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Chapter Text

Nico

"Nico, we will be there soon. Stop complaining. I can't control traffic."

"Percy! We've been driving for an hour! It only takes a half hour to get back to your apartment."

"I'm trying to go as fast as I can! Gods!"

Percy and Nico were driving back from the movies to Percy's apartment. Percy and Nico had decided it was a good idea to go see a movie together, as Percy hadn't hung out with Nico in months due to being with Annabeth all summer. They were stuck in traffic on Broadway and Nico was becoming impatient. He just wanted to get to Percy's and have some of Sally's amazing food. He was starving. Percy was getting irritated with Nico's constant complaining and it didn't help that they were stuck in traffic.

"Percy! How much longer?!" Nico whined.

They were driving through a four way lane and Percy turned his head and looked at Nico quickly. "Nico. I don't know how much longer! I can't control the traaffic! Please, STOP ASKING!"

Nico opened his mouth to say something but suddenly, his eyes widened. "PERCY! LOOK OUT!" But it was too late. A semi truck had lost control while driving and slid straight into the car. Nico screamed as the car flipped over, once, twice, three times. The windshield shattered and glass flew everywhere. He felt a stabbing pain in his face and then everything went black. He could faintly hear Percy breathing and people screaming but it sounded fuzzy. He could hear Percy asking if he was fine, but he couldn't answer. his mouth wouldn't open. He felt Percy reach over and lightly shake him. He heard Percy's intake of breath. But he couldn't move. He couldn't see. He heard sirens and soon felt someone dragging his body from the wreckage.<

"He isn't responding to anything. He needs oxygen stat!" He could hear people shouting and talking around him, but he couldn't hear Percy anymore. His heart picked up as he feared for Percy.

"We need morphine! Someone put an IV in!"

"His eyes are damaged!"

Soon, Nico heard the voice he had been hoping for. "What's happening to him? How is he? Will he be okay?" Percy sounded frantic and scared.

"Sir, who are you?"

"I'm his best friend. We were in the car together coming back from the movies. Please, what's wrong with him?" Percy sounded terrified now.

"We don't know sir. Come on, we need to get you a cast for your leg and get this poor boy to the hospital."
Nico felt numb creeping up his body. He knew soon he would be asleep. He didn't fight it though. He was too tired. He couldn't hear anything anymore. He felt like he was floating on a lake. Lake. That reminded him of Percy. Percy... That was his last thought before he was completely gone.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy sat beside a still Nico, who was lying on a gurney in the ambulence. Percy's leg was in a cast. It was blue and he knew it would make sword fighting complicated when he goes back to camp, but he was most worried about Nico. Apparently, some glass had hit his face, but they don't know the exact damage until they got to the hospital. He was shaking slightly as he stared at Nico's stiff, still body. It scared him to think what happened to Nico. He hoped there wasn't too much damage. He wouldn't survive being a demigod very long if there was permanent damage. He looked up as he felt the ambulence come to a stop and one of the paramedics laid a hand on his shoulder.The paramedic smiled sympathetically and nodded towards the door. He helped Percy up, due to the fact he couldn't stand alone with his cast. He hobbled slowly with the help of the man, following Nico's gurney. "Sir, you will have to wait out here while we work on your friend." The man who was helping him told him, slowly helping him into a chair. Percy tried to get back up, but he fell right back into his seat as a stabbing pain shot up his leg. "No! i need to be there! He's my best friend!" Percy shouted, his voice echoing throughout the waiting room. The paramedic shook his head. "I'm sorry sir, but I can't let you. You will get in the way." The nurse turned and walked into the ER, the doors swinging shut.

Percy sunk out of his chair to the floor, silently crying and praying for Nico to be okay. He was so scared to hear the words that told him he would never see Nico again, never hear his voice, never hear his laugh that rarely came, never see his eyes shine with happiness when Percy asks to hang out, just never see Nico again in general. Nico had to live. He just had to. He was only 15. He had his whole life ahead of him.He looked up when someone laid a hand on his shoulder. A lady, about 25-26 years old stood there, smiling sadly at him. "Sir, do you need help back into your chair?" She asked softly. Percy nodded, unable to open his mouth. He would start crying more if he did. She slowly helped him back into his seat and walked away. His heart clenched as he stared at the unmoving ER doors. He was scared, no, scratch that. He was terrified of a doctor coming out those doors and saying Nico was dead. This is all his fault. If he had been watching the road, this never would have happened. How could he have been so stupid?

He checked his watch and realized he had been here for three hours. Three hours and no update on Nico. He was started to panic even more than he already was. An hour passed before his eyes as he chewed on his fingernails. All at once, he was on his feet as the doors flew open and a doctor he recognized as one that was running alongside Nico's gurney came running out. The man looked around before his eyes landed on Percy and he walked towards him.

Percy's heart was racing as the doctor stood in front of him."How is he? Is he alive? Is he okay? What's wrong with him?" The words flew out of Percy's mouth before he could control them.The doctor smiled at Percy, but the smile seemed off."He's okay, his brain activity is good, he has no broken bones. Overall he has no minor wounds. But..."

Percy froze just as he was about to scream in joy.

"Sir, you may want to come with me to tell you this."

The doctor turned and walked through the doors, looking over his shoulder to see if Percy had followed. Percy was following like a obedient puppy as the man walked down the long, white corridors until he reached a door that was labeled ICU. Intensive Unit Care. Percy stared at those three words that made his heart drop to his stomach. The doctor turned, giving him a sad smile, as Percy could now tell what had been off about his smile before. he walked into the ICU quietly. Percy followed, making sure to make no noise. They passed a man who was using a prosthetic arm sloppily, a lady holding a newborn, a small boy who looked like he had cancer, and soon they came to the end of the room. There, in the bed, lay Nico, his eyes covered with bandages and his arm wrapped in gauze. He looked to be sleeping, his breath coming slowly. Percy took a step forward cautiously and stood at the end of Nico's bed. He stared at Nico's apparently sleeping body, before he turned to the doctor.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked worriedly.

The doctor looked sad as he answered. "When the truck hit your car, the windshield smashed and some of the had flown into Mr.di Angelo's face. A lot of it had scrapped his forehead and eyes. This caused serious damage to his eyes. This has blinded Mr. di Angelo. Also his arm smashed into the side of the car door as the car flipped so it was cut open. I'm very sorry to say, but we believe he will be permanently blind. He is asleep at the moment. I will leave you to stay with him. Again, I'm so sorry for this news."

Percy watched as the doctor walked out of the room before he rushed to Nico's side, pulling a chair with him. He sat in the chair, staring at Nico and slowly reached over and grabbed Nico's hand. He squeezed it and gave a little sob. He bowed his head and his tears hit his jeans. His head shot up when he heard a faint "Percy..." He looked over at Nico and noticed his face was contorted in pain. Nico let out a groan and mumbled "Percy..." again, this time louder. Nico turned his head towards Percy and mumbled a quiet "Percy..." once more, before Percy reached over and put his hand on Nico's chest. Nico instantly tensed. "Nico, it's me, Percy." Nico's head turned to the side of where Percy was. "Percy? Is that you? Why can't I see anything? There's something over my eyes." Percy looked down at his shoes again.

"Um, Nico, you may not like this at all..." Percy shuffled his feet and silently prayed to god that Nico didn't hate him for this.

"What? What's going on?" Nico's voice became a little louder.

"Nico, you're blind. The windshield glass scratched your eyes. We don't know what's going to happen from here." Percy was so scared of Nico's reaction. He looked up and saw Nico was panicking.

"WHAT? I can't be blind! Percy, there's never been a blind demigod that lived! It's impossible! I'm going to be killed!" Nico's body started shaking with violent sobs. His sobs were so heartbreaking that Percy ran over and pulled him into a hug, being careful of his arm and his IV.

"Nico, you'll live. I'll find a way. I promise."

Nico sniffled. "You swear?"

"I swear. On the River Styx. I swear."

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy watched as Nico broke apart, tears were running down Nico's face and he was hiccuping. It had been an hour since Nico had learned he was blind and he wasn't calming down. Percy could tell he was close to the breaking point, knowing he may not survive long if he was a blind demigod. It was a depressing sight to see. Nico wiped some of the tears away. The doctor had come and taken the bandages off thirty minutes ago. He looked over at where he thought Percy was and sighed.

"What are we going to do. Percy? We need to tell Chiron."

Percy nodded slowly, then realized Nico couldn't see him. He cleared his throat and Nico turned his head to where Percy was.

"I'll do the Iris message. Nico, why don't you take a nap. You look exhausted."

Nico nodded and turned on his side, facing Percy and closed his eyes. Soon, his breath evened out and Percy moved to the little water fountain near the window. He turned it on and waited a couple minutes before the sun hit the water and a rainbow appeared. Pulling out a drachma, he threw it into the rainbow and quietly said "Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Chiron at Camp Halfblood." and an image of Chiron appeared. Chiron smiled.

"Hello, Percy. What seems to be the problem?"

Percy gulped, before he swallowed and looked over at Nico's sleeping body. He looked back at the Iris message. Chiron seemed to have sensed something was wrong and he looked concerned. Percy swallowed the lump in his throat and cleared it before he began to speak.

"Um... we have a problem..." Percy's voice came out as a squeak. Chiron looked even more concerned and he nodded.

"Yes?"

"Um... Nico and I were stuck in traffic on Broadway, and I took my eyes off the road for a second and a truck rammed into the car. I'm fine except for a broken leg, but it's Nico I'm worried about.... The glass from the windshield hit his face. The doctors say he's permaently blind... What do we do? We can't just leave him to die."

Chiron nodded his head slowly.

"We need to go about this cautiously. A normal demigod needs his sight to fight off monsters. Nico will have to use his other senses. This will be extremely hard for him."

"I don't care. he can't die. I will help him the best I can. He needs to live." Percy said with determination.

"I know you'll help him, Percy. You are a great friend to him. When he is released from the hospital, bring him to camp. We can start training him as soon as possible." Chiron smiled at Percy, before he disconnected the Iris message. Percy stared at the space where the Iris message was, before he turned and looked at Nico's peacefully sleeping body. He smiled softly. Nico looked so peaceful. He didn't have his signature scowl on his face and he looked younger. It was adorable. Wait, adorable? I don't think of Nico like that... I have Annabeth. I'm not gay... Am I? Percy thought. In seconds, Nico eyelids fluttered and he blinked, before he opened them fully. Percy could see that his deep brown eyes were clouded over and Percy flinched as he saw them. that was his fault that Nico was blind. Nico yawned and looked up.

"Percy? Are you still here?" He asked quietly, looking around the room. Percy stood up from his chair and walked over to Nico's bedside and put a hand on his shoulder. Nico tensed up and a look of panic covered his face.

"Nico, it's just me. Why'd you tense up?" Percy asked.

"I had a nightmare and I was scared."

Percy squeezed Nico's shoulder reassuringly. "Nico, it's okay. You're fine."

"You promise?"

"Yes."

"Hey, Percy, can you...um...cuddle with me?" Nico said in a voice so quiet, Percy almost didn't hear it. To say Percy was shocked is an understatement. He stared at Nico for a while in shock.

"You know what? Never mind... It was a stupid question..." Nico mumbled.

Percy opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He tried again and finally he said, "Sure, Nico. If it helps you sleep."

Nico smiled so wide it nearly fell off his face.Percy climbed into Nico's hospital bed and lay down beside Nico. he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Nico's waist. Nico sighed and snuggled into Percy's arms.

Percy smiled. He looked down at Nico, who was asleep already and for the first time in a while, his worries slipped away. He didn't think about Nico's disability, or monsters, or gods or even Annabeth. His only thought was of Nico.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico sat in his hospital bed, waiting for Percy to come and get him. Percy was out in the lobby, signing him out. Today Nico could finally go back to camp, although he didn't feel as happy as he usually was to go back. He couldn't tell if he felt sad that he couldn't see or terrified about his future. He just felt empty. He couldn't feel anything. He just didn't feel. He looked up towards the door when he heard two sets of footsteps. He could now hear two male voices, one he could tell was Percy's the other was unfamiliar, most likely a doctor. They walked into the room and Nico waited patiently for one of them to start talking. Someone cleared their throat, mostly likely the doctor, judging by the deep pitch in their voice.

"Um, Mr. di Angelo, Mr. Jackson has signed you out and you are now able to go home. We just want to know if you want to do therapy to help your other senses? You'll need them now."

Nico shook his head. He just wanted to get out of this godforsaken hellhole. He was so fed up with people fawning over him, making sure he was okay, that he wasn't depressed or hungry or in pain. He just wanted to leave.

He heard Percy sigh.

"No. He'll be fine without it, he probably wants to leave."

Nico smiled inwardly. Percy knew exactly what he felt all the time. It felt good to have someone like that after he'd lost Bianca. A part of Nico still blamed Percy for that, but the other part knew it was Bianca's choice and Percy had tried to stop her. It still hurt, though. But, little by little, the hurt slowly went away as he spent more time with Percy.

"Hey Nico, you okay? You spaced out." He heard Percy ask. Nico looked up, his face void of expression and nodded.

"I'm fine."

Percy sighed loudly before he grabbed Nico's hand and helped him up out of the hospital bed.

"I hope you have a great life, Mr. di Angelo. Take care." he heard the doctor call after them. Percy guided Nico out of the room, and down the hall. He cleared his throat.

"Nico, I know you're not fine. How are you really?"

Nico looked at him, expressionless, and said "I'm fine." in a monotone.

Percy sighed again and dropped the subject. Nico felt relieved that he did. Nico wasn't really totally in focus. His mind was blank and he couldn't see anything to fill it with.

Percy squeezed the hand he was holding to guide Nico out of the hospital. "Okay, because my car got totaled (Is there one or two l's in that?), and I can't exactly drive with a broken leg and I have to go get my crutches from the front desk, We have two options. A taxi to Long Island, or call my mom and have her drive us. Which one do you want, Neeks?" Percy said, apparently trying and failing to sound happy. Nico knew he was trying to be upbeat for him, but it wasn't working. He sounded slightly constipated.

"I'll have a taxi..." Nico said in a near silent voice, but it seemed like Percy heard him as he walked over to the telephone to call for a cab. Nico sat there on the bench Percy had helped him onto and waited for Percy. His mind was blank, no thoughts crossing it as he stared blankly ahead, not being able to see what he was staring at. He heard footsteps to his right and shifted his head in that direction.

"Nico, the cab is here. We have to go." He heard Percy say. He felt Percy's warm hand slip into his and helped him up. He led Nico to the cab and got in after he helped Nico in. Nico sat in the back of the cab, staring at nothing. The darkness was consuming him, as it had already done to his eyes. His mind was blank and he had nothing to think about. He couldn't think of anything as he couldn't see anything to give him thoughts. He felt Percy lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Neeks, this drive will be about an hour. You want to nap?"

Nico nodded, even though he wasn't tired at all, he just needed a distraction. He closed his blank eyes and drifted to sleep, dreaming of nothing but falling in darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time skip!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nico, Nico, wake up. We're here." Nico could hear a voice calling his name. He didn't want to wake up though. He was so comfy. He felt someone shaking his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see who was shaking him, but saw only darkness. His shoulders slumped as he remembered, he was blind.

"Nico, we're at camp. Well, at the border to camp. Come on. Chiron wants to see us." He heard Percy say.

Nico nodded slowly. He got out of the cab, with the help of Percy, and Percy started to guide him into camp. He felt useless and weak, having Percy guide him everywhere, but that's what was needed. He could feel people staring and he could hear the whispers of the other campers.

"What happened to di Angelo?"

"I heard he's blind now."

"You're kidding. How in Hades is he supposed to survive?"

"He probably won't. No demigod that's blind can."

"Yeah. He's as good as dead."

All this whispers were pissing Nico off, but he was too tired to yell at them. He knew they wanted some reaction, most likely for him to burst into tears, but he had no feelings. They were gone. He walked as slowly as he could, Percy slowly guiding him through camp. Percy suddenly stopped.

"Nico, we're at the Big House. There are three steps in front of you. Get ready."

Nico waited for Percy to help him get up the steps. He never spoke a word.

"Okay, Nico, put your foot forward and up." Nico did so and his foot landed on the first step. Percy repeated the instructions until he placed his hand on Nico's shoulder, signaling that he was off the steps. He felt Percy tug slightly on his hand and realized it was time to go into the house. He followed Percy.through what he guessed was the door, and through the halls, into the living room, as Percy had said. The only sound was the faint clunk of Percy's cast on the wooden floor.

"Ah, Percy, Nico. I'm so glad you are okay. Please, come in." Nico recognized that as Chiron's voice, and Percy guided him into the room and sat him on a very comfortable chair. Chiron cleared his throat from Nico's right.

"So, we need a plan for Nico. If we want him to survive, we need to have a plan. This is going to be hard for you, Nico, you know that, but I think you'll make it through. You're a strong kid. So, what we're going to do is have a camper help train you by your other senses so you can fight using you hearing and scent and touch. It is harder to do this, so you need to work extra hard. We need to find a camper who will help you." Chiron said.

Percy spoke up.

"I'll do it. I'll help him. I've done it a lot these past few days so I understand how to. Maybe Jason too. He's a good friend of Nico's."

Chiron cleared his throat.

"Okay, so we have the plan set. I guess we will start tomorrow and see how it goes. You may go to your cabins now."

Nico felt Percy stand up and felt his hand slip into his own. He stood up and followed Percy's guidance through the hall and slowly down the porch steps. He felt the stares again and kept his head down, his bangs covering his face. He kept walking with Percy until Percy squeezed his hand, signalling for him to stop. He soon realized he was in front of his cabin. Percy helped him up the steps and through the door.

"Nico, do you need any help with getting changed?" Percy asked.Nico shook his head.

"Just leave the clothes right next to me on the bed." He said with a monotone. Percy sighed but started to shuffle around for clothing, Nico guessed, based on the sound of opening and closing of drawers. He heard Percy set the clothes next to him and waited for Percy to leave. But he didn't. He sat next to Nico on the bed and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Nico, you don't have to hold all your emotions in. It's okay to let it out. I know this is hard for you. If you want to let it out, I'm right here." Percy said with a soft voice.

Nico's bottom lip trembled. This was the first person to say this to him except Jason. And it was Percy at that. All his pent up emotions came flowing out and he started to sob, laying his head on Percy's shoulder. Percy rubbed up and down his back, his arm wrapped around his waist, pulling Nico into his side. Nico sobbed for all that had happened the last couple days, losing his eyesight, hearing the comments of the other campers, learning that he may not live, just overall everything. Percy hugged him close, whispering sweet nothings into his ear and "it'll be okay" "you'll be fine" Nico slowly calmed down and he felt his eyelids getting heavy. As he drifted to sleep, he whispered to Percy "Thanks, Perce..." and he was gone.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico woke up with his head on something hard, yet soft.

He groaned as he heard the sounds of the campers chatting loudly from through his window and rolled over, shoving his face into what he thought was his pillow. What surprised him was that his pillow groaned too and shifted under him. He shot up and felt underneath him. He realized that last night he fell asleep on Percy and he felt his face become red. Percy groaned and shifted on the bed. He sat up and must have been confused because he made a noise kind of like a squeak mixed with a groan and shifted away from Nico. Nico heard percy sigh and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Uh, Neeks, it's around breakfast time. We should get ready an then after that, I'm gonna help you with training. Sound good?"

Nico nodded and stood up slowly, feeling for anything in his way. He slowly stripped to his boxers and heard Percy gasp. He turned to where the sound came from and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh... I-I didn't think you'd change with me here..." Percy stuttered out.

"Well, I can't exactly see my dresser, so I'm gonna need a little help with getting the clothes."

Percy coughed slightly and laughed nervously.

"Uh... Yeah. Yeah, I'll get your clothes..."

Nico heard him shuffle around for a bit before he laid a hand on Nico's shoulder.

"Um... Here's your pants first." Nico felt him hand a pair of jeans to him. He grabbed he fabric and slowly tried to pull them on,

Getting them on finally after five minutes of struggling as he couldn't see where the hems where. Percy handed him another piece of fabric.

"Your shirt."

The shirt was easier to get on but still, Nico was extremely frustrated by now. He felt Percy slide his converse on and helped him off the bed. He gripped Percy's hand as he lead him out of the cabin.

"Nico, I need to change. Um... What do you want to do while you wait for me?"

Nico shifted on his feet and stared into the darkness that was now his eyes.

"Um... I guess I'll wait here."

Percy put his hand on Nico's shoulder before Nico heard his footsteps retreating. Nico felt around a bit so he had something to hold onto, before he slowly lowered himself onto the porch step. He shifted a bit before placing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He frowned as he heard the other campers chatting and laughing and he couldn't see what they were laughing about. This depressed him more. He heard footsteps towards him and looked up, trying to hear who it was.

"Hey, Neeks. I'm back. Do you need help up?"

Nico shook his head and tried to get up by himself. He fell back onto the porch. He tried again and again, getting more frustrated each time. He felt tears gathering in his eyes, and shook his head, trying to get rid of them before trying to get up again. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and stopped struggling to get up.

"Nico, it's okay. You're trying. Let me help you. We'll try to get it next time."

He heard Percy's voice and slowly nodded. Percy grasped his hand and pulled him up. Nico kept his head down, not wanting Percy, nor any of the other campers to see the unshed tears. Percy led him to the pavilion and helped him into a seat.

"Nico! It's great to see you! How're you holding up after the-" Nico heard a smack and a groan.

"What the hell, Hazel?"

"Leo, you idiot, you can't just say that to him."

Nico smiled a bit at his sister defending him.

"Sorry about that, Nico. How're you today?" He heard Hazel ask kindly.

"I'm fine. Not really happy right now. I can't see you guys anymore. I can't see what's two inches in front of me. I'm worried about being able to stay alive. My head hurts because I have to strain to understand what's going on without seeing it. It feel weird. Not seeing." He heard a couple intakes of breaths and felt a hand slip over his shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay, Neeks." He heard Percy say and he nodded, before he laid his head slightly on Percy's shoulder. Percy's arm around his shoulder shifted and he felt Percy lay his head on top of his. He lifted his head as he heard Jason's voice next to him and the bench shook as he dropped himself next to Nico.

"Hey, Nico. How's it going?"

Nico smiled. Jason was his best friend, other than Percy and he knew he'd be there for him while he trained with Percy.

"I'm okay. Tired, worried, and my head aches. You?"

"I'm okay. A little tired. But other than that, I'm good. You ready to start training with your other senses?"

