The Plea of Apollo || COMPLETED

WHAT A COINCIDENCE!

Nico di Angelo landed gracefully from the shadows onto a marble structure hidden in the middle of rolling pastures and farmland. If it were not for the mist as well as the blizzard going on outside, those living in the nearby farmhouses would have easily spotted such a randomly placed temple. However, the mist probably made it just look like a really big tree or something.

"Thanks a lot, Khione," he muttered under his breath as he hurried inside the temple. It had not been thought that Illinois weather could change in the drop of a hat. The forecast had said it would be sunny and fairly cool, but it was snowing like the snow goddess had a personal vendetta on the state.

On the other hand, as soon as Nico entered the temple he was warmed up instantly. As the door closed he felt the room was much hotter than it should have been. He didn't think about it very hard though, since it was a temple of Apollo. All of his temples were probably nice and warm since he was the sun god.

"Lord Apollo," he started awkwardly, eyes darting around the room self-consciously, "I came here to request your blessing. If you could send me a sign that you approve of my asking your son Will Solace for his hand in marriage I would be very—"

"Do my godly ears deceive me? Did a certain son of Hades just say he is planning on asking my favorite child to marry him? How exciting!"

Nico nearly jumped out of his skin when Apollo spoke from behind him. He didn't show it, however, simply turning around and glaring at the grinning immortal. The sun god was in his normal surfing attire and physically shining where cloth wasn't covering him. It hurt Nico's eyes just to look at him.

"Could you please stop with the glowing? You're going to make me go blind."

Immediately the light toned itself down, but the smile on Apollo's face was still present. "Sorry, kid. Sometimes I get excited. Once I lit Hermes' shoes on fire when he gave me his harp," he admitted with a laugh. "Hey, look at that! Apollo just Apollo-gized. Get it? I am so funny."

Nico had to stop himself from face-palming. "Very. Anyway, I just wanted your blessing before I asked Will to marry me. Answer me and then you can be on your merry way doing whatever it was you were doing."

Apollo waved him off, shaking his head. "I wasn't doing much at all really. Just cruising around in my sun chariot in Florida and enjoying the sunny day they are getting unlike here. Anyway, of course I'll give you my blessing! You just have to pass a test first."

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely!" The god said cheerfully. "Don't worry though; I know you love Will. I'm just bored and there was a future outcome I wanted to play around with, but for that I need a demigod willing to host part of the scenario so I can see how it will work out. It's not related to a prophecy so I can't just know from my amazing intuition."

Amazing intuition? Nico thought incredulously. If you actually had any intuition at all you would have realized Octavian was lying to you all those years ago before giving him your blessing.

"Fine," the demigod relented. "What's the test?"

Apollo grinned. "You'll know what it is when you wake up tomorrow, okay? I need to chat with someone before setting it up. No matter what I will give you my blessing though. I suppose it will be more of an experiment than a test," he said with a shrug, "but oh well. You love my son and he loves you; I would be struck down by your father and Aphrodite if I did not give you permission to marry. That and I also love weddings."

Nico just stared at him. He wasn't sure whether he should be touched by the fact that so many gods approved of his relationship or if he should be more worried about what would happen tomorrow.

"Hey, I want you to hear the new song I've been writing for a while now." Apollo said brightly, snapping Nico away from his thoughts. "It's about an amazing guy that is fawned over by everyone who meets him. It's going to be a hit I just know it!"

The son of Hades groaned.

Meanwhile, in the Underworld...

Lucy raced around the throne room despite the fact she should be at least a little bit tired after shadow travelling. She kept trying to attack the skeletons guarding the throne room, finally snatching one of their legs away and dragging it off to chew on. Will tried to ignore this going on around him as he spoke to Hades.

"I was just wondering if you would, um, give me your blessing so that I may follow through with the intention of marrying your son. I really love him and am going to spend the rest of my life with him, so..." He trailed off when Hades suddenly stepped down from his throne and began walking towards the son of Apollo.

"You do not need to explain yourself to me, Will." The god's tone was firm, his eyes staring black holes into Will's blue ones. "I can tell even from down here how much you love my son, how much you make him happy. It is an emotion that is very rare for my children to feel, so trust me when I say I know this is true. Furthermore, despite my tough exterior, I would never deny him the pleasure of taking the one he loves as a husband."

As Hades continued, Will relaxed some. The god's voice was slowly becoming quieter and more sincere. "You have proven already that you are worthy. Not only did you manage to defeat Python all those years ago on your first quest, convincing your father to get rid of the shadows latched onto Nico's soul, but you helped break a curse that has lasted century upon century with just a few words. I must say I am actually quite pleased that you are the one I will soon call a son-in-law. Your father may be an annoying idiot that I cringe when remembering we are related, but to my surprise the thought of you becoming family does not sicken me nearly so."

Will grinned. "Are you trying to tell me that you're fond of me after all?"

The lord of the Underworld sighed, waving a hand in a motion that caused the shadows around the room to wrap around the son of Apollo. To his disappointment Will wasn't afraid. He actually smiled brighter, the shadows writhing slightly at the small amount of light escaping the boy.

"You have my blessing, Will Solace. Now go and prepare a touching way to ask my son to marry you that even Ares will tear up."

With that Hades commanded the shadows to bring Lucy and Will back to Nico and Tucker's apartment. It was a good thing too because an hour had passed while he had been in the Underworld. Only a few minutes after Will had told Lucy she was free to run off, which she did almost immediately, Nico returned with a carton of ice-cream.

Both of them smiled at each other happily, neither of them having any idea of what really happened while the other was away.