Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It was barely three months after they managed to defeat Gaea that Rachel started glowing green again. Honestly, she was Percy’s friend and they got along great, but in that moment he could have strangled her.

“Three belonging to neither and both,
must answer the son of lies and loath,
unbroken chains of an ancient beast
shall be brought west or brought east,
two voices to silence, one to be heard,
A lie will be the final word.”

She fell quiet and the green light disappeared.

“Another great prophecy?” Percy asked tiredly. “It made even less sense than the last. Please tell me I’m not part of it.”

“Sorry, I can’t say,” Rachel said unhelpfully. Percy sighed and went to find Chiron, who was just as confused as he was.

Almost a year passed, and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Well, a lot happened, most noticeably Percy and Annabeth breaking up, but nothing to do with the prophecy. Percy was almost sad about it. After the breakup he had a lot of angry energy to waste.

It hadn’t exactly been completely unexpected, but Annabeth breaking up with him had still been a surprise. Things hadn’t been the same between them since Tartarus and the war. Percy had honestly thought the experience would bring them closer, and it had seemed like it for a while, until Annabeth admitted to being afraid of his powers, and the lengths he would sometimes go to while using them. It created a rift between them, but Percy had been convinced they could get over it together.

It didn’t work out that way.

So now he was sitting at the beach by Camp Half-Blood, throwing stones into the water and wondering what was taking that son of lies so long.

“It’s freezing out here. Aren’t you cold?” a voice asked from behind him, and Percy turned around. Jason was standing with his hands in the pockets of a high-collared jacket, shivering as his breath formed a cloud around his mouth. Percy grinned. The only good thing about this whole situation had been bringing Percy and Jason closer, as they were the only ones of the seven that hung out at Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth was in college, Piper stayed with her dad and Leo had taken the Argo II and gone to look for Calypso’s island. Hazel and Frank were still at Camp Jupiter, and Percy and Jason visited sometimes, but mostly they stayed at Camp Half-Blood.

“I’m not as sensitive to the cold as you are,” Percy shrugged, but stood up all the same. “Want to spar?”

“Later. Chiron said to bring you and come see him,” Jason said. “He didn’t say what it was about, but it sounded important.”

“Maybe something has finally happened,” Percy said. He was itching for a quest of some kind, and as it turned out, that was exactly what he got.

“There has been a development that is possibly related to the new Great Prophecy,” Chiron said. “I need you to come with me to New York tomorrow.”

“Sure, what is it about? Are we fighting something?” Percy asked hopefully, but Chiron shook his head.

“No, we’re meeting Nico di Angelo and a peculiar young man for a peaceful discussion,” Chiron said. “I would prefer it if you two didn’t talk about this around camp.”

“Why not?” Jason asked. “And is Nico okay? We haven’t seen him for weeks.”

“He seems to be doing fine, but you’ll meet him yourself tomorrow. Meet me outside the cabin at seven o’clock, sharp.”

***

The following day Chiron led them to a small, half hidden cafe called “The Well” in the outskirts of New York. He was in his wheelchair, and Jason and Percy were taking turns was pushing him around. The diner was fairly busy when they entered, but Percy immediately spotted Nico di Angelo sitting at a corner table. He hadn’t changed much since Percy last saw him, though he might have grown a little taller. He was massaging his temples with a pained expression on his face as the boy in front of him laughed at something.

Percy studied the newcomer as they approached. He had messy, fiery red hair and a pointy face, but his features were surprisingly handsome, in an almost feminine way. Still, there was something off. Maybe his eyebrows were too sharp, or his eyes too narrow or his smile too wide, but Percy found him a bit unsettling.

“Hi Nico,” Jason said as they reached the table.

“Finally! Thank the gods,” Nico muttered, then looked up at them. He frowned a bit when he saw Percy, and then ignored him in favor of Chiron. Percy tried not to be hurt by that.

“This is the guy I told you about,” Nico said, gesticulating towards the red head.

“Hallgrímur Lokason. Call me Hal.” the guy introduced himself, smiling as he let his eyes wander over them. For some reason his gaze made Percy a little uncomfortable. “I am very pleased to meet you.”

“Please don’t start,” Nico said, sounding exhausted. “Just tell them what you told me.”

“Word for word?” The redhead asked as they sat down. Jason had managed to sit down beside Nico before Percy had a chance to do the same, so he was stuck in the seat beside Hal, who was currently leering at him. “Yeah, I could do that.”

“Just the important parts,” Nico said coolly. Hal turned towards him, raising his eyebrows.

“Why? Are you jealous?” he asked with a smirk. “Well, I get why you didn’t want to introduce me to your friends, they are really quite...”

“The point of all this,” Nico interrupted him hastily. “Is that the Norse gods are planning to destroy the world.”

“What?” Jason exclaimed.

“Norse gods?” Percy said, confused. “There are Norse gods?”

“Well, they like to think so, anyway,” Hal laughed, stealing the spoon out of Nico’s coffee and putting it in his mouth. Nico glared at him, but didn’t comment.

“This is why I wanted you two to be quiet about this meeting,” Chiron said. “The Norse gods are a bigger secret than the Roman gods ever were. It has never been a problem keeping them separate, though, since they tend to stay in Northern Europe.”

“Yup, but then you Greeks had to have two almost-apocalypses in the span of a few years,” Hal said, shaking his head. “Which worried the big heads in Ásgarður. They didn’t want the world to end without getting their crowning moment of glory. Hence, they are jump starting rangarök.”

“The apocalypses weren’t our fault, and we averted them, anyway,” Percy said angrily. “Why aren’t the Norse demi-gods stopping this? I mean, there has to be some, right?”

“Of course, you’re looking at one,” Hal grinned, then turned to Nico. “First you and now him. Are all you Greeks so cute when you get angry?”

“Just answer the question,” Nico said tiredly, though his cheeks were slightly pink.

“The Norse demigods aren’t many, and most of them have been convinced that ending the world on their own terms is a better solution,” Hal said. “Or so I’ve gathered. I don’t really get along with them.”

Percy really wasn’t surprised at that, but he opted not to say so.

“How did you know to come to us for help, if you weren’t supposed to know about us?,” Jason asked. Hal looked up at him, seemingly taking a while to study him, before frowning.

“My mother suggested it,” he said. “You smell weird. Do you have lighting powers?” He turned towards Nico, actually looking a little frightened. “Please tell me you didn’t drag me in front of a storm god’s kid.”

“Relax, Jason is not going to hurt you,” Nico said. “Unless you do something to deserve it.”

Hal shuddered. “Fine, I’ll be good,” he said. “The point is, my mother just got free of his bounds a few centuries ago, and he isn’t bored of this world yet. He would prefer to avoid a direct confrontation with the aesir, so he sent me here. My godly half-sister set up a meeting with Nico, so I could ask for help.”

Percy was a bit confused by Hal’s use of pronouns, but the guy was a foreigner so that was probably why. “Your godly sister?” he asked instead.

“Hel, queen of the Norse Underworld,” Hal said. ”I hadn’t met her before. Always nice meeting family.”

“Her realm is next door to my father’s, in a manner of speaking,” Nico said. “So she talked to him and he asked me to meet Hal yesterday.”

“It was quite romantic, really,” Hal said, eyes glittering. “A blind date.”

“It was not,” Nico said, with a strained voice as his cheeks turned pink again. “Anyway, I called you immediately, because of the prophecy.”

“Meaning?” Percy asked.

“Hal’s godly parent, Loki, is the god of lies,” Nico said.

Hal shrugged. “Among other things,” he said, smiling too widely. “I’m not lying about this, though. Well, I could be, but I’m not. Ask anyone.”

“I already did. I raised some Norse dead guys. They confirmed it,” Nico said.

“It was totally hot,” Hal said helpfully, causing Nico to start massaging his temples again, probably partly to hide the fact that he was blushing.

“So how do we stop this?” Jason asked. “The prophecy wasn’t clear on that part.”

“There are a number of things to do. Most importantly, we need to make sure Fenrisúlfur isn’t free to swallow the sun. I suggest bringing him out of the aesir’s reach,” Hal said, glaring nervously at Jason. “Also, we have three roosters to take care of, and if we could destroy Naglfar’s rudder somehow, that’d be great.”

“Sorry, I don’t know anything about Norse myths,” Percy said, trying to mentally sort through the information. "This seems like a lot of really random stuff."

"True," Hal admitted cheerfully. "It's just about making sure certain parts of a really old prophesy doesn't come true. Small stuff, but important."

“Who’s Fenrisul...whatever you said?”

“It would be Fenrir to you, I suppose. The Big Bad Wolf, father to all the little ones,” Hal grinned. “Also my half-brother.”

“Right,” Percy said slowly, figuring he should be used to statements like that by now. “Where do we find him?”

“The mountain he’s shackled to is in Jötunheimr, or Jotunheim, which is another plane of existence, sort of. There’s an easily accessible entrance in Iceland,” Hal said. “I already suggested Nico and I go fetch him together, since he’s got that shadow travel-thing.”

“I tried to explain that quests are always done by at least three people,” Nico said, giving them a begging look. Percy could understand that. Even if Hal wasn’t aggressively flirting with him he wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere alone with the guy, for fear of getting a knife in his back.

