Chapter Text
He inspected his wand more carefully. It was dark in color, almost black. From some of Persephone's books, that he had looked through in the Palace, Nico knew that the apple wood should be almost a beige tone, he was grateful that Lady Hecate had taken the time to change its appearance.
Nico felt a kind of cold run through his body when he grabbed the magic stick. It was similar to the feeling he had when he called out to shadows, it felt familiar. There wasn't much to see on the wand, it was simple, without any extra detail on the handle or structure, not like Percy's or Jason's which had been carved differently.
He placed the wand carefully next to him, and again grabbed the box it came in. He inspected it trying to find something different, something that Hecate would have put in to help them a little more; he hoped to find some instructions for his mission or even instructions on how to use the stick with magic.
Nico gave up after a few seconds—after he almost broke the lid—and with a sigh he proceeded to put the new wand back inside it.
"sh*t!"
He raised his head quickly. The couch in front of him was completely on fire. Leo had his wand in his right hand and an expression of horror and amusem*nt. His wand had a steady flame on the tip, too close to the burning couch.
A stream of water shot out, and suddenly the water bottle on the coffee table was now empty. Percy was staring at the now wet couch with a smug smile.
"Well... who wants to eat?"
The hotel restaurant was lovely. They had passed by there the day before when none of them felt like cooking something for dinner. The place had a buffet with different types of food to choose from, or in any case if you didn't want that, waiters and an extensive menu to order from.
Nico had dressed in black jeans and a dark oversized t-shirt before going out, at least, he was conscious enough to do so. Leo and Percy had gone out in their pajamas, and if he didn't say something to the son of Poseidon, he would have walked around the hotel shirtless.
"You should leave that aside" someone whispered right in his left ear.
Nico held back a jump that he was going to make, his dignity would not allow him to execute it - and he already had a little practice with his stepmother appearing out of nowhere at his side.
"We're leaving tomorrow" He snapped.
"Yes..." Jason continued to look at him as if he didn't understand—which was likely.
"It would be nice to know something, don't you think?" He said rolling his eyes
"You've read enough since yesterday" Jupiter's son said before putting a spoonful of pancakes in his mouth. "At least, finish eating before you continue reading."
Nico closed the book with more force than he should, he cringed a bit at the noise it made when closed, but he focused his eyes on his food. 'Wilbert Slinkhard's tome of Magical Defense Theory' had to wait until after his breakfast to be opened again.
His plate of toast and jam didn't look as appetizing as when he had just served it. The toast was now watery and the jam was spilling down the side, preventing him from eating without getting the sticky substance on his fingers. He made a disgusted face.
He heard a sigh next to him before his plate was replaced by a bowl of half-eaten buttered pancakes.
"Eat that," Jason told him with a smile "they're better than this toast."
Nico opened his mouth to retort and throw a few insults at the son of Jupiter, but was eclipsed by a Wingardium leviosa across the table, followed by the bottle of maple syrup floating towards Percy. Leo applauded the spectacle which raised his annoying cousin's smile as he did so.
"There are mortals here, Percy" Jason scolded, yet he continued eating the watery toast he had in his hand.
"The fog covers it" Percy waved nonchalantly his hand
The rest of breakfast was less of a disaster, there were a few other floating objects around the table for several minutes, but nothing worth noting. The pancakes were delicious, though.
When the waiter approached them to give them the bill, a clumsy Leo spilled the orange juice he was drinking on him. The waiter was distracted by the excuses that Hephaestus' son was giving and coincidentally he forgot to charge them for the food.
"Now he remembers you, Leo"
He had heard Jason say as they all quickly left the restaurant.
The Defense tome had not been forgotten after all, it now lay peacefully open in his lap with every few paragraphs underlined. It wasn't the best book to read - he often got bored and ended up playing with the corners - but it was part of his duty as he was one of those whose dyslexia didn't affect him as much.
Right now, Nico was fighting sleep as he turned the page to welcome chapter eight.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Stupefy!"
Percy and Leo were engaging in an epic battle in the middle of the room, their wands raised and pointed at each other.
"Protego!"
"Diffindo!"
Some scratches appeared on Percy's arm, not deep enough to even show a hint of blood.
"Imperius!"
Leo stared at Percy with unfocused eyes for a good two seconds before shaking his head to clear it.
"EXPELIARMUS"
Percy's wand wobbled for a while and fell to the ground as a finale. Without wasting any time, the son of Poseidon uncapped RipTide and soon had the tip of it centimeters from Leo's throat.
"Wow! Calm down, Sharkie"
The son of Hephaestus took a step back and quickly pulled an axe from his magic belt and swung it against the edge of his opponent's sword.
"We'll leave it there, guys" Jason intervened, stepping between the two.
"You said the diffindo was going to cut him into pieces" Leo complained, turning to look at him, he had a pout on his face and he had already put his axe back away.
"The imperius was supposed to be like Piper's CharmSpeak" Percy joined in the complaints.
"It's supposed to be" He complained himself.
Nico ruffled his hair, frustrated. He had been reading about those spells for hours and every part of the book said that their consequences were disastrous and even one of them was strictly prohibited in the magical community, yet they had no effect on any of the demigods in front of him.
