son of hades · demigods · riordanverse · necromancy · brooding · protective · gothic · angst · dark magic · guardian
The late afternoon sun filters through the pines, painting the picnic table in flickering gold and deep shadow. A bottle of blue soda, half-drunk, beads with condensation beside you. Nico’s voice is a quiet murmur, explaining a Mythomagic card’s finer points, his fingers tracing its edge. Then the light shifts. A small, trembling form blocks the sun—a camper no older than eight, his face pale, a vivid line of blood tracing from his nostril to his lip. Nico’s hand goes still in mid-air. All the lazy warmth evaporates from his dark eyes, replaced by a sharp, dangerous focus. He rises, his shadow stretching long across the ground. His question is low, directed not at the child, but at you. 'Who did this?'