Chapter 5: The Underworld's True Heirs

PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Percy Jackson, Ambassador of Hades || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: Percy Jackson, Ambassador of Hades – The Rule of the Underworld

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; twisted version of PJatO

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, fluff, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, mpreg, arranged marriage, canon divergent, brief mentioning of child-abuse, shoujo-ai, hetero, threesome

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Frank/Hazel/Leo, Reyna/Annabeth, Luke/Octavian, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Damian/Liam, Sirius/Aurora, Grover/Juniper, Chris/Clarisse, Charles/Silena, Shane/Lacy, Malcolm/Katie, Jason/Calypso, Nathan/Gwen, Dakota/Leila, Bryce/Drew, Hades/Persephone, Thanatos/Triton, Ares/Aphrodite, Zeus/Hera, Paul/Sally

Percy Jackson Characters:

Camp Half-Blood: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Tyson, Ethan Nakamura, Alabaster C. Torrington, Lou Ellen, Butch Walker, Clovis Daver, Luke Castellan, Chris Rodriguez, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Cecil Rogers, Lacy Hunnigan, Mitchell Logan, Drew Tanaka, Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Nyssa Black, Shane McNabb, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, Clarisse la Rue, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Katie Gardner, Will Solace, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Grover Underwood, Juniper, Mrs. O'Leary, Blackjack

Hunters of Artemis: Zoe Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, Phoebe Burge, Celyn Richards, Naomi Walters, Thalia Grace, Hylla Ramírez-Arellano, Piper McLean

Camp Jupiter: Bryce Lawrence, Octavian Simmons, Hazel Levesque, Jason Grace, Gwen Ryder, Nathan McIntosh, Dakota Elle, Leila Fisher, Mike Kahale, Tempest, Arion

Mortal Characters: Sally Jackson, Paul Blofis, Laura Blofis (OFC)

Own (Greek) Demigods: Liam O'Riley (Hecate), Aurora Desrosiers (Hypnos), Sirius O'Rinn (Morpheus), Lilian Martin (Morpheus), Damian Sturm (Eris), Robyn Pryde (Hermes)

Godly Characters: Hades, Persephone, Poseidon, Triton, Hestia, Demeter, Thanatos, Olethros, Makaria, Melionoe, Hecate, Nemesis, Styx, Hypnos, Morpheus, Horkos, Charon, Atropos, Klotho, Lakhesis, Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone, Chiron, Hera, Zeus, Dionysus, Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, Calypso, Ascalaphus, Zerberus

Summary: Poseidon knew about Gabe's abuse and he did not leave his son in the hands of this man. But he couldn't take Percy to the sea either, knowing his own wife would rather see the child dead than raise him herself. So he strikes a bargain with Hades – Hades would protect the child and in return, Percy would one day become the consort of one of Hades' hidden children, the di Angelos. Hades agrees and takes the boy in, raising him in the underworld.

When Percy turns thirteen, Hades sends him to Camp Half-Blood to aid Nico and Bianca on the quest in the Sea of Monsters. Percy Jackson, ambassador of Hades, changes the history, mixing things up that were not supposed to be mixed up at this point in time. Like Romans, for example.

Percy Jackson, Ambassador of Hades

The Rule of the Underworld

Chapter 4: The Underworld's True Heirs

"Perseus, we need to talk."

Percy, Leo, Tyson, Melinoe and Makaria looked up from the board game they were playing. The teenage goddesses exchanged a curious glance, while Tyson and Leo looked worried. Percy grinned and kissed Leo's cheek cheerfully before he got up to walk over to his papà. Though his happy grin slipped off his lips when he noticed the serious look on Hades' face. They walked slowly to Percy's room where Hades decidedly closed the door, motioning for Percy to sit down.

"I told you how I took you in, back when your father brought you here...", started Hades slowly.

"Ehm... Yes...?", nodded Percy, growing nervous. "Papà, you're freaking me out here. D—Do you want to give me away again, or what is this about? You're so... serious..."

Hades looked over at the ten-years-old boy, reaching out to place one large hand on top of Percy's head, ruffling the soft, black locks slightly. "I love you very much, my boy. I'm not giving you away. Well... in a way, I suppose you could say I am, but... Oh, I'm the lord of death, I'm not meant for those emotional discussions. Perseus, when I took you in, it was not just a one-sided favor. He promised me back then that if I took you in, you'd one day become the consort to one of my demigod children. I have two, a daughter and a son."

