Everyone Deserves to be Happy (Solangelo)

Another Home (Nico)

Nico's sleep was not peaceful.

It was full of nightmare after nightmare, chasing each other like ticks on a clock counting towards his death. There were spirits and shades reaching towards him, asking for guidance, and then attacking him when he couldn't speak. Then he was in a barren wasteland covered in red sand and animal carcasses. He saw Zeus' face, covering the entire sky like a projection, spitting lightning bolts while Nico futilely tried to escape. He dreamed of Tartarus, and the horrors he had seen there. He saw Bianca, Will, his mother, Hazel, everyone he loved die over and over in front of him while he was trapped behind a glass wall. Then the glass folded around him, and it started filling up with water while Percy, who could have saved him, just stood there and laughed and laughed and laughed. Nico pounded against the glass, screaming until his lungs filled with water and he sank to the bottom.

Darkness engulfed him and he woke with a start, drenched in sweat.

It took Nico five minutes to stop hyperventilating and actually look at his surroundings.

He was in a church, that was evident enough. A pretty relaxed one too, given that he was resting his head on a bible. He shook his head. The holy book acting as my pillow. That has got to be seriously blasphemous. He stood up, wincing as the bench under him creaked as it relinquished his form. He looked over the top of the bench in front of him, and saw Will there. His blond hair looked gray in the darkness, like an old man's. But his mouth was curled into a slight smile, and his powerful shoulders were relaxed, making Will's tall frame look more like a child's. Everyone is a child in their dreams...for better or worse.

It was dark, after midnight he'd say. There was no moon, just a touch of orange light on the horizon. All the lights on the street outside were off. Nothing stirred. The witching hour.

He could barley make out the surroundings of the church, but from part of a street sign he could tell they were somewhere where the native language was Portuguese. Most likely a coast city in Portugal. Staring out into the night, his mind drifted towards why he was really here. In Europe. It hit him, suddenly, like wave. I'm going to rescue Leo. I know that they were on Calypso's island, which is rumored to be in the Ionian Sea. Recalling his geography...he realized that  they were most likely in Greece. Good. I can start with that.

His thoughts drifted to the prophecy.

You shall travel east using your cloak of night.

You shall see the dragon in your sights.

Find Solace in your heart,

And hate will finally depart.

Your angel's wings will guide you home

Past the city of ancient Rome.

Until it all goes up in ashes and smoke,

And on your own word, you will choke.

He shivered at the last couplet. What did I give my word to do recently? Hate Percy? Yeah that's not a thing anymore. Get Leo back...but...that's my quest! Unless he guides himself back...or maybe it's more literal. I choke on a page of an old diary or something. Given my luck...

He moved onto the other lines. I am traveling east, using shadow travel. I'll have to see Festus to see Leo. Solace. Nico smiled to himself. Will is definitely in my heart and there is safety there...yay for puns. Also...what home? Unless...no. I can't go back to the manor. But if the prophecy tells me too...I guess I have to. Maybe there's a clue there. And it is past Rome. Geographically.

Nico paced up and down the church for a long time, wearing his path into the wood before the windows. Exhausted from what seemed to be the effort of living, he threw himself down on the bench nearest to him.