𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

19

On either side of the crossroads, two dark metal torch-stands erupted from the dirt like plant stalks. Hecate fixed her torches in them, then walked a slow circle around Ajax and Nico regarding them as if they were partners in some eerie dance.

Ajax had the strange urge to cower in fear, even if it was his own mother. The gods had that effect on people. He had only met his mother once, after he died- in the underworld. The memories of him in the underworld were fuzzy, like seeing through foggy glass, unsure if it was true or not. But his mother was definitely there.

"Why did you bring the son of Hades?" She questioned.

"He doesn't trust me" Ajax answered honestly. He had a feeling Hecate could read minds, or atleast tell if he was lying. And besides, he had no reason to lie. "Given my past.. Uh company, he thinks I would do it again- ally with the side against the gods"

"Will you?"

"No. I would have nothing to gain from Gaea. I have everything I want and need on the side of the gods" Helplessly, Ajax's mind travelled to Leo. He couldn't ignore the small crush that had been forming.

"Do you believe him?"

Hecate regarded Nico for the first time. In front of her, he looked ridiculously young, his cheekbones didn't look as sharp, his eyes sparkled with childlike curiosity, his face didn't look as gaunt. He looked like what he was- a teenager.

"I- I don't know"

Nico had the urge to bow. Instead, he breathed deeply and stared back at the goddess.

"You don't trust magic" She stated. "It scares you, child of the underworld. You are scared of what he could do, the power he could wield."

Those pure black eyes seemed to pull at Nico, as if trying to extract his soul.

"Many fear me and my children" Hecate said, as if reading his thoughts. "But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil."

Ajax looked at Nico, only to find him looking back.

Don't hate me. I don't want to hurt you. I want to help. I want to help.

He wished Nico could read minds.

"In any case, I have no time for your distrust and wariness. Neither do you. Without my help, without Ajax's help you will die."

The black dog snarled. The polecat snapped its teeth and passed gas.

Ajax felt like his lungs were filling with hot sand.

"What kind of help?" he demanded. He should know what he was supposed to help with.

Hecate raised her pale arms. The three gateways she'd come from—north, east, and west—began to swirl with Mist. A flurry of black-and-white images glowed and flickered.

In the western doorway, Roman and Greek demigods in full armor fought one another on a hillside under a large pine tree. The grass was strewn with the wounded and the dying. Ajax saw himself, a green glowing sword in hand, charging through the melee, Nico following behind—trying to stop the violence.

In the gateway to the east, they saw the Argo II plunging through the sky above the Apennines. Its rigging was in flames. A boulder smashed into the quarterdeck. Another punched through the hull. The ship burst like a rotten pumpkin, and the engine exploded.

The images in the northern doorway were even worse. Ajax saw Leo, unconscious—or dead—falling through the clouds. He saw Frank staggering alone down a dark tunnel, clutching his arm, his shirt soaked in blood. Lastly, Hazel, Nico and Ajax himself, in a vast cavern filled with strands of light like a luminous web. They were struggling to break through while, in the distance, Percy and Annabeth lay sprawled and unmoving at the foot of two black-and-silver metal doors.