“Well, I’m in,” Jason said, and Nico’s face was as grateful as Hal’s was horrified.

“No! No storm kids!” he exclaimed. “Or the entire deal is off.”

“With the information provided we could probably find him without you,” Percy smirked. “Count me in, as well.”

Chiron nodded. “Three who belong to both and neither,” he said. “If that refers to the camps, I suppose that should be you three. It’s decided, then.”

“You guys suck,” Hal muttered. “And not in the good way.”

“I also suggest you make contact with the Norse demigods to assess the severity of the situation,” Chiron said, glancing at Hal. “We do not want to start a war with them so soon after making peace between the Romans and the Greeks.”

“Or at all,” Jason said, nodding. “So, Iceland. We better pack some warm clothes.”

Hal sighed deeply and got up from the table. “Fine, have it your way. Get yourselves ready. I’ll meet you in Reykjavík in two days' time. It's a date,” he said, blinked suggestively towards Nico and walked out of the café.

Nico leaned his head back, sighing in relief. “Finally,” he muttered.

Jason gave him a worried look. “You okay?”

“Exhausted,” Nico said. “But I’ll be fine. You should be happy he hates you.”

Jason smiled. “He might try to kill me, though.”

“We should head back to camp for you to prepare,” Chiron said. “If anyone asks, you’re going on a quest to Canada. Nobody mention any Norse gods.”

***

Jason took Nico aside when they got back to camp. Percy apparently noticed and gave them a funny look, but didn’t follow them into the Zeus cabin.

“How have you been, really?” Jason asked when they were alone. “You look exhausted.”

“Why don’t you try being near Hal for more than a few minutes, and then tell me how you feel?” Nico muttered. “I’ve had to hang out with him since yesterday, and I didn’t sleep at all. I didn’t dare.”

“Understandable,” Jason nodded. “He seemed rather fond of you.”

“It’s not just me. Hal flirts with everyone that stands still long enough, and sometimes run after them even if they don’t,” Nico said tiredly. “Except you, apparently. But you saw how he was around Percy.”

“Who didn’t get upset or disgusted, by the way,” Jason pointed out. “I still think you should tell him.”

Nico shook his head. “I’d rather not. Let’s just try to get through this quest alive. We have another apocalypse to stop, which is more important than my petty problems.”

“Nico, if you’re going to put your life on hold for every apocalypse you might never have time for it at all,” Jason pointed out, but Nico didn’t answer.

***

They decided to leave for Iceland the following day, to have a chance to rest and orient themselves before Hal showed up. After some debate it was decided that Nico would take them there through shadow travel, since it was the fastest way.

Nico brought them into the shadows of a large, shiny glass building right by the shore. Across the water Percy could see mist-covered mountains. Actual mist, not the magic kind.

“Nico, you okay?” Jason asked behind him, and Percy turned around to see Nico leaning on Jason for support, apparently having trouble standing up.

“I’m fine, just tired,” Nico said, sounding slightly irritated, though whether it was because of Jason’s help or his own weakness was anybody’s guess. “I just need to sit down for a bit.”

Jason more or less carried Nico to a bench by the shore. Percy had made a move to help, but Nico’s glare had stopped him dead in his tracks. Nico slumped down on the bench, more lying than sitting.

“We need to get you somewhere you can rest,” Percy said, looking around. “I don’t suppose we can get a hotel room?”

“We don’t have that kind of money. Besides, we’re here illegally,” Jason pointed out. “I guess Hal could have helped, but he won’t turn up until tomorrow.”

“I’d rather not rely on Hal too much, even if he does turn up,” Nico said. “Give me a minute to catch my breath. It’s not a big city, but I bet I can still find an apartment we can use for tonight.”

It took Nico about fifteen minutes to start moving, and another two hours to find a place to stay. He presumably talked to the local ghosts, though Percy couldn’t see any so it looked like the boy was talking to thin air. He led them to a basement level apartment a few blocks uphill. Nico found the key inside a flower pot and brought them in from the back of the building, leading them through a room with a lot of washing machines, presumably the whole building’s laundry room.

“Sorry it took so long,” Nico said as he unlocked the door to the actual apartment. “There was a bit of a language barrier, but the lady was very kind to let us stay here for a few days.”

“So we’re staying in a dead lady’s apartment,” Percy concluded. “That’s a bit...macabre.”

“She didn’t actually live here. This is an apartment she used to rent out to exchange students, but it’s been empty since she died. Money disputes among her next of kin, if I understood correctly. Water and electricity should still be working fine.”

Percy looked around. It was a pretty big apartment, with a large living room combined with a kitchen and two small bedrooms as well as one larger one.

“This is a pretty amazing place to be staying at,” Percy said. “Usually when I’m on quests we have to sleep on the ground or in caves.”

“Being able to talk to the dead is a certain advantage,” Nico nodded tiredly. “Excuse me, I’m going to take a nap.”

He disappeared into one of the bedrooms (the smallest one, Percy noted), leaving Percy and Jason to investigate the rest of the apartment. There wasn’t much to see. It was furnished and livable, but pretty impersonal. The most interesting thing was the small bookshelf under the television, where the former tenants had left books in at least five different languages behind. Percy didn’t dwell on it too much. The only language he could read without problems was ancient Greek, and there were no books like that in the shelf.

The television still worked, so he and Jason watched an Icelandic TV-series while waiting for Nico to wake up. Neither of them understood a word, but it seemed to be about a guy working at a gas station and not getting along with his boss or his customers. After a while they started making up their own dialog to replace the one they didn’t understand, which turned the whole thing at least ten times funnier. They were laughing pretty loud when Nico finally reappeared a while later, still looking sleepy but less like he was going to faint of exhaustion.

“What’s so funny?” Nico asked, yawning loudly.

“We’re just making stuff up,” Jason smiled. “Sorry, did we wake you?”

“It’s okay, we should go have a look at the city and see if we can find any Norse demigods,” Nico said.

“Also get something to eat,” Percy added. “I’m starved.”

They went out the back way again, trying to stay out of sight. Getting permission to stay from a ghost wouldn’t convince the police, after all.

They ate lunch as a small Chinese restaurant uphill, since they figured it was probably cheaper than any of the bigger places on the street (Laugavegur, according to the street signs and Nico). The money was confusing, but they figured the credit card Chiron had given them should have been able to cover a few days of Chinese food.

After eating, they walked around the streets pretty aimlessly, not sure what they were looking for. It turned into touristing and window shopping rather quickly, even though the wind was ice cold and it was raining a little bit. The weather didn’t bother Percy too much, but Nico and Jason were both shivering despite their jackets.

Percy grinned at them. “You two should buy some of those wool sweaters we’ve seen in practically every window. Just looking at you is making me cold.”

“A lot of people seem to wear them, so it might actually be a good idea,” Jason said thoughtfully. “I’m not sure we can afford them, though.”

“We’ll be fine,” Nico assured them. “I have another credit card if that one runs out.”

“Right, god of wealth,” Percy said, laughing. “Come on, let’s go see what we can find.”

They hadn’t come to Reykjavik to shop, but it was actually pretty fun to just be tourists for once. They ended up with one wool sweater each, and Percy had to admit he felt a lot warmer and comfier as well after they put them on. On Jason and Percy the sweaters were reminiscent of Christmas sweaters, despite the gray and brown color schemes. Nico on the other hand was a sight to behold, wearing a black sweater with a white and grey pattern around the shoulders and up to the neck. It fit him, in a strange way.

“What?” Nico said when he noticed Percy looking at him. Percy just grinned and ruffled his hair.

“Nothing. That sweater makes you seem cute, is all,” Percy said, and Nico turned bright red before scowling and stalking away from them. Percy laughed a bit, but stopped when Jason glared at him.

“What?” Percy asked. “It’s true.”

Jason nodded. “I know. Let’s just try to catch up with him.”

They followed Nico to a garden full of dark statues, depicting scenes from mythology and religion. There was a small building in the middle, probably a museum of some kind, if Percy interpreted the letters floating around the sign outside correctly.

“This is a little creepy,” Jason said, looking at a statue of a naked young man wrestling a disfigured, equally naked old woman. Beneath her was a lot of smaller, mostly old people.

“I think it’s pretty interesting,” Nico said, looking around at the statues with a smile. “It’s probably showing some scene from Norse myth. I wonder what it’s about.”

“Mr. Thunderbrain is wrestling old age,” a voice said from behind them. All of them spun around, swords ready, but the person walking out behind one of the statues was familiar, and apparently unarmed.

“Easy there,” Hal said, smiling as he put his hands up in defense. “I don’t mind rough play, but the swords are a tad excessive, don’t you think?”

“I thought we weren’t meeting you until tomorrow,” Percy said, putting Riptide away. Jason and Nico did the same with their swords.

“The winds were good, I arrived a bit early,” Hal shrugged. “Anyway, back to the mythology lesson. The norse god of thunder and some companions, including my mother, got completely tricked by a jotunn, making him lift the Midgard serpent, drink the sea and such heroic deeds. It’s a funny story.”

“Maybe another time,” Percy said, and Hal shrugged.

