Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters I just have the feels and it kind of hurts.

A/N: I don't know what to say. This series makes me happy. I love Nico and Jason. I decided to write a story.

Does that work?

If you review I will love you forever!

Also thank you for reading I wish you nothing but the best. Much love!

One of the things Nico liked most about Jason was that he wasn't a particularly loud type. Not loud as in noise-loud, but loud as in existence-loud. It probably didn't make much sense to, well, anyone but Nico (Hazel had merely given him a puzzled look, head cocked to the side and one eyebrow raised, when he'd tried to explain) but there were some people who were just loud, even standing still. They walked up next to you and even if you didn't actually notice them you got a feeling that the space next to you was horribly occupied. Leo was like that, like the buzz of a hundred worker bees constantly moving and doing and building. Percy was sort of like that, not soothing night-waves-on-a-sandy-shore but more like crashing-waves-on-rocky-cliffs-with-hippocampi-riding-the-crests. (Nico completely conceded that he had spent way too much time analyzing Percy's existence-noise-level). Annabeth wasn't loud but Nico found her calculated-metronome-ticking rubbing him all the wrong ways. He'd always found Hazel's loudness (or not-loudness, in this case) to be perfect, the soft sound of shifting earth, like sand or loose dirt underfoot. (She'd laughed and accused him of calling her 'shifty'.) Jason was the quietest, however. Around him Nico always felt like he was in the moments right before a spring storm, that exact moment when the realization that the storm was approaching hit, and the wind was making the trees rustle ever so slightly, and the clouds were gathering just at the horizon and no one could know whether it will drizzle or pour or tear trees from the ground. Jason sounded like a paused breath the moment before a decision is made.

Jason would have probably laughed if Nico told him ("Waxing poetic again, di Angelo?") so Nico didn't, even though he knew Jason wouldn't mean anything bad by it.

Nico thoughts had drifted that way because Jason had done that thing again where he walked up and Nico just barely registered his presence. He had been sitting on his boulder at the edge of the shoreline watching the stars twinkle their reflections on the dark water and all of a sudden he felt like he was at the tip of a precipice and he could tip either way -and there was Jason, sitting down next to him and handing him a brown paper bag. He didn't know if that surreal attention to the details of existence of others had something to do with his father's influence or not, but he wasn't sure if he'd be comfortable knowing either way.

"What's up?" Jason asked, biting into a jelly donut. Nico shrugged and opened up the bag to find what looked like a French pastry danish. He pulled it out and bit into it and wasn't surprised at the tangy-sweet taste of the jelly inside. Pomegranate. Everyone thought Jason was some cool marble model of sensibility or something but the guy thought himself a riot. Pomegranate jelly.

"Any plans for the weekend?" Jason asked, finishing off his jelly donut. He shifted on the boulder and ended up shoulder-to-shoulder with Nico.

In Nico's mind there really wasn't room for two people on that boulder (although there actually was) but he was still working on the whole people-touching-him thing and so far Jason was one of the only people he was okay making physical contact with him.

"Maybe." Nico responded, chewing thoughtfully on the danish. "There's this street festival in Portland."

"Okay."

"Sounds interesting."

"Yeah?"

"I think I might go."

"You should."

Nico tilted his head and gave Jason a dry look.

"I haven't told you what the festival is going to be about."

"Yes, but a 'festival' implies people will be there." Jason said matter-of-factly, and licked stray jelly off of one of his fingers.

"Your never-ending quest to get me out among people, yes." Nico sighed with barely contained aggravation. Jason shrugged. Nico pouted, then realized he was pouting and turned it into a scowl. "There's going to be dead things."

"That would need to be brought there by people, on account of them being dead and not able to get there by themselves." Jason said without missing a beat. Then added, "Hopefully."

Nico finished the rest of his danish in silence while Jason watched the waves roll in and out.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Nico asked, sounding horribly disinterested. Spending most of his time with dead people was making it hard for him to modulate his tone. Another item on the list titled "Need To Work On".

"I don't know yet." Jason said. "Piper's going to visit her dad, and with things being so slow around here lately…"

Jason sounded disgruntled, Nico noticed. That was starting to be a trend. Not that Nico could blame him; the past year had been hectic and busy but in all the ways that Jason seemed to like it, apparently. Gaea had finally fallen, and the Greek and Roman camps had made amends. With those amends came a hectic rise in activity as the camps worked to join forces, write agreements and share information. The lives of the campers in each camp were different, sometimes strikingly so, and at first trying to find common ground was difficult, especially when it came to setting down rules for interaction between camps and what information they were allowed to share with each other. The gods hadn't been all that much help when they were called upon, constantly switching between Greek and Roman sides and alternating in their support of ideas and decisions. If it wasn't for Piper those first few months would have really been horrible, but somehow she had managed to help the ambassadors of each camp work together to reach at least somewhat of a peaceful agreement. Jason, of course, had helped her from the very beginning. The Romans still viewed him in a positive light, and the Greeks had come to accept him as their own.

Now that the major decisions had been made, however, and the hardest battles of words and wits were over, Jason seemed to be getting annoyed at the calm that had descended on the camp. Nico, on the other hand, couldn't care less. While he technically even liked being around peopl, he wasn't a fan of most of the campers in either camp. His plan had been to leave and never come back (and he cringed inside whenever he reminded himself of those words, even if they still rang true sometimes). He almost had, except that he'd been absolutely wiped out after having brought Reyna, Coach Hedge, and the Athena Parthenos back to the camp (it was really only sheer dumb luck that they'd landed on the back of a logging humpback whale somewhere in the middle of the ocean). He'd tried to leave as soon as he'd been able to see straight again but by then the camp was being attacked by the remnants of the monsters Gaea had called up from… Well, there were monsters, and they were attacking the camp, and his conscience wouldn't let him leave while others were still in danger.

Now it was over a year later and he was still at Camp Half-Blood, for the most part. Not-sleeping in the Hades cabin and sitting on his boulder at the shore's edge to watch the moon come up and go down. Jason had tried to get him involved in the various discussions between camps, though it never went over as well as the blond had hoped. Nico's days were full of avoiding others, fighting nightmares, and having Leo accidentally set him on fire whenever he asked him to help with a new project. (Leo had actually suggested that Nico just not wear any clothes in the bunker; Nico couldn't tell if Leo had been joking or not but his responding glare had made sure Leo wouldn't dare propose the same idea again.) With the hustle and bustle dying down his life had settled into exactly the kind of rhythm he liked it –quiet, calm, and without the inevitability of the world ending hovering over his head.

"Nico?"

"Yes?" Nico turned to Jason.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" Jason looked slightly amused. Just slightly.

Nico wondered how honest he should be in his answer.

"Piper is going to visit her dad?" He said finally with some measure of certainty. It was Jason's turn to give him a dry look.

"I was asking if you'd mind if I joined you this weekend." He said, and added hastily, "It's okay if you don't want me there, though."

Nico didn't like that Jason rushed to give him a way out. It never sounded sarcastic or condescending when Jason said things like that, maybe because he actually meant them and actually took into account other people's feelings and you could hear it in his voice. Jason was considerate because he was a considerate person, and not because he was trying to be one. It made Nico feel dirty in a way; he'd given the other guy the cold shoulder, just because, far too many times. It was a wonder they were anything like friends in any sense of the word.

"I don't mind." Nico said, "You might even have fun."

"Great," Jason said with a grin. "Now how are we getting there?"

The Door of Orpheus in Central Park was still there, though the gods had done some work in order to hide it better. More bushes, more rocks, and a statue of a horse on top. They could've put it under layers of concrete and steel but it wouldn't have mattered much to Nico; he knew exactly where it was and he knew exactly how to open it.

"A harmonica?" Jason said, one eyebrow raised.