Nico nodded slightly, before he turned his head a little in the direction of Percy, whose arm was still on his shoulder.

"He'll help you." He heard Jason whisper and turned his head back. He nodded . He knew Percy'd help. He promised. And Percy rarely breaks his promises to Nico nowadays. Nico's head shot up as he heard the one voice he hated the most. Annabeth's. He didn't hate Annabeth, he just hated that she had Percy and he didn't.

"Percy! You're back! I heard about the crash! I was so worried. You're okay, right?"

Percy's arm slipped from Nico's shoulder and Nico felt his shoulder grow cold where Percy's arm had been.

"I'm fine, Annie. Just a broken leg. It'll heal in a month or two. Sooner depending on how well nectar and ambrosia works." Percy answered.

"Oh, Nico, how are you? I heard what happened to you. How're you holding up?" Annabeth sounded concerned.

"I'm fine." Nico answered without emotion.

"Oh, Percy, I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk after breakfast and then go to the rock climbing wall?" Annabeth asked.

"I'd love to. Nico, is it okay if we skip the training today?"

Nico nodded, even though he wanted to say no. He knew Percy would be happier to go with Annabeth than to help him with his blindness.

"Thanks so much, Neeks! Have a great morning!" He heard Percy call before he felt the bench move as Percy got up and walked away. Nico's shoulder's slumped and his head hung.

He felt Jason lay a hand on his shoulder and looked in that direction.

"Why didn't you say anything? He promised to train you today, didn't he?"

Nico nodded miserably.

"I knew he'd rather be with Annabeth than help me. It would make him happier. I just wanted to make him happy..."

"Even if it makes you miserable? Nico, you can't just put his needs before yours just because you love him. You have needs to. And yours are more urgent and important than Percy's need to hang with his girlfriend."

Nico smiled sadly.

"I know. But I love him and that means putting his needs before mine."

"Not this time." Jason ended the conversation by saying that. Nico knew he was right, but he also knew he couldn't do it while he was so in love with Percy. He just couldn't keep Percy's happiness away from him. It hurt his chest to think about doing that. But he realized that this was going to happen a lot, which meant he needed to get used to the dull throbbing pain in his heart. But how could he. How could he get used to this pain when it happened every day he heard Annabeth and Percy together? The pain doesn't numb. It doesn't end. It continues until it will eventually swallow him whole. And he'd gladly take it. An end to the pain. An end to the heartbreak. An end to the blindness. Just an end to it all. But he knew that wouldn't come anytime soon. He was a son of the Death god, after all.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy walked around the beach, hand in hand with Annabeth. He listened to her mindless chatter, not really paying attention. He stared out at the sea, his mind clouded with thoughts.

"Percy, are you even listening to me?" Annabeth's voice broke through his cloud of thoughts and he turned his head to look at her. She looked annoyed.

"Sorry, wise girl. What's up again?"

Annabeth sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes.

"I said, Olympus needs rebuilding again, after the war, it kind of got smashed up a bit. So the gods asked me to rebuild it! Can you believe it?! I thought the first time was a one time thing! I'm so excited!" Annabeth's voice sounded distant, as Percy went back to his jumbled thoughts.

"Yeah, that's great, Annie. Good job." He mumbled, not really paying attention to what he was saying.

Annabeth kept babbling on, and Percy's thoughts kept him distracted. Percy looked over at Annabeth as she tapped his shoulder.

"Percy, I have to supervise some cabin repairs, so I have to go. See you at dinner." She leaned up on her toes and kissed him softly. Percy barely realized it happened, because he was so caught up in his thoughts. His main thought was that the kiss wasn't as exciting for him as they used to be. He watched as Annabeth ran down the beach, before he turned and started towards his cabin. He keeps feeling that he forgot something, but can't remember what. He knows it has something to do with Nico, but he can't remember what it is. He shook his head to clear it as he reached his cabin. His cabin was one of the places at camp where he loved the most. It was beautiful and reminded him of the sea. Of course, because it's Poseidon's cabin.

He reached for the doorknob and turned it, opening the door. What he wasn't expecting was to see a very pissed off Jason Grace standing in the middle of the cabin with his arms crossed, glaring at Percy with an almost deranged angry glint. Percy looked at him in confusion.

"Um, Jason, not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing in my cabin?" Percy asked, a little tense under Jason's glare. "Don't give me that crap. You know why I'm here." Jason said, his voice bordering on psychotic fury.

"Um... No. No I don't."

Jason's anger seemed to escalate at those words.

"You seriously don't remember?! Gods, Percy, you are such a bastard,you know that?" He shouted.

Percy was startled. Why was Jason calling him a bastard?

"What in Hades are you talking about?" Percy's mind was bouncing around a mile a minute.

"You remember what you promised Nico? You promised to help him train today. But then Annabeth had to ask you to hang out and of course you went with her. Do you know how devastated Nico was that you went back on your promise? He stopped eating and talking to anyone. He barely talked to me all day. He trusted you and you broke that trust."

Percy gasped as he remembered the promise he made. His stomach lurched unpleasantly as he realized he had forgotten. He had forgotten a promise to someone who trusted him.

"Oh god... What have I done?" He whispered, feeling like he couldn't breathe. Nico was the one person he trusted with his life and his soul. He didn't trust anyone else because no one was as close to Percy as Nico was now. Not even Annabeth. Annabeth only knew half his secrets, while Nico knew them all. Percy realized that he may have lost the only person he really trusted.

"Yeah. Look what you did." Jason said in a voice that showed he thought Percy was stupid.

"I need to find him and apologize!" Percy turned around to run out of the cabin, but Jason has grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Don't just apologize. You have to show him that he can trust you again. Apologies don't work if your actions don't change. If you are going to help Nico survive, you have to focus on him a lot more than your love life. He needs you."

Percy took in Jason's words before he nodded frantically and turned around and ran straight through the door. He had to find Nico and tell him he's going to give all his time now into training him. He'll show Nico that he is in this with him.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy ran as fast as he could, not caring about the campers who stopped and stared at him or the people who stopped to say hello. He only cared about get getting to Nico, that was his top priority. He didn't see the shock on people's faces as he shot past them. Nico. That's all that he knew to think of. He replayed Jason's words in his head. 'If you are going to help Nico survive, you have to focus on him a lot more than your love life.' Those words had become drilled into his head. He knew that Annabeth just wanted to be with him, as she was his girlfriend, but he had the obligation to help Nico and he had to honor that, no matter if he had a girlfriend or not. He finally reached the Hades cabin and banged on the door rapidly.

"Go away, Jason. I told you I didn't want to talk to anyone right now!" He heard Nico's voice, yet it wasn't Nico's voice. It was a voice of someone who was tired and heartbroken, and that just made Percy feel worse.

"It's not Jason. It's me, Percy." He tried to stop his voice from trembling as he spoke, out of anxiety and guilt. The cabin was silent for a few minutes before Percy heard shuffling. he could hear Nico holding on to things to guide him to the door, and the lock click. The door creaked open and Percy pushed it. It swung open with a dull, rusty creak, and Percy stepped into the dark cabin. The first thing he noticed were the tissues. Thousands of them were scattered across the floor, on the other bunks, on the dresser, desk, chairs, and some were stuffed in the trash can that stood near Nico's bed. Percy could tell that Nico had no clue where they landed when he threw them. Percy gulped as he realized how much pain Nico must have felt. Then, he saw Nico, and that was his breaking point. Nico's eyes were bloodshot, puffy, and red. His skin paler than usually and he looked gaunt, the look of someone who hadn't slept or eaten in days, although it had only been a day. Percy rushed over to Nico and sat down next to him on his bed, putting his arm around Nico's shoulder and pulling him into his side. Nico coughed feebly.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you with A-Annabeth?" Nico stuttered while looking at the ground without actually seeing it.

"I realized how I promised you that I'd help you and I forgot it. I need to make that up."

Nico frowned.

"How do I know you won't just go off with A-Annabeth again?" Nico stared at Percy for the first time since Percy had come. His eyes blank and unseeing. They kind of unnerved Percy. Percy frowned at Nico.

"Nico, you are the only person that knows all of me. You know that once I promise something, I try my hardest to fulfill it. Even if I forget it, I try to make up for forgetting. You know me better than even Annabeth does. You are more important to me than anything. Yes, even Annabeth. You need me. And I will not forget that anymore. I promise with all my heart. I WILL help you train and I WILL help you so you can survive, even if I have to sacrifice myself for your survival."

Nico stared at Percy, we'll, sort of off the the side of Percy, tears in his cloudy eyes. Percy couldn't help but hold back his own tears and bit his lip to stop them from escaping.

"You really meant that?" Nico asked in a feeble voice.

Percy nodded, forgetting for a minute that Nico was blind until Nico spoke again.

"Percy? Do you mean it?" Percy smacked himself on the back of his head in his mind.

"Yeah, Neeks. I mean it."

Nico smiled slightly, before his eyes drooped and his head rested on Percy's shoulder.

"Thanks, Perce. I believe you. You're important to me too." Nico whispered the last part as he drifted off to sleep. Percy laid Nico on the bed and looked at the clock. He realized it was too late to go back to his cabin, if he didn't want to risk getting eaten by patrol harpies. So he slid onto the bunk across from Nico's and fell to sleep in the darkness.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico and Percy had started training that afternoon. Percy had started Nico on listening to the sounds of the camp, and feeling for vibrations on the ground. Percy was doing a great job of helping, and Nico wondered how he knew what to do.

"Nico, pay attention! What do you hear?" He heard Percy said from his left. Nico concentrated and soon could faintly hear the sounds of the monsters in the woods next to them and the sounds of laughter from the camp. They were so faint, they were almost Inaudible.

Nico groaned in frustration. This isn't working. His hearing isn't becoming "super hearing" and Nico couldn't feel any vibrations on the ground. He was doomed to die. He knew that.

"Come on, Nico. You just have to try harder."

Nico glared at the direction Percy's voice had come from.

"Why don't you give it a try, Jackson?" He snarled. He heard Percy gasp, and felt sorry for a moment, before his frustration returned and he scowled.

"Nico, I'm sorry. I'm pushing you. Just try. You'll get better. It'll get better. It did for me, and it will for you." Nico felt anger after Percy said this. How can it get better? He's blind! He's going to die if he doesn't get this right. Percy knew nothing.

"How can you say that?! I'M BLIND, FOR GODS SAKE! It will never get better. Never. I can't see anything! I've forgotten what anything looks like and it's only been a couple days! Don't you ever compare yourself to me, anyways! You have everything! You're the damn savior of the damn world! You have a beautiful girlfriend, you're perfect! You have a loving family. Your life is perfect. Everyone loves you! I'm a son of Hades, the most hated god in history! Everyone's afraid of me! I'm never recognized, even when I brought back the Athena Parthenos! Everyone hates me because I can't help that I'm a son of the Death god! I don't have a family anymore. I'm alone. My dad hates my guts, my sister and mother are dead. I'm alone. Don't you compare yourself to me, Perseus Jackson! You have it all. I have shit." Nico was gasping for breath by the end of his rant, but it felt good to get this off his chest. Percy said nothing for a minute.

"It always get better. That's how life works."

Nico laughed bitterly.

"Percy, you've got to realize that the world is not a wish-granting factory. This is reality. But you don't seem to have realized that. The world doesn't work that way. My life will never get better, no matter how hard I try, no matter how hard I wait. I was born to have a terrible life. And the world does not grant wishes. You have to realize that." Nico stared at the area he thought Percy may have been in, from the gasps that Percy let out a few minutes ago.

Nico hung his head and turned around. He slowly made his way back to his cabin, trying hard to go on without tripping but finally made it to his cabin, where he sunk slowly onto the steps, not before checking with his hands to feel anything there and if they were actually the steps. He put his head in his hands, which were rested on his elbows, and just sobbed. Sobbed out of heartbreak of knowing Percy will never be his. Sobbed for the losses he had endured. Sobbed for Bianca. Sobbed for his blindness. And sobbed for knowing that he was alone in life. Just like he's always been, and just like he will always be.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy stood in the clearing, stuff with shock. Nico had just stumbled off and his words replayed through Percy's head, 'you have it all. I've got shit' around and around his head. Percy hadn't realized how miserable Nico was, and he wants to make it better, but he didn't know how, other than to be there when Nico needed him. He numbly walked back towards camp, feeling that his heart had been ripped out. He realized that Nico was in so much pain that's been bottled up for so long and becoming blind must have been the last straw before the burst. He didn't noticed that Annabeth was running towards him. She stopped right in front of him and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. He faintly realized that there wasn't the usual spark there anymore. Right after she pulled away, Percy came to the realization that he really didn't feel a spark between them anymore and he had to put an end to it before Annabeth got hurt. He cleared his throat, looking straight at Annabeth.

"Annabeth, I want to talk about something..." He trailed off, waiting for her response.

"Sure, Seaweed Brain, what's up?" She stared at him, waiting patiently.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry. I just don't feel the same with us anymore. I love you, but only as a best friend. I think the war took too great of a toil on our relationship. I'm sorry, but I want to break up." Percy looked at Annabeth, trying to read her expression. She looked calm, but she was always so good at hiding her emotions, so he didn't know what she was feeling exactly.

Then, she smiled calmly at him.

"I feel the same, Seaweed Brain. We just aren't the same. I understand how you're feeling." She smiled at him again. Percy felt like a weight had been pulled off his shoulders.

"Thanks so much Annabeth. Still best friends?"

She punched him on the shoulder, a little to hard, he may admit.

"No duh, you idiot! I have to go. See you later, Seaweed Brain."

Percy smiled as he watched her walk back to her cabin. He knew that it would be easier for training Nico now that he didn't have to worry about Annabeth being jealous. Although, he was still shocked and worried about Nico, after his outburst.

'I need to find him and see if he's okay' was what Percy thought, as he took off running towards the Hades cabin.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico sat on the steps of his cabin, silently crying. His tears had not slowed down, and he didn't try to stop them. He was in too much emotional pain to try. Everything hurt. But the pain in his heart was the worst. He felt so numb, and yet he could feel everything. The pain, the heartbreak, the hurt, the anger, the fear, everything. There was a voice inside his head. It swirled words around his mind, dark words that made him feel even more pain and suffering. 'Even your father hates you' 'Percy will never love you' 'You're a disgrace' 'kill yourself' 'no one would miss you' 'do it'. There was no end to the words. He couldn't register that someone had sat down beside him until they put their arm around his shoulder. He stiffened, but relaxed when he heard Jason's voice.

"Nico? Do you want to go inside and talk about it?" He spoke in a soft voice. Nico barely heard it, but he nodded slightly and Jason helped him up, helping him into his cabin and sitting him on the bed. He slumped down, not caring how he looked at the moment. Jason sat beside him and gradually, Nico's head fell onto his shoulder. Jason wrapped an arm around Nico and just let him sob to his hearts content, or rather to his hearts discontent. He rubbed Nico's shoulder lightly, reassuringly, letting Nico know he was leaving until Nico was better.

"Neeks, wanna talk about it?" Jason's voice was soft and reassuring. Nico nodded and cleared his dry scratchy throat, due to crying so hard.

"Percy and I were training, And he was pushing me to try harder to listen and feel for things. I told him it was too much and he said that it'll get better. But what hurt was he said 'it did for me and it will for you.' And I just... He doesn't understand anything. He's so oblivious that I want to strangle him. It will never get better for me. My own dad told me my sister would have done better. My crush is as straight as a ruler with a girlfriend. I've lost everyone I love. Percy has it all. I-I have nothing." Nico spoke with a croak in his voice, stuttering on the last sentence. Jason shuffled a little before he spoke.

"You have me. And Percy cares about you a lot. He may or may not like you, who knows. But Nico, you're never alone."

Nico tried to smile, but it was a fake smile. Jason must have bought it, though.

"Thanks, Jason. You're a great friend. And so is P-Percy," Nico stuttered on Percy's name. "I'll always remember that. Don't forget it either."

Jason shifted, as if he was confused by Nico's words, but he didn't show that in his response.

"Yeah, Neeks. I promise that I'll always be there for you. So will Percy."

Nico nodded.

"Yeah. Jason, I'm tired. Can you leave? I want to sleep." Jason must have nodded and Nico felt him get up, retracting his arm from Nico and walking to what Nico guessed was the door. Nico looked up as Jason cleared his throat.

"Get some rest, Nico. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, Jason."

As Nico heard the door close, the voices were back.

'No he won't. No one will.' 'Do it. Get the blade.' 'No one would care. No one would miss you.' 'He and Percy just pity you.' The voices never ended, not even when Jason was here. But Nico was starting to believe them. No one would miss him. He wasn't that important to anyone. It was all pity. Should he do it?

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico sat on his bed, his head still filled with those awful voices, contemplating whether or not he should reach for the blade under his pillow. He could hear the clock in his room ticking. It kept getting louder and louder. It sounded like a taunt to him. The voices in his head were starting to move with a rhythm to the ticking.

Tick tock

Waiting for your heart to stop

Tick tock tick tock

For your head to spin like a top

Pick up the blade and let the blood drop

It was a continuous melody, never ending, it felt like Kronos was taunting him with the clock, even though Kronos was in Tartarus again. The voices whispered to do it. Grab the blade and get it over with. His hand inched towards the area he knew his pillow was at. Thank the gods that Percy had to tried to help Nico memorize where everything in his cabin was. His hand kept getting closer and closer. He paused for a second, thinking about a note. He wouldn't be able to write a note, what with being blind. Hazel would never know how much he loved her. Percy would never know how much Nico cared for him. Jason would never know how important of a friend he was to Nico. The other seven would never know that Nico never hated them, he just didn't want to get in their way. But most of all, they'd never know that it was never their fault. Nico knew for a fact that Percy would blame himself, so would Hazel and Jason.

He looked down, just remembering all the good times he'd had after the war. All the times hanging with Percy and Jason. The seven. Everything. But then all the awful things came back, losing Bianca, his dad's disappointment, the first war, going through Tartarus alone, being stuck in a jar with only some pomegranate seeds to eat, and finally, becoming blind. his hand reached under his pillow and withdrew the small razor blade. He just held it. Trying to figure out how to do this when he couldn't see. He had done it once before after the accident, so he knew sort of how to finish the job. He slowly put his hand on his arm and slid it down feeling for an area he felt was a good place. He finally found it. Gripping the tiny blade, he lifted it to the spot where his hand had previously been and was about to dig it into his skin before the door slammed open. He looked up in that direction and heard Percy's angelic voice scream.

"Nico?! NICO! Put the blade down, please. Nico, please, don't do this."

Nico heard the urgency and concern in Percy's voice and dropped the blade. It made a metallic sound as it hit the floor. Percy's arms wrapped around Nico and he held him close, rubbing his back as Nico shuddered with sobs and gasps.

"Shh. It's okay. you're okay. Shh." Percy whispered into hi ear and comforted him.

"You saved me... You saved me..." Nico kept muttering that into Percy's shoulder between sobs.

"Why?"

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico sat on Percy's lap, sobbing his heart out for all his pain and suffering. Percy rubbed up and down his back, whispering sweet nothings into his ear, and his other hand combed through Nico's hair. Nico's sobs soon turned into hiccups and he slowly pulled his face out of Percy's shoulder, looking down. He felt Percy lift his chin, but Nico didn't dare look up, in fear that Percy would be angry with him.

"Nico, come on. Look at me."

Nico reluctantly looked up but he couldn't see to tell if Percy was mad or disgusted.

"Nico, I'm not mad. I'm just concerned. You don't have to tell me why, if you don't want to, but just know that I'm here for you. I know this whole accident is hard for you. And I know what I said must have hurt. I was stupid and didn't watch my words. I'm sorry. But Nico, can you promise me that if you feel this way again, get Jason to bring you to me. I'll listen. Neeks, you're my best friend. Let me help you."

They sat in silence, not making a noise, but to Nico, it meant everything. Percy wasn't mad. He cared. Percy's hands were now on either sides of Nico's face, and his thumbs wiped away The tears. Nico leaned his face into Percy's hands, holding into Percy's wrists like a lifeline, as if Percy would disappear if he let go, but to Nico, that was the case. If he let go, Percy would leave and never come back, too disgusted by Nico's attempt that he would never look at the Son of Hades again. Nico knew Percy wouldn't do that, but there was a fear in the back of his brain that he would. Percy made a small noise, like he was clearing his throat.

"Neeks, you know we all love you, right? Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Leo, and I. We care for you. Don't forget that. And Nico, you are a really important thing in my life. I don't know what I'd do if you left..." Percy trailed off. Not because he was thinking, but because Nico had pecked his Cheek. Percy froze under Nico and stopped speaking. Nico knew he had probably made Percy uncomfortable, but he was too worn out to try to fix the problem. He eyelids were drooping and he realized that he was actually happy being blind for the first time. Not being able to see if Percy was disgusted by the kiss. His eyes slowly closed and his head fell back onto Percy's now tense shoulder and he fell to sleep.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy sat in the dark Hades cabin, Nico on his lap, clinging to Percy like a koala even in his sleep. Percy was extremely uncomfortable and tense, yet he didn't want to move, for fear of waking Nico. But he had to get out of here to think. He slowly unhooked Nico's arms from his neck and his legs from around his waist, and laid Nico down on his bed, covering him with the silk sheets. He crept away from the bed, but as he reached the door, he heard Nico mumble something. He stopped, until he heard Nico turn over and Percy quietly opened the door. It was around 8pm now, and the sun was almost fully set. He walked slowly towards his cabin, his mind in turmoil. All he could think about was Nico's kiss on his cheek. Why was he over thinking a kiss on the cheek? That's all it was. A kiss on the cheek, right?

'Ugh... This is so confusing...' He thought to himself as he finally reached his cabin. He slowly opened the door and walked to his bed, still thinking about that kiss. Why was he freaking out over a kiss on the cheek. It was just Nico. It's not like Percy had a crush on Nico. He's not gay, right? An inner voice in the back of his head was snickering.

'Sure your not...'

'I'm not! I am straight. I just came out of a relationship with A GIRL'

He then realized he was talking to himself.

'Geez, that kiss has made me crazy, talking to myself...'

'You have to admit you think Nico is cute' that voice was back.

'Okay, yes, Nico is cute, but I say that in a friendly way, right?' Percy's head was starting to throb.

'Sure you do...'

'Okay there's no need for the sarcasm.' Okay, he's gone crazy. He's actually arguing with himself. He shook his head.