"So... that's it...", whispered Percy shallowly. "You took me in to get a trophy husband for your daughter, or what? Son of Poseidon, powerful demigod, nice match...?"

"Perseus, listen to me", stated Hades firmly, grabbing Percy by the shoulders. "That was the deal back then, but then I got to know you. And I hope that you know that you mean more to me than a pawn in a greater scheme. And... I'm not going to make you marry my daughter."

"Mh?", grunted Percy confused, still with tears shimmering in his eyes.

"I'm aware of your... preference", replied Hades, looking mildly uncomfortable (praying that he didn't have to have The Talk with Percy too now). "And even so, I am not going to force you to marry my son. I would like to see that happen, yes. But if you don't find love in him, I am not going to demand for this part of the deal to be fulfilled. I'd like it though, to ensure that my promise will be kept to the end. I protected you as a child, am still protecting you, until you're old enough and then I'd like to give you away in marriage to my son, so he can protect you from then on."

Percy blushed a little, his disappointment and fear vanishing. He knew Hades loved him like a son and to hear that Hades would like for that marriage to happen, not for the sake of his real son, but to make sure that Percy would stay protected and safe. Sighing softly, Percy leaned against his papà, wondering why he had never met those demigod-children, then asking himself if this boy would be nice or friendly. And then he was petrified that Hades had known he liked boys more than girls.

/break\

"Today, we're going to tell you about the children of Hades", stated Atropos, snapping her scissors.

Percy's back straightened as he listened carefully. He was leaning against the wall, with Leo's head on his lap, his fingers combing through Leo's curls. The Latino too perked up. They were aware of the deal Hades and Poseidon had, but Hades had never really talked about his children.

"In the past hundred years, there had been four children of our master", started Lakhesis slowly.

She did everything slow and it annoyed Percy beyond measurement. "What were their names?"

"Slow, young one", warned Atropos, hitting him upside the head with the blunt side of the scissors. "Their locations. Even though the center of our power had moved to the US already, three of the four children of the underworld had been born in Europe."

Percy nodded slowly, rubbing the now sore spot on his head. European demigods. Not that it meant much to him. He had ever only been to New York, so even the US were a wide and undiscovered territory to him. Europe was... like talking about Olympus itself. Something unreachable, unimaginable. A completely different world, really.

"Adolf Hitler was born in Austria. An... unassuming little youth, really", continued Lakhesis, her voice still as slow as she toyed with her measuring tape. "But his strength. The most important thing about those four children of the underworld is that they all represented a different aspect of Hades. Adolf had a voice, mightier than Aphrodite's charmspeak. He could make people kill others. His speeches were so powerful that they led to a disastrous amount of death. He didn't particularly kill himself, he possessed the ability to make others kill in his name and execute his will, however cruel and unreasonable it may have been. He was stopped and killed by the sons of Poseidon and Zeus."

Percy and Leo nodded sharply, exhaling a relieved sigh. Killed was good, it meant this one wasn't one of his suitors then, right? That was what Leo was wondering. Though something about the abrupt end of the story made Percy wonder. Poseidon and Zeus, together? Percy didn't understand, not really. Why would two of the three brothers team up against the other? Why didn't all three get along? It was something about Zeus though, something that made Percy curious, because Percy knew that under no circumstances whatsoever was he to ever meet this god. His own father was staying away from him out of this reason. So why was the son of a gentle god like Hades such an evil threat while the son of a cruel god like Zeus was a celebrated hero? Percy knew about the Second World War, well vaguely anyway. He didn't pay much mind to human history since he didn't particularly see himself as part of that world. He continued caressing Leo's curls.

"Bianca and Niccoló di Angelo are full-blooded siblings", continued Atropos. "Born in Italy. They were young when the Three Brothers made an oath not to sire any more children. Even though the di Angelos had been born before the oath, Zeus wished to see them dead. Hades brought them and their mother to the US to save them, but Zeus stroke the mother down and ended her life." For dramatic purposes, Atropos cut a thread of life at that. "Hades changed his plans and hid the children in the Lotus Hotel, a place where time is frozen. Since then, they had been living there, eternal youths like Pan's Lost Boys, waiting for the day they would be released..."

