𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

24

Nico cleared his throat. "A lot of cultures have seasonal traditions to honor the dead, but the House of Hades was open year-round. Pilgrims could actually speak to the ghosts. In Greek, the place was called the Necromanteion, the Oracle of Death. You'd work your way through different levels of tunnels, leaving offerings and drinking special potions—"

"Special potions," Leo muttered. "Yum."

Jason flashed him a look like, Dude, enough. Ajax hated how Leo's smile faded. He nudged the boy with his knee under the table, and slid a half empty plate of pancakes towards him which Leo grabbed without hesitation.

"Nico, go on."

"The pilgrims believed that each level of the temple brought you closer to the Underworld, until the dead would appear before you. If they were pleased with your offerings, they would answer your questions, maybe even tell you the future."

Frank tapped his mug of hot chocolate. "And if the spirits weren't pleased?"

"Some pilgrims found nothing," Nico said. "Some went insane, or died after leaving the temple. Others lost their way in the tunnels and were never seen again."

Ajax shuddered.

"The point is," Jason said quickly, "Nico found some information that might help us."

"Yeah." Nico clicked his tongue, remembering the conversation. "The ghost I spoke to last night...he was a former priest of Hecate."

See? the ghost was his mom's priest and still hated him, what shit logic was that?

Nico went on "He confirmed what the goddess told us at the crossroads. In the first war with the giants, Hecate fought for the gods. She slew one of the giants— A guy named Clytius."

"He's the anti-Hecate giant" Ajax clarified.

"Dark dude," Leo guessed. "Wrapped in shadows."

Hazel turned toward him, her eyes narrowing. "Leo, how did you know that?"

"Kind of had a dream."

Ajax shrugged, no one looked surprised. Most demigods had vivid nightmares about what was going on in the world.

They all paid close attention as Leo explained. He tried not to look at the wall images of Camp Half-Blood as he described the place in ruins. He told them about the dark giant, and the strange woman on Half-Blood Hill, offering him a multiple-choice death.

Jason pushed away his plate of pancakes. "So the giant is Clytius. I suppose he'll be waiting for us, guarding the Doors of Death."

Frank rolled up one of the pancakes and started munching—not a guy to let impending death stand in the way of a hearty breakfast. "And the woman in Leo's dream?"

"She's my problem" Ajax tried to swallow the lump in his throat. His appetite had vanished as well. Maybe it was best if they didn't speak about impending doom while eating. Ajax let his hand rest in his lap, palm facing up. He stared down at the fork in his hand.

He had no idea how his powers really worked, no demigod did. It just happened, like running or talking. He chose to do it so it happened.

He bit the inside of his cheek in concentration. He chose what he wanted the fork to look like.

Slowly but steadily, the form of the fork was shrouded by white clouds that formed in his hand. They circled the fork until all that could be seen was the shape of a small dancing man that looked vaguely like Nico.

Beside him, Leo choke on his pancake as he looked at the illusion in Ajax's palm. Ajax's concentration faltered when he started laughing. The 3-d image glitched until all that remained was the fork in his hand.