma had scolded him loudly the first time she'd found Nico sitting with him. Nico was embarrassed to admit that he probably wouldn't have gotten out of the story-trance without her. Logos had been very careful with his stories since then.

"Thank you, Logos," Bianca said. "We'll take our stuff and go back to the apartment."

"Mom's not supposed to pick us up for another hour," Percy pointed out.

Nico and Bianca exchanged glances.

"We can do something about that," Nico said.

Mamma had mentioned that she'd already introduced them, but Percy still looked a bit freaked out when Nico summoned Jules-Albert, their zombie chauffeur. He shifted uncomfortably the entire ride back to the apartment building.

Mamma was waiting with Sally in their apartment.

"Oh," Percy said as soon as they walked in. "Tonight's the dinner with Paul, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," Mamma said, rising from her seat in the living room and coming over to hug them. She looked Nico over once she pulled away. "None of you are hurt?"

"Not a scratch," Nico said proudly.

"I need to practice with my knives more," Bianca grumbled.

"Well, lucky for you, passerotta, I've made plans for that," Mamma said. "I've spoken with my sister Phiale. She serves as one of Artemis' Hunters and leads one of their semi-permanent bases in Montana. She agreed to let you visit for a few weeks during the summer, if you're willing."

Bianca lit up.

"That sounds great! I'll get to train with the Hunters? Living Hunters?"

"Living Hunters, not just dead ones," Mamma said. She smiled sadly at Nico. "Unfortunately, I have to leave as well right after school gets out, so it'll just be you and your Papà for a while."

"Where are you going, Chrysa?" Percy asked, plopping down on the loveseat beside his mother. Nico and Bianca took the couch while Mamma sat back down in her chair.

"I can't say," she said apologetically. "I'll be back in the Underworld on the summer solstice," she said, looking over at Nico, "but I can't say how long I'll stay."

"What's happening on the solstice?" Nico asked.

"The Dark Council will be meeting," Mamma said. "Formally, instead of just meet-and-greets, for the first time in nearly thirty-four hundred years."

"What's the Dark Council?" Sally asked.

"The Council for the darker deities," Mamma explained. "It's older than the Olympian Council, since most of our members are far older than the Olympians. We're also not limited to twelve. From what I've heard, the Protogenoi will not be attending, so instead it will simply be thirty-six ancient, Dark deities in one room to discuss a war that they all may or may not be participating in."

"That sounds dangerous," Percy said with a frown. "Will you be safe?"

Mamma smiled at him.

"Perfectly. They know better than to attempt to touch me in the Underworld. Not only are my powers strongest there, but I also have an innate connection to the Underworld. No one would be so foolish as to harm me in the middle of it. Besides," she shrugged, "we knew from the start that our meetings could be more…ah…volatile than other Council meetings. Our Council chamber is etched with so many spells of peace and protection that it's hard to raise your voice in there, much less a weapon."

"Didn't you die in the Underworld the first time?" Percy pointed out.

Mamma waved his concern aside.

"Unrelated. My murderers were young and stupid, barely even born before they went after me. The older deities know better. Besides, they live in the Underworld. Regicide is very much discouraged when the monarch is innately connected to the place where you live. I'm told that the Underworld was wracked by earthquakes – which then affected the surface – for years. It took Hades, Nyx, and Erebos all they had just to keep the Underworld from collapsing and merging the Earth and Tartarus. The entirety of the Underworld infrastructure was destroyed. At the very least, by virtue of not wanting the roof to fall on their heads, they're not going to touch me."

Nico felt himself pale.

"Could that still happen?" he asked.

"Everything's been reinforced since then," Mamma said. "Very earthquake resistant. And it's updated whenever new technology is introduced."

"I meant could they still hurt you?"

Mamma smiled, but it wasn't warm like her usual smiles.

"They could try," she said simply.

A timer went off in the kitchen.

"That's the meatloaf," Sally said, rising from her chair.

Then the doorbell rang.

"And that's Paul," Sally said. "Percy, could you get that? Everyone remembers the how-we're-related story?"

They all nodded. Percy got up and headed for the door.

"Paul!" he greeted. "Glad you could make it!"

Mamma rose from her chair as they walked into the living room. Nico and Bianca copied her.

"Paul Blofis?" she greeted with a smile, stepping forward and offering her hand for the man to shake. Or possibly to kiss, Nico was never sure with Mamma, but the man went with the former option.

"That's me," he said, smiling pleasantly. "I'm guessing you're Percy's cousin?"

