You're family, aren't you?

The mystery only partially solved

Hades was still snickering from watching Sephie Jackson and Athena’s child Anna-something take a ‘Tunnel of Love’ ride, even though it happened days ago. Fates, the sheer thought of the children of those two bitter rivals working together was hilarious, let alone taking the ride in a small boat together in a Tunnel of Love! Although, Hades always suspected there was something more behind the rivalry of his little brother and his more tolerable niece. No god took the insults or sacrilege well, they were all too prideful, but Poseidon and Athena shared that special brand of rivalry and hatred Hades had only seen in situations when one party hurt the other emotionally.

He knew better than to insinuate anything to those two though; Athena would outright deny any sort of emotional attachment to Poseidon, and his brother would just give him his patented I-do-not-need-this-bullshit-right-now-brother stare. Yes, the stare had a name – after so many times it had been directed at Zeus for his antics…

But the Summer Solstice deadline was approaching rapidly.

“My Lord?” Thanatos looked a little unnerved by Hades’ laughter as he entered the throne room. The oldest son of Kronos took a deep breath to compose himself then turned his gaze to his lieutenant.

“Yes, Thanatos?”

“Hermes is here,” the black-winged immortal huffed, and Hades pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Let him in when you leave,” the Ruler of the Underworld said after a few seconds. “Is there anything else?”

“Nothing out of ordinary,” Thanatos shrugged. “Charon is complaining again.”

“You can tell your brother he can either cease his pestering, or I will go visit his mother and have a little ‘chat’ with her about her son’s behavior!” Hades snapped, shaking his head. Fates, why were his subjects and helpers such brats? They were all older than him!

Thanatos smirked and bowed shallowly. “As you command, my Lord.” Son of Nyx sauntered out of the throne room, scrolling down his I-phone in search of newly deceased, and his wing-footed nephew came in.

“Hel-lo, Uncle H!” Hermes greeted cheerfully, rummaging around his messenger bag. “Dad sends his missive-”

“My brother can stuff his missives up his podex,” Hades cut Hermes off, leaning back in his throne. “Anything else?”

“Uncle P sends an oral warning for you,” here Hermes cleared his throat. “‘Keep your paws off my daughter and let her finish her quest – I mean it, Hades’, quote unquote.” The Poseidon imitation Hermes did was not too bad. The Sea King did have a protective streak when it came to his many children, and Hades could only guess how protective Poseidon would be of his first mortal daughter.

“Oh, I certainly won’t be interfering, you can tell Poseidon that,” Hades chuckled. “I am not in habit of attacking his children.”

“And Persephone Jackson sends you a letter,” here Hermes frowned. “Why would she be sending you letters?”

Hades froze for a second. How was he going to explain this? One wrong word, and both Zeus and Poseidon would be on his case: Zeus for contacting the demigoddess in the first place, and Poseidon out of sheer overprotectiveness.

“I have no idea,” he drawled at last, desperately searching for a convincing lie. “I do have her mother here – maybe that’s why.”

Hermes’ mouth formed an ‘O’. “It could be,” the messenger nodded as he handed his uncle the letter. “It fits – I’ve heard from my kids she adores her mother. Anyway, that’s it. Bye, Uncle H!”

Hades took the letter, tucked it away in the pocket and said nothing in response, waiting for Hermes to leave. As soon as the younger immortal left, Hades pulled out the letter again and opened it with utmost care. The envelope was cheap and plain white, with name Hades scrawled in messy Greek on it and a stamp of Nevada on it, but the god did not care: his niece willingly contacted him of all gods, and not her father.

He had a sudden urge to rub this in his brother’s face, but then he remembered the Medusa head the little brat sent to Olympus and decided otherwise. Poseidon got the ‘notice me Dad!’ parcel – like the Olympians needed an additional reminder Sephie existed! – and he got the personal mail: it wasn’t fair to compare those two.

A postcard slid out of the envelope, and Hades felt horror well up in him – it had an image of Lotus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas plastered on it.

Had the girl met my children?

Heart filled with dread, he turned the card around to read the message.

