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Chapter Text

Will was tending to the last patient before he goes and work on the bunch of paper works on his table. As soon as he was done bandaging his patient, there was a knock on the door. “Come in” he shouted as he walked to the desk where the paper work was waiting for him, when he was finally seated someone tapped his shoulder, Will looked up and saw Nico holding a pack of McDonald’s, Will raised an eyebrow, Nico sat on one of the cot behind him as he took the food out, “Well, you’ve been working all day sunshine, and we both missed dinner, so I bought us food, better eat up”, Will chuckled,

“What?” Nico asked with a scowl,

“You sound like me, except that I wouldn't buy McDonald's because its junkfood.” Nico rolled his eyes,

“You’re not the only one who can worry and get concern you know. Also, stop complaining, be thankful I was thoughtful enough to buy you food too.” he snapped

“I know, it’s just adorable when you're like this” Nico glared at him, but it was half-hearted and didn't take effect because he was blushing upto his ears. Will then sat next to him and put his arms around the son of Hades, “Okay, let’s eat then we can sleep in your cabin, after I finish atleast half of the paperwork”, Nico thought for awhile then nodded, “Max of half, not atleast half, okay?” Will chuckled then muttered “What a perfectionist.”, Nico then smirked “Better eat your food before I finish them for you”, Will then grabbed his food then started eating.

When they finished eating Will gave Nico a kiss goodnight, as the son of Hades just came back from one of his father’s bidding, making him tired. Nico would not leave though until Will had sworn to the River Styx that he would follow as soon as he finished only half of the paper works. The son of Hades was still uneasy, but his tiredness took over him as he walked back to his cabin. As soon as he changed into more comfortable clothing, he laid down on his bed, telling himself he will not fall asleep, not until Will was beside him and he knew he was safe. Which he knows it was a stupid thought, it’s not like anything wrong would happen, they were protected by a barrier afterall, and at that thought without even realizing it, he fell asleep.

Nico did not have a dreamless sleep, which is weird because he normally does when his really tired. He was in some kind of dark room, he could feel the freezing temperature even if he was dreaming, when he reached a doorway, he heard someone talking in hushed voices from the other room. He can only see two silhouettes, one was a girl holding some kind of glowing blue object and the other seemed to be a boy, but something was wrong, the boy was flickering, like he was some kind of ghost, that does not sound right,

“I think it’s time” the boy said, his voice sounds familiar Nico thought,

“It is indeed” the girl said handing the blue glowing object to the boy, the boy was reaching for it but stopped halfway as if doubting if he can even touch it, the girl just nodded,

“I made sure you’ll be able, as long as we don’t take too long” the girl said coldly, the boy then took it quickly then snow encircled them as a gust of wind and snow filled the room, Nico tumbled back then he woke up to a knock on his door. Nico looked out, the sun was just starting to rise he then turned to hug Will, but then he realized his boyfriend was not there. The son of Hades stood up as fast as he can when there was another more urgent knock, when he opened the door, it was Kayla filled with worry, “Have you seen Will?”, Nico shook his head then ran as fast as he can towards the infirmary, developing his own worry and completely forgetting about his dream last night.

When he got there, the infirmary looked fine, everything was in place, nothing seems wrong except for some ice by the steps going up the big house. Then he felt something tug at him, there was a cold sensation going down his spine, a familiar sensation he has felt before but somehow something was different about it and he knows it. Nico's face paled, draining of all color.

 No no no, this can’t be happening, Not Will, please not him, anyone but him.

Tears started forming in Nico’s eyes, Kayla was beside him now, she must have noticed his expression “What’s wrong?” she asked as gently as she can, trying to pat his shoulder, Nico's voice was shaky, gods his whole body was shaking because of what his feeling

“Something is wrong with Will’s life force, I haven’t felt anything like it before, its like someone is slowly trying to drain the life out of him.”

 Kayla’s eyes went wide as she started running towards the big house calling for Chiron. Nico walked down the steps, trying to control his emotions, then something cold landed on his face, he looked up and he noticed it was snowing, in October. That was weird, that’s when he recalled everything from his dream the past night, he then started running towards the big house looking for Kayla and hopefully Chiron.

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Will watched Nico until he was out of sight, quickly regretting that he didn’t just let the son of Hades sleep in one of the cots while his finishing his work. Will then sat back down by his desk and started the paperwork, trying to finish it as fast as he can. His thoughts started to drift. That’s the weird thing about him, sometimes his hands just work alone as he daydreams or think of random things.

First, he was thinking about his dad, is he finally happy to be back on Olympus? Sure, the sun god visits the camp every once in awhile, but he wished he could spend some alone time with him too. Alas, being in a cabin with lots of siblings wanting the very same thing makes that quite impossible. Then he was thinking about his mom, he remembers his mom bringing a sword all the time when he was young, back then he just thought it was cool, now he understood what she was trying to do, she was keeping him safe. Will was a year rounder so that he can avoid endangering his mom, but now he really misses her, he then promised himself that he will visit his mom this upcoming thanksgiving. Then as he was nearly done with his work, his thoughts drifted into a particular son of Hades. He remembers their daily bickering, rare fights, weekly picnics, and those few times when Nico actually shows he cared, oh I don’t know like when his so tired from his father’s bidding but still went all the way to the nearest McDonald’s just to buy his significant annoyance something to eat for dinner. Will sighs, maybe I’ll take him on a date soon, oh I can take him stargazing tomorrow, yes it would be a surprise, I hope he likes it he thought.

Will was finished, he was just fixing up the cots and arranging the remaining paperwork, resisting the urge to do them because he swore and he doesn’t really like the idea of getting cursed, plus he is really excited about taking Nico stargazing tomorrow, finally some time to just relax and cuddle with my adorable ball of darkness. Will rolled his eyes at how cheesy his thoughts were.

He closed the lights and locked the door, as he was walking down the steps of the big house though, he saw a girl with long black hair and a white dress sitting at one of the steps, as he approached, the girl looked at him, she did not look familiar to Will, “Umm hi? Are you new here?”, the girl stood up then smirked “I guess you can say that” the temperature then began to drop around them, Will thought it was just the winds blowing through the night. He cleared his throat, “Do you need something from the infirmary or are you looking for anyone?”, the girl just hummed in agreement, there was amusement in her eyes, “Well I was actually looking for any child of Apollo”, Will’s doctor mode quickly turned on, “Why? Are you sick, injured, or in pain?”, the girl shook her head, “Actually I have a friend, and his life depends on me making sure that this…” she pointed at Will, “…Certain son of Apollo doesn’t escape”, Will tensed as he feel the temperature drop more, definitely not normal, he thought so he slowly tried to step backward but the girl seem to sense it as she shrugs, “I would honestly pick any other child of Apollo, but this friend of mine says he would love to take revenge on Nico Di Angelo, and I heard you two were close, am I right, Will Solace?” Will visibly winced, making the girl smiled evilly at him. “Don’t be scared, you see I’m a goddess, so I don’t think making a run for it would even matter”, even knowing he won’t be able to escape he ran down the steps of the big house anyways, he only have reached the bottom when the girl shouted “Now”, Will looked back to see a flash of blue light then he feels like something was being pulled from him, he suddenly felt dizzy and weak, he then dropped to his knees. He saw the said goddess pull him up and noticed a guy with blond hair who seemed to be flickering stand beside her, holding an object that must have caused the flash of blue light. Snow started swirling around them, before he completely passed out the last thought that came to his mind was, “Nico is going to kill me”.

Will woke up in a cold room feeling tired and incomplete. He feels like something was tugging at him slowly draining him of all he is. He then tried to stand up but he was too weak, as to how that happened he had no idea. He looked down and saw his left leg was chained to the corner of the room by some kind of chain made of ice. He then looked down at his hands and notice his fingers were flickering, no that’s not the right term, he has saw this happened before. Then he remembered seeing Nico di Angelo after the battle of Gaea, seeing the poor child of Hades fading, that’s it, he was fading. He felt a shot of panic take over, he cannot move, he cannot escape, his too weak, there’s this strange feeling of death taking over his body and he was fading. Will then tried to sing a hymn to his father adding some prayers every once in awhile, hoping his father may come to help him. Apollo did change after his trials and he tries to be a better father too. The hymn seems to slow down the fading and so he would sing every time he can, only resting when he feels exhaustion. Despite all this, all he could think of was Nico, and how worried the boy could be, then it dawned on him, if he were really slowly dying, the son of Hades will feel it, and knowing Nico, even if this rescue mission was a trap, he would come for him, he would save him. The son of Apollo can’t help but feel a tad bit of relief but also guilt at the same time. He wants Nico to save him, but he doesn’t want to endanger him too.

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Once Nico found Chiron, it seems like Kayla has already filled him up about Will’s disappearance, Chiron caught his worried face as the centaur faced him, “Don’t worry Mr. Di Angelo, Ms. Knowles has already filled me up and we will search for Mr. Solace as soon as possible”, Nico nodded still feeling uneasy as he remembered the snow outside, “Umm, there’s more”, Chiron raised an eyebrow questioningly, “It’s snowing outside, and if you think it’s weird enough to snow in October then you should know that it seems like the barrier isn’t keeping the snow out”. Chiron looked out the window, his face turning to one of worry too, he turned back to Kayla and Nico, “Maybe we should discuss this with-” Chiron was cut off by a scream for help from the outside, the three of them started to jog outside to check on the commotion. 

As soon as they got out, the cold from the outside settled, they were not wearing winter clothes, who can blame them? Nobody expected it to snow in October, and besides the camp’s barriers always kept the cold to a minimum.

 Right in front of the Big House was Lou Ellen and Cecil, who seem to be shielding a young camper behind them, it took awhile for Nico to see what the two was fending off since the snow is blurring up his vision, but once he focused there was a whole group of polar bears running towards them from the hill, but something was different about them, their eyes were red, and they seemed to be in some kind of trance, like someone was controlling them. Nico turned to Chiron “How?”, the centaur just shaked his head, “I have no idea, but right now we must defend the camp and prevent them from going any further but considering these are really just polar bears then they won’t turn into dust. I don’t think our weapons would do much damage and if we do manage to kill them, then their body would be left here and we would have to clear them off afterwards before the smell of dead animals spread.”, Nico nodded, “I have an idea”.

Nico pulled Kayla toward Cecil and Lou Ellen, and huddled them up in a circle, “Cecil, can you make sure he gets back into his cabin safely” Nico said pointing at the young camper behind them, Cecil then nodded, taking the boy in his back in a piggy-back position and began to run. Nico faced Lou Ellen, “Can you manipulate the mist into making the bears think their trap within some type of fence, I need them to stay together for my plan to work”, Lou Ellen nodded, “Sure, but it may take awhile plus if their too focused, the mist may not work much”, Nico hummed, “It’s alright me and Kayla would distract it to make sure they don’t focus on what you’re doing, just signal me if you think they’re close enough to each other”, Lou Ellen smiled then nodded. The polar bears were near them now, Kayla was preparing her bow, Lou Ellen was warming up her magic and Nico was preparing to raise the dead. 

The moment the bears got near enough Lou Ellen started working on the mist, Nico and Kayla jumping in front of her to shield her, Kayla ran left and shot an arrow getting all the bears attention towards her, Nico then opened a fissure, where some polar bears fell as some skeleton warriors rose. The skeletons formed a line shielding him and his friends, at first the warriors were doing great and they were a great shield from the bears. But ofcourse those skeletons can only take so long before being scattered into bones, and that’s when Nico retorted into throwing rocks, he would use his sword but he knows these polar bears means no harm and that they were only being controlled, as much as he does not want to admit it, he has a soft spot for animals, besides they were only distracting them.

Kayla from the other side showed no mercy though, she shot arrow after arrow. This did not kill them since she was only hitting them by the legs to slow them down or to make them immobile. Nico noticed that the bears moved closer and closer to each other, a good sign that Lou Ellen’s’ magic is working. When they seemed to be gathering up around a circle Lou Ellen called for Nico’s name. Nico closed his eyes and focused on all the shadows around them as he directed them towards the polar bears, he focused on sending them to the Arctic by the North Pole, he felt a tug of power. When he opened his eyes all of the polar bears were gone. He felt slightly dizzy, but Kayla gave him ambrosia which instantly made him feel better. Chiron ran towards them staring wide-eyed, he seemed like he was going to ask something but Lou Ellen beat him to it, “How did you do that?”, Nico faced her as she crossed her arms, “Well I’ve learned that I can shadow travel things or people around me without coming with them, I just have to really focus on what I’m trying to travel and where I want to drop them, I discovered it when I was saving Will from being attacked by some Ares kids in a game of Capture the Flag and ever since I had been practicing with objects that I don’t mind getting lost.” Lou Ellen and Kayla exchanged impressed glances, Lou Ellen slapped his back gently, and started laughing, “You’re so overpowered Di Angelo!”, Kayla started laughing with her in agreement, Nico rolled his eyes, “You guys and insufferable”. The laughing only stopped when the snow began falling more heavily, Chiron cleared his throat, “I think we should hold a counselor’s meeting, Ms. Blackstone and Mr. Di Angelo, do you mind calling everyone else?” the two nodded as Chiron turned to Kayla, “Ms. Knowles you would be filling in temporarily as Apollo cabin’s head counselor, is that alright?” Kayla looked worried but she nodded. Chiron smiled as he guided her towards the big house.

Nico sat in besides Piper and Leo at the counselor’s meeting, they visit the camp every weekend, the sole reason why they are here now. He usually sits beside Will, and that sent a pang of nostalgia into him, realizing how much he missed the son of Apollo, hoping his alright despite feeling his life force draining. I’ll come for you, I will save you even if I will not be permitted to, I will look for you. I will never let you die, not if I have a say in it.  This was all he could think of until Chiron clasped his hands to get everyone’s attention. Nico looked around seeing how all the counselors were complete, Rachel, their oracle was also with them, this probably means a quest is about to be offered. There was even an open Iris message showing Annabeth, Percy, and the two praetors of New Rome which are no other than his sister, Hazel and her boyfriend, Frank. 

Chiron started explaining the events of this morning, the polar bear attack, Will’s disappearance (which everyone seemed to be down about, Will was kind of this camp’s ray of sunshine and positivity) and what Nico felt about Will’s life force. “We would be sending someone out on a possible quest to look for Mr. Solace”, Chiron finished. People started volunteering themselves, Clarisse was the first to raise her hand, “I think I should go, me and Will have been closed since he got into camp and I would really love to kill whoever dare hurt him”, Lou Ellen laughed from her side, “Oh please, you're too brutal for this quest, I think we’re gonna need both stealth and strength here, so I volunteer me and Cecil for the quest”, Clarisse scowled at her, the Kayla cleared her throat as she raised her hand and said determinedly, “I want to come too, because he's my brother and I think saving him is a job for one of his siblings”. Nico watched as the three continued bickering as they tried to prove that they were the best for the job, Chiron looked exhausted but just let out a sigh. Nico stood up, making the room temperature drop as he spoke, “Guys we have no time for this! How about we discuss the other details we must know before actually sending out someone”, Chiron looked at him appreciatively, the three sat back down but he was sure he heard Clarisse mutter, “Everyone knows you’re planning to run away just to save him anyways”, Nico just glared at the daughter of Ares. 

Annabeth started speaking from the Iris-message, “Well, if polar bears got in, it means someone let them in, and if it wasn’t Chiron and I doubt a demigod in the right mind would do that, then it has to be a god or goddess”, that got everyone’s attention, Leo spoke first, “Oh man, you think another god or goddess is out to cause the destruction of Olympus again? Doesn’t that just get tiring?” Piper elbowed him to shut him up then said, “Well polar bears are animals that lives in snowy places, and to see that it’s snowing terribly here, then that kinda narrows it down to one goddess” Piper glanced at Leo then shared a knowing look with Annabeth, as the daughter of Athena hummed in agreement, Chiron looked at Piper questioningly, 

“Which goddess do you have in mind?” Piper looked worried but answered anyways,

“Khione”

At that moment Rachel started to shake as smoke came out of her, her eyes were starting to glow, everyone was watching her now, knowing what’s about to happen next. The oracle opened her mouth and began speaking the prophecy,

The Son of Hades shall go alone,

To retrieve the object that once had shone.

A weapon that’s been forbidden but survived, 

For the ones who were dead, it can revive. 

The missing demigod he must first find,

The goddess of snow has him confined.

Defeat the ghost that had escaped,

Before the lost one completely fades.

Nico felt relieved that he was the one to go and save Will but he also felt fear and doubt take over as he heard the last line. That line was taunting him, this was a one-man quest and if he fails, then Will, the person he loved most, would be gone, and there would be no one else to blame but himself. As Rachel went back into her normal state, the room was silent, until Percy spoke from the Iris message jokingly, obviously trying to lighten up the mood and obviously failing, “Well, at least we don’t have to fight on whom were gonna send anymore, the prophecy made it clear.” Everyone looked at Nico with either fear or worry, whether for him or Will he can’t tell. Piper rubbed circles on his back mouthing, “You’ve got this”. Chiron then broke the silence, “Let’s all use the rest of the day trying to figure out what the prophecy is really about to help Mr. Di Angelo to not start a quest clueless”, everyone nodded in agreement. Chiron then looked at Nico with all seriousness, “You can feel how much is left of Mr. Solace’s life force, right?” Nico closed his eyes, and felt the fading but he knew Will still had a lot left in him and that somehow, his fading was being slowed down, when he opened his eyes he nodded, “I would advice for you to leave first thing tomorrow morning so you could get some rest, but if you find the need that it’s too dangerous to wait any longer than I should allow you to leave at sundown”, Nico nodded, he wanted to leave as soon as possible but after the stunt he pulled this morning with the polar bears, he knew that he will be too weak, besides he did feel Will’s fading slow down, so I guess it would be safe to rest for one more night, “Tomorrow morning it is then”, he said. Nico also realized he has to get himself together, he needs to focus and believe in himself, he cannot go out there worried, that would kill him the moment he steps out of the camp.

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Nico was supposed to be helping the others with researching about his quest, and he was, but after finding out he can’t focus on anything because the only thing on his mind was Will, Chiron dismissed him, and told him to get some fresh air, they will just make sure to inform him of what he must know and where he should start.

 He knew deep down that his dream the past night was connected to this whole quest. He had to tell someone about it, but the person he only really talked about his dreams and nightmares was with Will. Truth then dawned on him, his not right here, which sent a pang of guilt, sadness, and doubts into his thoughts. He mentally kicked himself for leaving Will in the infirmary that night, he could’ve rested there while waiting for Will but no, he just had to leave him there, now did he? If he stayed with Will, he could’ve defended him, even if it were against a goddess. Worst-case scenario would be that both he and Will would get taken, but atleast they would be together.  Nico can keep Will safe until his final breath. Looking at the situation now, Will may take his last breath any day now, and Nico isn’t even sure if he’ll make it to him on time. Now, that’s a thought Nico knew he could never accept, he must stay strong, for Will. He felt tears left his eyes as he sat by the snowy banks of the lake which was now frozen. He just sobbed and cried until he heard someone approach, he didn’t know how long he was there, but he did notice that the sun started to set. Nico then wiped the remaining tears out of his face as the approaching person sat beside him.

When he looked up, he saw Kayla holding a backpack, but he also noticed how puffy and red her eyes were, then he realized he wasn’t the only one missing Will so badly. He wasn’t the only one who felt so devoid of his sunshine. The two just sat there silently until Kayla finally broke the silent,

“You’ve been crying too, huh?”, she said gently, her voice was kind of hoarse, Nico noted. Nico tried to scowl but he couldn’t, he felt too sad to do it, besides his conscience would kill him because he and Kayla were crying for the same person. Plus, he actually likes Kayla, she’s one of those Apollo kids that accepted Nico as part of the family as soon as Will told his siblings about them (Well, all the Apollo kids accepted him, but it took some of them awhile before warming up to him due to his son of Hades status). She’s also really fun, and rebellious but she can also be sweet and gentle when she has to, like now.

When Kayla peaked at Nico to check at him, Nico just nodded and let his tears fall again. He didn’t care if he was being judged anymore, he just wants to hug Will again. That’s when he knew he has to succeed, because not only would he be failing Will and himself, but he would also be failing Kayla, the Apollo cabin and the whole camp. Kayla rubbed circles on his back,

“You know, I’m actually glad it’s you who’s gonna go after to save him” Kayla offered a smile as Nico looked up, she continued,

“I only said I should go after him because I don’t wanna lose another brother. You probably know how many head counselors the Apollo cabin had lost in just a few years, gods Nico, were starting to think that the position of Apollo head counselor is cursed” Nico noticed tears forming in Kayla’s eyes, “Well, I just don’t want Will to be the next, he’s so precious, his too kind, always so sunny, and always so positive despite his own problems” Kayla was crying now as she choked out the last of her words, “He doesn’t deserve to die.”

Nico surprised himself as he put an arm around Kayla, the daughter of Apollo leaned on him and continued crying on his jacket. A newfound determination rose within Nico’s insides,

“I’ll take him home alive; I’ll make sure he comes back alive” he reassured Kayla, the girl looked up,

“You promise?”

“I swear on the River Styx, he’s not going to die, atleast not if I have a say in it, over my dead body” he answered filled with determination. He knows really well that swearing on the Styx is powerful and that he’ll get cursed if he fails, but he probably deserves the curse if he broke this swear in particular. He has accepted his fate, either make sure Will Solace is back at camp safe and alive or he dies trying or he gets cursed failing.

Kayla must have seen the determination on his eyes because she pulled away and nodded with a smile on her face, “You know, when Lou said you’re overpowered, it’s kinda true” she offered jokingly, and we both laughed, thought half-heartedly it felt good. The two watched the sun set.

Nico the shrugged after awhile, “I feel so devoid of sunshine”, Kayla raised an eyebrow, “Do you mean that metaphorically or literally?”, Nico laughed humorlessly, “I guess both, but I care more metaphorically, I don’t mind cold weather every once in awhile”, Kayla hummed in agreement, “That makes two of us”. Kayla then grabbed the backpack she brought and started checking its content, “Bring this tomorrow, it has everything you need, well medically speaking that is. There’s some nectar, ambrosia, even unicorn draught because Will told me that worked better for you. And oh! I also packed some Gatorade, make sure to not overuse your powers though, save your best for when you finally have Will within sight. And uh, yeah, a first-aid kit with some bandages in case you need them, I believe my brother taught you the basics of first aid”, Nico nodded, as he remembers how he always help in the infirmary just to be near his boyfriend, and so to be more helpful, Will taught him everything he thinks Nico can do without healing powers.

 Kayla shoved the bag into Nico, “Good, now just add some small snacks and make sure you wear multiple layers tomorrow because apparently it’s snowing all around America”, this snapped Nico out of his thoughts, “What?”, Kayla just hummed, “Looks like the goddess of snow is expecting someone to rescue Will, and snow can be quite infuriating, you know? It blurs your vision and all”, Nico just nodded, hugging the backpack as he felt worry settle in his thoughts again. Kayla must have seen his change of emotion because she squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

“It’s gonna be alright, okay? If you ever feel like you don’t believe in yourself, know that atleast Will and I do, plus you’re the strongest demigod of this generation” Nico looked at her in shock,

“I’m pretty sure you’re talking about Percy Jackson”, Kayla waved her hand dismissively,

“Percy just got all the spotlight and big quests, and sure he can control water and anything liquid but really Nico, you have more powers than him, plus you seem to still be discovering new powers, and that only proves my point more. Also, you were always there in the background, doing something big but always unnoticed, like how you showed up at the Battle of Manhattan with a whole army of the undead or you carrying the Athena Parthenos like halfway across the globe, was it?” Nico smiled at the appreciation,

“Thanks for that Kayla, I really needed that boost in my confidence” Kayla smiled,

 “Ugh, you’re so underrated that the Nico Di Angelo fan club feel sorry for you.” Nico felt his cheeks turn red, “Nico di Angelo fan club?”, Kayla just laughed,

“Ofcourse silly! Your boyfriend founded it after the Battle of Manhattan, he has had a crush on you ever since.” Nico felt the blush reach his ears, “I knew he liked me first, but since Battle of Manhattan? No that can’t be. How come I never noticed?”, Kayla rolled her eyes at Nico’s confused face,

“You really are dense”, she concluded.

Kayla stood up, offering a hand toward Nico, “Let’s head on to dinner while your still in a good mood, then you could talk to Chiron. They already have an idea where you should start your search.” To be honest, Nico just wanted to sit by the frozen lake the whole night, but he knew he had to face this quest sooner than later, he swore that he will bring Will back alive, and so that’s what he is going to do. He reached for Kayla’s hand and nodded as she pulled him up. Just as they were about to walk to the dinning pavilion Nico stopped Kayla, she looked at him confused, “I had a dream last night, and I think it may help”, Kayla nodded. Nico explained his dream, when he finished all Kayla could say was,

“Schist, you don’t think that shiny blue object thing is ‘the object that once shone’ from the prophecy?”, Nico nodded,

“I’m afraid it maybe is”, Kayla smiled halfheartedly,

“Atleast we have another lead and I think we should tell Chiron. But for now, we should really eat dinner, it would help you gather up energy, plus I really think Will would kill me if I let you skip a meal” Nico laughed and roll his eyes at how true that would be, “Sure, alright.”

Chapter Text

Nico decided to still eat at the Apollo cabin because he figured that he needs their presence as much as they need reassurance that Nico is going to bring their brother back. Once he sat with them Kayla gave him a thankful smile, she obviously doesn’t like the idea of getting the title of head counselor on her, so Nico smiled back to silently reassure her that it’s going to be alright. For the first time in like, well, in forever, the Apollo cabin ate in silence. Nico was thankful for this, they all knew how painful the topic is, and they all were smart enough not to bring it up. He offered his meal to the campfire, praying to both his and Will’s dad. He prayed to Hades, wishing he would help him on his quest and hoping that he tells Thanatos to stay away from Will until he gets to him. He prayed to Apollo to look over his son, make sure he isn’t injured, make sure to heal him if he was.