"Chrysa Potter," Mamma offered in return. She gestured towards Nico and Bianca. "And these are my children, Nico and Bianca."

His eyebrows went up.

"I must say, you look very good for your age."

Mamma laughed.

"I'm older than I look, but younger than you're probably thinking. I was rather young when Bianca was born, and Nico as well."

That was the truth. Maria di Angelo had only been nineteen when Bianca was born and twenty-one when Nico was. That was a bit different from Chrysa Potter being fifteen when Bianca would have been born and seventeen for Nico, but it was still young.

"That must have been hard," Paul said.

Mamma shrugged it off.

"I wouldn't change it for anything."

"Paul!" Sally greeted warmly, coming in from the kitchen and greeting her boyfriend – did it count as a boyfriend when they were old? – with a peck on the cheek. "I'm glad you could make it!"

"So am I," Paul said with a laugh. "Your cooking's always better than anything I can come up with. What's for dinner?"

"Meatloaf, red potatoes, mixed vegetables, and biscuits. Chrysa was kind enough to make the biscuits and vegetables, as well as dessert."

Mamma laughed.

"All the vegetables required was boiling water and a bit of slicing and dicing, and I'm a deft enough hand at that. It was no trouble. As for the biscuits…well, I saw a recipe online and wanted to try it."

It didn't take Mamma long to convince Sally to sit down with her boyfriend while she sent Percy, Bianca, and Nico to set the table. After several months of occasionally eating at the Jackson house, they were both more than aware of where the silverware and dishes were kept.

Dinner went well, at least from Nico's point of view. Sally relaxed more and more as the night went on. Mamma later told them that she'd been nervous about having Paul meet what she considered the 'extended family.'

Nico was pleased at the description.

Bianca's birthday was only a few days later. She and several of her friends from school (and Nico and Percy) went to Coney Island with Mamma and Papà. Sally was brought along as well for extra parental supervision, and she brought Paul with her. Nico was pretty sure that they spent more time with each other than supervising the teenage girls.

Mamma put Percy in charge of Nico, handed them a wad of cash, and told them not to die and that mortals were just as dangerous as monsters sometimes. With an additional warning that while Nico's sword would not set off metal detectors, it would kill mortals, she left to track down the huddle of teenage girls that Bianca was ensconced with.

Bianca had always been better at making friends than Nico was.

Percy smiled out him roguishly. Nico felt his heart flutter.

"Wanna go ride the Cyclone?" Percy offered.

Nico smiled at him.

"Let's go!"

School got out a week later. Much to Nico's dismay, Bianca left immediately for the Hunter base in Montana, and Mamma left for her secret mission.

Which left Nico alone in the Underworld with Papà, who was always busy without Mamma or Persephone around to help.

Mamma hadn't even let him go to Camp Half-Blood, since it would probably be attacked this somewhere.

It wasn't fair. Nico wanted to help!

He took to wandering around the Underworld, exploring all the places he could. On more than one occasion, he ran into the ghosts that acted as the judges of the dead. Minos was the most attentive.

Two days after Mamma left, Nico ended up complaining to Minos while sitting on a cliff overlooking the Styx. Occasionally Styx herself would join him here, or one of the other river gods if he chose to overlook their rivers, but no one tended to bother him when Minos visited.

"I just wish I could do something!" Nico exclaimed, frustrated. "Mamma's always off doing things to help, and even Bianca's off training with the Hunters! I didn't even go to camp like all the other demigods. I'm just here. Training. With a bunch of dead people." He glanced at his companion. "No offense."

"None taken, master," the ghost reassured. "I've been dead for millennia. I'm not offended if someone points it out."

Nico sighed again.

"I just wish that I could do something."

"What if you could?" Minos offered.

Nico gave him a sidelong look.

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"As you said, I'm dead. And I've been dead a very long time. While I might not be able to get back to life, I do know the ways that the living can sneak out of the Underworld. I could guide you along those paths, help you find a way to help. I've actually thought of something about that."

"What are you talking about?" Nico demanded.

Minos looked around, then lowered his voice.

"From what I've overheard in discussions between your lady mother and your lord father, the Crooked One's army is searching for a way to travel through the Labyrinth."

Nico frowned.

"What's the Labyrinth?"

"It was built by my…ah, court scientist, you could say. Daedalus." He nearly sneered the last name. "The Labyrinth is where I kept my wife's Minotaur. It was also where Theseus" (another name the ghost spat) "slayed the Minotaur, and used the string given to him by daughter Ariadne to make her way out of the Labyrinth."

