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‘And he was almost right,’ Nico said. ‘If you hadn’t been there …’
Will squeezed his hand. ‘I’llalwaysbe here. But if the tests get harder the deeper we go … I hate that idea alot.’
‘You must face her,’ said Howl-Smith.
In her fluffy parka, with a stack of beanies on her head like multicoloured pancakes, she didn’t look like your typical government official, but she sat forward, her hands laced, and fixed Nico with a stare of absolute authority. Suddenly Nico understood why she’d been made leader of the council.
‘If you do not,’ she continued, ‘Nyx will torment you and Bob the Titanforever. And any who care about you.’
Nico understood her meaning. The trogs were his friends. By moving them into the Underworld to protect them, he’d unwittingly put them in the path of Hurricane Nyx.
Nico made a fist. ‘I just don’t understand why she cares so much aboutme. I’m one demigod.’
Trogs don’t have eyebrows, but Howl-Smith arched the skin where her eyebrows would have been. ‘You are Nico di Angelo.’
The other trogs murmured and nodded.
‘You show new ways through the dark,’ Clack-Jones added.
‘You see the trogs,’ said Screech-Bling. ‘You see Bob the Titan.’
Will smiled and squeezed his hand. ‘Nyx hates what you represent – change.’
Howl-Smith nodded wisely. ‘Or at least the potential for it.’
Nico was uncomfortable with the way they were looking at him: with trust and pride, like he was someone who deserved a spotlight. Being a son of Hades, he didn’t do spotlights.
‘I’ll fix this,’ he promised. ‘I’ll save Bob and convince Nyx to back off.’
‘Wewill,’ corrected Will of the Magnificent Cheese Hat. ‘And hey, if Nyx wants your darkness so bad, you can just leave some of it with her! That wouldn’t be so bad.’
Nico knew he was joking, but the comment didn’t sit well. ‘Ha-ha. You’re hilarious.’
‘Then it is settled,’ said Howl-Smith. ‘We troglodytes will guide you past Erebos to the far side of the Underworld, where you may descend into Tartarus. We will do our best to keep you hidden from HadesandNyx. Does the council agree?’
All five troglodytes clicked in unison.
Howl-Smith beamed at Nico and Will. ‘Excellent! Now you should rest. At mushroom-glow,Screech-Bling andHiss-Majesty will escort you through the pathways.’
‘Mushroom-glow?’ Will asked.
‘It’s their dawn,’ Nico explained. ‘When the mushrooms start … glowing.’
‘And the pathways?’
‘We do not travel out in the open,’ said Shriek-Vibes. ‘For our own protection, we have found hidden trails.’
‘To avoid the attention of Hades’s minions,’ said Hiss-Majesty. ‘And the ghosts.’
‘Ghosts?’
‘This is the land of the dead, Will,’ said Nico. ‘Not all souls make it across the River Styx or into my father’s kingdom. Some get lost, or turn aside for whatever reason … They wander around as ghosts.’
‘They are usually not dangerous,’ said Hiss-Majesty. ‘But they are often sad. It is hard to hear their wails. We want to help them, yet we cannot!’
Will turned to Nico. ‘This isn’t disturbing to you? All those lost souls?’
‘Why would it be? It’s just part of how things are. The Underworld is my second home, Will.’
