solangelo one shots

the chronicals of n&w chapter 18

Nico

Something was really wrong with me. Well, aside from the whole demon thing… although that was a part of it. Suspicions flickered at the forefront of my mind, finally surfacing after remaining ignored for months on end. I glanced over at Leo, who was awkwardly whistling and tapping his foot.

"Could you stab me?"

He paused. "Uh… what? Are you about to go batshit insane again?"

"No, but I need you to stab me, like, through the arm. All the way through." I smiled encouragingly.

"Okay, how about no? Will would murder me. My conscience would be scarred. I have moral standards, you know." Leo eyed me warily.

"It's hard to explain, but I don't think I'm me. This body, I mean. The whole demon thing doesn't make sense. I never stopped to truly question it, but—" A resounding shudder tore its way up my spine, and my shadow seemed to swell ever so slightly. "Something changed, not too long before my father told me about my heritage. I suspect Aphrodite has something to do with it. I want to see just how well this body is put together." I tried to explain, then held out my arm. "Go on, do it!"

"Di Angelo, what the actual fuck? You know you sound bonkers, right?"

I widened my eyes beseechingly. "Come on, dude. Please? I've seen you pull a kitchen knife out of your tool belt."

Leo looked offended. "That's for taco meat! Not your arm! There are sanitation factors to consider!"

"On the other hand, I could go crazier and crazier until either you have to kill me or I kill everyone in the camp."

"Point noted. I have your consent, right? I don't want to get my ass kicked for doing this." He ventured, and I cheered internally.

"You won't get your ass kicked if I have anything to say about it." I held out my forearm. "Just drive it through as hard as you can. Close your eyes if you have to."

Leo slowly pulled out the knife and shook his head to himself. "I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe he's convinced me to do this. I can't believe I'm the rational one here." He muttered under his breath.

"Uh, quick warning, I'll probably be in a lot of pain."

"Goddammit," he mumbled again, and then raised the blade over his head and slammed it down a few inches below my left elbow.

It hurt a lot more than I thought it would, and in hindsight I realized how much of an idiot I was. A scream tore from my throat, and I heaved in gasps of air as a fiery bolt of agony surged through my veins. There was a lot of red, and that was to put it lightly. It took over a minute for me to remember where I was. Leo was on the ground beside me, ambrosia in one hand and a wad of bandages in another.

"Shit, I really don't want to face Will after this."

I coughed a few times, still dizzy with pain. "What did my bone feel like? I mean, how hard was it?"

"I don't have a baseline to compare it to! I don't make a habit of chopping people's bones in half!"

I grudgingly looked down at it to assess the damage, and we both stared. A coil of darkness pooled within the wound, and then solidified into flesh, leaving it unblemished. It was impossible, and yet we'd seen it with our own eyes. "I'm… made of my own power, yet somehow corporeal."

"I guess you were right. I mean, I was hoping that you were. Didn't want to use you as a pincushion for nothing. So what now?"

"I find my real body. Destroy this corrupt one."