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Nico sometimes thought what it would be like to die. He’d been in that situation on numerous occasions, what with, Kronos rising, the giants and Ghea, and even falling into Tartarus, but never had it crossed his mind that it would be he who took his own life instead of a monster. He realized that without thinking, he had walked straight into Percy’s room on the Argo II. He closed the door and immediately broke down into tears. He could never see something of Percy’s without being reminded that he was dead, but not for long. A soul for a soul. It was a risk, he wasn’t even sure that it would work but he had to try. Nico sat down on the floor and brought out his music box his father had given to him. It was enchanted by Apollo and always played the song that was needed to cheer him up. He opened the lid and sure enough, the sweet sound of his mother’s lullaby filled the room. If Nico was going to do this, he might as well be listening to him favorite song. He felt at ease and was ready to get this over with.
“Percy Jackson” he mused. THe ghost of his lost friend appeared before him.
“N...Nico?” Percy exclaimed stunned. “Why did you call me again?” Percy questioned but then he noticed the tears in the Ghost King’s eyes and the stygian knife he held at his side. His expression quickly changed from confused to worried. Nico did have a habit of being rash.
“Percy...I’m really sorry. I know yo...you wanted to save me…” he choked up. Nico was trembling; the knife feeling heavier in his hand with every second that passed. He managed to continue. “But this is my own choice.” Percy’s expression turned from slightly concerned to downright hysterical.
“Nico…” Percy started “just what are you…”
“Stop.” Nico cut him off. Then he lifted the dagger and pointed it at his chest. “I just want you to know, I hope you and Annabeth are happy together.” He said through a pained smile. He then, ignoring the screams of protest coming from Percy, he thrust the knife into his chest. Immediately, Nico collapsed to the ground feeling his life drain from him and into the knife. Stygian iron did that. He struggled to open his eyes but when he did, he saw Percy solidifying, screaming, and crying. 'It worked' he thought to himself. Then through his last breath he uttered “see..y..you later Per...Percy.”
Percy was alive. Alive with a dead Nico in front of him. “No! no no no” he yelled through his tears. “What in Hades Nico?” He bent over and hugged his lifeless friend crying into the blood stained shirt he wore. Then Percy heard a noise come from the other side of the door. It was Annabeth. She had evidently flung the door open and was now standing there with a look of absolute disbelief; unable to comprehend the scene put in front of her.
“Percy?” she said in disbelief. “You, you’re alive?” Percy looked at her like she had just insulted him. This was no time to be musing over the fact that he was living! After a few seconds Annabeth finally seemed to acknowledge Nico on the floor. “Wait.” Annabeth said warily. “Did Nico..?” she didn’t need to finish. One look from Percy said it all. Annabeth was one of the other people who knew about the soul deal but just the fact that Nico actually did it shocked her. She knelt down next to her sobbing boyfriend who had directed his attention back to Nico. She gingerly put her arm around him just a Percy let out a scream of undirected anger. Leo came flying through the door.
“Who screamed?” he demanded but as his eyes fell upon the scene, he went dead silent. “H...Hazel!!!” He screamed. Immediately she and Frank came running in and Hazel stopped dead in her tracks.
“Nico?...” she cried in a quiet, weak voice. “Percy?” she looked to him for a possible explanation. Hazel apparently did not know about Nico soul deal so Percy, seeing her in as much anguish as he, explained to her what he did. She was quiet. In that time Piper had walked into the scene. The only person left who didn’t know was Jason.
“Wow. Who would've thought he would’ve done something like this..” Leo trailed off. Hazel had still said nothing. She was just staring at her dead brother on the floor in front of her. Frank tried to comfort her.
“It’s alright Hazel. I’m here. And I’m so, so sorry.” Hazel didn’t even acknowledge him. All of a sudden, she broke down in uncontrollable tears, dropping to her knees. It was then that Jason arrived. He said nothing. Wore no expression what-so-ever. He immediately understood the situation. THen he sighed and walked out, punching the door frame as he exited.
