Soldatino ** A Nico di Angelo Fanfic**

It's The Cost

**Nico POV**

I leaned against the column, just behind Jason, of the balcony. Jason was waiting for his hearing with The Lord of the South Winds. He turned, startled by me.

I was standing in the shadows glaring at him. "Any word from the king?" I asked, not really caring.

Jason shook his head.

"We need to leave soon!" I blurted out.

"What? Why?"

I bit my lip. Weeks had passed since the whole "Cupid Thing" and this had not been so good. I avoided Jason as best as I could.

"Percy's near the doors." I said, trying to sound not bothered by his name. The picture of Percy was in my pocket and it weighed about ten tons. I wanted to get rid of it, to just chuck it I the trash or in the water but I still clung to it. "He'll need us there is he wants to make it out alive."

Jason sucked in his cheeks and looked down at the ship. "We need to get repairs done. But we can't any time soon-"

"I promised, I'd get you there," I interrupted. "And i will get you there. Even if I have to shadow travel with all of you."

"You can't," Jason said. "Not with all of us. And we all have to go if we want to reach the Doors of Death."

I wanted to swear at him, and I did mutter a few words in Italian, but I crossed my arms. Diocletian's scepter rested against one of my sides and the Stygian iron sword on the other.

"Then you've got to convince the king of the South Wind to help." I said angrily. "I didn't come all this way, suffer so many humiliations..."

My voice faltered and my eyes burned. I blinked and look at the ground. Dammit...

"Look, Nico," he said, "I'm here if you want to talk about, you know, what happened in Croatia."

"I don't." I hissed.

He ignored me. "I understand--"

"No...you don't." I snapped.

The marble beneath our feet cracked.

"No one is going to judge you..."

"No one? Really? No one will judge me? That'll be a first." I snarled. "I'm the son of Hades, Jason. I might as well be covered in blood or sewage, the way people treat me. I don't belong anywhere. I'm not even from this century. But even that's not enough to set me apart. I've got to be-to be-"

"Dude! It's not like you've got a choice. It's just who you are."

"Just who I am..." I repeated, my voice rising. "That's easy for you so say Jason. You're everybody's Golden Boy. You're the Son of Jupiter. Who doesn't love you? Everyone accepts you! The only person who accepts me was Bianca and she's dead! And still sometimes I feel she's around. I didn't chose any of this Jason! I didn't want any of this..."

I was somewhere between ready to bawl my eyes out to raising a army of the dead to kill Jason.

"Yeah, okay. But, Nico, you do choose how to live your life. You want to trust somebody? Maybe take a risk that I'm really your friend and I'll accept you. It's better than hiding."

"Hiding?" The word hit me like a punch to the face.

"Yes hiding. You've been hiding from your feelings. That's why you runaway from camp to camp." Jason said. "You're too scared to take a chance. Your afraid of being rejected so you won't try. Well it's time for you to come out of the shadows."