Nico avoided his look and played the simplest tune he could. He hated harmonicas but he'd just thought of the Door of Orpheus when Jason had suggested accompanying him on his trip and he didn't feel like wasting time looking for a different instrument to play. Besides, he actually knew how to play a harmonica, a little at least. Bianca had thought it hilarious how playing a harmonica could drive their mother up the walls.

Nico was going to burn the damn thing once their excursion was over.

The doorway opened with a low rumble, exposing a triangular entrance. Beyond it stone steps led down into the darkness. The last time Nico had used them was with Percy. The memory wasn't exactly the best; Nico glanced at Jason then eyed the entrance warily. This time couldn't be any worse than the last, he hoped.

Jason had accepted Nico's decision to cross most of the road to Portland by way of the Underworld without a fuss, but Nico could see he was nervous in the way he kept touching his hand to the hilt of his gladius and the way his eyes kept flitting back to the entrance once they started making their way inside. It was Jason's first trip to the Underworld, and Nico didn't blame him for being scared (though he knew Jason would probably never admit to it); he could still remember the first time he'd come down to the Underworld after leaving Camp Half-Blood the first time. He'd spent hours huddled beside a stone carved with skulls as souls of the dead filed past, their ghostly forms flickering as if they moved in freeze frames. He'd eventually come to appreciate the underworld and its dead hosts. He couldn't explain it well, but he'd heard it said that home was a feeling, not a place, and he'd never quite felt as much at home anywhere else, not since Bianca had died, at least.

He wondered what Jason would say if he knew that the home Nico had found was now a place he could barely visit without being overcome by a horrible panic. He wondered what Jason would say of he knew that the only reason Nico was entering the Underworld as boldly as he did right then was because Jason was with him, an almost literal golden pillar of support. Nico had been to the darkest reaches of his home, he'd been in the cankerous sore that was even darker than the shadows that surrounded it, a realm older than death. Knowing that that lower realm existed was bad enough, but knowing that it was connected to the place that, despite its macabre oddities, was his refuge, was almost too much to bear. No place in the Underworld could ever be far enough from that sickening fissure for him.

Nico forced himself to stop thinking along that train of thought, though it was difficult. His mind always seemed to latch on to the things that bothered him most, doggedly chasing grim thoughts round and round. He gritted his teeth and fought to think of other things, better things. Already he could feel a cold sweat break out on his skin, could feel his heart pound faster in his chest. The path to the true entrance of the Underworld was not far, he reminded himself. They just had to catch Charon when he was on his trip across the Styx and convince him to give them a ride back across. They weren't that far at all. He could already see the Judgment Pavilion and the stream of ghosts in the distance.

"What's that?" Jason asked suddenly. Nico halted and turned to look at what Jason was asking about. It almost seemed as if something near one of the boulders at the edge of the walls was glowing, ever so slightly. Light was funny in the Underworld (or should he call it illumination) and Nico couldn't be sure he'd even seen anything, as the next moment the boulder was as dark as before. Jason seemed curious, though, or maybe he just wanted to prove the Underworld wasn't affecting him.

"I'll go see." He said with a steady voice. He gripped the hilt of his gladius tightly as he walked over, though he did not draw it. Nico realized he would be left standing next to Styx, alone. The thought made him shudder, and he followed Jason, though at a decent distance meant to feign disinterested.

It was darker near the wall, and Jason pulled out his gladius. In its dim light they were able to make out the shape of what seemed to be a statuette of a seated person with thick pillars bordering them on either side. The statue was worn and cracked, its features almost entirely erased, as if it had been tossed aside eons ago and left to face whatever elements existed in the Underworld.

"Do you recognize it?" Jason asked.

"No." Nico admitted. "It feels old, though."

"How does it sound?" Jason said, his lips quirking into a grin. Nico glared at him, but for some reason Jason never seemed to be affected much by his glares.

"Objects don't have a sound," Nico said in a huff. The problem was, now that Jason had mentioned it, it was almost like he could hear something. Something like a distant roar, and whispers heard through a door. It was very faint and Nico wasn't even sure he heard it properly. "Come on, let's keep going."

"All right." Jason said, but he kept looking back at the statuette as long as it was still in sight.

They soon reached the actual gates, and above their heads Cerberus barked a greeting. They could barely see him but for his paws on the ground, separating the stream of ghosts. Nico ignored Cerberus; it was really the only way he found to deal with the damn dog. If he so much as looked in Cerberus's direction he was guaranteed to have to deal with at least a half-hour of being licked by gigantic dog tongues and then forced to play fetch with things that were entirely too small for Cerberus to be fetching.

"He sounds happy," Jason said, though there was an uncertain tone to his voice.

"Don't encourage him." Nico said hurriedly, and when he noticed Jason looking in Cerberus's direction he quickly motioned for him to turn away. "Don't. Believe me, you don't want to get him excited."

Jason looked a shade paler at that, and quickly looked away.

Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about Cerberus for long. Cutting across the dark water of the river was an even darker boat full of lightly glowing ghosts. They waited until the ghosts filed off, then approached the boat before Charon could turn it around.

"Ah, it's you." Charon's skull-face gleamed eerily in the shadows of his hood.

"We need to cross back." Nico said, motioning back across the river.

"Do you?" Charon's empty eyes seemed to turn to Jason. "And how did you get across in the first place?"

Nico glanced at Jason; he wasn't even a little surprised at Charon's appearance.

"The back door." Nico said flatly. Charon turned his gaze back on him.

"Ah. Yes. The back door. Of course." The ferryman said. "And now you want to leave by way of the front door."

What a pill. Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yes." He hissed. Charon might have a skull for a face, but Nico could swear he saw the ferryman grinning. They'd never really seen eye to eye, or eye to endless hole of despair.

"Very well then, I should not keep the boss's son waiting on the shore like a commoner." Charon said, and added with sarcasm so thick Nico could practically see it dripping to the ground. "It would be my utmost pleasure to aid you in your travels."

Charon moved aside to allow them to board, and pushed off towards the far shore. They rode in uncomfortable silence, though Jason jerked a little when the bottom of the boat straightened out into the metal floor of an elevator and the boat's sides rose up on either side of them. Nico tried to ignore the walls as they connected over their heads, but his heart beat a harried staccato as they were doused in darkness. It only took a moment for the lights to come on, but that bitter taste had already risen in the back of his mouth and his hands had clenched without him noticing. He swallowed thickly, and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He couldn't see Jason's face but he was sure he was looking at him, so he feigned nonchalance as they waited for the elevator to rise and ignored the thudding of his heartbeat in his ears.

As soon as the elevator doors slid open Nico found himself surrounded by spirits of the dead, all clamoring at the elevator doors to grab at his hands and arms.

"Do you have a drachma? Just one drachma..."

"You can put in a good word for me! I'm sure he'd listen to you!"

Nico sighed in aggravation and waved his hands like he was shooing flies.

"Spread out!" He shoved a particularly persistent spirit off of his arm, only to have another pop up and shake a sheaf of papers in his face.

"This is a petition! The situation is atrocious! Spirits waiting hundreds of years!" The man's eyes were wild.

"All complaints should be filed with Charon." Nico said as he shoved past the spirit, but the man continued following Nico as he forced his way to the doors, the gaggle of spirits around him taking up the man's fervor.

"If you could only speak to your father..."

"It really has been too long for most of us, child..."

"Signed! By every spirit that has been waiting here for over a decade! There are many!"

Nico spared a glance back to find Jason eyeing the situation with an uncertain look, his hand still resting on the pommel of his gladius. Charon, back in his human form with spiffy Italian suit and tortoiseshell dark glasses, was struggling not to grin. And failing.

