Chapter Text
When the Seven found out that Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, was trapped in a jar, they were in varying emotional states. Hazel was the most distraught but a lot of the people on board the Argo II didn't understand why. Surely, if he was a son of Hades, he could get himself out?
Piper sighed, "Hazel, look, I know you're upset but-."
"Upset? Upset? My brother is dying, what don't you understand?!"
Hazel's eyes were red and angry tears streamed down her cheeks. Her hair was a mess and she was halfway into a battle stance. Sometimes, Percy's heart broke with how closely she could resemble Nico.
Frank clears his throat from beside Hazel, "We need to get him out. It's not right to leave someone to die when we could save him."
"This isn't part of the quest. There's no reason for us to save him, he won't benefit our mission. It's a waste of time, a distraction, so we lose sight of what's important."
The moment the words left Jason's mouth, the ship began to shake. Hazel's eyes glowed golden, unnatural and divine.
"What the fuck did you just say, Grace? You think a fucking quest is more important than my brother's life? Holy Gods, I knew you could be dim but to be such a mindless fucking puppet that you can't tell right from wrong is actually insane! Are you even hearing yourself right now?"
Jason's feet were physically rooted to the floor, crystals creeping up his legs. He kept his eyes trained on Hazel, letting lightning crackle through his veins. He understood loss but he wouldn't let the mission be compromised for a whim of the heart.
"Woah, woah, let's all calm down." Piper said, stepping between them, "Jason, you shouldn't be so blunt, it hurts peoples feelings. Hazel. . . Jason's right. Going after him is a distraction, one we can't afford."
Hazel's expression saddened. She looked hopelessly around the table, "Leo? Annabeth?"
Leo looked up from whatever he was tinkering with, "Listen, I don't mind what we do, just let me know where we're going once you decide what to do. I'm still charting the course for the ship."
Annabeth pulled her head out of her hands, "Hazel, I'm not in a good head space right now, all I can think of is the Athena Parthenos and how I'm going to get out alive. Whatever decision I make at the moment is probably the wrong one."
That was two votes for leaving Nico (Jason and Piper), two votes for save him (Hazel and Frank) and two votes for do whatever (Leo and Annabeth). Meaning Percy would be the tiebreaker. Hazel turned to him with a pleading expression.
Percy sighed, "Nico is a good guy. He's tried to kill me in the past, he's lied to me, hurt me. But he's a tough kid. I'm sure he'll break himself out soon enough. He's always been independent, self-sufficient. I know you're worried, Hazel, and I won't try and tell you not to worry, but he can take care of himself."
There was an audible cracking in the air and Percy thought it might be the sound of Hazel's heart breaking. Sobs shook her shoulders as she shakily wiped her tears away. It was silent as the watched the daughter of Pluto cry. Then she straightened, with red rimmed eyes hard as steel.
"I don't give a fuck. We're not voting on my brothers life. We are going to save him, whether you like it or not. I don't care if you don't want to, I am getting him back and you cannot complete the quest of the seven when you are only six. Leo, change course."
There was something unshakeable about Hazel as she said it, something that said there was no other option. She glared at each of them in turn. Picking up an apple from the table, she held it out.
"If any of you even hint at disliking him or are on anything but your best behaviour. . ."
The apple was overtaken with gold and jagged crystals before Hazel crushed it in her hand, sending sharp shards flying.
"It will be your head."
Hazel turned on her heel and stalked out the room, every step leaving a crystal footstep behind. Frank chased after her while Leo and Annabeth were too absorbed in research to react. Jason walked out, lightning crackling at his fingertips, with Piper glaring at Hazel's back. Percy slumped in his chair and groaned.
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Italy was beautiful. Hazel would've loved to explore it, to learn about her brother's first home. Maybe she should start learning Italian. Nico had learnt Louisiana French for her after all. Nico. . .
Hazel loved her brother, with her whole heart and soul. He was everything, the first person to truly care for her, the first person to see her. Nico had always been different, Hazel knew that, but why would so many people not want to help him?
Piper and Leo had never even met him yet they both didn't care to save him, Jason must've met him at least once but he too protested. Hazel had a horrible feeling that Frank was only sticking with her to keep her happy and Percy and Annabeth. . . they had known Nico the longest yet they seemed to care the least. Annabeth was too focused on the Athena Parthenos and Percy acted as though Nico could free himself.
Hazel wondered what could make people hate her brother so much. There was nothing monstrous about him. Sure, he was a bit strange, but that was just part of being a demigod. Hazel would never admit it but Nico was her role model.
He had his powers under control, Hades trusted him enough to run errands, his knowledge was likely incomprehensible. He was the greatest warrior she'd ever seen and he was her brother. If only he looked at her with that glint in his eye, she'd know everything would be okay.
But he wasn't here.
So Hazel was going to get him back. It truly was that simple to her. It didn't matter if the Earth collapsed in on itself, if Gaia destroyed everything, as long as she had her brother, everything would be okay.
She had begun to track her brother via his sword, forcing the Seven to follow her. Soon she reached a strange dent in the wall. Pressing her hand to the wall, she realised it was an illusion and quickly pushed past it.
A long hallway with torches on each side lay before her.
"This is it. I can feel it. We'll go down the hallway, find Nico, and save him."