“Suit yourself. The one where Thor tries impersonate Freya is funnier in any case,” Hal said. “Anyway, we need should move. There are too many curious tourists here.”

“Agreed,” Jason said and they followed Hal back out of the park and down the street.

He gave them an amused smile. “Turing native?” he asked, nodding towards their sweaters.

“Shut up, it was cold,” Nico muttered, and Hal turned his attention towards him.

“You really pull it off, though. It’s so cute!” Hal said teasingly, completely disregarding Nico’s glares. “Though I bet you’d look even better underneath it.” Nico blushed furiously at that.

“Stop it, Hal. You’re making him uncomfortable,” Jason demanded. Hal gave him a look before not so subtly moving to Percy’s other side, creating a barrier between himself and Jason. Percy frowned. It bothered him a bit that Jason was considered the bigger threat.

“Where are the Norse demigods? We need to make contact with them before we do anything else,” Jason asked, and Hal made a face.

“I honestly don’t think it’s a good idea, but if you insist,” Hal said. “They don’t have camps like you do, but they are all gathered at Þingvellir right now.”

“Thinkvetlir? Where is that?” Percy asked.

“You pronunciation is adorable,” Hal grinned. “Þingvellir is where the Icelanders would gather for the alþingi, a sort of big council, once a year in the old days. I’m sure Nico could get us straight there.”

“I’d rather not,” Nico said. “Not without knowing what I’m taking us into. The long way is better.”

“I agree,” Percy said. “And just turning up out of nowhere could destroy any chance of a peaceful conversation.”

“Fine, have it your way,” Hal sighed. ”It’s a tourist attraction nowadays, so we could just jump on a tour bus tomorrow. Or we could rent a car, if either of you have a licence. And can drive manual.”

“The tour bus is fine,” Percy said.

“It’ll take us much longer to get there, since it goes to two other places before Þingvellir,” Hal said, then grinned towards Percy. “Should be right up your alley, water boy. A waterfall and some geysers.”

“Great,” Percy said without enthusiasm. “We should head back to the apartment then.”

“You got an apartment?” Hal exclaimed. “How did you manage that?

“I asked the landlady, who’s been dead for a couple of months,” Nico shrugged, and Hal’s eyes went wide.

“Marry me,” he said after a moment of stunned silence. “No seriously, it’s legal here. Marry me.”

“I don’t think no is a strong enough word,” Nico said, speeding up his steps.

“You’re breaking my heart,” Hal said, though he was laughing.

“I told you to stop that,” Jason said dangerously, and Hal actually flinched.

“Gee, I was just joking,” he muttered. By some miracle he was quiet for the rest of the walk back to the apartment, though he gave a low whistle as they entered.

“Nice place,” he said. “Got an extra bed? I don’t mind sharing.”

“The couch is free,” Percy said hesitatingly.

“Well, beats spending hours looking for someone to take me home,” Hal shrugged.

“Really? That’s what you were planning to do?” Percy asked. “You’re from here, right? Don’t you have friends you could stay with?”

“Funny,” Hal said humorlessly. “I’m going to take a bath. Feel free to join me.”

Percy and Jason exchanged a look as Hal disappeared into the bathroom. He wondered if Hal was trying to get them to pity him so they wouldn’t throw him out, or if he was actually sincere. He had a feeling it could be both. Still, the guy made him uneasy, and he wasn’t sure how well he would sleep with him under the same roof.

“All the rooms have locks,” Nico said quietly, apparently reading Percy’s mind. He doubted a lock would be much protection, but at the same time Hal didn’t seem hostile, so maybe it would be enough.

***

Nico woke up in the middle of the night. He had been plagued by horrible nightmares for years, and going through Tartarus certainly hadn’t made it better, but he no longer woke up to his own screams. He had been alone for too long to make any noise while sleeping. It would have gotten him killed.

Nico silently got up from the bed and unlocked the room, planning to get a glass of water to help him calm down. He hadn’t thought anybody else was up, but he was wrong.

“Bad dreams or good dreams?” a voice asked in the darkness, and Nico turned around to see Hal sitting up at the couch, half covered in blankets.

“Bad,” Nico said, then proceeded towards the kitchen sink. “Did I wake you?”

“Nah, I woke up some time ago,” Hal shrugged. “Do you want company?”

“I thought Jason told you to stop that.”

“He’s not here,” Hal grinned. “And I didn’t actually mean it like that, for once. Though if you want to...”

“I don’t,” Nico said.

Hal laughed slightly. “You know, I’ve never met anyone as uncomfortable with a little bit of flirting as you are,” he said. “You must have been raised in a really old fashioned home.”

“I was born in 1929,” Nico said, seeing Hal’s eyes go wide.

“That explains a lot,” he finally said. “But you’re not really eighty, are you?”

“No, I was stuck in a hotel for seventy years when I was ten. It felt like a couple of months at most,” Nico said.

“Well, you should take advantage of today’s less restrictive look on sexuality,” Hal said. “I’ve been told I give excellent blowjobs, if you want one.”

Nico could feel his cheeks grow hot at that. “No thanks. I’d rather not even imagine it,” he said.

“Prude,” Hal laughed, and Nico just turned his back on him and walked back to his room, locking the door behind him.

He sighed deeply as he sat down on the bed. Hal was impossible for Nico to deal with. The guy so openly announced his interest in anyone, regardless of gender, and didn’t apologize to anyone about it. In a strange way Nico was jealous, but at the same time he didn’t want to act like Hal. All the innuendos and come-ons still made him blush every time. He honestly had no idea how to handle it. No one had ever flirted with him before, so he was completely unprepared for it.

Percy and Jason being around to to watch Nico become a mess every time it happened didn’t exactly help, but it was still better than dealing with the guy alone.

***

Percy fell asleep in the bus, but Nico actually found it kind of interesting, even if the guide had a really heavy accent and was hard to understand sometimes. Percy didn’t wake up until they reached the waterfall. It wasn’t the largest waterfall Nico had seen, but it was impressive enough. Still, it was always hard for him to concentrate on nature’s beauty in places like this.

“Something wrong?” Jason asked him, giving him a concerned look.

“No,” Nico sighed. “But the number of people who either jump or fall into places like this is always astounding. There are an impressive amount of ghosts here.”

“Really?” Jason asked, looking around. “I don’t see any.”

“They’re not like the spirits back at New Rome, these are much more...private, I suppose,” Nico said. “Some of them probably don’t even know they’re dead. Most people, even demigods, can’t see them.”

“Must be hard,” Jason said. Nico shrugged.

“You get used to it,” he said. “Where are Percy and Hal?”

“I think Hal stayed on the bus, saying something about the waterfall not liking him,” Jason said. “Percy’s down on that platform over there.”

“He seems to enjoy this place,” Nico said, smiling slightly as he watched Percy remove his shoes to dip his feet into the water. When he looked up again Jason gave him a knowing look, causing Nico’s cheeks to grow hot again. The only thing he seemed to be doing on this quest was blush.

“Did you know Annabeth broke up with him?” Jason asked, and Nico made a face at him.

“I did,” he said. “It doesn’t change anything.”

“If you say so,” Jason sighed. “Hey, that woman over there is not mortal, is she?”

Nico followed his gaze, seeing a tall, blond woman in a white dress come walking towards them. She looked stern, but not angry. She stopped a few feet in front of them, saying something in Icelandic they didn’t understand, though she was probably asking who they were, or what they were doing there.

“Sorry, we don’t speak Icelandic,” Nico said uncertainly.

“English, then?” the woman said with as heavy an accent as the tour guide. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re on our way to see the Norse demigods,” Jason said. “I’m Jason Grace, and this is Nico di Angelo.”

“And the third one?”

“Percy Jackson,” Nico said. “We didn’t mean to intrude.”

She narrowed her eyes for a moment, then shrugged. “I get a lot of tourists anyway. It’s nice to be admired,” she said. “Don’t start anything, though. You’ll regret it.”

“We won’t. Thank you,” Jason said, and she gave them a quick nod before disappearing into thin air. Nico let out a breath.

“That was lucky,” he said, and Jason clapped his shoulder as he smiled.

“Percy is going to be pissed the nymph talked to us and not to him,” he said with a laugh. “Or you know, whatever they’re called.”

He was right, Percy was a little bummed out about it, but the geysers quickly cheered him up. Even if the strong sulfur-like smell of them made all of them a little nauseous.

“I wonder how much power it would take to do that,” Percy said as they watched the geyser Strokkur erupt, spraying boiling hot water fifty feet into the air. Nico was just glad the signs had warned them to stay far away as the water came back down.

“Not to give you ideas, but there’s hot water under the ground at a lot of places here,” Hal said. “Try not to boil anyone alive.”

“I’ll be careful,” Percy said, then looked back at the geyser. “Oh, it’s going to erupt again!”

Seconds later, it did. Nico took a couple more steps back, and Jason seemed to do the same. Hal had already lost interest and was chatting with some other tourist.

They ate lunch at a restaurant near the geysers, then got on the bus again to get to the place they were actually planning to go.

“Anything we should know before we get there?” Percy asked Hal, who shrugged.

“They’re not going to be happy to see you,” he said. “Some of them have slipped into a really old fashioned mindset.”

“Great,” Percy muttered. “This is going to be fun.”

