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Nico was born among the endless fields of Asphodel, half in the arms of a charred corpse, surrounded in wreckage and ruin, and half in the arms of a translucent ghost.
Nico was born with the whispers of the damned echoing in his ears. Their despair was his despair. Their anguish was his anguish. The shadow had hung over him from the very hour of his birth, and death had been his constant companion. After all, the last traces of womb-mate (he later learned, through one of Hades' drunken rants, something which was becoming more and more common as time passed, that her name was supposed to be Bianca.... supposed to be, before she was evaporated via lightning bolt before her soul could even form) still clung to him, following him wherever he went, a shadow
He was born in the flames of war, a war that was very nearly waged over his birth. He still remembered it, crying, cold and afraid, as his father marched up the stairs of Olympus, the white marble blackening with every step Hades took, his rage dark and cold and all-consuming, even as his brother stood, lightning bolt in hand, shouting about how it was "necessary" that his mother be killed before she could beget her two unborn children... her two "abominations against Olympus"
What a name. Nico supposed that he should probably be taking offense to it ? After all, it didn't sound like a compliment. But Nico didn't particularly care. He had always been an abomination... an outlier. The very first Reaper in existence... the only Reaper in existence, the spawn of a god and a ghost. His very birth was an accident, a fact Zeus had not failed to make clear via repeated comments about how he "should have fried you with your sister, boy", or how Nico "was never meant to be" and how he was a sign of a broken oath... whatever that meant
But as Athena ruled in the Council Meeting that was held following his birth, killing him now would mean war between Olympus and the Underworld... and though Zeus was mighty, even he couldn't last against an endless flood of the dead.... and so he was allowed ("graciously" was the word Poseidon had used) to live.... he would not be executed for the crime of.... existing. Yay him
But, of course, Zeus had interjected, a frankly terrifying look on his face, every immortal must do their share of the work. Nico couldn't be simply allowed to exist as an immortal, oh no. That wouldn't be fair to all these... hard-working and diligent gods around them !! ( Zeus had gestured at Ares and Aphrodite as he said that. Hades had snorted at that. Nico was inclined to agree. If there were two gods who were the epitome of laziness, it would be them) Thankfully, before Zeus, petty bitch that he was, could assign him some no doubt demeaning and humiliating task, say, cleaning the toilets of Olympus, Hades had jumped in and mentioned that Thanatos had been asking for a helper... and the expression on Zeus' face when he heard that !! It was priceless !! Nico still regretted not bringing along a camera to the Council Meeting
And... that was basically how he ended up here, standing by the river Styx, the black sand beneath his feet, heated to uncomfortably hot temperatures by the fires of Styx, burning the soles of his feet, his pitch-black, long, flowy robes (which were way too dramatic, as he had complained multiple times to several people, only to be summarily ignored each time) feeling uncomfortably heavy on his body, making him feel like he was being cooked alive inside a furnace. He held a scythe in one hand, a fact that could have been cool... if the scythe wasn't double his height.
"Are you sure you don't have a smaller scythe ?", he whined. Thanatos turned one baleful eye to him, giving him the death glare to end all death glares, fitting for the god of death, he supposed, "You are free to leave anytime you wish. The toilets of Olympus could always do with a good cleaning"
On second thought, maybe the scythe wasn't that bad
"Is this what you do all day ?", Nico said, gesturing to the whole lot of... nothing they were doing. Thanatos appeared to be carefully observing some hourglass-looking object he had apparently manifested out of thin air... and Nico was just... silently suffering in the background. The god's right eye twitched in annoyance, "I am starting to sorely regret asking for a helper"
"Yeah, I'm not too happy with this either, so suck it up"
"If you don't like it, you can always go clean toilets or Chimera shit or whatever it is that really, really minor gods do on Olympus"
Nico rolled his eyes. Ha ha. Like Zeus wouldn't immediately give him the occupation of "target practice", considering the venomous glares the king of the gods shot at him whenever he visited Hades, which was... never, really, but whenever he did, he practically sought Nico out for the sole purpose of glaring at him and letting him know that he wasn't supposed to exist. Anything to make him feel unwelcome, Nico supposed
Groaning, he absent-mindedly kicked a rock, only to jump back, yelping, an intense pain flaring up in his right big toe. Thanatos rolled his eyes, snorting at Nico's distress, "Any Underworld inhabitant worth his salt knows that the banks of the Styx are lined with obsidian pillars that extend down to the bedrock. Did your father teach you nothing ?"