Leo's eyes darted over to Percy curiously. The time had come, apparently. Only last month, Hades had told Percy about the siblings and the deal. Now the Moirai taught them about the children of the underworld. Apparently, it was time for the di Angelos to leave the Lotus Hotel.

"What about the fourth?", piped Leo in, growing more interested. "There was a fourth, right?"

"Hazel Levesque, the one born in New Orleans", nodded Klotho in agreement. "Died, years ago."

"You said something about their powers", interrupted Percy. "What are they?"

"Hazel controlled the earth and its riches, especially so metals", replied Lakhesis. "Bianca's center of power lays with the darkness and shadows, most of all the creatures of darkness and night. While Niccoló controls a different aspect of death, not influencing others to kill, but rather controlling death itself. Ghosts, zombies and skeletons. Summoning them, controlling them."

"Sounds like your Prince Charming is going to be a Prince Creeping", stated Leo with a snicker.

"Shut up!", exclaimed Percy embarrassed and blushed, hitting Leo upside the head.

"For the next half year", interrupted Klotho their quarreling. "You two are under strict supervision and both of you are not allowed to leave your wing of the castle."

Percy's breath stopped. Did that mean Hades wanted to actually bring his children down here? And then his heart sank some. Apparently, Hades didn't want them to meet yet. And as much as he itched to get to know them, he knew when to listen to the Death God. This was one of those times.

/break\

Hades had contemplated sending the Furies out to get his children out of the Lotus – knowing that seeing them would make him feel overly guilty about Maria's death. But the Furies had a new and more tedious task. Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone were the designated babysitters of Leo, Percy and Tyson respectively. So Hades did it himself, getting in and getting out, with the children at his hands. He had been tempted to delete their memories, but tempering with those may make things more complicated. He wanted them to be heroes, they needed to know who and what they were.

"Papà? Where are we going?", asked Nico, looking up at Hades with those large, dark eyes.

"The man who killed your mother, he... is still out there and if I take you home with me, you'd be in danger. I want to take you home and keep you safe there, but I can't", stated Hades firmly. "It would be a risk. You can't live with me, but... for a short while, I suppose I have to teach you certain things. After that, I'm bringing you away for a while, somewhere where you will be out of harm's way. I enrolled you in a boarding school. You will stay together and you will stick together."

Nico stared up at his papà, blinking a couple of times, his dark eyes full of trust, love and admiration. His papà was his hero, after all. Especially now that his mamma was gone. He only had his papà and his sorellona Bianca. They were his only family, his whole world. His eyes turned to his sister, looking for confirmation. As long as Bianca was there to protect him, he'd be alright.

/break\

'Certain things' equaled an update on the last eighty years. Everything was strange. So much had changed in the past eighty years. Nico was still trying to wrap his head around that – his papà had explained it, that they had been somewhere without time and Nico remembered playing there, but... how could he have played for so long? That was impossible. Nico and Bianca spend a few months in a dark palace in the underworld – their dad was Hades, the god of the underworld! And other gods like Thanatos and Hecate and Nemesis taught them about what they had missed, what had happened. Brought them up to speed and taught them basics about defense and sword-fight.

Nico loved it. Everything. The palace, the black river, the gem-gardens, Zerberus the three-headed dog – how awesome was that, after all? Though he was feeling watched. Every now and then, he would hear laughter or whispers, like children. It was creepy, but also curious.

"Do you think they're ghosts?", whispered Nico one night, sticking his head down from his upper bunk to look at Bianca. "Child ghosts who haunt the castle...? I mean, you hear them too, right?"

"Maybe", sighed Bianca annoyed. "Go and ask Melinoe when you train with her tomorrow."

Nico wiggled his nose at that. Melinoe was the goddess of ghosts and their half-sister. Since Nico apparently could control the dead (how freaking amazing and mind-blowing was that?!), she taught him to control those powers so once they'd return to the surface, he wouldn't drag a whole cemetery after him wherever he walked. But she was unsettling and kind of mean.