“Probably not, but it might be entertaining,” Hal said. “In case we get separated, the entrance to Jotunheim I talked about is pretty far south of here, near a rock-like hill close to a place called Hlíðarendi. It’s in Fljótshlíð.”

“You’ve ever been to Jotunheim?” Jason asked.

“I was raised there, part of the time,” Hal said. “Children of Loki aren’t exactly welcome anywhere else. Not that it's safe there either, but nobody from this side go there unless they absolutely have to. Demigods especially are killed for sport over there.”

"Sounds charming," Percy said dryly.

***

Thingvellir was a pretty nice place. As they stepped out of the bus, Jason immediately saw why it had been chosen as a gathering spot in the old days. Flat country, good for tents, with streams of water running through it for watering horses. And the rock wall to the side made for a natural gathering spot and probably helped with the acoustics when holding speeches. The legion would have approved of the place.

The guide led the tourists towards the rock wall, but Hal was going to the side.

“The encampment is a little out of the way because of all the tourists,” he said. “Follow me.”

The demigod’s camp wasn’t concealed by any magics, but Jason almost overlooked it anyway. It looked like any other campsite, dark green and blue tents raised without any semblance of order, and a few cars some ways away. Nothing like the military way the legion would set camp. Jason suspected that was sort of the point.

It didn’t look like anyone was keeping watch, but their presence did not go unnoticed. As they approached a dozen young people started appearing among the tents, weapons ready. Jason suddenly realized they should have brought a white flag or something. A tall, muscular guy with blond hair seemed to be leading them.

“Góðan daginn, Sven. Hvað segir þú gott?” Hal said cheerfully. It sounded like a greeting, but whatever that meant seemed to only make the Norse demigods look sterner.

“Hvað viltu?” The tall guy said angrily, and Hal started talking fast, and the demigod's expressions tuned from bitterness to surprise and then to anger.

“What are you telling them?” Percy asked suspiciously, and suddenly they found themselves at the wrong end of several spears and swords. “What the hell?”

“Sorry, guys. I just sold you out,” Hal said, grinning at them. “See, betrayal is kinda my forté.”

“What happened to 'I don’t want the world to end'?” Nico asked angrily. “What are you playing at?”

“Save your breath, Grecian,” one of the people holding a spear towards them said. “Hallgrímur Lokason can’t be trusted.”

“Hey, I brought you the enemy, didn’t I?” Hal said, sounding amused rather than insulted. “I think I deserve something for that, Sven.”

“Astrid, give him what he wants, within reason, then send him on his way,” the blond guy called Sven ordered, and one of the girls made a disgruntled face as she moved to push Hal in the direction of the tents.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Hal sing-songed over his shoulder as they led him away, waving slightly towards them. “Ciao!”

“Fottiti,” Nico muttered under his breath. Jason didn’t think he needed a translation.

“I don’t know what he said, but we just came to negotiate,” Jason tried.

“Right, and stop us from getting what is rightfully ours in the process,” Sven said.

“Do you deny it?” A girl beside him asked.

“We came because apparently you think ending the world is a good idea,” Percy scowled. “We wanted to talk you out of it, but I guess that’s not happening.”

"We just want things to go like they're supposed to," the girl said, looking a little unsure. "You'll be imprisoned until then."

Sven made a disgruntled face. “We deserve our final battle,” he said loudly. “And you’re not going to stop us. Not even with an army.”

“An army?” Nico asked. “That’s what Hal told you? We’re not looking for war.”

Sven snorted. “Of course you don’t.”

“What was that supposed to mean?” Jason frowned.

“Just that your little fag over there would probably rather use his toothpick of a sword for knitting than fighting,” Sven said. Jason was just about to retaliate when he realized the guy was trying to get a rise out of them, probably to kill them without anyone in camp protesting. The girl had seen unsure about the whole thing earlier, after all. Jason glanced at Nico, who was gritting his teeth but nodded slightly towards him. Unfortunately Percy didn’t get the message.

“Don’t call him that!” Percy said angrily, clearly about to start throwing punches despite the spears.

“Percy, it’s okay,” Nico said hastily. “I don’t care.”

Sven laughed. “See, he admits it.”

“Shut up!” Percy said. “Nico is not a…”

“Percy, don’t!” Jason tried, because Nico looked like he wanted to disappear through the ground, but Percy didn’t listen.

“Nico is not a fag!” Percy shouted. “Don’t call him that!”

“Actually, I am,” Nico said, gritting his teeth. His face was red from anger and embarrassment. “Now shut up.”

Percy stared at him, and so did Jason. Sure he had wanted Nico to come out, but he really hadn’t expected it to happen in a moment like this, in front of a small army of strangers.

“Oh,” Percy said, blinking. “Well. Even so that word is an insult. He shouldn’t call you that.”

“He’s right, you know,” a boy from the crowd spoke up. “And this is hardly the time and place to gripe about sexuality in any case, Sven.”

“What, something you want to get off your chest, Emil?” Sven asked with a laugh.

“Only that homophobia really isn’t helping right now,” the boy said, crossing his arms against his chest. “We ought to question them about their plans, not whether they like to bed men or not. Which I honestly can’t believe you have a problem with.”

“My brother is right,” the girl by his side said. “Our mother is the goddess of love, and...”

“Your mother is a whore, and everybody knows it!” Sven snarled, causing an outbreak of shouting and arguing among the gathered demigods. At some point one of them had the presence of mind to give the order to take the prisoners away and tie them up until later. Jason supposed they should feel flattered that three of the demigods was assigned the task even though they were bound and unarmed, but he suspected they just wanted away from the debate.

“You seem like a pretty divided group,” Percy commented as they were pushed into the tent. The girl behind him just watched him in silence, but the other two looked uncomfortable.

“We feel the end approaching, and the tension runs high,” the boy behind Jason said. “Everyone handles it differently.”

“Sorry about Sven,” the girl behind Nico said, sounding regretful. “He’s become obsessed with ancient traditions of manliness, which a couple of others have joined him in. I suppose it makes it easier for them.”

“Why would you follow someone like that?” Percy asked. “And why even try to end the world in the first place?”

The three nordics exchanged a look, but nobody answered.

“Look, I don’t know what Hal told you,” Jason said. “But all we want is to stop the world from ending.”

“It’s too late to stop it,” the boy sighed. “It’s better to end it on our own terms.”

“Why, because of the two apocalypses we averted?” Percy said angrily. “That’s why you’ve given up?”

“That, and the Hindu one two years ago, and the thing with the Egyptians recently,” the girl said. “The world is going to end, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

“Yes, there is,” Nico said. “Of course there is. All these apocalypses, and the world is still here. That should tell you something.”

“Sorry, we’ve made our decision,” the girl said, and her and the boy exited the tent. The second girl stayed behind for a moment, studying them in silence before following her companions out, leaving Jason and the other two bound in the tent. He supposed they left a guard outside, but he wasn’t sure.

‘“Nico, can you get us out of here?” Percy asked, trying to wiggle out of his bounds.

“It’s dark enough,” Nico said, “But I would end up taking the tent with me.“

“Do it anyway,” Percy said, “We’ll have more time to get free that way.”

“I don’t want to leave without my sword,” Jason said. “But I guess we have no choice.”

“Quiet!” Nico suddenly urged. “Someone’s coming.”

The tent door opened, and a girl came in. Jason recognized her from earlier. It was one of the girls who had brought them to the tent, the one who hadn’t said anything.

Jason watched in surprise as she set Nico’s sword and his own gold coin on the ground in front of them, then moved closer to them with a dagger drawn. For a split second he thought she was going to kill them, then she cut them loose of their bonds. Before Jason could move she had taken his hand and placed a small round object in his hand. It was a flat stone engraved with a red sigill.

“This is a Wayfinder,” she said. “It will help you find the way. Now go.”

“Wait, why are you helping us?” Jason asked. “Who are you?”

“Audur, daughter of Víðarr,” she said. “I don’t want the world to end, but if you hurt any of my friends, I will kill you. Now go!”

With that, she turned around and left the tent. They looked at each other in confusion for a moment, then Nico sighed and picked up his sword and handed the coin to Jason.

“We should get out of here,” he said.

***

Nico brought them to a very rocky place. It was dark, uneven and slippery. The rain didn’t help either.

“Where are we?” Percy asked, looking around.

“South,” Nico said, a little out of breath. “Not sure how far. Hal said the entrance to that place was in the south, right?”

“I wouldn’t put any stock in anything that guy says, ever,” Percy said angrily. “If I ever see that bastard again...”

“Well, we have the wayfinder Audur gave us,” Jason said. “We’ll deal with Hal if he turns up. In the meantime we should try to find some kind of shelter.”

“Agreed,” Nico said, shivering in the cold rain. “The ground is unstable here, but there’s a small road that way, leading to the hills.”

“The wayfinder seem to want us to go there as well,” Jason said. “Let’s get going.”

It was a long walk until they reached the hills. The ground looked solid, sure, but Nico kept warning them about unstable rocks and hidden pits. Jason eventually just floated along, and Percy wished he could do the same. Despite the chilly October rain he was working up a sweat. There was a reward waiting for them in the hills, though.