Hey Uncle Hades,

Greetings from Vegas! The city is just like the stories: glitz and glamour and sin and pure awesomeness! One question: are Nico and Bianca Di Angelo my cousins? They look a bit like you – well, if you look them straight in the eye. I doubt I’d have recognized them if we hadn’t had that little chat before I got to the Camp Half-Blood! Also, sorry for coming this close to the deadline, Lotus Hotel and Casino really messed us up – we spent five days in there, and we thought it was only a few hours!

See you soon!

Sephie Jackson

P.S. Is it normal for the gifts from gods to return to you, even when you dump them in the trash? Annabeth and Grover don’t know, and you’re the only god I know personally aside from Ares the jerk, and he was the one who gave it to me.

She did. Hades wanted to groan out loud. Why, oh why was this happening? First his niece looks like his mother and has the name of his wife, and now she sends postcards to see if she had cousins on his side of the family. Maybe the Fates were onto something when they refused to allow Poseidon to have mortal daughters. No hero had created this much chaos so early, and Sephie was only twelve! If she lived to see her sixteenth birthday, she would either raze Olympus or transform it completely!

The post-scriptum caught his eye, however. Why was Ares giving out gifts that returned to the receivers? That type of magic was not unusual, but it was not Ares’ style. The gifts in general were not Ares’ style, but in those rare moments he gave them, they never had to end up in the trash. So, why would Ares give out gifts that returned to their receivers, and why would Sephie want to dump them into trash? He would have to think about it.

Hades skillfully ignored the growing sense of unease in his bones and the voice of his thrice-cursed Father whispering in his ear. Sephie was coming soon, and they needed to play this out perfectly. No one was to know about his little visit, or the fact Sephie knew about his Helm missing.

~

The questers – Athena’s child, satyr and Sephie – did not look their best as they entered his throne room, but it was still fair sight better than usual. Namely, they didn’t smell of the streets, although they looked curiously ruffled for people who drove from Vegas to Los Angeles after the stay in Lotus Hotel. Hades leaned back into the throne, letting his aura permeate the air, and enjoyed seeing the trio shudder before Sephie took a bold step forward, the bolt hidden in the backpack. He narrowed his eyes at his baby brother’s symbol of power: why did she have it, when she freely admitted she knew nothing of their world before his visit?

“My Lord and Uncle,” she spoke, bowing her head in almost mockery of respect, and Hades wanted to snort. He had to play this game, but it was really difficult not to argue with the girl when she channeled her father so thoroughly! “I come here with a request and a plea.”

Request and plea? He could play with that, even with Master Bolt throwing a spanner in his plan.

“You amuse me, dear niece,” Hades spoke languidly, watching with sharp eyes every micro-expression on Sephie’s face. Athena’s child and satyr were of less importance right now – she was the main player. “To think you can simply stroll into the Underworld and request, nay, demand anything of me. But I will listen.”

Sephie gulped, eyes unsure for a moment, before she raised her chin to meet his gaze dead on. Foolish of her, but he would let it slide, for now. Her name was Persephone, after all, and he couldn’t ignore the halo of Rhea around her.

“I doubt you want the war between Uncle Zeus and my father,” she started slowly. “I mean, what would you gain from it? Sure, they would battle, leaving themselves wide open for a sneak attack, but gods never play fair. They use humans to do their bidding, and every mortal who dies comes here.” She gestured vaguely in the direction of the Asphodel Fields, and Hades was reluctantly impressed with her perceptiveness. “And frankly, you don’t need more souls here – the chaos is big enough as it is. So please Uncle, return Zeus’ Master Bolt so we can all avoid the total war.”

Hades spied Athena’s child give Sephie impressed look and the satyr’s wide eyes, but he was still more focused on the steely determination in Sephie’s eyes.

“You would not be wrong, little niece,” Hades sighed, tapping his fingers against the throne’s armrests, “but there’s a slight… problem with your request.”

The girl blinked, taken aback. “Uncle – I mean, Lord Hades?” She made a little slip, but it was not a terrible one, so Hades ignored it as he stood up.

