"For all you have done, you can have a boon from me as long as it does not cross the limits. So ask away, child. What do you want?" Hades asked in a straightforward manner. He was the god of riches as well, so he knew more than anyone how costly an unpaid debt is.
Silva thought for a moment and decided what he wanted immediately. After the ordeals he faced in the Vatican, he did not want to go through anything like that again. So he explained what happened to him to Hades while omitting the part about Vatican. Apollo had advised him not to do it.
Hades looked thoughtful for a few seconds. He then replied.
"That I can do, and the reward is appropriate," he said as suddenly, his size increased until he became ten feet tall. His helmet appeared, which seemed to morph into a different shape every few seconds. Thankfully, Hades was keeping the power of the helmet at bay; otherwise, Silva would not be as sane as he was right now.
"Son of Artemis, I, Hades, Lord of the Underworld, hereby give my blessing for your accomplishment of saving my daughter. As long as your feet are touching the shadows, no one will ever be able to remove you from it unless you allow them to do so."
Thunder rumbled across the sky as the blessing took effect on Silva. He suddenly felt as if the gravity had increased on his body. But it increased in a gentle manner, making him feel more grounded towards his own shadow.
"I can't give you too much, as it might break the balance. But as long as you are not facing gods or titans with abilities focused on space, no one else would be able to take advantage of you like that monster did."
"Thank you, Lord Hades," Silva replied.
Hades nodded one more time.
"Artemis's current whereabouts are currently unknown. The chance of your identity being revealed during the winter solstice is very high. So when the time comes, I won't be able to openly support you in any manner. But if the chance appears, my opinion of you will be favorable," Hades said as he completely disappeared.
Silva looked at the altar where the fire had completely gone out. But he seemed to see something hidden within the ashes of the altar. He stood and looked closely to find a booklet present within it.
Curiously, he picked it up and read the heading on it.
THE CORRECT WAY TO SUMMON THE LORD OF THE DEAD FOR DUMMIES.
Silva stared at the booklet for a few seconds. He was unable to utter a single word out of his mouth due to the conclusions that his mind was coming up with right now.
'I thought he came so quickly because he sensed the presence of his daughter nearby. Don't tell me he was so excited to be summoned after such a long time.'
Silva decided to keep those thoughts of his to the corner of his mind, never to be thought about again for his and many others' sanity.
He then looked at the booklet again, not knowing what to do about it.
'Hmm, maybe I can just do that…'
Sometime later in Camp Half-Blood.
Travis at the Hermes cabin was going to offer his food to the altar in the dining hall as he always did. But this time, when he came near it, he was surprised to find out that it was not empty but had something in the flames.
'Did Dad send something?' he thought as he used a tong to pick the booklet out.
But by that time, the demigods in the line behind him were also curiously looking at what he was taking from the fire. Because normally, they drop things in the fire for the gods.
THE CORRECT WAY TO SUMMON THE LORD OF THE DEAD FOR DUMMIES.
"Oooohhh, that's interesting," a Hermes cabin kid said as he read out the title for everyone.
Chiron, who was sitting in the corner, took out a bottle of pills and swallowed as much as he could simultaneously.
"Now, kids, why don't you leave that book with me?" he said as he stood up.
Let's just say he only got the book back after two days later. And right now, almost every demigod in camp knows how to summon the Lord of the Dead.
At the same time, on Percy's side.
After believing that Bianca had died due to being electrocuted, they kept on moving until they reached the Hoover Dam. There, like in the canon, Percy met up with Rachel. But this time, it happened because Grover said he smelled Silva's scent somewhere in the building, which led them to Rachel, who was wearing one of Silva's T-shirts. After getting acquainted as Silva's friends, Rachel realised that the monsters she had seen earlier at the dam were after them and decided to help them escape without any problems. Normally, a mortal like Rachel can't do anything to help demigods, even if they are gifted with the sight.
But this Rachel was not clueless like the original one in canon and helped Percy and the others escape from the monsters while using the objects that Silva had given to her for protection.
They consisted of a few celestial bronze darts supercharged by Silva's bow and Egyptian artifact, plus a canister that should be sprayed away from the person who is using it.
Rachel once asked Silva about what was inside the canister, but Silva told her that it was better that she never found out about it. He also warned her that she should try her best to not even let a drop of it fall on her body.
When Rachel pushed everyone inside a room and sprayed the canister, a foul-smelling odour spread across the room.
Grover looked like he wanted to kill himself while Percy had flashbacks about Gabe before Silva had met them all those years ago. Both of them looked at each other and realised that the girls had no idea what that smell was other than the fact that it was really foul and kept all the monsters away.
Both of them nodded towards each other as if silently agreeing that they would never voice out what they suspected the contents of the canister to be.
A/N- Hope you like it.