He Who Walks Between Worlds

Wouldya like a Cuppa?

Beginning Notes

All characters are owned by J. K. Rowling and Rick Riordan.

Nico

It was almost two in the morning. He was going to be shit for the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow. Nico laughed at himself. That was what he was thinking about? Ginny was wearing off on him.

He was in the underworld, trying to figure out the source of the invisibility cloak's mysterious magic. It felt almost Greek, with a strong air of death, but he couldn't tell. He knew it wasn't Hades' doing. He had visited Thanatos, but he was gone, hunting down rogue souls or something. He would have to come back another time for that. It seemed almost right for Thanatos, but not quite. Now, he was visiting the rest of the cranky, crabby underworld gods.

It wasn't long before he reached Melinoe's cave. He tried not to think about the last time he'd been here. He was stronger now.

"Melinoe?" His voice echoed uncertainly around the cave. Melinoe . . . Melinoe . . . linoe . . . oh . . . oh.

As the echoes died away, the only sound was the steady Plop. Plop. Plop of a dribble of water carrying through the cave. He could hear a faint whistling sound, like wind blowing through a long tube. Then he saw her.

She appeared out of the darkness at the back of the cave. Darkness so dark, so tangible, that not even Nico could see through it. She still looked like his mother, but he had learned his lesson. He kept steady eye contact.

"You came back. You are braver than most." Melinoe's voice snaked through the cave, coming at him from all sides.

"I need information," Nico said.

"Why are you not crying? You cried last time. Such lovely tears from a Son of Hades."

Nico forced himself to focus. "I need information. Can you give it to me?"

"Information has a price."

"What do you want?"

"I want to know your ghosts."

Nico blinked at her. "Don't you?"

She laughed, a raspy, hissing sound. "No, Son of Hades, you have grown stronger. You are hiding them from me. If you want me to tell you what you wish to know, you must show me what I wish to learn."

"Fine."

Melinoe reached out and touched his forehead with a hand surrounded by mist. After a moment, she drew back, satisfied. "I have your ghosts, Son of Hades."

Her features shifted, warping until she looked like Bob. Nico looked away. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, holding up Thanatos's cloak.

She barely looked at it before replying. "No." The voice was Leo's, annoying as Hades and unmistakable. Nico turned and walked out of the cave.

Nico got as far away from the cave as he could before falling onto his knees and crying. He gasped for breath for a moment. This was not something he could do here, especially not by the fields of punishment. It would attract unwanted things.

He got up. Instinctively, he veered away from the fields of punishment. When he found himself almost to the edge of Elysium, he veered left and headed towards Hades' palace.

"Hello," a soft voice said, and Nico almost jumped out of his skin. He turned to see a girl, with skin devoid of any color and large black eyes. Grey and white moths fluttered around her. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Hello Macaria. You startled me."

"You're not dead. I wish you were dead. I bet Daddy would let me keep your soul. Then you would play with me more. You don't play with me very much."

"Mortals don't like it when you say that you wish that they were dead," Nico explained patiently. Macaria was one of his favorite gods, but she often behaved like a small child. She didn't always understand when she was saying something strange or inappropriate.

"But you're not a mortal."

"I'm a demigod, which is pretty close."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Macaria looked up at him with such big, cute eyes, that he had to hold back a smile.

"Well, I'm here now," Nico said, "And I can play with you for a little while."

A huge smile lit up Macaria's face. "Can we play hide and seek?"

"Sure."

Nico hadn't even closed his eyes before Macaria turned invisible. Unfortunately for Macaria, she forgot to turn her moths invisible too. Soon, she was sprawled on the ground, giggling, while Nico tickled her. He wished he could stay like this forever, playing with his little sister. Macaria was simple. He knew how to make her laugh, how to act around her. She wasn't cruel or duplicitous. He could trust her, even if she was incapable of keeping a secret.

But it was after three in the morning, and he had things to do. He rocked back, and let her catch her breath. "Keep doing it!" she squealed.

"Sorry, but I gotta go."

Macaria stuck her bottom lip out, and Nico couldn't hold back a smile.

"I'll come back soon. And you have your moths, in the meantime."

"My moths are boring," she whined.

"Should I tell your mommy that?"

Macaria stuck out her tongue and disappeared.

Nico resumed his walk towards Hades' palace. He really did need to talk to Persephone. Well, leave a message. He thought that she liked him enough not to turn him into a dandelion again (she hadn't been mad about the pomegranate, after all), but you never know with gods.

His plan was ruined, however, when he slipped in through a side door and found Persephone waiting for him. He froze, but she was smiling. "Nico! I've been expecting you!"

"You have?"

"Of course. Only you, Hades, and I can make Macaria laugh like that."

"Thanks?"

Nico wasn't sure why Persephone was being so nice to him, but it made him nervous.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked, "I have rose hip, chamomile, and mint."

"I'm fine, thanks."

"What about cookies? I have some dandelion cookies I made myself."

"I'm not hungry but thank you."

"Suit yourself." She sat down and leaned back, taking a cookie in one hand. "You can sit, if you want."

Nico sat down.

"What brings you to the underworld today?" she asked.

Nico shrugged, then thought better of it. "I was trying to figure out who made a particular item I found."

"Maybe I could help?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I really better go get some sleep."

Persephone's smile faded a bit. "Of course. Here, I'll help you get home."

"Oh, I'm fine -- achoo!"

Nico bent double sneezing as he was transported in a cloud of flower petals to the Slytherin common room. "What was that about?" he wondered out loud. He was glad Persephone wasn't being outright passive-aggressive anymore, but frankly, this made him more nervous. He didn't know what she was doing.

He was too tired to worry, however. He grabbed his bag and collapsed into bed, halfheartedly kicking one boot off. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

End Notes

Yup. I don't even have an excuse this time. 

Also, Nico:

Nico: . . . 

Nico?

Nico: . . .

Hey, Nico, remember? We talked about this. We need you to do a promotional thing about voting.

Nico: . . .

Okay. It looks like Nico's asleep. Maybe next time, folks.