"Diffindo!" He shout
Nico pointed his wand at the furniture in front of him. The enchantment fell directly into the middle of the sofa, splitting it in two in just a few seconds. A loud crash was heard throughout the place when the two pieces of what was previously a sofa fell directly to the floor.
"sh*t"
"Is that supposed to happen to me?" Percy spoke an octave higher than normal.
"Reparo"
The four demigods watched as the scattered pieces slowly came together until they were as good as new. Silence was present in the room.
"I think," Jason sat down next to him abruptly "it's time to stop."
His book was torn from his hand by the son of Jupiter. Jason had some tappers full of food in his hands along with cutlery and napkins.
"You look like you're from cabin six with all those books around you." Jason laughed a little as he spoke.
"I'm the only one who's worrying about this." Nico rolled his eyes as he took one of the tupperware from Jason's hand—ignoring the electricity he felt when his fingers touched the other demigod's.
"We all do it, Angel" Jason moved to put the book on the nightstand and then shamelessly settle into the bed.
"Not seem"
"I've also been finding out some things." Jason continued talking as if he hadn't heard. "There was a book about Dementors in the pile you bought yesterday."
Nico watched as he took a bite of food before continuing talking, he decided to do the same - he didn't remember when he had last eaten.
"There is a spell to scare them away, you make an animal with your good memories and the Dementors leave you alone, they also serve as messengers"
Nico was listening attentively, absorbing every word he spoke—and as the muscles in his face moved as he did so—he had read something about those creatures a few books back, but he hadn't delved into it.
"Have you tried-"
"Not yet," Jason cut him off. "I wanted to do it with all of you together, maybe when we're there."
They ate in peace, almost without speaking. They heard voices coming from under the crack in the door, Leo and Percy were fighting wrestling style for something - Leo's cries for help were ignored.
"Have you talked to Hazel?" Jason interrupted the silence.
"I was thinking on Iris Message her today, before I went to sleep"
He hadn't communicated with his sister since they left the Camp, almost a little over a week ago. Hazel had told him to call her —Don't you dare disappear for more than two weeks, Nico di Angelo— and to keep her informed of everything that will happen on the trip, down to the smallest detail.
"Do you want me to bring a drachma?"
Jason pulled him out of his thoughts with the question, and Nico watched as he stepped up to bring the coin without waiting for an answer from him.
Jupiter's son was barefoot and in pajamas, it was a strange sight to see him rummaging through the drawers full of school supplies and piled up clothes. His baggy gray joggers caught his attention, it wasn't something out of this world or something he had never seen before, but Nico couldn't take his eyes off the garment. He blushed when he realized that he was still looking at Jason when he returned.
"Here" Jason said with a co*cky smile.
Nico ignored him, trying to avoid his gaze as best as possible, and reached for the crystal that resided on his nightstand.
"Iris goddess of the rainbow, show me Hazel Levesque"
"Nico!"
Hazel was smiling widely as she looked at him. His sister was in the stables of what he assumed was Camp Jupiter—because that was too clean to be the Greek Camp—she was wearing a brown shirt over her familiar legion t-shirt, and his hair was up in a high tail.
"Hello, Hazy"
"Hi! Oh! Hello, Jason" Hazel blushed when realized that she had ignored the former praetor at first.
"Hello, Hazel" Jason greeted. "Everything okay over there?"
"Yes, Reyna and Frank have already returned to their posts, and they are organizing the new war games" The Roman said happily. "I should ask you that."
"Things have been pretty calm here" he said.
Just as he finished saying that, a particularly loud scream from the son of Hephaestus filled their ears.
"Ow! I still would have liked to go," her sister complained, ignoring the mechanic's calls for help. "You know, to learn more about magic and what Lady Hecate has done."
"The spells are quite easy" Jason leaned a little closer to the image and took out the new wand to show it to her "Hecate gave us this, the magic comes out on its own"
Nico nudged the Roman when he finished speaking. Hazel had been excited at the idea of learning about her Mist powers and general magic that she possessed, rubbing it in her face that she wasn't there, wasn't going to do any good.
"Don't worry, Nico, keep talking about all that, I don't care. In any case, I can ask for an audience with Lady Hecate and have her teach me herself. Being part of the last prophecy has its benefits"
Hazel smiled reassuringly at them, as only she could do, and told a little about how things are going at the two Camps.
"You all are leaving tomorrow, aren't you?" Her sister changed the subject again. "You better, Nico di Angelo, call me once you're there."
"Yes..." Nico felt like he was being scolded—which didn't make sense because he hadn't done anything yet.
"Jason, you have to make him remember. You are always together, both cannot forget."
"Yes ma'am"
Hazel laughed a little, still with her hands on her hips and her gaze defiant.
"Oh! Nico, Lilian sends her regards. She approached me before I left Camp Half-Blood and told me that one of these days she wanted to talk to you." Hazel laughed loudly this time. "And she has a surprise for you, when you come back home from the journey"
He blushed, Nico didn't think the girl still remembered him - and she had made him a gift! - children were known for forgetting people after a few days.
He felt Jason's intense gaze towards his person, that only made him want to dive into the shadows more.
"I hope you guys have a good trip" Hazel continued when she saw that her brother had no signs of speaking. "Send my regards to Percy and Leo."
"We'll tell them. Bye, Hazy"
