Chapter Text
The journey back was supposed to be the easy part. At least Nico thought it would be. Nyx was defeated, the underworld was safe, Bob the titan was safe as well, and he was sleeping in his boufriends arms surrounded by his new coco puff comapnians or so he thought it would be...
Nico and Will trudged through the sulfury putrid eye watering swamps of Tartarus. Every second that past Nico questioned why his boyfriend was even so adamant to follow behind him on this hellscape of a quest. But the thought of Will smiling at him during all of this pushed him to keep going. He struggled to get in more raspy breaths as Wills once warm hand gripped harder at his own. " You know sunshine, I'm starting to think that lizard soup wouldn't be so bad right now" Will chuckled just a little as he moved at Nicos side. If he were still back at camp he would've had a lot more protest about that nickname But hearing his voice was the only thing holding him together. " I thought you didn't appreciate trogoladyte culture?" He laughed. It wasn't fair, they did what had to be done, they shouldn't have been having to suffer through this again he confronted his demons heck he was raising them!
"Nico? Is that the boat?" Will pointed off in the distance, not that nico could see much his right eye still blurry "what? We've been walking for hours we can't be back at the crash". It was impossible they had been drifting back up the Acheron when the water got rough and threw them ashore, the boat was ripped to shreds Bob and small Bob barely escaped.
"I think it is Neeks look" Will led him further down the path to the rickety canoe. It was unbroken, untouched and definite not swallowed by endless souls. "Holy shit" he whispered. Will smacked his shoulder lightly, "language! There's children present". "I don't think they'll repeat it at all" he shrugged. Trying not to fall on his face. "We better not touch this" he said.
However isolation a particular coco puff decided against that. The moment the literal ball of darkness tapped it's little shadowy body against the wood of the canoe the ground beneath them rattled and opened beneath them. The top of Tartarus split open and all Nico could see before overwhelming darkness consumed him was Will jumping to hold him and the remaining cacodemons.