Brothers Reunited

Chapter Thirteen: Nico PoV

"About time," My father says as I appear, "That leap took you 4.6 seconds, son. That is 4.5 seconds too long, but we will work on that tomorrow along with the shadow travel combat skills I had you work on yesterday."

I groan. Yesterday, he had me practice shadow traveling when sword-fighting. Instead of moving away from a sword, I had to shadow travel away from it and then behind my enemy and so on. By the end of the day, I was so tired, I passed out on my way to the Infirmary for ambrosia. I had to bribe a newbie not to tell Will.

"Now, I must explain what will happen from Hallows Eve and on so you are aware of what to expect. I will be hosting the conference in our Underworld this year," My father sits on his throne and I stand in front of him.

I sit down and lean against the wall opposite the throne, "When should I arrive?" I ask.

"It begins on Sunday at noon and ends on Monday. Be here Sunday morning at 10:00."

I remember I'll be with my brother then, "What of the Avengers?"

"What of them? You won't have time for them from now on. I humored your request to stay with them, but nothing was to ever come of it. Family is not power, and you must always seek power," My father responds, his eyes hardening. I almost see a flicker of wistfulness, but it quickly disappears.

I nod, "Yes, father."

"When you accept your role as my heir, you will come to live in the Underworld."

I begin to protest at that, "What about camp-"

"None of that," my father replies, "You will no longer live at camp. Worry not, you may still visit your friends. Next, as you are aware from our training last week, there will be death gods from six pantheons present. The Egyptians have a particularly strong relationship with us Greeks and Romans. As part of your training after-"

"Wait, what do you mean 'after'?" I ask. I thought I only had to train until the conference.

Hades scoffs, "You may become my heir at the conference, but you'll still need centuries of training to hope to match me. After the conference, you will host one of the Egyptian death gods."

"Host? As in become an Egyptian Magician?!" I cry out, "But I don't have the blood of the pharaohs."

"You have divine blood and thus are qualified. However, this has never been attempted before, so we cannot be sure," My father replies.

"How long will this last?" I begin to question whether any of this was a good idea in the first place.

My father stares at me sternly, "The arrangement will last as long as necessary. Be grateful Anubis has agreed for you to host him. Afterward, you will become immortal and continue training with me."

I nearly choke on the air which seems suffocatingly thick, "I-i-immortality?" Percy turned it down, and for a while I wondered why, but now I understand. I'm not sure I could handle it.

"Immortality," My father curtly responds, leaving no room for discussion, "If you are to become my heir, you will become a god. Just as Triton, Poseidon's heir, is immortal so too must you be."

My father continues to cover important details on those in attendance.

After a bit, I shadow travel back to the Tower. I leave my bathroom, and I lie on my bed to take a nap. As I'm sure everyone is already aware, with great power comes great need to take a nap. Someone can wake me up later.

**Le time skip brought to you by Sassico**

"Master Nico! Master Nico!"

I groggily open my eyes and mumble, "Whoisit?"

"I am FRIDAY, Mr. Stark's new AI," the voice replies.

"Whatdoyouneed?" I mumble, still half asleep.

I groan when she responds saying, "You are needed upstairs for dinner. Master Bucky and Master Steve said you aren't allowed to skip another meal."

"Just call me Nico," I mutter back.

I try to get out of the bed but end up falling on my face and landing on the floor.

"Are you okay, Nico?" Friday asks.

I groan and rub my head but add, "Tell them I'm coming."

I stand up and prepare for dinner. I have no idea what to do about everything. I suppose I'll stick with my father. I never fit in here anyway.