Hazel didn't give them time to protest, marching on with determination. Not too long after, they spotted a skeleton, shadows coiling between its ribs. They ignored it, skeletons were expected in a place inhabited by monsters.
However, the further they went, the more skeletons showed up, each with shadows swarming them. They began to grow suspicious. Jason and Percy glanced at each other, nodded, and pulled their weapons out.
Suddenly, an earthly scream echoed from farther down the hallway.
"Nico." Hazel whispered, hands shaking.
Before they could reach out to stop her, Hazel ran. The Seven followed her. Abruptly, Hazel stopped. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, eyes wide and glossy with tears. She stumbled back, shaking her head.
Annabeth clutched her arm, "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Holy shit." Piper gasped as she saw what Hazel did.
It was similar to a colosseum, rows of seats surrounding an arena. There were two elevated seats with mutilated corpses rotting in them, the seats filled with skeletons. However, that wasn't what had shocked them.
In the middle of the arena was a boy. He paced back and forth, tugging at the chains that bound him from leaving the arena. Heaving breaths and ferocious sobs stuttered from his chest, his hair was matted and coated with blood. He was coated in blood.
His face, his neck, his chest, his arms and hands, all covered in blood. The boy collapsed to his knees and whined, pressing his face into the sand and dirt. Then he yanked the chain once more. Nothing.
The chains were glowing, thrumming with power. That was likely the reason why he was struggling to be set free. The boy bent his head and began to gnaw at his arm, knowing that trying to get the chains off was futile. What made this even more shocking was that it was working.
His teeth had been sharpened into dangerous points and now he was tearing through his own skin. There was something animal about him, something divine. Even exhausted and dirty as he was, he was captivating.
"Nico!" Percy shouted, running towards him.
At the sound of his name, of a voice, of a person, Nico span around to look at them fully. He scrambled back, snarling and baring his teeth as he went. Percy slowed as he neared him.
"Hey, Nico, hey. I'm Percy. Come on, Nico, you know me. We need to get those chains off you, huh?"
It was strange to see Percy act like this. He had seemed opposed to the idea of getting Nico out but now he was comforting him? He wasn't making any progress, though, as all Nico did was push himself further away.
Shadows swarmed him and the screams of the dead echoed from the space behind him. If Leo didn't know any better, he'd think they were facing a god. Nico di Angelo was powerful, that much was true.
Jason stepped forward, as if in a trance. The look in his eye was. . .strange. It was like he saw something in Nico that the rest of them didn't. Percy was still reaching his hands out towards Nico, muttering words of comfort to him.
When Jason reached Percy, he pushed his hands down.
"Hey, what are you doing, Grace-?"
"Don't."
Jason didn't look at Percy as he spoke, only Nico. The boy still had his teeth bared, glaring menacingly at them. His head was tilted, as if listening to the whispers of the dead. Jason sunk to his knees.
"Hey, you're Nico, right?"
Nico didn't say anything, staring blankly at Jason.
"You don't have to talk. It's alright. I know what its like, talking to people after so long with no one to talk to. It's strange but it gets easier, promise." Jason crawled a little closer, still on his knees.
"I was raised by wolves, see. It's difficult to get rid of that anger."
Jason gently picked up the chain connecting to Nico's cuffs. Nico stiffened, eyes tracking his every move. However, Jason did not falter.
"Lucky you, you've got a bunch of people to help you. Hazel, you're sister, she's here. Percy and Annabeth, from your camp. I'll help you too. I'm Jason, Jason Grace."
Nico's guarded expression faltered. His brows furrowed, frowning. He looked so much smaller without the vicious expression on his face.
"Hazel?"
Nico's voice was scratchy and heavily accented. It cracked as he spoke. There was something about him that made him seem centuries older than he was.
"Yeah, Hazel. She's here."
Jason's face was unbelievably soft as he spoke. The rest of the Seven had made their way down, standing behind Jason. Hazel gently stepped forward.
"Nico?"
That was all the warning they got before Hazel was pushing past Jason and diving at her brother. She wrapped her arms around him and pushed his face into her neck. She whispered to him in French, rocking him back and forth.
"Hazel, we need to get those chains off him," Jason said.
"Of course, yeah."
Hazel pulled away enough to grab the chains. They crumbled to dust within her hands. Nico gasped, his head snapping up as shadows pushed into his mouth and eyes. His skin flashed between being see-through and being coated with blood.
Once the darkness settled, Nico looked at Hazel. His hands clutched her face, swiping blood across her cheeks. He scanned her over as if he was checking for injuries.
"I didn't think you would come."
And wasn't that tragic? He thought no one was coming for him and they had been arguing whether or not to save him. Hazel sobbed, brushing tangled hair from Nico's eyes.
"I will always come for you."
Nico flinched when Hazel made to pull him into another hug but when she tried to pull away, he only held her tighter. Percy was looking anywhere but at the two siblings and Annabeth was gently stroking his back. Piper was trying to subtly glare at Nico while Leo looked at the remaining chains in awe, rambling aloud about their creation. Frank was anxiously fiddling with his fingers and Jason stayed exactly where he was.
He watched the two holding each other and a single tear slipped down his face.
"How long has it been since you brushed your hair?" Hazel teased.
"Shut up, you smell like monster guts." Nico mumbled.
Hazel laughed and Percy flinched, staring at her. Nico used to laugh like that. Every single day, he would laugh without a care in the world. Then Bianca died.