'I am not gay. That's final. I can't keep freaking out about one kiss on the cheek. I can't let that one stupid kiss on the cheek distract me from training Nico. I can't let it get awkward.' Percy's voice was filled with determination.

'Fine. But just think about it. You liked it, and you know it.' The voice spoke but Percy shook his head, clearing his mind of any voices. Thank god. He sat on his bed, and stared at the seawater fountain Tyson had fixed after Percy had broken it, due to an Iris message gone wrong. It produced rainbows as the sun light snuck through the blinds. He looked up at the click. It was 5:00pm, which meant dinner would be soon.

Suddenly, someone was knocking urgently on his door. He stood up and opened the door. There stood a very disheveled Nico di Angelo, his hair ruffled, his shirt untucked, and his shoes not tied. Behind him stood Jason, smiling apologetically and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Percy! I'm so sorry for kissing you on the cheek! I probably made everything awkward! Gods of Olympus, I'm sorry!" Nico blurted out before Percy could say hello. Percy stood in the doorway, mouth halfway open to say hello, before he pursed his lips, staring at Nico's bowed head.

"Nico, I don't care about that. I can't let that get in the way of your training. We need to focus a lot. I care about you. We need to get you trained if you want to survive. Now, come on. I'm pretty sure dinner will be soon. Let's go eat." He wrapped his arm around Nico's shoulder, grinning, and wrapped his other arm around Jason's shoulder and led the way to the pavilion.

Chapter Text

Nico

It had been two weeks. Two weeks since the cutting incident. Two weeks since Percy had saved him. Two weeks since Nico had screwed up and almost kissed Percy. And two weeks of nonstop training. Percy had seemed to have forgotten all about the kiss incident, and had fully immersed himself in training Nico. Jason had come to help out too, but it seemed like there was very little progress. Nico had barely strengthened his hearing in two weeks and still could only slightly feel vibrations. He had so much doubt that this would help him survive that he couldn't produce good results. How could he not doubt it? He couldn't see.

"Okay, Nico, try again. Jason is gonna sneak up on you from one direction and you have to try to catch him before he gets to you. Use your ears. You can do it." Percy spoke from Nico's left. Nico nodded and got ready, his sword in his hand. He strained to hear Jason's footsteps, or anything that sounded like he was coming, but he heard nothing. That is, until he was thrown down by a body on top of him. He heard Jason's laughter coming from above him and scowled.

"Get off me, you fatty! How much do you eat? You weigh a ton!" Nico screeched and flailed around under Jason's fat butt.

"Oh Hades, no. You did not just call me fat. I'm not letting you up until you say sorry, Death Breath." Jason spoke from above him, teasing him with the nickname he knew Nico hated. Nico grunted and rolled his clouded eyes.

"I'm very sorry, your fat holiness." Nico said, sarcasm thick in his tone.

"Nuh uh. That's not good enough. You used sarcasm."

"Fine! I'm sorry I called you fat! Now, get your fat ass off me!"

Percy's voice cut through their bickering.

"As much as I love to see this, we need to keep working. Come on, Jason. Get off Nico. Time to try again!"

Jason got off Nico and Nico groaned.

"Why are we even doing this? I'm not making any progress. What's the point?" Nico was getting frustrated with himself. Why isn't he making any progress? He's been trying so hard to make progress, yet he hasn't made any! Nico looked up as he heard Percy cough slightly to get his attention.

"You're not making progress because you doubt yourselves. You don't believe in yourself enough to make it work. Yes, you've been working extremely hard, but, there's something else you need to do. Believe in yourself. Just think about that for a minute and we'll try again." He heard someone walking away, either Percy or Jason and he sat on the ground, pondering Percy's words. He had been doubting he could do it. That was true. Maybe if he stopped the doubt, he could do it. He closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. After a couple minutes, he opened them and stood up wobbly, he still wasn't used to standing up by himself, it was hard to do it when you can't see anything to hold on to. He heard Percy's leg cast's muffled clunking and he nodded in that direction. He stood there, waiting, straining his ears and trying to feel anything on the ground.

He suddenly felt the vibrations of someone running and he could soon hear the sound of footsteps getting closer. He got ready and right as Jason went to tackle him, he ducked and Jason must have gone sailing over him, because there was a dull thud, as Jason must have hit the earth. Nico grinned and stood up from his crouch. He then heard Percy cheering and it got closer until he felt two arms wrap around him and he was lifted into the air and twirled around. He laughed slightly sat Percy's antics. But what surprised him, was that Percy placed a kiss on his forehead after he had set him down.

"You did it, Neeks! You did it! I knew you could! All you had to do was believe in yourself!" Percy's arms were still around Nico's waist, and it was hard to think about anything except Percy.

"Uh huh, yeah..." Nico spoke in a daze.

"Neeks, Sparky, let's go. I think it's time for dinner." Percy spoke before his arms left Nico's waist, leaving him cold and sad.

"You know what? I need to talk to Nico for a minute. You go ahead. We'll meet you there." Jason's voice spoke from right next to Nico, but Nico barely noticed, as he was still in a daze. Percy must not have nodded, as Nico heard footsteps walking away. His mind went back to what just happened. Percy had kissed him. Well, sort of. A forehead kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.

"Dude, snap out of it." Jason's voice broke through Nico's thoughts.

"He kissed me... A forehead kiss, but still... He kissed me... Did that really happen?" Nico was on cloud 9 right now.

"He did. It surprised me too. I wonder what that was about... Maybe he likes you!" Jason started squealing stuff about how his 'ship', whatever that was, was coming true and stuff about his 'otp'. Nico had never heard of these things, and was sure he didn't want to know. If it was coming from Jason, it was most likely insane.

"Jason, shut up. Seriously, Percy doesn't like me. He's straight. I've accepted that."

Nico looked at the ground, scuffling his shoes. Jason groaned.

"Nico, we all know you're not over him. And he broke up with Annabeth. Said be didn't feel it anymore."

Nico's heart soared.

"What? Why didn't he say anything?"

Jason scoffed.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because he likes you! He wouldn't mention Annabeth the whole time we hung out after the war, plus, he always made sure you were okay even before you became blind. He was like an overprotective dad! Nico, you'd have to be stupid not to get it. He likes you!" Jason patted Nico on the back.

"Could he really?" Nico blushed at just the thought.

He felt Jason poke his face.

"Dude, you're blushing... You never blush. Ever. Do you seriously like Percy that much?" Jason sounded shocked.

"Yeah. I do." Nico smiled at that.

"Then why are we doing standing here talking? We have to go to dinner with Lover Boy!" Jason pushed Nico on his back slightly and laughed.

'Maybe Percy really could like me...' Nico thought as they met up with Percy by the entrance to the pavilion.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy sat at the Poseidon table alone, staring at his plate full of blue foods. He wasn't really that hungry, for his thoughts made him lose his appetite. He was extremely confused. All his thoughts were jumbled. He looked over at the Hades table and watched Nico laughing with Hazel. He stared at Nico's features. The way he tilted his head back when he laughed. The way his eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled. The way his eyes sparkled like the stars. Percy's stomach fluttered at these thoughts. But why? 'Gods, I'm gonna need to go talk to Piper about this. She'll help me.' Percy scraped a portion of his uneaten food into the fire and thanked the gods, before he slipped out of the pavilion, making his way to the Aphrodite cabin. He knocked on the door and it was opened by none other than Piper.

"Oh, hey, Percy. What's up?" Piper said, leaning on the doorframe. Percy shifted uncomfortably.

"Um, can we talk? I mean, privately?" He mumbled.

Piper seemed shocked, as it wasn't usual that Percy was like this. She nodded, before turning and calling out to her siblings that she'd be back. She turns back, and closed the door, walking towards the canoe lake. Percy trudged behind her and she finally stopped at the beach, before she plopped down and sat cross legged facing Percy. He say down beside her and she looked at him expectantly. He sighed.

"So, what's so important that you needed to talk to me about?" Piper looked at Percy, who cleared his throat nervously.

"Um, well, you're a daughter of Aphrodite and I thought you could help me with this... I'm really confused because I'm starting to feel differently around Nico. I mean, I've started noticing the little things he does, and my stomach feels weird around him, and I just want to hold him a lot of the time. I don't know what's going on."

He looked up to see Piper grinning from ear to ear.

"What?"

She squealed and started giggling and jumping up and down in her seat.

"Oh my gods! Jason was right! Percico is real!!! I totally ship it! OMG!"

Percy stared at her in shock.

"What? What is percico? What do you mean, you ship it? Piper, I need your advice." Percy was extremely confused right now.

"Sorry. Sorry. Percy, I think you may like Nico." She said with a straight face. Percy shook his head.

"No, I don't, not like that. I'm not gay."

"Maybe not. Maybe you're bisexual." She snorted at Percy's confused look. "It means you're attracted to females AND males, Seaweed Brain."

Percy frowned in confusion.

Piper sighed.

"Or maybe it's just Nico. Percy, don't you feel all fluttery and happy around Nico? Don't you start to see him in a new light? As if he were the most beautiful person ever? Don't you feel so comfortable with him that you could tell him anything? You like him. Admit it." Piper stared at Percy, waiting for him to respond.

"Nico is my friend. I'm just care about him a lot... Right? I mean, I had Annabeth..." Percy was starting to become unsure of himself.

"Percy, are you seriously that stupid? Think about it. Fluttery stomach, wanting to hold him, thinking he's beautiful, all of that is signs you like him. Just accept it, and go for him, before you're too late."

Percy looked up at Piper, realization dawning on him after Piper's words.

"Could I really like Nico? Now that I think about it, I think it's always been him. Not Annabeth. Thanks, Piper!" Percy stood up and stared running down the beach. He heard Piper call after him.

"Go get your man!"

He called over his shoulder.

"Oh, I will!"

And he took off towards the Hades cabin.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy ran as fast as he could, focused on getting to the Hades cabin. He passed campers, who all stared at him like he was insane, but he didn't care. He was on a mission. He finally made it to the Hades cabin and banged on the door. The door was flung open and a very pissed Nico di Angelo opened the door.

"What the Hades is wrong wi-" he was cut off by Percy grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him inside the cabin, slamming the door shut.

"Percy, what is goi-" Nico was cut off again, but this time, Percy had slammed his lips on Nico's. Nico stood there, shocked, before he relaxed and kissed back, moving his lips with Percy's. Percy smiled internally. This feeling was amazing. Better than any of the kisses with Annabeth. Nico soon pulled away.

"Wha? W-what was th-that?" Nico was stuttering and blushing and for the first time, Percy thought of him as adorable without denying it.

"Nico, I've realized that I like you. I really do. Probably ever since I met you. I just didn't know it or my heart wouldn't let me feel it. But I really like you. And I had to tell you." Percy spoke, his voice wavering, in fear of rejection.

"B-but, you're straight! Aren't you? How could you like me? You were just with Annabeth!" Nico's voice was wavering.

"Actually, Piper told me about bisexuality. You're the only person I have eyes for. Annabeth must have been me trying to force myself not to think about you. But it didn't help. I always think of you. Nico, why I'm trying to say is, I really like you."

Nico stood there in shock, his eyes wide. His mouth kept opening and closing and he looked kind of like a goldfish. Percy couldn't help but giggle internally at that thought.

"You... You like me?" Nico sounded unsure and almost scared.

"Yes, Neeks, I really do." Percy was grinning, even though knew Nico couldn't see him. What happened next completely shocked him. Nico placed his hands on his cheeks after a minute of trying to find them, pulled his face forward, and smashed their lips together. After a second of being shocked, Percy moved his lips alongside Nico's. The kiss was beautiful, and Nico's lips were amazing. Soft, plump, but rough, not anything like Annabeth's lipgloss covered ones were. And it was perfect. But Nico pulled away too soon for Percy's liking, pressing their foreheads together.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear that." He was panting slightly, which may have turned on Percy a bit. Percy smiled and kissed Nico's forehead. He then pulled Nico into a hug and rested his chin on Nico's head. Nico nuzzle his head into Percy's neck. 'This feeling...' Percy thought, 'is amazing.' He smiled to himself until he felt something wet soak into his shirt. Pulling away from Nico, he noticed tears running down Nico's face. He used his thumb to wipe them away, keeping his hands on Nico's cheeks.

"Neeks, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Percy was a little concerned, as Nico barely ever cried.

Nico shook his head.

"No. No. You said everything right. I've just liked you ever since I met you. I've dreamed of this moment. And I'm worried that's all it is. A dream." He sniffled slightly, holding Percy's hands to his cheeks.

"Nico, if this was a dream, would I be feeling the same way?"

Nico sighed and shook his head.

"Nico, this isn't a dream. I like you. A lot. Now, will you stop those tears and smile for me? I want to see that beautiful smile."

Nico smiled finally and Percy smiled too, although Nico didn't realize it. Percy grabbed Nico's hands, pulling him into the center of the cabin.

"Nico, I want to ask you something."

Nico nodded to let Percy know it was okay to ask.

"Nico, will you be my boyfriend?"

Nico was silent, and Percy started to panic.

"You don't have to. It's just an idea. I mean, it's not like you have to be my boyfriend. Oh my gods, I should have asked you on a date first... I'm so stup-" Percy was cut off by Nico's lips. He closed his eyes and almost got lost in the kiss, before Nico pulled away.

"Perce? Shut up. Of course I'll be your boyfriend. Are you kidding me? I was just shocked. I'd love to go out with you."

Percy smiled. He was about to say something, but was interrupted by a girly shriek.

"Oh my gods!!! I told you! Percico is real!"

Chapter Text

Recap

Percy smiled. He was about to say something, but was interrupted by a girly shriek.

"Oh my gods! I told you! Percico is real!"

Nico

Nico pulled away from Percy's embrace when he heard the oh so familiar shriek of Jason Grace. He felt Percy walk towards the door and pull it open. There was a thud and a groan and Percy started laughing. Nico turned in that direction.

"What is it?"

Perch shuffled and there was another groan.

"Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and Leo had been listening to our conversation."

Nico turned red and scowled at the direction the groans were coming from. He heard some more shuffling and he felt Percy moving back to his side, slinging an arm around his waist as he came back.

"Why in Hades were you listening to a private conversation?" Nico demanded.

"Because percico is adorable! And Piper said Percy had a crush on you, and I knew you had a crush on him and it must have been fate! I swear to the gods, you guys make the most adorable couple. My shipper heart... Ugh..." Jason sounded like a teenage girl from that website that Jason keeps talking about. Rumbler? Tumbler? Tumblr! That's it.

"I'm only here because Jason dragged me here, but I do agree. You are a cute couple." Leo interrupted Jason, Annabeth, and Piper's squealing.

"Not as cute as us!" Jason joked.

"Never!" There was the sound of kissing and Percy, Annabeth, and Piper groaned.

"Seriously, guys. You have thousands of places to do that away from us. Stop!" Percy muttered.

"Anyways, I always thought you had feelings for Nico. That's why I was okay with the breakup. I'm fine if you date Nico." Annabeth laughed a bit. Percy's arm tightened around Nico's waist.

"Thanks, Wise Girl. That means a lot." Percy's voice was kind of choked up and Nico reached up to rub his arm soothingly.

"Anyways, it's dinner time. Chiron said today is one of the days we can sit where we want. We're all sitting together?" Jason asked.

Nico nodded and Percy suggested his table. They all trudged out the door, making their way to the pavilion, Percy still holding Nico close.

Jason

Jason watched as Percy and Nico bantered back and forth, giggling and ever so often, Percy would steal a kiss, leaving Nico blushing like a tomato. Sometimes Percy would lean in and Nico would jokingly push his face away. Percy would exclaim an indignant 'hey!' And Nico would giggle a bit before he would lean over and kiss Percy's cheek. They kept bantering back and forth, oblivious to their friends around them. They didn't realize that by now, the whole table was watching them giggling and arguing and kissing. Jason was so close to sobbing because it was absolutely adorable. They never agreed on anything. But they looked so in love, it was too cute. They just didn't know it was love yet. Well, Percy probably didn't. Nico most likely knew, after his confession during the war. Jason was so busy watching the loved up new couple that he jumped when Leo laid a hand over his.

"They really do love each other, don't they?" Leo questioned, beckoning to the couple, who were now feeding each other bits of food, well Percy was. Nico was having trouble with that, but it was still adorable. Jason turned back to his boyfriend.

"They seem like it, don't they?"

Leo nodded and smiled crookedly at Jason.

"They're acting like us when we first got together after the war." (Just to clear it up, For the plot of this book, Leo was not able to find Calypso after the war and fell in love with Jason, who fell in love as well)

"They are, aren't they? The honeymoon phase. It's kind of adorable." Jason said, but Leo was looking at him in a way that was kind of distracting.

"Not as adorable as we were." Leo was smiling softly at him, and Jason's heart melted. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on Leo's lips. Those lips that had become an addiction to him.

He pulled away and smiled. He then wrapped his arm around Leo's waist, pulling him closer and watched Percy and Nico, who were giggling and bantering and pushing each other, kissing and feeding each other bits of food (Nico had finally figured out where Percy's mouth was, which was hard, as Percy was taller than Nico), and just acting like a new couple should. And it was one of the most adorable sights ever. They acted exactly like Noah and Allie from The Notebook, which made it even more beautiful to see. He looked over at Annabeth and Piper and noticed them watching the couple too. They were squealing about how cute they were and Jason looked back at the couple and saw Nico's head on Percy's shoulder, dozing off, and Percy was running his fingers through Nico's hair while holding him upright with his arm around his waist.

Percy stood up, lifting Nico up bridal style, not caring that the whole camp was staring, and nodded to Jason and the others. He turned and walked towards his cabin, disappearing inside with Nico sleeping cuddled into his chest. Jason noticed Percy staring lovingly at Nico's sleeping face. He just about squealed along with Annabeth and Piper, but refrained from embarrassing himself. They really did act like Noah and Allie, and they were perfect for each other. They didn't seem to realize it, but Jason could tell they'd be together for a long time. Because even if they argued all the time, and they pushed each other to the limit, and the fact that they never agreed on something, they still had one thing in common. They were crazy about each other.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy was abruptly woken by a loud knock on his cabin door. He looked down to see Nico cuddled into his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Nico was adorable when he was sleeping. His lips were slightly parted and his cheeks were flushed. Percy felt bad for having to wake the beauty in his arms, but he could hear Jason screaming that it was time for the campfire. He slowly reached up and pushed his fingers through Nico's silky hair. Nico's eyes fluttered and they opened, revealing those deep pools of chocolate that Percy could drown in. He blinked and moved his head a little on Percy's chest.

"What's going on, Perce?" Nico's voice was slightly cracked from sleep, which made him even more hot.

"Campfire, Neeks. Sorry to wake you up from your nap. But we all know Chiron would kick our asses if we weren't there."

Nico laughed slightly.

"It would hurt a lot more than a normal ass kick. He's a centaur. But it's fine, Perce. Let's go." Nico slowly unraveled himself from Percy's arms and stood up, stretching, and turned around.

He offered his hand to Percy to pull him up and Percy grabbed it, pulling himself up along with Nico. Percy must have underestimated Nico's strength, when their chests crashed into each other and they stood there, hands still linked, staring at each other, well, Nico was staring a little off to the side, but that didn't matter to Percy, as he leaned down and captured Nico's lips in a short sweet morning kiss. He pulled away, laughing at Nico's blush. He pulled Nico towards the door, ripping it open and pulled Nico towards the amphitheater.

"Woah, Perce, slow down. You're gonna rip my arm off at this rate."

Percy slowed down a bit for Nico's sake. Nico calling him Perce felt great. It was cute that he had a nickname for him now. They caught up with Jason, who was laughing at Nico who was panting slightly.

"Come on. Let's go sit with everyone." Jason said, and he dashed off to where the seven were sitting and sat next to Leo, putting his arm around him. It was nice to see everyone all together again because hey hadn't had time lately after the war to hang out together. Percy felt a tug on his hand, and turned to Nico.

"Let's find everyone." He smiled sweetly at Percy. Percy pulled Nico over to the group and helped him sit before sitting next to him and wrapping an arm around his waist, pulling him close. Nico laid his head on his shoulder and sighed.

"What?" Percy was a little worried by the sigh. Did he do something wrong?

"Nothing. I just happy for the first time in a long time." 

Percy smiled and kissed Nico's forehead. All around them, the campers were roasting marshmallows and singing Greek camp songs. They swayed along to the songs and sang along. But the peace was shattered by Rachel, who was sitting next to Chiron and Mr.D. She suddenly collapsed and her mouth started to leak green must. Percy knew exactly what was going on. A new prophecy. Great...

"What's going on, Percy?" Nico was extremely confused as he had no idea what everyone was seeing.

"Rachel. I think we're getting a new prophecy."

Nico groaned, but grew silent as a raspy voice came from Rachel. The voice of the oracle.

Four shall go to the forbidden land

One shall make their final stand

Ones trials shall test the sharpest mind

Two shall eternally bind

To find the god lost in age

And trap him back in his eternal cage

The boy who sees darkness shall cry

For this may be his love's final try

The choice between sight and love demands

The fate of Olympus rests in his hands

The green mist subsided and Rachel went limp. The campfire was silent except for the crackling of the fire. No one spoke. Until the silence was broken by Nico.

"Well, fuck."

Chapter Text

Nico

"Well, fuck." as soon as those words came out of his mouth, he could feel everyone staring at him.

"What? The prophecy clearly states I'm part of it." He said with annoyance clear in his voice. "We just finished the second great prophecy and now we have a third." He huffed and slumped back in his seat. Percy chuckled beside him. Nico turned and smacked what he was sure was Percy's arm.

"Ow! Wow, Neeks, for a guy your size, you sure can hit."

Nico huffed.

"Are you calling me tiny? Seriously, this is not the time."

They were interrupted by a throat clearing.

"Mr. di Angelo is correct. This is a new great prophecy. Olympus is in danger again. We must have a council about it."

Chiron's voice sounded through the quiet amphitheater.

Soon, the voice of Jake Mason, of the Hephaestus cabin spoke.

"Well, the first line is pretty clear. Four of us are gonna go west, well three including Nico, and you're going to the forbidden land, which is Greece and Rome. You'll need the Argo II for that." There were murmurs of agreement.

"The second line could be a metaphor." Annabeth spoke from behind Nico.

"I mean, a final stand could mean they'll die, or it could mean they will face someone for the last time. It doesn't necessarily mean they die." More murmurs echoed through the amphitheater.