They could see the white steam from a hot spring long before they saw the cabin attached to it. The cabin was little more than a roof and four walls, with an open space towards the hot spring beneath one of them. Percy supposed it was mostly meant as a dressing room for people coming for a bath, but it provided shelter from the rain and wind, and the water from the spring actually covering parts of the so called floor effectively warmed the cabin up as well. It wasn’t hot, far from it since a part of the wall was missing and it wasn’t exactly windproof, but it was still much warmer than the air outside.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to take a bath,” Percy said, walking out of the cabin and straight into the water, not bothering to remove any clothes apart from his jacket and the wool sweater. His clothes were soaked anyway, and he could dry them later. The water in the spring was hot, but not too hot, thankfully, and the cold rain falling down on his face made a nice contrast. If he stood up straight in the pool the water came up to his elbows, but he let himself sink down until his head was the only thing above the surface.

“This is heaven,” he sighed, leaning back against the rock wall of the spring. Jason and Nico joined him a few moment’s later, and Percy tried not to laugh at the fact that Nico’s head was the only thing visible even when he stood up straight.

“You’re right, this is great,” Jason sighed. “A good end to a bad day.”

“I hope we’ll be safe here for a while,” Nico said worriedly. “They won’t be happy to realize we escaped.”

“We’ll keep watch, but I doubt they’ll find us that quickly,” Percy said. “I mean, we don’t even know where we are, how are they supposed to?”

“I don’t think it works that way,” Jason laughed. “But let’s just take a moment to relax a bit.”

“Agreed,” Percy said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes for a while. The rain was letting up, but he could still feel stray cold drops fall down his face. The events of the day felt kind of far away right now, even though a lot had happened.

Percy slowly opened his eyes again, watching Nico absentmindedly investigating the rock wall.

“So Nico, you like guys, huh?” Percy asked, and Nico immediately froze like a deer in headlights. “Calm down, I’m not judging, just surprised. I never realized. I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that.”

“Can we not talk about this?” Nico said, his voice sounding a bit strained, although the darkness made it hard to see what kind of expression he was wearing.

“I just always thought you had a crush on Annabeth,” Percy said, but Nico didn’t answer. He seemed panicked, seconds away from shadow traveling.

“Just leave it alone, Percy,” Jason said sternly, placing a hand on Nico’s shoulder, probably both to reassure him and keep him there.

“You knew?” Percy asked, surprised. “Wait, you two aren’t…?”

“No, we’re not,” Jason said harshly. “Just drop it, okay? We’ll talk about this some other time.”

“Fine,” Percy said, a bit confused by Jason’s tone, and Nico’s unwillingness to talk. Then again, Percy supposed it wasn’t really any of his business who Nico liked or didn’t like, even if it hurt a bit that he obviously trusted Jason more than Percy.

They stayed in the pool for a long time, unwilling to exchange the warm water for the chilly air. Meanwhile the clouds parted, showing a starlit sky. It was actually pretty amazing to be sitting in a natural hot spring in the middle of nowhere with only the stars above them. With different company it might have been romantic.

He glanced over at Jason and Nico, who were both leaning against the opposite wall, looking relaxed. Jason was watching the stars, but Nico had his eyes closed, and Percy wondered if he had fallen asleep while standing. At least he didn’t look uncomfortable anymore.

“Look!” Jason said, point up at the sky. Percy followed his eyes and saw green lights starting to dance in the sky.

“Nico, wake up,” Jason said, gently nudging the younger boy. Nico drowsily opened his eyes, then smiled as he looked at the sky.

“Northern lights. It’s really pretty,” he said. “I’ve never seen them before.”

“Kinda makes you forget the world is ending, huh?” Percy said with a grin, and Nico smiled sleepily towards him.

“It really does,” he agreed.

“We should come back here at some point when this is over,” Jason said, and both Percy and Nico nodded.

A while later they got up from the hot spring, and Percy dried them off as best he could. The steam from the spring warming the cabin meant they were going to be a little damp no matter what. They settled down in the far end of the cabin in the driest place they could find, leaning against the wall. Nico sat between Percy and Jason, looking like he really didn’t want to be there though he didn’t complain out loud, probably because he was cold again. Percy took the first watch, and after a while the other two fell asleep, resting their heads against each other. Looking at them now it really wasn’t strange that he’d thought they were together for a second.

Percy wasn’t sure why the thought bothered him, but it did.

***

They all took a quick bath in the spring the following day, because the night had been cold and damp. Nico especially seemed to to feel the effects, since his nose was running and his throat was probably sore, if his rough voice was any indication. Jason didn’t want to think about how bad it could have been if they hadn’t found any shelter last night.

After Percy had dried them off Jason took to the air in order to have a look at their surroundings. He had to go pretty far up before he saw anything useful. Nico and Percy were waiting outside the cabin when he came back down.

“There’s a town a couple of miles that way,” Jason said, pointing southeast. “But the terrain is pretty rough from here. We’d have to circle back to the road.”

“No need, I think I can take us there,” Nico said. “Or closer, at least. We don’t have time to be walking right now.”

“Agreed,” Percy said. “Ready when you are.” They each grabbed one of Nico’s hands and was swallowed by the darkness. Jason really wasn’t too fond of shadow travel, it always left him a bit nauseous and disoriented, but there was no denying the speed benefit.

They came out in the shadows between two houses, essentially trespassing on someone’s back yard, and hurried onto the street before they were discovered. Well, a kid playing outside had seen the whole thing and was still watching them with huge eyes, but he hadn’t gone to fetch an adult so Jason figured they were safe.

“We need to find a bus station, and ask someone how to get to...what was it called again?” Percy said.

“Lidharendi, in Flotslidh,” Nico said, frowning. “Or something like that. I wish Hal had written it down.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot one could wish that guy had done differently,” Percy said bitterly. “I just hope this isn’t another trap.”

“We have no other leads,” Jason sighed. “Come on, let’s find a bus station.”

For once, they were in luck. The town was so small that finding the station was easy, and after a couple of tries one of the guys waiting for a bus could give them directions. Jason had seldom felt more like a stupid tourist as he did at that moment, but an hour later they were on a bus heading in the right direction. The wayfarer in his pocket confirmed it.

“Do you think there will be a welcome committee when we get there?” Nico asked, looking out of the window with a bored expression. The bus was pretty empty, except for a couple of people in the front. Percy, Jason and Nico had occupied back of the bus and could talk pretty freely as long as they kept their voices down.

“It’s pretty likely,” Jason nodded. “If they know about the entrance they will try to stop us, and they are probably there already.”

“I hate fighting other demigods,” Percy muttered. “Even if they’re as insane as that guy who looked like you. Sven, right?”

“He didn’t look that much like me,” Jason protested.

“Right, except for the hair, and the build, and the eyecolor,” Percy grinned. “No, nothing like you at all.”

“The eyes were really different,” Nico said absentmindedly, getting slightly embarrassed as they turned towards him. “I mean, it was almost the same color, but Sven had really cold, hard eyes. You don’t.”

Jason gave him a smile, honestly flattered. “That may be because you’ve never seen me do a wolf glare.”

“I have, even if it hasn’t been aimed at me,” Nico shrugged. “It’s still different.”

“So which wolf glare is scarier, mine or Jason’s?” Percy asked, probably more out of boredom than anything else.

“I’ve never have either one directed at me,” Nico said dismissively. Percy gave Jason a look, and suddenly it was a challenge. Nico rolled his eyes. “Fine. Give me your best shot.”

Jason had to close his eyes for a minute to be able to glare at Nico, since he wasn’t angry with the boy. The glare wasn’t so much a trained ability as something that came naturally, so he had to picture someone he was actually mad at to be able to pull it off. Hal seemed an appropriate choice. Jason opened his eyes and glared.

The son of Hades was completely stone faced, looking between him and Percy.

“What big eyes you have, grandma,” Nico deadpanned, causing both Jason and Percy to burst out laughing.

“That’s not fair,” Percy grinned. “Tell us who won.”

“I really don’t know,” Nico said. “I’m sure they’re both very impressive and leave creatures fleeing with their tails between their legs.”

“But not you?” Jason asked, a tiny bit offended. Not that he wanted to scare the boy, but still.

“Honestly, the looks Hazel gives me when she’s upset are way more frightening,” Nico said with a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. “It might just be because I know you’re doing it just for show.”

“Well, let’s see your best glare, then,” Percy said. “Since we’re so unimpressive.”

“Fine,” Nico said, closing his eyes for a second before opening them again, glaring at them. Jason honestly felt cold sweat at his back as a wave of fear hit him. That look was absolutely terrifying.

Then Nico blinked, and the terror was gone. He gave them a smug smile.

“You used your fear aura, didn’t you?” Percy complained, and Nico gave a short laugh.

“Of course I did. You asked for it,” he said.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that you win this round,“ Jason smiled. “Let’s just try to find some way to entertain ourselves that doesn’t involve using powers.”

“Agreed,” Nico nodded. “I’m going to try and take a nap.”

His head fell down on Jason’s shoulder not ten minutes later. Jason gave him a fond smile, happy that the boy trusted him enough to be vulnerable around him. It hadn’t exactly been an easy road to get there. Looking up, Jason noticed that Percy have them a dirty look. He raised an eyebrow in response.

