Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s the middle of the night. The waxing moon reflects the sun. The stars are dancing lights above, while below, a boy walks down a street, scuffing his shoes on the concrete. A layer of dust settles down after being disturbed and a gentle breeze blows through his hair. He drags his feet, slowly inching towards the end of the road. He walks and walks, each step as if through molasses. The goal is in front now. An unassuming graveyard. Such a fitting place for this hero. The son of death walking through rows of corpses far under. Rotting away into nothing, leaving behind n ot even a memory. He reads the names as each passes.

Katie Eckler
Nikolas Crawford
Remi.. lichens and moss have already swallowed the surname.

The next one reads:
Bianca di Angelo

A beloved hunter
A dearer sister

‘Laughter sounds
As we rejoice
Once again
In each others’ arms’

It is here the hero stops, kneels down and waits. For what? Even he does not know. A sign perhaps, that she is with him. But there is nothing here. He waits still. Maybe an hour passes, maybe do a couple minutes, each one the same as the last. A tree creaks nearby. The boy is instantly on alert, but it’s just the wind. He settles down again, calming his beating heart.

“I guess I’m just too paranoid, aren’t I?”

Silence answers him. He sighs deeply and lowers his head.

“Don’t know what to tell you anymore. I’ve said I miss you probably over a thousand times now. You must be tired.”

The child runs his fingers through his hair.

“I would be.”

Quiet all around. Another sigh breaks it.

“Stupid thing to talk to you, can’t even hear me.” The boy mutters angrily.

The boy gets up. He’s more tired than he was when he came here. Welp, too bad. Life’s not gonna wait for him. Suddenly, there’s a pulse of… something? Emotion, maybe? Hmmm.. that’s quite a bit concerning.

Now, does he want to see what this thing is? Not exactly, it’s probably after midnight by now and the hero has places to be. But life doesn’t wait. There’s another wave. Creeping a couple graves further where the something seems to be emanating from, an unmarked tombstone, the boy crouches down.

The feeling feels weird (very eloquent, the boy knows). It’s not like it’s from something alive because it’s..you know, underground? But it also doesn’t feel dead, exactly. It is extremely weird, and the boy does not like this one bit. It seems that nobody cares what he thinks because within a couple seconds, the pulse becomes almost overpowering, like holding up a boulder while somebody stacks more boulders on top. Is this what holding the sky feels like?? Possibly? He’d have to ask Annabeth.

The hero wants to scramble backwards, but he cannot move, foot rooted to the spot. The pressure bears down more, and more and then: pop! It’s completely gone, so suddenly it’s disorienting.

And then the earth explodes and all the boy can see is a weird, neon green. Clumps of rock and dirt hit him but he doesn’t notice, entranced by the color. What the fuck is this?? The child is shaken out of it by a… being? Maybe? Its eyes flicker between normal, blue, human eyes and ones the same shade of neon that the trance was. They’re intoxicating and giddy, like being told by your favorite bar that tonight, all drinks are free. That was a weird ass analogy, honestly. But the…creature (thing??) seems quite powerful.

“Well…fuck.”

The thing tilts its head back and laughs. Fucking laughs.

Chapter Text

Shit. Shit fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. Laughing entities are very very not good. This is not good. The boy prepares to walk backwards slowly, like the creature is a bear he encountered in the woods. Actually, he’d prefer a bear (hell, even a bear with rabies, wait.. can bears get rabies??) to whatever this is. The creature stops laughing; it’s bright eyes track the boy’s movements lazily.

“Nico, aren’t you?”

Uh….is he what? What is the entity asking him?? Wait… fuck. Why the fuck does this thing know his name??? Okay, wait, don’t panic just yet, it could know worse things. Maybe he’s just that well-known by monsters?

“Hades’ son?”

REMAIN CALM. Don’t panic, that’s probably also gotten around…. actually you can start panicking now.

“How you’ve grown up! The last time I saw you, you were still a little kid; all innocent and cute.”

.
..
…
....what????

“Aw, wait, I remember your dad showed me baby pictures too, you and your sister! You were so adorable.”

Can..can we rewind a little??? What the fuck? Can he get an explanation? Please? The hero kind of wants to scream. Instead (very eloquently), he replies with a greeting;

“uhhh… hi? Could you… explain please? How do you know me?? Or my dad, for that matter?”

The thing visibly wilts;

“Aw, don’t tell me you forgot me.” It (he?) springs right back up and replies just as quickly.

“Wait, actually that makes sense! I was probably in my other form back then.”

Other..form?? What is this guy? Terrifying, that’s what he is. Oh, wait!

“Are we like related or some sh-thing,” the boy tacks on a hesitant “…sir?”

“Oh, no! Of course not! Why would you think so?”

“With all due respect sir (?), I have no idea who you are; you literally appeared in front of me and started talking about me as a baby.” The child-hero replies.

The guy literally starts melting out of sadness. Droplets of fog drip down his arms but disappear before they hit the ground. What even.

“Well..when you put it like that..ah, never mind, it’s good to meet you, Nico. I am Phantom, ruler of the Ghost Zone, Slayer of Pariah Dark, Protector of Amity Park (ooo that rhymes), apprentice to the ancient of time, Clockwork, friend of the Far Frozen, and there’s a couple more, but nobody has the time and patience for all of them.” The being- no, Phantom, shrugs.

“Been a while since I’ve seen your dad, though, d’ya reckon he’s still mad at me for getting Cerberus industrial-strength squeaky toys?”

“I…wouldn’t know?? I wasn’t there, um…your majesty.” Phantom grimaces.

“Eugh, being called that makes me feel so old. I swear I'm only, what, 300? 4? Eh, time is weird in the Ghost Zone, you know how it is. (Nico really doesn’t.)” Then, Phantom does a complete 180- “Oh, wait! Do you want to visit your dad? “

“I mean, sure??” Absolutely bewildered seems to be Nico’s permanent state. Maybe Hades can explain the absolute bullshit that is Phantom.

“Wonderful!” And with that, Phantom rips open a pulsating, neon green tear in the delicate fabric of reality and beckons him in.