Then Katie Gardner from the Demeter cabin said, "the next line seems to mean one will have trials that need a lot of brain."

"That would mean an Athena camper." Annabeth responded.

"Two shall eternally bind... What does that mean? Literally or figuratively?" Travis or Connor Stoll said.

"I think it's talking about figuratively. Like two will become one. It's a love term." Piper said from beside her boyfriend. 

"Okay... So two are gonna fall in love. Next line. There's a god lost in age. Maybe that means time." Leo suggested.

"And you need to trap him back in his cage forever." Percy supplied.

"I'm gonna cry, I guess... Seriously? I'm not even that emotional..." Nico mumbled. He was extremely annoyed with this prophecy. So much for peace.

"Cause whoever you are in love with May die. Well, that's pleasant..," Percy was looking like he was thinking too hard.

"The last two lines are obvious. This god you need to find is gonna give you a choice to see again or to defeat him and the choice will be the fate of Olympus." Jason was trying not to punch something because he was so angry that Nico was a center of this huge prophecy.

"We have this all figured out, but who will go?" Chiron spoke. He had been silent the whole Time they had been interpreting the prophecy.

"I'm going. If Nico's going, I have to." Percy spoke up from Nico's side. Nico started to panic. The prophecy says his love may die. He can't let Percy die. He shook his head frantically at Percy, but Percy's voice was determined, and Nico knew there was no way around it.

"I'll go. You need a smart person. As far as I know, Percy's brain is full of seaweed." Annabeth giggled slightly.

"Hey!" Percy shouted indignantly. Nico laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Percy relax with his touch and squeezed Nico's side comfortingly.

"Well I can't let any of you touch my ship, as you'll probably crash it, so I'll have to go." Leo spoke up, sounding like he'd kill them if they crashed his ship. But Jason didn't seem to like Leo's decision. "Leo! You can't go! Two of you may die. I can't lose you!" Leo mumbled something to Jason, but with Nico's now better enhanced hearing, he heard Leo whisper "I'll be fine. Have some faith in me. I'll be fine."

Nico was distracted from Leo and Jason's whispering by Percy, who squeezed his waist again, grabbing his attention. He turned to face Percy and scowled.

"How could you be such an idiot. The one I love May die. And I can't let you die on me. Not yet at least. You can't leave me. You idi-" Nico was cut off by Percy's lips on his. He kissed back feverishly, as if Percy would disappear if he didn't. Percy soon pulled away.

"I'm not gonna die. You know why? Because I can't leave you. Nico, have a little faith in me. I'll be with you for a long time. No one can change that." Percy leaned down and kissed Nico's forehead. Nico relaxed slightly into his arms, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Percy still may die. And that scare him more than anything else.

Chapter Text

Third Person

Nico stormed out of the amphitheater, Percy following close by. The whole camp had their eyes on the couple, most wondering why Percy was so attached to the son of Hades. Only a limited number of people had realized they were dating. Percy kept calling after Nico, pleading for him to stop and talk to him. Nico seemed not to hear the pleads as he stomped away towards his cabin. The whole camp was slowly following them, watching, waiting for something to happen. Even Chiron was watching, the mediator in case the two powerful demigods got into a fight using their powers. Nico suddenly stopped in his tracks and Percy rammed into his back. Percy stumbled back and Nico whirled around, his face twisted into the scariest glare he had. The whole camp watching slightly backed up in fear. The only Person who didn't seem afraid was Percy. He took a step forward and reached out, as if to hug Nico. The whole camp held its breath, waiting for Nico to try and kill Percy, but that didn't happen. Percy kept inching closer, and Nico kept his glare on Percy. Percy inched closer and soon his was only an inch away from Nico. The tension was thick and it seemed as if the shadows around them were thickening. Nico was breathing deeply, scowling at Percy like he had done something a awful. And to Nico, he had.

"Neeks, talk to me. What did I do?" Percy whispered, looking down at the fuming younger boy. Nico took a deep breath.

"How could you? HOW COULD YOU? You knew that the one I loved was possibly going to die, and yet you still volunteered for this damn quest. Are you that stupid? Is your brain so full of seaweed that you don't get it?" Nico was almost steaming at the ears with fury.

Percy was extremely confused.

"Nico, I don't understand. Is this about the part about the one you love? But you don't love me. Why are you so furious?" Percy was so confused right now and he didn't understand anything that was going on. This made Nico even more furious.

"Percy, bastardo insolente. Come fai a non verderlo? Ti amo. Ti amo così tanto, fa male. Non posso lasciarti morire. Morirei troppo. Non farlo. Non andare Sulla ricerca. Per favore..." Nico started ranting in Italian, and no one understood him. He soon trailed off and looked at the ground, becoming silent. Percy lifted his chin, eyes searching his his face for something, not caring that the whole camp was watching them.

"Nico, I have no idea what's going on. Please tell me so I can fix it. All I know is you don't want me on the quest. Why?" Percy spoke in a soft voice, as not to make Nico angry. Nico stared straight ahead, seeming to look into Percy's eyes, without seeing. He took a breath, shaky, and stared straight at Percy's face.

"I'm scared, okay? I'm scared. It says I'll lose the one I love. I'm literally terrified of that line that says my love may die. I've already lost everyone I care about. I can't lose them too..." Nico's voice cracks slightly. Percy was standing right in front of him and yet he felt as if he touched Percy, he would disappear. He could feel that Percy was staring at him, almost as if he was staring Into his soul.

"But I don't understand, Neeks. What does that have to do with me going on the quest?" Nico shook his head.

"Because... Because..." He was shaking slightly, and started mumbling to himself. Percy leaned forward to hear better.

"Nico, I can't hear you. Speak up."

Nico looked up and stared at Percy with his blank eyes.

"You idiot, it's because I love you. I'm in love with you! I love you..." Nico's voice cracked and he looked at his feet. The whole camp watching gasped. Percy stood there in shock, his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes wide. Nico stood there, feeling the stares of everyone on him, the feeling of dread and sadness began to creep up in him. Of course Percy didn't love him. He only liked him. It was just a phase, a crush. How could he have been so stupid?

His thoughts were cut off by two arms wrapping around his waist and pulling him in. Lips crashed onto his and his eyes widened in shock before realising it was Percy. He closed his eyes, relaxing into the kiss. He wrapped his arms around Percy's neck and leaned slightly backwards as Percy leaned forward, not breaking the kiss. It was like one of those romance movies Percy would watch when he had Nico over for a movie night at his mom's apartment. One of those passionate dip kisses they always do in those movies. One of those kisses that sweeps you off your feet. One of those kisses where you're on cloud 9. One of those kisses that make you forget that the whole camp had been mediating their argument and watching them. It was a magical kiss. But it had to end, as Percy pulled away, pulling Nico upright and leaning his forehead on Nico's.

"Nico, I love you too. I really do. And I promise you, I won't die. I'm not leaving you so soon. I want to be with you for a long, long time. Nico di Angelo, I'm in love with you." Nico could faintly hear the Aphrodite campers squealing at how adorable this whole thing was, but he didn't care. All he cared about was Percy.

"You...you mean it?"

"I do."

Nico surprised Percy by almost tackling him and they fell to the grass. Nico was on top of Percy. He faintly heard Jason yelling at the campers to go away, and leave them to their privacy and Chiron's hooves stamping on the ground. But he wasn't listening. His sole priority was the boy laying under him on the grass. He was smiling so wide it almost reached his ears. Percy was too, although Nico couldn't see that. They were both so happy and in love. It almost seemed like the prophecy never happened. They seemed to have forgotten that one dreadful line. But they deserved one minute to enjoy that they both loved each other, didn't they? Percy leaned up and kissed Nico again, before he sat up, Nico on his lap, his arms around Nico's waist. Nico was still smiling, and Percy thought it was the most beautiful thing ever. Nico really should smile more. He stood up, his arms still around Nico's waist. Nico was a few inches shorter so his feet barely touched the ground, as Percy held him up by his waist. Nico was starting to laugh a little and Percy started to twirl around, laughing along as Nico was giggling, actually giggling. He stopped spinning, but didn't put Nico down.

"I love you, Neeks!" He all but shouted. Nico was still slightly giggling and his face was dusted with pink.

"I love you too, Perce." He leaned down and pecked Percy on the lips. Percy placed Nico on his feet and grabbed his hand, leading him to the Poseidon cabin.

"Come on, my Shadow Prince, we have some preparing to do."

"Yeah we do, my Sea King. If I don't help you, we'll never be ready." Nico laughed mockingly at Percy as he pulled him away to the cabin.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy, Nico, Leo and Annabeth stood on the deck of the Argo II, watching the camp gathering below to send them off. Nico stood next to Percy, his body stiff and his face turned down in his famous scowl. Percy had tried to make Nico smile for the last hour and a half, but all Nico would do was stare at him with these eyes that made Percy feel like he was being ripped to shreds.

Nico's eyes showed so much pain and fear. It was so awful and Percy had no idea what to do. He had tried to take away the pain, confessing his love for Nico, kissing him in front of the whole camp, cuddling, everything. But Nico just closed himself off. It was frustrating and sad at the same time. Percy almost felt as though his heart was breaking in two. Nico's pain was his pain, now that they were dating. And Percy could feel the enormous amount of pain and fear radiating off Nico. Percy barely realised Leo had turned to the controls and had started to lift off. Leo and Annabeth were waving and yelling goodbyes down to the camp, smiling slightly as everyone shouted goodbye. Percy noticed Jason screaming 'I love you' to Leo, who was screaming back. Annabeth was giggling at Leo and Jason's air love fest. But Nico just stared down at the camp blankly, his expression not changing. It was still that sad, angry scowl. As the camp disappeared below them, Nico spun around and marched back towards their cabin. Percy started to follow him, but felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face Leo, who was smiling softly. This was one of those rare times Leo looked like this, one of those rare times he wasn't smirking and joking around.

"Leave him for a bit. He needs some alone time."

Percy stared at Leo.

"I can't just leave him like that. He needs me."

"I know, man. But he's in a bad mood. It's gotta be hard with you maybe dying. He loves you. He just needs time to figure out how to keep you alive. That's all he wants." Leo smiled again, before he walked away to the controls, steering the ship over the Long Island Sound. Percy stood there for a minute before walking to the railings, staring down at the water. He watched as the creatures of the sea bobbed in and out of the water, following the ship. Hippocampi, nereids, and other water creatures passed by the ship, some nereids waved at him. He halfheartedly waved back, his mind still on his boyfriend alone in their cabin. He soon made up his mind to go check on him. Turning around, he walked towards the cabins, opening the door to their cabin.

The sight he was met with almost broke his heart. Nico was curled up in the bed, under the covers. His back was to Percy, but he could tell it was shaking slightly. He was crying silently. The silent sobs shook his tiny frame. Percy ran towards the bed, sitting down and scooping Nico into his lap, pulling him close. Nico's head was resting on his neck and he gripped Percy's t-shirt. Percy rubbed his back and ran his fingers through the silky black hair.

"Nico, please, stop crying. Tell me what's wrong. I just want you to be happy." Percy pleaded.

Nico shook his head slightly. His sobs had calmed down, but he was slightly hiccuping.

"I'm scared. I just... I can't lose you. I need you. I need you more than I need air. I need you way more than you probably need me. And you may slip away during this quest. It's scaring me."

Percy smiled.

"Nico, you're wrong. I need you just as much. You're like this drug. I can't get enough. I love you. And no one will take me away from you, not over my dead body. Cause I'm not leaving. I've got too many things to do with you to die so soon." Percy smiled away Nico, who for the first time in hours, smiled.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Nico reached his hand up, searching for Percy's face. Percy grabbed his hand, leading it to his cheek and resting it there, still holding onto the small hand. Nico smiled slightly. His hand caressed Percy's cheek, cold and soft. Percy leaned down and pecked Nico's lips.

"I'm not leaving. The gods would have to drag me away in chains before I left you." He whispered against Nico's lips. Nico smiled softly.

"I know."

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy, Nico, Annabeth, and Leo sat In the dining room, eating dinner when the video screen changed. Percy looked up as he heard the video screen crackle and saw the image change to show Chiron's face. He nudged Nico, who was struggling to get his chicken on his fork, and looked at the wall. Chiron was smiling grimly at the four demigods.

"Hey, Chiron. How's it going back at camp?" Leo spoked with his mouth full, making Annabeth crinkle her nose in disgust.

"Everything's fine. But I have some news. And it's not pleasant."

Instantly, Nico tensed beside Percy and was staring blankly at the wall. Percy knew he was scared, and placed a hand over Nico's, intertwining their fingers. Nico looked at Percy, smiling nervously. This was one of the first time Percy had seen Nico look nervous. It was strange.

"What's going on, Chiron?" Leo asked, for one of the first times ever, sounding serious 

"We've just gotten a call from Olympus. They know who you're looking for."

"Who is it?" Nico's voice sounded scared.

Chiron hesitated for a minute.

"This is not going to be easy for you. Especially you, Nico. You've met this Titan. You have to stay strong."

Nico seemed to straighten a little, as if trying to show he was strong.

Chiron took a deep breath.

"It's Tartarus. He's somehow broke free of Hades' control and has escaped the underworld. We have no idea where in the old lands he is."

Annabeth sighed.

"Well, how in Hades are we supposed to trap him in a cage? He's literally the definition of darkness and terror. It's not like you can trap darkness and terror in a cage."

"Annabeth, I think you're forgetting he's still a solid form Titan. He can be trapped. He's just a super mega sized human with the amount of strength an athlete who has been taking steroids for 20 years has." Leo seems to be trying to diffuse the tension.

"He's not really..." Nico's voice sounded tiny. It was starting to scare Percy how much his boyfriend seemed to be terrified of Tartarus, with good reason, though. Nico had met Tartarus. Of course he would be scared. But it was just scary seeming the boy who was always so strong and confident seeming, now looking like he would run from any thing that's even slightly scary.

"What do you mean?"

"He's not really solid form. He's like this foggy shape. His robes are literally made out of darkness. His head is a vortex. It's like a tunnel of darkness with red eyes inside. He's not solid. He's like mist. But so strong he can take out the Empire State Building in one swipe."

Leo, Annabeth, and Percy all stared at Nico, horrified to know they were up against someone who could kill them all with a flick of his hand.

"Well, Nico is only half correct. Yes, Tartarus looks like that, but apparently coming into the mortal world has weakened him greatly. But that doesn't mean he's totally powerless. He's still causing havoc in places. But we also have a problem. And it involves you, Nico."

Nico gulped loudly and Percy squeezed his hand.

"What?"

"As you remember, your choices will save or Destroy Olympus. But we have a problem. Tartarus is looking for you. He's sent all his most terrifying creatures to find you and his best trackers. You'll be encountering a lot of monsters on this quest. So be prepared. I must go, children. Be safe and fight well." Chiron's face disappeared from the video screen and Nico slumped into Percy's side.

"This is too much. Gods, this is too much... I'm supposed to either safe or destroy Olympus, the Titan of the pit is after me, all because he wants me to destroy Olympus, and my boyfriend may die. Great. Just great. This quest is going to be so easy..." Nico sarcastically remarked before he pushed his head into Percy's neck. Percy ran a hand through his silky black hair, hoping that would calm him down a little, which it seemed to do, as Nico visibly relaxed into Percy's side.

"But how are we supposed to trap him? If Nico's correct, and he's pretty much not solid, we can't stick him in a cage and hope that keeps him there!" Leo threw his arms up in exasperation.

"Well, his punishment back in the days of the Titan war was to be kept In the pit, right? Or did he just like it there? Because I was thinking his 'endless cage' might be the actual Tartarus pit. Or whatever you'd call it. So maybe we have to get him back there." Annabeth said.

Nico visibly stiffened and began to shiver slightly.

"I can't go back down there... I can't..."

Percy grabbed Nico's hand and rubbed his knuckles with his thumb.

"Nico, it going to be alright. You're not alone this time. You have me. And Annabeth and Leo. It'll be okay."

Nico still seemed tense, but the discussion moved to how to trap Tartarus.

"Well, the pits in the underworld. And we have the son of the underworld god. Nico also is the person Tartarus is looking for. Maybe we could go down to the underworld, use Nico as bait, and kick Tartarus's ass, then throw him back into the pit."

"Leo, this is a primordial Titan we are talking about. It would be impossible to 'kick his ass and throw him into the pit.' We will have to go into the underworld, with Nico's help. We will most likely be using Nico as bait. But we somehow need to trick Tartarus back into the pit. That's the hard part." Annabeth sounded frustrated that she didn't have a solution.

"We may have to wing it a bit. There no actual way to defeat him, so we're gonna have to wing it." Percy reasoned.

"Okay. I think it's time we have some rest. It's been a long day. Leo, you take first watch. I'll switch with you at midnight. Night you two." Annabeth waved and walked off to the cabins. Leo stood up and waved at the two boys as he made his way towards the wheel of the ship, wishing the two a good night. Percy and Nico were left in the dining room, alone. Percy didn't know what to do. Nico was completely silent. And to was becoming awkward. Nico rested his head on Percy's shoulder.

"Why can't I just have a bit of happiness for just a little bit?" Nico whispered. Percy felt almost deflated. This was his boyfriend telling him he wasn't happy right now, and there was nothing he could do, but try to make him happy.

"Neeks, it's gonna be okay. We'll get through this. And then we can go home."

"Percy, don't you remember? I don't have a home. I'm not welcome at Camp Jupiter, not at Camp Halfblood. Not even after the war. I'm pretty much homeless."

"Come live with me."

Nico faltered in his rant.

"W-What?"

"Come live with me. You'd have a home. And you'd be with me. I love you, and if you're homeless, I'll give you shelter. Isn't that something you do for the person you love?" Percy was leaning closer to Nico, who had an astonished look on his face.

"B-But... Really?"

"Yeah really. I'd never want anything more."

Nico surprised Percy by his hand creeping up from his shoulder and grabbing his face, smashing their lips together. Percy could taste the salty tears on Nico's lips, but he didn't care.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'd like that." Nico mumbled against his lips. Percy smiled into the kiss. Nico pulled away, still caressing onto Percy's face.

"Percy... Don't leave me..."

Percy smiled softly.

"Never. We're gonna get through this. Together. And we'll save the world together and go home and live the rest of our lives together. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like the best thing I've heard other than you saying you love me."

Percy smiled, although he knew Nico couldn't see it.

"And I do. I love you. More than anything." Percy tightened his grip on Nico's hips, as Nico was now on his lap, straddling him.

"I love you too. Gods, I really do." Nico rested his forehead on Percy's.

"We'll be fine. Everyone will be fine. Just stay calm. I'll be with you the whole time." Percy whispered.

"Okay..."

"Now, let's go to bed. Got a lot to do tomorrow!" Percy tried to make his voice cheerful.

Nico smiled slightly.

"Percy, don't talk like that. It sounds like you're in pain." Nico lifted himself off Percy's lap and stood up, holding Percy's hand for balance. Percy laughed at his cute thinking face. His nose was scrunched up at bit and he was frowning.

Percy stood up and wrapped his arm around Nico's waist. They slid into bed, after taking off their jeans and shirts, leaving them both in their boxers. Nico had his back turned to Percy. He wrapped his arm around the smaller boy's waist and pulled him into his chest, hearing a tiny gasp come from him. Percy kissed the back of Nico's neck, making him shiver, and pressed his head into Nico's neck.

"Goodnight, ghost king."

"Goodnight, sea prince."

And they blissfully drifted off to sleep. But that bliss was soon short lived.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico was woken suddenly by the sounds of yelling and swords clashing. He jolted out of bed, forgetting he couldn't see, and tumbled onto the floor. He heard Percy jump up and moving around, most likely getting pants on, before he felt Percy grab his arm, hauling him up and helping him get some clothes on before rushing out of the cabin. He stumbled slightly as Percy dragged him up the steps, not making sure he was stable on them. Percy dragged him through the ship until they reached the area where the swords clashing was coming from. He heard Percy's intake of breath.

"Telekhines..." He heard Percy mumble, before hearing the sound of Percy getting out Riptide. Nico grabbed for his Stygian iron sword, grasping the hilt tightly. He started to panic. This was his first time actually fighting monsters after the accident. His fear grew as he felt Percy pulling away from him, leaving him almost defenceless, with just a sword and Enhanced hearing. He had no idea where the telekhines were, no idea where Percy was, nor where Leo and Annabeth were. He whipped around as he heard the heavy footfalls, but his panic made him trip and he crashed to the deck, his sword falling beside him. He scramble to find it, hoping to the gods that it was close, the footsteps coming to a halt before him. He finally grasped the sword, holding it straight in front of him, while trying to get up. But he was thrown back to the ground by a foot on his chest. He heard a harsh laugh from above him.

"Nice try, demigod. There's no escape. Our master wants us to find you and take you to him."

The deep barking voice of the telekhine growled. Nico's panic was growing. His mind kept telling him to fight, but his self esteem kept saying he was going to die. His hands trembled. He heard a scream.

"Nico!"

His head whipped to the side, towards the sound of the scream.

"Fight, you idiot! Don't give up! Fight! This is just like the training we did with Jason. Just believe in yourself!" Percy was yelling, and Nico heard the sword fighting resuming. He took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and swung the sword down, slashing the foot on his chest. He heard a shriek, and pushed himself up, scrambling to his feet. He whirled around, listening for the telekhine to come rushing at him. He soon heard it and whipped around, slashing his sword in an arc, the way Percy had once taught him long ago. There was a growl and a shriek, and he knew he must have gotten it. The air was filled with a sulfur-like smell, the smell of the monster ashes. Nico stood where he was, his sword still held by his side, when he was plowed down by a heavy body. He fell to the floor, and soon there were lips on his. Knowing it was Percy, he reached up and grabbed onto Percy's face, Percy holding his. Percy held his face, rubbing his thumbs across his cheekbones while they kissed, like he always did. The kiss was comforting, reassuring, and Nico really needed it. Percy pulled away, a little too soon for Nico's liking, but rested his forehead on Nico's.

"You did it..." Percy was mumbling, so only Nico would hear.

Nico nodded. His heart was racing. He leant his head into Percy's grasp, searching for the much needed comfort Percy was providing. Percy's hands were warm against his cold cheeks.

"I told you. You just needed to believe in yourself. Just like that time we trained. You're stronger than you think. You just have to remember that, Neeks..." Percy was lying on top of Nico, carefully trying to hold his body weight from crushing Nico's tiny body. Nico didn't mind though. He loved this position. It was comfortable, even though they were lying on the wooden deck.