Nico grimaced and pushed his way through the spirits to the door, shoving it open as soon as he reached it. Jason was right behind him as he stepped out onto to the sidewalk, and the door closed with the petition-toting spirit still ranting.

"Do they always do that?" Jason asked after taking a deep breath.

"Ever since Charon greeted me as "the boss's most beloved son"," Nico grumbled.

"Sounds like a nasty move, considering the outcome." Jason said, frowning at the doors they had just exited.

"He knew what he was doing," Nico shrugged, starting down the street. "I cracked the ground under his desk just enough to spill his coffee all over his brand new Italian suit a few months ago."

Jason chuckled, "Why would you do that?"

Nico frowned at him.

"You wouldn't?"

Jason just grinned and shook his head, like he was thinking "this kid is unbelievable" or something.

"So how are getting to Portland from L.A.?" Jason asked.

"Shadow Travel." Nico said.

"Ah."

"Come on, there should be a good place around here somewhere."

They wandered for a bit until Nico found a particularly dark alleyway he deemed suitable. He used to use any shadows he wanted, until he accidentally melted into the shadows in front of an elderly couple which had just turned the corner onto the street he'd been on. He was sure the Mist had obscured what had actually happened but there was no need to be careless.

Wordlessly he held out his hand for Jason to take hold of, then pulled them into the shadows. Shadow Travel was never what you expected it to be; sometimes Nico felt like he was running uphill very fast while standing in place, and sometimes it seemed like the world spun crazily under his feet as he fought to keep balance. It was a wonder that he'd never felt scared of it, even if the air rushing past seemed strong enough to rip his face off. What he did usually feel after a trip was tired, and the longer the trip (and more passengers on board) the more tired he would get. It would've been easier, and quicker, to Shadow Travel from New York straight to Portland, but he really didn't feel like sleeping through the entire fest.

Traveling from L. A. was a lot better, but he still felt like he'd run a marathon. The weariness fell on him like a heavy coat as they stepped out from the shadows of building and into an empty side street in Portland. The daylight was harsh on his eyes after the pitch black darkness of the shadows, and he frowned up at the sky above.

Jason rubbed his arm, as if trying to warm them from a chill despite the weather being relatively warm.

"When does the fest start?" Jason asked.

"Around 12, I think?" Nico said, and started looking through his pockets for the postcard he'd found earlier that week. It was black and white and decorated with drawings of animal skulls and plants. The word "wunderkammer" was written in bold white calligraphy across the top, followed underneath with "a gathering of curiosities".

"Yeah, it opens at twelve." He said, "That gives us an hour or so, I think." "Can I see that?" Jason took the postcard from Nico, then eyed his watch. "Looks like we have an hour and a half."

"Good. Let's find someplace to take a breather." Nico glanced around and started to lead the way down the street.

"You know where we're going?" Jason asked.

"I've been in Portland a few times." Nico said. They passed a guy walking a brown and white dog down the street. The dog bared her teeth at Nico and let out a low growl.

"Whoa, sorry!" The guy pulled the dog back.

"It's okay." Nico said wearily, giving a half-hearted wave. The dog continued to growl as he and Jason walked down the street. There was a coffee shop on the next block, and they got a couple of decaf lattes and sat at an outdoor table. Nico honestly hated the taste of decaf espresso but caffeine always made him feel sleepy, and he didn't need any of that right then.

"Portland's nice." Jason said. Nico shrugged.

"It's all right." Nico said. "People are nice."

"Have you ever been to something like this?" Jason was reading the back of the postcard.

"Not in Portland." Nico said with a yawn. "I went to something like it in Michigan a few months ago. It was pretty boffo."

"All right, tell me this." Jason placed the postcard on the table and looked at Nico. "Did you always like dead things or did it just start after you found out your dad was the god of the underworld?"

Nico chuckled, "Good question."

He thought on it a moment.

"I don't know if I liked them, but I didn't think it was weird, I guess. I poked more than a few dead cats with sticks when I was little..."

"Poking dead animals with sticks. Your childhood sounds like a blast." Jason said.

"This one time, me and Bianca... Well, we found this one cat in the road, and it was run over and squashed by a tire, it was really horrid." Nico said with a wistful grin. "Bianca ran home to get some newspaper, and we scooped him up, maggots and all." Jason made a face, but Nico waved for him to wait on giving any comments. "No, listen, we took him home, and it was a pretty ritzy place, right? And our mother went absolutely batty about it, but we made such a fuss she finally gave in and helped us give him a proper funeral and burial in the backyard."

"That is disgusting and for some reason adorable at the same time." Jason said with a laugh, and Nico laughed too because Jason was not a guy you expected to be using words like 'adorable', and Jason must've realized it himself because he hid his face behind one hand and continued chuckling for a good minute.

They arrived at the street fest a little before one. Even without caffeine-drowsiness Nico had ended up nodding off at their table - he'd been using his powers more than usual the past few weeks, and it was showing. Jason had let him sleep while striking up a conversation with a group of people headed to the fest. By the time Nico had woken back up, groggy and feeling like he'd licked a pile of sawdust, Jason had already gotten both directions and coupons for a free sample at one of the vendors at the fest.

The street fest had a stretch about three blocks long blocked off, with an empty parking lot serving as a general rest area with port-a-potties and canopies and picnic tables. Not all of the sidewalks were filled with vendor tables; some of the stores and cafes along the stretch had their doors open and displays out front.

"That's pretty keen," Nico commented on a coyote headdress one of the vendors had on display.

"Are coyotes supposed to be red?" Jason asked.

"Color mutation. There are pitch black ones too, and mottled ones. Some of them have some domestic dog genes mixed in their lineage." Nico said, checking out a stand of artfully painted animal skulls. The lady whose table it was talking with the lady next to her who had skulls and bones carved with intricate designs.

"That is pretty cool." Jason said, lifting a deer skull painted with a design of a starry blue-purple night with black silhouetted trees in the foreground.

They found where to use their coupons a few tables down, and exchanged them for samples of homemade venison jerky and caramels.

"Hey, do you feel that?" Jason asked suddenly. He was chewing on a piece of jerky.

"Feel what?" Nico asked glancing around. He felt a lot of things - or, more accurately, heard them; gatherings of people were always loud. Now that Jason had called it to his attention, he started to notice something strange among the noises, something a little more chaotic and variable in tone than the rest of the sounds around them. "Wait, I think I do."

"It feels like it's following us." Jason said. "Right?"

Nico nodded in response, "Let's make it through the fest. Maybe it won't do anything while there are so many people around."

There was no reason to debate on what it was following them. Two powerful demi-gods being tracked by something unseen? If it wasn't a monster, that would be a first.

They continued through the fest, that odd feeling following them, though keeping just to the edges of their awareness. Nico tried to enjoy himself, but he was getting seriously ticked off. He couldn't help but wonder what it was following them, and whether it would try to attack them among the crowd or not. Some monsters just didn't care.

"Look, I said I'll pay whatever you want for it."

The voice came from a middle-aged woman standing in front of a vendor's table. A similarly middle-aged man stood next to her. They were both dressed in a motley assortment of colors that, though curious, looked aesthetically pleasing.

"No, I'm sorry, they're just for display." Another voice said, but they couldn't see the person yet through the crowd. Nico, interest somewhat piqued, steered toward the table.

"Well, what about that coyote skull?" The man asked.

"Uh... She... she doesn't like the idea you have..." The vendor said again.

"What do you mean, 'she' doesn't like the idea?"

"Yeah, she doesn't, but the bobcat doesn't mind!"

Nico and Jason passed a large group of people heading the other way and finally ended up at the table.

The vendor was a young man, maybe a year or two older than Nico himself. He had medium tan skin and brown eyes and dark brown hair that was styled into something resembling a fauxhawk. He was edging a rather large and complete coyote skull back from the edge of the table and pushing a bobcat skull towards the couple.