As soon as he finished his meal, Chiron was behind him beckoning him to follow. Nico stood up, nodding goodbye to Kayla and the rest of the Apollo cabin, all of them giving him a silent good luck, then he followed Chiron to the big house by the fountain. Chiron started an iris-message with Annabeth, behind her were Percy, Frank, and Hazel, who probably are just there to offer support. Chiron nodded to Annabeth, “Better tell him what you know”, Annabeth straighten herself and started to tell what she has discovered,

“Okay, so obviously enough the first line means you have to go on a solo-quest” she looked at him apologetically, Nico just waved his hand to dismiss this, Annabeth then continued,

“Now, I think the 2nd to 4th lines are somehow connected, I think their talking about the same thing and-” she trailed off glancing at Chiron,

“Well Mr. Di Angelo, I have an idea on what it could be, and I prefer to be wrong”, he said grimly, Annabeth then started talking again,

“Well we decided that your first course of action is to visit the underworld, since if this object or weapon can revive the dead, the I assume that your dad may have heard of it, besides this works well with the 7th line, since you would have to figure out which ghost did escape, and I thought with your status as ghost king, it would be easier to investigate in the underworld first.” Nico nodded,

“I guess you’re right, I can order ghosts and skeletons to help me look from down there”, Annabeth smiled,

“I guess the rest of the lines is obvious, you have to save Will from the goddess of snow, which is no other than Khione, before he-”, Annabeth trailed off, but she didn’t have to finish her sentence, he knows what comes after that, so he finished it for her,

“Before he dies” Nico smiled half-heartedly,

Hazel, Frank, and Percy came into view, giving him reassuring smiles, Hazel was the first to talk,

“It’s gonna be alright Neeks, you’re a strong demigod, you’re going to succeed”, then Percy started talking,

“Yeah, besides, I can see how much you love Will and how much he’s your type and all.” Nico rolled his eyes at this comment, “Plus, I know how stubborn you are, those 3 factors combined can be a good recipe for success. I should know, enemies and monsters always use my loved ones as bait.”, It was Annabeth’s turn to roll her eyes as she elbowed her annoying boyfriend, then she went and faced Nico again with a softened expression,

“If you ever need anything, more information or just some comfort, you can always Iris-message us again”, Nico nodded then he remembered his dream the last night, so before the lot can close the Iris-message, Nico started explaining what his dream was about. As soon as she finished Annabeth looked pale, Percy must have notice because he wraps his arm around her, “What’s wrong wise girl?” then she slowly looked at Chiron, the centaur then faced me, his face grim and serious but there was also fear hidden in it,

“I maybe righter than I thought I was, you better talk to your father about this, because he would have the information you need.”, Nico felt a pang of fear wash over him, what could possibly scare a centaur who has trained many Greek heroes for centuries. He was starting to think that this quest maybe a suicide mission. Then he remembered his friends in front of him, reassuring him that he will do fine, he remembered the Apollo cabin relying on him and wishing him silent good lucks, then he remembered Kayla, and the swore he made. He felt determination wash over fear, for probably the 2nd or 3rd time today. Suicide mission it maybe, his prepared to face it, he’ll save Will, he’ll give everything he has until his final breath, the camp doesn’t deserve to be devoid of their sunlight.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Chiron tapped his shoulder, “You better sleep, you have a long day tomorrow”, Nico nodded, his friends then started to say their goodnights to him, but he wasn’t oblivious of the worry they had in their voices, Nico tried for his best smile, “Thanks guys, but I think I’m gonna be alright”, they smiled at him waving goodbye as Annabeth cut the connection. Nico said his goodbyes with Chiron, then he started walking towards his cabin. He hoped for a dreamless sleep, but ofcourse that was impossible especially if you were a demigod who’s about to go on a quest.

He was standing in a throne room mostly made of ice, which he figured belonged to Khione, he scanned the room, it felt so cold, though considering the room was mostly made and decorated of ice, this seems like average temperature. At first, he didn’t see anyone in the room, which made him doubt if the dream had any purpose. Then he saw glowing at the corner of his eyes, he felt a shot of pain take over him as he saw Will chained to the corner. His boyfriend seemed to be singing a hymn when he finished, Nico took a better look at him, he saw the exhaustion and pain through his eyes then he looked down and saw that his boyfriend was also fading. Nico’s eyes widen when he saw that his boyfriend’s arms are flickering up to his elbow, as if it were trying to stay solid but failing at the same time. Will then looked down and started crying as he started whispering to himself, “I can’t give up, I- I have t-to keep my-myself solid till h-he comes”, more tears came rolling down Will’s eyes, he then clasped his flickering hands together, while also closing his eyes, “D-dad, please, please give m-me the strength to ke-keep healing my-myself, only un-until he comes, I-I know he-he’ll come n-no matter what, please d-dad, help”.

Nico started crying too, he wants to reassure him his coming, he wants to hug him, comfort him, let him know he was there. Will never cries, but seeing him in so much pain, seeing him look so broken, almost broke Nico too. Almost, he thought because he must stay strong, he will save Will. Nico then heard voices from the other room, the first to talk was a boy, the same voice he still finds quite familiar but just cannot put his finger on it,

“You sure he’ll fall for it, you think he’ll take the bait?” he asked coolly, then a girl started laughing evilly, this was probably no other than Khione,

“Ofcourse he will, just leave it to me”, Will must have been listening too because Nico saw him staring at the doorway leading to the other room. Nico was about to check who the boy was, but he felt himself being pulled back to reality, as he was waking up, he looked at Will he was starting to cry again, as he closed his eyes then whispered in a really guilty yet broken tone, “Nico, I love you but please, save me.”

Nico woke up with tears bursting out of his eyes, as he heard himself whisper,

“Ti Amo, Mio Sole”

He recalled his dream, he recalled Will’s suffering, he recalled him doing everything he can to keep himself from fading and that is when he knew he cannot just seat there in his bed and cry, he must start moving especially if he wants to get there before Will completely fades.

 He looked outside then saw how terrible the weather still is, so he wore a black shirt under the black camp half-blood hoodie Will gave him for his birthday. He then took the backpack Kayla gave him, and put in some snacks, extra clothes, and some drachmas. He then trekked towards Half-Blood Hill where Chiron, Lou Ellen, Cecil, Kayla, Clarisse, Piper, Leo, and all of Apollo cabin was waiting for him. Kayla hugged him, as the rest wished him luck, he even earned a threat from Clarisse to bring Will back or else. When they were done saying their goodbyes and good lucks, Chiron cleared his throat,

“So how are you going to the underworld?”, Nico smirked,

“As much as my dad hates me when I’m not using the entrance through Charon, I’m kinda in a hurry so I’ll have to shadow-travel”, Chiron nodded,

“Make sure not to overuse your powers, use them only when necessary. Your good with your sword anyways.” Nico nodded and started beckoning the shadows towards him, as he was swallowed by the shadows, he heard Chiron say,

“Goodluck Mr. Di Angelo”

Nico landed himself outside his father palace to do first order of business. He summoned the skeletons and ghosts of all the best investigators, spies, and soldiers in the underworld. It didn’t even take a minute to gather them all, Nico stood tall, unsheathed his sword as he started to order the undead,

“As your Ghost King, I order for you to look for any missing or escaped spirits or ghosts, as soon as you find something, even if it’s just a little bit of evidence that something is off about a ghost, report to me as soon as possible” the ghosts and skeletons nodded, “Dismissed”. Just as quickly as they came, all of them was gone.

Nico walked into his father’s palace then into his father’s throne room where his dad stood looking at him grimly as if with bad news,

“I’ve been waiting for you”, as he embraced Nico in an awkward hug, once they pulled away Nico noticed the worry in his dad’s face. He didn’t usually care for the gods, but Hades has tried his best to show he cares but secretly so that the other gods won’t notice. He even gave Nico a room in the underworld. His father spoke with worry which rarely happens with the Lord of the Underworld unless things are really out of control,

“What’s wrong, dad?” he snapped seriously, but worry was also evident on his voice, which made Hades’ mouth twitch which would be as close as it can get into making the Lord of the Underworld smile. Hades face turned serious and grim again,

“There’s a problem within the fields of punishment and as much as I don’t want to admit it, this problem is connected to your quest and the weapon you wish to seek.”

Chapter Text

Nico looked at his father wide-eyed, concern and worry evident on both their faces. Nico tried to calm his heartbeat as he tried to ask his father,

“What type of problem?” Hades shifted his weight on both of his feet while deep in thought, like he was contemplating how to say the news as gently as he can,

“Dad, I’ll be alright, tell me what’s wrong” Nico snapped, Hades cleared his throat,

“Some souls from the fields of punishment had been released from their punishments, and so, those said souls has been running astray within the fields”, Nico felt the worry spread in his system,

“Can’t you do anything about it?”, It was a stupid question really, because if his father can do something about it, he wouldn’t be here feeling guilty as he breaks the news to his son. The son of Hades has a hunch about what caused it, but same as Chiron, he refused to accept that his idea was right,

“I’m sorry son, but I believe you succeeding on that quest of yours is the only way we can fix this problem”, And there it is, the indirect confirmation of what he feared,

“So that object?” Hades nodded as if reading his mind,

“Yes, I’m afraid it is what caused the dilemma and is the only thing that can fix it.”, Nico nodded,

“Would you tell me more about it?”, Hades seemed to contemplate again, since gods especially godly parents can’t interfere on demigod quests, but he knew his father enough to know that his not going to let his son go through with this blindfolded, Hades then straightened himself, as Nico prepared for the worst,

“This weapon, well it’s more like a stone, no, actually it’s called an ember-”, Hades was cut off as his son chuckled, “What’s so funny? This is serious”, Nico shook his head as he remembered the glowing blue object he saw on his dreams,

“Like the ember from the Disney adaptation of you?” Hades furrowed his eyebrows,

“I guess that’s the idea, but this ember we’re talking about is more powerful and is made from chaos itself.”, then the Lord of the Underworld smirked (a rare sight), “Besides, since when did you start watching Disney?” Nico felt a blush coming on his cheeks as he shook his head,

“Never mind that, please continue explaining about the ember”, Hades rolled his eyes,

“It’s because of that Solace kid, is it?” Nico can feel his whole face red now as the Lord of the Underworld’s mouth start to twitch again, signifying how much fun his having messing with his son, “So, how is my future son-in-law, you know, before he got kidnapped and all, and don’t worry, I approve of him a lot, I’ve been watching you two, and I can see how happy he makes you”, Nico’s thoughts started running wild from what he heard, Future Son-in-law? What? Did that really come out his father’s words? Then something caught his attention,

“You’ve been watching us?!” he said snapping at his dad, Hades only waved his hand dismissively,

“Okay back to the matter at hand” Nico rolled his eyes, Typical, always avoiding the embarrassing topics.

“So, what do I need to know about the ember?” Nico said seriously, his father must have felt the change of mood because he too went serious,

“The ember itself is stronger than any gods combined, because it was made before the gods were even alive, that is why I cannot reverse its effects on the astray souls of the fields of punishment.” Hades paused to check his son’s reaction, but Nico kept a neutral face signaling his father to continue,

“The said ember has control over ghosts, shadows, skeletons, and even death itself. The user can take away life as much as it can revive the dead. It can even kill a god and goddess itself, but that act takes a lot from its wielder.” Nico gasped at this, realizing just how powerful Khione must be right now, Hades then continued,

 “The ember though, can only be used to its full potential by yours truly, and all of my children. Those who touches it aside from me and my children would dissolve into dust. There’s one more exception though, gods and goddesses can use the said weapon but not to its full potential, for one they can’t use it to damage me nor my spawns because it would only backfire at them.” This sent a relief through Nico, atleast now he knows that Khione cannot use the ember against him,

“And second, they cannot use the ember to kill or bring life back instantly, only my bloodline can do that. Apparently, this brings us back to your quest. The only possible reason that Khione maybe killing the son of Apollo, is for her to bring someone back to life, which I assume is the ‘ghost that escaped’ from your prophecy. Also, I think it makes sense why she chose a son of Apollo. Apollo’s children are always bursting with life, taking their souls would be more beneficial for the one being revived” Nico nodded still a bit confused, but all confusion was wiped out by his father’s next words,

“For gods and goddesses outside my bloodline, the only way they’ll be able to revive a life is to take one too. It’s some kind of trade to balance things out for using such great power that isn’t made for them”, Nico’s eyes widened with realization,

“A soul for a soul”, Hades nodded moving closer to his son,

“Don’t worry, the process is long for them, that’s why your boyfriend haven’t died yet, actually the son of Apollo is stronger that I thought, he’s countering the effects, though not fully, he slows it down through his healing, and I had never thought that it was possible to counter such great power, I guess his determination to live is stronger than I thought” Nico nodded, but worry still drowned his thoughts as he remembered his dream about Will, dam he really does have to hurry. Hades patted Nico’s shoulder which snapped him out of his thoughts, Hades tried for a smile but kinda failed halfway,

“I think the root of his determination is to stay alive for you, he knows how much pain his death would cause you, and he doesn’t want to risk that.” Nico started tearing up, even though he didn’t want to. He was in front of the lord of the Underworld for the gods’ sake. Hades just rubbed his back awkwardly, obviously not knowing what to do in these types of situations. As Nico’s tears came to a stop, he nodded towards his father mouthing thank you before asking,

“Do you have any idea where I should start looking?”, Hades thought for awhile before answering,

“I have no idea where you should look for Khione first, but I think you can search the Fields of Punishment, maybe you’ll get some idea about who this escaped ghost really is. Also, I believe Sisyphus misses your attention and company”, Nico rolled his eyes. He used to talk and listen to that guy’s stories when he ran away and was still getting used to the underworld. Among all the souls in the Fields of Punishment, Sisyphus is one of the not-so bitter ones. He has already escaped death twice anyways, so I guess the whole idea of it wasn’t so thrilling to him anymore. Nico looked at his father again,

“Okay, I better get going then, my time is a bit limited here”, Hades actually smiled this time (okay, this day seriously is weird),

“I’m proud of you”, It was Nico’s turn to smile, Hades opened his arms as if offering a hug, and he took it, they hugged awkwardly. Sure, it was awkward, but it felt good, besides how many children of the gods ever got to hug their godly parent. Before they pulled away Hades whispered, “I’ll make sure you’ll continue to be one of those rare exceptions of my children living a happy life.” Nico was never going to admit it out loud, but Hades was an amazing father.

After saying their goodbyes Nico set of towards the Fields of Punishment, despite a thought still nagging his mind. He had that thought ever since his father finished his explanation. Nico just didn’t want to push it, he knew his father can only say so much. Still, he just cannot help but be curious,

Why was the ember forbidden and how is it out now?

When he made it to the Fields of Punishment, he made his way until he found the guy he was looking for. Ah there he is, Sisyphus was pushing the boulder and nearly reached the top until the boulder rolled down again and he had to go after it. Nico ran to his side, “Hey Sisyphus, how are you?”, the ex-king grinned at him, “Nico! Long time no see, what brings you here?”, Sisyphus was already preparing to push the boulder up as he said this, Nico then managed a smile, “I heard there’s some troubles here, and I was also looking for an escape ghost, my dad thinks the Fields of Punishment is a great place to start”, Sisyphus nodded,

“Ah yes, I can assure you the ghost you’re talking about did in fact came from around here”, he was half-shouting since he was already half-way up the hill again, Nico looked up at him,

“Oh, so do you know this ghost? And hey! Why are you still doing your punishment, I thought ghosts here were stopping?”, Sisyphus lost focus and so the boulder rolled down the hill even before he can even reach near the top, he sighs and went back down again, and faced Nico before starting at the boulder again, “No, I do not know the ghost”, he said firmly, “They refused to tell me because we’re somehow acquaintances? Friends? Oh, I don’t even know what you think of me. As for my punishment, they only freed those who they knew would help on their revenge plot on you, so I don’t really think you should be roaming this very place right now”, Nico felt a shot of horror. So that means, every spirit in the Fields of Punishment who hated him is astray right now and probably is going for him at the very moment, he tried to swallow the lump on his throat,

“Could’ve said that earlier.”

“Sorry, I do really miss your attention and I figured that a few minutes won’t do you any harm”, Nico rolled his eyes and chuckled, this king may have been punished after escaping death twice, he still has quite an ego,

“Ah, I better take my leave then.”, Sisyphus nodded from where he is and shouted,

“Better hurry!”

“I will, don’t worry.”

 As soon as he turned back there was two familiar but angry figure standing before him, horror washed over him as he tried to keep his face neutral. Uh-oh.

Chapter Text

The guy on the right was not much of a threat. Well, Nico never really bothered this guy when he was in the living world. All Nico did was mock him for not being able to eat or drink anything, besides, Nico was young and naïve back then, that can’t be enough to want and plot revenge against him, right? If you haven’t guessed yet, the guy we’re talking about is Tantalus. Maybe this guy just hates demigods in general, Nico figured. Now, Tantalus just looked at him smugly while eating a cheeseburger, how he even got that down here, Nico had no idea, but the whole being able to touch something solid, made Nico wonder if it was a job done by the ember. Great, now he’s sure that they can touch him and probably hurt him. What really scares Nico was the guy beside him, with his mop of brown hair, and smug smile on his face while holding a pilum (a type of spear), “Well, well, well, we meet again ambassador of Pluto”, Nico swallowed trying to keep his face neutral, whether he succeeded or not he doesn’t even care anymore, “Bryce Lawrence” he scowled, “I wiped out who you are, how-”, he was cut off by Tantalus who rolled his eyes first, “Oh please puny demigod, you have no idea how much wonders the ember has, you haven’t even faced it yet, and here you are already underestimating it, typical”, Tantalus finished his cheeseburger as he grabbed his sword, Bryce Lawrence seemed to be preparing to attack too, so he unsheathed his Stygian Iron sword, he stood confidently but prepared to defend or attack if he has to,

“As your ghost king, I demand you to stay away and not harm me”, the two just came coming for him as Tantalus smirked, “Ah, too bad ghost king, but we’re under the command of the ember, and as your father probably warned you about, the ember is stronger than all the gods combined, so what makes you think a demigod like yourself can counter it.” Still worth a shot though, he thought as Bryce swung his spear at him, Nico rolled out of the way only to be attacked by Tantalus’ sword which he barely parried, but he was stronger than Tantalus, so when he pushed his sword into Tantalus’, the guy went stumbling back. Bryce then went at him again with his spear, he may had dodged it, but the spear still managed to graze his side, and he can feel blood running down his side, Bryce just smirked, “You’re getting sloppy Di Angelo”, then he heard a boulder rolling down towards Bryce hitting him, which made him stumble where Tantalus was, that’s when he heard Sisyphus,

“Oops, guess it slipped my hands”, as he ran down the hill towards Nico, he looked at him with urgency, “Quickly! command me, my dear ghost king so I can help you. I swear on the river styx that this isn’t another scheme to escape death and to come back to my punishment as soon as I assure your safety”, Bryce and Tantalus were already recovering and preparing for another attack, so he smiled at Sisyphus thankfully,

“As your ghost king, I temporarily release you from your punishment and give you permission to touch solid objects until this battle is over and until you fulfill the command to help me get out of the fields of punishment.” Nico then thought for a skeleton to bring him a weapon and instantly one showed up, offering a celestial bronze sword to the ex-king, Sisyphus gave him a smirk, “ready to see how good I am in sword fighting?”, Nico rolled his eyes but to humor the ex-king’s ego he answered,

“Let’s do this.”

This time it was Nico who initiated the attack, he went for Tantalus clashing his sword with his, while he saw Sisyphus strike Bryce, who defended himself by horizontally holding his spear, he was snapped back to his own fight when Tantalus spoke, “You can’t hurt me Di Angelo, I’m already a ghost”, it was Nico’s turn to smirk, “For a guy who told me not to underestimate weapons-” Tantalus strikes, but Nico was fast and strong as he parried surprising Tantalus which gave Nico the ability to knock his sword off his ghostly hands, Nico then embedded his sword into Tantalus ghostly form, as Tantalus screamed in pain, “You definitely underestimated the power of Stygian Iron”, Tantalus then dissolved, where he has gone, Nico has no idea, he knew his sword has effect on ghosts, but he never really understood its full effect on them. He was preparing to help Sisyphus but then he saw Bryce coming at him from the corner of his eyes, he tried to dodge but the spear grazed deep into the shoulder of his sword hand, “Schist” was all Nico could say as Sisyphus rushed to his aid. He was unable to lift his arm, it was too painful, he then held out his sword to Sisyphus, “Only touch the handle, make sure that the blade doesn’t touch you no matter what.” Sisyphus glanced back at Bryce running towards them then back to Nico, “You sure?”, Nico nodded,

“I trust you, finish him”, Sisyphus nodded with determination in his face. Nico fell back as he felt dizziness wash over him, he tried to remove his hoodie and saw that his side was worse than he thought. He looked at Sisyphus who snapped Bryce’s pilum as he exerted efforted in the sword while Bryce had his pilum on a horizontal position again, trying to defend himself, shock washed over Bryce’s face, but Sisyphus didn’t waste any time as he stabbed Bryce, making him dissolve the same way Tantalus did. 

Sisyphus then came rushing into Nico’s side as he felt himself lose consciousness, he saw the ex-king grab him with his ghostly hand, he felt cold, a weird yet not surprising feeling coming from a ghost,

“Stay with me Nico, we’ll get you out, but you have to stay conscious, okay?” Nico nodded, “I’m sure your step-mom would have plants and herbs to help you heal your wounds”, then Nico remembered his backpack, 

“My backpack, ambrosia”, he said weakly but Sisyphus seemed to understand as the ex-king unzipped his backpack, he gave Nico a bar of ambrosia, as soon as Nico took a bite he felt better, but that didn’t stop his blood from bleeding, he then felt Sisyphus washing his wounds with Nectar, the ghost king smiled at the ex-king, “Thanks Sisyphus, I owe you one.”

Sisyphus only smiled at him, “It’s nothing, thanks for the temporary freedom” Though still in pain, Nico had enough strength to walk back, Sisyphus kept his celestial bronze sword in ready just in case any ghost dared attack them, when they reached the entrance of the Fields of Punishment, Persephone was standing there waiting for them, with concern on her face.

Sure, Nico and Persephone had a rough start, they hated each other but eventually, they grew into each other and even got close, he must admit his step-mom wasn’t as bad he thought she would be, except for those times that she turned Nico into a plant just because he angered her. As soon as he stepped out, Persephone hugged him, “Oh gods, that’s some nasty deep wounds, I have just the right plants to help them heal.” As she pulled away, she added, “Come, he may not admit it, but your father has been worried sick, some skeletons have reported what happened down there.”

She then looked and smiled at Sisyphus on the other side of the entrance, unable to leave the Fields of Punishments, “Thanks for helping Nico come back alive”

Sisyphus smiled back, “It’s the least I could do for keeping him there in the first place, and because he’s really the only person who has the patience to actually listen to my stories” This was the closest to Sisyphus will ever come to apologizing and actually showing some humility, 

“I guess I better go back to my punishment then, huh? I don’t really want to face the wrath of the Styx if I dare break my oath”, he smiled at the two one more time then started to leave until Nico called for him,

“Hey Sisyphus!”, the ex-king looked at him questioningly, Nico took a deep breath, “Really, thank you for everything, you were a true hero today, and believe me when I say, you do deserve so much attention and appreciation for what you did.”, he's probably gonna pay later for boosting this guy’s ego but he really meant what he said. What surprised him though was what Sisyphus said next,

“I am honored, my ghost king, but the only appreciation and attention that matters to me now is yours”, Nico can’t help but smile, looks like I’m getting better at socializing, before Sisyphus took his leave, Nico said one last sentence that sent warmth through the ex-king’s cold, dead, ghostly body,

“If you’re still wondering what we are or what I think of you." Nico's voice softened, "Well, as you ghost king, I wish to command you to be my friend”, Sisyphus nodded as his smile reach his ears before saying his goodbyes,

“You need not wish nor command me, my dear ghost king, I had and always will see you as my friend. You're a great person Nico." Sisyphus started turning away before he looked back on his shoulder, giving Nico one more warm smile, "Until we meet again, my friend.”

Persephone then snapped her fingers and just like that they were in Nico's room in the underworld, he finally felt the dizziness and tiredness take over him as he flopped onto his bed, completely going unconscious. When he woke up, he felt brand new, he then checked his wounds and they were completely healed, whatever his step-mom did, it was effective. He can finally use his sword hand again. He saw his hoodie by the edge of his bed and saw that it was repaired, he then put it back on and walked towards the throne where both Persephone and Hades was seated. Hades was the first to speak,

“Son, I’m glad you're alright”, Nico nodded, “I fear the ember is stronger than we thought, and so I advise you not to use your powers so as to not exhaust yourself. You shall only use them either when really necessary or only once you face the ember itself”, Nico once again only nodded, the thought of why the ember was forbidden again lingering in his mind, he opened his mouth and shut them again. Did he really wanna push it because of his curiosity? It was like Hades was reading his mind when he said,

“You shall find out soon enough, not now though. I fear it may distract you from your quest if I say it too early”, Nico decided not to push it as he nodded and just asked a different question,

“So, am I allowed to at least shadow-travel out of here?”, his father rolled his eyes,

“I just told you not to use your powers unless necessary, then you ask me this?” 

“In my defense, I was asking permission, I should atleast get credit for that. Plus, you don’t really expect me to go the long way, don’t you?” Hades smirked (here we go again),

“Gods Nico, do you not believe in your own father? I’ll help as much as shadow-travelling you to central park, myself then from there you can drive with Jules Albert”, Nico rolled his eyes,

“Where am I even supposed to go next?”, Hades looked at his wife,

“Persephone here has an idea”, Nico looked at his step-mom questioningly,

“Well, with my mom always meddling in my life, I figured that if there’s anyone who’s gonna know where you can find someone, it would be their parents. So, I think you should pay Boreas a visit in Quebec”, his father nodded beside her,

“I agree, plus I believe there’s nothing to be scared off, the said god did swear his loyalty to Zeus, I doubt Boreas would ever defy the Olympians again” Nico then thought about this for awhile, considering his options, oh what was he kidding, he has no options. He shrugged,

“Okay dad, I’m ready”, his father nodded as he felt him call for the shadows,

“Goodluck my son, and remember I’m always looking out for you”, Nico gave him a smile as he was swallowed by the shadows and was dropped by central park. He looked for the nearest street and called upon his zombie chauffeur, Jules Albert. As he sat by the passenger side, the zombie looked at him as if asking where to go, Nico took a deep breath,

“To Quebec, please”, Jules Albert nodded, and they started driving away.

Chapter Text

On his trip to Quebec, this was supposed to be 8 hours long but with Jules Albert’s driving, it only took 4 hours. He spent the trip Iris-messaging Piper who was now back with her father to pinpoint where exactly Boreas’ palace is. He also found out that he spent two days in the underworld, which was no surprise since time in the Underworld was always weird. 