"I think I saw one the other day", continued Nico thoughtful. "Because he was all trans... trans... what's the word, Bia? That thing that's nearly see-through and glowy?"

"Translucent, Nico", chuckled Bianca amused, offering her little brother a small smile.

"Right", nodded Nico in agreement. "But he must have been an angel. He was all beautiful, with those really intense eyes. They looked just like the sea we saw back home in Venezia. I'll never forget those eyes. But then he just ran off, or vanished, I dunno, when he noticed me."

"That's what ghosts do, Nico", laughed Bianca, shaking her head. "Now go to sleep."

/break\

Once Hades deemed it enough, he took them by the hands and brought them out of the underworld again. Nico was upset. He had grown to admire his father even more now that he knew his papà was an awesome Greek god. But he was ten, too stubborn to agree with what Bianca obviously already accepted. It was too unsafe for the children to be down there, they were growing too powerful, the power-spike would alert Olympus and Zeus was the one who wanted to see the siblings dead. Hades brought them away to stay safe. Nico was depressed by this, he would have loved to explore the underworld more. But his father had made sure that the siblings mostly stayed in the palace – too much activity on their part would already be too suspicious. They needed to keep a low profile. And now they would start a new life, for as long as they had to – Hades promised it wasn't forever, promised they would be able to be reunited, promised that one day, he would be able to claim them and they would be safe. For now, safety meant the outskirts of Canada, because it was out of the gods' reach.

"Nico", started Hades, his voice unusually soft as he knelt down in front of the boy. "I have a present for you, so you don't forget me or my promise. I know you like this game, but you're still missing one figurine. Mine. So I want you to take it so it can protect you in my stead."

Nico's eyes sparkled brightly as he was handed the miniature figure of Hades. This was going to be his new treasure, together with the other two items he had gotten from his father. A silver skull-ring with ruby-eyes and a one-edged sword with a black Stygian-iron blade that he had named Nightmare. Styx herself had taught him and Bianca how to wield Stygian-iron.

"Ti voglio un mondo di bene, papà", mumbled Nico, sobbing a little as he hugged Hades tightly. [trans: I love you very much, daddy]

"Sono orgoglioso di te, bambino", murmured Hades, his voice a dark rumble. "Stai attento." [trans: I'm very proud of you, my boy. Be careful]

Nico nodded, to confirm that he understood and would obey. Grabbing his suitcase, he took a deep breath and entered the new room that would be his home for the next unbeknown time.

"Oh. Hey. You must be my roommate. Cool."

Nico jumped slightly at that and whirled around. The room was rather spacious, with two beds on opposite walls, with a large window stretching between them. One half of the room was messy, with a chubby Asian boy laying on the bed. He offered Nico a grin.

"Si", nodded Nico, before pausing. "I mean... yes. Hello, I'm Nico di Angelo, nice to meet you. I guess we're going to spend a lot of time with each other from now on, so I hope we get along."

"Frank Zhang", introduced the other boy, his grin turning into a smile with sparkling eyes when he caught sight of the tiny statue in Nico's hand. "That's Hades! Awesome! Do you play Mythomagic?"

Nico blinked a couple of times and put his stuff down. "Sure. I love it. It's the best."

"Totally!", exclaimed Frank eagerly. "Oh man, we so have to play together!"

Nico grinned some too now. He had never met someone who shared his enthusiasm for Mythomagic. Bianca disliked it, found it childish. Plunging down on his bed, he thought that maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all. Frank looked like an okay guy.

/break\

Unlike Nico, Bianca had a harder time adjusting, actually. Not that she really showed it. Especially not in front of Nico. She was his big sister, she needed to keep him safe. But she already felt like she had failed him. The past six months in the underworld had changed Nico and so had their mother's death. While in the Lotus Hotel, it had been as though they had simply forgotten about it and Nico had been that completely cheerful and carefree little boy who had started to develop an obscure obsession with this game called Mythomagic. Reality had changed that some.

Nico was still a brightly smiling and at times too loud boy, but he had dimmed down some. The underworld had that effect on others, Bianca supposed. Meeting the goddesses of hatred and revenge wasn't helpful either. Teaching a ten-years-old boy how to fight for his life? Not perfect either. While all of this was more of the beginning of an adventure to Nico, Bianca was a little more serious about it. Then again, she was already twelve. Practically an adult, after all. Straightening her dress, she held her head high as she continued her way through the halls of their school.