"Look, kid, the project wouldn't look as good with a bobcat skull, we need a coyote." The man said. The woman was still eyeing a rather large skull in back that was propped open with a price list between its jaws

"But... She doesn't..." The vendor glanced to the side helplessly, like he was expecting someone to be there. Nico could see his hand tremble slightly on the coyote skull. It might've been his imagination, but he thought he saw the skull shudder itself as well.

"I'm really sorry but I can't." The vendor said, pulling the coyote skull back towards himself.

"All right, forget it. I think I saw another one further down." The man grumbled. The two moved onward down the street, and the vendor heaved a heavy sigh and started rearranging the skulls on his table again. Other than the two he'd had out front, he had a multitude of small rodent skulls, some weasel and mink skulls, another bobcat and two coyotes, and an assortment of larger rodent skulls on shelves on back.

He looked up as they neared, giving them a grin.

"Hi, how's it going?"

"Good. How about you?" Jason said.

"It's all right." The vendor said. He was dividing his attention between them and the skulls he had on display, his fingers dancing across the tops of the ones he could reach. There was something in his noise that Nico connected, strangely enough, to home. The hush of a still night and faraway animal sounds and something like the rustling of leaves across a well walked road.

The vendor looked at him, offering a shy smile, and Nico realized he'd been staring at the guy. He quickly dropped his gaze to the skulls on display and tried to not think about how the guy was kind of cute when he smiled like that.

"Where'd you get the skulls?" He asked.

"Oh uh some of them are roadkill... Some are from trappers." The guy pointed first at a raccoon, then at the large rodent skulls. "The big coyote here I found and most of the small skulls are from owl pellets."

"Owl pellets?" Jason asked, looking up from the tiny rodent skull he was holding in his hand.

"It's... It's what's left when an owl eats something, well... They can't digest the bones and fur so they spit that back out." The guy said, petting the large coyote skull again.

Jason looked down at the skull, then at Nico.

"Yes. Owl throw up." Nico managed with a straight face. Jason straightened up slightly, eyeing the rodent skull uneasily.

"I, uh, I clean those. And peroxide them..." The vendor said, his voice getting slightly quieter towards the ends. He looked slightly uncomfortable, almost apologetic. He looked at Nico again then looked away quickly, fiddling with a few skulls on the shelf.

"Hey, Amir! Got lunch!" A girl around Nico's age walked up to the vendor, carrying a brown paper bag up high triumphantly.

"Thanks Olcay," Amir said as she set them bag on the table. She looked similar to Amir, though her hair was black instead of brown. She smiled at Nico and Jason as she unpacked the bag.

Jason had set the tiny skull back on the table, and was looking curiously in Amir's direction.

"That's an interesting pendant." He said.

"Oh yeah, this?" Amir held it up so they could see it better. It was carved of wood, and resembled a full-figured woman, sitting, with lions flanking her on either side, and with a bird of prey seated on her shoulder. Nico found it oddly familiar, though he couldn't say why. "I don't know who it is, I'm sorry. I bought it in a thrift shop a few years ago. It just..."

He looked like he was trying to find the right word, "It just fit, you know?"

Jason nodded, as if he totally understood.

Nico glanced over the rest of the skulls on display, ready to move on, but his eyes landed on the large skull holding the pricing list. There was something strange about it, and strangely familiar at the same time. Nico was no expert in animal skulls, not yet anyways, but it was definitely canine in shape. And large, bigger than any dog he could think of, except maybe a Mastiff. The longer he looked at it, the more he felt drawn to it. As ridiculous as it sounded, he felt as if, out of all the things in the fest, this was the one item he needed.

"Is that one for sale?" Nico asked, gesturing to the skull.

"Oh, that's-" Olcay began, but Amir grabbed her arm to stop her and tilted his head, like he was listening to something.

"Uh, sure." He said, giving Nico a grin.

"Amir..." Olcay started, but Amir shushed her again and moved over to pull the price list out from between the skull's jaws. He hefted the skull in his hands and eyed it critically. It looked even larger in his hands, almost bigger than his head. After a moment he nodded his head, as if agreeing with something, and handed it over for Nico to take hold of.

The skull felt cool in his hands, despite sitting out in the sun. The bone was creamy white, slightly yellowed along the edge of the lower jawbone and around the nostrils. It was in impeccable shape, no piece missing from what Nico could see.

It was the oddest feeling, that now that it was in his hands there was no way he was going to put it back down. He had the wild idea that he should just run with it, just turn and run because he couldn't let anyone else have it. It didn't belong there, where it was.

Nico frowned at the skull, as if it were the source of those alien thoughts. He glanced back at the guy behind the table. Amir had been looking his way, but quickly shifted his gaze back to his skulls. Olcay had sat on one of the chairs behind the table and was eating a sandwich.

"You're getting it?" Jason asked.

"Yeah." Nico addressed the vendor. "How much?"

"Oh, uh..." Amir looked puzzled by the question, as if he'd forgotten he was selling the skull and not just giving it away. "It's a bigger one... Fifty?"

"Amir, you don't ask, you tell." Olcay whispered to him.

"I mean I could take less if that's too much..." Amir went on as if he hadn't heard her.

"That's no way to do business." Olcay whispered, and shook her head.

"Fifty is fine." Nico said, placing the skull back on the table.

"Great, I'll pack them up. So they, you know, won't get damaged." Amir said with a grin, though his face dropped a little as he picked the skull up and started wrapping it. Nico got his money out, but he hesitated; he wasn't sure Amir actually wanted to sell the skull. The guy was patting it fondly as he wrapped the jawbone up in bubble wrap, and he sighed as he finished wrapping the top of the skull. He put it in a large box, and then put the box in a bag ("They prefer it dark like that." He explained with a shy look in Nico's direction) and handed it over. Nico paid him with three twenties because even though an extra ten probably didn't do much to ease the loss of what seemed to be a favorite of Amir's collection he felt like he should do something.

"Thank you." Amir said, grinning. He hadn't even counted the money.

Oclay smiled at them as well, and added, "Stop by to chat later, or tomorrow! We'll be here."

"We'll definitely try." Jason told them.

"Yeah," Nico said, "and thank you."

"Not... not a problem." Amir said, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks.

As they turned to walk on Nico caught a glance of Jason grinning to himself. He glared at the street ahead and tried to ignore it.

"Shut up."

He couldn't ignore it.

"I'm not saying anything." Jason responded.

"You're thinking something." Nico muttered darkly.

"What am I thinking?" Jason even managed to sound adequately puzzled. "That the guy was so into you he actually sold the same skull he'd told someone else wasn't for sale just a few minutes earlier?"

"You don't know it was the same one." Nico pointed out, stepping around a tawny cat that had tried to brush up against his leg. He didn't trust animals. The cat meowed loudly, looking insulted, and headed in the direction they had just left.

"You know it was." Jason said, slowing down to look at a table full of carved figurines and knicks knacks.

Nico wanted him to drop it, but he didn't have to say anything. Jason somehow always knew when enough was enough.

"Look, a set of pan pipes." Jason said, holding them up for Nico to see. "How annoyed would Piper be if I got her these?"

"Pretty annoyed." Nico affirmed.

Jason bought them, of course.

Nico often thought that moving to the Greek camp had done Jason a world of good. Free from them rules and expectations of Camp Jupiter he was finally beginning to relax a bit. Not that he didn't know how to have fun before; it was just that it was always a controlled sort of fun, acting like someone was always watching him to catch any mistake he made. Sometimes, however, Nico wasn't sure if Jason finding his humorous side was a good thing.