“It’s nothing,” Percy muttered, turning back towards the window. “I’m going to try and get some sleep as well.”

That meant Jason was on watch, which wasn’t easy considering the movement of the bus was soothing and he was surrounded by sleeping people. He tried to keep himself awake by watching the unfamiliar landscape outside the window, but his eyes kept closing themselves. He was already dozing off when he noticed the dark shape outside the window.

He immediately jolted up, waking Nico with his sudden movements.

“What’s going on?” Nico asked drowsily.

“Look,” Jason said, pointing out the window. There was a large raven flying beside the bus, just far off not to collide.

“We’ve been discovered,” Nico said. “And someone is watching us.”

“That was my guess as well,” Jason nodded. “Should we leave?”

“Probably. Let’s wake Percy up,” Nico said, and Jason reached out to poke Percy’s shoulder. Jason had long since learned that Percy was not a nice guy when you woke him up, but he sobered up quickly when they told him of their suspicions.

“We should go,” he agreed. “They already know were coming, but there’s no reason for them to know when we’re coming.”

“Will you be able to, even though the bus is moving?” Jason asked Nico who nodded determinedly.

“I can do it. I think I got the map figured out reasonably well,” Nico said. “Be prepared to fight as soon as we get there.”

“We will,” Jason said, taking a firm hold of Nico’s hand. Percy did the same, and then they sunk through the shadows on the floor. When Jason opened his eyes again they were standing on a hill, looking over a very flat landscape, probably farmland. To the left they could see snow covered mountains, and to the right was a number of distant houses forming a small village.

“You think that’s it?” Percy asked, pointing towards a strange hill in the middle of the flat landscape, looking kind of like someone just threw a large rock there.

“Seems likely,” Jason nodded. “If we get attacked approaching it, we’ll know we’ve come to the right place.”

It definitely seemed like the right place, considering the small army of Norse demigods waiting for them at the foot of the rock. Some of them were on horses, and despite the situation and their impending doom Jason couldn’t help but smile. The demigods were tall, and the horses were so small. And fluffy.

“Aw. That’s adorable,” Percy said with a laugh. Sven, who was in front of the troops, didn’t seem amused.

“Surrender, and we won’t kill you,” he said, sounding rather intimidating, but the horse swatting flies with it’s tail kinda took the edge off.

“We’ll die when the world ends anyway,” Nico pointed out, and Percy grinned.

“Means ‘no’.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Sven grinned, and all hell broke loose. The norse demigods charged, and Jason took to the air, sending whirlwinds to knock them off their horses. He heard surprised shouts about the fact that he could fly, so it seemed he was alone with that ability. That was a certain advantage, provided he could get rid of the archers before they got rid of him.

Percy was apparently using groundwater to his advantage, though thankfully it wasn’t boiling hot. Nico was relying on swordplay and shadows, though he would probably summon some skeletons first chance he got.

The Norse demigods were formidable fighters, but didn’t seem to use powers the way they were. The sole exception was Sven, who seemed to be able to control lightning. Jason wasn’t too happy to find out they had that in common as well, especially not when Percy tricked him into accidentally electrocuting three of his own men. The blast threw all four of them to the ground.

Sven recovered too quickly, aiming another shot at Percy, who was busy blocking another attack. There was no way he’d be able to dodge.

“Percy!” Jason yelled, trying to reach the other in time. He made it by the tip of his sword, but it was enough to charge the lightning bolt through him rather than Percy. As Sven looked on in surprise, Percy attacked, throwing him off his feet. Still, they were getting surrounded quickly.

An arrow passed just by his ear. A warning, judging by the face of the girl who had fired it.

“Surrender. Now,” she demanded. Jason exchanged a glance with Percy, wondering if they actually had a choice.

“Draugur!” someone suddenly screamed, sounding panicked, and Jason turned around. There were several large warriors attacking the Norse demigods, and it took Jason a moment to realize they were dead. It was pretty obvious with the lifeless flesh and mortal wounds, one of them even had a spear going straight through him, but Jason didn’t get it until he saw Nico, who had fallen to the ground behind the corpses. He looked utterly shocked.

“We need to move,” Jason decided, and Percy nodded, taking up attacking again. “Nico! On your feet!”

With the unexpected help to keep the demigods distracted, it was fairly easy to make their way towards the cliff. Jason was glad he had the wayfinder to lead them.

“What the hell were those things?” Percy asked as they ran. Nico shook his head.

“I have no idea. I’m guessing some kind of zombies.”

“You summoned them,” Jason frowned.

“I was going for skeletons,” Nico skowled. “Those things must have been tied to the place somehow. Completely drained me. I can’t fight anymore.”

“Hopefully you won’t need to,” Jason said, pointing towards what looked like a solid wall behind a large rock. If you concentrated the wall shimmered a bit.

“Let’s go.”

***

“That was exhausting,” Percy said, sinking down on the ground to catch his breath. Nico was already lying there, breathing heavily, and Jason sat down beside him.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine, just give me a moment to breathe,” Nico said looking up at him through half closed lids. “They might follow us here. We should get going soon.”

“They’re probably as exhausted as we are. Those things didn't look fun at all,” Jason pointed out. “And as Hal said, they don’t come here unless they absolutely have to. Demigods aren’t welcome here.”

“When are demigods ever welcome anywhere?” Percy asked sitting up and looking around. “Hey, there are trees over there! I didn’t even realize how much I’ve missed them until now.”

“There were a couple of small spruces at that hill back there,” Nico said, but Percy shook his head.

“I mean real trees. Those pine trees over there are huge.”

Jason turned around to look, realizing he was right. There was a huge forest to their left, and the foot of a mountain on their right. He couldn’t see any sign of settlement anywhere.

“I’m going to have to fly up and have a look around, aren’t I?” Jason said tiredly, getting on his feet. He was as exhausted as the others, but thankfully not enough to risk losing control over his powers mid flight. His heart sunk as he flew higher up. The nearest house was a cottage by the sea, at least five miles north. Still, if they were looking for a boat, heading to the sea seemed a safe bet. The rain clouds coming in from the east were pretty worrying as well.

The others were not happy with the news as Jason landed.

“There’s no way I’m walking five miles without getting a few hours of rest first,” Nico said tiredly. “Let’s just find a hidden place to stay the night.“

“Agreed. Think there would be any decent caves nearby?” Percy asked, looking towards the mountain, which was the wrong direction but if they found a nearby cave it wouldn’t matter.

“I’m not sure. There’s a lot of life inside the mountain,” Nico said uncertainly. “I think we should get away from it.”

“Forest it is then,” Percy said, starting to walk downhill. Nico and Jason followed a step behind. They had only walked for a few minutes when it started raining, and Percy came up with the bright idea of taking cover under the branches of a thick spruce. It sheltered them surprisingly well, even though there were barely room enough for all three of them under there, and sitting up was impossible. They essentially lay curled up in a circle around the trunk of the tree. Nico fell asleep immediately, probably more exhausted than than the rest of them. Percy followed him to sleep soon afterwards, but Jason lay awake for a while, listening to the rain falling down on the branches above them.

Nico started sniffling again, and when Jason lifted his head up he could see he was shivering in the cold, wet weather. He had already had the beginnings of a cold that morning, and they couldn’t really afford him getting sick right now. Jason crawled up behind him, putting an arm around him and holding him close, sharing his body’s warmth. Nico unconsciously nuzzled closer to him, and Jason looked down at him with a small smile on his lips before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

***

Percy was really cold when he woke up at sunrise the following day. He shivered a bit as he popped himself up on his elbow to look at his companions, and was surprised to see Jason spooning Nico from behind. Surprised, and a bit angry. Both of the others looked warmer than Percy felt, for one thing.

“Hey,” he said out loud. Jason didn’t react, but Nico slowly opened his eyes, blinked, and then proceeded to elbow Jason in the stomach, clearly panicked. Percy laughed as the other two tried to figure out what was going on while still half asleep. They deserved it for leaving him to freeze, after all, though judging by their conversation Jason was the only one to blame.

“You were shivering. I didn’t want you to get sick,” Jason explained as he helped Nico get his hair untangled from the branches above them.

“You could have woken me up or something,” Nico muttered, red faced, though he let Jason help him without moving.

“Either way, you guys are assholes for leaving all alone and cold on the other side while you snuggle up together,” Percy said, laughing as they both blushed. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Sleeping on roots and uneven ground had really done a number on Percy’s back, and as soon as he was out in the open he stretched himself out as far as he could, hearing his bones crack. The sunlight felt nice and warm on his skin, but the ground was wet all around them, so they ate what little food they had left while walking.

“Couldn’t you just shadow travel us there?” Percy asked Nico, who frowned.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “This place is strange. It’s like the underworld, or the labyrinth. I’m not sure we’d end up in the right place, if it works at all.”

“It’s okay, we can walk,” Jason said. “I bet I can fly us some of the way if you want to.”

“No thanks,” Percy and Nico said in unison, equally uninterested in flying. Percy started laughing, because how often did he and Nico agree on something anyway?

Jason pouted. “I don’t understand what you two have against flying.”

“How about the prospect of falling down?” Nico muttered. “There’s nothing either of us can do in the air.”