She would protect Nico for as long as necessary, until their papà would get them back.

/break\

Percy jumped slightly when someone sat down next to him on his bed. He turned wide-eyed to his mamma, who had a knowing and amused smile on her lips. She handed him a hot cocoa.

"So, what's the verdict? What do you think about him?", prompted Persephone.

"About who?", asked Percy innocently, taking the cocoa.

"My husband's little... demigod", stated Persephone, wrinkling her forehead as she said 'demigod', like she wanted to say something else entirely. "Don't think I don't know that you spend your time sneaking around, trying to catch a glimpse without anyone noticing. I know you well enough to know that you must have succeeded at one point. So what was your impression of him?"

"I... don't know", replied Percy after a moment. "I mean, I didn't meet him, after all. We never spoke, I don't know his character, what he likes or dislikes or if he's clever. I only know what he looks like. Sure, he looks... uhm... cute, I guess. He looks nice, but... that doesn't have to mean that he actually is nice. But he's papà's son, so he has to be nice too, right?"

Persephone smiled softly and caressed Percy's hair. "You're probably the only being aside from me who would claim that Hades is nice and that someone related to him would have to be nice too."

"Do you... Do you know when we're supposed to meet?", asked Percy shyly and nervously.

He was ten years old, the thought of being in a romantic relationship was weird and freaked him out. So on that account, he had been glad that Hades hadn't introduced him to the children of the underworld. But on the other hand, he would have liked to meet Nico, to get a feeling of how the son of Hades really was. What he could expect from his... husband. Percy's face brightened with a horrible blush at that. He was engaged. He was ten years old and he was engaged. Not that it was such a rare thing, he got enough history-lessons to know that especially when the gods were involved, marriages had often been arranged. It was still a weird thought. Percy had always hoped to find his own Eric one day, when he was older. Part of another world, to lure him into a new life.

"Later", replied Persephone honestly. "As late as possible."

"What does that mean?", asked Percy confused.

"It means that... you will one day go to the surface again. That will be when you meet Nico, truly meet him. But it will also mean that you, both of you and so many more, will be in danger", whispered Persephone, wrapping her arms around him to pull him closer. "And Hades and I, we hope that this point will be far in the future. Later."

"Oh...", nodded Percy in understanding, putting his cocoa down.

He wasn't stupid, he knew that he was being trained to fight so he could one day fight. He knew they were teaching him how to be a hero because they expected heroics from him. It wasn't all fun and games, one day he would have to put all the things he was learning from the gods to good use. One day, fate would be in his hands. His and Nico's. He dreaded that day, as much as Hades and Persephone did. Though somehow, the thought of not being alone then was comforting. As he had said, he wasn't stupid and he had known for a long time now that one day he would have to fight. But for the longest time, he thought he would have to fight alone.

Then Leo came into his life and became his brother. His fire-controlling, awesome little brother.

Followed by Tyson, who really could hold his own weight in a fight too.

And now he knew that when the day he would have to fight would arrive, he would also have Bianca and Nico di Angelo at his side. When Hades had promised him that the day Hades couldn't protect him any longer, Nico would, then Percy had believed it. Still did. If Nico was his father's son, he would keep his promise. Percy would be safe.

Percy just wished and prayed and hoped that aside from safe, he would also be loved, cherished and valued. He hoped that at the end of the road, there would be a happy ending waiting for him.

Author's note: Sorry to those of you who expected Percy and Nico to meet. But creating such a deep-impact AU and not using it to its fullest would be foolish, so I first have to establish this world before just randomly throwing Percy and Nico together and saying "and that's that". So just like Percy, who got three chapters on his growing up and power-development, Nico gets three chapters too to show how he becomes the great hero of Camp Half-Blood and how he makes friends there before they finally meet. This was the first.

Next chapter however will have a time-skip. There will be bro-Frank-Nico, the sibling bond of the di Angelos will be explored and apparently EVERYBODY wants the di Angelos - may it be greedy manticores, huntresses or Camp Half-Blood.