Once he had all the information he needed, he tried to get some sleep, but failed. He can’t help but just think of Will. Nico just missed him so much, sure he was annoying and goes all doctor on Nico a lot, not to add the constant bickering between them, he was still his sunshine. Nico has learned to lean on him and rely on him for warmth, comfort, and love. Then realization hits him, gods, I love him . Nico loved Will and he has never gotten to tell him that out loud. He was sure he’s gonna regret it if he never got to say it. Nico closed his eyes and tried to feel for Will’s lifeforce. It was still there, but it was still draining, slowly but dangerously. His life is nearing to being half drained. Nico held back a sob as he felt a tear roll down his face, I have to stay strong for him, I have to. I will save him, I will fulfill my promise to Kayla. Will would get back safely, even if Nico dies making it happen . At that moment the car stopped, he looked outside and saw the hotel, so he wiped the tears rolling down his face. 

He knew he was in the right place because it looked just as how Piper described it to him.

When Nico got out of the car, his legs were still shaky from the thoughts but he composed himself, and let his body get washed over by determination as he marched into the front door and into the lobby. He looked at the receptionist in the front desk, hoping that this guy would know what he was talking about. Nico cleared his throat and the guy looked at him and offered a fake smile, “Do you have a reservation sir?”, Nico rolled his eyes, and look around him to see if there are mortals around when he thought it was clear, only then did he answer, “I am here to ask Lord Boreas for some answers and probably some help too”, the smile on the receptionist’s face quickly disappeared, “I’m sorry sir, but you cannot talk to the Lord as he is really busy, and I doubt he would want to help a demigod on their quest, especially after the last incident”. Nico cursed under his breath.

Jules Albert then surprisingly walked in at that time, (surprising because Nico didn’t even summon him). He handed out a black card and whispered something into Nico’s ears in french, Nico tried to learn the language for rare occasions that his zombie chauffeur had to tell him something, he hasn’t quite perfected it, but it was enough for him to understand him. Nico nodded as he took the black card and handed it to the receptionist with a smirk on his face, “I am willing to pay you a huge amount of money, as you can see, my father is Hades, Lord of the Underworld.” the receptionist gulped, mouth gaping, while obviously contemplating whether or not to accept the offer. Nico then hummed in amusement as he added, “Oh, and he also request that I should have this conversation with Lord Boreas, and I’m sure by declining such request he won’t hesitate to send some skeletons or maybe even ghosts to this lovely hotel of yours, I mean Hades can be really stubborn you see, plus who really wants to experience the wrath of Hades”, the receptionist looked at him with fear on his eyes as he swiped the card and gave it back to Nico, while also handing him another card, “Swipe this in the elevator and make sure there are no mortals around”, Nico grinned and nodded, saying a quick thank to Jules Albert as he entered the elevator.

When he was inside he pressed the button at the very top which was marked with the cursive letter “b”. He then said a silent thanks to his dad as he observed the card given to him, it was black but the words and information were written in gold. On the top it said “Underworld Credit”, then below are normal things you see on a credit card, same on the back until he read the description. Use this wisely, it serves as both demigod and mortal money. Plus it does not expire. Don’t worry about how much you use, the price this card withholds is limitless. Keep it in your pocket then it shall always come back to you if you lose it or if it somehow got stolen. Nico then said another silent thanks to his dad as the elevator door opened, he immediately shoved the card into his pockets. 

The moment the door opened a gust of wind came running through. A wind spirit stood before him, “I assume you’re the child of Hades that Lord Boreas is expecting”, Nico just nodded but felt confusion and fear wash over him, why did Boreas expect him? And how did he know Nico was coming . He just then pushed the thought away, maybe his father really did tell Boreas that he was coming or maybe somehow the receptionist gave him a heads up. The wind spirit beckoned him to follow her, and he complied.

They went inside what Nico assumes as Boreas throne room, there was an old man sitting on the throne room which could only be Boreas, he signalled for the wind spirit to leave and so she did as Nico bowed to pay respect to the god. The god smiled as he waved his hand and a table appeared in the middle of the throne room, “Come sit, we have much to discuss”, Nico nodded, grabbing a seat opposite to Boreas. “Have some tea, I know the cold can be quite overwhelming”, Nico was going to refuse but figured he had to humor the god to get his favor and hopefully have him in a good mood to help him. Nico looked down the tea, as the god laughed amused,

“Don’t worry child of Hades, it’s just tea, I will do no such thing to harm you at this moment. I believe we both agreed when you said no one wants to feel the wrath of the Lord of the Underworld.” Nico nodded as he drank the tea and felt warmth wash over his body, after days of snowing and being exposed to the cold it just felt good to release some of the cold. The warmth actually reminded him of Will which brought him back to reality, 

“Lord Boreas, I would like to ask some questions” Boreas nodded,

“I will provide you with answers depending on what you ask”, it was Nico’s turn to nod as he started,

“I would just like to ask if you have any idea where your daughter Khione might be?” Boreas was silent for a moment,

“I’m sorry, but I do have no idea where she is at the moment, but what I can tell you is that she grew more distant after the war withGaea, she hated that I swore loyalty to Zeus, and she has been acting quite strange, more strange than the usual” Nico slumped his shoulders as if disappointed that even Boreas doesn’t know where Khione maybe, then Boreas eyes widened as if an idea just came to his mind,

“This maybe a long shot but I may have an idea on where she might went” Nico looked at him questioningly, 

“And where may that be, my lord?” 

“You really think I’ll just give you that information without anything in return?”, the god was smirking now, Oh great here we go.

The god then laughed, “Oh Di Angelo, you're much like your father, you think too much, I was just kidding! Can’t you sense a joke when you hear one?”, Nico let out a shaky laugh,

“So where do you think she went?”,

“Well, I have this vacation house in Florida-”, Nico couldn’t help himself as he blurted out,

“Florida? Isn’t it too hot there for you or even for Khione?”, the god just sighs,

“Sometimes the cold just gets boring, you know? We need some kind of change of pace every once in a while. I mean you should understand that, for a child of Hades who’s supposed to like all things dark and cold, you’re dating a child of Apollo which you’re supposed to save from my daughter, am I right?”, alarms went off Nico’s mind,

“How did you know that?”, Boreas just waved his hand dismissively,

“I’m a god, I know everything”. Nico knew something was wrong, sure, gods do sometimes watch over their children in secret, but they never really pay attention to other god’s children. In the end, Nico chose to ignore it since this god in front of him was actually being nice as he was offering him information he needs, plus he’s kind off in a rush at the moment, he let’s out a sigh as he muttered,

“How am I gonna get to Florida?” Boreas seemed to heard him as he grinned,

“I can help you” he then summoned a wind spirit which formed itself into a horse, “You can fly there, don’t worry I’ll make sure Zeus doesn’t blast you off the sky, this spirit will bring you to or somewhere close Florida”

Nico contemplated shadow travelling but remembered both his father’s and Kayla’s words, he should not overuse his powers, not until he’s in Will’s grasp or only when completely necessary. Plus Florida was really far, it was on the other end of the USA. He then contemplated calling Jules Albert again but he figured the ride would be too long even for him, and riding a wind spirit would be much faster, considering that Will’s lifeforce was continuously draining. Nico sighed,

“Alright Boreas, I’ll ride him, and I’m sorry if I would have to hurt your daughter”, there was a flash of anger then disappointment on the god’s face but it left as soon as it came, the god smiled at him as he said with his voice quite tight,

“Water under the bridge, plus she has brought dirt into my name. I can’t let her ruin my reputation any further, do what you must” Nico nodded as Boreas helped him on the wind spirit, 

“Goodbye son of Hades, till’ we meet again” the wind spirit started to run at that point, Nico looked back to see an evil grin on Boreas face but he figured that it was probably just the distance, so he chose to ignore it, for now.

Chapter Text

Riding a horse-shaped wind spirit isn’t the same as riding a normal horse. For one, he was soaring through the sky, a domain he shouldn’t be in as a son of Hades, heck he can feel Zeus watching his every move, probably thinking to himself, if he does one wrong move, I’ll blast him off the sky. Nico shivered at the thought. He held tight at the wind spirit’s neck, he knew that the trip from Quebec to Florida would take 25 hours by car, it would take Jules Albert approximately 12 hours, but through the wind spirit, it would only take more or less 8 hours, actually 6, but Nico begged the thing to slow down a bit, which the spirit obeyed. 

After what felt like hours the wind spirit finally started descending, Finally, he thought as he let out a sigh of relief, but as they close to land, he felt terror wash over him again, this doesn’t look like Florida . The town below him was rustic but like in a modern way, then there was also a river going through the heart of the city. Nico recognized the place but couldn’t quite put his finger on it, he then gripped the wind spirit, “Go back up, this isn’t where we’re supposed to be!”, but the wind spirit ignored him as it landed by the riverbank, then a sudden memory hit him,

Will was looking at pictures in his cabin when Nico came in, “Hey sunshine what are you looking at?”, Will looked at him with some tears in his eyes, he then quickly wiped them away when he saw Nico’s face turn into concern, Will pulled his best smile but didn’t quite make it,

“Oh, just my hometown”, Nico sat beside him as he try to figure out what to do, he knew Will was somehow upset but he was still new to this whole comfort thing, normally he was the one who needed Will, but now his boyfriend needed him, so he put an arm around Will’s waist which kinda surprised the latter, Will then leaned into his touch and started sobbing, burying his face on Nico’s shoulder,

“I miss my home, I miss my mom. I-I left h-home when I-I found out I was leading monsters in-into our place, and I c-can’t take it anymore, I d-don’t like putting my mom in d-danger, but I just w-wish I can see her again.” Nico then looked at the pictures of the rustic yet modern houses by what he assumed the Colorado river and thought how beautiful it was, so he hummed as he ran circles on Will’s back,

“Hey, maybe we can visit her soon, you can defend yourself now, I’m sure will be safe” then Will looked at him grinning,

“Are you implying that you want me to bring you to meet my mom?” Nico blushed as he rolled his eyes,

“If that will make you happy, then I guess I may consider it.” Will gently kissed him on his cheek as he wiped the rest of his tears away,

“I love you, deathboy”, Nico just hummed in agreement.

Ah, there it is again, the pang of guilt and pain that he may never get to say those words back to his boyfriend. Nico then decided he must focus on the present first, as soon as they landed on solid land, the wind spirit had vanished. He kept himself at the ready, remembering the evil smile from Boreas, he should’ve known it was a trap, besides why Austin, Texas of all places? This was way off-route on the way to Florida. He mentally kicked himself for being too trusting of the god. When nothing came, he stared out the river taking up the view, It really was beautiful here, no wonder Will misses the place so much, it looked so peaceful. That’s when he heard a familiar laugh from behind, he then felt his skin tingle to warn him as he jumped out of the way. He glanced back to where he was and saw three spines now on the ground, he looked for the source, and for the third time on this quest he once again faces a familiar enemy from the past,

“Dr. Thorn” he scowled, sword at the ready, the manticore only smirked at him,

“I see you still remember me Nico, makes it more fun killing you”, the manticore then shot more spines at him which he barely dodge, he put his sword at the ready, trying to move forward because he was back to back with the water, where he would rather not fall in, he went to strike but the manticore was fast, as its scorpion tail threatened to hit Nico in the head so he dodged sideways, still avoiding falling into the water, he could see that the river was deep by the first step, so he would surely drown. Nico didn’t dare attack first, he just defended, knowing the manticore would be too fast for him to attack, only endangering himself more. Dr. Thorne figured out what he was doing as a smirk formed on his face,

“Scared to attack first, son of Hades?” he said with a mocking tone, “I expected more from the ghost king, but I guess you're nothing more than a coward”, Nico tensed as the manticore continues, “No wonder you lost Bianca, poor thing, having to raise a child in a young age, you think she’ll be proud to find out she raised a coward”, Nico felt anger boil up in him,

“I am not a coward, and don’t you freaking dare bring up Bianca in this!”, Dr. Thorn’s smirk turned to an evil smile, 

“I won’t be surprised if Bianca is one of us who wants to take revenge on you, you were, afterall, a terrible brother, you were selfish, and no one can ever love you”, Nico felt a tear roll down his face,

“That’s n-not true! Pe-people lo-love me, I-I have a ho-home now!”, this didn’t stop the manticore as he kept mentally torturing the son of Hades,

“Oh, I’m sure that son of Apollo would soon come into his senses soon, he’ll see how unworthy you are of his love, besides Hades’ spawns really don’t deserve to be loved. Alas, I’m pretty sure your boyfriend would die before realizing that, well atleast you’ll have that. Someone dying whilst still loving you. Cause of death: His boyfriend, which he relied on too much failing to save him.”, Nico knew he couldn’t take it anymore,

“Shut up!” He stabbed the manticore straight at the chest, but it once again dodged the attack, Nico knew though that he would, so he stabbed a part of its leg at the last minute which sent some blood rolling out. This only angered the manticore more as it pounded its body on Nico, he was so fast Nico didn’t get to dodge. Now he was under the manticore’s paws and couldn’t move, “You know what, I don’t think I want to kill you that fast, maybe you should drown to death, while you’re at it, drown on your own thoughts and misery too”, before he knew what was happening the manticore lifted him and threw him to the water, before he submerged underwater though, he saw a familiar arrow pierce into the manticore’s chest, turning the monster into dust. Well, atleast he’s back in Tartarus, was Nico’s last thoughts as was swallowed by the water. He couldn’t swim, Nico never learned how to swim, so he just let the water drag him down, knowing he’ll run out of breath soon, maybe he was right, I didn’t deserve to be loved. That’s when a hand grabbed him and he suddenly realized that they were flying, as they landed by the river banks, he laid down trying to regain oxygen, he’s savior then smiled at him,

“Don’t think like that Di Angelo, you do deserve to be loved, everyone does, even those with the darkest of lives, I thought that I had taught you that lesson last time we met.”

The person in front of him was a guy with black hair holding a bow, wearing all white with angel wings. He then recalled who he was, and was shocked that this particular god would ever come to his aid, not after how he acted the last time they met,

“Cupid?” the god smiled,

“Eros'' he corrected, “Now, come my mother would like to aid you in your quest”, the god offered him a hand which he took, he then shivered from the cold, only then did he realized that for some reason, it isn’t snowing here in Austin, though the weather was much colder than it should normally be, atleast it wasn’t snowing. Cupid snapped his fingers, then a gust of wind swirled around Nico, next thing he knew he was dry, then Cupid hummed,

“It’s not snowing here, because I think if it was, then the river would’ve froze, and I think Boreas found it funny for you to drown on your ex-crush’s father’s domain, though freshwater wasn’t really Poseidon’s thing it still has the same effect”, Nico nodded in understanding and remembered that this god that he was supposed to be annoyed at,  just saved him from drowning and helped him to dry off, so he let go all of his pride,

“Thanks”, Nico mumbled, Eros then looked at him, offering a smile,

“For the record, that son of Apollo really does love you, more than you think he does. Apparently, your father was right too, when he said that Will Solace is trying to stay alive not for his own sake but for yours. I guess this is why my mom decided to intervene, and knowing you Di Angelo, is the reason why I came. Now come, we must meet with my mother, she’ll help you find a place to stay for the night.”

Nico nodded as he followed Eros to only the gods know where.

Chapter Text

Eros led Nico into a nearby café where he saw a woman with bright blue eyes and golden blonde hair that reminded him of Will’s features waving at them. That is when he recalled a certain goddess that does this, Great, more gods, he sarcastically thought to himself. Eros sat beside Aphrodite,

“Oh, thank gods! It’s lucky you came with me, I wouldn’t have known how to save Nico without you”, Eros squirmed obviously feeling awkward with his mom. Nico was still standing when Aphrodite patted the sit next to her and opposite to Eros,

“Nico dear! Don’t be scared, come and sit”, Nico nodded and slowly sat on the chair that the goddess was patting on. “Want anything dear? Tea? Coffee?”. Nico then remembered the last time he had tea, the one with Boreas, it felt good, but after what happened, having tea sounds more bitter than having coffee so,

“Coffee is good” Aphrodite nodded as Nico added shyly, “And uh, can you maybe make sure there’s an additional shot of milk and additional cube of sugar? I don’t really like my coffee black”, Aphrodite smiled at him, while Eros was obviously trying to stop a laugh from coming out, he looked at the god and snapped, “Anything funny?”, the god spoke in a mocking voice,

“Nico Di Angelo, the son of the lord of the Underworld, also known as the Ghost King, can’t take bitter coffee?”, Nico glared at him, Aphrodite put a hand on his shoulder,

“Oh, forgive my son here, I think it’s quite cute that you like things that are bright and light”, her smile then widened, “You know how you love the bright and cheery son of Apollo”, Nico blushed at this and looked away as his coffee was laid in front of him. “Drink, then let’s discuss your quest, shall we?”, Nico nodded and drank his coffee, it was made just as he loves it, not too sweet, not too milky, but also not too bitter, it was perfect. The coffee also made him more focus, and it seemed to release some of the tension on his body.

“This is perfect, just the way I wanted it”, he nodded appreciatively to the goddess, Aphrodite then smiled,

“Well, I’m the goddess of love, I know of all you love the moment I touched you.”, Nico nodded as a thought passed his mind,

“I thought gods aren’t allowed to help directly when it comes to demigod’s quests, why are you two helping me directly?” Aphrodite and Eros shared a look then Eros nodded to her mother as she answered,

“Well, eversince Apollo’s trials, he had begged and annoyed Zeus atleast once a day to allow gods in providing aid to demigod’s quests, and considering how persistent and annoying Apollo can be, Zeus finally gave in. Zeus allowed it in the condition that godly parents still cannot interfere directly, as you can recall, your father can only give you little information, and had to indirectly give you that card, plus he let Persephone point you to Boreas-”, Nico cut her,

“Wait, going to Boreas was my dad’s idea?”, the goddess smiled and nodded,

“Ofcourse! Your father loves you so much that he let his pride down enough to let Persephone take the credit just to help you”, Nico nodded then started blushing, he knew his father loved him, but he never really understood the extent of that love. Eros then cleared his throat,

“So, as me and mom isn’t really your godly parent, we’re here to help you for a bit”, Nico nodded,

“So how do you plan to help me?”, Eros seemed to ponder this,

“Well for one, you can try asking questions, and we’ll try our best to answer”, Nico nodded,

“Do you think Boreas let me use a rogue wind spirit on purpose and do you think he's helping his daughter?” Aphrodite raised her hand here,

“Well, Boreas and Khione never had a good father-daughter relationship, so though it’s possible I highly doubt that, for all we know Khione could’ve messed with the spirit or something, or maybe Boreas just really want to take revenge on demigods, after the incident with Leo, Jason and my daughter. As you may have noticed by now that those going after you are beings from the past that seem to want revenge on you, so I say let’s not doubt Boreas loyalty to Zeus just yet.” Eros nodded as he added,

“If I pledge my loyalty to Zeus, I wouldn’t be too fast on betraying his trust, he is the King of Olympus afterall”, Nico pondered this and decided to just to agree with their answer for now as he asked the next question,

“So, why was the ember forbidden?” the two gods exchanged a nervous glance before Eros spoke,

“I’m sorry, but that one is confidential, I’m afraid only Zeus, Hades, and maybe Thanatos knows of the answer to that question”, Nico nodded but he can’t help but feel disappointed as another question formed in his mind,

“Who do you think this escaped ghost could be?”, Aphrodite spoke for this one,

“To be honest, even we are not knowing of the answer to that question, but what I think based on the past happenings, that it’s someone who holds a grudge against you. So, I guess only you can figure it out”, Nico thought for awhile of all the people who he might’ve angered then shrugged,

“Well, that narrows it down”, he says sarcastically, “Wait, how are you guys watching me anyways?” Eros chuckled,

“Through the Hephaestus TV ofcourse!”, Aphrodite nodded,

“Ah yes, we’re in the Solangelo season, it hasn’t been this entertaining eversince the Percabeth season!” Nico flushed red,

“You guys watch demigod’s relationships?” Aphrodite nodded,

“And quests too, but most of us prefer ships, especially when it comes to the early parts of the relationship and you, Nico Di Angelo”, she poked Nico’s nose, “are one of the most dense demigod I know, I felt sorry for Will in those 3 days in the infirmary episodes”, Eros rolled his eyes,

“Anyways, we’re lucky this episode was keeping track of your quest, it’s what motivated my mom, then eventually me to help you” Nico nodded, now feeling self-conscious knowing that these gods probably saw everything he and Will were doing. Aphrodite might have noticed because she smiled as her features softened and said,

“Don’t worry, it’s just there for entertainment, we won’t interfere, and we definitely won’t spread the word, except you know, with other gods. Plus, I think, as soon as you finish your quest, the whole Solangelo season would be over” Eros shrugged,

“I’m going to miss all the bickering”, he muttered as Nico glared at him, the god just smiled, “Plus, I really love seeing you happy”, Nico rolled his eyes as Eros raised an eyebrow, “Hey, I maybe harsh on you the last time but see where it brought you, without me, you and that Solace kid wouldn’t be together. Heck, you probably wouldn’t have stayed in Camp Half-Blood in the first place.”, Nico glared at him, but it was half-hearted. What Eros said has hit him with the realization about how true that was. Nico wouldn’t have been friends with Jason if it wasn’t for that incident in Croatia, and he definitely wouldn’t have believed that he was accepted in Camp if it wasn’t for Jason. If Cupid didn’t force out that painful truth in Croatia, then he’ll probably still be sulking alone in his room in the underworld. Nico then offered a smile to Cupid,

“You’re right, I’m sorry for hating you. I actually owe you one.”, Wow he was really learning to lower his pride thanks to this quest, he thought. Eros seemed to be shocked, since it was evident in his face, but he quickly regained his composure and returned the smile,

“You have grown, Di Angelo. You can repay me by surviving this quest, saving your sunshine, and living happily ever after with him”, Nico rolled his eyes,

“I’ll try my best.” Aphrodite then put an arm around the two boys then looked at her son,

“Aww! I didn’t know you could be cheesy too!”, Eros rolled his eyes then turned to Nico again,

“So, anymore questions or can we present what we have to help you in your quest?”, Nico just nodded,

“I guess we can proceed to whatever you guys will give me”, Eros nodded as he handed him a heart shaped object, it seemed to be made of metal, Nico looked at the god questioningly, Eros smiled,

 “This is a way to contact that Apollo kid. It is enchanted, the moment you split it in half, you would be able to see and talk to him, but it can only be used once. So, don’t even dare using it now, there would be a right time for you to use it. Do not use it for selfish reasons or else it won’t work. When the time comes, you would feel and know it, only then should you use it, you understand?”, Nico nodded still quite confused but slipped the heart into his backpack to not be tempted to use it now and waste the gift in the process. He then turned to Aphrodite,

“So, did you bring something too”, Aphrodite nodded,

“Wait here, I’ll grab her outside”, Nico raised an eyebrow questioningly,

“Her?”, but Aphrodite was already walking out, when she returned, she brought in a woman around her 40’s, she had brown hair, and some freckles on her face, but what gave who this woman away was her blue eyes, and soft yet easy-going look. Nico had never met her in real life, but he was sure he has seen her in some pictures. That’s when he got hit by the remainder of his past flashback,

“I love you, deathboy”, Nico just hummed in agreement. He then saw a picture of what looked like a young Will being hugged by a woman with long brown hair and beautiful blue eyes, the same as Will’s. The two was smiling so brightly as the sun shined behind them, making their hair look sun-kissed. The picture felt so heartwarming. Nico faced Will,

“Is this your mom?”, Will nodded,

“I told her a lot about you through letters you know, she’s really excited to meet you someday, but I guess I’m too much of a coward to visit her or bring you to her”, This sentence shocked Nico. So he hugged Will tighter,

“We talked about this, sunshine. You’re more skilled now, you’ll be alright, she’ll be alright”, Will offered him a half-hearted smile as Nico added, “We’ll be alright.”

Nico snapped back to reality when Naomi spoke,

“Nico is that you?”, Nico couldn’t get himself to speak, not after how he has neglected Will, he still feels guilty for Will’s disappearance. So, Nico just nodded. Naomi smiled at him as if reading his expression,

“It’s not your fault Nico, besides I’m thankful because you’re the one going after him. Aphrodite told me everything, she even told me you swore on the River Styx to bring him back, and I know how heavy such a promise is. You don’t have to feel guilty”, Nico surprised himself as he went and hugged Naomi,

“I could’ve been there for him that night. He doesn’t deserve this” he sobbed, “Will also missed you a lot, he wanted to visit you, but he was scared that he may endanger you.” Naomi then hugged him back and rubbed circles on his back,

“Oh my dear Nico, if anyone could save Will, I know it’s you.” Nico pulled away, wiping the tears out of his eyes, he didn’t even know he was crying, Gods am I this emotional now? He then faced Aphrodite, “How is Naomi going to be essential for my quest?”, Aphrodite smiled,

“You’re in Austin, Texas! It’s Will’s hometown, meaning she’ll offer you a place to sleep for the night, and don’t even argue about going on the road again after that fight earlier. You are both mentally and physically drained, and though the coffee I made you may have helped you to regain some stability, it would still be advisable to have a goodnight sleep”, Nico winced at hearing the goddess speak so seriously and sassy at the same time, so Nico decided to joke a bit,

“Yes, mom”, Eros laughed so hard at this as Aphrodite’s face flush red, the god patted his mom on the back,

“It’s alright mom, he’s just joking, right Nico?”, Nico nodded,

“Thanks, by the way for the help you have offered me”, the two nodded as Nico faced Eros, “And thanks for saving my life earlier and not letting me drown”, Eros smirked, “Ofcourse, I won’t let my favorite ship go sink because of some stupid quest”, it was Nico’s turn to laugh,

“You’re not bad, Eros”, Eros smiled genuinely at him,

“You’re not bad too, Nico” Aphrodite then cut in as she looked at Nico apologetically,

“Now, we better go before Zeus decides to blast us with a lightning bolt. I mean we can help demigods now, but we still have to keep it in a minimal”, Nico nodded in understanding as Aphrodite faced Naomi, “Take care of him for the night, will you?”, Naomi smiled,

“Ofcourse”, Aphrodite shared a look with his son and they both looked at Nico as they said in unison,

“Goodluck on the rest of your quest”, Nico nodded as Eros added, “Use your gift wisely”, there was a flash of pink light then the two gods were gone. Nico then faced Naomi, he didn’t know what to say or do, so he twisted his skull ring, a habit he does when he’s nervous, as he said,

“So, does this mean I get to see Will’s childhood home”, Naomi smiled,

“Let’s go now, then maybe I can give you a full tour of the house.”, this made Nico smiled as he followed Naomi Solace out of the café.

