The Girl With the Diamond Blade- Nico di Angelo x Reader (Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter 16

You followed Nico up a steep incline of an onyx pathway. When you reached the summit about ten minutes after you started, the path branched off in two different directions. One, on the left, led to a a gigantic black tent-like structure; the other, on the right, led to more desolate landscapes, filled with gray and black. Nico barely hesitated before choosing the one on the right.

You hurried after him. "Hey," you asked, "what's over there?" Nico glanced over at the tent, then focused back on the ground in front of him.

"That's the Judgement Pavilion," he explained. "When you die, you can choose to be judged on your life. If the judges determine you were a wicked person, you go to the Fields of Punishment." Nico pointed to a cracked, desolate area surrounded by barbed wire. You could catch glimpses of horrible punishments: people getting chased by demons over beds of broken glass, people being flayed alive, people being forced to listen to terrible 90's hip-hop for all eternity.

"Doesn't look like fun," you said, grimacing. Nico made another choked, sarcastic laugh that cut through the air like a knife.

"No kidding," he said. "But there," he said, gesturing to a realm across from the Fields of Punishment, "is where everyone's trying to go." (You also made a mental note that he moved his hands a lot as he talked.)

"Elysium?" you asked. "I-I never thought it was real."

"Yeah," Nico said, "It's real. Some of my friends live there, and it smells like fresh grass and barbecue." You laughed, but out of the corner of your eye, you caught Nico staring a touch too long at the Greek equivalent of paradise.

"Are the Isles of the Blest there, too?" you asked, picking your way over some rocks. The path had gotten rougher as you kept traversing it; the shades (that's what Nico called the spirits of the dead) didn't seem to mind too much, though. You didn't notice as you passed a branching path labeled Φιελδς οφ Ασπηοδελ in big, black block letters.

"Yeah..." Nico said. You detected some sort of...wistfullness in his voice. Was there something about Elysium that bothered him? Ugh, sometimes you wish you couldn't pick up on others' behavior so easily; it often raised more questions than it answered. "If you achieve Elysium three times, you go to the Isles. I know that's where Percy wants to end up," Nico commented. Your thoughts reeled back.

Percy.

"Hopefully he won't get to go there anytime soon," you said. "Let's keep going!" In an attempt to lighten the mood, you ran ahead of Nico. The path was quite rocky now, and had started to wind its way up a giant onyx mountain. The cliffside to your right was sheer and the path had gotten quite a bit narrower than before. You turned your head to look over your shoulder as you called out, "Hey, Nico, where are we--aah!" you gasped as your foot slipped on the side of the path. You tried to catch your balance, arms flailing, but you felt your foot start to slide. You locked eyes with Nico, eyes wide.

With reflexes so fast you could only see a blur, Nico shot out and grabbed your hand, grunting as he pulled you back onto the edge.

As quickly as Nico had grabbed your hand, he released it, pulling away from your contact. You braced yourself against the side of the mountain. "T-Thanks," you stuttered out. Nico stood still, looking from you to the cliffside then to the ground at his feet.

"Welcome," he said. "Let's get going, we're almost there."

"Where is 'there'?" you asked, collecting your thoughts again and prodding beside Nico as he walked down the path.

"My father's castle," Nico said, spitting the phrase like it was poison. "Hades' palace." While you walked, you looked up. You didn't know what you were expecting: a sky filled with twinkling stars or something. Not a giant abyss that seemed to stretch out forever. You shivered at the thought of not being able to see the sky.