They spent the rest of the day wandering the fest, but they never made it back to Amir and Olcay. The morning's trip through the Underworld and the Shadow Travel had really worn them both out, so they found a motel and Jason rented a room for the night on his credit card.

Nico plopped onto one of the beds while Jason went to take a shower, and was out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He woke in a green-lit cavern hung with vines and flowers. No, he didn't wake; it was a dream, and not a typical one. Those were usually nightmares.

For a moment all he saw was a green haze and large leaves and flowers. His eyes grew focused, until he saw that there was a figure before him. She was a large, voluptuous woman, and she sat on a carved-wood throne. Her skin was nearly as dark as the seat she sat on, a deep earthen brown. Her eyes were green like fresh grass, like deep lakes. Her hair was black and fell in thick curls past her shoulders. On either side of her stood two large lions, their manes so dark they were nearly black. They watched Nico with golden eyes and bared teeth white as bone. A screech sounded from above, and a large bird of prey, a Golden Eagle, glided down to seat itself on the women's shoulder.

"Son of Hades." The women said. Her voice was like the rumble of the earth and the whisper of spirits. At the sound of it a breeze stirred among the vines, and Nico had the odd sensation that he was surrounded by a multitude of beings, like the spirits in the Underworld, only less solid and more like drifting clouds. Once he felt it, he couldn't shake it, and though he tried to focus on the woman he could see slips of gaseous forms appearing and disappearing within the cavern.

"Who are you?" Nico asked.

"I am the Mother of all. I am the Ruler of The Wild Beasts. I mediate between the known world and the unknown, the realms of the living and the dead." She said in a voice as old as the ages. "Your Greek predecessors attempted to unify me with Rhea, but I was, am, and always will be Cybele."

For a moment Nico didn't know what to think. The dream was almost too vivid to be real, or rather to be unreal.

"I... I don't really remember you..." He said finally, wracking his brain for any bit of information that might aid him in recognizing the being before him. He was pretty sure she was never included in Mythomagic.

"I am a Phrygian goddess." Cybele said. "It is no wonder you do not know me, not in this form at least."

Her voice was deep and resonant but at the same time it was filling him with a deep sense of comfort, of belonging. He wasn't used to it; it made his skin itch, and yet it felt nice, like he was home again.

"Did you like your gift?" Cybele asked.

"Gift?" Nico asked.

"It was Amir's favorite, but it did not belong with him." Cybele explained.

"The skull? You... You told him to sell it to me?" Nico remembered then how Amir had cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something, or someone. On the one hand, that would explain why Amir had given it up so easily; on the other hand, that meant Jason had been wrong in his appraisal of the situation. Nico wasn't sure how he felt about that, and it made his next words come out more sharply than he wanted them to, "What do you mean, it didn't belong with him? And why give it to me? Other people wanted to buy it."

"You don't know what creature it is from?" Cybele asked, "It is not of any that live on the earth."

Nico thought back to the skull, thought of its size, its shape, the fact that, according to Amir, it preferred darkness. Canine in shape...

"A hellhound?" He said, more to himself than to Cybele. "But how..."

"A young hopeful once traveled through this area on her way to the Roman camp." Cybele explained. "She fought and defeated a young hellhound, no more than a pup, but left her trophy behind in the form of a skull."

Nico eyed Cybele curiously for a moment.

"You're probably the most informative deity I've ever met."

Cybele looked amused.

"Would you prefer more smoke and mirrors?" She asked, with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"I'm not complaining." Nico assured her. He hesitated a moment, then continued, "and not that I'm not enjoying our chat, it's been keen, but I'm assuming that talking about a skull isn't the reason you've called me here."

The lions at either side of Cybele growled then, the one on the left whipping its tail.

"You are correct, child." Cybele looked worried then. "I do not usually have authority to contact Greek or Roman demigods myself; however this is a matter that needs a level of power only your companion and you could provide. Amir is only, ah, how do the Romans call it?" Cybele touched a hand to the mane of the lion on her right, and it rumbled low in its throat. "Yes, a Legacy. His powers are not quite so strong... You see, you were noticed when you arrived in Portland."

Nico remembered the odd feeling of being followed that Jason had called attention to. A cold shiver ran down his spine; he hadn't noticed when it'd disappeared, but now he realized that the feeling had been gone once they'd left the street fest.

"Legacies do not usually give off much of a scent, of course, but when two powerful demigods are nearby..."

"We led it to him?" Nico asked, but he already knew the answer. "But why didn't it keep following us?"

"A relatively helpless Legacy and two powerful demigods... Would you?" Cybele sighed then. "It is just his luck he is a Legacy of my Grecian cult-identity. The others are Phrygian, they do not have to worry about these sorts of things."

Nico was starting to feel antsy. The guy, Amir, was supposedly in danger of being attacked by a monster that Nico himself had helped lead directly to him, and there he was with Cybele, booshwashing.

"You contacted me so we can help him, right? So what is it, the monster... and where is Amir?"

Cybele's expression became serious.

"I will show you where you must go, you still have a little time." Cybele said, her voice firm. "As for the monster, prepare yourself accordingly - it is the Chimera."

For a second Nico's mind jumped back to when he was a kid and all he could think was '500 physical attack power 500 elemental fire damage no blind spot'.

He took a deep breath.

"Where do we need to go?"

Cybele gazed at him, her green eyes growing dark and deep. The lions at her sides became utterly quiet. No, he realized, they became spirit-like, as see-through as vapors. The Golden Eagle raised itself off of Cybele's shoulder and disappeared into the trees above with an empty, echoing cry.

Trees.

Nico glanced around and saw they were no longer in the cavern. He was in a stand of trees, possibly the outskirts of a forested area. To his left he could see a clearing, and beyond that the glimmer of house lights. It was evening, dark but lit by the light of a nearly full moon. He locked the details of his surroundings in his mind.

"I know where to go now." He said, turning back to the goddess, but Cybele was gone. He repeated himself louder, "I know where to go!"

He woke with a jolt, sitting up in the motel bed.

It was dark outside the motel window, though a thin sliver of pale moonlight beamed onto the floor from between a crack in the blinds. Jason must have thrown a blanket over Nico, because he found himself tangled in one. He peeled it off and stood from the bed, feeling oddly awake and aware of everything.

Jason was sleeping in the second bed, and Nico kept quiet as he made his way over to the window and peered through the blinds. The moon was high in the sky, but not yet as high as it had been in his dream. Cybele had said they had a little time...

"Jason..." He said, turning to walk over to the other bed. "Jason, wake up."

It was a testament to his training that Jason was able to get dressed and ready within a few moments of Nico waking him. He was still blinking blearily as Nico explained the situation, but he was giving him his full attention.

"Cybele?" Jason seemed just as confused as Nico.

"She said that the Greeks had tried to integrate her, maybe the Romans did too, but under a different name." Nico said distractedly. He was holding the box containing the hellhound skull, wondering what to do with it. "Do you remember how to send packages through Hermes Express without a packing slip?"

"Not right now." Jason said. He grabbed a notepad and pen from a bedside table and handed it to Nico. "Guess we can just write it out and toss some drachmas on it?"

Nico scribbled the address out to Hades Cabin c/o Camp Half-Blood and folded the paper over to make a pocket. Jason handed over some drachmas and he dropped them inside, then tucked the paper under one of the boxes flaps. There was a sound like that of an old cash register, and the box shuddered on the bed, and then disappeared with a loud pop.

"Okay, we need to get going." Nico said, glancing at the streak of moonlight on the floor. He was vividly aware of how quickly time was passing, as if he could hear a giant clock ticking off the seconds.

"The Chimera." Jason said grimly. "Between the two of us we should be able to take it."

"Five hundred attack, five hundred elemental damage, no blind spot," Nico muttered under his breath.