“I wouldn’t drop you,” Jason promised. “But fine, we’ll walk.”

***

It took them a long time to reach the building Jason had seen. It wasn’t much of a house, just a small wooden hut by the shore. The wood was grey and old, but not nearly as grey and old as the woman gutting fish outside. The hairs on Nico’s neck rose as they approached, but they didn’t have much choice if they wanted directions.

“Excuse me, madam,” he said, and the woman looked up at them. She wasn’t startled, so clearly she had known they were there all along. Her face was all wrinkles, but Nico could still make out some odd scars around her mouth.

“You’re excused. The other two are not,” the old woman said, with an impatient gesture towards Jason and Percy. “Speak. What brings you here?”

“You speak English?” Percy asked, sounding surprised.

“I speak many languages. English isn’t special,” she said. “Well, out with it. Why are you here by my hut?”

“Sorry,” Jason said. “We’re lost. We need to find a big wolf. And a ship called...um...”

“Naglfar, I think,” Percy provided. “And also we heard there’s a great rooster around here we really want to see.”

“We’re tourists,” Jason added, and the old woman looked at them for a long moment before starting to laugh. It wasn’t the cackling Nico would have expected. Rather it sounded like the laugh of a young man. An evil young man.

“You three are such terrible liars it’s not even an insult,” she said when she stopped laughing, though she still sounded amused. And like an old woman. Nico wondered if he had just imagined the change, but he had seen and heard too much at this point to believe it. Still, pointing it out probably wasn’t a good idea.

“Does that mean you won’t help?” Percy asked, holding Riptide tightly in his hand. He was probably anticipating the woman’s attack, but Nico had the strangest feeling it wouldn’t come to that. She seemed genuinely amused.

“I always help. Helping is what I do,” the woman grinned, then frowned. “Except that one time, but he had it coming. No, I’ll give you what you need to succeed.”

“And what’s that?” Jason asked suspiciously.

“It’ll turn up soon enough,” the old woman said, waving her hand dismissively and throwing around some fish guts in the process. “In the meantime, just follow the river around the creek, and the harbor where Naglfar lies anchored should be there.”

“Thank you,” Nico said uncertainly. “We should be on our way.”

“Wait,” Percy said, and Nico groaned inwardly. “Why would you help us at all? What’s the catch?”

“There’s an army there, and they know you’re coming,” the woman smiled. “I’m just curious to see if you can make it. It’ll be great fun to watch.”

“How could they possibly know?” Jason asked. “There’s no way the Norse demigods could have warned them.”

“I could,” the woman laughed. “Good luck getting to the ship.”

She returned to her fish, laughing to herself, apparently completely sure they wouldn’t stab her in the back. She was right about it too.

“Let’s just go,” Percy said angrily, and they left the hut behind, heading towards the creek. Some ways away from it they stopped and Jason took to the air to scout ahead. He didn’t look happy when he came back.

“She didn’t lie. There’s an army there, covering every piece of land close to the ship,” he said. “There’s no way we can get to it.”

“Piece of land?” Percy repeated. “What about the water?”

“A few smaller ships, but I doubt they’ll expect an attack from there,” Jason said. “But it’s too risky for you to go alone.”

“I can’t bring you with me either. I wouldn’t be able to keep you safe in the water when the fighting starts,” Percy said.

“So Jason and I will create a diversion, and you’ll get there from underwater,” Nico suggested.

Percy nodded. “Terrible plan. Let’s do it.”

***

Through the cold water Percy could hear a lot of shouting, meaning the distraction had begun. He hoped Jason and Nico were okay, but he didn't have time to think about that. He had a job of his own to do.

Naglfar was the only ship of it's size in the harbor, so even from underneath it was easy to find. Percy made a face as he got closer to it. THe hull was apparently made of nails. Not the nice, metal kind. Human fingernails.

Destroying the rudder from under the water was pretty easy. The ship may have been “tough as nails”, literally, but it didn’t survive Percy’s improvised underwater geyser.The nails that rained down into the water after the blow hit were pretty disgusting, though. Percy dove deeper and swam away to avoid them.

Which was when he saw something shimmering beneath him. It looked like the ocean floor was made of gigantic green scales. Curious, he swam a few feet closer, and the ocean floor started moving. Suddenly Percy saw an eye among the scales, red with a black slit pupil at least as long as Percy was tall. He immediately used all his power to get out of there as quick as possible, really not wanting to get to know that creature any better. There was no way he was fighting something that big.

He was breathing heavily as he crawled up on the shore, some ways away from the commotion around the slowly sinking ship. Jason and Nico had apparently been keeping an eye out for him, and landed right in front of him a moment later.

“What’s wrong?” Nico asked, kneeling down in front of him. “Are you hurt? You look really pale.”

“There’s something down there,” Percy said. “A big something. Like a snake.”

“How big are we talking here?” Jason asked, frowning.

“Really big,” Percy said. “And I think it saw me. We really should get out of here.”

“Think you can handle it?” Nico asked Jason, frowning slightly, but Jason nodded.

“As long as we don’t go far,” he said, putting one arm around each of their torsos while they held on to him as best they could. They slowly lifted from the ground.

“I swear, Jason, if you drop me...” Nico muttered, and Jason gave a strained laugh.

“If I drop anyone it will be Percy,” he said. “Seriously, man. You weigh a ton.”

“Just get us out of here,” Percy said, feeling nauseous from fright. They were just above the treetops when a sound behind them made Jason turn around in the air, looking back. The head of a serpent was lifting out of the water. The head was as big as half the village in itself, and Percy didn’t want to know how huge the body was. The serpent waved it’s head from side to side, like it was looking around.

“I take it that’s what you saw,” Jason said quietly.

“Get us behind the trees, now,” Percy whispered, and Jason immediately complied. A while later he put them down, breathing heavily.

“What the hell was that thing?” he asked.

“I think it was the Midgard serpent,” Nico said shakingly. “Hal briefly mentioned it, remember?”

Suddenly there was a laughter in the air. They immediately drew their swords, but they couldn’t see anyone nearby, except a large bird sitting in a nearby tree.

“Gold star, Nico,” the bird said with a familiar voice. “I knew you were the smart one.”

"Speak of the devil," Percy muttered.

“Hal,” Nico said angrily. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you, obviously,” the bird said. “I figured you’d be around here by now, though you were faster than I expected. Nice job with the ship. Same can’t be said for waking old Jormungandr, but it will keep them busy for a while.”

“You sold us out at the camp,” Percy said angrily. “Give us one reason not to pluck your feathers and cook you for dinner.”

“It would make you cannibals?” Hal suggested, then shrieked as Jason sent a whirlwind at the branch he was sitting on, causing him to fall down to the ground with a loud thud. “Alright, alright,” he shouted. “I’m on your side, okay? I warned you about going to the demigods, didn't I?”

“If you hadn’t ratted us out it wouldn’t have been a problem,” Percy said dangerously, aiming Riptide at Hal’s birdthroat.

“Yes, it would have. It would just have taken longer,” Hal said. “Okay, so I could have warned you, but you don’t strike me as the best actors and I needed them to think I was on their side long enough to steal the key, and I knew you could get away because of Nico.”

“What key?” Jason asked.

“The key that can take us to Asgard's back door. My mother told me about it,” Hal said. “It’s in my pocket.”

“You’re a bird,” Percy pointed out.

“It’s just the outer skin. Let me take it off and I’ll show you,” he said. Percy exchanged a glance with Jason and Nico before stepping back.

“Try anything funny and I will kill you,” he said.

Watching Hal resume his human form was pretty disgusting, because it actually was the outer skin of a bird and Hal shed it like he would a costume, though how he fitted in it Percy had no idea.

“That’s your ability, then?” Nico asked. “Changing into animals by wearing their skins?”

“Pretty much,” Hal nodded. “Hunting them down is a pain, though. Especially birds. If you damage the wings the skin is useless.”

“The key, Hal,” Jason said sternly, and Hal winced a little.

“Here,” he said, holding up a flat stone with a hole in it, looking a bit like a CD. “We can use it to get directly from Jotunheim to Asgard and back, hopefully without even Heimdall noticing.”

“We?” Percy asked. “There’s no way we’re letting you come with us.”

“Percy, we may not have a choice,” Nico said quietly. “We barely know anything about what’s going on, and we need a guide. After what we just did to Naglfar the people here are going to be more suspicious than ever, and we still haven’t found the rooster or the wolf.”

“I don’t like it any more than you do, but Nico is right,” Jason said. “We need him.”

“Fine,” Percy spat. “But if he tries to betray us again...”

“...we’ll kill him,” Jason agreed, and Nico nodded. Hal was watching them silently, actually looking pretty scared.

“I don’t want the world to end any more than you do,” he said. “I did what I thought was best.”

“Maybe,” Nico said. “We’ll see. Tell us where to find the rooster and the wolf, and about that key.”

“How do I know I will live once I’ve told you everything?” Hal asked, smiling, but Percy was pretty sure it was real fear in his eyes.

“I swear on the river Styx we will not kill you unless you betray us or otherwise give us a good reason to,” Nico said, which was a pretty vague oath, but seemed to be enough for Hal.