Chapter Text

The Solace’s home was a humble one. In the outside it was surrounded by a yard filled with many flowers, most seemed to be either Hyacints or Sunflowers, though the two don’t really compliment each other, he understood why it was these two specific flowers planted here. Naomi must’ve seen him staring as she hummed,

“Reminds me of Apollo, I know that he left us after Will’s birth, but once you get in-depth with him, he’s not really that bad. Plus, I heard he changed too for the best.” Nico nodded,

“He came to camp at twice, and he seemed to have lost his ego the second time around, then he visited again to check on us, so I guess it’s safe to say he has changed”, Naomi laughed sweetly,

“I know, Will told me in his letters, though I wasn’t really surprised. I knew someday he’ll realize that there’s a better side of him”, Nico hummed in agreement,

“Looks like he finally found himself”, Naomi then nodded as she led them inside the house. The exterior of the house was so bright, Nico has to admit he was not at all surprised. The house itself was the same blue as Will’s eyes while the door and window frames were yellow. The interior was also a combination of blue and yellow, there was a guitar by the corner of the room, which was beside a ukulele, which was also beside a violin, he looked at Naomi questioningly,

“You play all those?”, Naomi shook her head and smiled,

“I only play the guitar, but when Will was young, he insisted to learn other instruments, though he kinda wasn’t good at them, he was tone deaf you see, he still enjoyed them though”, Nico let out a chuckle, 

“That sounds like Will alright”, Naomi’s smile widened, 

“You know there’s also a piano in his room, that was an instrument he had some progress with, it’s just sad he cannot bring the piano around, he has some skills in it too.” Nico looked at her mouth agape at this information,

“He never told me he can play the piano.”, Naomi face softened,

“Oh, you know how humble Will can be” Nico nodded then mumbled,

“He’s too humble that sometimes he tends to depreciate himself”, Naomi laughed at this, 

“That is something we agree on, I nearly cannot believe it when I heard he accepted the Apollo Cabin Head Counselor position. Then again when I thought of it, he probably did it to spare his younger sibling’s from the obligations, he was always a thoughtful one”, Nico nodded,

“Yeah, he forced me into the infirmary for 3 days so I can heal, just a few days after we met. At first, I thought he was just torturing me with his company, but then I realized that he really cared about me.” Naomi nodded as she put a hand on Nico’s shoulder, 

“I’m so glad he saved you, you’re an amazing person, Nico, you deserve to be happy”, Nico smiled,

“Now you’re sounding like your son”, Naomi laughed as she shook her head,

“Like mother, like son then”, Nico laughed with her,

“Atleast he got his character from you, I wouldn’t know where his life would be if he got as bad as an ego like Apollo before he was punished to be mortal” The two continued laughing until Naomi checked the time,

“Why don’t you settle down in Will’s room upstairs, it’s to the right of the hall just beside the bathroom” Nico composed himself then nodded as Naomi added, “And oh, clean yourself up, you can borrow some of Will’s old clothes if you have to, with how big you are right now, I’m sure they’ll fit just fine. I’ll go make some dinner while you do so.” Nico blushed at the idea of wearing Will’s clothes then got self-conscious at his unremarkable height, Naomi seemed to chuckle at his expression so Nico tried to smile,

“Yes Ma’am”, Naomi smiled back as Nico started going up the stairs. He walked into Will’s room. The room was painted yellow, while his curtains were blue, and at the corner was the piano Naomi told him about. He set his things down on Will’s fixed blue bed and started looking for a change of clothes. He took out the extra black shirt he had brought, and then looked through Will’s cabinet for a pair of clean pants. He then settles for denim pants that surprisingly fits him just fine, he then shrugs because there was not a single black thing in Will’s wardrobe, well except for his star wars t-shirt and hoodies, which Nico would rather not wear. He then remembered how it may still be snowing in other parts of America, so he took out a plain blue thick jacket in Will’s cabinet, Atleast it's not yellow, this will have to do , he thought. He went to the bathroom with the clothes and started cleaning himself up.

When he finished he went and explored Will’s room before heading downstairs for dinner, he then saw an MP3 player by one of Will’s desks.  I wonder what type of songs Will liked, probably happy and cheery ones , he thought. Out of curiosity, he put on the earphones connected to the MP3 and played the first song, “Already Home by A Great Big World”. He was surprised to hear it sound like a sad song then paused it as tears came streaming down his face due to the second line,

“You say that I'm losing my will”

It was like a punch in the gut, he knew the song’s “will” was referring to something else, but considering his situation right now, he realized that as Will’s lifeforce drained, he is losing his Will. All the doubts went rushing back to him as he played the song again, his tears falling at all parts of the song that provided him doubts like,

“You make up a half of the whole,”  

I cannot lose my other half, I cannot lose Will. Then there was the next verse,

“You say that it's hard to commit to it

You say that it's hard standing still

Don't you know that I spend all my nights

Counting backwards the days 'til I'm home?”

Would Will still go back home? Will Nico be able to save his home. Will Solace was more than Nico’s sunshine, he was also his home, and right now, despite being in the comforts of Will’s childhood bed, he just can’t help but cry as he wraps his arms around his knees and buries his head in his arms. As the song ended, Nico was still sobbing, he didn’t even notice Naomi who was already beside and wrapping an arm around him, when Nico looked up, Naomi removed the earphones from his ear and set the MP3 player aside, 

“Hey, Nico dear, It’s gonna be alright, okay? You’ll be able to save him”, Nico was still sobbing so he just nodded, “Let’s just have dinner for now, then you can sleep at Will’s bed for the night, you can leave as early as you wanted tomorrow, okay?”, Nico nodded again as he let Naomi lead him to the kitchen. 

The night was quiet, Nico volunteered to wash the dishes, which earned him a thankful smile from Naomi. After that, he went back upstairs again and fell asleep the moment he laid in the bed, noticing for the first time how Will’s bed smelled so much of sunshine, which he knows doesn’t make sense, but it does. For the first time in a long time he had a dreamless sleep. He woke up to the sunlight blinding his eyes. He stood up and wore his shoes then grabbed the plain blue jacket he took from Will’s cabinet last night as he prepared his backpack and double checked his things. When he was sure he didn’t leave anything, he went downstairs to be greeted by a smiling Naomi Solace, her face telling him that she believes in him, another person Nico cannot let down. Dam, that list really was growing:

Kayla

Lou Ellen

Clarisse

The whole Apollo Cabin

The Whole Camp

Eros & Aphrodite?

Probably Apollo?

Now, Naomi Solace,

Then There was Himself,

But Most Importantly Will Solace, himself

Nico then put up a determined face as he returned Naomi’s smile, Naomi handed him a brown paper bag, “I know you have to go now, so I packed you some sandwiches so you can have breakfast on the way”, Nico nodded,

“Thanks for everything”, Naomi hugged him,

“This is nothing dear, just save my son, okay?” Nico nodded again,

“I’ll make sure he comes back alive and maybe even convince him to visit you.” Naomi’s smile brightened,

“I know you will”, she then walked Nico out the door as he summoned Jules Albert. Just as Nico was going into the car Naomi grabbed his arms as she said,

“Goodluck Nico, You’re a great guy. I’m proud to know that you’re my son's boyfriend. I know you’ll sacrifice your life just to bring him back alive, but please try your best to come back alive too. Everyone will be happier that way”, Nico genuinely smiled at this, he was also sure that there was a blush spreading through his cheeks, and feeling warmth wash over him, that was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to him, so he nodded,

“I’ll try my best”, Naomi then waved goodbye as Nico got in the passenger seat. He faced Jules Albert and told him to go to Florida, then they were off. The moment they crossed the end of Austin, Texas it started snowing again, the snowy weather worsening through every city they passed. Nico felt a bit nervous, but he was ready. Ready to face Khione, ready to face the ghost who escaped, and ready to face anyone who gets in his way. He’s ready to find and save his sunshine.

Chapter Text

At this point, Nico didn’t even want to check how much of Will’s lifeforce is left on him. He had a feeling he just cannot face the fact that his boyfriend is so close to death. So, to get his mind off things Will, he nibbled into his sandwiches as slow as possible. The drive was meant to be 17 hours long, and normally in Jules Albert’s normal pace it would take approximately 8 hours, but he has a feeling he only had 2 days at most before Will completely dies. The thought made him wince so he asked Jules Albert to hurry more, no matter how dangerous it may get, the zombie chauffeur did oblige despite mumbling about Hades killing him if Nico were to get in trouble, Nico smiled at this as he attempt to comfort his chauffeur in French, “Don’t worry, he can’t kill you. You’re already dead.” Somehow, they made it to Florida with just a 5 hour drive.

The moment they crossed the border to Florida, vision went down to zero, the snowstorm was that terrible that he cannot see anything, good thing his chauffeur can still see well enough until the car suddenly stopped and Jules Albert told him that the car cannot go any further, Nico nodded in understanding. Plus, he didn’t really know where the vacation house exactly is, the wind-spirit was supposed to take care of that. Nico came out of the car suddenly feeling the cold take over, he waved goodbye to his zombie chauffeur as it went back underground. Good thing the cold didn’t better me much, he thought. Though he must admit he still felt quite cold, so he went into the nearest establishment he saw, and oh great another café. Nico shrugged as he went in and ordered some coffee, then also asking for a glass of water.

He sat at the corner of the café and took out a flashlight from his backpack (he always brings one, because sometimes his father’s missions requires going to dark places, too dark even for him), he set the flashlight down and took a sip of coffee, letting the warmth wash over him first before he took out a drachma as he flashed the light of the flashlight directly at the glass of water, creating a little rainbow, Oh, Iris goddess of rainbows, please accept my offer, he thought then said “Annabeth Chase, wherever she is” The image then showed Annabeth, her hair tied up, while her nose stuck on a book, and it looks like there’s a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her, beside her was Percy who seemed to be eating blue pancakes. Nico cleared his throat, then the two of them looked up, confused at first until he spoke,

“Morning you two, what’s up?”, Percy grinned,

“Nico, we haven’t heard from you for days! We should be the one asking you that!”, Annabeth rolled her eyes beside him as he faced Nico also smiling,

“So, why did you Iris-message? Do you need anything?”, Nico pondered for a moment then nodded,

“Yup, but first, how is the weather there or anywhere around America?”, Annabeth’s eyebrows furrowed,

“The snow seems to be getting worse by the day but it’s still tolerable, why?”, It was Nico’s turn to furrow his eyebrows,

“Weird, because here in Florida the vision is completely down to zero, the snow isn’t tolerable at all”, Percy then decided to join in,

“Woah, woah, back up what are you doing in Florida?”,

“Well, that leads us to my next question but first…”, he explained what happened in his quest so far, from his trip to the underworld, and his encounters with Tantalus, Bryce Lawrence, to his talk with Boreas to his encounter with Dr. Thorn and the help he got from Aphrodite and Eros (the two looked flustered when they heard about Hephaestus TV), to his time with Naomi Solace, “So, I just maybe wanted to ask if you guys have any ideas where I may locate this vacation house?”, Annabeth hummed as she was deep in thought,

“You do know that this maybe a trap, right?”, Nico nodded as he said bitterly,

“Apparently we demigods cannot really avoid traps especially if it’s for the one we love?” Annabeth nodded in understanding as Percy let out a humorless laugh,

“These quests are getting predictable”, Nico nodded letting out a humorless laugh himself too, Annabeth then cleared her throat snapping his attention back to her,

“Though I may not be able to pinpoint where exactly this vacation house maybe, all I can say is you can narrow it down near the beach shores, since it’s a vacation house, and Florida is known for their beaches” Nico nodded and gave her an appreciative smile, “Thanks Annabeth”. The two smiled at him as Percy decided to speak,

“Be careful Nico. Good luck and make sure you atleast try to survive too. I want you to have a long and happy life.” Annabeth hummed in agreement, “I bet Hazel, Frank, Reyna, and everyone else feel the same too”, Nico nodded then chuckled as he felt himself blush again, he looked down at his coffee as he shyly said,

“Huh, how weird, that’s the second time I heard those words today, but thanks anyways guys”, Percy grinned,

“It means people care about you Di Angelo”, Annabeth nodded in agreement. He then felt it again, the warmth spreading through his body, Dam, people do care about me, maybe Eros is right. I do deserve to be loved. Annabeth then broke him out of his thoughts,

“Now, if that’s all, me and Percy better prepare for school”, Percy pouted beside her,

“Do we have to?”, Annabeth rolled her eyes as she waved goodbye to Nico who was laughing at Percy’s reaction, he then waved goodbye too as he turned off the flashlight, dissolving the Iris-message.

Nico stayed for awhile as he finished his coffee, he knew he had to make his way out soon, he can’t stay and wait for the snow to stop because he knows really well that the snow will never stop, not until Khione was defeated.

As soon as he finished his coffee, he stood up, zipping Will’s jacket close then tucking his hands in his pockets as he tried to find his way near the beach area. As soon as he found some palm trees, he felt some relief, that is until he saw two cyclops come towards him. Nico unsheathed his sword as fast as he can, he dodged as one of the cyclopes swing his club at him then he maneuvered his sword to stab the other cyclops who tried to dodge, he was fast, but Nico still managed to graze it. That one seemed to get angry so it tried to grab Nico, but he expected this from an angry cyclops, so he moved out of the way at the last minute, making the said cyclops bump into the other as it tried to hit Nico with his club again from his other side. This ended up to the cyclops on his left swinging his club at the one trying to grab him, making one of the cyclops fly a distance. The one left though kept going with his club which Nico only dodged because the club would only swing the sword out of his hand, he needs to find either an opening to stab the cyclops or an escape. He can shadow travel but to where, he didn’t know.

At that moment Jules Albert came out of the ground then handed Nico a map, he took it from him as he dodges another swing from the cyclops, who then stumbled, giving him an opening to stab it by the leg, although this did not kill him, it was enough to slow him down as Nico sheathed his sword for awhile as he opened the map. The places were marked in gold while the map itself was pure black. He then saw a skeleton crown on one place, which he assumes to be representing him, since he’s the ghost king, he rolled his eyes at this logic. Then he saw a skull marked on one of the establishments, which he assumes to be his destination. Nico sighs, he won’t make it if he ran, considering the still terrible weather and the two cyclops starting to go after him again, I guess you can consider this as one of those ‘if only necessary’ situations. He then called upon the shadows as he focused on the location that was pinpointed at the map.

When he stepped out of the shadows, he felt a bit dizzy but other than that he felt just fine. He looked around and saw a big mansion in front of him, the gate wasn’t locked so he opened it. Before he walked in, he said another silent thank you to his dad, because he knew that he must’ve been the one who sent the map. Nico then started walking through the yard as he reached the mansion’s door. It was also open, as if it was done on purpose. This is too easy, something feels wrong, he thought. He hesitated at first then remembered all the people counting on him. What choice do I have anyways? He took a deep breath then opened the door, here goes nothing, he thought as he started to walk inside.

Chapter Text

As Nico walked in, he felt the temperature drop more, and that’s saying something because the snowstorm outside was already bad. He observed the room he’s in, it looked like he’s in some kind of lobby. In front of him, he assumed leads to the living room because it had a sofa. Nico cautiously walked towards it, then he noticed a staircase that splits into 2 in the middle, one leading to the left, the other to the right. In the middle though, there was a big blue cursive “B” plastered to the wall, which confirms that he is in the right place. Nico was about to start on the stairs when all the lights started flickering, and if it was even possible, the temperature dropped more, making Nico shiver. He also felt the hair in his skin go up. The scene looked like it came right out from a horror movie. “I demand you to show yourself”, a cold laughter then filled the room,

“Oh, Nico di Angelo, I think we both know that your ghost king powers are nothing against the power of the ember”, Nico recognized the voice, but still cannot quite pin who it belonged to,

“Don’t recognize me? What a shame, this will only make my reveal more fun”, he tried to look around the room looking for the voice, but the flickering light dizzied him. He tried his best to focus but it just felt so hard, so he tried to call upon the shadows to feel for anything present but failed, another cold laugh filled the room,

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, the ember also has controls all the shadows in this establishment, we also made sure that there are no skeletons underneath that you can call for backup.”, Nico winced, of course they planned well, they did expect him to come afterall. This shouldn’t have surprised him, but he thought too much of Will through his trip, that he forgot to think about the other important things about his quest. He mentally kicked himself as he cursed under his breath, he unsheathed his sword as he spun around to look for the voice, but as soon as he did, he got stabbed in the gut by a dagger, making him drop his sword, while the figure in front of him kicked it away by its handle. The lights stopped flickering at that moment. He then mentally kicked himself again for not realizing who the voice belonged to, he dropped to his knees, his hands holding the place where he was stabbed,

“Octavian”, he hissed, the ghost smirked. He didn’t even know if he should even call the figure in front of him a ghost, sure he flickers every few minutes, but Nico can tell that this guy in front of him is at least 75% solid and alive, which means that Will is-, Nico blocked the thought before it affects him more in his current state. Instead, he asked,

“Where’s Will?”, Octavian rolled his eyes, “Oh please Di Angelo, you didn’t think it would be that easy, didn’t you? You actually came closer to him a few days ago, I cannot believe you didn’t feel his presence! Plus, since when did you start caring about other people.” Nico scowled at him as Octavian whistled,

“C’mon boys time to redeem yourselves!”, the two cyclopes he fought earlier, one still limping, while the other having a bruise from where he was hit by a club came in and grabbed Nico by his two arms, pulling him up. He tried to fight out of their grip but his gut was too painful, besides even if he escapes, his weapon was half-way across the room and without that ability to summon shadows and skeletons, there is really nothing much he can do, so he sighed and decided to just glare at Octavian,

“Why are you doing this? Is this all just for the sake of getting revenge against me?”, Octavian glared back at him,

“Although that seemed to be the obvious motive, that isn’t the only and most definitely is not the main motive”, Octavian let out a humorless laugh, “I’m just targeting you first, and that good-for-nothing son of Apollo, because you guys let me die, you could’ve stopped me but you didn’t!”, Nico stiffened at the memory then glared fiercer,

“You deserve that death! You were trying to start an unnecessary war between the Greek and Romans, when the two groups could have been allies!”, Octavian looked at him with disgust as he pointed at Nico,

“And that Di Angelo is the worst part of it. Greek and Romans as allies? The idea of it makes me wanna vomit.”, Nico scowled at him,

“You just do not understand how stronger we are when we combine forces. Besides, if taking revenge on me is just one of the motives, then what’s your main motive?”, Octavian pondered, as if deciding whether or not to tell anything, until the said demigod smirked,

“Oh, it’s still all about revenge you know, revenge on all demigods both Greek and Roman. After you and that Solace kid is out of the way. Me and the goddess Khione, which you know is responsible for stealing the ember and is a strong ally of mine. Well, you see we’ll freeze both Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter together with New Rome without warning, and you won’t be able to do anything about it. Then maybe I’ll start a new Camp Jupiter for the next generation of Roman demigods, I’ll train them myself, do some brainwashing about Greeks being our worst enemies then look for every Greek demigod, making sure they all die before they even learn how to hold a sword”, Nico scowled at him again,

“You won’t get away with this! I’ll escape and I’ll warn the two camps”, Octavian’s smirked turned to an evil smile, “I’m afraid I already have Di Angelo, and since you know too much, I finally have a reason to use this”, he took out a bottle from one of his jacket’s pocket. Nico observed the milky white glistening water inside the bottle and gasped as he realized what it was,

“How did you get your hands on Lethe water?”, Octavian laughed coldly,

“Oh please Di Angelo, you didn’t expect me to leave the underworld without any souvenirs, did you?”, Nico started to fight out of the cyclopes grip at this point, he has had his experience with the River Lethe’s water, and he didn’t want that to happen again. He was afraid of waking up then suddenly not remembering who he was. Never again, he thought. Octavian seemed to find this amusing as he struggles and fails to get out of the grip, he’s also starting to feel dizzy from the blood loss,

“Give up Di Angelo, accept your fate.” Nico scowled,

“Don’t you even dare use that at me”,

“What are you gonna do about it? Nothing! You’re already as helpless as you can be. Look at the bright side, if you let me wipe your memory now, before you lose enough blood to die. I’ll heal you and keep you alive. I’ll alter your memories, and we can start a new era of demigods together”, Nico just glared at him,

“I will never ever help you with your plans, besides I’m Greek! You just said you hate Greek demigods.”, Octavian just smirked,

“Oh, but you’re really powerful and you can be really useful. Besides, it’s not like you’ll be able to do anything when you wake up, memory wiped, with just me there trying to help you. I can restart who you are, I will make you believe you’re Roman, I’ll even let you keep your Ambassador of Pluto status” Nico started to fight again, but Octavian was right, it’s hopeless. He stopped fighting, as he looked down and let a few tears roll down his eyes,

“Mi dispiace, il mio sole”, he whispered, Octavian then let out an amused laughed,

“Giving up already? Let’s get this over with then. Say goodbye to who you are now, but don’t worry I will brainwash you to be a better Nico Di Angelo”, He walked towards Nico and was opening up the bottle when an arrow went flying by the side of Octavian, he must have sensed it because he dodged it, letting the arrow hit the cyclops on Nico’s left instead, disintegrating it into dust. Both Octavian and Nico were shocked as they both looked at the direction of where the arrow came from, a woman who is no other than Naomi Solace holding a celestial bronze sword then beside her was a guy holding a bow and arrow who stood and spoke with a confident voice,

“Don’t you dare hurt my future son-in-law, anemic loser!”, Nico lets out a sigh of relief as he recognized the voice, not even feeling embarrassed at what he called him. Octavian on the other hand, winced before letting out a whistle which called two Polar Bears down the stairs, he looked at the new arrivals then glared at Nico while still clutching the bottle of Lethe water in his hands, “This isn’t over”, and at that Octavian flickered then he was gone.

The other cyclops seemed to catch up with what just happened as he raised his club ready to swing at Nico when another arrow went straight to his chest, he glanced at Apollo,

“Thanks, Apollo”, the god ran toward Nico looking at the dagger still embedded in his gut,

“You’ve lost a lot of blood, better seat down, me and Naomi are gonna handle those bears”, he was about to protest when he saw Naomi sheath her celestial bronze sword as she took out what looked like a sword, probably made by mortals from the other side of her waste then decapitated one of the bears. Oh gods, that’s a sight I rather not see again. He nodded, as Apollo smiled at him turned and shot an arrow towards the other bear who sneaked up behind Naomi, it went straight to its chest, the bear then stumbled and lost momentum, Naomi gave Apollo a thankful smile, as she ran over towards them,

“Oh gods Nico, I told you to stay alive.” The two knelt in front of him, Apollo hummed as if pondering something,

“This is gonna hurt, but I have to pull the knife out then I can heal you”, Nico nodded feeling dizzier by the second, Apollo held at the handle then pulled it out, which sent a jolt of pain through his body. He groaned, as he was about to lose consciousness, Apollo shook him a bit,

“Just stay awake a bit more, can you Nico?”, Nico shook his head, Apollo then went through Nico’s backpack and took out the unicorn draught, then handed it to Naomi, “Make him drink this, I’m gonna try to close the wound”, Naomi nodded as he faced Nico, “As soon as you drank enough, you may let go of consciousness for awhile, but please wake up sooner or later, we still have to get to Will”, Nico nodded when a thought passed his head,

“How did you two-”, he was cut off by Apollo,

“Gods Nico, you’re bleeding to death while on the brink of unconsciousness but somehow still have the energy to ask questions”, Naomi elbowed him as she brought up the unicorn draught into Nico’s mouth as he felt Apollo press his palms on his gut, feeling a surge of warmth numb his body. Naomi smiled at him,

“Drink, then sleep”, Nico obliged, after getting a few sips he let unconsciousness take over him, Octavian’s voice echoing through his mind. You actually came closer to him a few days ago. What did he mean by that?

Chapter Text

Will would hum and try to heal himself every chance that he got. It was exhausting which is why he takes small breaks in between. He didn’t want to over drain himself, if he gave it all at once he probably wouldn’t even last a day. He wants to survive and he would do everything in his power to do so. He knew some of his friends from camp were looking or atleast worried about him, and he knew some or most probably Nico would come for him, and Will didn’t wanna waste the effort of those coming to save him. Plus, he actually really wants to live, if not for himself then for his friends back at camp.

People kept coming through his thoughts. There were his best friends and partners in crime, Lou Ellen & Cecil. Then there’s his sister who was probably dumped with the responsibility of head-counselor, Kayla. Heck, there's the whole Apollo cabin, that cabin has already lost way too many head-counselors through the years, and he honestly doesn’t want to be next. Maybe even Clarisse is worried for him, she was his first friend in camp afterall, she protected him from bullies while he became that calming presence that helps her be rational through difficult situations. Then there’s his dad, Apollo who he thinks is somehow giving him the strength to keep using his powers without burning up. Then he thought of his mom, Naomi who he had failed to visit over the years, but when he finally decided that he would visit her, this happened. Last but not least though came Nico. The son of Hades who got him flustered every single dam day, the real and main reason why he’s still trying. Nico has been through a lot, and Will doesn’t intend to add up to the boy’s misery. He loved Nico so much that it always somehow gave him the energy to try and heal himself again no matter how exhausted. He would do anything to see and hug Nico again, even if it was one last time. He pities himself, and sometimes he would rather just give up, but as long as the son of Hades was in the equation, he would keep fighting. He knew he had to stay strong for Nico.