"What?" Jason asked.

"Nothing." Nico held out his hand. "Come on, let's go."

They stepped out of darkness into a slightly less absolute darkness. Trees surrounded them, and just as in his dream Nico saw the clearing and the house lights to his left, and the nearly full moon through the branches above head. It was eerily quiet, no wind moving the branches or fluttering the leaves.

Even in the dark Nico found himself aware of every detail around him, the outline of tree trunks, the distance between the trees and the uneven ground between them. His heart was pounding furiously, like it wanted to leap out of his chest.

He felt so horrible about the situation. He'd struggled for most of the time he'd known he was a demigod not to put anyone in a dangerous situation, not even by accident, but here he was.

He pulled his black sword from its sheath, and a pale glow next to him confirmed that Jason had pulled his gladius out as well.

"Did we get here in time?" Jason asked. Nico held up a hand to quiet him, and cocked his head to the side. Something reached him, a fluttering of autumn leaves on stony ground. Nothing moved among the trees, but he felt the whimpers of animals. It didn't grow louder, he just seemed to gain more awareness of it, and then suddenly existence fragmented in his mind as an avalanche-like rumble echoed through him both physically and on whatever level his existence-noise-attentiveness existed on.

He spun to face the deeper thicket of trees, and Jason raised his gladius in a defensive position. They should have had shields, longer weapons, something, but Nico tried not to think about how close they would have to get to the Chimera in order to defeat it.

A shadow raced through a line of trees, running straight for them, dodging between tree trunks. Nico recognized Amir as he neared them, running through a beam of moonlight. He looked terribly frightened, eyes wide and breath coming fast. His jacket was torn on one side but he didn't seem to be injured.

He noticed them suddenly, and almost balked, but Nico waved him on and Jason called out, "Don't stop!" Amir ran past them, and Nico would've looked after him to make sure he'd listened but right then the rumble came again.

From the same direction Amir had come from loped a gigantic beast, easily as large as a buffalo, at least. It was so large it had to pick its way through the trees where they grew closer together, and that had given Amir the chance to pull ahead of it. The trees were thinner at the edge where Nico and Jason were, however, and the Chimera began moving faster towards them. The beast had a large lion's head surrounded by a wild mane made gruesome with caked on blood. Its body was that of a goat, with a goat's head jutting from its back and cloven hooves that kicked up large patches of dirt as it raced along the ground. Behind it, whipping lazily from side to side, was its snake-headed tail.

Nico had heard about the Chimera from Percy, and he knew Jason had as well. It breathed fire; its snake head's fangs delivered a deadly bite of poison. The goat head could have been nothing more than a decoration and it still would've been a formidable monster. The goat did something, was useful to the beast in some way, however, but Nico couldn't remember what it was.

Nico called to mind the words necessary for his necromantical abilities. Undead warriors might turn the tide in this battle, but he didn't want to risk summoning them more than once; despite how awake he was he'd used his powers many times in the past day and he was feeling the effects.

The Chimera roared as it neared them, the rumble rolling over them in an almost physical way. At the last moment, Nico sprang left and Jason jumped to the right, and the beast landed hooves first right where they had been standing a moment earlier. Another creature would have paused then, recoiled to avoid leaving itself unguarded between two opponents, but the Chimera whirled into action immediately. It had no worry about being caught off guard, as all three heads moved independently of each other. The lion's head faced Jason. The stink of its grisly mane was thick on the air, like the stench of meat left rotting in the sun. The snake head whipped around as the beast turned towards Jason, and glared at Nico with slit eyes glittering a cold gold in the sun. It hissed loudly and coiled itself, eyeing him as if waiting for the opportune moment to strike. It was at least seven feet long, more than enough to reach Nico where he stood. He had an idea on how to fight it, but it only worked if he was fast enough to pull it off.

"Come on fang face," He muttered darkly. "Catch me if you can."

The snake hissed again, rearing up. He swung his blade, missing it entirely. He hadn't planned on hitting it, he just wanted it focused on him. It wasn't easy to do, as the lion head was attempting to keep track of Jason. Just as the snake seemed about ready to strike, the beast's entire body jolted to the side as the lion head took control to dodge around a tree Jason had hid behind. The snake hissed in annoyance, whipping around to glare in the lion head's direction. The goat bleated, sounding amused. It would've been funny except that Nico was certain that even with the problems having three heads posed the beast could still squash them if they weren't careful.

Gauging the distance between himself and the snake head, Nico dodged to the side and ran around a tree while the snake head was distracted, emerging at the beast's side. The snake head noticed him then, and reared up with a loud hiss. He barely had time to react as it whipped forward, dodging further away from the tree trunk as he avoided its blow. Still he felt its head hit his shoulder, sending him stumbling, but he'd thankfully avoided being bitten. The goat bleated in amusement again, and the snake pulled back, rearing for another strike.

It didn't come, however, because the beast was pivoting on its hind legs as the lion head followed Jason as he dashed around the beast. Nico caught a glimpse of its face and was surprised to see two or three slashes of red across the tawny fur. He didn't see the lion's face for long, because it turned away from him as Jason ran to the monster's far side. Without warning the lion head belched out a stream of fire in his direction, so hot Nico could even feel it from behind the beast. The entire world seemed lit up by the flames, and Nico stumbled back, trying to get behind a tree, as the goat bleated almost mockingly and the snake hissed somewhere over his head. His eyes were full of white dots, and he couldn't seem to find a tree to hide behind. The snake kept hissing somewhere from above, and from too close for comfort. He couldn't tell if Jason had been hit or not; he would've known if Jason had been...

He shoved the thought out of his head, and gripped the hilt of his sword tightly in hand. His eyes were clearing, enough for him to see the basic shape of the Chimera, a black shadow backlit by what must have been the burning remains of a tree. He could make out the goat head and snake head, still bleating and hissing in amusement. He knew what he had to do. They still thought he was blinded by the glare, so he continued to act like it, even as his vision grew clearer. He stumbled to one side, stretching out a hand as if he was reaching to find a tree, then stumbled forward, as if he'd tripped on something. The snake head reared, coiling in anticipation, but this time when it struck it did so at a slower, leisurely pace, and Nico was ready. He swung his blade as it struck, and felt it connect, then cut, through the snake head's thick neck.

The lion roared, a terrible sound that set the trees shaking, and the goat's eyes suddenly blazed red. At Nico's feet the snake head snapped spasmodically, while the rest of the beast's tail writhed in apparent agony. Nico stepped away from it, steadying his blade. The monster had bunched its muscles, as if preparing to turn, but it hadn't. The goat head twisted to face him, a grotesque sight of mottled black and white with red eyes and cruelly curving horns. It opened its mouth, and suddenly Nico found himself in the very pit of despair, the eternal living cesspool of terror and pain, the neverending, undulating tumorous mass of horror...

His sword dropped from his nerveless fingers. Each breath he took caught in his throat until he could feel himself strangling on air. He stumbled back, or tried to, as the beast turned around to face him. The lion head, dripping thick drops of ichor from the red slashes on its face, eyed him hungrily for a moment, then opened its great maw.

Bright light flashed, and Nico jerked back, but it wasn't him who was hit. The flash faded as a loud rumble rolled through the trees, and Nico blinked the dots from his eyes to see the Chimera twisting upon the ground. The goat head bleated shrilly as the lion head snapped its jaws at nothing.

He looked up, and across from him, next to the still burning tree trunk, stood Jason. His clothes were a little singed on one side but otherwise he looked unharmed. Seeing him, relatively safe and sound, chased a little of the darkness the goat had called upon him away.

He wouldn't be able to take it again, Nico knew, and Jason wasn't able to pull down lightning all that easily either, especially from a clear sky. The Chimera was already rising to its feet, the lion head dazed but not beaten, the goat head glaring with its red eyes. The battle had to end right then.