"Are you saying that the Labyrinth still exists?" Nico asked.

"Of course, master," Minos said. "It moved with the rest of Western Civilization. But the Labyrinth was Daedalus' greatest creation. It didn't only move, it grew. The Labyrinth is alive, in a sense. But it recognizes its master. I can make it through safely, and furthermore, I can guide you through safely."

"But what help would that be?" Nico questioned.

"The Labyrinth is tied to Daedalus' life force," Minos explained. "Daedalus shouldn't be alive anyway – he's cheated death for thousands of years, because he knows what awaits him when he dies. He betrayed me, after all. I wasn't planning on being lenient with him when he came to the judgment pavilion. And treason was not his only crime, nor even the worst of them. But somehow, Daedalus still lives. And he lives at the center of the maze. If Luke's forces find Daedalus and get him on their side, they will be able to make their way through the Labyrinth without issue. And if they can make their way through the Labyrinth, the magical boundaries of Camp Half-Blood will not deter them from striking. If we stop Daedalus, we can save Camp Half-Blood."

Nico took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"Let's do it."

Minos nodded. "Are you ready to leave now?"

"Not yet," Nico said. "I need to pack, and get stuff ready. And I can't leave until after dinner, or Papà will notice. Tonight."

"Tonight," Minos nodded. "You'll need to get outside of the boundaries of the Underworld. Not even the Labyrinth can allow escape from here."

Nico thought of the black key necklace that both he and Bianca had one of, that his mother had given them clandestinely and taught them how to use, that they'd been sworn to secrecy over. The keys were on chains without clasps that couldn't be removed by anyone but Mamma or Papà. Even Papà didn't know they had them. Mamma had made them promise to only use them in emergencies. Nico wasn't sure this counted, but he was going to use it anyway.

"I can get out," he said. "You'll be able to find me on the outside, and find the nearest Labyrinth entrance?"

"Of course, master," Minos nodded. "I will see you tonight then?"

"Tonight," Nico confirmed with a nod.

Dinner was…awkward. Without Mamma, Papà seemed to lose all of his social skills. He also had a pile of paperwork that was constantly being added to by zombie attendants, so he wasn't paying much attention to Nico during dinner.

"I think I'm going to go to Elysium for a week," Nico finally said. "Some of the heroes offered to make me my own Camp experience. So I won't be by for dinner for a while."

Hades hummed.

"Alright, Nico. Have fun. Don't get stabbed. Your mother would kill me if I let you get hurt."

"Don't worry, Papà," Nico said. "I'll be perfectly safe."

He hoped his father was distracted enough not to notice the blatant lie in his words. That seemed to be the case.

"I'm glad, patatino. I know you were disappointed not to be going back to Camp. But it's safer for you here."

Nico tried to offer up a smile at that. He was pretty sure he failed from the sympathetic look Papà gave him.

"I'll be fine," he said. "Just a week or two with some of the best heroes to ever alive. Minus Percy, of course."

Papà made a face at that. He didn't really like Percy. Or Thalia. It had something to do with his brothers breaking the Oath they'd made him swear, despite the fact that he rarely had children anyway.

"There's other heroes down here," he pointed out. "Have you met your brother Roland?"

"The French guy?" Nico clarified.

Papà nodded.

Nico nodded. "He helped a lot with my swordwork."

Papà nodded absently. "He was one of the best of my children at it. One of the least crazy too. Though you seem to be giving him a run for his money on both fronts. Bianca too, for the least crazy."

"Papà," Nico felt the need to point out. "He's a ghost. He doesn't have money."

"You know what I meant," Papà grumbled good-naturedly.

They finished the rest of their dinner in companionable silence.

"I'm going to go pack, and then head over to Elysium," Nico told his father.

Papà came over and kissed his brow.

"Have fun, patatino. Be safe."

"Always, Papà," Nico said, mimicking what his mother always said.

Hades rolled his eyes at that.

"I mean it, Niccolò."

"I know, Papà," Nico said seriously. "I'll be safe. I promise."

Papà smiled at him.

"Thank you, my son. I'll see you in a week."

"Maybe two," Nico said.

Papà nodded.

"I'll let your mother know if she asks."

Nico really, really hoped she didn't ask. Mamma would know. She always did, even before she had her goddess-of-lies powers back. She said it was a mother thing.

