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With your blood still warm on the ground.
And I swear to the stars, that I’ll burn this whole city down.
- O Valencia, The Decemberists
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The beads of water trailed her beautiful, mocha skin.
He felt the burning strain in his legs as he ran- away from her, him, and the reality. His ears were filled with the sound of his own ragged breathing clouding over the buzzing in his ears.
He heard his name again and again but no. What would matter if it wasn’t him?
He sought out the shadows, because they were always there- a reminder of who he was, his darkest moments, his anchor. And he sat there all alone. He was the only one who would bother searching for him even if it costed him his life. Because he cared, he saved, he helped, and he was there.
The coldness shrouded him in blankets of willowy black smoke that eventually thickened around him. He felt raw and vulnerable.
He lifted a pale hand and felt it penetrate the smoke in front of him. His protective barrier was barely able to mute the sounds of the tortured screams and voices that spoke of only the truths. He winced, and pulled his arm back.
He couldn’t count how many time had passed until he felt light and numb again. As soon as he returned to the light and the nature, a stabbing pain hit him in the chest.
He was gone.
Someone had killed him.
White hot anger burst through him. Anyone who hurt a person so innocent and bright and so kind deserved to die painfully.
“I swear on the River Styx,” he whispered hoarsely to the stars. “I’ll burn the whole city down for you, Perseus Jackson.”
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“Nico, get away!” He had shouted, voice so pained and desperate. “Run, leave me!”
Why would he leave his hero? Blood spilled from his side, yet he knew, he was sure, his hero had survived even worse. Then why did his face appeared so sad, so grim, and so distraught? Determination blazed across his face.
He could only let himself be pushed to the side.
Misery wielded two poison green blades glowing with sickly yellow, cackling as she towered, hunch-backed, over her victim.
He remembered her. She taunted him as he walked, as he dreamt, as he breathed. Fear seized him, remembering the things she had whispered. His eyes closed on instinct.
Give up, you are no hero.
Let go of your anchor, and bow down to me.
He does not know you. Give up.
Give up.
Give up.
Perseus Jackson does not love you.
The moment he opened his eyes, the words that had haunted him was proven wrong. Percy looked at him right in the eyes, just as the poisoned blade of Akhlys sent toxin coursing through his veins.
Eyes that held so much hope, desperation and determination shone bright as he said Nico’s name with his dying breath. Then the beautiful, breathtaking green eyes faded out.
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He heard them call his name.
Reyna looked at him with disbelief yet she was struck with understanding. He looked up to her, and she sparked with understanding.
“Do what you have to do.” She whispered, choking. “I’ll see you again.”
She evacuated the team and the camp, sending two campers to get Sally, Paul, their closest friends and everyone they loved out of the city as fast as they could.
He wanted to cleanse the city of its filth. The rhythmic beats of an army of monster’s pounded in his ears.
“Goodbye.” He regarded his friends. “I’ll see you all one day.” They looked at him sadly, grimly, in his powerful form, crackling with energy and rage.
His eyes casted over the cloud of darkness Misery brought. “But today is my day.”
And he gave them one last look, held the oath close to his heart, and the assurance that everyone he loved would be safe. He swung his blade of death that promised eternal damnation to the wicked ones.
Perseus Jackson, I’ll avenge your death. He promised. The sound of his blade slicing through the air made the thought of what was going to happen soon dawn on him completely.
Tears of both determination and misery spilt.
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As expected, the filthy ones were attracted by his aura that was stronger than ever. A challenge, he had whispered in the ears of their leader.
Death radiated more strongly than before from him as they gathered in a huge circle around him.
“Child of Hades,” Misery grinned, showing off her terrible teeth. “You shall die along with your hero!”
“Yes, I shall.” He raised his blade of pure darkness in a deadly arc above his head. “But I shall also bring you down with me.”
And the army advanced.
He sliced and diced, twirled ever so gracefully, avoiding the various weapons, but none of them touched him. The aura of five gods made him invincible.
Hestia, he thought, the one who promised him a hearth, and promised him he would always be with the one who he called home.
Poseidon, he recognized, the one who felt as damned as he was for the death of the soul both loved most.
Ares, he thought as he sliced a drakon through clean, who recognized his blood lust and raging passion that burned in his wake as he eviscerated the enemy.
Hades, he felt, the one who supported him most thoroughly, the one who felt miserable that his child was destined to suffer a journey as dark and dreary as his was.
And Aphrodite, he realized with a start, who felt his deep sorrow for the death of the one he cared for with all his being; the one he loved with all his heart, and the one person that anchored him. The goddess of love and passion led him through the one against many battle, for she was the one who guided him on this path of ferocious, passionate love, and she shall be the one leading him to the end of the tragic masterpiece she created.
Now. Their voices connected as one, but all he heard was his hero’s voice that was entwined with the gods’, so sad, so proud and so determined.
The power of the gods channeled through his sword as he stabbed the blade of his Stygian Iron sword into the ground, pulling the spirits filled with vengeance and rage to him and together, with their forces combined in one massive pull, he summoned all the energy of the lost souls- the rage, the pain, the sorrow, and as the temperature dropped below freezing, and the ground crackled with ice, in one mighty, guttural scream, he let loose a wave of pure rage and destruction.
He exploded with light.
His body had combusted with the might of the peak of his powers, and he felt his body dissolve with the gentle wind, and when he opened his eyes, he was in a room filled with light and warmth and the feeling of home.
Percy was looking at him, tears of joy and pride spilling down his cheeks. “I’m so proud of you, Nico.”
He tackled Percy, glad that his father had proposed that he became immortal and ruled beside him if he was ever to die, and pulled the soul filled with warmth to him, and held him close.
“I love you, Perseus Jackson.” Nico managed between broken sobs. “Don’t ever scare me like that ever again.”
He felt Percy smile against his skin. “Well, aren’t you glad I’m your immortal consort, then?”
Nico managed a watery laugh, and he was finally able to see a bright and happy future for himself – with his hero by his side.