Bonds

Nico, The Artist, And The Cold Hard Truth

Focus was next to impossible for the son of Hades.

Possibly the worst problem to have considering their location.

But too much had happened in the last twenty-four hours for him to simply wait until later to process, and his mind cycled through the topics in rapid succession.

First there had been the revelation that Annabeth Chase, the world's most perfect demigoddess, was just as bad as Percy and Sally made her out to be. It wasn't that he doubted their word, just that even he knew people sometimes exaggerated the truth when it came to someone who wronged them. But whatever pity and respect he had for the daughter of Athena vanished the second she attacked Percy in that crowded diner. It had felt like the ultimate slap to the face, as he had put his life on the line so many times to keep Percy safe, to give them a chance at a happy future, only for her to try and kill the son of Poseidon. Frankly, he thought that Annabeth was lucky they were attacked because he would have run her through right there and escort her personally to the Fields of Punishment. But she of course had to have been kidnapped by a giant minotaur robot before that could happen, and Percy being a far better person than himself urged him to help him save her; which spurred some complicated emotions.

Second was the revelation that Bianca was still alive. It should have been impossible, he had felt the exact moment she had died, been there when she bid him farewell and had chosen rebirth, but he was positive that the girl who knocked him out was his sister. She had aged since he had last seen her, appearing to be around Percy's age now, but that was to be expected considering how much time had passed. There were other changes too, like the way she braided her hair, how she dressed, the weird spear thing she carried, the flecks of gold in her dark eyes, that she had a subtle silver glow, and that she was hanging out with a golden robot and a wannabe-Gilgamesh, but he was positive that all of that was connected to her return; and changes to her sense of fashion. It was alarming and upsetting that Bianca didn't remember him, but by this point in his life he was used to dealing with amnesiac demigods, and it would figure that it was a child of Hades to experience next. But he knew that if he could find and talk to her, he could jog her memory. If he was anyone else he'd say the situation was nothing short of a miracle, what with her returning on the anniversary he learned of her death, but he knew that for every good thing in life there was something bad lurking just around the corner.

He just didn't expect it to be a return trip to Tartarus.

When he had entered Tartarus the first time he thought things couldn't have been worse. Trapped in the birthplace of all monsters, in an environment hostile to all life, with nothing but his sword and wits. He had thought that he would die down there, and his soul would wander the hellish landscape until the end of time, while no one on Earth would ever know what became of him; the best-case scenario was that Percy may think of him every now and then.

But the current situation almost made Nico long for the simplicity of his previous trip, because everything was so much worse than before. His Stygian Iron sword was still somewhere up on Earth, leaving him weaponless with the exception of a tire iron. He lacked his aviator jacket, which had taken the brunt of razor-sharp winds for him, and without it he could feel abrasions forming across his body and the blood trickling down his bare arms. But all that was fine compared to being in Tartarus with Sally, Percy, and Mrs. O'Leary. The hellhound was fine he supposed (and he kicked himself for not having tried to summon her before), but the other two had him worried. Despite her determined attitude, Sally was still just a mortal woman with no exceptional skills or combat experience. She had a husband and infant daughter at home that needed her, and it felt like every moment they stayed in Tartarus increased the chances of her never seeing them again.