Nico took up his sword from the ground, focusing his thoughts. The darkness of the void seemed to resonate all around him but he forced it away, focused inward, and then down, deep into the ground. He plunged his sword into the earth, and the world shook beneath them in response. Even the Chimera seemed to lose its footing as the earth shook. The ancient words to awaken the dead burned within him, and he spoke them with his most commanding tone. The earth underfoot responded with another rumble. Great cracks appeared, fissures bleeding a ghostly green light, and from them reached the hands of a dozen undead warriors. They climbed out raising spears and swords of Stygian iron in boney hands. The Chimera growled and bleated, kicking out and knocking two of the skeletons into pieces. The bones shuddered, skittering across the ground to regroup into skeletal warriors again.

Controlling the undead skeletons was draining Nico, but he gritted his teeth and held them captive above the earth. They in turn surrounded the Chimera, stabbing at it with their swords until ichor flew freely, and finally the monster let out one last wavering roar, and dissolved into golden sand.

The undead warriors lingered a moment later, then in a shuffling gait wandered to the great rifts in the earth and collapsed into them as heaps of bones and weapons.

"Nico?" Jason called out. Nico lifted a hand but he was almost too tired to respond. He felt like he hadn't slept in weeks. Jason put his gladius away and hurried across to him, wincing as he limped with each step.

"Hell of a monster," Jason muttered, reaching down to pull Nico's sword from the ground. He handed it over, and Nico sheathed it wearily.

"Tell me about it." Nico said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Jason winced. "Twisted my knee trying to dodge that fireblast."

Nico looked over at the still burning tree trunk. Branches had been steadily falling off during the course of the battle, and now loud cracks were sounding from it as the fire ate deeper into the wood. If it kept going it might start a forest fire.

Jason took a deep breath, and closed his eyes for a moment. Nico could see him mouthing words. A moment later their surroundings began to darken, and a wind crept its way between the trees. Quietly at first, then louder, a pitter patter reached them, and it seemed that in moments a small torrent of rain came down from the sky to douse three burning tree. Soon only a slightly smoldering trunk was left, and the rain slowly died down.

"Neat." Nico said appreciatively.

"Thanks." Jason grinned wearily. "I've been practicing."

They made their way towards the clearing, and the lights. Nico had been right, there was a house standing a ways down from the tree line.

"Think they'll let us use their phone to call a taxi?" Jason asked.

"Two beat up and dirty guys who've just stumbled out of the forest?" Nico said, trying not to wobble as he walked. "Why not."

It took them a while to get to the house. It was a two story home with a porch out back and a garage on the side. As they neared within a few yards of it a figure sat up from the back steps and hurried over to meet them.

"Are you two okay?"

It was Amir, and he looked them over critically, glancing uneasily around them at intervals towards the forest line.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, sounded sincerely concerned.

"We'll live." Nico said dryly, running his fingers through his hair. Amir didn't look convinced.

"Come...come on, come inside." Amir said, motioning them towards the house. He kept looking back at the trees, as if expecting the Chimera to jump out at any moment.

"Don't worry, it's gone." Jason said with a reassuring grin.

"Will it be back?" Amir asked, his voice wavering. He continued to herd them towards the house.

"Probably, but not for a while." Jason said. "And hopefully not here."

"You defeated it?" Amir said, eyeing them in surprise. His eyes shifted slightly, as if he were listening to something. "Oh, wow."

Nico and Jason exchanged a puzzled look. Nico knew Cybele had been contacting Amir based on what she'd told him, but he hadn't been expecting quite this kind off reaction.

Amir led them inside, and seated them at the kitchen table. The house was rustic and comfortable feeling, exuding craftsy hominess at every corner. The seat covers were hand knit and the chairs and table even seemed to be hand carved. Mobiles of various colored glass and shells hung in the windows, and a mound of eclectic throw pillows lay upon a wooden trunk, with a big gray rabbiy cat seated at the very top. Nico eyed it uncertainly, as he was seated nearest the feline, but after staring at him for a long moment the cat yawned widely and lay its head back down on its paws.

Amir bustled around the kitchen, pulling ice out of the freezer and packing it into a baggie for Jason's knee.

"We don't want to intrude." Jason said, but Amir waved his concerns aside.

"My aunt and uncle won't mind." He said with a shakey grin.

"You're worrying about us-" Nico yawned, "but are you okay?"

Amir did that thing where he looked at Nico for a second then looked away quickly.

"I'm fine." He said, and started fiddling with his jacket sleeves. "I think. I just had to run really fast, but I don't have a problem with doing that outside. The Chimera wasn't having an easy time following me."

"It looks like it got you." Jason noted, gesturing at his jacket. Amir looked down at it like he was just noticing it.

"Huh." He lifted the jacket to show that his shirt underneath was slightly ripped as well. He didn't seem to be injured, however. "I knew it tried to claw at me… Good thing it didn't actually get me. That would've been bad."

"Slight understatement." Nico said. Amir grinned sheepishly and started fiddling with his sleeves again.

"Do you two want anything? To drink? Or eat? Or… I don't know." He sighed, looking a little lost. "Whatever you need just let me know."

Jason looked over at Nico with a questioning look. Nico returned it, wondering if Jason was thinking what he was; that Amir was acting almost too comfortable with being chased through the woods by a gigantic mythical beast and ending up with two strangers in his kitchen.

"You're a Legacy of Cybele." Nico said, because he was too tired for subtleties and he figured they should get to the thick of the matter before he passed out on the kitchen table.

"Yeah." Amir said with another sigh. He finally sat down at the table. "How… how did you know?"

"She… contacted us. She said you'd need help." Jason said. He winced as he shifted his leg, rearranging the ice pack.

"That's nice of her." Amir said.

Nico and Jason exchanged another look.

"You don't seem surprised." Nico said.

"Well, I mean I didn't expect a Chimera to just appear." Amir said. "That was pretty scary. But Cybele has always been in contact with me, ever since I could remember… so it's, it's not like I didn't know monsters existed…"

He looked at them, then asked, "What… what about you two? You defeated the Chimera, I mean… are you…"

"We're demigods." Jason said simply. Amir's eyes widened. "I'm Jason, by the way, and that's Nico."

"It's… it's really nice to meet you…" Amir said, his eyes flicking between the two of them. "You're really demigods? That's… that's really cool. I've never met any before."

For a moment neither of them said anything. Nico almost dozed off right there at the table. His shoulder hurt where the Chimera's snake head had hit but even that couldn't keep him awake under the weight of his weariness. He wasn't looking forward to sleep, the goat head's cry had brought up memories he'd buried deep inside, and he could feel them simmering just below the surface of his consciousness, waiting for his guard to drop.

"You guys can stay the night if you need to." Amir said. "We only have the couches in the living room, but they're pretty comfortable..."

Nico thought he heard Jason respond, but his eyes were sliding closed. He felt weightless, like he was drifting up out of his body towards the ceiling.

"Hey, Nico."

Nico jerked awake, glancing around blearily. Jason was standing next to him with an amused grin on his face.

"Come on," He said simply, and half pulled Nico out of his chair. They made it to the living room, where Amir was finishing arranging pillows and blankets on the two couches. Nico was going to thank him, but he found himself blacking out as soon as he collapsed on a couch.

Amazingly, he had no nightmares. He drifted in a metaphorical sea, maybe, and he could see -or feel- the rough dark edges of nightmares all around him, trying to reach him with clawed hands. They couldn't get to him however; it was as if he were in a cocoon, with only a sound like the heartbeat of the deep earth beating a slow, soft lullaby to buoy him as he slept.