"Perce?" Nico whispered.

Percy hummed in response.

"Did I hear you call me an idiot, back there?" Nico's voice was deadly calm, his face going blank.

He heard Percy gasp slightly.

"Eh-hm... Um... You see... I... Ah... Oh shit." Percy managed to get out, before he jumped up off Nico, and rushed off away from the ghost king. Nico laughed slightly, pushing himself up and ran after the footsteps of the fleeing son of Poseidon.

"Perseus Jackson, you are so dead!" Nico screamed, laughing as Percy shrieked a girly shriek.

"I'm sorry! It just slipped out!"

Nico was halted in his chase by a hand on his shoulder.

"Stop it, both of you. How can you play around when we were JUST ATTACKED BY FIVE TELEKHINES?!?!" Annabeth's shrill voice stopped Percy's girlish shrieking.

"Annabeth, they're gone. I was congratulating Nico for killing his first monster after the accident, and he remembered I had accidentally called him an idiot. It's fine." Percy was now right beside Nico, his arm slipped around his waist.

"No, it's not fine. You are such an idiot, too, seaweed brain."

Leo soon interrupted the two demigods argument.

"Um, I don't want to get in the middle of this, but we really should keep going, before more tele-I can't even say that-whatever you call 'ems come back." Annabeth released Nico's shoulder and he felt Percy slump slightly into him.

He could hear Annabeth moving slightly In front of them, and Leo rushing off the the control deck.

Percy sighed and squeezed Nico's waist as they felt the ship start to move again.

"Nico... During the fight, I heard the telekhine say something to you. What did he say?" Annabeth asked.

Nico shrugged his shoulders, not really wanting to talk about it. He felt Percy rub his shoulder and relaxed slightly.

"Neeks, come on. Just tell us. Whatever it is, we'll help you through it, and I'll protect you."

Nico sighed.

"The telekhine said that his master wanted them to bring me to him."

He heard a sharp intake of breath from Percy and Amnabeth and Percy's arm instinctively tightened around his waist.

"It's just like Chiron said, Tartarus wants you." . Annabeth whispered.

Nico nodded.

"He will not lay a hand on you. I promise."Percy just about growled.

"Percy, you can't control what happens." Nico was trying to calm Percy, but that seemed to anger him more.

"I CAN DAMN WELL TRY!" Percy yelled. Nico instinctively flinched away from Percy, fearing that he would hit him. Percy felt the flinch and it seemed that his anger had disappeared.

"Nico, I'm not going to hit you."

Nico stayed silent.

"Why would you ever think I would hit you?" Percy voice was cautious.

"I-I don't know..."

Percy pulled Nico into a hug and Nico buried his head in Percy's neck, trying to forget this happened. Their moment was interrupted by Annabeth again, who had been silent the whole time they had been talking.

"Guys, we need to talk out a plan. Nico is now wanted by Tartarus, we have no plan, and no idea where to go."

"Well, we know where to head. Italy and Greece. It's time to head to the forbidden land. AGAIN."

He heard Leo groan out. Percy laughed slightly.

"But where in Italy or Greece?!" Annabeth questioned.

"I guess we'll find out when we get there." Leo answered.

"Well, at least we know where we're going!" Percy joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. Nico gave a small smile, spacing out.  How could Percy protect him from what was to come? Would he be able to protect Percy from his line in the prophecy? These questions filled his head, making his mind muddled and he felt slightly weak. His mind was fuzzy. His brain seemed to be shutting down, and he slumped into Percy.

"Nico?! NICO?!" He could faintly hear Percy yelling his name, shaking him, trying to wake him. But his body was already shutting down. He felt so weak and tired. Sleep would be nice. He close his eyes. The last thing he heard before sleep gripped him was a dark voice in his head.

'Im coming for you...'

And he slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy sat by Nico's side, gripping his hand. Nico's head twitched to the side and his eyebrows scrunched together. Nico had been unconscious for three hours and he showed no sign of waking up soon. It was starting to worry the other three. He seemed to e having instant nightmares. The way his head kept turning and his face contorting into a pained expression could only say nightmares. Annabeth had said it was fine. All demigods have nightmares frequently. But why hadn't Nico woken? Percy sat there, staring at Nico's face, tracing it with his eyes. Nico looked younger when he slept, more innocent. His face wasn't twisted in a scowl. It was nice, except for the fact that Nico seemed to be having another nightmare. Or maybe this was all one continuous nightmare, Percy didn't know. Suddenly, he was broken from his thoughts by a strangled gasp. He looked over to see Nico thrashing, his hands clawing at the sheets. His eyes were shut. Percy jumped up and placed his hands on both of Nico's shoulders, trying to hold down the thrashing boy.

"Nico! Nico! WAKE UP! You're going to hurt yourself!" By now Nico had started to scratch at his arms, making his old scars open, blood leaking through. Nico suddenly gasped and his eyes shot open. He jolted up, knocking Percy to the ground with the force of the jolt. Percy sat on the ground, staring at Nico, as he gasped for breath, his eyes flitting around the room with a panicked demeanor. 

"Percy...?" His voice sounded so rough.

"Nico, you're awake..." Percy got up slowly, his back aching from being thrown to the ground by Nico.

"What? How long was I asleep?"

"Three hours."

Nico's eyes widened.

"Tartarus!"

"What?" Percy was confuse by what Nico meant.

"Tartarus! He was sending me dreams! Messages and glimpses of things, horrible things happening."

"Wait... He's been talking to you?!" Percy voice went up an octave.

"Sort of... It was whispers... They were so far away. But we've got trouble coming."

"What? What's happening?" Percy's voice was back to normal, but his heart rate picked up.

"I had this dream, he was in Rome I think. And he was speaking to this dark thing. I don't know what it was. But it let off this aura. Like the monsters of the pit of Tartarus do. And he was saying thing to it like 'they are almost to Rome. You need to cut them off. Kill the others and bring the blind boy to me' and then it was almost like the monster could sense me. It was weird. All I know is we are being watched and we've got trouble coming." Nico said quietly.

"You have to tell this to Leo and Annabeth. But in a bit. You really freaked me out there, fainting on me and not waking up when we tried to shake you awake."

"Why can't I tell them now? And you were worried about me?" Nico sounded drained.

"Why the hell wouldn't I be? You're my boyfriend. I'm entitled to be extremely worried when my boyfriend is fine one minute and drops to the ground, unconscious the next. And you sound exhausted. Why don't we take a nap? I've been waiting for three hours for you to wake." Percy wondered why Nico would even ask if he was worried. Of course he was worried, almost ripping his hair out with worry. It's not really easy when the one you love just falls over and starts twitching slightly. He almost thought Nico was having a seizure. It scared the hell out of him. Almost thinking his boyfriend was dying, which was not a pleasant thought. It felt like his heart was being ripped to shreds, until Annabeth had assured him that Nico was just unconscious.

"I can't sleep! Tartarus is sending a really bad monster after us! I need to warn the others!" Nico cried, looking distressed.

Percy stood up, placing his hands on Nico's shoulders gently.

"Neeks, we will tell them. You need to lay down right now. I can see your eyes drooping. I'm not as stupid as you think I am." He grinned at Nico, trying to calm him. Nico let out a soft chuckle.

"You sure about that, Perce?"

"Hey!"

"I will sleep, if you wake me up in twenty minutes. We don't have time to spare. This monster is coming. And is going to intercept us near Rome. We need to be prepared."

"I know, Neeks. Just rest." Nico's eyes dropped shut and Percy stood up. He walked towards the dining room, where he knew Annabeth and Leo were talking to each other about plans.

"Change of plans, guys." Percy's voice seemed to startle them. They stared at him, waiting for him to explain.

"We've got a big monster coming. Nico woke up. He's been having dreams. Bad ones. He'll be able to explain more later. He's resting. All I know is we need to prepare

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico sat in the dining room, Annabeth, Percy, and Leo arguing around him. He had told them all about his dream, and now they were panicking and arguing.

"We can't go straight to Rome. That's where they're waiting!"

"We have to! That's where Tartarus is!"

"We don't know that! He could be long gone by now!"

"Well do you have any great ideas, repair boy?"

"I'm just saying, we can't go straight there. It's too dangerous. For us, for Nico, and for the quest."

"Since when have you become so smart?"

"Shut up, Fish Boy."

"Excuse me?"

"Fish boy."

"Repair boy."

"Seaweed head."

"Metal brain."

"ENOUGH!" Nico's head was throbbing. "We aren't going to get anywhere while you three bickering like five year olds!" The room fell silent.

"Good. Now, we need to figure out a plan."

Percy, who was sat beside Nico rested his arm across Nico's shoulder.

"What are we gonna do?"

Nico shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't have a set plan either. Maybe we should iris message Chiron on the screen wall. Ask him what we should do."

Nico heard the others mumbling sounds of agreement and he slumped into Percy's arm, exhausted. Percy squeezed his shoulder and Nico laid his head on Percy's shoulder. He looked up when he heard the static of the video screen and Leo mumbling a prayer to the rainbow goddess to show him Chiron. The crackling stopped and Chiron's voice came through. But it sounded different from the last time they talked. Now, it sounded strained, angry, and even afraid. Nico, never in his entire time of knowing Chiron, had ever heard his voice sound this way.

"What? What do you all need?" Chiron snapped. Beside Nico, Percy stiffened, and Nico heard Annabeth gasp audibly.

"Chiron? What's going on?" Percy asked, his voice getting deeper as he became more stressed.

"We have a lot of problems right now over here."

"What do you mean? Is everything okay? Is the camp safe?" Annabeth sounded panicked.

"I wouldn't say okay. Something's happened. I don't know what. But one day, the campers are getting along, the next they are trying to kill each other. I've been having to hide the training weapons because on the first day, the campers took a bunch of them and tried to battle each other to the death. I've been breaking up fights between cabins, and cabin mates throughout the week. this maybe the work of Tartarus. He may have gotten Eris on his side. She is the only goddess who can cause this much destruction and chaos."

Chiron was interrupted by a bunch of screaming and cursing in Ancient Greek and Latin. Nico heard the sound of something sailing through the air, and a thud.

"Oh by the gods..." Chiron mumbled.

"What's going on?!" Leo sounded scared, maybe because Jason was there. He was probably scared for his boyfriend.

"The campers have decided that they are going to smash the benches in the pavilion and are using the wood as weapons against each other. I have to go break this up. We will have to talk later." Chiron's voice was cut off as the screen started to crackle again.

The four demigods sat there in silence.

"Oh my gods..." Annabeth whispered.

"This is bad... Really really bad... Tartarus is trying to make the demigods kill each other off. We have to move fast. Before they seriously kill each other." Leo said, his voice trembling.

Percy, who still had his arm around Nico, was stiff, and his arm was in a death grip around Nico, making it hard to breathe.

"Percy... Can't... Breathe..."

Percy released Nico and stood up.

"What are we going to do?! We don't have a set plan, we're being followed, we have a limited amount of time now, before the campers kill each other, now we also have to stop Eris and Tartarus. This is getting more and more complicated by the second!" Percy was ranting and Nico could hear that he was pacing. Nico's mind wandered to his dream. Tartarus seems to want him for his plan, maybe to stop this, he had to make a sacrifice. Maybe that's what the line in the prophecy about a final stand meant.

"I may have a plan..." He tried to sound confident, but who could when you're suggesting to give yourself up to the pit god.

"What?" Annabeth sounded strained, even terrified.

"Well, my dream. Tartarus wants me. Maybe I could go to him and-"

"No." Percy cut him off before he finished.

"Percy, that's May be the only to avoid more bloodshed. I go to him."

"You're part of his plan to destroy Olympus. You go and he'll be able to destroy the entire western civilisation!"

"No. I'll stop him. Percy, don't you want to avoid bloodshed?"

"No. Not if it means your death. Nico, I can't lose you. We are not doing this plan."

"Percy-"

"NO! You are not going to give yourself to Tartarus. End of story. I will not have you putting your life on the line like that."

"Percy, we are demigods. That's all we ever do." Nico was trying to reason with Percy.

"And what? You go to him and what happens? You can't defeat him on your own. He's a Titan."

"I can..."

"Nico, Percy's right. You can't do it on your own. We'll figure something out." Annabeth tried to calm them both.

"Um... I don't want to make things worse, but we're in a bit of trouble..," Leo said, sounding worried.

"What? What's going on?" Annabeth demanded.

"We're really close to the forbidden lands. Problem is, the island that's below us... There's some magical force. It's making the ship halt. I think whoever a on the island wants us to land."

Nico stiffened. Landing on unknown island... Great idea. But they had no choice. They were going down.

Chapter Text

Nico 

Nico stood next to Percy, who had an arm wrapped around him, waiting for the ship to land on this mysterious island that was keeping them from moving on. Percy held onto Nico, almost as if he was trying to prevent Nico from running away. Percy had been worried that Nico would go through with his idea, although Nico wouldn't, not after Percy had pleaded with him not to, saying how he couldn't lose Nico and how he loved him too much for it. But Percy, as always a worrier, did not realise that Nico wasn't going anywhere. Not without Percy by his side. Percy squeezed his hip, signalling they were landed.

"What's the plan?" Leo asked.

"Well, I don't think all four of us should go out there. Maybe send two of us to find who is blocking us and stop them." Annabeth suggested.

"I'll go." Percy volunteered.

"Me too." Nico automatically said, not about to let his boyfriend go off without him on this island.

"Okay, Nico and Percy will go find the guy, Annie and I will stay here and protect the ship. I need to make some repairs. You think you can help with that, Annie?" Leo teased.

"Of course I can! And don't call me Annie." There was a smacking sound and a yelp. Percy started laughing beside Nico.

"What?"

"Annabeth slapped Leo on the back of the head." Percy mumbled into Nico's ear. Nico nodded.

"Okay! Me and Nico are gonna head off. Iris message if anything happens."

"You have your weapons?" Annabeth fretted.

Nico felt Percy pat his hip, where his Stygian iron sword was strapped.

"Yup. Stop worrying, Annabeth. It'll be fine. Nico here can handle himself just fine, and he's got me."

Nico scoffed.

"I can do just fine without you, kelp head."

"Sure you can." Percy said in a sing song voice.

Nico smacked Percy's shoulder, which had been leaning on his. Percy yelped.

"Okay, enough with the childish banter. Go find whoever's doing this, deal with them, and Leo and I are going to do some repairs."

Percy made a noise, grabbed Nico's hand and dragged him off the ship. He pulled Nico along for a bit before stopping.

"What?" Nico questioned.

"I just thought I heard something... Never mind." Percy said, pulling on Nico's hand and they started walking. Nico felt a strange feeling wash over him. His heart sped up and he felt the magic coming from the area.

"Percy, wait..."

"What?"

"I think there's something very powerful in that area, whatever that area is... I can feel the magic coming out of there."

Percy stopped. He pulled Nico's arm slightly, pulling him closer.

"Can you tell who?"

"No. I can only sense magic. I can't sense who is radiating the magic."

Percy sighed.

"I guess we need to go in..."

"Go in?"

"It's a cave. A very big one."

Percy lead Nico towards what must be the entrance, guiding him through the rocks and helping him stay balanced. Nico wasn't paying attention to notice Percy had halted, and Nico banged straight into him.

"Percy? What's going on? Why did you-"

A voice interrupted Nico's questions.

Hello Nico di Angelo 

Nico stiffened. That voice... Why was he here?

"Eros."

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy stared at the god of love who stood in front of them. Nico, who was stiff, seemed to radiate an emotion Percy could not quite place. Fear? Hate? He couldn't tell. The god himself was watching them with a cold stare, his eyes drilling into them.

Perseus Jackson Eros nodded his head at Percy. Hello again, Nico di Angelo

Nico stiffened and looked away from the god's stare, as though he could feel the god's stare. Percy wondered why Nico seemed so uncomfortable, and when did Nico meet Eros? As of he had read his mind, Eros smiled. It was a beautiful and terrible thing.

Ah, Nico and I met back when you were on the quest of the seven. He had some interesting stories, and I was curious

Nico's lip drew back in a snarl. He looked almost deranged.

"Interesting? INTERESTING? You forced my secrets out of me, watched me struggle to keep them in, and you didn't care! You made me suffer all those years!" Nico was shouting now.

Percy began to feel his anger coming out. This god had hurt the love of his life.

"You bastard. How dare you?! Nico didn't deserve any suffering." Percy spoke before he thought. He realized Eros would probably incinerate him, but he was so mad at the stupid love god to care. What surprised him was that Eros was now chuckling.

You think that I made him suffer? You think that I was the one who put him through all the pain these years past? No. It was not me. It was your doing Perseus Jackson. And it always has been. I may have watched the two of you, but I have never interfered. It has always been your fault Nico suffered. Your choices and actions caused it

Percy took a step back, shocked into silence. Nico placed a hand on his arm, but he barely felt it. Was it really his fault that Nico had suffered? Those years of pain for Nico were his fault? Why? What had he done to make Nico suffer as he had? It made no sense.

You do not understand, Perseus Jackson, and you may never understand. Love is cruel 

Nico made a frustrated noise.

"Why are you here, Eros?"

The reason for my visit is not to tell you the truth. It is to warn you. Tartarus has been gathering his army. He is getting stronger by the minute. The gods give you this message: Be careful of how you go through with this. Tartarus is stronger than any of the titans you've fought before. Tread carefully The love god stared at Percy, who was still thinking over the words the god had thrown at him, and then turned his head to stare at Nico.

Nico di Angelo. The gods are watching you. Think carefully before you choose Eros' form began to glow and become brighter and brighter. Percy, who was still frozen in shock and horror, had to be turned away by Nico as not to be incinerated. When Percy looked up, the god was gone. But he had left a horrible pit of guilt in Percy's chest. Nico laid his hand on Percy's arm and spoke softly.

"Percy? Are you okay? Perce, talk to me. Don't listen to that god. He's trying to play with us."

But Percy barely heard. All he could think was 'I hurt Nico.' 'I hurt the love of my life.' And as he realized what he had found out, he turned, and dashed out the now open door way, forgetting that Nico was blind and unable to find his way alone. He had to get away before he hurt Nico more. Not realizing that him leaving Nico alone in his darkness hurt him more than anything.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico stood there in the cave, waiting for a minute to see if Percy was coming back to get him. Soon he realised that he wasn't. And his chest hurt. He felt lost. Scared. And he felt heartbroken. He didn't understand why. Why did Percy just leaving him hurt so much? Maybe it was because Percy forgot he had no way to find his way around. Or that Percy didn't stay to see how he was feeling after Eros left. Or maybe it was just that Percy had left. Who knew? Nico certainly didn't. All he knew is that he had to find his way back to the ship somehow.

Nico felt around, trying to find where rocks were so he wouldn't trip. He moved slowly, working his way forward, hoping to the gods that someone was going to come help him. He had no idea which way the ship was. Maybe he'd just stand here and wait. But that would make him look weak. He had no other choice but to push forward, hoping he was actually going in the right direction. He heard a distant shout. It soon came again, closer. He heard someone running and entering the cave.

"Nico? Why didn't you come back with Percy? He just came back alone and locked himself in your cabin. Annabeth sent me to find you." Leo's voice echoed through the cave.

"He left. He just ran. And I had no way to get back." Nico said, his voice emotionless. He felt lost, empty, and overall broken. How could Percy just leave him there? Nico understood that he was angry, after what Eros had said, but that doesn't mean you leave your blind boyfriend in a cave.

Leo placed his hand on Nico's arm.

"Let's go back, huh? You can talk to him there."

"I don't want to talk to him."

Leo was silent. Then he quietly spoke, trying not to have his words echo through the walls.

"I get that you are angry. Heck, I'd be too if Jason left me in a cave, blind. But you guys need to work this out. We can't be arguing over this while we are trying to finish this quest."

Nico stayed silent. Leo sighed and led him back to the ship, and up onto the deck. He let go of his arm as footsteps came running towards them.

"Nico! Oh gods, I'm so sorry. I forgot about you! I should have stayed back to help you. I'm so sorry. Gods, I'm an idiot." Percy's voice was filled with desperation and sadness. He was silent, waiting for Nico to answer, but Nico just really didn't want to answer his boyfriend. He was too hurt and lost. Why had he gotten so attached to this boy? Maybe it was because he helped him so much with dealing with his blindness. But he was too attached. Way too attached. And he had promised himself he wouldn't get this attached. And this was the reason he felt so lost and heartbroken.

"Nico? Nico? Answer me." Percy pleaded.

"I don't want to talk right now. I think I need a break..." Nico's voice held no emotion, although he felt so many inside.

"What? A break? A break from what?" Percy sounded slightly panicked.

"From this. Just everything. I'm going to go to a cabin and try to sleep. Don't bother me." Nico sounded harsh and he knew it, but what he was saying was exactly what he needed.

"Are you... Are you breaking up with me?" Percy's voice cracked slightly, as if he was crying, which he probably was.

Nico didn't answer, and just turned, making his way slowly towards the cabins. He didn't walk into the familiar cabin he shared with Percy, he searched for an abandoned one. He just needed to be alone. That was all. He didn't want to break up with Percy. Hades no. But he just needed to get away. Away to clear his head and to think about being able to forgive Percy for leaving him out there. He heard footsteps walking down the hall, and heard faint sobs. He realised they were Percy's. Now he felt more awful. Now he felt guilty. But he just couldn't bring himself to get off the bed.

This is what love does to you. It screws you up. And makes you act unlike yourself. And it makes you experience feelings that you've never felt before. Heartbreak, for one. Nico had always believed that he shouldn't fall in love with anyone, because they'd just mess him up. And then he met Percy. And that idea fly out the window. But he still knew that love hurt. And that love was going to screw him up. But he didn't care. He really loved Percy. More than anything. Enough to die for him.

After thinking for so long, he realised he needed to apologise to Percy, who thinks they broke up. He never meant it. He was just scared, sad, and confused. He had let Percy crawl into his heart and make a permanent home there. But now, he really didn't care, now, he just felt his love for Percy. And that's all that mattered. All that mattered was his need to apologise. And that's what he went to do.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy sat on his bed, staring at the floor. Did Nico really just break up with him? What was he going to do? He really loved Nico, more than anything. It probably wouldn't be possible for Percy to even think about getting over Nico. He looked up as there was a knock on his door. Slowly making his way to the door, he opened it. Without looking up, he mumbling, "not right now" and made to close the door. But he froze when he heard the person's voice.

"Percy..." Nico whispered.