Still clutching his right foot, Nico rolled his eyes, "You're welcome to question my father on that if you wish. I don't think he'll be too happy with that, though"
Thanatos seemed to consider this for a moment, before nodding, "Yeah, I'll just stick to insulting you. Bitch"
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a sharp twang, and the hourglass in Thanatos' hand suddenly began glowing a brilliant gold. The god smiled sinisterly, lifting his hood to cover his head, casting deep, ominous shadows over his face. His honey gold eyes glimmered through the darkness, the fiery light of the Styx reflecting off his teeth as he smiled, "Looks like your boredom is at an end, my dear Nico. That was an assignment"
Reaching forward, he roughly grabbed Nico's hand, pulling him closer, before a sound like air whooshing through a small opening filled their ears. Darkness surrounded them, and with a snap, their feet left the Earth
When they finally reached solid ground again, Nico fell onto his hands and knees, barely resisting the urge to either vomit or kiss the Earth in joy, whichever one came first. He turned to look at Thanatos, trying for the cutest puppy-dog eyes he could muster, "Next time", he panted, "Let me do the shadow-traveling"
The god of death rolled his eyes, sighing with annoyance, "Get up, drama queen", he muttered, reaching down and roughly dragging Nico back to his feet. Nico swayed slightly, but did as he was commanded (not that he had much of a choice, the god's grip was as strong as iron). He looked around at his surroundings. They appeared to be in a small, bare, practically-Spartan-looking room, the floor composed of bare wooden planks and the walls and ceiling painted an eye-meltingly bright gold
"Who the fuck paints their house that color ?"
"Focus", Thanatos hissed lowly, gesturing to one of the few pieces of furniture in the small, barren room. A steel-framed bed lay in the center, a white, sterile mattress covering it, itself covered with a thin, plain white blanket. On it lay a skeleton.... no wait, on it lay a woman, a woman so frail that she may as well be a skeleton. Her skin was paper-white, her arms looking as thin as twigs and so frail that Nico was sure that they would snap if she made the slightest movement. Her breath came in short, erratic rasps. Nico covered his mouth, his eyes widening in horror
Thanatos, for perhaps the first time, looked at Nico with a tinge of sympathy, "You see now, why we are necessary, boy ?", he said, gesturing to the sick woman, "Do not think of this as an act of cruelty, taking her life... think of it as a mercy, sparing her from more pain than she has already endured"
He nodded silently, too choked to speak. Thanatos nodded back, commanding and confident, "I will reap her soul. Watch carefully"
He turned his eyes to the god, nodding silently, and then, as swift as a shadow, the god stepped forward, the scythe swung up, then down, and with not even the barest hint of a whisper, the woman's breath ceased. Nico winced, slightly horrified, and turned away, even as he felt the god's eyes boring into the back of his skull, irritated with him for turning away when Thanatos was trying to teach
His eyes fell on the still-open doorway to the darkened room, golden rays of light still flooding into the room through it. A person was standing in it, only a silhouette right now, standing with his back to the light, watching them carefully
"Are you gods of death ?"
Nico jerked back. What ? Mortals weren't supposed to be able to see them !! Quickly, he turned to Thanatos, panicking slightly, only to find the god gazing at the newcomer, a slight smile on his face.
"You are Clear-sighted ?", he asked, a hint of curiosity to his voice
"Close. I'm a demigod", the newcomer said, stepping into the light, "Son of Apollo"
Nico could finally see the demigod as he finally stepped out of the way of the light and holy fucking shit, he was the hottest man Nico had seen in his life. Calling him "handsome" seemed to be an under-statement. The man was beautiful - more beautiful than anything Nico had ever seen. He was dressed in a tight-fitting crop-top, his exposed abs glimmering with small droplets of sweat, like tiny crystals in the light of the hallway, sparkling in myriad colors, even as they trickled down towards - Nico blushed a brilliant gold. Nico couldn't tear his eyes away from the other demigod's mop of golden hair, shining like honey in the sun, from his lean, muscular - Fates help Nico, they were tanned !!- arms, from the small smile on his face as he looked at the newly-slain corpse - wait what ?
"She was in pain", the demigod said to Thanatos, "Thank you for freeing her from it"
Nico felt a starburst of guilt explode in his chest. The (handsome, beautiful, whispered his treacherous mind) newcomer was busy thanking them for ending the poor woman's life, and here Nico was, drooling over his, admittedly spectacular, body. "I-it's our job", he stammered out, "T-thanks for...um... thanking us.."
The other boy coughed nervously, "Uh... well... do you need anything else ?... food, drink... should I kill some goats and offer them to you.. ?"
"It would be a nice gesture", said Thanatos from somewhere beside him, his voice tinged with amusement, "But no, we get paid enough"
Hey wait a minute
"I don't get paid"
"Like I said - we get paid enough"
The boy snorted slightly, causing the two gods to immediately look at him. Under their scrutiny, he yelped and jerked back slightly. "A-anyways", he stammered, "D-do you need anything ?"
Now or never, Nico.
"Can I have your number ?", Nico asked the boy. Thanatos immediately swiveled his head to look at his apprentice, an expression of pure disbelief gracing his features. "Really ?", he hissed
Yes, really, Thanatos
"Uh... sure ?", the boy said, pulling out a notepad, and jotting down something on it, "W-why ? Are you gonna like give me a "The Ring"-style phone call before my death ?"
"Ah no, I just wanted to ask you out"
The boy froze, his arm outstretched, a brilliant red blush spreading across his features, and before the boy could reconsider his decision, Nico plucked the note-paper from his hand (noticing his name, Will Solace, which seemed almost too ordinary for one so beautiful) and shadow-traveled away with a small "eep"
Thanatos sighed, reaching up to massage the bridge of his nose, "I apologize on behalf of my assistant"