“My brother’s Master Bolt was not the only thing that had gone missing,” he hissed, summoning all of the anger he held for the currently nameless and faceless thief. Sephie’s eyes widened, and Athena’s child and satyr gasped. Hades felt a pang of regret for scaring the children, but this was all a game, and the favorable result hinged on his ability to act.

“The Helm of Darkness!” Athena’s child squeaked. “Sephie, the Helm of Darkness!”

“Indeed, child of Athena. My Helm was also stolen – by you, little niece! And now you come to threaten me, to return your mother to you?! The nerve of you, Persephone Jackson!”

“B-but I don’t have the Bolt!” Sephie staggered backward, true fear shining from her eyes, and Hades had to stop himself from offering her an apology. She may have told the truth, but someone had played all three sons of Kronos for fools, and Hades needed to know who!

“Oh? Then check your backpack, if you’re so certain!” he ordered harshly, and was treated to utter shock and terror from all three questers when Sephie pulled out the Master Bolt.

“How? When?” Athena’s child muttered hurriedly, inspecting the backpack. The satyr was braying, unable to stand still, and Sephie… Sephie looked like everything clicked in its place in her head, and the picture she was seeing terrified her out of her mind.

“No,” she whispered, silencing everyone in the room, “no! Ares… but how… counselors. Winter Solstice. Of course! Clarisse? Or…” The horror on her face deepened, and Hades dug his nails into his palms to stop himself from reacting.

“Sephie, what are you talking about?” The satyr asked the same thing Hades wanted to know.

“Yes, Persephone, what are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry Uncle Hades,” Sephie said weakly, turning only her head to look her uncle in the face. “I – I don’t have your Helm, but I know who has it right now – and I think I know who stole it.” Hades blinked, but demigoddess went on, preventing anyone from commenting. “I swear on the River Styx I have not stolen either the Master Bolt or the Helm of Darkness,” the thunder could be heard through the ground and Hades felt eyes widen, “and I swear I will return the Helm to Lord Hades when I win the possession of it.” The thunder rumbled again, and Persephone quickly pulled out three misty-green pearls Hades recognized from the many experiments Poseidon did early in their rulership of the world.

“Let’s go!”

“PERSEPHONE JACKSON!” Hades shouted and the skeletons he had scattered through his throne room awoke in response to their master’s fury, but it was too late – the trio had already shattered the pearls, and the bubbles did not allow any physical harm. The last look he spotted on his niece’s face was realization that was slowly turning into determination.

Maybe there was hope.

~

“The half-blood fulfilled her oath,” Alecto hissed as she entered the throne room, finding her Lord pacing around it. Hades instantly zeroed in on his Helm in the Fury’s hands, and all but sprinted across the room to get it. He relaxed the moment the metal of the war helmet touched his scalp: it drowned out the whispers from his sire and other prisoners currently stuck in Tartarus and opened the old channels with which he controlled the shadows.

“So she had,” Hades sighed, stroking the Helm fondly. “So she had, Alecto. She had proven herself.”

“Indeed she had,” Alecto nodded and left, although she didn’t look happy about it, and Hades didn’t blame her. It was not in Alecto’s nature to praise anyone, least of all the demigods. However, things still weren’t over – not completely.

“I believe there is no longer any need to keep her mother here,” Hades mused, looking at the small jar holding Sally Jackson’s soul. “Yes, no need at all.” And with a snap of his fingers, he released his brother’s former lover back into the upper world. He owed his little niece that much.

Speaking of nieces though…

“Hermes!” Hades called out. “I need you to send a message to Poseidon!”

~

About a week after the summer solstice, Hermes invaded his throne room again.

“Hey, Uncle H! You gotta tell me what you did to Sephie Jackson,” the messenger god pouted as her picked out the blue envelope out of his pocket. “She’s sending you mail again!”

Yesss, tell him pleassse, Lord Hadesss, Martha, one of the snakes on Hermes’ caduceus hissed.

Maybe he’ll ssstop whining about the pretty Sssea Princesss ignoring him, George, the other snake, snickered.