“Fine, I can’t say no to you,” he sighed. “The owner of the rooster is called Útgarða-Loki. He lives up in the mountains.”

“Loki?” Percy asked. “I thought that was your mother?”

“Different guy, same name,” Hal said. “Been driving the mortal scholars crazy for centuries. Anyway, we have to go there both for the rooster and the deaging spell.”

“What spell?” Jason asked.

“Fenris is basically the wolf equivalent of the serpent you saw down there,” Hal said, gesturing towards the sea. “We really don’t want to move him as is. So my brilliant plan is to deage him and turn him to a cub again.”

“That’s disturbing, but it might work,” Percy said. “I don’t suppose we can just ask this guy to hand them over to us.”

“Not likely,” Hal said. “I have a plan, though, and you’re not going to like it.”

“Let me guess; You hand us over to them to gain their trust and just hope we make it out of there alive?” Percy asked, and Hal rolled his eyes.

“How predictable do you think I am?” he scoffed. “Besides, they would kill you on the spot. No, I have something different in mind.”

“Out with it.”

“They know me already, I can probably just walk in there,” Hal said. “I can take one of you with me as a plus one.”

“You’re thinking about taking Nico, aren’t you?” Jason growled. “That’s not going to happen.”

“You smell like a son of Thor, they are not going to buy it if you come,” Hal said. “I could have taken Percy, but they will have gotten word about Naglfar so water powers are suspicious. Nico is the best choice.”

“I can’t shadow travel here,” Nico said.

Hal nodded. “A shame, but I suspected that might be the case,” he said. “You’re still the best choice.”

“No way,” Percy said. “None of us are going anywhere alone with you, and that’s final.”

“You can’t attack that place. Utgarda-Loki defeated three gods once. His magic is too strong,” Hal said. “Look, I’m not trying to trick you. Stealth is the only way we have a shadow of a chance.”

“Then why not do it yourself?” Jason asked. “We can wait outside.”

“Because I have zero chance of getting out of there if I get caught,” Hal said. “Besides, two people can cover more ground than one.”

“We’ll think about it,” Nico said. “Get us there first, then we’ll see.”

“Fine,” Hal said, getting up from the ground and dusting his clothes off. “This way.”

They walked for the rest of the day, following Hal up the mountains. When darkness fell he led them to a nearby cave. It was a bit crowded with four people, but at least they were protected from wind and rain. They sat down in the far end of the cave with their backs against the wall. By a silent mutual decision Percy and Jason sat down on either side of Nico. Hal kept his distance while proceeding to light a fire by the entrance.

“Someone will see that,” Percy pointed out.

“Unlikely,” Hal said. “The path to the cave is narrow and twirls around. Besides, a lit fire means we have nothing to hide. Also, I’m cold.”

“Have it your way,” Percy sighed, then turned to the others. “I’ll take the first watch, you can go to sleep.”

Hal gave him an uncertain look, then shrugged and lay down, close to the fire.

***

They stopped on top of a hill overlooking the huge fortress below them.

“Well, we’re here,” Hal said, looking nervously at Nico. “Please tell me you’re coming with me.”

“Look, Hal, we don’t trust you,” Percy said. “You could be leading him into any kind of trap up there.”

“I’m not. I swear,” Hal said. “We need to do this. Breaking Naglfar wasn’t enough to stop it.”

“Agreed, but you haven’t given us a single good reason why you can’t go alone,” Jason pointed out. “You said they already know you, so you could walk in and out without anyone noticing. Bringing one of us will only draw more attention to yourself, so why?”

“You don’t understand,” Hal said, sounding scared. “I can’t go in there alone.”

“Why?” Nico asked. “What will they do if you come alone?”

“They will think that I’m looking for something,” Hal said. ”If I bring someone it’ll be easier to convince them I’m just there to party.”

Nico watched him suspiciously for a moment, then nodded. “Fine,” he said, turning to the others. “I’ll go with him.”

“Nico, don’t,” Percy said. “We can’t trust him.”

“Percy’s right. It’s a terrible idea,” Jason said.

“It’s the only idea we’ve got,” Nico said. “I’ll be fine.”

“But...” Percy tried, and Nico glared at him.

“It’s decided,” he said determinedly. “Wait here.”

“We’ll be back after nightfall,” Hal said, looking a little less terrified, though the expression returned as both Jason and Percy turned to glare at him.

“If he doesn’t come back...” Percy started.

“Guys, I can take care of myself,” Nico interrupted them, honestly getting irritated. “I’ll see you to later. Let’s go.”

He started walking towards the fortress, and Hal joined him a moment later.

“I know you were lying,” Nico said when they had left Percy and Jason behind. “Why is it really that you don’t want to go alone?”

Hal scowled. “I should have known you didn’t buy it. Why come with me if you knew I was lying?”

“I asked first,” Nico pointed out.

Hal sighed. “The people here, the jötnar, are very...big. And ugly, for the most part. And strong,” he said. “And I’m pretty good looking. If I’m alone they might get a bit too friendly.”

“Oh,” Nico said, taking that in. “Why didn’t you just say so earlier?”

“Because they would never have let you come with me,” Hal said. “And I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Right,” Nico said nervously as they stopped in front of the gate. The guard on the other side shouted something through a hole in the door, and Hal answered. A few exchanges later the gate opened to let them in.

“I’ve presented you as my boyfriend, don’t freak out about that. It’s safer for the both of us,” Hal said. “And we’re here because I told you the story about Útgarða-Loki and the gods and you wanted to see the place for yourself.”

“Understood,” Nico said, gritting his teeth. “Do any of these guys speak English?”

“Probably,” Hal said. “They got internet here a few years ago, and I know for a fact they like to watch bad horror movies.”

“Great,” Nico muttered.

“Hallgrímur Lokason!” someone shouted, and Nico turned around to see a muscular man at least twice as tall as him approach. He was slightly overweight, had droopy eyes and an oversized lower jaw. He bent down to put an arm around Hal’s shoulders as he talked, and judging by Hal’s body language this was one of the guys Hal didn’t want to get too friendly with.

Hal made a gesture in Nico’s direction as he talked, and the guy looked up at him, then laughed. Nico frowned.

“What did he say?” Nico asked, and the guy laughed again, taking a step towards him.

“That a tiny guy like you could never satisfy someone like Hallgrímur,” the guy said with a very heavy accent, though the challenge was undeniable. It was ridiculous really. Nico settled for glaring at the guy, using his fear aura. He quite frankly refused to fight this guy for Hal’s virtue, or whatever.

Luckily he didn’t have to, because the guy backed away. “Right, well, he chooses who he wants I suppose,” the guy muttered, then hastily walked away. Hal looked astonished as he walked back to Nico again.

“Wow,” he said, grinning widely. “I’m so attracted to you right now.”

“Save it,” Nico scowled. “Did you and that guy really…?”

“Once. Never again. I don’t want to talk about it,” Hal said, looking disgusted. The courtyard led to a huge wooden house, richly decorated with images of dragons, wolves and monsters Nico didn’t recognize. The door was large enough Nico could have walked in without ducking even if he had been three times as tall. Despite his easy victory of one of the inhabitants earlier, Nico felt really small as he followed Hal inside.

***

“You know, you’ve been acting strange for this entire quest. Did I do something?” Jason asked.

“I haven’t been acting strange,” Percy said. “Besides, you wouldn’t have noticed anyway, would you? Whenever Nico is around it’s like nothing else exists!”

“Just what are you insinuating?” Jason asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Nico and I are friends. Unlike you I actually pay attention to him.”

“Unlike me?” Percy repeated. “I’ve known him since he was ten years old! We’re friends. I do pay attention to him!”

“Really? What do you actually know about him?” Jason asked angrily. “From the last couple of years, not from when he was ten?”

“Look, it’s not like he makes it easy,” Percy said. “This quest is the first time he hasn’t run off after five minutes of conversation. I’ve tried, okay? But for some reason he prefers you.”

“Try harder,” Jason said. “It wasn’t easy for me either. It took me months to get him to trust me.”

“And now you two are practically attached at the hip,” Percy said bitterly. “Does Piper know about this?”

“Piper’s got nothing to do with it,” Jason scowled. “Besides, we broke up three months ago.”

Percy stared at him. “What?” he asked. “You never mentioned...”

“You were still hung up on Annabeth, and it wasn’t a big deal,” Jason said. “We’d been doing nothing but argue for weeks. It was for the best.”

“Gee, you think you know a guy,” Percy said, sitting down on the ground. “I’m terrible at paying attention, aren’t I?”

“It wasn’t your fault. I didn’t tell you,” Jason sighed, sitting down beside him. “Nico on the other hand, yeah. He could have used some attention.”

“Does he still hate me?” Percy asked quietly. “I mean, I thought we were becoming friends again, but...”

“He’s been through a lot,” Jason said. “But he’s never hated you. Trust me on that.”

“If you say so,” Percy sighed, though it did lift a weight off his chest. “You think he’s okay?”

“I’m as worried as you are,” Jason said. “But he has been taking care of himself for years, and he’s good at sneaking around. He’ll be okay.”

“If Hal doesn’t sell him out,” Percy said darkly. Jason didn’t have an answer for that.