He woke with the sun streaming through multicolored drapes, and though his shoulder ached and he felt like he'd taken part in two-thirds of an Iron Man challenge, he felt refreshed.

He sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes, and looked around. The living room was decorated as eclectically as the kitchen, with a collection of various furnishings that, while essentially of different make and design, all played together rather well. More glass and shell mobiles hung in the windows, and at one wall stood a narrow stand on which sat an impressively carved statuette of Cybele, executed in what looked like a large slab of snowflake onyx. The stand was decorated with fresh flowers and bits of fur, and someone had lit a stick of incense which sent tendrils of spicy smoke into the air.

Standing up from the couch, he noticed the sound of voices in the kitchen. He fixed the blankets he'd crawled out of so they weren't falling off of the couch, then headed over to the kitchen.

Jason was seated at the table, a plate heaped with scrambled eggs and hash browns in front of him. Amir sat across from him with a plate just as full, and next to the stove stood the girl that had been helping Amir at the street fest, Olcay. She gave Nico a bright smile and motioned to the table.

"Have a seat, and tell me, more eggs or more hash?"

"Even on both," Nico replied, slightly taken off guard. "But a lot less than what they have."

He took a seat at the table and Olcay slid a plate in front of him, thankfully nowhere near as full as Jason's or Amir's. She grabbed a plate herself and sat down at the last spot at the table.

"Did you sleep all right?" Amir asked.

"Yeah." Nico said, and added to himself, surprisingly so.

"Are you two staying for the fest today?" Olcay asked. She seemed entirely unfazed by their appearance at the house. Nico wondered if anyone had told her what had actually transpired during the night, but he wasn't going to be the one to ask.

"I think we might need to head home." Jason said, and looked at Nico for confirmation.

Nico nodded, guessing what Jason was thinking. They had led one monster to these people's door, even if another one didn't show up that day, they shouldn't be getting demigod scent all over the place. Amir might have been a Legacy, but unlike the ones in Camp Jupiter he was not trained to defend himself.

Oclay kept a running dialogue going all through breakfast, thankfully freeing Nico, and the others, from having to do much talking themselves. Amir's aunt and uncle, Olcay's parents, came downstairs just as Nico and Jason were getting ready to leave. They chatted amiably with them as they got ready to leave, warning Jason to be gentle on his knee.

Finally the two headed out the back door, led by Amir. At their request, he took them to a clearing near the woods out of sight of the house. He seemed cheerful enough, but kept glancing warily at the tree line.

"Here you go." He said, spreading his arms to show off the clearing. Jason glanced back towards the house, assuring himself they were out of sight.

"This'll be good." He affirmed.

"Okay." Amir gave them a shy grin, but he still looked a little forlorn. "I guess this is goodbye."

He didn't sound very happy. Nico felt bad leaving as abruptly as they were, but they couldn't help it. He wondered if Amir had any contact with anyone else like himself, any other Legacies. Given his reaction to learning they were demigods, he probably didn't. It could very well be that his only connection to his godly lineage was Cybele herself. The thought made Nico sad. Amir must've known that there were others like him in the world, that demigods also existed, just like he knew about monsters like the Chimera. He must have been painfully aware of how he didn't belong in the mortal world. Nico knew something of that; he wondered if telling Amir that sometimes being among demigods and Legacies could be just as lonely would help him any, but he figured it wouldn't.

It bothered him that Amir would be cut off from a world he had a rightful place in, however. What if another monster showed up and he was caught unawares? He was untrained and most likely incapable of defending himself against most monsters. It couldn't be right to leave him alone without any lifeline.

"Give us a second." Nico said to Amir, and motioned for Jason to follow him a few steps off.

"Do you have any drachmas left?" He asked the blond quietly.

"A few... What are you thinking?" Jason asked curiously.

"We can't just leave him cut off like this." Nico said. "What if another monster shows up?"

"We probably wouldn't be able to get here in time, anyway." Jason said, not arguing, just being realistic.

"I know..." Nico spread his hands helplessly. "It... It just doesn't feel right to just leave him to fend for himself."

"This is a humanitarian side of you few people get to see." Jason said seriously. Nico glared at him.

"Get out your drachmas." He said stonily, and pulled out the ones he had left. All together they had fourteen total.

"So who explains it to him?" Jason asked.

"You. You're better at... People." Nico said as he dumped his drachmas into Jason's hands.

"You haven't been doing too shabby yourself, you know..." Jason said, countering Nico's frosty look with a grin. He turned back to Amir and waved him over.

"Yeah?" Amir asked uncertainly.

"These are drachmas." Jason said, holding the pile of coins out to him.

"Are...are those made of gold?" Amir's eyes widened at the sight, and he took a step back.

"Yeah. Have you heard of Iris?"

Jason explained how to send an Iris message, which left Amir staring at him like he wasn't sure if he shouldn't be having the big guy committed.

"But... It's water vapor..." Amir said, obviously flabbergasted.

"You just got chased by a Chimera and you're going to doubt sending messages by rainbow?" Nico said dryly. Amir blushed slightly, looking down at the ground.

"I...I'm just saying..." He stammered.

"It's all right, you'll get the hang of it."

Jason said, forcing the drachmas into his hands. "If you need anything, call us, okay?"

"Yeah." Amir still looked apprehensive as he carefully put the coins into his pocket. "You two... You have a safe trip back."

He left them with one final shaky smile and headed back towards the house. Jason turned to Nico.

"Ready?"

"Not entirely." Nico replied. Jason chuckled, then looked up into the sky and whistled. There were few clouds in the sky, but thunder suddenly sounded, rolling in from the southeast. Nico tried not to grimace; he'd never ridden on Jason's storm-spirit friend, Tempest, and he'd never had the inclination to. The ventus would be able to get them back to Camp Half-Blood in next to no time, but Nico was still considering the idea of just Shadow Traveling, even if it would knock him out for the next week.

"That was a good idea, telling Amir about Iris Messages." Jason said. Nico just shrugged in reply.

"We should talk with Chiron, and maybe Reyna, about getting him in contact with the camps." Jason continued, watching the southeastern sky here a group of clouds was shooting towards them. "I just wonder why Cybele hadn't led him to one of them."

"She's a Phrygian goddess." Nico said, "Amir is a Legacy of her Greek-cult identity. Maybe she didn't want to acknowledge that part of her history any more than she had to."

"Yeah." Jason said, though he was frowning. The clouds he'd been watching were overhead now, starting to swirl faster and faster as they neared the clearing. "And the Greek camp traditionally didn't take in Legacies anyway..."

"You're wondering if there are more Greek Legacies?" Nico asked. His ears were getting that uncomfortable changing-air pressure feeling and he couldn't get them to pop.

"Frank is one." Jason said. "And now we met Amir. There have to be more, we just... Haven't really been made aware of them."

"There's your next topic of discussion for the council meetings." Nico said, watching with a defeated expression as the swirling clouds touched down before them. The nearby trees were being whipped by the wind, leaves fluttering all around. Finally the wind and clouds coalesced into the form of a great misty steed, lightning flickering throughout its body.

It neighed loudly and nodded its head at Jason.

"Hey Tempest," Jason greeted it, patting the storm beast on the neck. He responded to Nico, "I'm definitely going to push it in the council. Legacies can be targeted by monsters too, and even if it's rare that they are, they deserve a chance to learn to defend themselves."

He climbed onto Tempest's back, and held a hand out to Nico. Nico hesitated a moment, but finally took Jason's offered hand and scrambled on behind him.

"He's not going to drop me, right?" Nico asked.

Jason laughed, "Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall."

"I think I'd rather fall." Nico muttered.

"Hold on tight then." Jason sounded much too amused for Nico's liking.

Tempest snorted, tossing his head, then took a running start and launched into the air.