Hades raised his eyebrow, quite amused as Hermes’ ears reddened, and he hissed at his snakes to be quiet.

“Ignoring you? Did I hear that right, nephew?”

Yessss, Martha cackled. It’sss quite amusssing.

“It’s not like that!” Hermes whined, pushing the envelope towards Hades. “I mean, she’s pretty, sure, but it’s not - I’m not -!”

“Don’t let my brother hear you,” Hades advised the younger god with a smirk. “He’s very protective of his little Princess.”

“You don’t have to tell me, uncle!” Hermes groaned, morphing his staff into the mobile phone and checking the messages waiting for him. “He nearly blasted Ares to Tartarus for hurting her, and landed Apollo in his own infirmary for ‘objectifying his daughter’! Even Athena looked surprised!”

“Did he?” Hades’ smirk was positively feral now, not having any complaints about his brother’s behavior for once. If anyone did something similar to Bianca… well, he wasn’t a God of Underworld for nothing. “Good. Now I believe you have messages to deliver?”

“Yeah! Bye!” Hermes fled the throne room, and Hades shook his head in amusement. It would do his family good to have a pretty girl dangling in front of them like a forbidden fruit – maybe then they’ll learn some restraint.

He carefully opened the letter, and this time the white sheet of paper fell out instead of the postcard. The letters looked much neater this time: Sephie was apparently in no rush when she wrote this.

Hey Uncle Hades!

I know, I know, you must be wondering why is your favorite mortal niece pestering you now, but I had to. I had to say thank you. You returned my mum, hale and healthy, to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

On the completely unrelated note, there is a soul of Gabriel Ugliano currently rotting in Charon’s lobby. Can you please make sure he gets the worst imaginable torture in the Fields of Punishment? I have some ideas too, but since I’m trying not to waste paper and ink on that swine of a man, I won’t tell you here – but you’re free to contact me whenever, however! (Dad and Chiron helped with the ideas. Who would’ve thought Chiron could be so vindictive?)

I guess I’ve got to address the elephant in the room now – who stole the bolt. I’m still not 100 percent sure, but I think it’s Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. I talked with Annabeth, and she told me year-round counsellors went up on Olympus that day. Ares had been controlled by Grandpa dearest (Hades shuddered here), and I had… dreams. Dreams of the voice in the pit, talking to someone, and that someone sounded familiar and mentioned the thief was intercepted by a god. The only counsellors I know well enough to recognize the voice of are Annabeth, Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, and Luke, and Ares said Clarisse wasn’t in on it. Of course, Ares could’ve been lying, but… Luke has been distant last few days, and we had such a great start!

I’m praying I’m wrong, but with the Oracle’s warnings and him being so distant… I don’t know, Uncle. Like I said, I could be missing the mark completely, but… I’m scared to death (no pun intended) I’ll be proven right. I don’t want to lose the first person who welcomed me in the camp.

Well, that’s all from me!

Yours,

Sephie Jackson

P.S. You never told me: are Bianca and Nico my cousins?

Hades restrained the urge to crumple the letter; rather, he folded it carefully and returned it to the envelope, placing it next to the postcard from Vegas. The request about Gabriel Ugliano – Sephie’s stepfather, if he remembered it right from his visit, he never asked the name – he could do easily enough: Alecto would enjoy torturing him, and he was a little curious what Chiron and his brother came up with. Thoughts of Nico and Bianca he pushed to the back of his mind, hoping Sephie would forget about them eventually, and smiled at the heartfelt thanks.

The thief, though… Hades gritted his teeth. If Hermes’ son had really stolen his Helm, and worked together with his sire, he would pay dearly. Not many knew, but the Helm helped Hades keep his Father’s voice out of his mind – he had naturally strong mental shields, but he lived way too close to Tartarus for the shields to be enough – and the theft subjected the God of the Dead to six months of sleepless nights and nightmares, not to mention his voice constantly whispering to him when he was awake. Oh, when he gets his hands on the thief… he will show them just why he was the sibling with the most resemblance to his dear Father.

If the thief wishes to listen to my Father so much… I will oblige.