Percy turned around to see Nico standing there, shuffling his feet and twiddling with his fingers.

"N-Nico? What are you doing here?" Percy's voice was rough and scratchy from crying.

"I-I came here to apologize..."

"For what? If you broke up with me, why are you apologizing?"

Nico head shot up.

"That's just it! I wasn't trying to break up with you! I just needed a couple minutes, a break, from everyone to think! I love you. I really do. I could never break up with you. Not even if someone holds me at sword point. I never meant to hurt you... I'm sorry... So sorry..."

Percy stood there, staring at Nico, who was looking in his general direction. Percy could feel his relief washing over him. Nico still loved him... Percy stepped forward and placed his hand under Nico's chin, forcing his head up. He stared into Nico's dark, cloudy eyes. Nico's eyes were extremely beautiful, even if they were a bit cloudy. That just made them more beautiful.

Percy leaned down and brushed his lips against Nico's. Nico tried to lean into the kiss, but Percy pulled back.

"Nico, you know I love you right?"

Nico nodded, his eyes still closed as though feeling the kiss still.

"I love you. I do. And even if you had broken up with me, I wouldn't stop loving you. I wouldn't stop loving you even when I die. I'd still love you in the underworld. I forgive you."

Nico smiled, that smile that Percy fell in love with. The smile that showed very rarely, and usually only for him. The smile radiated happiness and love.

"Neeks?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you to the stars and back."

Nico's eyes stared straight at him, although he knew Nico couldn't see him.

"I love you to the stars and back." Percy repeated.

Nico stood there for a minute.

"Percy, I know you forgive me, but I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Nico shuffled his feet.

Percy shook his head. If there was one thing Nico couldn't help. it was his need for forgiveness.

"Nico, stop. It's fine. As long as you weren't actually trying to break up with me, it's fine. I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have left you in that cave. I should have thought about you before running off. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you were hurt. I get th-"

"No, it's not okay. And I'm going to make it up to you. Here, come with me."

Percy grabbed the quilt off the bed then grabbed Nico's hand and lead him out of their room. He led him down the hall towards the stables. Although you couldn't really call them stables because no pegasi actually stayed there. He laid the blanket on the floor close to the glass doors on the floor and helped Nico sit down. Nico's hands moved to feel the blanket, getting a feel of what he was sitting on.

"Percy, where are we." Nico said with a confused face, which to Percy was adorable.

Percy, who had sat next to Nico, laughed.

"We are at the stables."

Nico's face scrunched up in a disgusted face.

"Percy, horses hate me."

"There aren't any pegasi or horses here."

Nico visably relaxed and lay down on the blanket, shuffling until he was in Percy's arms, his head on Percy's shoulder. Percy wrapped his arms around Nico and they sat there in silence. Not awkward, just comfortable. Percy sighed. He kept thinking about their future. What was going to happen after the quest? Supposing they would live that long...

"What?" Nico's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

They sat there in silence for a couple more seconds, before Percy interrupted it.

"Nico?"

"Yeah, Perce?"

"Have you ever thought about our future together?"

Nico jerked away from Percy and sat up, looking over at Percy, who had now sat up too.

"What do you mean...?" Nico sounded cautious, as if he was worried for the answer.

"Well, you know, marriage, kids, a future."

Nico looked shocked and his head turned towards Percy.

"Never mind, forget I asked." Percy stared down at his lap, fidgeting with his fingers.

"No! No, I want to know. Explain."

Percy stared at Nico in shock.

"Um... well, you know, I just sometimes think about a future. For us, I mean. Marriage, and kids... I mean, we obviously can't have kids by ourselves, but, I just want to know if you ever think about that..."

Nico was silent for a moment, before he smiled softly.

"Well, I imagine that if we live that long, yeah, I'd love to marry you. And as for kids, well, I'd make an awful dad, wouldn't I?"

Percy laughed, the tension surrounding them dissipating.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'd really love to be married to you..." Percy started to drift off into thoughts of married life with Nico. "I do agree though. You'd make an awful dad. You can hardly handle people at camp, gods forbid kids." Percy teased.

Nico shoved Percy lightly in the shoulder playfully, laughing.

"Anyways, if you ever want a kid, we can always adopt or do surrogate." Nico shrugged slightly.

"But, yeah, I really do want to spend my life with you. If that means today, and tomorrow, and the future, I'll take it. If you want that. If you want me."

Percy stared at Nico's face. It was surprisingly open, not a single trace of that guard he always put up.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do want that." Percy leaned over, placing his hands on Nico's face. he pulled Nico towards him and brushed his lips against Nico's again, this time having no intension of pulling away.Nico leaned into his hands, wrapping his arms around Percy's shoulders and pressing harder against Percy's lips. Percy pressed on, moving forward, and Nico leaned back, laying on the blanket.

Nico wrapped his arms around Percy tighter and wrapped his legs around Percy's waist, pulling them impossibly closer. Percy moved his lips more roughly, and Nico followed pace. Right before Percy was about to lift Nico's shirt up, the ship rocked violently, throwing Nico off Percy. Nico sat up, and so do Percy. The ship rocked again, this time, throwing Nico into Percy. Percy yelped. Then there was a shout from above deck.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy stiffened as the ship rocked again, and he could hear the swords clashing, and Leo yelling at whatever was attacking.

"Yo, Ghosty! Don't you dare wreck my ship or I'll toast you! Oh, Hades! You just asked for it!"

And there was an explosion.

Percy grabbed Nico's hand and pulled him up, dragging him down the hall, up towards the deck. When they reached the deck, he was shocked. It was chaos. The sky had turned into a storm, the winds whipping the ship around. But that wasn't the bad part. There were about twelve venti all over the place, attacking Leo and Annabeth, who tried their best to fend them off. The venti flew up and down the deck, their smoky bodies and vapor wings appearing and disappearing in the air. Nico reached out and grabbed his left arm.

"How many are there?" He yelled over the loud booming thunder.

"Twelve I think." Percy yelled back.

Nico nodded and pulled out his sword. He looked slightly at Percy's direction before he launched himself into the battle, Percy pulled out Riptide and pushed into the battle himself. As soon as he was in the center, he started to wish they had brought Jason after all. He might have been able to control the venti. Percy tried his best to hit the venti swooping down around them, but it was extremely hard, as they were literally made of air. Percy heard Nico letting out strings of words in Italian, and grinned through his concentration.

"I'm not an expert on Italian, but I'm pretty sure the wind gods would be offended by that, Neeks!" He yelled over the roaring winds.

"If we were in an Italian city, I would have been arrested for that!" Nico yelled back.

As soon as he finished speaking, a ventus swooped down and landed right in front of Percy. It's wings spread out wide and it's whole body seemed to be a swirling storm, it's eyes like lightning. Percy tensed himself into a fighting possession, but the ventus surprised him by letting out a laugh, a laugh that sounded like a thunder storm.

"Give up, puny demigod. Give up and give us the blind boy. It will spare you of death." The voice that the ventus spoke with sounded like the crackling of lightning and thunder. Percy shook his head.

"Never. You'll never get your hands on Nico, neither will Tartarus."

He held his sword in his hand, ready to swing at the ventus as soon as he saw a weak spot. The venti stared at him, an amused expression on his face. Percy swung his sword down in an arch, but the ventus glided backwards, chuckling sinisterly. Percy spun around, but it was too late. Another ventus had snuck up behind him while he was battling the first, and Percy was too late to notice. The ventus raised it's hand and a streak of lightning shot out from its hand, striking Percy square on the chest. A jolt of electricity shot through Percy's entire body, making him feel as though he was being fried from the inside out. He let out a tortured scream, dropping Riptide and falling to his knees, the electricity running through his veins. He screamed again, as the ventus he had been originally fighting joined the other in trying to fry him to a crisp. He could faintly hear Annabeth and Leo screaming in panic for him. But the one thing that registered was the sound of a fierce cry. It was unlike anything Percy had ever heard. An almost animalistic growl, an inhuman sound that Percy had never heard before. Maybe his brain was being fried so much he was hallucinating the sound. With the last of his strength, he twisted, turning towards the sound. To his surprise, it was Nico. Nico stood on the deck, surrounded by seven or eight venti, his head thrown back and his arms spread wide. His blind eyes were the scariest part. This seemed to be glowing, a strange greenish blue light. The strangest thing was, a type of black mist was pouring from his hands. The mist seemed to surround the venti, making them shriek and then the sound was gone. Nico threw his hands towards where Percy was, and the mist seemed to follow, racing over the deck and consuming the two venti who had been electrocuting Percy. They shrieked and writhed, before, to Percy amazement and shock, dissolved into the mist, as though it had absorbed them.

Percy felt weak, his head throbbing and his body felt as though he had went for a walk on the sun. He could barely make out Leo's voice, questioning Annabeth, who seemed to be trying to wake an unconscious Nico. What had Nico done? How did he do that? Percy sat on the deck on his hands and knees, unable to gain the strength to stand up and walk over to kneel by Nico. He heard Leo come up beside him.

"Percy, here. Have some ambrosia."

Percy reached up weakly, his hands shaking so badly he had to hold them steady. The ambrosia square was placed in his hand and Leo, who realized Percy was having trouble even forming an intelligent thought after all the electricity running through him, helped Percy take two bites of the ambrosia. Slowly, yet surely, Percy's strength came back. The feeling of the electricity was wearing off already and Percy was able to stand. He turned and walked to where Annabeth was kneeling in front of an unconscious Nico, who had passed out after whatever he had done to destroy the venti. Percy kneeled beside Annabeth.

"What's in Hades is going on?"

"I don't know. All I know is we were fighting the venti when Nico made that strange growl,almost as though he were an animal, and then Leo and I watched as he started pouring that black mist. He just threw his head back and his eyes shot wide open and started glowing. I'm not sure what it was, but all I know is that he just saved all our lives."

Annabeth was staring at Nico as if he were a strange creature. In a way, he almost was. Percy, who knew Nico the most, was speechless. What was that that Nico had done? How did he do it? Is this some type of new child of Hades power? Or something else? But whatever he had done, had saved them all.

'More challenges...' Percy thought resignedly. They needed to figure out what is going on with Nico. Could this be the reason Tartarus wanted Nico so badly? Only the gods knew.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy sat next to Annabeth as she moved around Nico who lay on the bed, still unconscious. Percy had regained full strength after eating and drinking some ambrosia and nectar. He stared at Nico's limp body, not really concentrating on him, but lost in thought. What had just happened to Nico? What was that? Did Nico even know what he had done? Percy was in a slight shock from that. He never knew Nico had that power, or that he was that strong. Percy looked up and Annabeth stopped moving around and turned around.

"He should be fine. I don't know what he just did, or what it was, but I'm going to research it. Maybe we can find some information on it. Don't worry. He'll be fine. When he wakes, give him some nectar and ambrosia." Annabeth turned and walked out the doors, leaving Percy and an unconscious Nico.

Percy looked at Nico, and just stared at his features. The features he had fallen in love with. But Nico was really starting to freak him out. What with this new found dangerous power. Not that he would ever leave Nico for that. He really needed to find out what was going on so he could help his poor boyfriend. Percy looked up as Nico started to groan. His head turned to the side and his eyes fluttered open. He blinked a few times as his eyes came into focus.

"Perce? Is that you? What's going on? What happened to the venti?" His voice was scratchy.

"It's fine. We're all fine. Nico, don't you know what you did?"

Nico looked confused.

"What?"

"You did something weird and shot out this black mist and swallowed the venti and then collapsed. It was crazy."

Nico looked confused.

"All I remember was hearing you scream and thrusting my hand out towards you. I thought I threw my sword."

"No, you dropped it and shot that mist at the venti electrocuting me."

Nico looked shocked.

"What?"

Percy opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off as the door swung open. Annabeth rushed in followed closely by Leo.

"Perc-oh Nico, you're awake. Did Percy give you Nectar and ambrosia?" Annabeth asked.

Nico shook his head. Now that Percy thought about it, Nico looked exhausted.

"Percy, I found something about what's going on. We have to go to this place in Volterra, we've landed really close to it. There are these caves in the ruins in the mountains that have the information."

Percy stared at Annabeth.

"Really?"

Annabeth nodded.

"The only problem is they are very well protected, and we need Nico for that."

"Why me?" Nico winced as he sat up and Leo handed him a glass of nectar and a tiny square of ambrosia. He chewed on the tiny square as his clouded eyes seemed to stare at Annabeth.

"Your sister is a magician you can feel powerful magic. And now apparently do some." Leo said.

Percy had never seen Leo look so serious before, but after this quest started, none of them had the mood for jokes and laughs, what with Tartarus trying to kidnap Nico and Some freaky goddess terrorizing camp and making people turn on each other.

"So are we going soon?" Percy asked.

"Once Nico gets his strength, yes. Let's hope this helps us."

Percy nodded and looked at Nico who was staring blindly at his hands, as if he was trying to see what power had come from him not ten minutes ago, yet not finding it.

"I'm fine to go now that I've had some ambrosia and nectar." Nico mumbled.

"Neeks, are you sure? We could wait a bit." Percy questioned in concern.

"No. I want to know what's going on with me. I don't like being in the dark, no pun Intended."

Leo was snickering into his hand.

"Okay, well, let's get going!" Annabeth turned around and marched out the door.

Percy grabbed Nico's hand to pull him up, leading him to follow Annabeth.

"Percy, what if what's happening is bad? What if it's something bad going on with me?" Nico asked.

"Percy turned his head to look at Nico.

"No matter what, I'll love you forever. Remember that."

"Yeah. I love you too."

Percy turned around and led Nico after Leo and Annabeth, who were walking down to the area of grass where they had landed. Percy sped up a bit to catch up with them, dragging a confused Nico along. He finally caught up with the two, looking over at Annabeth.

"So where is this special cave?"

"It's up ahead. We landed like one half mile from it." Annabeth said, pointing towards the steep incline of the mountain.

Percy groaned and Nico squeezed his hand.

"What?" Nico looked over at Percy.

"Apparently we need to walk there. Up a mountain."

"Well, you could use the exercise."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"What? No, I'm just saying exercise is-"

"I am not fat."

Nico shook his head.

"You are impossible..."

Up ahead, Annabeth made a noise.

"I think that's it!"

Nico closed his eyes.

"I can feel really dangerous magic from there, guys. I don't think we should go in there..."

"Nico, we have to if we want to know what you did." Percy reasoned.

"But it's... Fine. But I'm not sure what's in there exactly, all I know is it's bad."

Annabeth lead them towards the entrance and trough the arched doorway. There were stalagmites and stalactites jutting out from random places. But the strangest part were the doors. There were four ordinary looking doors on one side of the cave, all identical. Annabeth seemed to freeze.

"Look, there's a letter." Leo pointed to a piece of paper that had been stuck between the two doors in the middle. Annabeth reached over and pulled it off warily. She cleared her throat and read the writing.

To find the secret that you seek

Order your mind, calmly think

Four doors before you stand

Choose to hold the chaos in your hands

Through one door lies magic that could tear you to shreds

Manage to avoid it, and it's twin may have you instead

Another will only lead you where you've been before

But the secret to the chaos lies behind the final door

Certain death lies beside the way that is true

For the door that you seek, lies between two

If you choose the false door, go more than beyond

Don't go too far, and you won't go wrong

Percy stared at Annabeth.

"Okay that makes absolutely no sense... How are we suppose to get this information? Are we supposed to fight someone?" Leo said in annoyance.

"No. No, this is brilliant." Annabeth was muttering to herself.

Nico, who had been silent for a while, shifted on his feet.

"What's brilliant?"

Annabeth whipped around so fast, Percy worried she'd get whiplash.

"Fighting isn't what we need. We need logic. It's logic. It's a brilliant puzzle. You need logic to find the correct door."

Percy blinked a few times.

"But none of us have logic..."

Annabeth glared at him.

"I have logic, you dumbass!"

Percy backed up a bit.

"Oh right..."

Nico snickered.

"You're such a seaweed brain sometimes, Perce."

"Well, can you figure it out?" Leo asked Annabeth.

She stared at the paper, then looked over at the four doors.

"Yeah. Give me a couple minutes."

"Minutes?! Wouldn't it take longer?" Leo asked, his eyes almost popping out of his head.

"Don't underestimate me, Fire For Brains."

Leo scowled, muttering a 'whatever' and looked away from Annabeth.

Annabeth sat on the cave floor, staring at the piece of paper. She put her chin in her hands and stared intently at the small paper, as though it would disappear. After about five minutes, her head shot up from her hand.

"ITS THAT ONE!" She yelled, pointing at the door second to the end on the right. Leo stared at her in shock.

"How the-?"

"Never underestimate Annabeth. She will prove you wrong in under five minutes." Percy said mock wisely, nodding his head.

Nico snorted quietly.

"And make you feel stupid..."

"That too."

Annabeth laughed.

"It's that one. I'm 100% certain."

Percy looked over at Nico, who was looking down at their intertwined hands.

"Neeks, you ready?"

Nico looked up.

"What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, totally."

"Neeks, it's gonna be okay."

"I know... I'm just being stupid."

"No you're not."

Percy let go of Nico's hand to take hold of his face with both hands.

"Nico, I promise you, it's going to be fine. We're just getting some information about your new power. It'll be fine. You believe me, right?"

Nico looked at Percy's face with his brown cloudy eyes, and sighed.

"Yeah, I believe you."

"Then let's go."

Percy let go of Nico's face and grabbed his hand again, leading him to the down Annabeth hand pointed to. Annabeth and Leo were trailing behind them. Percy looked back as he placed a hand on the doorknob, nodding at Annabeth and Leo, who nodded back. He twisted the doorknob, hoping Annabeth was right, and the door swung open.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico grasped Percy's hand as he heard the sound of a door creaking open. Percy held Nico's hand as he pulled him forward. Nico felt the magical energy change as they walked through what he guessed was the door they chose. Nico heard a dull clang behind them and the whispers of his comrades. Apparently they had not anticipated the door to slam shut. There was an eerie feel in the air, mysterious and a heavy feel of magic. Nico frowned. The air was filled with magic. Where were they? Nico felt Percy's hand grip his tighter and he heard the sound of running footsteps. He tensed, placing his hand on the sword hilt sticking out of his belt loop. The footsteps came closer and closer, and he felt Percy pulling out Riptide. There was an audible gasp coming from Annabeth and Percy and Nico turned around, trying to figure out what they were gasping about. Suddenly, a voice spoke through the silence.

"I guess Master Rufus was right." It was a male voice and seemed to be slightly younger than Nico. The voice held the undertone of someone who was sarcastic In every sentence.

"I guess he was." Another sounded out.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded, pushing Nico a bit behind him. Nico realised he was trying to shield him and stepped to the side, not about to let Percy shield him from danger like a coward. He could feel Percy had his sword raised and pointed straight at the strangers.

"Oh, you know, just some serial killers, here to kill you-oof." The first voice said.

"Call, don't be rude."

"Sorry, Aaron."

Percy squeezed Nico's hand slightly, signalling him to be on alert for an attack.

"I asked who you are." Percy spoke in a low voice.

"We are Magisterium students, And who are you? Master Rufus said we would find visitors today. Is that you?" The second voice asked.

"How do we know you're not monsters?"

"We aren't Chaos ridden if that's what you mean." The first voice scoffed.

"Chaos ridden... Where have I heard that before?" Nico heard Annabeth mumble. Nico looked back at where Annabeth was standing.

"Yo, we're just trying to find help for our friend's magical hoodoo problem." Leo spoke and Nico facepalmed. He just had to open his mouth, didn't he?

"Oh, you've got magic? Are you a part of the Magisterium? I haven't seen you before. What year are you in?" The second voice asked, directed at Nico.

Nico shook his head.

"I've never even heard of the magisterium. All I've got is a problem controlling this new magic that I didn't even know I had. Now, if this place is somehow connected to Hecate, I'd love to talk to her."

A chuckle sounded from his right.

"Hecate? You mean the mythical Greek goddess of magic?"

"No, the dancer, Hecate. Yes, the Greek goddess Hecate." Nico said with sarcasm thick in his voice.

"You're crazy. We don't know anything about your mythical goddess. All we know is Rufus wanted is to come down here to help you guys for some stupid reason."

Annabeth, who had been mumbling for a while now, leaned forward and mumbled 'they're safe'. Nico nodded slightly.

"Do you know anything about this type of magic that swallows monsters in darkness?" Annabeth spoke up.

He heard a gasp.

"You know a chaos makar?"

"A chaos what?" Leo asked.

"A chaos makar. A chaos wielder. Someone who uses chaos magic. You get the point." The first voice spoke.

"Call, stop being so rude. I'm sorry. A chaos makar. It's someone who uses the magic of chaos. I myself am a chaos makar, not that I'm proud of it." There was a sort of whooshing sound and Percy gasped.

"That's exactly what Nico did back on the ship, just more controlled."

Nico looked over at where Percy's voice came from.

"I still have no idea what I even did, Perce."

"What happened?" The second voice demanded.

"Well first of all, we don't even know your names. Second of all, are you human?" Annabeth's voice seemed to echo through wherever they were.

"First of all, I'm Call and he's Aaron, we are students in the Magisterium. Second of all, what else would we be? Chaos ridden? Could you please get that blade away from my chest. If you moved anymore, it will run me through."

"Call, shut up. This guy is obviously a chaos makar, who obviously has no counterweight." The second voice, apparently named Aaron snapped.

The first voice, Call, fell silent. "Look. You are a chaos makar with no counterweight, which makes you extremely dangerous."

"Counterweight?" Nico asked, extremely confused.

"All elements have a counterweight. The rule of magic is essential in the process of counterweights. Fire wants to burn, water wants to flow, air wants to rise, earth wants to bind, and chaos wants to devour. Each element has a counterweight, something that controls it. Fire is the the counterweight of water. Air is the counterweight of earth. The counterweight for chaos is the soul. A human soul." Aaron explained.

Nico's eyes widened.

"Are you saying to control this shit I have to kill someone?"

He heard a laugh.

"What? No. Someone needs to agree to be your counterweight, to agree to help control your magic, to bind your magic with theirs, their life with yours. Essentially, you die, they die. Call here is my counterweight."

Nico made to protest. He could not takes someone else's life if he died. He had already caused so much death, and even though he was a son of Hades, he hated causing death. But someone cut him off.

"I'll be his counterweight."

It was Percy.

Chapter Text

Nico

"I'll be his counterweight."

Nico froze as Percy's voice rang through the air.

