Percy Jackson, The Missing Hero.

7. A Hello from a Hellhound.

They made it a few feet before Percy stopped, tilting his head in confusion.

"Can you hear that?" He asked Luke, convinced that he could hear something.

"MRS. O'LEARY!" A shout echoed before Luke could respond, realisation dawning on Percy's face as he realised that the sound was that of thundering paws.

He blanched as the name registered, knowing that if it was indeed his hellhound running, she was coming in this direction.

It had been with great distress that he had left Mrs. O'Leary at his mom's several days before he departed, having assured his mom that it would 'just be for a few days', not wanting to admit that he was leaving – leaving with only a letter left on his pillow to explain that her only child was leaving when he had promised never to disappear again after the incident with Hera.

Now Mrs. O'Leary was at camp and she was running towards their group. Percy groaned internally, realising that he had survived an encounter with his father, swiftly followed by one with Nathan, and now he was about to be mauled by a hellhound for leaving her behind for five years.

"Mrs. O'Leary!" There was another shout, this one tinged with desperation. Percy's eyes widened as he recognised it as Nico's voice. Sure, he'd wanted to see him, but he didn't want it to be like this.

Percy turned, hoping to find Hades so he could shove the god towards the hound and hope that he proved to be an ample distraction.

Hades was nowhere to be seen.

"Angelus?" Percy yelped as Mrs. O'Leary began her final approach.

Bianca skidded in front of him, holding out a hand to stop the hellhound in her tracks. "Hey, girl." Bianca greeted softly as the hound stopped. "Sit."

Percy had not felt such relief as he did in that exact moment for years. Mrs. O'Leary was sat wagging her tail, trying to peer past Bianca to get a look at Percy.

"How about you have a nap after that run, hey?" Bianca soothed, and as if by some miracle, the hellhound flopped down, snoring like a jackhammer in seconds.

"My Guardian Angel." Percy proclaimed, grinning at Bianca.

"Stop calling me that, idiot." Bianca rolled her eyes and shoved past him to stand with Zoë and Silena once more.

Percy didn't respond, distracted by the arrival of a certain son of Hades.

"Holy Zeus." Nico bent to catch his breath before straightening and eyeing Mrs. O'Leary. "You really pick your moments, don't you?" He spoke to the dog, seemingly unaware of the group congregated.

Percy stared at him for several long moments before Nico noticed his audience.

Nico had changed. Gone was the young teenager who looked as if the shadows would claim him at any moment, wearing his oversized aviator jacket as a shield around himself. In his place stood a young adult, clearly hovering around the age of eighteen. He'd clearly aged, while others clearly hadn't – but he still wasn't the age he should be. The jacket was gone, perhaps stored away during the summer in favour of the dark green t-shirt that highlighted the fact that Nico was no longer the ghostly shade he had been when Percy last saw him, the glimpse of a tan as if he had been touched by the faintest rays of sunshine. He was taller too, no longer shorter than Percy, and holding himself with a slight air of confidence.

Percy had missed him grow, and that realisation made him feel like a guilty older brother.

"We have visitors?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Commander Caeruleum of the Chaos group." Percy nearly tripped over his feet in his haste to offer his hand to Nico.

"Hey." Nico nodded, shaking his hand. "Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades."

Percy heard Bianca's audible gasp.

"Nice to meet you, Nico." Percy grinned.

"How come he gets a proper greeting?" Nathan whined.

"Please, just please, go get on a plane." Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. "You'll be doing everyone a favour."

"Ah, Nico." Hades finally made a reappearance, greeting his son with a hug that Nico melted into.

"Hiya dad?" Nico looked confused as they parted. "Shouldn't you be at the Solstice meeting?"

"We were just taking a short break to accompany your new neighbours to camp," Hades informed him.

"We'll be setting up next to your Cabin, if you don't mind?" Percy felt like a puppy trying to get Nico's attention. He resolved to ask him for a private word as soon as possible, wanting to tell him as soon as possible that he had returned.

"New neighbours, cool." Nico grinned. "Should be fun." He turned his attention back to his dad. "Did you stop Mrs. O'Leary?"

"Stop her from doing what?" Hades raised an eyebrow.

"Going to take that as a no then." Nico frowned. "Weird. She ran off and wasn't listening when I was shouting for her to stop."

"I stopped her." Bianca stepped forward, so she was stood beside Percy. "I mean..."

"Daughter!" Hades let out a delighted gasp, enveloping his daughter in a warm hug while Nico looked on from the sideline, looking rather confused.

"We're all demigods." Percy took pity on him. "A lot of us died and were brought back to be part of this group. Angelus is one of Hades' daughters, he was reluctant to let her out of his realm as he didn't want her to return the hard way."

"Dad hasn't had a daughter since the war though." Nico frowned. "Hazel is alive, and Bia decided to be reborn five years ago."

"Yeah, quite a few of this group were 'reborn' five years ago." Percy nodded.

Nico stiffened, and Hades and Bianca finally parted from their hug. Bianca turned to her brother and gave him a soft smile. She reached up and removed her mask, pushing her hood down so that her hair fell free. "Hello, little brother." She greeted before laughing. "Guess I can't really call you 'little' anymore though, can I?"

"Bianca!" Artemis cried out as Nico swept his sister in for a hug, rushing over and stealing the girl as soon as Nico released her.

"You knew that she was alive and didn't tell me?" Nico asked Hades.

"It wasn't my secret to tell." Hades sighed. "I was bound by an Oath older than half of the gods here."

"You brought my sister back?" Nico looked at Percy.

"It wasn't so much me-" Percy began, not finishing when Nico pulled him in for a fierce hug. "We'll talk properly at some point, when we aren't in front of all these people." He murmured into Nico's ear before they parted.

"I'll hold you to that."