He closed his eyes and thought of Nico and all they have been through, He’ll come for me, I know he will. At that thought, he gathered what energy was still in him and started humming again, as he felt his body fight to stay solid, though he was pretty sure he was in so much danger of completely fading now. Actually, he is starting to realize that he probably looked worse than Nico had looked when he showed up at camp in the Battle against Gaea. Will though pushed his thoughts aside and continued his hymn. He started glowing as always and felt a bit of warmth wash over him. He has to admit though, that the warmth he felt lessens every time he tried so he just sighed and continued until he heard footsteps then there was a burst of cold laughter in front of him. Will looked up and saw Khione smirking at him,

“Poor son of Apollo, relying on daddy to keep you alive?” Will tried to give her a glare but he was already too weak plus glares weren’t really his thing. “Oh stop it already, we both know you’re just slowing down the process, you’ll eventually be too weak then completely fade and you won’t be able to do anything about it”, Will looked her straight in the eyes and tried to gather all of what’s left of his confidence,

“I know of that already, plus I’m just buying time, I’m sure someone out there will come and save me”, Khione rolled her eyes,

“I pity you. What type of hero relies on others to save him? Is it because your father gave you no other ability but to heal? Such useless abilities on a real battlefield, eh?” Will somehow managed to scowl as he winced at those words because he felt those words hit him. He had his hidden insecurities which only Nico knows off, but somehow the goddess managed to take them out from where it was once bottled up inside him, 

“So what if I can only heal, I’ve saved countless lives because of that ability!”, the goddess gave him a humorless laugh, 

“Using your boyfriend's words I see, did you tell me those to prove me wrong or to assure yourself?”, Will felt tears forming in his eyes, Khione smiled evilly at him, “Oh poor son of Apollo, I really do pity you, but I think we both know by now that you’re useless.” Useless, the word was now stuck echoing in his mind, he felt the bottle of insecurities break, and he let his tears fall. He stopped trying to heal himself since he cannot focus, he felt all insecurities wash over him. For the first time in a long time, he no longer felt like the cheery son of Apollo everyone has come to know, he was a trainwreck as he can’t stop his emotions from overflowing and taking control of him. Khione was silent for awhile, but it looks like she wanted to hit him with one final blow,

“I know you rely on your brooding boyfriend to come and be your Knight in shining armor but I had sent many enemies from the past who wanted to take revenge on him and if your said boyfriend did come alone, which he definitely would have, I mean he is a child of Hades afterall. Then I don’t think he would have survived the journey alone.” At that, the goddess left. 

The rational part of him didn’t want to accept what the goddess had said. Heck, Nico survived Tartarus alone! What would some old enemies have against him? Alas, he was an emotional wreck right now. He had never felt so hopeless in his life. Maybe Nico was dead. Who would be there left for you then? Why should you even keep fighting? Nico was the only one who knew you for who you truly are. He always had a facade up for the sake of his siblings and the only person who noticed and helped him break through it slowly was Nico. Nico was there for every breakdown and every panic attack.  The son of Hades was more patient than anyone had thought and their relationship was more balanced than everyone had thought too. Nico was there for Will in his bad days as much as vice versa. Nico had even learned the early signs of Will’s attacks, so to avoid stares. One he notices tha early signs, son of Hades will shadow travel them to his cabin. That’s where Will has his sessions in the arms of Nico, as he slowly tries to grasp reality again. Despite Nico’s normally cold body temperature, he has always found warmth and comfort in them. Nico was the only one who knew and loved him for who he truly was. Nico was his sunshine as much Will is to him.

Now, he was alone, his bottle breaking, and no one was there for him. He was alone, he was hopeless, but most of all, the term that had bothered him for years, the term that completely broke his bottle and finally let all the insecurities out in one blast. He was useless. He sobbed and sobbed for only the gods knew how long. I wish Nico was here, he kept thinking. He completely forgot about his condition, thus, making the fading quicker. Though even as the realization has hit him, he didn’t even bother to try to heal himself anymore.  “Maybe I’m better off dead” , he whispered to himself, then he felt chill wash over his body through his spine. He slumped at the wall behind him, as he hugged his knees and buried his face in it. He cried and sobbed and let the negative thoughts fill his mind. “ I guess this is it, goodbye world.” He didn’t know how long he was sitting there until someone called his name. Will suddenly snapped out of his negative thoughts at the sound of a very familiar yet concerned soft voice. He looked up as an image starting to form from a lot of pink glitters.

Chapter Text

Nico opened his eyes to find himself in the same location as his past dream. He quickly searched the room and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Will glowing and healing himself by the corner of the room. Dread then washed over him though as soon as he saw how bad Will’s state was. Nico moved closer to him, then he heard footsteps and an evil laugh. He then saw Khione approach his boyfriend. He really wanted to decapitate the said goddess but knew he couldn’t since he knew well enough to realize that he was just dreaming. He can’t do anything but watch. He felt Will’s pain as he watched the scene with Khione unfold. He can’t take it anymore, seeing his boyfriend so broken was breaking him too. He knew that the goddess was hitting his boyfriend at his most critical and sensitive parts. The moment she said, “You’re useless”, he felt it, he knew Will would completely break. He then wanted to hug and comfort the said demigod but he knew he couldn’t, Stupid dream. That’s when he felt a pull on his gut. 

He closed his eyes, when he opened them he was in his father’s throne room, his father looking at him with concern. Nico bowed,

“Why have you called me, father?” Hades looked at him straight in the eyes with all seriousness,

“It’s time that you know why the ember was forbidden”, Nico quickly nodded, his father looked at Nico up to down then sighed,

“The ember, as you know, can only be used to its fullest potential by either me or my children. There are consequences though when my children use it. Although it boosts your powers and makes you stronger to the point that you may be invincible. It also affects the mind. It’s made of pure chaos, so it takes out your said goal in a certain situation and uses it to get into your mind. It would whisper things that go beyond your goal, this may lead to hubris at least but to insanity utmost. It was forbidden the moment it motivated Hitler to start the 2nd world war.”, Nico’s  mouth was gaping at this with shock,

“And you tell me this now, why?”, Hades sighed then looked at his son, eyes filled with concern,

“To help you realize that you do not need the ember to defeat Khione and Octavian”, Nico frowned,

“They’ll use the ember so I can’t use my powers, how am I supposed to compete with that?”, Hades’ mouth twitch. Oh gods, he's trying to smile again,

“Well, if the son of Apollo managed to counter the ember’s effects by slowing down the effects through his powers, then why can’t you?”, Nico’s eyes furrowed,

“I don’t even know how he’s doing that.”, Hades rolled his eyes,

“And I used to think it was impossible, but you’ll figure it out soon enough”, Nico raised an eyebrow questioningly to his father, his father then pondered something, “Well, if you really did watch some Disney movies then you’ll be able to figure out what force is stronger than any other force this world has to offer”, Nico just nodded, saving the thought for later as he had more questions for his father,

“How am I supposed to find out where Will is? I’m running out of time he’s so close to-”, he didn’t need to finish that sentence as his father already knew what he was about to say, Hades just hummed,

“All I can tell you is that parents will always be there to help and defend their children, no matter how awkward their relationship is.” Nico quickly understood what his father was trying to say. He knew the god can’t be too specific, but Nico was touched that his father was trying his best to help him. He looked gratefully at his father, 

“Thanks, dad”, Hades then smiled warmly, Oh gods, is this really happening? The Lord of the Underworld then waved his hand and showed an image of Will sobbing as he hugged his knees while crying buried in them. Dread washed through him again when he saw the image. Then he felt that the son of Apollo was also fading much faster, his father looked at him seriously,

“Now son, I was serious when I said I want you to be happy, so you better help your boyfriend here before you lose him. It’s time to play therapist.”, Nico nodded his face still filled with dread,

“How?”, Hades rolled his eyes,

“Must I hint at everything? Remember your gifts, son”, Nico then nodded in understanding. He still felt dread, what can he possibly say to help the son of Apollo? , his father cleared his throat,

“You’ll do fine son, I know you’ve comforted him before, believe in yourself more. Just be honest with him and say what you have to say”, Nico smiled at his father then hugged him, he felt his father hugged back awkwardly as he whispered,

“It’s time to wake up, son. Go save your sunshine”

He opened his eyes and saw Apollo in Lester form sitting next to him. He was in some kind of room. He sat up and reached for his backpack. Apollo noticed him,

“Woah, awake already? It’s only been 3 hours”, Nico shot the god a worried glance as he found what he was looking for,

“I need to contact Will, it’s an emergency, can I have privacy?”, Apollo seemed to understand the situation as he saw the heart shape thing Nico was holding. When Apollo was gone, Nico split the heart in half,

“Please work”, he whispered. He then saw pink glitter exploding in front of him forming a heart, then inside the heart was Will’s form, same as he saw him in the dream,

“Will!”, he called out as softly as he could. The blonde looked up, at first looking confused until realization was evident in his face,

“N-nico?”, the son of Hades nodded as the other started rambling, “Oh gods, I thought you were dead! I’m such a mess, I’m so useless, I can’t even escape. I don’t think I can take this anymore. What should I do?”, Will’s tears were still rolling down as he spoke. Nico felt a pang of pain, seeing how his cheerful boyfriend was so broken now, he knew he had to do something, hoping he had enough time to atleast get a smile from the son of Apollo,

“Hey, hey, sunshine, calm down it’s gonna be okay. Let’s take it easy, okay? Breath in, then out”, Will obliged as his sobbing lessen and his breathing slowly went back to normal. Nico smiled at him,

“That’s it, it’s going to be okay. Now, I heard what nasty things Khione threw at you, and you have to know those aren’t true, okay? If it’s hard to believe that coming from yourself, then please try to believe that coming from me, can you do that?”, Will nodded, Nico smiled at him and said as gently as he can,

“Please heal yourself again, you're fading much faster and I can feel it. I’m gonna get to you, hopefully within the day, okay?” tears were forming in Nico’s eyes now, “Please Will, I can’t lose you. I love you so much”, Those words caught Will’s attention as he looked straight into Nico’s eyes, those blue eyes piercing through Nico’s brown ones. Both shining from tears, Will then smiled at him, Thank the gods. The son of Apollo closed his eyes and started glowing,

“All I want is for you to be happy, Nico. I love you too, so much. I’ll keep fighting as long as I still have the energy. I’ll do it for you, for us.” Nico let out a sigh of relief as he smiled back,

“Will be okay, right?”, Will nodded and hummed in agreement,

“Will be okay” At that, the pink glitters that made up the image exploded in front of him, signaling the end of their talk.

Nico walked out of the room to some sort of lobby where Naomi and Apollo were waiting, only then did he realize that they were in some kind of motel. He looked at the two,

“Seeing that you stayed with me, I assume you’ll stay till the end?”, the two nodded, as Apollo spoke up,

“We’ll answer all questions and explain later, but now we have to find Will” Naomi nodded next to him, 

“Do we have any idea where he is?”, Nico nodded,

“Boreas Palace”, the two exchanged a look as Nico then asked, “Any idea how we will get there?”, Apollo then took out a key from his pocket which Nico immediately recognized,

“You brought the sun chariot?”, Apollo nodded,

“I heard you wanted to drive it eversince, so here’s your chance.”, Nico grinned,

“I think I’m starting to accept the fact that you’re my future father-in-law”, Apollo rolled his eyes,

“Don’t get used to my kindness” Naomi elbowed him and pushed the boys into the room,

“Time to go, get all your things, make sure we didn’t leave anything important. Will is waiting and still in danger may I remind you boys.” That two complied boys as they made sure they had everything that they needed, and not leaving anything behind.

Apollo handed the key to Nico,

“Please try not to crash it.”, Nico rolled his eyes,

“I’ll try my best, but what do we do about the weather?”, Apollo grinned at him,

“Don’t worry the sun chariot will protect us, it would have a barrier shielding us from the bad weather”, Nico couldn’t help himself when he said,

“That’s so cool!”, he felt like the old 10-year-old Nico who didn’t have a problem with trusting and was excited about so many things, was slowly crawling back into him, only this version was more aware and ready to defend and protect the people he loved.

Apollo then gave him a smile that was so close to what Will gives him every single day,

“Well, the sun always goes up no matter how terrible the weather is.” Nico nodded, as he inserted the key, 

“Buckle up future in-laws, next stop, to Quebec!” Both Naomi and Apollo exchanged a smile at Nico’s excitement. It was refreshing to see the son of Hades can finally find it to be happy even in the face of danger and a possible suicide mission.

Chapter Text

Here’s one thing he had to admit, as excited as Nico maybe, he has never driven a car, let alone the sun chariot itself. Good thing both Apollo and Naomi were being patient to guide him as to how to drive the thing. Luckily, he’s a fast learner, he finally got the hang of it after almost dropping them off the sky once or twice. Apollo let out a sigh of relief when they were finally flying steadily, Nico looked questioningly at him then asked teasingly,

“Scared of me scratching your beautiful chariot?”, Apollo rolled his eyes,

“Whatever, Di Angelo.”, Nico then chuckled.

The next few minutes were silent until Naomi from the backseat spoke up,

“Nico dear, I believe you have some questions, this would be the best time to ask them.” Apollo hummed in agreement,

“Better hurry too, since this trip would be a short and fast one, I made sure of it.” the god then smirked, “If you don’t ask anything I’ll just have to recite to you the latest haikus I’ve made or maybe I can sing you a song till’ the end of our journey!”, Nico glared at the god who was now laughing,

“Well, sorry to ruin your moment but I do have some questions”, Apollo rolled his eyes,

“Everyone’s a killjoy”, he said sarcastically, Naomi squeezed the god’s shoulder and gave him a stern look,

“Oh Apollo, you better behave. You know how important this quest is, right?”, Apollo gulped and nodded as Naomi faced Nico, who was checking the compass if they were still going the right way,

“Nico dear, you may ask away”, Nico nodded,

“Well first, I want to know how Apollo found out later than Eros and Aphrodite about this and why are you two together”, Naomi and Apollo laughed, but Apollo cleared his throat,

“Well, remember when I visited my friends after my trials?”, Nico nodded as Apollo continued,

“I’m not quite done yet, right now I’m visiting my past lovers, and when I visited Naomi, she kinda informed me that you left just a few hours ago. So, we had a little chat and catching up then we decided we can’t take it anymore, we were both worried, not just about Will but also about you. We knew it’s your quest so we came to aid you instead of running straight to Will. I think we made the right decision too, or else you would have-”, Apollo didn’t finish his sentence as he glanced at Nico who nodded,

“Lost my memories”, Nico sighed, “I haven’t thanked you yet for saving me”, Apollo gave him a warm smile,

“That’s what family is for.”, Nico looked confused as he asked,

“Family?”, Apollo rolled his eyes,

“Well duh! You’re practically my future son-in-law, as advanced as this may sound, but welcome to the family!”, Nico smiled at him, as he thought about the Apollo cabin who accepted him through the months, then Kayla who comforted him and reassured him when he was sulking in his thoughts before he left, then to Will, who just walked into his life and shed sunshine to his shadows. Nico rolled his eyes at his own thoughts, gods, that was cheesy. He then looked at Apollo,

“Well I’m honored to be part of the family”, Apollo clasped his shoulder,

“I declare you as an honorary member of the Apollo family”, Naomi laughed sweetly from behind,

“Aren’t you two sweet.” She then turned to Nico, “No more questions, Nico dear?”, Nico hummed as he thought,

“Well it’s a bit off-topic, but I’m curious how you got one mortal sword and one celestial bronze sword.” Naomi smiled at him,

“Well remember when I said I knew Apollo would change for the better?” Nico nodded, “Well, it’s because I found that side of him earlier than anyone else did.”, Nico noticed the god blush beside him as Naomi continued, “When we dated, he was sweet, always gave me sunflowers and all. We were really happy, he was gentle with me, and made sure I was happy, even if sometimes he isn’t.” Nico smirked, 

“That doesn’t sound like Apollo at all”, Apollo scoffed beside him as Naomi laughed then continued,

“Anyways, when Will was born, Zeus threatened to punish him if we kept our affair. He didn’t want to put me nor Will in danger so he decided to leave, but not unprotected, and so he left me with the two swords so I can defend me and Will when monsters ever came bothering us.” Nico glanced at a now red Apollo,

“It’s the least I could do!”

“Who knew you could be such a softy”, he teased, Apollo shrugged,

“Naomi was just different from every other girl I loved, okay? She was sweet, thoughtful and patient. She loved me not just for my looks but also for who I am. She’s the first person that made me realize that maybe I should improve who I was. Alas, when Zeus tore us apart, I was so broken that I tried to forget about her, and I fell back to my old arrogant, careless god pattern. Until my trials came then I met Will who was somehow the one that seemed most willing to help me. I was then quickly reminded of how sweet and thoughtful Naomi was. Plus, She’s more intimidating to me than I am to her. She just has so much passion in everything she does.”, Naomi was the one blushing now, Nico rolled his eyes at how cheesy it was, but deep inside he found it really cute, seeing this side of Apollo was really something,

“Does Will know about this?”, Naomi shrugged,

“It just never came up”, Nico looked at Naomi then Apollo before returning his attention to driving,

“Well you should, he thought his father abandoned him all those years until Apollo showed up as a mortal in Camp Half-Blood”, Apollo glanced at Nico with shock,

“But he still helped me?”, Nico just smiled sadly,

“That’s Will for you.” Apollo let out a sigh, and Nico can’t help but pity the guy,

“Hey don’t worry about it, Will has already forgiven you. When he realized how much you changed the second time you came into camp, he decided to completely leave the past behind”, Apollo smiled though still filled with guilt,

“I wish I had been a better father to my children. Gods, I had to be punished to be a mortal and live one hell of a life to realize that.” It was Naomi’s turn to offer him a smile,

“Well, what matters is that you realize that now.” Apollo looked at her,

“I’m so glad you agreed to still be my friend. You really are special Naomi.” Naomi's cheeks were red from blushing,

“Me too.”, Nico glanced at the two. Nico was impressed it was one thing catching a god off-guard, it’s another hearing them admit their mistakes out loud. Plus, we’re talking about the Apollo, one of the many gods who is so full of himself. Apollo really had changed eversince his whole being turned to a mortal punishment. Though Nico may not say it out loud, he’s really proud of the god. A thought suddenly crossed his mind,

“I must admit, if you haven’t forced Zeus to allow gods to interfere with demigod quests, I would have died earlier.” Apollo just hummed in agreement, so Nico asked,

“Are you even allowed to help this much?”, Apollo smirked,

“Probably not, but Zeus has already made me mortal and made me undergo a life-threatening quest once. I don’t mind doing that again or having a punishment that equaled or is worse than that if it means I get to help and save my son”, Nico hummed in satisfaction,

“You’re not half as bad as you think, Apollo” Apollo just nodded as the god felt a genuine smile form on his face.

The rest of the trip was quiet. Apollo wasn’t joking when he said that the trip was gonna be quick. It only felt like 3 hours when Apollo said,

“Oh, look we’re entering Quebec”. That’s when things went downward. Air smacked through the sun chariot as a strong wind spirit bumped at it. Soon many wind spirits followed, Nico turned to Apollo,

“I thought we’re protected?”, Apollo was pondering,

“We’re in Boreas domain now, meaning the wind spirits may be stronger.” Nico looked at him with disbelief,

“Stronger than the protection?”, another wind spirit bumped them nearly turning the car upside down, Apollo gulped,

“Unfortunately, yes. We have to land.”, Nico nodded as he frantically tried to land the chariot as gently as he can, so as to not crash, but on their way down, the wind spirits seemed to be attacking everywhere, this made it very hard to have any control on the said vehicle. Apollo groaned,

“They seem angry!”, Nico rolled his eyes,

“Thanks for stating the obvious, Apollo” The sun chariot was out of control as the wind spirit began pushing from the back making them drop at a much faster speed. Nico swore under his breath as he turned to his two companions, 

“Grab me anywhere, I’m gonna shadow travel us to the ground”, the two didn’t argue as Apollo grabbed him by his arm and Naomi by his shoulder. He summoned for the nearest shadows then they were swallowed by it. They came out just beside where the sun chariot had crashed behind them. In the distance, he saw the hotel that held home to Boreas’ Palace. He was going to make a run for it when he realized a chimera in front of them. He was about to call for some skeletons to face the monster when Apollo put an arm on his shoulder, 

“You go on ahead, me and Naomi will deal with this, we’ll follow once we’re done”, Nico looked at him with shock as the chimera dared approach Apollo produced a light that seemed to temporarily blind the thing,

“But-”, Naomi cut him off, 

“No buts Nico dear, go ahead and face Boreas then find out where Khione is holding Will, were limited in time”, Nico knew he couldn’t argue with that as Apollo shot an arrow at the thing, making it stumble, while Naomi prepared her sword, the monster still seem to be somehow blinded, Apollo looked at him,

“Go now, before it sees again”, Nico nodded then started running towards the hotel. When he got into the lobby he ran towards the receptionist, unsheathing his stygian sword and pointing it at him,

“Look buddy, you better give me access to Boreas or else I won’t hesitate to call upon an army of skeletons. You should know that I don’t need my father to do that.” The receptionist fumbled for a card as he nodded shakily then handed Nico the card,

“Good” Nico did not sheath his sword again while he walked into the elevator. He kept at a ready. When the elevator door opened. He cautiously walked towards the throne room, his sword ready to attack. When he reached the throne room, however, a gust of wind pushed him back making him hit a nearby wall, the god laughed evilly in front of him,

“I’ve been waiting for your return, Di Angelo.”, Nico quickly picked himself up and raised his sword at ready.

Chapter Text

Nico glared at Boreas, “So, you are helping your daughter.”, Boreas glared back, 

“Well, duh! She’s my daughter, she may be a brat, but I still care for her and so I shall support her. Plus, you have no idea how embarrassing it is to be forced to pledge such loyalties to a slutty god like Zeus. ”, thunder boomed around them as Nico smirked,

“Be careful Boreas, you don’t want to anger the King of Olympus even more, right? I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of his wrath and what he can do.” Nico was just stalling at this point, he knew he was nothing against the god, alone. He was also way up in the building that he would not be able to summon any skeletons. Boreas seemed to not notice what he was trying to do as the said god let out a cold humorless laugh then continued talking,

“Oh Di Angelo, we have two weapons with us that makes us quite invincible, you see.”, Nico kept his glare at the god,

“Are you talking about the ember and the Lethe water? I don’t think that makes you quite invincible.” The god raised an eyebrow,

“And why so?” 

“Well, for one you can’t use the ember to its full potential-”, Boreas cut him off with another cold laugh,

“You really don’t get  it don’t you?”, Nico suddenly looked confused,

“What are you talking about?”, Boreas gave him an evil smile that sent chills through his spine,

“Well, I mean you could have just chosen to die in the river back in Austin but since you’re here now, well, you’re going to help us destroy Olympus. Don’t you see? You’re the second weapon”, Nico gave the god another glare as he scowled,

“And how are you gonna do that. What makes you think you can use me?” Nico knew the answer, but he wanted to be wrong. Plus, he was still stalling, while praying that Apollo and Naomi would come to his aid soon. As much as he hates to admit it, if he tried to fight this god in now, he would definitely lose, unless if they were in lower grounds then he might have a chance. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Boreas finally answered his question with the answer he had expected but still dreaded,

“Lethe water” Nico kept glaring at the god who remained unfazed, 

“Well enough talk, let’s get this over with, shall we?” the god blasted wind in his direction but Nico dodged it as he rolled to his left. He then summoned the nearest shadows to grab the god, which caught the god off-guard and so Nico took his chance to try and stab the god but he lost control of the shadows as the god broke free then laughed,

“You’re forgetting how near my daughter and the ember is.”, Nico took this opportunity while the god talked to kick him at his gut, which made him stumble backward. Nico smirked,

“Only confirms my theory that Will is being held here”, the god was beginning to stand but Nico put the tip of his sword at the god’s neck as he gave the god another glare,

“Now, tell me where they are and I might just spare you”, the god just let out a chuckle,

“Oh Di Angelo, you’re forgetting that I’m a god”, he felt the wind around him pick up, Nico deepened the sword to the god’s neck,

“Any funny business, then I’ll make sure you die right here and now.”, the god smirked,

“I’m not scared of you, besides if you kill me now, then you’ll never find your boyfriend”, Nico scowled but his grip loosened which gave the god the opportunity to send a gust of wind which sent Nico flying across the room, he was sure that he’s crash will cause him broken bones and probably death but he landed on something soft. Nico stood up as he saw a bunch of sun-shaped pillows on the floor. He then looked at his side to see Apollo and Naomi standing by the throne room entrance. The sun god smirked as he spoke,

“Oh, I’m sorry did I spoil your plans? I wonder what would father think about this whole scheme you had.” Boreas seemed to be at shock but quickly recovered, 

“Oh don’t give yourself credit yet, Apollo. You’ll still have to escape me, and don’t forget you’re in my domain”, Apollo summoned a bow and a quiver of arrows, 

“Oh, you’re making a mistake underestimating an Olympian god”, he quickly glanced at Nico, the son of Hades nodded receiving the message,

I’ll deal with Boreas. You and Naomi go find Will.

The said son god then faced Boreas once more as he nocked an arrow in his bow,

“Let’s get this over with then.” As soon as he released the arrow, Nico got himself up. Naomi grabbed his arm making him face her,

“You alright? No injuries?”, Nico nodded as they both ran towards the elevator. As the elevator door closed the last thing he saw was Apollo dodging winds sent by Boreas as he tried to shoot another arrow. Nico faced Naomi,

“You think he’ll be alright?”, Naomi gave him a reassuring smile,

“As he said, don’t underestimate an Olympian god. Plus, he’s fueled with the motivation of giving us enough time to save Will. Love conquers all afterall. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Nico nodded content with the answer. Naomi then looked at Nico, 

“How are we going to find out where Will is?”, Nico just smirked as he answered,

“I have an idea.” Naomi nodded signaling that she trusts what Nico has in mind.

As soon as the elevator door opened, Nico walked toward the receptionist, pinning his sword on his neck once again then glared at the guy,

“You already know what I’m capable of, so it’s either you answer my questions or this hotel gets flooded with skeletons”, the receptionist shrugged as he mumbled,

“My bosses are gonna kill me”, Nico smirked at him,

“Well, they’ll probably kill you either way”, the receptionist sighs,

“What do you need this time?”

“Tell me where Khione is.”, the receptionist gasped,

“That is confidential information. I am under strict orders not to reveal it.”, Nico push his sword a little deeper on the boy’s neck,

“You agreed to tell me what I need”, he reminded, this time Naomi took her own celestial bronze sword and positioned it at the boy’s chest,

“Tell us what we need or you’ll experience a painful double death.”, the receptionist's mouth was agape from shock at what just happened. When he regained composure he pointed to the door beside the elevator,

“Go down the stairs through that door, then there will be another elevator which leads to Khione’s underground throne room”, the two removed their respective swords from the receptionist as Nico nodded, Naomi went for a smile then said sarcastically,

“Thank you for your service” The two started walking towards the said door then went down the stairs behind it. Once they reached the elevator, Nico let out a laugh he was trying to hold back,

“Oh gods, that boy looked so scared, and did you just thank him for his service?”, Naomi laughed with him. They both regained their composure when the door started to open. On the other side of the elevator doors were 3 polar bears and 3 cyclopes. Nico and Naomi exchanged a look as Naomi sheathed her celestial bronze sword and took out her mortal sword, they had a silent agreement.