'I knew he was up to no good. I saw he didn’t look right when I saw him last. I should’ve said something!' Jason thought as he stormed away from the Argo II.
Back aboard the Argo II Percy was finally calming down. Annabeth started to get up.
“Well, I guess we should cancel your funeral now and figure out what we’re going to do now.” Percy said nothing as did Hazel.
“We should probably give them some time” Piper whispered to no one in particular. Leo, Frank, and Annabeth proceed to follow Piper out leaving only Percy and Hazel in the quiet room.
“He left me…” Hazel squeaked. “What should I do now.”
“I… I think he wanted this to happen. What else was he going to do.” Percy said miserably still kneeling over Nico’s body. Hazel took a long look at her brother and tears welled up in her eyes. This was the worst for both of them.
Hazel then looked up to Percy with questioning eyes asking “what should we do now?”
Percy took one look at his friend, then looked out the window. He took a breath before replying. “Live. Live and never forget.” As Percy spoke those last words, the music box that had been playing Nico’s mother’s song the entire time stopped; never to play again.
~Epilogue~
Darkness was all he could see. Then he was suddenly in the lobby to the underworld. He was dead. For real. No more going to and from the underworld. This was it. He sighed and looked around thinking 'of course i still have all my memories. Just great. I can think eternally about how sucky my life was.' Something then dawned on Nico that minute. He’d done some horrible thing in his life. Things that just might end up keeping him out of elysium. He thought maybe he could just stay at the entrance to the Hades instead of ever really going in. But no, not going to the Underworld was dangerous for a ghost which he now was. 'Guess i should get going'. He approached the man at the desk and without saying anything, showed him the ring on his finger. The man’s eyes widened and he quickly cleared everyone out of the elevator and gestured for Nico to step inside. 'Glad to see my father still gives me VIP treatment even when I’m dead'. He stepped inside and began his dissent.
The familiar scent of death that he knew all too well quickly filled the air. It smelled like home. He stepped off the lift and drifted over to the ferry where he again, didn’t have to pay. He crossed the River Styx and found himself a few yards away from judgement. This was it the moment of truth. He was allowed passage to the front of the line and stood before the “council”. Would he get punishment, Asphodel, or Elysium…
The next few minutes were all a blur. Instead of talking out loud like the council usually did, they spoke in harsh whispers among themselves. Nico had no clue what they were saying or deciding and it was starting to irritate him. He scanned the faces of his judges and saw the not so friendly face of Minos. He’s forgotten that he was on the council. He studied Minos as he argued against the other members. Nico could pick out words such as “horrible” “evil” and “punishment”, none which exactly sounded in his favor. After what felt like an eternity, the judges broke up their little huddle and faced him.
“Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. You stand before us wondering your eternal fate and after much discussion we have come to a conclusion.” Nico said nothing, wanting to hear how this was going to turn out. “You have made many errors in the past that did not prove to be good in your favor. These incidents include: Attempted murder of Percy Jackson…” Attempted murder? That was stretching the truth. He only been 10 and after he made his first crack open up in the ground, he’d said something along the lines of “I wished you’d fell in too”. It was just an angry comment, certainly not attempted murder but Nico kept quiet. The councilmen continued. “Attempting to kill another person for your own personal gain, and tricking your friend Percy into getting captured by Hades.” Nico looked at the ground. He still felt horrible about that. “However, you did manage to convince Hades to help fight the Titan army, locate the doors of death, bring the Athena Parthenos back to camp as well as aid the seven on their world saving quest. So…” Nico stared up at the ghost, eyes full of anticipation. “We were going to place you in Elysium however…” Nico held his breath. What were they going to say? Were they really not going to place him in Elysium? Although it was possible he really didn’t think they were actually going to call him a bad person.
“It seems that this is not your first life. Upon further examination, it seems like this is your third time here and so…”
Nico was to spend his afterlife on the Isles of the Blest.