"Percy, no-" Nico's voice came out raspy and his throat felt choked up. No. Nico shook his head. He can't have another death hanging over his head, especially not the boy he loved.

"Oh, it's alright. If he dies, you don't die, so it's not like YOUR life is on the line." Call's voice rang out. There was a grunt and a smacking noise.

"Have more tact, you asshole. Seriously? Can't you see what's going on?" Aaron growled. "You just told them if the Makar dies the counterweight does. And they seem close. You couldn't have more tact to figure out this is going to be a hard decision? Are you that much of a moron?" Call grunted.

"Well excuse me for telling them the truth."

"The truth isn't always the right thing to say at this moment."

The two were bickering to each other, not seeming to pay attention to the demigods. Nico gripped Percy's hand as a lifeline, tugging on it to get the older's attention.

"Percy, no. Don't do this." He pleaded.

"Nico, you need to control this 'chaos' stuff. This seems like the only way. I'll be fine."

"Percy, we are demigods. We're never fine. We always are in danger and close to death. I can't let you do this."

"Nico, don't you want to control this stuff?"

"I'll figure it out by myself. Just as I figure out all my godly powers by myself." Nico said firmly.

"That may not work. This doesn't seem like one of those things."

"Percy, I can't be responsible for your death. I just can't." Nico's voice was shaking slightly.

"You won't be."

"Percy, WE ARE DEMIGODS. There is no way to know whether one of us is going to die. I-I can't be responsible for that happening. I just can't be."

"Why won't you accept the help I'm giving you?" Percy sounded slightly annoyed.

"BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO LIVE. I want you to be happy..." Nico rose his voice before it softened again. "I just want to you have a life. You've fought your battles with near death consequences. I just...every time you almost die, I feel like I'm dying too. And if you died permanently... I wouldn't be able to deal with that. I love you. Please... Don't do this. Not even for me." Nico was shaking slightly, trying to force his tears back.

Percy sighed.

"Nico, I understand you're scared. But I want to be the one to do this. I'm your boyfriend. I want to help you. Even if I do die, I want you to live. That's why I'm doing this. For you to live and be happy."

"But you're my happiness!" Nico just about screamed.

The cave, or whatever they were in, went silent as Nico's words echoed off the walls.

"I-I..." Percy stuttered.

Nico sighed.

"Fine. But you'd better not die or I will bring your ass back from Elysium and kick your ass all the way back there."

"What makes you think I'll get into Elysium? I'm not exactly the best person."

"What have you ever done that isn't good? Steal candy from babies?" Nico said sarcastically.

Percy shrugged. "Who knows."

"If my father doesn't put you there the moment you die, I'm going to have a bone to pick with him, no pun intended." Nico scowled.

Percy laughed, tugging on Nico's hand, pulling him into his chest.

"I can see that happening." He laughed, putting his forehead on Nico's.

Nico smiled softly, placing his hand on Percy's cheek and closing his eyes.

'Dad, any of the gods. Please, let him survive.' Nico prayed silently.

Little did he know, his prayers would not come true.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico stood on the deck of the Argo, his hands outstretched as though he was reaching for something. Percy stood five feet away, while Annabeth and Leo were watching for the control deck.

"Okay, Neeks, remember what Aaron said. Reach in for the Chaos and push it out towards the dummy." Percy instructed.

"I know, Perce. You repeated that a thousand times. Anyways, the dummy, it's in front of me, right?" Nico questioned.

"Yeah. Five feet dead ahead." Leo called.

Nico nodded and closed his eyes, he cleared his mind, and stood there, waiting. Soon, he felt the tug in his gut that told him he had found the magic he had, and started to reach for it, pushing it towards his hands. He felt the strange feeling of smoke coming out of his hands, and heard Percy and Leo yell out enthusiastically. He opened his eyes and let out a short laugh, feeling in his gut the power coming from his hands. But his glee was short lived as something to his right startled him. There was a flash. A flash of blue and a flash of orange. He stumbled back, gasping. What was that? He was blind, he should not be able to see colours. He twisted his head and was even more shocked. The colours were in the vague shapes of people. What the hell was going on? He gasped again.

"Nico, what's wrong?" He could hear Percy's voice, but what terrified him was the blue shape was moving slightly towards him. He stumbled backwards and promptly tripped, falling back and banging his head on the wooden deck.

"Nico?!" Was the last thing he heard before he slipped away.

-

Nico's head was throbbing, as though someone was pounding inside it with a jackhammer. He groaned and twisted onto his side. He opened his unseeing eyes and blinked. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was testing out his chaos magic. He heard movement to his left and twisted his head. To his shock, there were three blobbish shaped colours. He gasped and bolted upright.

"Nico? Nico, what's wrong? What happened before?" He heard Percy's voice, but the thing that terrified him the most was the bluish blob moving towards him in the darkness that was his vision. There were two other blobs, an orange one and a greyish blue one. He scrambled back, his back hitting what must have been a wall. Nico heard the others muttering while Percy moved forward, placing a hand on Nico's arm. The blue blob was right in front of him. Wait... Could it be? Was this Percy's aura? But... Nico had lost this ability due to his blindness. How was he able to read Percy's aura now, if he was blind? What was going on? And was that Leo's an Annabeth's aura too in the background? Nico was more and more confused. How was he able to see these? He is blind. It's just not logical and should be possible. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Percy's voice.

"Neeks, are you okay? Please, tell me what's wrong." His voice was worried and pleading. Nico stared at the blue blob.

"I can see you..." He whispered.

"What?"

"I can see you." Nico said louder.

Percy made a weird noise, across between a gasp and a choking noise.

"What?" He asked, his voice coming out as a whisper.

"Well, not really. I...I can see your aura. I'm not sure how. I couldn't see it ever since I became blind, but there it is, shining through the darkness." Nico stared at the blob.

"Oh my god... Really? You can see me?" Percy asked, his voice raised hopefully.

"Not exactly. I see your shape. It's blue, by the way, which is obvious."

Percy let out a laugh.

"This is great!"

Annabeth's voice butt in.

"But how can this be possible? You're blind. You shouldn't be able to see anything." She sounded exasperated.

"Maybe that new power did something." Leo's voice spoke out from the area the orange blob was.

"That might be it." Annabeth said, sounding from the grey blue blob. Nico watched as the blobs moved, and soon they were gone, most likely moving out of the room.

Percy's blob was still in front of Nico. Nico sighed. Great. Yet another thing that set him apart from the other demigods. Percy squeezed his arm.

"What's wrong, Neeks?"

Nico stared at the blob like it was the stupidest question he had ever heard.

"Percy, I'm blind. I shouldn't be able to see at all. But now I'm seeing fucking auras and that's just one other thing that makes me different from every other demigod. Just another reason for everyone to think I'm creepy. They already do, being a son of Hades does that, but then I became blind and everyone thought I was even more weird. A blind demigod. And now I've got some fucking power over chaos and to top it all off, I'm seeing fucking blobs of auras that I should not be able to even see. Everyone already hates me, this is just another reason for them to."

Percy sighed.

"But you can see, at least people I think. Isn't that good?"

Nico made a noise, slightly like a growl.

"IM SEEING FUCKING MULTICOLOURED BLOBS, PERSEUS! IM NOT SEEING NORMALLY! GOD DAMN IT, I ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH ON MY PLATE WITH TARTARUS AFTER ME, CAMP TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER,MY NEW FUCKING POWER, AND NOW THIS! THIS IS TOO MUCH!" Nico was screaming, his voice echoing off the walls.

He could feel Percy flinch slightly.

"Nico. Nico. Calm down."

"IM NOT GOING TO FUCKING CALM DOWN."

"Nico, it's going to be okay. We'll figure it out. You're going to be okay. You have me, Annabeth, Leo, and once we finish this stupid quest, you'll have Jason, Piper,Hazel, And Frank to help you. I promise you, it'll be okay. I love you, and I'm not leaving you alone with this issue. It'll be okay. I promise." Percy's voice was soft, comforting. Nico took five deep breaths calming down. He sighed.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. I'm just scared."

Percy moved, sitting next to Nico on the bed. Nico leaned over onto Percy, laying his head on his shoulder. He sighed.

"I love you." Percy whispered, kissing his forehead. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. And hey, maybe this can help with battle."

Nico laughed softly.

"Yeah. I love you too. Maybe it will. You know, you always know how to calm me down." He smiled slightly.

"Well, if I didn't, what kind of boyfriend would that make me?"

"A shitty one?" Nico suggested.

Percy laughed.

"You gonna be okay now?"

Nico nodded slightly.

"Yeah. Let's get back to training the chaos stuff."

Percy stood up, placing his hand on Nico's, pulling him up and leading him out the door. Nico sighed. He hoped this power was going to be a good thing. But he didn't know. All he had was Percy's reassurance. But for now, that was good enough for him.

Chapter Text

Percy

Percy watched Nico from a distance, staring at the smoke that poured out of his hands. Others would probably be afraid of Nico, but Percy just felt proud that Nico was becoming more and more powerful. Nico was grinning slightly. Percy moved towards the Italian as he stopped practicing Chaos magic and started chugging the water bottle Percy had found in the dining room for him. Nico turned, hearing the footsteps and smirked. Percy knew Nico knew it was him, what with the new aura seeing power.

"You're doing great, Neeks." Percy was standing in front of Nico now, looking down at the short boy, not that he would ever comment on Nico's height to him. Nico grinned.

"I think I've finally got the hang of it. It's easier now to get a hold of the chaos."

"You're doing great. I'm impressed."

"Does that qualify for a good job kiss?" Nico was smirking again.

"I don't know. You're a little sweaty. Maybe a shower first." Percy laughed.

"Are you going to deny me just because I'm sweaty? Perce, I've kissed you after you spent three hours sword training. Now that is sweaty." Nico scoffed.

Percy let out a loud laugh.

"I bet you showered straight after that, you clean freak."

Nico glared at him.

"I am not a clean freak. I just like things in order." He pouted.

Percy smiled.

"Come here." He held out his hands towards Nico and grabbed onto his smaller ones. Nico moved towards Percy.

"I thought I was sweaty." Nico mocked his statement earlier.

"Hahaha, not funny. I was joking, Death Breath."

"Don't be rude, Kelp Head."

Percy smiled softly and looked at their intertwined fingers. He squeezed Nico's hands lightly.

All of a sudden, Nico pulled away. Percy tensed. What did he do? He stared at Nico's face, which was tense and distracted.

"Nico?" Percy asked tentatively.

Nico just shook his head, staring off at the distance, his brow furrowed.

"Nico, what is it? You're freaking me out." Percy noticed Annabeth and Leo watching Nico with concerned looks.

Nico suddenly made a noise like a deep growl. Percy jumped and stared at his boyfriend.

Nico snapped his head to looks at Percy.

"He's near."

Percy tensed. He knew Nico was talking about Tartarus. But that meant the prophecy will be coming to a close soon. That meant his probable death. That meant either the saviour or destruction of Olympus and the Gods.

Annabeth spoke with that voice she always had when she was planning. "Where?"

Nico frowned.

"I can't tell exactly. There's darkness radiating off all the mountains near here. Darkness and death, the feel of Tartarus himself. It's just... Like he's everywhere and nowhere. The mountains are our best bet, but I can't figure out which. I'm not as good at this as Hazel is..."

Leo sighed.

"Does that mean we need to go hiking, cause no offense but Leo McShizzle is not built for hiking." Leo smirked, trying to take some of the tension out of the air. It seemed to work a bit, Percy noticed, as Nico turned to Leo.

"No, flame brain. That feeling is coming from that area." He said, pointed off towards a large mountain rising above all the others.

"Of course, king of the pit chooses the highest mountain in the area. That's such brilliant logic when he's trying to hide from the ruler of the sky." Leo commented sarcastically.

Nico grimaced.

"What is it, Neeks?" Percy was by Nico's side in a second, placing a hand on his shoulder. Nico looked up slightly. He frowned, his hand searching for Percy's face, finally placing it on his face.

"You know that the prophecy says you might die. I'm probably completely ruining my image here, but what the Hades? I'm scared. Yeah, I'm scared, terrified. I don't want to lose you. I-I love you too much. Please...please, don't leave m-me." Nico stared at Percy, his murky brown eyes glistening with unshed tears. Percy was shocked. The last time he saw Nico this terrified, was when he accepted going on this quest. But that was really the first time he's seen Nico this emotional. Nico never liked showing many emotions. Percy grabbed Nico by the waist and tugged the smaller boy into his chest, hugging him tightly.

"Neeks, I know you're scared. But please, don't think about it too much. I will try my best not to ever leave you. But I just- Neeks, this is war. There's always casualties. But for you, I will do everything in my power to stay alive."

Nico gripped his shirt tightly. After a minute, he let go and straightened up. His face was straight and blank.

"Yeah. You're right. This is war. Which means, we need to find Tartarus and get all this shit over with." He grimaced, before turning to Leo and telling him directions.

Percy frowned. He knew this was hard for Nico. No matter the whole "tough act" he was putting on, Percy saw through it. Nico was terrified. But they had to go through with it. Together. With Annabeth and Leo, he was certain they'd be okay.

Percy nodded.

"This is war."

Chapter Text

Nico

The first thing Nico noticed, was they had seemed to be docked somewhere. How? He didn't know. It wasn't exactly safe to dock a flying ship in the mountains, but he didn't mention that fact. Second, he kept feeling a tugging in his gut, as though he was going to shadow travel, but he didn't feel like shadow travelling so he ignored it. He was standing by the railing of the ship, listening to Annabeth, Leo and Percy talking about how they were going to get Tartarus. Percy was standing next to Nico, shoulder to shoulder. Nico stood in silence, thinking about the prophecy.

'Four shall travel to the forbidden land. One shall make a final stand. Ones trials shall test the sharpest mind. Two shall eternally bind. To find the god lost in age. And trap him back in his eternal cage. The boy who sees darkness shall cry. For this may be his loves final try. Te choice between sight and love demands. The fate of Olympus rests in his hands.'

All in all, Nico's chances didn't seem so good. For starters, Tartarus is after him for gods knows what reason. Second of all, how in hades were they supposed to trap Tartarus back in his pit? Third of all, Percy may die. And last but not least, he could screw up the choice to save Olympus and end up destroying. Not to mention, they were even more pressured to beat Tartarus because of camp being terrorised by Eris, and if they didn't hurry, camp would be destroyed by the campers own hands.

This royally sucked.

Nico didn't realise it until it was almost too late. The shadows had started pulling him in. Why, he wasn't sure. He wasn't controlling them. Nico briefly panicked, trying to will the shadows away, but they wouldn't listen.

"Um, guys?" He broke through the conversation, realising Tartarus was most likely trying to kidnap him in some shitty way of using his power against him.

Annabeth, the observant one out of those three, apparently had realised he was in trouble.

"Guys, someone grab him! Tartarus is trying to take him to him!"

Three hands grasped his arm, just as he felt the shadows completely pulling him away. They landed on a hard rock surface, Nico, as he wasn't in control of these shadows, unable to help them land better. To Nico's left, Percy groaned.

Nico sat up, and assuming from all the shuffling, the others did too.

"Where are we?" Leo asked.

"A cave, flame brain." Annabeth dead panned.

"I can see that. But where?"

As if sensing something, Nico gripped his sword. He heard Percy pull out his own sword, the other two stopped bickering and got ready for whatever was coming.

There was a soft, sinister chuckle from somewhere.

I see your friends came with you. Demigods always seem to stick together.

Nico grimaced. Tartarus.

Three for the underworld. Your father will be pleased. The soft voice teased.

Nico snarled.

"Don't you dare, you bastard."

And why not? They're spares. Unneeded. The voice was taunting him.

"You want me. I'm here. They have nothing to do with this." Nico growled out.

Percy grabbed his arm.

"Nico, don't listen to him."

Nico turned.

"Perce, he wants me. Not you three. You three shouldn't have come. He's a Titan. He can kill you if he wants."

"You forget we've beaten titans before. And like hell I'd let you go alone."

The voice chuckled mockingly.

So this is your lover? The so called 'Hero of Olympus'?

Nico whirled around, catching sight of a aura, dark dark red, the colour of blood.

Do you fear me, Nico di Angelo? You've travelled my depths before. And you, Perseus Jackson, as well. Nico di Angelo, would fear make you do anything?

Nico tensed.

"What?"

You fear me, but I can bend that fear to my very whim. Do you know why?

Nico heard his three companions shifting, Percy growling lowly.

"Don't listen to him, Nico." That phrase was repeated by both Annabeth and Leo.

Nico tensed once more, turning to where the voice was, ready to fight if needed.

"Why?" He said slowly.

Tartarus chuckled.

Because I can give you your sight.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico froze.

"What?"

I can give you your sight back. Just follow me, and you can have it. Tartarus spoke in a silky voice.

Nico frowned.

"I doubt it."

"Nico, please, don't listen to him." Percy mumbled. Nico shook his head.

Tartarus chuckled.

Don't believe me? There was the sound of someone snapping their fingers, and Nico blinked.

What in hades...? He could see. He could see everything again. What in hades was going on? He glanced at Percy, completely freaked out. He could see Percy's concerned and protective face. Was this a trick?

"Nico?" He could hear Percy calling him, but his thoughts were so jumbled. He was blind for months, and suddenly seeing was disorienting.

"Nico, are you okay?"

"I-I see your face."

Percy jolted back in shock.

"What?"

"I don't know. I heard a snap and blinked and now I see you."

Tartarus coughed loudly.

Now, Nico, your answer. You can see that I can give you your sight back. Join me and you can keep it. Or watch your world crumble and die.

Nico growled, glancing at Tartarus, just now actually seeing the Titan. His head was a literal vortex, with red eyes gleaming out from the center.

Okay, this was just plain disorienting. Nico actually wanted to be blind again. At least he wouldn't have the headache from concentrating on what things looked like again.

Nico shook his head.

"Sorry, but I really don't need my sight to live my life. No deal."

Tartarus snarled.

You will regret that.

And Nico watched in horror, as Percy moved towards him, only to be thrown back by some invisible force, slamming onto the cave wall, smacked his head against the rocks, and fell to the floor, limp and unmoving. Nico's heart restricted, his stomach feeling like it was being squeezed. No. Please, no. He could hear Annabeth and Leo screaming Percy's name, but he felt numb.
Please be okay.

Nico felt a surge of adrenaline. His mind was full of emotion. Anger. Pain. Loneliness. No. Percy couldn't be dead. Nico barely heard a animalistic scream.

Where was that coming from?

He realized. It was him.

He thrust his hands out in front of him, crossing them in an x-formation (think iced shell from fairy tail. Look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about). He watched numbly as the black magic of chaos came pouring out of his hands. The smoke, twisted and moved, twisting it's way towards Tartarus. Before he could think rationally, Nico screamed again, planting his feet spread apart and thrust his arms out in that x-position, willing the chaos to invade Tartarus and kill him.

Nico never felt this way before. Never had he felt the need to kill someone, yes, maim and hurt, never kill. But this... This monster...Percy... He knew he couldn't actually kill a Titan, but he could do the next damn best thing. The line from the prophecy. 'And trap him back in his eternal cage'. Nico could hear Tartarus yelling, hear Annabeth screaming and Leo yelling, but the vision he had was fading. He didn't care. For Percy, he'd finish this. Suddenly, the yelling stopped. It was silent.

Nico dropped to his knees, completely exhausted. He crawled in the direction he knew Percy was.

Please. Please. I just got him. Don't let me lose him. He pleaded to Hades, Zeus, whatever god could hear him.

He could hear Annabeth sobbing, and Leo's muffled sobs as well.

No. NO.

The prophecy. That damn prophecy. For everything Nico had suffered through, this was the last straw. Nico let out a loud, anguished scream, his hand gripping Percy's limp one. Not Percy. Please. Bring him back.

Chapter Text

Annabeth

Annabeth was in shock. She stared at Nico and Percy, hearing Nico's grief stricken sobs, but not exactly understanding. Percy, her best friend, was dead. Percy, her ex, was dead. Percy, the hero of Olympus, was dead. That's all that was running through her mind. She watched Leo place a hand on Nico's shoulder, tears running down his own face. Giving Nico some type of support.

Nico was hunched in on himself, sobbing without restraint, hanging onto Percy's lifeless hand. Annabeth shook her head, trying to push away her tears. Nico needed them to help him through this. This meant she needed to push her grief away for a bit.

She walked slowly towards Nico and Leo, trying hard not to look at Percy. She crouched next to Nico, placing an arm around his shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly. Nico sobbed again, his shoulders shaking, his eyes dull and cloudy again. Annabeth noticed that the light that had been in them for the past few weeks while he was dating Percy had vanished. His eyes, although they were cloudy, she could clearly see that he was broken. That he had lost the last person he loved the most. And she squeezed his shoulder again, letting him know she was there. Leo was crouched on the other side of Nico, rubbing Nico's back as he let his grief out, unconcerned about them seeing it. Annabeth was grief stricken herself, but she was also thankful nothing had happened to Nico, because after everything they had been through, Nico deserved to live a little more.

Nico let out a wail, dropping his head down onto Percy's forehead, his tears dripping onto Percy's face. Leo and Annabeth just watched Nico, letting him have that moment. Leo turned to Annabeth.

"What are we going to do?" He whispered, sounding nothing like the Leo she knew. He sounded defeated.

"I don't know. We need to get to Olympus quickly. The ship will take too long. Maybe... Ask Ncio to shadow travel us all to Olympus, and you can ask your dad to flash the Argo back to camp or something." She whispered back.

Leo looked over at Nico's hunched form.

"He's not in shape to shadow travel. I've spent a lot of time with him, being with Jason and all. He most likely won't be ready to do anything for a while. Not after Percy..." He trailed off.

"We have to ask."

"I know. Just be careful. He's hurt. Let him bring Percy with us." Leo glanced over at Nico again, his eyes showing sympathy and care, something Annabeth had never seen in Leo's eyes.

"You care about him."

"Of course I do. He's like my brother now. This is something I can only help him through with comfort though. That's what Jason taught me. This is something Nico will have to battle."

Annabeth nodded and stood up, walking over to Nico's shaking form. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he glanced up. She nearly started crying there and then.

Nico looked so broken, lost, and alone. He blindly (no pun intended) looked at her, tear tracks on his face, the tears had stopped, but he was still shaking like a leaf.

"Nico, I know you're sad, but we need to go to Olympus. Can you shadow travel us?"

Nico glanced away, glancing at Percy's general direction.

"You can bring him. We just need to let the gods know that Tartarus is gone."