Nico will face the cyclopes while Naomi faces the polar bears.  

At that thought, they jumped into action. Naomi quickly stabbed one of the bears through the chest as Nico dodged a club swing then stabbed one of them in the leg, making the said cyclops lose its balance. The two others shielded their brother. Nico cursed as he dodged another swing of one club.  At the corner of his eyes he saw a polar bear try to tackle Naomi, but Naomi just sent her sword straight to its chest. Nico then found an opening to stab one of the cyclops straight to the gut which made it dissolve into dust. Naomi then called his name as he dodged the cyclops trying to grab him, he turned to her as she finished off the last polar bear,

“Can you feel Will’s lifeforce right now?”, Nico rolled out of reach from the cyclops then closed his eyes, he gasped once he opened it,

“His only barely alive, nearly 90% of him is gone” he managed, Naomi’s face turned grim then nodded,

“I’ll deal with the remaining cyclopes, go get to him.”, Nico nodded as he ran to the only doors available which were freezing cold the moment he touched it but he shrugged it off. As soon as he opened the door he found himself in the room he has been seeing in his dreams. Will was still in the corner of the room while Khione and Octavian stood in the middle of the room, both giving him evil smiles. Octavian then spoke,

“I see you finally made it, Di Angelo.” He didn’t pay mind to them at first as he called Will’s name and slowly shuffled to get close enough to him to assure him that he was finally there,

“Will!”, the son of Apollo looked up and gave a tired yet genuine smile. 

“You came”, he heard him whispered, Nico nodded offering a smile towards him,

“Ofcourse I did.” he reassured.

Khione then started laughing coldly,

“Sorry for ruining your reunion but I believe we have a certain son of Hades to wipe his memory clean”, Octavian then turned to Nico,

“Let’s continue where we left off then.”, Nico glanced at Will who gave him a dreadful look. He then remembered what his father had told him then connected it to what Naomi told him earlier. Love conquers all. So, he moved closer to the son of Apollo, so that Will is positioned behind Nico. The son of Hades glared at Octavian,

“You’ll have to catch me off-guard first.” At this Nico used his Stygian Sword to quickly cut the chains bounding Will to the wall, hoping that they could find a way to escape sooner or later. Then he positioned his sword at a ready, making sure his shielding the weak and fading son of Apollo behind him.

Chapter Text

Octavian smirked at the sight of Nico protecting Will as he said, “You’re on, Di Angelo.”, Nico smirked at him,

“You don’t even have a weapon.” Octavian glanced at Khione and just by a wave of her hand, an Imperial Gold pilum appeared in Octavian’s hand as he faced Nico again who just glared back. The two boys prepared for the other. Nico was the first to move as he tried to stab Octavian who easily deflected with his pilum, maneuvering the pilum around him to make a direct hit at Nico’s chest which the other boy dodged until a blast of snow came to where he was supposed to land, so he decided to duck, glaring at the snow goddess,

“Two against one? That doesn’t seem fair.” The goddess laughed coldly,

“Tell me child, when do villains ever play fair?” She then sent another blast of snow at him which he dodged but didn’t notice as Octavian was swinging his pilum to where he was dodging towards to. He tried to not get hit but the pilum grazed his left side. The door where he came from then opened, Naomi stood at the entrance holding her bronze sword as she faced the goddess,

“Well, if you won’t play fair” she glanced at Nico, “Then I guess it’s up to us to even out the odds.” She winked at the son of Hades before charging at the goddess who was shocked by the new company, she dodged Naomi’s sword at the last moment as she materialized her own sword made out of ice. From Nico’s back, he heard Will whisper in surprise,

“Mom?”

At this Octavian once again charged at Nico which he tried to dodge, but barely managed to. The pain at his side is making his movements sloppy. When Octavian came near enough though, he managed to almost nick him, but the said demigod must have known the danger of Stygian Iron as he quickly moved back at the near touch of his blade. Nico then adjusted his position once more to make sure Will was still behind him. He then realized his wound was worse than he had thought when this small action made him wince from the pain it sent coming from his side. Someone then touched his grazed side and saw his stupid boyfriend weakly standing behind him, his back leaning on the wall to keep him standing, as he flickered alarmingly, trying to heal Nico’s side, so he pushed his boyfriend back down. Nico was shocked at the action so he hissed at him,

“Stay down, Solace. I’ll be fine, make sure you stay alive first.”

“But-”

“Don’t you dare say I’m much worse because I think we both know that at the moment you’re-” He didn’t finish his sentence, when he saw Will’s shocked expression, Nico then turned around to see Octavian standing above him, Lethe water in hand, the bottle opened and about to spill it over him. Nico mentally kicked himself for bickering with his boyfriend in the midst of a fight. The next few things came like a flash. Everything happened so fast, that it took Nico some time to process it all. Just as the water was about to hit him someone pushed him out of the way. He then looked up to see his boyfriend take the water for him, as to how he managed to stand up and be solid and strong enough to push him away, he had no idea. He watched as the water spilled on his boyfriend’s form and as Octavian’s smug look turned into a shocked one at what just happened. He felt angry at the situation. It was one thing to wash his memory away, but for that to happen to Will, it was unforgivable. He felt the anger boil in him and before Octavian could even recover from his shock, he took his sword and stabbed Octavian right in the chest. He dropped the now empty then uttered out,

“You’ll pay for this, Di Angelo.” Octavian then flickered before completely disappearing in front of him, Nico glared at the disappearing ghost as he said fiercely,

“I highly doubt that.” Nico closed his eyes to make sure Octavian’s soul was back in the underworld, he let out a sigh of relief when he confirmed it. He then turned to his boyfriend now completely solid again but laying unconscious on the ground. Atleast now he was sure he won’t be fading anymore but-, he recalled the Lethe water showering his boyfriend, Oh no. He was kneeling toward him when he heard a scream. Nico looked in time to see Naomi’s sword hitting Khione’s left shoulder. The goddess then threw her sword aside as she glared at Naomi, 

“Oh, enough games.” She then raised her hand and surrounded Naomi with a blizzard of snow,

“This is what you get for interfering with such businesses. But don’t worry, you’ll make a beautiful sculpture dear.” Nico felt fear for Naomi as he tried to run towards her but the goddess must have sensed him as she sent a gust of wind that sent him flying back. Nico just froze in fear when he saw Naomi slowly turning to ice, just before her face was completely turned to frozen though, she gave him a smile through the blizzard as she said,

“Remember Nico, Love conquers all.” At that, Naomi became completely frozen. The goddess then turned to him, materializing the ember on her hands,

“I see you killed my partner, I’ll just find a way to get him back, but first.” Her face then turned cold and emotionless, “I’ll have to deal with you.” She raised the ember as it glowed blue then a bunch of the shadows came for him wrapping his arms and leg then keeping him down. Nico tried to control them but failed. The goddess then let out a cold laugh as she used her other hand, getting ready to send a blast of snow at him “Well it looks like you’ll be a nice ice sculpture too.” Nico wasn’t gonna accept his fate just like that, not when he has already come this far. He looked towards the still unconscious son of Apollo from his right, then Naomi frozen in ice to his left. Love conquers all. He kept that in thought. He used the people around him, and the people who have helped him to get this far as motivation. Slowly, the shadows started to listen to him. He was slowly gaining control. As Khione blasted him the shadows holding him down were already loosened and so he dodged out of the way. The goddess was shocked but recovered quickly as she sent blast after blast at Nico who just kept dodging them. She glared at him,

“You can’t keep dodging my blasts forever and you know that.” Nico knew she was right. He was exhausted, and though Will somehow managed to close the wound from his side, it was still painful when he put too much pressure on it. He then resolved to have a silent prayer in his thoughts. Well if any other god out there wishes to help me again, I’ll gladly accept. What he didn’t expect was for that prayer to be answered. The ground began to shake, at first, he thought Khione was using the ember once again but when a small fissure behind Khione opened and a familiar ghost holding a celestial bronze sword appeared who quickly kicked the goddess from the back which made her drop the ember, he knew he had has received back-up,

“Sisyphus?”, the ex-king smiled at him,

“Nice to see you again, my friend.” Nico can’t help but smile then confusion washed over him,

“How-” he was cut off by Sisyphus as he quickly said,

“Let’s just say your father really loves you and oh, better grab the ember now before Khione recovers” Nico quickly complied, Khione then got over her shock and began going for the ember too, blasting Nico again but Nico dodged this one. Sisyphus then flickered, then reappeared in front of Khione, blocking her path as he said,

“Don’t you even dare.” Nico has regained his balance and went for the ember again, Khione tried to freeze Sisyphus but the said ghost just laughed at her face,

“Silly goddess, you can’t freeze a ghost.” Sisyphus then raised his sword and tried to stab the goddess who barely dodged the quick attack. At that moment, Nico has finally gotten hold of the ember but as he touched it, whispers began flooding his mind,

Use me, 

Take revenge on all the gods,

Why kill one when you can kill all of them.

Besides, they did nothing but ruin your life. 

They had used you,

You don’t like being used.

You became entertainment to them,

You don’t like being too embarrassed.

That was your private life!

He had to admit the said ember was tempting and if he was listening to this a few years back he might have given in to it. But now, he knew better, sure, some of the whispers may be true but he knew that the gods do care, not all of them but enough of them to keep Nico from succumbing to the temptation. Besides, he wouldn’t have made it this far without some of the gods. He then pocketed the ember, as he planned not to use it, as his father had advised. This immediately silenced the whispers of the ember. He then faced Khione who was still being distracted by Sisyphus. He called out,

“Sisyphus, get out of the way.” The ex-king nodded and stood beside Nico, the goddess was about to blast him again, but Nico was too fast as he used all the emotions he has right now to motivate his actions, he looked at Will’s state, anger, then Naomi’s state, grief , he then glanced at Sisyphus, joy. He then thought of his last talk with Kayla, sadness, then how Apollo has changed, proud, then Eros’ explanation of his actions and the help he had provided, understanding, his father helping him as much as he can, care. Whoever he thought of though, there was always one common emotion that really goes beyond all. Love. He used the shadows around him to wrap the goddess, at her waist, arms and legs then pinning her to the wall, making sure she cannot make the right movements to create another blast of ice. He then demanded the shadows to keep her still and so they did. At that, he let out a sigh of relief as Sisyphus smiled at him,

“You did it.” Nico gave him a tired smile,

“Not without your help. Thank you.”, Sisyphus nodded,

“It’s your father you have to thank, he’s the one who released me from my punishment long enough to come to your aid, but you have to admit I was really good at distracting and fighting” Nico then rolled his eyes. The ghost then began flickering, he gave Nico a sad smiled,

“Looks like my time is up, promise to visit me?” Nico nodded as he said,

“Ofcourse, thank you again, for being my friend” At that, the ex-king disappeared but before he did, he managed to shoot the son of Hades a bright genuine. The door to the room then began to open as Apollo came in with Boreas behind him, in some kind of gold shackles that seemed to cost the god pain, Apollo frowned, 

“Looks like I missed all the fun.” He then produced another golden shackle and attached it to Khione as Nico loosen the shadows wrapping her, Apollo smiled at him reassuringly,

“It won’t allow them to use their powers, I’ll bring them to Zeus after this for judgment and hopefully punishment.”, Nico nodded. This is when Apollo scanned the room then quickly unfreezing Naomi, who he quickly caught in a bridal carry when she fell after she was unfrozen, still quite shivering. Apollo checked her vitals then seemed to produce enough heat to stop her shivering, he smiled at her,

“Your vitals seemed normal, are you okay?” Naomi smiled as she answered,

“I feel fine, thank you.” She then stood up slowly and hugged Nico,

“I’m proud of you.” Before Nico could respond, they heard groaning across the room and saw that Will was starting to stir. Nico mentally kicked himself for forgetting to check on him. The three of them then began to run towards him, Nico helped him sit up as he opened his eyes, he seemed to be taking in his surroundings with a confused look, Nico cupped his cheek to make him face him,

“Hey Will, Sunshine? Everything’s gonna be alright, okay?” Will looked confusingly at him then to Naomi and Apollo, then back at him,

“Oh hi, gods, you look cute.” Nico felt himself blush before Will continued as he rubbed the back of his neck, “But uh- Who are you guys, and who am I?” Dread filled both Nico’s and Naomi’s face, as Apollo looked just as confused as Will,

“Umm, am I missing something here?” Nico looked at him, with fear still filling his eyes all he managed to say was,

“Lethe Water.” And that was enough for Apollo to understand and share the dread of his companions.

Chapter Text

Naomi kneeled in front of Nico and Will. Her features softened as she tried to talk to her son, “Hi dear, so, I’m your mother.” she then pointed at Apollo, “He’s kinda your father.”, then she gestured to Nico, “And this guy that you just called cute, is your boyfriend.”

Will and Nico both visibly blush. Will then nodded as he faced Nico, “Well, that makes sense.” The son of Apollo winked before facing his mother again, “So, what happened then? Why do I not remember anything?”

Naomi wrinkled her nose but kept her soft expression, “Well, it’s quite complicated, but we’re going to fix it, okay dear?” Will nodded. Naomi then turned to Apollo, “So, how do we fix this?”

Apollo pondered for a moment before speaking, “I think there’s a river in the Underworld opposite of the Lethe, but I’m not sure of its effects, nor do I have the power to give you permission to take its water, so…” He looked at Nico, “You better go and visit your father.” Nico nodded. Apollo then faced Will, “Son, I’m gonna need you not to ask any questions, okay? Everything is a bit too hard to explain at the moment.” Will nodded. Apollo smiled then hugged his son, Naomi followed suit, then eventually also Nico.

When they all pulled away, Nico was the one to speak, “So, I guess I better bring Will to the underworld now.”

Apollo nodded then gestured to Khione and Boreas, “I’ll take these gods to Olympus then maybe take Naomi home. I assume it would be dangerous to take her to the underworld.”

Nico nodded, “Unfortunately, yes.”

Naomi smiled at him, “It’s okay just get our old Will back, okay?”

Nico then hugged Naomi, “Thank you for everything.”

When he pulled away he helped Will up, then looked at Apollo and Naomi who gave him reassuring smiles.

Apollo hummed then said, “Don’t worry, I’ll follow you in the underworld after my tasks here, but if there’s anyone who can convince Hades, it’s probably you.”

Nico nodded taking Will’s hand who then looked at him with glee, “Hold on tight, sunshine.” At that, the shadows swallowed them.

The two had came out in Hades’ throne room in the Underworld. As soon as Hades has seen Nico and Will, he stood up from his throne then faced Will, “Do you mind if me and my son talk in private.” 

Will shook his head, “Not at all sir, but where-” he was cut off as Hades snapped his finger then the son of Apollo was gone.

Hades faced Nico, “Don’t worry he’s in your room.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “A little warning next time, dad.” 

Hades held out his hand, “The ember, where is it?”

It took Nico awhile before he processed what his father had said. He completely forgot about the ember in his pocket due to the current events. Nico then took it out then quickly gave it to Hades before the whispers started again. Hades looked at his son proudly, “I’m impressed that you resisted the urge to give in to the power.”

Nico shook his head, “It’s not going to make me happy the way I wanted to be.” 

Hades nodded then sighed, “Do you realize just how powerful this ember is?” Nico shook his head as Hades continued, “Ever wonder how your boyfriend lost his memory even though the water didn't look like it had gone into his system?”

Nico pondered for a moment then said, “Now that you mentioned it, how did that happen?”

Hades just raised the ember, “Tell me son, did you see any drop of Lethe water around the floor where Octavian showered your boyfriend with it?”

Nico looked back to the scene in the room. He shook his head, “No, actually I even kneeled beside Will, and there was nothing.”

Hades nodded, “Just as I thought, the water was enchanted by the ember so that it would go into your system the moment it touched its target.”

Nico rubbed the back of his neck, “The ember has control on the Lethe?” 

Hades nodded, “It has control of everything from the underworld.” It was Nico’s turn to nod.

There was silence for a moment until Hades cleared his throat, “I believe you have other intentions as to why you decided to come here.”

Nico nodded, “Since you already know of Will’s state, I would like to-” he was cut off when Hades said firmly,

“No, I will not allow you to use that river.”

Nico glared at his father but trying to keep as calm as he can, “And why is that? Besides, what river are we even talking about here.”

Hades looked down and said, “Look, I really want to help but a dip in the River Mnemosyne could have its side-effects.”

Nico crossed his arms, “Such as?”

The Lord of the Underworld was quiet for awhile before finally answering, “It will restore your memories all at once, but the rush of memories and the emotions that comes with it may lead to madness or insanity. Only the strongest of minds can survive such an experience.”

Nico kept his glare at his father, “Will is one of the strongest person I know. If there’s anyone who can survive such a trip, it would be him!”

Hades then glared back at his son, “Are you kidding me? Khione freaking broke the child just by saying a few mean things to him. You call that strong?”

“Yes, because it was bottled up in him. Plus, he recovered after it!”

“Not without any help he didn’t!”

The two were shouting at this point. There was suddenly a glow of golden light from the corner of the room, where Apollo stepped out, “Don’t underestimate my son, Hades.”

Hades turned his glare at the sun god, “And who gave you permission to just walk in here?”

Apollo just waved his hand dismissively, “I’m just here to give Nico some back-up. Just listen to what I have to say then I would get going.”

Hades looked at Apollo, then at his son, who was still glaring at him. He lets out a sigh, “Alright, I’ll listen but don’t you dare say any poetry, or else I’ll make sure to take you to the Fields of Punishment.” 

Apollo grinned as Nico let out a sigh of relief, he then glanced quickly at the sun god before muttering a silent, “thanks.”

Apollo nodded then faced Hades again, “I have only one point here and that point is 'Love conquers all'. I could’ve defended that my son was positive or that he can see the bright side of things but I won’t. Remember who got my son to recover after all the harsh things Khione said? Right, it was Nico. Now, I know Will would be drowning in his memories alone for quite some time once he dips into Mnemosyne, and Nico couldn’t be there, but that’s where you’re wrong. Because Nico is there, together with other positive memories. Sure, the rush of negative memories may get him to give in to madness but those memories would be accompanied by positive memories, and I’m sure that these memories, especially those including Nico will help him to stay intact. Remember, he loves Nico so much that his motivation to stay alive was so that Nico wouldn’t grief for him. Now, that same logic does apply here, as Will drifts into his memories, his memories with Nico will help him stay sane. Those would be his motivation to not give in because as much as he’ll be reminded of all the sad times, he’ll also be reminded of all the people who loved him and those he would not want to sadden or disappoint. Thus, Love conquers all.”

Both Hades’ and Nico’s mouths were agape. Once Hades regained his composure, he straightened himself before muttering, “I guess your point is quite valid.”

Apollo smiled “Glad we agree.” he then winked at Nico, “It’s all up to you now.”

Nico sighed then looked at his dad, “Please let me do this, I wouldn’t know what I’ll do without Will beside me. He has taught me to accept myself again. He helped me to open up and let people in again, people who then became my friends and stood by me even through the hardest of times. But most importantly, he makes me really happy, and that's saying something coming from me because I had never thought that I'll be relying on someone again to keep my happiness intact. You told me you want me to be that one exception, and that you wanted me to be happy. Right now, nothing can ever make me happier than you letting me bring Will to the Mnemosyne river to atleast try to get his memories back.”

Hades sighed, though he may not admit it out loud, it was always hard for him to ignore his son’s requests, especially when it came to his happiness. The moment Nico pulled out the “You want me to be the exception” card, Hades knew he was going to give in. “Alright, I’ll allow you, but if this goes downwards, you can’t blame me for the consequences.”

Nico then hugged his father out of pure joy, “Thanks, dad.” 

Hades hugged his son back awkwardly, “Anything to make you happy.” 

When the two pulled away, Apollo was fake crying, “Who knew the Lord of the Underworld had feelings.” 

Hades glared at the sun god before saying, “You better go now.”

Apollo raised his arms defensively, “Geez, don’t need to be harsh, uncle.” He then smiled at Nico, “I trust you to take care of Will from here on.”

Nico nodded, “Ofcourse”

Apollo waved goodbye before disappearing into golden light.

Hades then snapped his finger which made the son of Apollo appear beside Nico who looked a bit confused but smiled when he saw Nico.

Hades cleared his throat, “You two better go before Persephone comes back and starts to pick the best flowers that fit your 'ship' as they call it.” 

Nico chuckled as he grabbed Will’s hand, “Ready to go on another trip, sunshine?”

Will smiled, “I think I’m always ready to go anywhere with you.”

Nico rolled his eyes at how a dork his boyfriend is, even if his memories were wiped.

Hades faced his son, “Goodluck, I wish the best for two of you.” He then looked at Will, “As for you, I am looking forward to meeting you again someday when your memories are intact.”

Nico rolled his eyes before saying, “Thanks, dad.” Nico tightened his hold on his boyfriend’s hand before he allowed the shadows to swallow them into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Nico and Will landed near the banks of the River Mnemosyne. The two were still holding hands when Nico spun Will so he was facing him. He stared at his boyfriend’s blue eyes and noticed that he looked concerned or nervous. Nico tried to smile reassuringly at him, “Hey, it’s going to be alright. I just need you to take a dip in the water, then I’ll summon a skeleton to help you out. I’ll make sure that when you wake up, you’ll be on my lap, okay?”

Will nodded then kissed Nico quickly in the cheeks, when he pulled away he was rubbing the back of his neck and was blushing, “I hope that’s okay, I’m not quite sure if we have ever kissed each other before.”

Nico lets out a chuckle as he felt himself blush too, “Don’t worry, it’s okay.”

Will nodded then furrowed his eyebrows, “Aren’t you going to dip with me or would it be too dangerous for you?”

Nico then remembered how there was still has a huge fraction of his memory lost because of the Lethe. Suddenly the idea of dipping into Mnemosyne didn’t sound like a bad one. Then he recalled the possible effects, sure, he can probably find something to motivate him to stay sane but at that moment, he didn’t really want to leave Will alone as he dives into his own memories. Plus, he didn’t really want to risk it. If Will does turn insane after this, he wants to be there for him, and he would do everything in his power to help him regain sanity again, and he can’t really do that if he’s insane, himself too. He then tried to recall through the last months and all the good memories he had with his newly found friends, but most especially with Will. Nico felt an involuntary smile appear on his face and realized just how content he already was. He doesn’t need to know the past anymore for he already made new and happier memories. All that matters now was to make sure Will is safe, and that's what he's going to do.

At that thought, he just shook his head at Will, “I’ll stay here, and make sure to protect you as you recall your memories.”

Will gave him a half-hearted smile, “I’m still really scared about what's going to happen. I mean gods! I’m in the Underworld, it’s quite overwhelming.”

Nico chuckled, “Believe me when I say that you’ve definitely experienced and been to far more dangerous places than my father’s throne room.” His face then softened as he looked at Will intently, “But can you do me a favor?”

Will met his eyes just as intently, “Anything”

Nico lets out a shaky breath before saying, “As you get overwhelmed by your memories and things seem to get rough, just keep me in mind, okay? You have to go back and wake up for me.” Nico felt a tear fall down his eyes before he even realized it formed there. “Because gods Will, I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose you too.”

Will kissed Nico on the lips, when he pulled away there was a slight hint of red on his cheeks, “Don’t worry, I’ll come back.” He then wiped the tear off Nico’s face, “Now smile, the last thing I want to see before going on a trip down memory lane is your smile.”

Nico complied as Will jumped into the water. 

---<333---

The moment he was underwater, everything was plain dark. It felt like he was staring into nothingness. Until his memories started to happen before him, the most memorable both sad and happy being the clearest.

Naomi and a 7-year-old Will were hand in hand in a mall’s parking lot. They were about to enter the car when a minotaur showed up. Naomi swore under her breath as she shoved Will into the car, “Stay there.” Naomi then took out some kind of bronze sword. Young Will was in awe as her mother dodged an attack from the minotaur then stabbed it straight in the chest. Naomi rushed inside the car then drove away.

Will pulled her mother’s shirt, “Mama I wanna use a sword too!” he said in glee.

His mother smiled at him, “Someday, dear.” 

The scene then changed,

Will was packing in his room. Will looked almost a year older than the last memory. Young Will was crying as he packed his things. 

Naomi came in, “Will, what are you doing?”

Will looked at her guiltily, “I know it’s my fault, mama.”

Naomi furrowed his eyebrows, “What are you talking about?”

Will looked away, “The monster attacks. I want you to be safe, so I’m gonna take my leave.”

Naomi sat in Will’s bed then hugged his son, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but,” she wiped a tear out of his face, “I think you’re right. Atleast, let me drive you into a safe place.” 

Will sniffled then embraced his mom back before whispering, “Okay, Ma.”

This was followed by a continuous flow of negative memories. His memories don't seem to be going in any order. He recalled the time he had a crush on a guy classmate then all his other classmates will bully him for it. Then he recalled his brothers (Lee and Michael) dying as he had to take on the Head Counsellor position at a young age. Then he recalled feeling useless and down everytime a patient died in his care. Then he even recalled a time when he was really young and asked his mom every single day about his dad and if he will ever visit, for him only to grow bitter about him then repent him. What bothered him most was seeing himself practice his smile in a mirror, which made him realize that his smiles were nothing but a facade. Will then suddenly felt down. Was my life really this miserable? Do I even want to remember anything? Was there even anything happy about me? Did anyone really know me for who I truly am? Then as his thoughts were drowned out by the negative memory, a single voice echoed through him “I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose you too.”, it was Nico’s voice, then Will recalled his soft yet dazzling smile as he jumped into the water. I have to stay strong, I can’t give in. For Nico. That’s when he started to recall memories of the son of Hades.

It was the Battle of Manhattan, he was a combat medic so he would pick up injured campers and try his best to heal them. Will saw one Ares kid laying on the floor and so he ran towards her, he checked for her vitals and realized he has to heal her there and now or she’ll die and so he focused on healing the kid. Once he was sure the camper was stable, there was a laugh from behind him and saw a cyclops holding a club about to swing at him. Just as it was about to swing it though, the temperature around him dropped and the son of Hades came out of the shadows in front of him, putting himself in between of Will and the cyclops. He used his Stygian iron sword to stab the cyclops before turning to Will to scowl and say, “Get your patient out of here before you also get hurt.” Will nodded then complied. Even though it was a short interaction, he knew he was amazed at the son of Hades and that’s when his crush for him started to form.

