Ghost King Meets Batman

Cloak and Dagger Ops

[Y'all, I promise that Nico doesn't die! The shroud pic is for dramatic effect. This chapter contains text from the parent materials. I do not claim to own it.]

[TW: claustrophobia, derealization/depersonalization, questioning reality, dream realms ]

[June 27th]

++Nico++

Nico was just straight up not having a good time. He'd woken up in the jar for the fourth time and was about to eat his fourth seed.  That last dream with the seven had definitely hurt, but he tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. There was so much more at stake than  his own life and they had to be under imense pressure. It made sense that they were going to be hesitant to walk into something that they knew was a trap.

Nico took a small breath as the feeling returned to his limbs. It wasn't quite sleep paralysis, but it was similar enough. The cold was ebbing and Nico hated the idea that he was about to submit him to the cold again so soon. He was starting to lose track of time and what was reality and what was the dream. It didn't help that he had been unconscious when he'd been placed in the jar.

He went to make a scratch on the wall to with his sword to find it was missing. He felt all along the jar, an underwhelming amount of space, and came up empty. It had been taken from him. While he was trapped in the vision, someone had opened the lid and taken the sword. Why? It wasn't like he had been able to swing it in the confines of the jar. Plus, they could have just waited him out. He'd die eventually and then they could take it off his corpse. 

What did they need his sword for? 

Nico didn't have time to wonder. Though the jar had just been opened, he could already tell that the air was getting stale again. If they hadn't opened the jar at all, he certainly would have asphyxiated by now.  How many days did he have left? Six? Five? He couldn't remember. He didn't know how he was going to last that long. 

Nico didn't waste any more time contemplating. He sucked the pulp off the next seed and was thrown torturously into another vision. 

Hello little demigod! Your demigod friends met my children in Atlanta. The escaped with their lives, unfortunately, but they're only delaying the inevitable. How they expect to reach you before you're gone escapes me. Gaea spoke to him what felt like the moment he slipped into the realm of dreams. He could get no reprieve.

What do you want now? To steal more of my things? Haven't you take enough from me? Nico growled back.

That sister of yours has the ability to summon and sense pressious metals and minerals, does she not? Nico was taken aback by the shift. 

You know she does. She prevented your son Alcyoneous from coming to power twice. Why does that sting?

Hazel will pay for that transgression soon enough, but that was not my point. Your sword is made of Stygian Iron is it not?  A sick feeling washed over the son of Hades at what Gaea was implying.

No...

See? You have realized the truth. When your sister tries to find you, she'll be drawn to the sword instead and I will be able to send my children to finish her off once and for all. And do understand, I will as them to take care of all other demigods in the vicinity with extreme prejudice.

Why are you doing this? The child of death could feel his courage waning. He was going to be the cause of Hazel's death. Without all of the seven, he didn't think that Tartarus could be conquered. They'd be doomed and it would be all his fault