Nico nodded mechanically, his eyes blank.

Annabeth nodded to Leo, who moved towards them, Nico held Percy's hand, while they placed their hands on his shoulder. The darkness gathered around them and in a second, they were gone, leaving the cave echoing with the faint reminder of Nico's anguish.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico barely registered landing in the middle of the Olympian Throne Room, his mind completely blank of everything except his grief.

Annabeth and Leo were still holding his shoulder. Nico's attention was unwillingly diverted from his thoughts of Percy by the booming voice of Zeus.

"Welcome, demigods."

Annabeth and Leo both knelt in front of the gods. Nico was already kneeling, so he sat there, looking at the direction Zeus' voice had come from.

"Lord Zeus, we have finished the prophecy. Tartarus is back in the depths of the cavern." Annabeth spoke, trying to sound brave but her voice was pained. Nico understood that, after all, Percy was her best friend.

"Thank you. All of you. Tartarus would have risen and caused another war if you had not helped." Athena, Nico assumed, said.

"How-How is camp? What about Eris?" Annabeth questioned.

"Taken care of. Your demigod camp is safe and back to normal."

Annabeth and Leo let out a sigh of relief. Nico frowned. Camp held no meaning without Percy there. Camp was never his home. Percy was. And now that was gone. Where would he go?

Nico looked up as Zeus cleared his throat.

"As a gift, because we had to call on the help of puny Demi-oof" There was the smacking sound and Zeus grumbled.

"They helped us. Be nice, Zeus." Hera admonished.

Zeus grumbled a few Greek curse words before he spoke again.

"We will grant you, Nico di Angelo, one wish."

Nico froze.

"Anything?"

"Anything reasonable, but yes."

Nico looked down at where his hand was still holding Percy's.

"Percy. That's what I want. Bring him back."

Silence followed his words.

Chapter Text

Nico

"Percy. That's what I want. Bring him back."

Silence followed his words.

"Nico, he's dead. You of all people know that you can't bring back the dead." Annabeth spoke softly, as though trying not to hurt his feelings.

Nico didn't care.

"I don't care about that rule. Hazel came back, yeah it was because Thanatos was imprisoned, but she didn't go back after he was freed. This is my wish. Bring Percy back. I don't care what happens to me, or the consequences. If I don't have Percy, the world is meaningless to me. I don't want anything else. I just want Percy back. He's all I have left to love."

He could hear Annabeth gasp slightly. He knew he wasn't being himself, that no one but Percy had ever heard him speak like this, but at the moment, he didn't care.

"Nicolo, you do realise this is unreasonable?" He heard his father say.

"No it's not. Not to me. And you all need Percy as well. He's your hero. Who's going to save Olympus next time, if Percy isn't leading them?" Nico demanded.

The room was silent.

"I don't care what happens after, I don't give a flying fuck if this is unreasonable. You need Percy and I need him more than I need life. Hell, Percy was my life. The saying 'the hearth is the home' literally applied to Percy. He was my hearth and my home. What happens when a fire dies? The flame dies with it. This is the same. Please..." Nico's voice became sad and tired. "Please... I can't live without him... I'd rather join the underworld than live without him... Please... He's all I have left..."

He could faintly hear Annabeth crying, he knew his words probably hurt, but all he could do, all he could think about was getting Percy back.

"I will do anything. Please just let him live again." Nico bowed his head, squeezing his hands into fists and trying hard not to cry. Nico knew Percy would've told him to let it out, that it's human to cry, but he wasn't here right now. And after thinking that, he let his tears drip down his face.

He heard the gods gasp.

Third POV

Never had they thought Children of Hades could cry, feel sadness, all feeling some small amount of sadness for the boy, sobbing over the one he loved. Aphrodite could see how much the boy loved the Son of Poseidon, she could literally feel it radiate off him. She leaned forward in her throne, looking down at this poor boy, who she had followed for years, trying to fix his damaged love life.

"Hades, can't you just do this for the boy? He obviously doesn't want anything else. And we all know Zeus won't take no for an answer. The boy is obviously in pain. And he's your son. Give him a bit of happiness. Didn't you say you wanted him to be happy? Well, the boy says Percy is his happiness, so give him that back." Aphrodite was aware that all the gods were stunned at her deep speech, but who cared. She could've deep when it came to love. She wasn't all ditzy like they thought.
Hades sighed. He knew she was right. He did want Nico to be happy. He grimaced, thinking about Thanatos' lecture later, but he'd deal with that later. He snapped his fingers and sat back in his throne lazily, watching the scene unfold.

Nico

Nico's head was still bowed. He was listening to the conversation, crossing his fingers mentally, as both his hands still held Percy's. He could hear a snapping sound, and sat there, wait for a verdict, when there was a groan.

A groan from Percy.

Could it be?

Nico gripped Percy's hand, waiting, hoping it wasn't his imagination.

He heard Annabeth gasp and Leo make a strangled noise like he was choking.

"Nico...?" He heard the faint whisper, and leaned forward.

"Percy?"

He held his breath.

"Nico...? Where am I?" His heart leap.

Percy was speaking to him again.

"Why does my head hurt so much? Wait, what happened with Tartarus?" Percy didn't seen to realise they were in the Olympian council or remember what happened.

"Percy... You're alive..." Nico could barely get words out, he was crying too much.

"What? Nico, why are you crying?" He felt Percy place his hands on his face, wiping away his tears.

"I'm just happy." Nico sobbed out.

"Nicolo di Angelo, I hope you are happy now. Your wish has been granted. Even though it was completely unreasonable..." He heard Zeus mutter.

"Wait, what wish?" Percy sounded so confused that it made Nico give a small smile.

"We finished the quest. You...You died... And the gods gave me one wish."

"You wished for me? But you could have had anything in the world."

"I don't want the world, you seaweed brain. I just want you." Nico placed his hands on Percy's face.

"But you could have been made a god..."

"Percy, I don't want any of it if you're not with me to share it with."

Percy placed their foreheads together, gripping the back of Nico's neck, holding him close.

"You're such a sap." He mumbled, before Nico was pulled into a kiss.

He kissed back, thinking how five minutes ago, he thought he'd never feel those warm lips that tasted like sugar and cinnamon. It was a strange combination, but right now, Nico couldn't be more grateful to taste it.

Maybe it was a crazy thing to ask for, but he didn't care.

His Sea Prince was back. And that's all that mattered.

Chapter Text

Percy 

Percy was extremely confused and slightly disoriented. He had woken up to find himself in the Olympian throne room, with Nico crying and hugging him. Then he finds out that he died and came back to life.

Percy awkwardly held Nico's shaking form, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he had died. And that Nico was granted a wish, and he had wished for Percy. The thought made his heart swell. But, Nico could have wished for anything.

"Nico, you could have had anything. Why choose me?"

Nico lifted his head from Percy's shoulder.

"You idiot. I don't want anything else. I just want you." 

Percy looked at Nico, feeling even more love for the younger boy than he already did.

Nico sighed.

"I-I thought I'd have you for a while longer, for however long the fates would let me have you. I thought by then it'd be okay to let you go, be okay to live without you. But... It's you. And I guess... I wouldn't be able to let you go then, anymore than I was now. And that wasn't at all. Because you're my hearth."

Percy felt the tears welling up in his eyes. He squeezed Nico tightly, trying to suppress the unshed tears. Burying his face in Nico's neck, he felt Nico do the same, and they just sat there, ignoring the fact that all the gods were watching, and that Annabeth and Leo were still there. Just holding each other, like if they let go, one of them would disappear.

"I'm the same..." Percy mumbled into Nico's shoulder.

Nico pulled away slightly, lifting his hand to try to find Percy's face. Percy grabbed Nico's hand gently, placing it on his cheek. He leaned into the touch, staring into Nico's cloudy chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm the same, Neeks. You've always been my hearth. I can't lose my hearth, just like you can't lose yours. Who'd keep us warm?" Percy smiled softly.

Nico gripped his other hand tightly in his own, before they heard someone clear their throat. Snapping into reality, Percy noticed Aphrodite bouncing up and down in her throne and squealing, his dad smiling softly, and all the other gods except Ares, Zeus, and Dionysus watching the scene with slight smiles. He also noticed Annabeth smiling widely and Leo fist pumping the air.

"Young demigods, I believe it is time for you to return to camp."

Percy looked up at Hera, who was smiling down at the two of them. Nico looked at Percy and smiled slightly.

Percy stood up, still gripping Nico's hand like a lifeline. Annabeth and Leo joined the two, smiling at Percy.

"I'm glad you're okay, seaweed brain. You scared us for a bit there." Annabeth said.

Percy just nodded, looking at Nico who looked about to pass out from exhaustion. Percy smiled softly. His poor boyfriend probably hadn't had sleep in twenty four hours. Percy scooped up the exhausted boy, who didn't protest this time, being too tired. Nico lay his head on Percy's chest and fell asleep, a slight smile on his face.

Percy nodded to Annabeth and Leo, and the four demigods made their way out of Olympus to get the Grey Sisters taxi to Long Island.

Chapter Text

Percy

Nico seemed to have been so exhausted that he couldn't even walk, so Percy took it upon himself to carry his tired boyfriend. Although Nico was exhausted, he refused to sleep, saying that if he slept and this turned out to be a dream, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Percy smiled down at the younger boy as they started walking towards the door. He still didn't understand why Nico didn't wish for his sight back, and instead wished for him.

"Perce? Perrrrrrcccceeee? Hello?"

Percy snapped out of his thoughts to look back down at Nico.

"Yeah?"

"What's got you so quiet? Most of the time you don't shut up."

Percy pouted although he knew Nico couldn't see it.

"First of all, hey! Second of all, why didn't you just wish for your sight back?"

Nico sighed.

"Because. I love you, and I can't live without you. If someone came along and told me that they can give me my sight back, I'd tell them to fuck off, because I don't want to see a world without you. That's why." Nico glanced up, his mouth set in a frown.

Percy swallowed back a coo. The younger boy looked ready to fall asleep, and looked so cute cuddled into Percy's chest, not that he would ever say that aloud. Nico may look cute but he was capable of getting revenge for the comment, sometimes even with a variety of weapons. So he kept his mouth shut and just fondly smiled at the boy.

Percy noticed Nico had fallen asleep, and the three demigods walked in silence.

Before reaching the entrance to the elevator, Percy was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned, and was shocked to see Hades.

"Lord Hades?"

"Sea Spawn- I mean, Perseus Jackson."

Percy grimaced ever so slightly, shifting Nico In his arms, and looked over at Leo and Annabeth, who had stopped as well. They both looked at Percy with slightly shocked faces. Percy turned back.

"Look, I'm not here to exchange pleasantries. I just want to speak." Hades said, his voice sounding strained.

Percy was skeptical. The last time The Lord of The Dead wanted to "speak" with him, he tried to kill him.

"I'm not going to kill you. This time. I want to speak to you about my son."

Percy glanced down at the completely knocked out Nico.

"I want Nico to be my first child to be happy. They rarely get that. And he seems to be happy with you, much to my displeasure... But in all honesty... And this doesn't mean I like you anymore than I already do-"

"Which isn't at all..." Percy mumbled.

"Yes, yes, I threaten to kill you twice and suddenly you think I hate your guys, well that's slightly true, but off point. I'm saying, I accept if you date Nico. But, you break his heart an I will send you to the depths of Tartarus." Hades' eyes flared with green fire as he glared at Percy.

"I wouldn't dream of hurting him, Lord Hades. Thank you, though, for accepting it."

"Okay, then. Get off to your little camp and find out if it's still standing." Hades flicked his wrist nonchalantly towards the elevator.

Percy turned and followed Annabeth and Leo, who were talking about camp. He glanced down as he felt Nico shift in his arms.

"What's I miss?" He mumbled sleepily.

"Oh, just your dad accepting me as your boyfriend and threatening to send me to the depths of Tartarus if I hurt you." Percy said in an bored voice.

"My dad? Hades, Lord of The Dead, went all protective 'I'll get the shotgun if you hurt my son' dad on you?"

"Well, it made me feel better knowing your dad isn't going to incinerate me for kissing you."

"I'd never let him even burn a hair off your head, Perce. He'd have to go through me." Nico laid his head on Percy's shoulder.

"I'm too tired to walk. Carry me back to camp, please."

Percy snorted.

"Fine, only because you're cute."

"I'm not cute, I'm manly as hell." Nico mumbled into Percy's neck.

Percy snorted again, watching Annabeth call the Grey Sisters cab for them.

"Whatever you say, Neeks. Whatever you say."

Chapter Text

Percy 

Percy was watching Nico sleep. Not in a creepy way. Percy was no Edward Cullen. He shuddered mentally at that thought. Nope. No. Bad idea to think about.

He was just worried about his boyfriend. Sheer exhaustion had made Nico fall asleep straight after the conversation with Hades, no matter how many times he had protested drowsily that he was completely awake. They were now on their way back to camp in the Grey Sister's taxi. Percy had absolutely no clue how Nico was still asleep with the sisters terrible driving that had nearly gotten the four of them into a car crash, which he was sure Nico would not be happy about. He just hoped to the gods that they'd make it back in one piece. He was pretty sure if something happened to Nico while he was with him, Hades would take his dead body, chop it up , and feed it to Cerberus.

"Percy?"

He looked up to see Annabeth staring at him.

"Do you think it's all over? With camp and all?"

Percy looked at her, then glanced at Leo, before ducking his head to look at Nico.

"I don't know to be honest. I'm hoping so."

He glanced out the window, trying to block out the Grey Sister's annoying arguing. He could see they were racing toward the strawberry fields of the camp border.

Leo started jumping up and down in his seat. Percy supposed from excitement, unless he was being knocked around by the cab ride.

"Excited to see Jason again?"

Leo nodded.

"It's been ages!"

As the cab jerked to a stop, Percy clutching onto the seat and Nico to try to keep them from rocking to much with the force of the stop, Annabeth gave some drachma to one of the sisters. Percy hadn't been paying attention to figure out which, and slide out, Percy carefully following, lifting Nico's sleeping form with him. The three trudged up the hill, and were shocked to see the camp in beautiful shape. Nothing like it had looked like in the last Iris message to Chiron. Percy barely recognized the campers, who had finally noticed them and had come running to find out how the quest went, barely recognized Chiron who was leading them. He had been seeing the campers looking murderous and Chiron so frazzled for days. It was a bit unnerving.

"Okay, okay, campers. Let's let the four rest and recuperate before we bombarde them with questions." Chiron waved the campers away, making them groan and whine, before walking away. All that was left was Chiron, Jason and Annabeth's boyfriend 

" Chiron, what happened? I thought the camp was a complete disaster from Eris?" Annabeth asked.

"It was. But yesterday, the chaos stopped, and we were able to put things back together quickly, as not much damage had been done to the cabins."

Percy glanced over at Annabeth and Leo. They both looked relieved.

"Is it okay if I drop Nico off at his cabin? He got knocked out from exhaustion and I want to get him into a bed." Percy glanced over at the cabin ring. Chiron nodded and he trudged off to the Hades cabin.

Getting the door open was a hassle, but he finally did, and was able to lay Nico on his bunk.

Percy sat on the bunk opposite Nico. He would have just crawled in the bed with Nico, but he wanted to think for a bit. He sat there with his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees.

This quest was exhausting, he now realized. It wasn't so bad when they were running around trying to finish the quest and defend themselves from monsters, but now, it really crashed down on him like the weight of the sky was on his shoulders again.

He glanced up, looking at Nico. Nico was breathing softly, his mouth twitching every few seconds.

Percy realized something. The quest had been a lesson. Life was short. For everyone. More so for a demigod. They died young most times, few got to experience the love Percy held for the boy in front of him. Few got to experience the feeling of being loved back by that person. And most times when people do get it, they take it for granted. They don't realize what they have could be gone in a minute. That it was fragile. Imperiled. No one was guaranteed forever. You have to hold onto the moments, the people you love, because they could be gone in a minute. You had to love while you could. Because it may not be there tomorrow.

Percy's eyes widened. That's it. He knew what he had to do.

Chapter Text

Nico

Nico sat around the campfire with everyone, laughing and joking along. They were having a daytime celebration for the victory of the quest. Percy sat next to him with an arm around his waist, holding him into his body almost protectively. Lately, Percy had been so protective, but it was not unlikely, after what had happened to Nico on the quest. Nico still had nightmares about Tartarus and his vortex head and red eyes. Nico shivered just thinking about it.

"You cold? You want me to get us a blanket?" Percy whispered to him. Nico shook his head. Percy sighed and leaned his head down, placing a soft kiss on Nico's head, before he put his head on top of Nico's, his cheek to Nico's hair. Nico sighed. He really could get used to this. He really could. 

Nico began to think about Percy and his relationship. He loved Percy, more than anything in the world. And Percy was his world. In the end, Nico didn't care that he was blind. As long as Percy was beside him, he would be alright. Nico was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realise the campfire was over. The campers had started to mill back to their activities and Percy stood up, pulling Nico into his chest. He leaned down and pecked Nico's lips. Nico whined softly and Percy grinned, leaning down and gave Nico a long passionate kiss. There was a wolf whistle behind them and they broke apart. Nico could hear from their voices that it was Leo and Jason.

"I get that you guys want to eat each other's faces off, but try to refrain from doing it in public." Jason joked.

"Oh fuck off so I can make out with my boyfriend." Nico snapped flipping them off.

Jason and Leo left, laughing as they went.

"I have to go, di Angelo." Percy whispered into Nico's hair.

"I know. But I don't want you to."

"I don't either, but I teach sword training now. I'm teaching the little kids today."

Nico sighed.

"I know. Don't take to long."

Percy leaned down to whisper into Nico's ear.

"You know, I don't like your last name."

Nico stared at his boyfriend in shock. What?

"What?"

"I don't like your last name, di Angelo."

Nico stared blankly at Percy like he was insane.

"Why?"

"I think you should change it."

Nico was extremely confused.

"Percy, what are you talking about?"

Percy laughed lightly.

"I really think you should change it."

"To what?" Nico asked, confused.

"Jackson." Nico heard Percy say, before Percy unwrapped his arms from around Nico's waist and took off. Nico heard Percy's footsteps retreating and his loud laughs as he ran. Nico stood there in shock and bewilderment, not really understanding what just happened. Then it clicked.

"Wait... DID YOU JUST FUCKING PROPOSE TO ME? COME BACK HERE YOU ASSHOLE AND ANSWER ME!" Nico took off running after Percy, apologizing twenty times as he blindly (no pun intended) crashed into campers, trying to get to the sword fighting arena. He somehow reached the sword fighting arena with minor (thirty five) falls and apologies to campers.

"PERSEUS FUCKING JACKSON DID YOU JUST PROPOSE TO ME?" Nico's voice rang through the arena. He heard snickering and some gasps.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did." Percy's voice sounded from right in front of him.

"And it seems your screams have brought the entire camp to see."

Nico's face turned a tomato red.

"Well you just said I should change my last name to Jackson and took off. How else was I supposed to get an answer?"

"Nico..."

There were multiple gasps coming from around the arena now.

"Nico di Angelo. When we first met, you were only 10 while I was 13. I made a lot of mistakes in my life, and that's caused a lot of pain for you. But you've loved me through that and I couldn't ask for a better partner. You've forgiven me for my mistakes and loved me for who I am, which as you know, is a complete idiot."

Nico laughed and then went silent to let Percy finish.

"Nico, I love you. I love you to the stars and back again. Even the gods couldn't fathom how much I love you. I love everything about you. Your pale Italian skin, your deep brown eyes, your introverted personality, the way you smile at the rarest times that lights up a room, the way you use your hands to make a point, everything. We've got a lot left to live, a lot left to do, adventures to have, lessons to learn, things to try, but I don't want to do those alone. I want to do them with you by my side. I told you one the quest i wanted to share my life with you, have a family, grow old together. I told you I wanted to share the world with you. So I have one question. Nico di Angelo, my angel, will you do the honour of becoming my husband and sharing that with me?"

Nico nodded vigorously, a rare full blown grin on his face.

Nico squeezed Percy'e hands which were holding his now, and pulled him into a tight hug.

Percy laughed slightly and held Nico tightly, embracing him with love. Nico laughed slightly.

"I wouldn't want anything else."

Percy placed Nico on the ground and held up his left hand.

"Con questo anello, ti do il mio cuore e I corona e con il mio amore" Percy said with a slightly wobbly Italian accent.

Nico's eyes widened and his hand covered his mouth, his eyes burning with tears that he refused to let fall.

"Oh my god..." His voice was so quiet, even Percy had to lean forward to hear him.

"I learned that. Just for this moment. I learned your native language, one of the things that makes you, you. I hope it makes you happy. So, what do you say?"

Nico lowered his hand and nodded vigorously. Percy squeezed Nico's hand before sliding the ring onto his left ring finger. Nico gasped as he felt Percy tug his hand, pulling him into his chest. Nico held a hand out to steady him on Percy's chest, the other hand Percy dropped and let hang on Nico's side. Nico's eyes widened as he felt Percy slam his lips onto Nico's, pulling him closer by his waist. As the initial shock wore off, Nico melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Percy's neck and leaning back on one foot to balance them both. Percy kissed him with so much passion and love, it was making him dizzy, his legs turning to jelly and he felt like he would turn into a puddle of Nico if Percy kept kissing him this way. It felt like how he felt during their first kiss, just intensified. Nico barely heard the cheers and coos coming from the other campers, just focusing on his boyfriend-wait, no-his fiancé. Fiancé. That felt amazing to say. Nico pulled back unwillingly. He kept his arms around Percy's neck, and just held him close, focusing on the happiness radiating off both of them. He realised that this was what happiness felt like, true happiness. He had never really felt this way until Percy came into his life. And he loved this feeling.

"Ti amo, il mio amato." He whispered to Percy.

He felt Percy lean his forehead onto his own.

"Questo è l'inizio della nostra sempre, il mio angelo."

Nico smiled. This was his happy ending. In the end, he had been wrong. He could find happiness. And to think this all started his a car crash. If he hadn't been in that car crash with Percy, would this have happened? only the fates know. But it didn't matter anymore, because this was how it happened, and Nico couldn't ask for more. Maybe not being able to see isn't so bad anymore. As long as he had Percy by his side, he'd be fine. This was the start of their forever.

Chapter Text

ITS OVER ;^; I'm going to miss this book so much but I have other fanfics in the making so I'm excited to give y'all more content. See ya on the flip side *peaces out*