The next scenes were filled with memories of Nico, how he tried to talk to him after the Battle only to realize he had left. Then he saw their interaction in the Battle against Gaea, Will rolled his eyes at the sight of him suddenly holding Nico’s hands because he helped Mellie give birth to a satyr. Real smooth Solace. He then remembered the 3 days in the infirmary which was filled with nothing but bickering until the third and final morning when Nico woke up from a nightmare and Will was there to comfort him. I guess it’s safe to say that that’s where their friendship started as it only grew from there. Nico learned to open up to Will then the two eventually became a couple(It was a slow burn, but really worth the wait). Then he realized that he only learned to open up to Nico right after they became a couple. This happened when the son of Hades caught Will had a panic attack,

He just finished healing the last injured camper from that night's capture the flag and his hands were a bloody mess so he went into the washroom to wash it out. He stood there as he stared at himself in the mirror. He was frozen, he couldn’t move. He looked down at the blood in his hands then he felt like he forgot how to breathe. He slumped himself on the wall trying to get himself to move. All he had to do was wash his hands, and this would all be over with, right? He can feel his fast heartbeat and heavy breathing. He just stared at his hands as the blood feels like it represents all those who died because he was an incompetent medic. 

He then heard someone call his name from the outside in a really worried tone, then he saw his boyfriend burst in, eyes filled with concern. The son of Hades kneeled at a distance but facing him, “Hey, sunshine, you want me to come near you?” Will shook his head. He feels like he was gonna suffocate if there was not enough space. Nico then nodded in understanding, “Okay, then let’s start with trying to breathe normally first.” Will was going to say something but Nico gestured to him to shut up and just breathe. “Breathe in, breathe out.” Will followed and eventually, his breathing went back to normal. 

Nico sighed, “Come, let’s wash your hands.” Nico was starting to grab him and help him up but hesitated halfway, “Can I touch you?” Will nodded as he let Nico help him up then guide him to the sink. 

Nico helped Will wash his hands as Will was still quite shaky. After that Nico led Will out then sat him up in a cot. “Want to stay here, or do you want to go back to the Apollo cabin?”

Will shook his head before managing to choke up, “Hades cabin?”

Nico pondered for a moment then sighed as he grabbed Will by the arms then shadow traveled them into his cabin. Nico and Will sat on Nico’s bed. Nico put an arm around Will, who then eventually leaned his head on Nico’s shoulder.

It was silent for awhile and Will still felt quite shaky but he felt better wrapped around his boyfriend’s arm. After trying to regain his composure, he managed to whisper a gentle, “Thank you.”

Nico kissed him on the cheek which surprised him at that time, because Nico rarely initiates physical contact, let alone kiss him on the cheek, “Do you want to talk about it?”, the son of Hades said.

Will didn’t want to at first but then realized that he can’t hide in his facade forever and so he told Nico everything. This includes his insecurities, anxieties, and even about all of his negative memories. He also told him that sometimes he just has panic attacks that he couldn’t stop. In the end, he thought Nico would judge then maybe leave him, but he was wrong. Instead, Nico helped him lay down then started to comfort him. Eversince that night, Nico was always there for the attacks, he even memorized the first signs to know when to start helping Will. 

Will smiled at the memory. From then on, he was flooded with positive memories. Like how he found new friends at camp (Lou Ellen, Cecil, Clarisse, etc.). Then there was the bickering with Kayla and Austin. It was followed by the time Apollo came into camp twice and the change he has undergone between the two visits. Then there were those happy moments with Nico, first dates, first kisses, first hugs, and just the constant bickering. As the last of his positive memories filled him he felt a tug at his gut, beckoning him to finally wake up. You have to go back and wake up for me, he recalled Nico saying. Will smiled as he opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was that his head was on Nico’s lap. Then he looked up at Nico who was staring at him with tear streaks all over his face.

The son of Hades smiled when he saw him awake, “I-I thought y-you were never gonna wake up.” 

Will tried to raise his hand to cup Nico’s face but felt really tired and failed, so he just tried to smile, “I did say I’ll wake up, deathboy. You should know by now that I won’t do anything to upset you. Atleast, not if I have I say on it.” 

Nico must have noticed what he tried to do as he leaned down and kissed Will’s forehead, “I know. Now, go to sleep, I’ll take us safely into camp, okay?”

Will hummed in satisfaction as he closed his eyes and finally let fatigue take over. Trying to heal himself for more or less a week constantly completely drained him and was finally taking its toll. Plus, he felt safe laying down on Nico. He trusts his boyfriend enough to know that he will never let anything happen to him. Especially not after all they've been through.

---<333---

Nico smiled at his boyfriend then finally let out a sigh of relief. Things are finally fine, atleast for now. He summoned for the shadows around them so he could take the two of them back into the safety of camp.

Chapter Text

Nico was relieved when he shadow traveled them straight in the infirmary. He was carrying Will bridal style and it wasn’t easy because the latter was much taller than him. As soon as he stepped out of the shadows he laid Will down on the bed then called for a medic. 

Kayla came out from another room and her eyes lit up with relief when she saw them, “Nico, you’re back!” She then began hugging Nico, who stumbled back a bit due to his dizziness and fatigue, he did shadow travel trice the past few hours, and those travels weren’t of short distance. He still returned the hug to Kayla though. He heard the daughter of Apollo muttering “Thank you” over and over again. When they pulled away she went full-on doctor mode(it still surprises him how the Apollo kids can just do this when faced with injuries), she pointed to Will then asked, “What’s wrong with him?” 

Nico sighed, “He’s just tired. He constantly used his healing powers to keep himself solid till I got to him, so maybe just check for his vitals then let him rest.”

Kayla nodded then pointed at Nico, himself, “You look tired, you should get some rest too.”

Nico finally felt the fatigue taking over his body as he nodded, “Will you watch over Will? I mean, if I could I would, but in my state, I doubt I can do anything to protect him if it ever comes to that.”

Kayla smiled at him reassuringly, “Don’t worry, he’s my brother, I’ll make sure he’s still here safe and sound asleep whenever you get enough rest. Plus, I would have to hear a whole lot of scolding from him if I don’t let you rest.”

Nico chuckled, “Sounds like him. Anyways, I think I’ll sleep in my cabin.”

Kayla nodded then noticed his shirt which had a bit of blood from where Octavian nicked him in the side earlier, “Mind if I check that first?”

Nico shrugged but sat on a nearby cot, “Will already healed it, but he was at his weakest state when he did, so sure. Just hurry though, I’m itching to have a nice nap in my cabin.”

Kayla rolled her eyes as she lifted his shirt a bit, “I swear, someday my brother’s selflessness would be the death of him.”

Nico sighed, “Well, we’ll be there to make sure it doesn’t come to that.”

Kayla hummed in agreement, “I’m with you, Di Angelo. Okay, this seemed almost fully healed, so just eat some ambrosia then you could go off to bed.” She went into one of the cabinets then handed him a bar of ambrosia. “Have a nice nap!”

Nico waves goodbye and starts to walk to his cabin. He ate the ambrosia on the way. As soon as he got to his cabin, he changed into more comfortable clothes then slumped in his bed, immediately falling asleep.

When he woke up, he felt sunlight blind his eyes. He felt refreshed because for the first time in days he didn’t have any dreams or nightmares. His first thought was to go and check on Will but when he looked to his side, someone was sitting on his couch. He was about to reach for his sword until the guy spoke, “Calm down, Di Angelo, I’m just here for a talk.” 

Nico rubbed his eyes to wash out the drowsiness in him then focused on the guy on his couch until he finally realized who it was, “Eros?”

The god smiled, “Nice seeing you again, Di Angelo. Mind if we take a walk by the lake?”

Nico shook his head, “I guess that will be fine.”

Eros and Nico sat by the dock of the lake, both their feet dangling over the water. Nico then turned to the god, “So, why are you here?”

Eros smiled, “Just to congratulate you.”

“For the quest?”

“No, for figuring out how to use my gift at the right time.”

“Oh”

“Of course for the quest, Di Angelo! You really are dense, are you?”

Nico chuckled, “And so I’ve been told.” 

The two were silent just staring at the lake, watching as the water glistened because of the sunlight. Nico then started to drift into his thoughts about Will, feeling worried at how the said demigod may have overused his powers. What if he was still burning from the inside? What if he doesn’t wake up? I shouldn’t have left him last night. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Eros squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, “Hey, don’t worry, he’ll heal, and he will wake up, though it may take awhile.”

Nico sighed, “That doesn’t really sound relieving.”

Eros shrugged, “Okay, look at it this way. You can feel if he’s close to death, right?”

Nico nodded as Eros continued, “Then feel for him, is he close to death?”

Nico closed his eyes to concentrate, then felt relief as soon as he opened them again, “No, he’s not.”

Eros then faced Nico, “Then there you go. He's safe, but now I want to ask you something. I’m just a bit curious about one little thing.”

Nico shrugged, “I assume I won’t be able to dodge your question?”

Eros had a smug smile on his face, “That’s the idea.”

“Ask away then.”

Eros pondered for awhile before finally asking as gently as he could, “How did you feel when Will jumped into the river then didn't wake up for a long period of time?”

Nico slumped then glared at the god, “Nosy much?”

Eros rolled his eyes, “You know very well how much the truth matters to me.”

Nico sighed, “I felt like I suddenly regret my decision. My thoughts attacked as my skeletons pulled him out then I positioned him in my lap. Like what if he doesn’t wake up? And what if he did but he was insane? What if I do lose him? It’s just a lot of negative thoughts and questions swimming in my mind. I mean I had to watch the emotions on his face switch over and over again. It pained me to see him scream and thrash in pain at first. Then he’ll smile after a few minutes, then find him sobbing after a few minutes again. I knew his memories were doing it to him. But that’s what made my anxiety soar more.”

Eros looked at him confusingly, “How?”

Nico looked away because he felt his tears about to fall, “I just wondered, what if those memories that caused him pain and made him sob, was because of me?”

Eros took his chin so that Nico would face the god, only to see a look of determination on the god’s face. “Look here, Di Angelo. I’m the god of love himself, so you better take it from me when I say that what your thoughts have told you is all false. That Solace kid loves you so much, he freaking loves you so much that even with his memory wiped he found you cute!" The god then winked at Nico, "That scene caused a lot of swooning on Olympus by the way, especially from my mom.” 

Nico blushed as he rolled his eyes before Eros continued, “Anyways, all I can say is, there’s not a single memory of you that caused him to feel pain, actually you were his motivation to keep going just as he was about to give in. And if you ever were involved in such an angsty memory, you were usually just there to comfort him. So you better throw those trashy thoughts of yours away, because Solangelo is a freaking ship that wouldn’t sink or burn, not even if the world freaking ends! Especially if I had a say on it. That’s how strongly you two love each other.”

Nico laughed at the last part, and Eros joined him. He smiled at the god, “Thank you, I needed that.”

Eros rolled his eyes, “Why did you think I came then?”

Nico snorted, “To congratulate me?”

Eros smiled, “Maybe it was just a reason to use at that time.”

Nico then smirked at the god, “Oh so you came here to comfort me then? How sweet of you.”, he teased.

Eros glared at him, “Don’t push it, Di Angelo. I’m still a god.”

Nico raised his hand defensively, “Alright, alright, no need to be grumpy.”

Eros rolled his eyes, “Whatever, and oh, by the way, I have some good news for you.”

Nico looked at the god questioningly, “Good news from a god doesn’t really end up so good, but go ahead then.”

Eros chuckled, “Okay, so I won’t take offense on that, because that’s usually true. This time though, it’s really good news, atleast for you, I think.” Eros peaked at Nico, only to see him having a neutral reaction before continuing, “The Solangelo season has finally come to an end on Hephaestus TV. Meaning from now on, you and that son of Apollo can have your privacy.”

Nico let out a sigh of relief but then felt curious, “What was the last scene?”

Eros smiled at him, “When you kissed the son of Apollo on his forehead then told him you’ll bring the both of you to the safety of camp before you told him to sleep. And ugh, the way you stared at him when he fell asleep, it was so adorable, you can freaking feel the emotions that came with it. I loved it so much. Gods Di Angelo, You’re so heads over heels over him!”

Nico huffed, “Am not”

“You can’t deny true love in front of the god of love, himself you know. Plus, I must say, that was the best ending so far, the kiss on the forehead was so pure that it may have even beaten Percabeth's underwater kiss.”

Nico then smirked at the god as he teased, “I bet you’re going to miss watching us bicker and all.”

Eros shrugged, “Like I said, god of love here. So, I’ll probably find my own ways. But I must admit, it’s much more realistic watching it on Hephaestus TV.”

Nico rolled his eyes then stared at the lake again. Eros tapped him on the shoulder then said, “Well, I think that’s all I have to say for now. I wouldn’t want to keep you from checking on your ‘significant annoyance’ as you say it.” Nico nodded as he smiled at the god who then said, “Till we meet again, Di Angelo.” then he was gone.

Nico stared at the lake a few minutes more before he stood up and started walking towards the infirmary. He saw Kayla sleeping on the desk. He shook her a bit to wake her up, she probably hasn’t gotten some rest, “Hey Kayla, maybe you should rest in your cabin. I’ll stay here for awhile to help watch the infirmary.”

Kayla looked at him drowsily then nodded, “I’ll send Austin after awhile so you’ll have an Apollo kid around.” 

Nico nodded, “I appreciate that. Now, go. We don’t want Will waking up to this." he gestured at Kayla's sleepy form "He’s probably gonna scold you for this.”

Kayla chuckled, “Yes, he most definitely would.” Nico helped her up to the door before she waved, “See you later, Nico.”

When she left, Nico decided to pull a chair so he was sitting beside Will’s bed. He stared at his boyfriend and was in awe at how peaceful he was in his sleep. Nico held his hand then kissed his boyfriend's forehead again before he laid his head near his boyfriend’s sleeping form. 

Nico spent most of the next few days in the infirmary and only coming out to eat, or practice his sword fighting every once in a while. He was starting to get worried that he may never wake up although the rational side of him knew that Will was just probably exhausted from overusing his powers. He then recalled some words he once said, With great power comes the great need to take a nap. He rolled his eyes at his own words.

Everytime he feared that Will wouldn’t wake up, he would just take Eros' advice then feel for Will’s life. Feeling Will’s life completely in him actually does relieve him.

It was not until after a week did Will began to wake up. Nico was playing with his curls then, while his other hand was still holding Will’s. When he felt Will’s grip tighten on his, he smiled at the son of Apollo whose eyes were just fluttering open drowsily.

Nico raised their hands to his lips then kissed it, “Morning, sunshine”

Chapter Text

The last thing Will felt before completely giving in to sleep was the drop in the temperature, signifying that Nico has shadow traveled them.

He suddenly saw himself at the river by Austin, Texas. He looked around then saw a man sitting by the banks of the river. When the man looked at him, he seemed to glow with his smile, only then did he realize who it was. 

He approached the said man then sat beside him cross-legged, he then gave him a smile back before saying, “Hi dad”

Apollo hummed in acknowledgment.

Will stared out at the river before asking, “Dad, why am I dreaming of Austin, Texas? And why are you here?”

Apollo looked at his son, “Well, this has always been my comfort place, the scene just looked so… peaceful. As for why I’m here, I just wanted to talk to you about things.” Will looked at his dad but remained silent so Apollo continued, “Through helping Nico in his quest, he with the help of Naomi made me realize just how terrible of a father I was, and I know I’ve been trying to make it up to you, but I feel like it just wasn’t enough.”

Will looked at him confused, “Woah, slow down. You helped Nico?”

Apollo smirked, “Well yeah, I stopped Octavian’s attempt with the Styx water the first time, then took Boreas on a one-on-one fight so that Nico and Naomi can get to you.”

Will chuckled, “I’m surprised Zeus isn’t punishing you for helping too much.”

Apollo rolled his eyes, “Oh he is, he took my sun chariot away from me for a week. Can you believe that?! Anyways, he said he wouldn’t punish me much since I did help stop Khione from freezing the two camps who eventually was also planning on ending Olympus.”

Will smiled, “So basically, the king of Olympus showed his gratitude by punishing you with lesser consequences than usual, and this is through confiscating your sun chariot for a week? I got to say, Zeus is getting soft-hearted.”

Apollo laughed, “Yeah, I guess so. I mean it’s not like he can make me mortal again, I quite enjoy it now.” 

The 2 laughed until it was quiet again. They stared out at the river and let relaxation wash over. Apollo then peaked at his son before saying as gently as he can, “You know, your mom is quite capable of defending herself.”

Will looked at him questioningly, “You’re point being?”

Apollo sighed, “Visit her more often, she’ll be safe if that's what you're worried about. Heck, even bring Nico and I doubt any monster would even get a chance to lay a finger on any of you!”

Will hummed in amusement, “Alright, I’ll visit her this thanksgiving, the thought already did pass my mind once.”

Apollo smiled, “I’ll even try to come if that’s alright with you.”

At first, there was silence until Will smiled,  “You’re not as terrible of a father as you think, you know.”

Apollo looked at Will then shook his head, “I was in love with your mom, so in love that she actually motivated me to change for the better.”
Will snapped his head to his father, “What happened?”

Apollo took a shaky breath, “When you were born, Zeus told me to cut off my ties with Naomi. I gave her swords as a departing gift, just to leave her with something to protect you with.

Will smiled, “See? Not so bad.” 

Apollo just shook his head more, “I promised her I’ll continue to change, but after that, I was bitter, and I let the bitterness take over me, then I tried my best to forget Naomi and went back to my old ego-filled ways, until I was mortal and you know, you helped me through it. You reminded me so much of her, you were so thoughtful and caring, then thanks to Nico, now I know you were also so forgiving and selfless.”

Will looked at his dad confusingly, “What did Nico tell you exactly?”

Apollo gave him a sad smile, “He told me that you resented me but still helped me and that it’s kinda your nature to just help, but ever since, I kinda feel guiltier than ever.”

Will squeezed Apollo’s shoulder reassuringly, “Hey dad, that’s the past. I’ve forgiven you. The fact that you’ve changed so much to the point that you actually feel guilty is enough to make up for all those years. Plus, you helped Nico save me! You basically defied the laws of being a godly parent, how could you ever think that I won’t forgive you after that?”

Apollo chuckled, “I guess you have a point. I’m just being dramatic as always”

Will rolled his eyes then opened his arms, “Being dramatic just comes naturally to you. But wanna hug it out?” 

Apollo smiled then hugged his son before whispering, “How did I get so lucky to have a son like you?”

Will chuckled, “How did I get so lucky to have a father like you?”

When they pulled away, Apollo smirked, “I guess I’m pretty cool, compared to the other gods. Although, I preferred to be associated with hot rather than cool.”

Will rolled his eyes then mentally facepalmed, “Please don’t start dad.”

Apollo chuckled while raising his hands defensively, “Don’t worry I’m just kidding.”

Will crossed his arms before saying sarcastically, “Sure you are.”

“Well, maybe half of it, I meant.”

“Whatever dad.”

“Hey, you’re lucky you have some cool or hot genes running through your veins thanks to me.”

They both laughed at this. When they finished though, Apollo hugged his son once more, as soon as he pulled away he smiled at him then said, “I think it’s about time you wake up, you’re worrying my future son-in-law too much.”

Will snorted, “Did you just call Nico your future son-in-law?

Apollo just smirked, “Yes, and I expect you to propose first.”

Will rolled his eyes, “Dad! We’re not thinking that far yet.”

Apollo chuckled, “I know but once you do, make me proud and propose first. Now, go you’ve been asleep for a week.”

Will gasped, “How?”

Apollo shrugged, “Time in dreams are weird, plus you were having a dreamless sleep for quite a long time before I actually mustered the courage to talk to you.”

Will nodded in understanding as he felt a tug in his gut, “Looks like I’m waking up.”

Apollo nodded, “I’ll see you soon, son.”

Will smiled then Apollo was gone. He felt himself swimming into consciousness. He then noticed a cold and shaky hand gripping his, he knew it was Nico’s right away. He tightened his hold to reassure him, which made the son of Hades' hand stop shaking. So he was nervous for me, how sweet. Will fluttered his eyes open with a smile on his face.

Nico stared back at him, their eyes meeting, Nico then smiled as he let out a sigh of relief before saying, “Morning sunshine.”

Will used his free hand to cup Nico’s face but before he could say anything Nico let his hand go.

The son of Hades crossed his arm then huffed, “How dare you sleep for that long, I thought you would never wake up!”

Will chuckled, “Don’t worry my little lord of darkness, I’m awake now. But I must say you look more adorable worrying for me.” he teased.

Nico scowled halfheartedly then started to blush from the nickname, “Don’t get used to it, Solace.”

Will tried to sit up then pressed a kiss on Nico’s cheek, “If you say so, deathboy.”

Nico sighed, his face being filled with worry, “Are you sure you can sit now?”

Will checked if he was going to get dizzy or feel any negative effects, when nothing happened he responded, “Yup, I seem fine.”

Nico then held out his hand, “Let’s go eat then, your stomach has been empty for probably more than a week, and I honestly can see you get thinner.”

Will made a salute before answering, “Yes sir, doctor Nico.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “Dork”

Will took Nico’s hand, but instead of using it to pull himself up, he pulled Nico towards him then kissed him on the lips. Nico seemed to be shocked at first but then recovered quickly as he kissed back. When Nico pulled away still blushing, Will whined. 

Nico rolled his eyes, “C’mon Solace, food first. We’ll continue this in the Hades cabin where no one can walk in on us anytime.” He gestured around him, as if pointing out that the infirmary was too public for his taste, despite no one being there but them at the moment.

Will chuckled, “okay then.” He let Nico pull him up. A thought suddenly crossed his mind. “Remind me to take you out on a date soon.”

Nico looked at him questioningly, “And why would you?”

Will shrugged, “Cause first, you’re my boyfriend. Second, I planned to bring you on a date the day after I was captured, but well, I was captured. Then third, this is the least I can do to repay you for saving me.”

Nico bit back a smile, “You know you don’t have to repay me, right?”

Will smiled at him, “I know, but I still want to.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “I bet I can’t stop you then?”

“Nope”

“Fine, just keep it simple though.”

“Okay then.”

Nico actually let himself smile at this point, “I’m glad you’re alive.”

Will smiled brighter, “I’m glad I’m alive with you.”

Will leaned in to kiss Nico on the cheek, but the son of Hades turned his head so that they kissed on the lips. As soon as they pulled away, Will looked Nico intensely in the eyes, “I love you so much.”

Nico stared back just as intensely, “I love you too, sunshine.”

With that Will grabbed his hands and started leading them outside towards the dining pavilion, “Where were we again? Oh right, food!”

Nico chuckled, then started to blush uncontrollably, “Yeah let’s go, before you starve to death.”

As they walked to the dining pavilion Will took glimpses at his boyfriend and noticed how much happier he was. It wouldn’t be that obvious to others, but to him it was. He even felt less darkness radiating from him. This made Will happy and content, because at least, for now, he knows that everything may finally be alright. He can definitely see himself having a future with the son of Hades, he just hoped they had enough luck to make it that long. The future is surely uncertain, especially for demigods, but what he’s certain of at that moment was that he loved Nico, and Nico loved him back. Their love surely is strong enough to beat everything that comes in their way, and at that, he wasn’t just certain about, he was confident. He looked down at their holding hands then tightened his grip protectively. Yes, we’ll be fine, besides we got each other, and nothing would ever tear us apart, not if we have a say in it.

Chapter Text

Will had a morning shift in the infirmary so Nico decided to sleep-in until afternoon. It was a few weeks after Will was saved and Nico was just happy for the peace. Nico was also happy for having such dreamless sleep and he was still quite deep in his slumber when a knock on his door threatened to wake him up, “Go away!”, he called with an annoyed tone.

The knocking continued until the person from the other side spoke, “Neeks, it’s Will.”

Nico groaned and was beginning to stand up, but thought better of it, so instead, he shouted, “Just come in.” He heard the cabin door open then felt someone sit on his bed.

Will chuckled, “C’mon sleepyhead, time for lunch.”

Nico sighed, knowing that he won’t be able to go back to sleep. He shrugged, “Fine” He then began to stomp around while he changed clothes.

Will chuckled again, “Don’t be so grumpy, besides, we won’t be eating in the dining pavilion today.”

Nico looked at his boyfriend questioningly, “So where are we eating then?”

Will grinned, “Remember when I said I’ll take you out on a date? Well, I’ve already set it up.”

Nico felt himself blush, “Oh, it's going to be simple, right?”

Will nodded, “Just a simple picnic with my adorable deathboy.”

Nico scowled then crossed his arms, “Don’t call me that.” He then shrugged then let a smile form on his lips, “But I guess a picnic wouldn’t be so bad.” 

Will smiled and put an arm around Nico’s waist before kissing him in the cheeks, “Great, c’mon! I assumed you’ve missed breakfast, right?”

Nico shrugged but let Will lead the way. Will led him into the lake where a picnic basket was placed, then there was also a guitar. Will sat by the edge of the lake, where his feet were dangling over the water, Nico did the same. 

Will reached for Nico’s hand which made the son of Hades blush. Will smiled upon noticing before asking, “Simple enough for you?”

Nico nodded, “Yes” then he pointed to the basket, “Now, do you have food because I really am starving.”

Will smiled, “Ofcourse” He then brought out a bowl of strawberries, a slice of cheesecake, and some Cheese Burgers from McDonald’s.

Nico smirked, “Did you buy McDonald’s even though it’s too unhealthy for your taste just to make me happy?”

Will shrugged, “Don’t get used to it, also the strawberries balance it out.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “Whatever, Solace.” Nico then began eating his cheeseburger as Will did the same. After they finished off their burgers, Nico noticed his boyfriend pick up a strawberry then held it up to him, “Say aaaaah Neeks”

Nico blushed then looked away, “I am not eating off your hands, Solace.”

Will pouted, “I’ll feed you cheesecake too after the strawberries, plus it’s romantic.”

Nico crossed his arms, “It’s embarrassing.”

Will sighed then began to give Nico the puppy eyes. Nico sighed as he faced Will, Will was too adorable, it was always so hard for him to resist that look. Nico then said, “Fine, but only this once.” Nico then opened his mouth which made Will smile.

Will brought the strawberry to his mouth which Nico bit halfway as he started to blush. His boyfriend then decided to kiss him on the cheek again, “That wasn’t so bad, right?”

Nico shrugged then picked up a strawberry, offering it to Will, “Now, it’s your turn.” 

