Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
{ 🔮 } · alice in wonderland who? . ݁ ٬٬ ࣪
ONE THING ENDORA LEARNED throughout her life as a demigod is that she doesn't like having demigod dreams. She asked the gods, Aphrodite to be more specific, why do they have such dreams? It comes with being a half-blood, Aphrodite had said, We give you these dreams to help you solve problems you have. You know, my dear, we can't interfere with your lives much, so this is one of the way we can help.
That night, as she was sleeping, Endora had a dream about Nico di Angelo, a boy she searched up and down for.
She saw the dark shore of a river. Wisps of fog drifted across black water. The beach was strewn with jagged volcanic rock. A young boy squatted at the riverbank, tending a campfire. The flames burned an unnatural blue color. He was throwing pieces of paper into the fire ─ Mythomagic trading cards, part of the game he'd been obsessed with last winter.
Nico was only ten, or maybe eleven by now, but he looked older. His hair had grown longer. It was shaggy and almost touched his shoulders. His eyes were dark. His olive skin had turned paler. He wore ripped black jeans and a battered aviator's jacket that was several sizes too big, unzipped over a black shirt. His face was grimy, his eyes a little wild. He looked like a kid who'd been living on the streets.
"Useless," he muttered. "I can't believe I ever liked this stuff."
"A childish game, master," another voice agreed. It seemed to come from near the fire, but Endora couldn't see who was talking.
Nico stared across the river. On the far shore was black beach shrouded in haze. Endora recognized it: the Underworld. Nico was camping at the edge of the River Styx.
"I've failed," he muttered. "There's no way to get her back."
The other voice kept silent.
Nico turned toward it doubtfully. "Is there? Speak."
Something shimmered. Endora thought it was just firelight. Then she realized it was the form of a man ─ a wisp of blue smoke, a shadow. If you looked at him head-on, he wasn't there. But if you looked out of the corner of your eye, you could make out his shape. A ghost.
"It has never been done," the ghost said. "But there may be a way."
"Tell me," Nico commanded. His eyes shined with a fierce light.
"An exchange," the ghost said. "A soul for a soul."
"I've offered!"
"Not yours," the ghost said. "You cannot offer your father a soul he will eventually collect anyway. Nor will he be anxious for the death of his son. I mean a soul that should have died already. Someone who has cheated death."
