Chapter Text
The Underworld was dark. It had always been and would always be.
The green Greek fires illuminating Hades’ Palace were hardly a good source of light, and you could just see silhouettes and shadows everywhere, silence enveloping them and making the place look timeless. Apart from the Fields of Punishment where cries of agony and terror were the norm, the rest of the Underworld was always eerily quiet. And it was nice, because Nico wasn’t in the mood for interactions and loudness.
He was roaming in the dark fields, aimlessly, after his Father had kicked him out of his room. One would think the God of Death would be more lenient to his grieving son, but apparently ‘lenient’ wasn’t in his vocabulary.
So, Nico was walking, following the boarders of the river Styx. He was probably in some part of Asphodel, but he couldn’t care less. The souls of the deceased wouldn’t approached him as long as he didn’t call for them anyway, repelled by his aura. He had done so once, when he was still desperately searching for his sister, Bianca. He had looked everywhere, scanned through the faceless crowd for hours, days, ran the whole length of the Lethe, infiltrated Elysium without permission- But Bianca had left already, reincarnating on the surface without a trace.
He hadn’t believed Hades when he had first reached his Palace, begging him to give him back his sister. He had refused to believe that she wouldn’t wait for him, to say goodbye at least, to hug him one last time- But she was nowhere to be seen, and so, Nico had returned to his Father’s Palace, shutting himself in one of the rooms. He had cried every tears in his body, refused to eat, and had just lay there in the dark until he couldn’t cry anymore.
He didn’t want to go back to the living world, see the sun, the blue sky, happy people living their life as if nothing had happened. He couldn’t.
No one was waiting for him anyway.
There was just one thing, one reason he would go back, one day: to kill Percy Jackson. Not now, because he was too weak, too young, but one day… He would kill him, and follow him all the way to the Underworld to make sure he would suffer eternally. He would laugh while the Keres feast on his flesh and blood, and he wouldn’t let him have a peaceful death. But to achieve such a thing he would need power and training. And he had no idea where to find neither of those.
Slumping down on the river bank, he sat for a while, staring at the dark waters. He wondered how deep it was, or if there was an actual bottom. Was it possible to drown in the Styx? Since it was supposed to make mortals invincible, it seemed counter-intuitive, but Greek mythology wasn’t logical by any mean, so there was that. Where would he go if he drown there? Would the Styx just spit him out before the Judges? Or would he need to go back all the way to Charon?
Nico picked up a black pebble covered in ashes laying at his feet, turning it between his fingers, staring at the river.
“I hope you’re not going to throw it?”
He jumped at the voice, barely stopping a scream. Right next to him, a little girl was staring daggers at him.
She didn’t look dead with her ebony skin and hair, lacking the transparency and immateriality of souls. And Nico was supposed to be the only living being in the Underworld.
“Who are you?” he stammered, trying to calm his heart down.
The little girl pointed the river with her finger, sitting on her heels proudly. She was wearing a simple peach-colored dress, which was an extremely weird color to see in the Underworld.
“What? Do you come from the River?” he tried.
“You’re a little dumb, aren’t you?” she grinned mockingly. “I am Styx.”
Nico blinked. Checked the actual river, then the girl.
“What?!”
“I know, you’re honored, it’s alright. I saw you sitting beside me, and it’s so rare to see living mortals here… Especially when they’re not intruders,” she sighed, lying down with her arms behind her head.
“Wait, you’re the river Styx?” Nico repeated, the information not processed yet .
“Oh my- You’re quite slow. I’m the Goddess Styx, and the River is Me too,” she scolded.
He stared, wondering if she was messing with him. He wasn’t about to take any risk though.
“Um… Should I bow?” he hesitated.
The girl- Goddess laughed at him, her white teeth shining in the dark. Their appearance looked weirdly threatening for a eight years old, and it convinced Nico she was indeed an immortal.
No mortal had white teeth that shined in the dark, despite the best attempts from Hollywood to make people believe the contrary.
“You’re funny, that’s good. I’m getting so bored here- Nothing ever happens. I don’t care if you bow, most people don’t even know of my existence,” she muttered with a shrug.
“I’m sorry,” he winced. “You weren’t part of my Mythomagic collection, and that’s kind of my reference for everything.”
“What is that?” she asked with curiosity. “Mythos-…”
“Mythomagic. It’s a card game with characters from Greek Mythology: you have gods, heroes, monsters… It’s really fun!”
“Fun,” she repeated slowly, as if the word was foreign. “I see. I never… gamed before.”
Nico frowned. He had pictured Gods and Goddesses to have a perfect immortal life, where they could have everything they wanted and more, partying and laughing. Sure, this narrative didn’t stick with his father, but Hades was Hades, so-
But Styx looked genuinely sad, and she didn’t seem to even know the concept of ‘games’. Or how to use the word. It felt wrong, and Nico needed a change of air anyway. She was the first to be kind with him since… Well, since Bianca, really.
“Do you want me to teach you how to play games?” he offered.
The little girl stood up immediately, staring at him with stars in her eyes.
“You would? Game with me?!”
As Nico was going to confirmed, her expression suddenly dropped.
“But I don’t have anything for you. My powers are only linked to oaths, and I can’t bend the rules for anyone, not even myself.”
“Uuh, yes?” he hesitated, trying to understand where she was coming from. “Don’t worry, games don’t need promises or oaths. The ones I know, at least.”
“You’re a demigod, Nico,” she shook her head sadly. “I know you’re Hades’ son. Demigods don’t do things freely, but I’m in no position to be useful for a quest- You can’t use me.”
Nico stared at her dejected and resentful expression, putting the pieces together.
“I think we have a misunderstanding here. Firstly, I think you’re a bit unfair: Gods don’t do anything freely either, and they are certainly not cheap. Secondly, I didn’t mean to trade with you, I just wanted to play, and hopefully take my head off-”
He took a breath.
“…off my sister’s death. And lastly, it’s really weird how you know my name when I never told you.”
Styx cocked her head on the side, looking at him curiously.
“I don’t think any being in the Underworld doesn’t know your name, Nico. Your father-… I probably shouldn’t say that. Do you mean that you would game with me without any ulterior motives?”
“Playing together means that we would both have fun, so… Does that count as an ulterior motive? I never really had anyone to play with, and you look even worse than me. You won’t kill me if you lose a game, right?”
“Of course not! I need you as my gaming partner!”
She was a Goddess alright.
Still, she looked so happy, almost bouncing in excitement with her dress shimmering in various pastel colors.
“I don’t have my cards with me,” he realized. “They must be in my room somewhere. I will go fetch them, but it will take some time.”
“Can’t you shadow-travel? It will be quicker!”
“Shadow what?”
She stood up, brushing a few ashes from her dress.
“That’s one of your father’s powers. You can move in the shadows, or teleport as mortals say. I will try to teach you.”
And so, Nico stood in the middle of the Underworld, listening to a river-goddess teaching him to teleport as if it was the most obvious thing, for the sake of playing Mythomagic more quickly.
A normal day in the Underworld.