Will smiled brighter and was radiating pure happiness at the gesture, “Is my boyfriend going soft?”

Nico rolled his eyes, “Shut up and eat the berry before I changed my mind, Solace.”

Will chuckled then obliged, after he swallowed the strawberry he commented, “Hmmm, yum, it’s so sweet, but nothing can ever be sweeter than you.” He then winked at Nico.

Nico felt another blush on his cheeks before muttering, “Dork”

The two then continued to finish the strawberries before going after the cheesecake, which they took turns in because apparently, Will only brought one fork, which Nico thought he had done intentionally. 

After they ate, Will decided to grab his guitar then started playing the intro of “Perfectly Perfect by Simple Plan”. When he sang though, it seemed like he altered some of the lyrics to make it more fitting,

You might not think you're a superhero

But you seem like one to me

I'd rather have your picture on my phone

Than on the cover of a magazine

It's hard to think that a boy like you

Could have any insecurities

It's funny how all the things you would change

Are all things that are cute to me

Nico was blushing at this point as he made eye contact with his boyfriend who was staring so romantically at him, it brought Nico on a daze. 

And I know you don't believe me

And you think that I'm a fool but I don't care

Nico rolled his eyes at this, because that was probably true.

Maybe you'll never see in you what I see

The little things you do that make me go crazy, I'm not crazy

You're perfectly perfect to me

Nico feels like he probably looks like a tomato at this point which only gained him a smile from his boyfriend.

You brush it off everytime I tell you

Your smile lights up the room

And I'm guessing that you don't even notice

The whole camp notices you

You think you're clumsy, I think you're cool

You say you're typical but I think you rule

Sometimes I wonder if you'll ever believe that

I meant this song for you

Nico was dazed at his boyfriend’s singing, sure he was out of tune sometimes, but Will’s voice would always be perfect for him. He then began humming to the tune of the chorus as the son of Apollo sang it again,

Maybe you'll never see in you what I see

The little things you do that make me go crazy, I'm not crazy

You're perfectly perfect

Someday you're gonna see you're beautiful this way

And that you're always gonna make me go crazy, I'm not crazy

You're perfectly perfect to me

He was caught off guard when he heard the lyrics of the bridge because although it was just a song, he knew that Will meant every word, and you can definitely hear the sincerity behind his singing.

You don't have to try change a single thing

'Cause just the way you are is sweeter than anything

Maybe I'm a fool but it's always been you

'Cause no one ever makes me smile the way you do

Nico grabbed Will’s guitar then lowered it, as he joined in to sing the final chorus with Will, acapella style. This way you can hear just how sincere one can be. At first, Will was shocked then understood as the two sang the final chorus together. 

Maybe you'll never see in you what I see

The little things you do that make me go crazy, I'm not crazy

You're perfectly perfect

Someday you're gonna see you're beautiful this way

And that you're always gonna make me go crazy, I'm not crazy

You're perfectly perfect to me

Yeah, you're perfectly perfect to me

You're perfectly perfect to me

The two boys then kissed at the end of the song. When they pulled away, Nico glanced at the lake then an idea formed in his mind, “You know what will complete this date?”

Will looked at him questioningly, “What is it, deathboy?”

Nico grabbed Will then smirked at him, “Going swimming.” Before Will could understand what was going to happen, Nico pushed him off the lake, the son of Apollo then grabbed Nico by the leg then dragged him with him. They resurfaced as they caught their breath.

Nico glared at Will, “What the Hades?”

Will laughed, “You started it!”

Nico smirked, “I guess you’re right.” He then started to splash water towards Will’s direction.

Will wiped it off his face before smirking, “Oh no you didn’t” He then began to splash on Nico too. The two were laughing and splashing each other at the lake until they thought it was time to finally get themself up. When they got out of the lake, a cold breeze passed them which made Nico shivered a bit, but he quickly recovered. He then checked on Will, then all the joy in his system was replaced with concern as he saw his boyfriend frozen and tensed in place, while his eyes were in a panic.

Nico tried to reach out for him but the moment his hand reached Will’s the son of Apollo hissed away, “N-no, not the c-cold please.” 

The son of Apollo then hugged his knees as he slumped himself on one of the trees as he tried to breathe but not really succeeding. Only then did he realize that Will was having a panic attack, he recalled what he said, not the cold? Oh no, he’s having a panic attack from Khione’s kidnapping, the cold breeze must have triggered it. Nico kneeled at a safe distance from the son of Apollo then called for him as gently as he could, “Will, can you try to breathe properly?” Will shook his head, Nico sighed, “Follow me then, okay?” Will met his eyes with so much fear at first, that was then replaced by recognition as he nodded. Nico then guided him by saying, “Breathe in, Breath out.” in the correct rhythm. 

When he noticed that Will’s breathing began to slow he offered his hand, “Do you mind if I touch you now? I know my body temperature is cold but, I won’t hurt you.” 

Will shook his head shakily as he said, “N-not the c-cold.” 

Nico sighed, he wanted to comfort Will but it was hard to do it without touching him, Will was always the physical touch type of guy. Nico then suddenly had an idea, he grabbed the guitar then strummed the only song he ever bothered to learn and began singing it.

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping

I dreamed I held you in my arms

But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken

So I hung my head and I cried.

He glanced at his boyfriend and noticed he atleast stopped shaking, he let out a sigh of relief before continuing.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

As he sang the chorus, Will slowly crawled next to him then leaned his head on Nico’s shoulder. Nico then decided to set down the guitar so he can wrap his arms around his boyfriend then play with his hair because this usually calms him down. Nico then continued to hum the tune of “You Are My Sunshine” until Will started to hum with him too.

When he was feeling better, the son of Apollo raised his head then said with a still hoarse voice, “Thanks for staying with me.”

Nico hummed before answering, “Anytime sunshine, I’m just glad you’re alright now.” Nico tightened his hold on Will to reassure him.

After a few more minutes of silence, Nico unwrapped himself then cleared his throat, “I think we should head back and dry ourselves?”

Will nodded then looked at Nico guiltily as they both stood up, “Sorry for ruining our day.”

Nico shook his head then grabbed both of Will’s hands as he stared Will dead-serious in the eyes, “Hey, sunshine. Never say sorry for having a panic attack. Okay?”

Will offered a smile before nodding, then let Nico drag him towards their cabins so they can change.

As they walked Nico glanced at Will halfway then said, “Besides, I quite enjoyed that date. It was beyond perfect. Actually, now that I think of it, it’s actually perfectly perfect." Nico then winked at the son of Apollo, "Thank you for that by the way.”

Will grinned at the son of Hades then pulled him using the hand he was holding. Then they kissed one more time before finally going into their respective cabins to change.

Chapter Text

Nico was listening to music as he waited for Will in his cabin. He planned on visiting Sisyphus as he promised, but Will wanted to come along and meet this new friend of his. When Will finally made it from his infirmary shift, Nico looked at him then rolled his eyes, “That took you long enough.”.

Will snorted, “It’s been a busy day.” He then walked towards Nico and placed a kiss on his cheek, he smiled contently when he saw a slight blush on the son of Hades’ cheek. “So, are you ready to go, deathboy?”

Nico winked then held out his hands, “Hold on tight, sunshine.”

Will’s eyes widened, “Don’t tell me we’re shadow travelling.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “Well, how do you reckon we go into the underworld? Plus, it’s just one jump.” Before Will can even protest, Nico grabbed his arm then let the shadows swallow them.

When they ended up outside of his father’s throne room, Will glared at him as he held his stomach, “Ugh, could’ve given me time to prepare.”

Nico chuckled, “It’s your fault for questioning my methods.”

Will huffed, “You’re evil.”, he said teasingly.

Nico looked amused, and so he kissed his boyfriend on the cheeks, “I know, and I'm sorry.” Nico then grabbed Will’s hand then started leading him inside of Hades’ throne room, before they entered though, he turned to face Will, “So, let me do all the talking, okay? We just need permission to visit Sisyphus. Plus, I’m not really in the mood for the whole "introducing my boyfriend to my father" ordeal yet, with all the scaring and cheesy stuff. That’s something for another day.” Will nodded as they entered.

The two bowed when they saw Hades and Persephone. Hades had his usual neutral face while Persephone was in glee.

After Hades told them to rise and was about to say something, Persephone cut in and said, “Nico, glad you’re here! Zeus just proclaimed the punishment to be given to Boreas and Khione.”

Nico tried to look as neutral as he could as he bit back a smile, “And what may that be, Lady Persephone?” Nico felt Will squeeze his hand, so Nico let himself smile reassuringly at the son of Apollo. 

Persephone must have noticed the exchange because she squealed, “You guys look more adorable in real life than in television.”

Nico noticed his father rolled his eyes before facing her wife, “Leave the poor demigods alone, my dear. They just came here to ask permission" He then turned to Nico, "But first, I guess now that you've heard it, I think you would want to know what happened to Boreas and Khione?”

Nico faced his father then nodded, “As long as revealing the information doesn’t get you in trouble.”

Hades' lips twitched slightly as if forming a smile but the lord of the underworld then settled for a smirk, “I’m pretty sure I can blackmail Zeus much worse than anything he can ever throw at me.”

Nico rolled his eyes then Hades cleared his throat before saying, “Well, nothing much really. Zeus just took away Khione’s and Boreas’ godly status then stripped them away of their powers. They're basically mortal now, like Apollo a few months ago, but it’s permanent for them. If you’re going to ask about who’s gonna replace their places, well, I don’t really know but it’s not like the winds would just stop or snowfall won’t happen. I mean we have science after all.”

Nico chuckled, “Well that’s very satisfying.” Will hummed from beside him. Nico then shot him a look, signaling for him to shut up.

Hades must have noticed this as he said teasingly, “Nico, how come you haven’t introduced your guess formally. I taught you better than this.”

Nico scoffed but obliged, “Dad, this is William Andrew Solace, son of Apollo and also my-” Nico cut himself off, but Hades pushed him, “Your what, son?”

Nico sighed, “My boyfriend.”

Hades then faced the son of Apollo, “Normally, I would scare you off and make sure you don’t hurt my son, but since you two have plans for the day, I’ll let you off the hook for now, but I will get back to you someday. And I must say, I have a pretty good feeling our next meeting wouldn’t be so far in the future.”

Will nodded before saying, “Thank you, Lord Hades”

Hades waved his hands dismissively as Nico crossed his arms, “Dad” he warned.

Hades raised his hands defensively, “What? I’m just making sure that my son has the best and that he’s in good hands.”

Nico rolled his eyes but then just shrugged it off as he decided to change the topic, “So, do we have permission to visit Sisyphus and give him a break from his eternal punishment?”

Hades pondered for awhile, “One hour, that’s all I could give you. If I gave you more, Thanatos would start questioning my methods and blame it on me. He might even scold me for being biased to your requests.”

Persephone grabbed then squeezed Hades' hands reassuringly, “Well, you kinda are biased to Nico.”

Hades huffed, “Am not”

Persephone laughed sweetly, “Ofcourse you are! You’re a big softie inside.”

Hades started blushing as he glanced at Nico and Will who were now both trying to hold back a laugh. He then turned again to his wife, “Dear, not now please, we’re in front of people.”

Persephone chuckled, “Sure my dear, but I don’t see the harm of showing who you truly are in front of your son.”

Hades rolled his eyes and faced his son, “Well, what are you waiting for? Your one hour is ticking.”

Nico smiled as he pulled Will with him, “Thanks dad, I guess I’ll see you whenever.”

Hades nodded, “I assure you, that would be very soon.” He then gave the son of Apollo the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture with his two fingers before the two got out, Nico noticed then chuckled at this.

As soon as they got out of the throne room, Nico started leading Will to the Fields of Punishment. Their walk was silent at first until Will chuckled, “You know, you’re father and Persephone reminds me of you and me when we bicker.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “Please don’t make that comparison.”

Will smiled, “But it’s true!”

Nico punched him playfully, “Is not!”

Will rolled his eyes before muttering, “Like father, like son.” 

Nico shrugged as they reached the fields of punishment, he then faced Will before saying, “Stay close to me, some of these ghosts can be quite wild and angry.”

Will grabbed Nico’s arm in his, then nodded, “I’m ready!”

Nico rolled his eyes before muttering, “Dork”

When they made it to Sisyphus’ hill, the ex-king was already standing by the bottom of the hill then smiled when he saw them approaching.

Nico waved, “Hey Sisyphus.”

Sisyphus nodded, “You really came!”

Nico shrugged, “What type of friend would I be if I didn’t. Besides, it’s the least I can do for the help you gave on my quest.”

Sisyphus blushed from the appreciation, “Oh, that was nothing. What are friends for?”

Nico offered him a sad smile, “Sad to say, my dad only allowed us an hour.”

Sisyphus shrugged then smiled again, “Atleast I get a one-hour break for your every visit.” He then looked to Nico’s side, seeing Will for the first time, “You must be Nico’s boyfriend.” Sisyphus then moved back then formed a frame with his hands, as if evaluating Nico and Will together then squealed, “You do look cute together! Now, I see what the fuss was about.”

Will then put his arms around Nico before kissing the son of Hades on the cheek, “I know right?”

Nico then blushed then pushed Will away before he started to whine, “Willl, we’re in the Fields of Punishment! This is just embarrassing. I have a status to withhold.”

Sisyphus chuckled, “Well, I find the two of you absolutely cute and adorable.”

Will smiled, “Glad we agree.” Will then offered his hand, “I’m Will Solace, son of Apollo. Nice meeting you.” Sisyphus nodded then shook his hand, “Nice meeting you too, son of Apollo. Nico is lucky to have such a sunny persona in his life.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “I’m  starting to regret letting the two of you meet.”

Sisyphus then ruffled Nico’s hair, “Don’t worry Nico, we’ll make sure not to tease too much.”

Will hummed in agreement, “It would be hard, but we wouldn’t want to upset the ghost king in his territory.”

Nico glared at the two, “That’s right, you better not.” He then smirked as he secretly summoned a skeleton hand to grip Will’s ankle which made the son of Apollo scream.

Sisyphus and Nico bursted out laughing.

Will pouted, “That’s not fair deathboy!”

Nico was still laughing but tried to compose himself, “That was for the teasing AND for contrasting me to my dad.”

Sisyphus then grinned, “Well to be fair, you and your dad do have a lot in common.”

Nico glared at the ghost before saying teasingly, “Don’t test me, Sisyphus.”

Sisyphus raised his hands defensively, “Alright I won’t, I won’t.”

Will then nudged Nico in the arm softly, “Drama King, much?”

Nico rolled his eyes, “Shut up, Solace.”

The three then ended up telling each other stories, bickering, and occasionally teasing each other until the hour has ended. When Sisyphus finally felt the urge to push the boulder again he gave Nico a sad smile, “Will you two be visiting again?”

Nico nodded, “We’ll try to visit on a regular basis.” 

Will hummed in agreement, “It was really fun hanging out with you, Sisyphus!”

This made Sisyphus smile genuinely as he sighed then started for his boulder, before he pushed it uphill though, he faced the two then said, “Till we meet again?”

Nico and Will answered in unison, “Till we meet again.”

Chapter Text

Nico and Will just got off the bus somewhere in Texas as they started to walk while looking for a shadowy place. Will had refused to let Nico shadow travel them until they weren’t so far away anymore since his boyfriend was afraid that he may spend the whole Thanksgiving meal sleeping.

 Will grabbed his hand then smiled anxiously at him, “Do you really think these strawberries are too, I don’t know, simple to bring for Thanksgiving dinner?”

Nico shrugged, Will has been worrying whether or not he should buy more food to offer to the dinner but it’s obvious that Will is just both excited and nervous to see his mom. So he pulled Will by their hands so he was facing Nico, “Look sunshine, I doubt Naomi would care what you bring, all that probably matters to her right now is you finally visiting her. Plus, it’s Thanksgiving, it’s not a day for negative reactions, it’s a day for thanking each other, for gods’ sake!”

Will chuckled, “Since when were you the optimist between us?”

Nico rolled his eyes, “Well I mean I could be a pessimist right now, do you want that?”

Will kissed Nico on the cheek, “No thanks love, I’m kinda liking optimist Nico.”

Nico scowled, “Well don’t get used to it, dork.”

Will rolled his eyes then started walking again, dragging Nico with him. After a few minutes, they found an alleyway that provides a good amount of shadows.

Nico nodded towards it, “I think that’s a good place.”

Will nodded then followed Nico, “You sure you can do this?”

Nico glared warningly, “Will-”

Will raised his hands defensively, “I know, I know, just making sure.”

Nico rolled his eyes then offered his hand, “Ready?”

Will hesitantly took it, “Ready.”

Nico smirked then let the shadows swallow them.

The two landed at the front porch of Will’s house, they were immediately met by the smell of hyacinths and sunflowers. Will smiled as he observed his surroundings, “Nothing seemed to change much.”

Nico smiled at how happy his boyfriend looks. He then decided to drag them both to the front door. As soon as they reached it, Will hesitated then looked at Nico worriedly. “What if she’s mad at me for not visiting all these years?”

Nico sighed, “We’ve been through this, sunshine.”

Will started rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “I know but still.”

Nico then cupped Will’s cheeks, “You’re mom risked her life to save you through my quest, you actually think she’ll still hate you after all that?”

Will gave a sad smile, “I guess you're right.” He then turned to the door but still failed to knock.

Nico rolled his eyes, “Well if you’re not knocking then I’ll do it.” Before Will could protest, Nico knocked as loudly as he could to tease Will. They then heard footsteps approach. Will tensed beside him, so Nico squeezed his hand reassuringly while mouthing, “It’s gonna be okay.” That’s when the door opened.

Naomi smiled at them then quickly turned to Will with tears threatening to fall from her eyes, “Oh dear, I miss you so much. I’m glad you’re alright.” She then hugged Will. Will tensed at first then hugged his mother back as he began to sob, “I’m sorry Ma. I should’ve visited more, I-I was just scared that I’ll bring danger to you, and I- I’m so sorry.” Tears then started to fall from Will’s eyes. Naomi pulled away to wipe Will’s tears with her thumb then started to comfort Will, “It’s okay, I understand. I’m just thankful you’re here now. It’s Thanksgiving afterall.” Will chuckled then hugged his mom again. 

Nico just smiled as he watched the heartwarming reunion unfolding in front of him, when Naomi offered a hand to him, Nico took it then got dragged into the hug as she whispered, “Thank you for bringing my son home.” Nico hummed in content then leaned into the hug. 

When they all pulled away, Naomi fixed herself as she beckoned them inside “Come, I still have some setting up to do. I better help Apollo before he messes up the kitchen.”

Will looked shocked as he asked, “Dad’s here?”

Naomi laughed sweetly, “Yes, he offered to help me cook and prepare, but I must admit he did more messing than helping. It’s sweet of him to offer though. Oh! Maybe you can help in setting up the table?”

Will chuckled then nodded, he then reached out for the basket of strawberries they had, “We brought this, it’s not much, but it’s the best we can do.”

Naomi took it, “How thoughtful of you.”

They went to work as Nico and Will set up the table. Well, Nico did while Will tried to figure out where to put things because Will can go too much when it comes to organizing sometimes. He has to deem a setting “perfect” to make his final decisions. When they finished Naomi and Apollo came out as they started setting down the food on the table.

When Apollo saw them he grinned then put an arm around both of their shoulders, “Well isn’t it my favorite son and my future son-in-law.”

Nico blushed at this while Will scoffed before saying, “Just wait until Kayla and Austin hears about this.”

Apollo raised his hands defensively, “Hey, no need to go telling your siblings about my words.”

Will chuckled, “Alright dad.” Will then hugged his father as Naomi put out extra two plates.

Nico looked questioningly at her, “Do we have more guests?”

Naomi smiled mischievously, “Oh don’t worry dear, I won’t invite anyone you didn’t know.” Before Nico could ask more, there was a knock on the door that Naomi quickly went to with Nico following from behind. 

As soon as she opened the door, Nico was shocked with what he saw. There was a girl with long brown hair that was decorated with a ton of flowers, who then wore a floral pink wavy yet casual dress and was holding a bouquet of sunflowers. Beside her was a guy in a plain black business suit who had an aura of darkness around him. The girl handed the bouquet to Naomi, “Naomi! It’s nice to finally meet you. I figured you liked sunflowers so I brought you some, and oh! Your garden is beautiful by the way. I love the message you’re trying to tell.” The girl winked which made Naomi smile and blush, “Thank you Lady Persephone.” The goddess smiled, “Just call me Persephone, we’re basically in-laws already!” Naomi laughed, “Ofcourse, Persephone. Please, come in.”

As soon as they came in, Nico looked at the guy behind Naomi and Persephone questioningly, “Dad, what are you doing here?”

Hades rolled his eyes, “Nice to see you too, son.” He said sarcastically, then added, “I did hint that we were going to see each other soon.”

Nico shrugged, “Some heads up would have been nice.”

Hades waved his hand dismissively, “Now, where is that Solace kid?”

“Dad”, Nico warned, “You better not scare him too much.”

Hades smirked, “So you do approve of me scaring him, just not too much?”

Nico huffed then crossed his arms, “It would be nice to see the look at his face.”

Hades smiled unexpectedly at this, “Don’t worry I got you. Now, call him.” He then winked at Nico.

Nico smirked before calling, “Will, someone wants to talk to you!”

Will came out of the kitchen and into the living room, he put an arm around Nico then pecked a kiss on Nico’s cheek before saying, “What is it, my love?” Nico then pointed towards his father then Will tensed, “Oh, umm. Good day Lord Hades.”

Hades straightened himself then looked seriously at the son of Apollo, “So, William, is it?” Will nodded reluctantly before Hades continued, “Tell me, what are your intentions with my son?”

Will took in a breath before answering, “Well sir, I plan nothing more but to provide him happiness and make sure he is well taken care of in all aspects such as physically, emotionally, and even mentally”

Hades nodded in approval as he offered his hand, “That we agree on.”

Will smiled then shook Hades’ hands, as he did though, Hades tightened his grip before saying, “But if you ever dare hurt my son in any of those aspects, I won’t hesitate to bring you to the Fields of Punishment, myself.” Will nodded nervously as Hades tried for a smile, “Well then, welcome to the family William Andrew Solace.”

Nico bit back a laugh while he watched the exchange. Nico approached Will then smiled reassuringly at him. 

Will huffed, “It’s not fair, you didn’t get that kind of talk from any of my parents.”

Nico smirked, “It’s probably because they liked me already.”

Will then smirked back, “Are you admitting that you finally accept that people can find you likable despite your parenthood?”

Nico shrugged as he glanced at his father having small talks with Apollo, “I mean I am seeing the Lord of the Underworld in a Thanksgiving dinner, so sure, why not?”

Will smiled then put an arm around Nico, “Isn’t it nice to have our families together?”

Nico nodded, “I guess you’re right.”

At that, Naomi started beckoning them all to the kitchen. Will and Nico sat beside each other while across them were Hades and Persephone. Beside Persephone was Naomi while across Naomi was Apollo who was seated next to Will. 

The lot began eating while chattering every once in a while. Persephone and Naomi talked about plants, even Hades joined in on that, which shocked Nico who couldn’t help but ask, “Since when do you know about plants?”

Hades shrugged then pointed at his wife, “She’s rubbing off on me.” The Lord of the Underworld then smirked, “Oh you know, like how William over there was able to interest you in Disney movies.” 

Nico blushed at this then Apollo’s eyes widened, “You two watch Disney movies?” That’s how the topic transitioned from plants to Disney movies. This took a lot of chattering on Will’s and Apollo’s part. Nico would join in every once in awhile with some teasing from his father.

The night went good and smoothly, well until Apollo called Nico “future son-in-law” again.

This made Persephone swoon, “Ooooh, I wonder who will propose first!”

Apollo smiled proudly, “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be my son.”

Hades glared at the sun god, “Wanna bet on that?”

Both Nico and Will were blushing at this point. Naomi shot them a mischievous look then joined in, “I don’t know Apollo, but Will can be sometimes indecisive. He’s going to take months or even years to plan it! Maybe he’ll plan first, but before he could even get halfway through his plans, Nico might have just went with it and pop the question.”

Hades grinned proudly, “Listen to your girlfriend, Apollo”

Apollo rolled his eyes, “We’re just friends.”

Persephone then raised her hand then faced Hades, “Oh! I’m sorry my dear, but Nico is too dark and brooding and awkward to actually just pop the question. I just don’t see it happening, so I’m with Apollo here. Will seemed like the type between these two to do it.”

This is when Nico slammed his hand on the table he was blushing red as Will rubbed circles behind his back who was also as red as a tomato, “Gods, can’t you guys see that we’re right here? This is so embarrassing!”

Apollo chuckled, “Well what are parents for, right?”

Naomi smirked, “Yeah be thankful we’re not showing you baby pictures of each other.”

Persephone hummed in agreement, “Or telling embarrassing stories of times when you guys were turned to plants.”

Hades nodded, “Or trying to scare and threaten the two of you to be good boyfriends to each other.”

Will put an arm around his boyfriend, “They do have a point, you know?”

Then everyone from the table started laughing except for Nico. Nico glared at everyone around the table as Will nudged him lightly before saying, “C’mon, lighten up. What happened to optimistic Nico?”

Nico rolled his eyes then saw how happy everyone was, then reality hit him. This is his family now. The people who had helped and stayed with him and will continue to do so. He then looked at Will then imagined a future with him. It may still be far away, and there may be more obstacles that they have to pass, but they’ll make it, right? He was pretty sure they would, together with the help of their families, newly-found friends, and maybe even with some meddling yet helpful gods such as Eros. A smile formed on his face as he whispered to Will, “What did I get myself into?”

Will grinned at him, “I don’t know but it seems happy to me.”

Nico nodded, “That’s good enough.” He reached for Will’s hand then started to join the laughter around the table as he realized how content he finally is at his life. He had a family, a weird one sure, but atleast it was happy. Most importantly though, he had something to look forward to, and that was a future with Will Solace. Unpredictable the future may be, but he can always stay positive.

He stared at Will, then Will stared back. His blue eyes meeting his brown ones. Nico smiled at him, “Ti Amo, Mio Sole.”

Will smiled back, “I love you too, my love.”

Will was right, optimistic Nico wasn’t so bad, it actually felt good to let the positivity in for once and to finally let the sunshine overcome the darkness within him. Where there was once a void in him, is now filled with love, acceptance, and joy, and that is all unraveling thanks to Will Solace, aka his sunshine.