An hour later, Nico left the palace with his space-expanded bag and headed toward Elysium. Once he was hidden in a copse of trees in the fields of Asphodel, he looked around to make sure he was alone before pulling the blacker-than-black key from under his shirt.

He took a deep breath, reached out as if inserting the key into a lock, and turned it. A door of shadows even darker than the dark of the Underworld appeared in front of him, the edges and the keyhole the key was sticking out of glowing with eerie purple light. Nico pulled the key out of the lock with one hand and reached out the other to push the door open so he could step through.

"What are you doing?" a voice said from behind him.

Nico jumped and turned around, hand going towards the hilt of his sword.

Standing behind him was a girl – a ghost, really – just a few years older than he was. She was faded grey around the edges, but not all the way through like most ghosts were. There was an awareness in her eyes as well. He knew what that meant. But…her aura wasn't quite right. It wasn't like his half-brother Roland. More like his half-sister Alice. Though Alice wasn't a child of Hades, she was a child of…oh. That explained it.

"You're a child of Pluto," he said in realization. You remember your past."

"Yes," the girl said with a nod. Her cinnamon brown curls bounced when she did. "And you're alive. And…hiding in the Fields of Asphodel?"

"Promise not to tell our father?" Nico questioned.

The girl shrugged.

"I haven't seen him since I was alive. But if I do, I won't say anything."

Nico glanced around, and extended his shadow power, looking for anyone hiding in the shadows. There was nothing. They were alone.

"I'm sneaking out," he admitted in a low voice. "I want to help with the war that's coming, but Mamma wouldn't let me. So I'm going to go help anyway. I just have to get out of the Underworld first."

The girl frowned.

"I didn't think children of Pluto could just leave."

"We can't," Nico admitted. "But I have a key. I can get in and out when I need to. It's supposed to just be for emergencies though."

The girl's golden eyes had widened.

"I won't tell anyone. Just…do you think you could come back and visit me sometimes? It gets kind of lonely, being the only one who remembers anything."

Nico nodded firmly. "I'll come back," he promised.

"I'll be here," the girl said. "Good luck!"

"Thank you!" Nico said.

He waited until she'd backed away several steps before pushing the door open and stepping through. Using the Key was a strange sensation, though not as terrible a feeling as shadow travel. Or Apparition. Or Portkeys. Or the Floo. It was honestly mostly normal. Just the feeling of pressure, as if wind was blowing at a hundred miles per hour for a split second, then gone.

Nico made sure to shut the door behind him, before tucking the key back into his shirt and looking around at his surroundings. He was in some sort of city, though he had no idea which one. He was relatively certain he was still in the United States, but city alleyways all looked alike to him. He had two choices: stay in this alleyway and wait for Minos to find him, or leave the alleyway and try to figure out where he was.

He chose option two.

He hadn't made it very far – he'd made it onto a main street, but he still hadn't figured out where he was – when Minos appeared beside him.

"Why are you in Wichita?" the ghost demanded.

"Is that where I am?" Nico asked curiously. "I just got out of the Underworld. I didn't actually aim for anywhere in particular."

The ghost rolled his eyes.

"Well, lucky for you, master, there's an entrance to the Labyrinth in every major city, including this one. Come on. It's only two blocks away."

Twenty minutes and one minor bit of breaking-and-entering later, they were standing in front of a wall with a faint Δ carved into it.

"What do I do?" Nico asked.

"Just press it, master," Minos said. "It will open for you."

Nico reached out, hesitated, but finally placed his hand on the Δ. It began to glow blue, before fading away along with the rest of the wall. A long tunnel stretched out in front of Nico, with no end in sight.

"You're sure we won't get lost?" Nico questioned.

"I was the Labyrinth's lord," Minos scoffed. "I cannot get lost here. Come, master. We will be perfectly safe. We will find Daedalus and stop him, ending the threat the Labyrinth poses to your friends. Then you will prove your worth to your mother, and be allowed to further participate in the war."

The ghost stepped into the tunnel. Nico took a deep breath and followed him into the dark.

AN: This chapter did not want to be written. Hopefully the next one will go faster. Happy Independence Day, my fellow Americans! And for everyone else, Happy Alice in Wonderland Day! (It is actually a thing.)

AN2: (07/05/19): I've written a short story on Kronos and his relationship with Leuke titled, "Betrayal." It's going to be a three-shot eventually, but will not get past the first two parts until I finish The Last Olympian here in "Third Life." Go check it out!