The Sun Without Stars Solangelo

The Power

Nico's POV

Nico carefully decompressed his body from the position it was in and pulled himself up towards the mouth of the cave where the glow became more prominent. Thankfully, the climb only took about an hour, the only downside was the distance Nico was from the bottom, which would provide for a nasty fall.

Nico strained with the last bit of strength in his arms, the wound on his right shoulder bleeding heavily again from the movement, pulling himself out of the mouth of the cave.

"Nico, what in Hades' name are you doing in my ferns!"

Shit.

It wasn't that Nico disliked Persephone, but he couldn't say he liked her very much either.

"Hey, where's the blond boy you were with?"

Nico grimaced and shrugged. "Dunno. I don't keep him on a leash."

"He left you, didn't he?" Persephone laughed, looking down at Nico who lay sprawled on the floor, exhausted. He could feel the water in the soil seeping through his shirt, and it felt cool against his back.

Persephone wasn't a naturally jealous woman, but even she gave in to spite every once in a while (whenever Nico was around).

"Didn't expect him to stay long, anyways," he replied nonchalantly.

I did. I really thought this time would be different.

"It only makes sense. Someone born here can't hold on to something that doesn't belong to them. Just like your father, you try so hard to make it seem like we have free will, because something in you continues to hunger for something more, and you seem to believe that that "thing" is love.

I know what you are, though," she told him. She clicked her tongue and turned away when Nico ignored her, walking off briskly, leaving the gate to her garden open.

"Nice chatting with you, too," Nico grumbled, picking himself from the dirt. Despite the god-awful welcome, Nico was the happiest he'd ever been. He found Persephone's well a couple of feet away and cupped water in his hand, drinking cup full after cup full. It felt like an empty gourd being filled, since he could hear the sound of it hitting the bottom of his empty stomach. His raw and parched throat was in pain, but he was too content to care. 

That was before he saw his own reflection.

His hair was matted and glued to his forehead with the water, his entire face grimy and the scratch along his eye and cheek looked jagged and crude. His shirt was in tatters from the acid, looking more like a sash, revealing the clawed parts of his shoulder which was now a darkened red, bathing most of his back and chest in blood. He washed off his arms where Nemesis had clawed through his skin, watching as the dried blood dripped down his arm. He rubbed at his face until it felt raw and felt disgusted when he looked back at the water, finding that he looked no better, only cleaner.

Takes a kind person to love something like that.

Honestly, Nico was starting to think the cacodemons were just repeating what he was already thinking. 

They needed to be more original.

Nico hadn't really thought past getting out of Tartarus. How was he supposed to get back to the surface? He could shadow travel, sure, but he didn't think he could cover that much distance in his state. In addition, something in him told him he needed to find something before leaving. It was the something that he had felt with the harpies.

It had worked last time, so why not trust it?

He moved through the brush and towards Persephone's gate, exiting the familiar environment. While he had mixed feeling's about its owner, the garden itself was a work of art, and he felt a twang of sadness abandoning it.

 From then on, he remained on autopilot, following wherever his feet were taking him. He recognized the direction, though, which confused him.

Why there?

Nico felt stupid trying but he held the necklace in front of his mouth like a speaker and asked, "Do you know why I'm being taken to the field of asphodel?" The beads seemed to squirm and he heard them giggle.

Because that's where you'll find the most desperation and anguish. It's a field of lost souls, perfect for cultivation!.

"Dumb it down for me," Nico growled. He couldn't believe he was asking his personified emotions for an explanation.

You need to shadow travel, right?

Nico nodded.

You need your powers to do so, right?

Nico nodded again. They really didn't have to say it in such a baby voice.

Your abilities feed on darkness, so why wouldn't you be able to utilize the gloom from beings? And what better place than the fields of asphodel?!