The Angel of Death

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Bruce seemed to buy our flimsy excuse of a story, but I knew it wouldn't hold up for very long, not with me living under the same roof as four of the world's best detectives. Jason and I had to figure something out. I was already the cause of too much suspicion. I was only thankful that nothing too irreparably terrible had happened yet.

Chiron and Percy said the war preparations were going well, but nothing had happened yet. Not even an increase in monster attacks, which was weird. I hadn't had to suffer through any attacks here either, which was definitely weird. I was a child of the big three, and a powerful one. I should be attracting monsters like flies to a corpse, but so far there was nothing.

I had no word from my father either, no more weird visions or dreams. I was getting paranoid, honestly. I was jumpy and constantly on edge, fidgety, tense. I wanted to do something, I was so tired of sitting around. Summer was just around the corner, and Bruce thought it would be pointless to enrol me in school for a month.

Which meant I had literally nothing to do except sit at home. Dick and Jason were busy with school and work, which left me the entire estate to do whatever I wanted with, but I couldn't read, I wasn't allowed off the property alone (especially after Jason and I had just got back) and I had spent so much time either fighting or on the road that I didn't really have any hobbies.

It was just past one in the afternoon when I decided I was fed up with doing nothing. I poked my head into Jason's room to see him sitting cross-legged in bed on his laptop. "Hey, I'm going to the Underworld, I shouldn't be gone long."

"You're what?!" He yelped.

"...Going to the Underworld?"

"Isn't that where dead people go?!"

I gave him a look. "...Yes, it's the Underworld, Jason." He sputtered for a few seconds before I realised that he was probably assuming I had to die to get there, which is how most people would. But fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you ask), I was not most people. "Jason. I am the son of the God of the Underworld. Do you seriously think I can't just come and go whenever I want?"

He paused. "That's a good point. Well, fuck off then. Get gone, I'm busy."

I rolled my eyes. As much as I know Jason cares, sometimes it's hard to believe.

Thanatos was waiting for me when I arrived, pacing the throne room in an agitated way that set my nerves on edge. "Nico!" He greeted, in both a friendly and slightly tense tone. "How have things been going?"

"Well, considering I'm me, pretty well. Any word from father yet?"

Thanatos shook his head. "I contacted the rest of the Olympians, but they've heard nothing either, which isn't unusual, you know how things are with Hades and the rest. Nor have they felt anything out of the ordinary–"

"But that's also not saying much since they ignored Kronos and pretty much left us to fend off Giae ourselves too."

Thanatos gave a solemn hum of agreement. "Are you sure things are...alright, Nico?" I told Thanatos about the lack of monster activity, which he also deemed weird, and about my vision. He was just as confused as I was. There had been no further clue as to where my father had gone, but I wasn't keen on involving myself in whatever he had going wrong when I was dealing with this stupid new prophecy already. I figured if he really needed me, he'd reach out again and give a little more than some vague-ass riddle and an image of a highway to go off of.

Slightly defeated, I returned to the mansion to find chaos.

Jason was pacing my room, and he jumped when I reappeared, but looked immensely relieved to see me nonetheless. "Nico!" He whispered, urgently. "Look, the others have been looking for you, Dick couldn't find you anywhere so he called Bruce and I think he's about two seconds away from calling the fucking police, so you need to come up with a cover story!"