Nico didn't have very vivid dreams that didn't involve Bianca or his mom. But here he was, standing in front of Percy Jackson. The Kelp Head was beaten up, blood covering every inch of his body. His sea-green eyes were scarily murky and dull as they met Nico's onyx black eyes. Nico could feel his heartbeat racing as he ran to his cousin's side.
"Are you okay? What... where are we?"
"I'm seeing a common trend between you, Thalia, and Hazel..." Percy murmured groggily, lolling his head to face the Italian emo boy. "Hey, Neeks. I actually should be grateful for you pulling me out for a few good seconds."
"Where are we?" Nico repeated the question.
"No idea," Percy responded. "But I'm guessing you're dreaming. Every time you, Thalia, or Hazel dream, I'm sucked into this black room where I get to talk to you. Then, I'm thrown back into the pit of hell."
"T-Tartarus?" Nico whispered, fear flashing through him.
"That's the holy, sacred place," Percy drawled sarcastically before bursting into a fit of painful, bloody coughing. "I love it down there... and they all love me..."
"I sense the sarcasm..." Nico sighed. "Percy, are you okay? Just hang in there, okay? It's all gonna be okay!"
"Whatever you say, Neeks." Percy shifted uncomfortably as Nico traced his wounds.
Each one was still leaking blood as if he had just gotten them not too long ago.
"You're waking up, Neeks..." Percy whispered as his form began to flicker. "But tell Annabeth I love her, please... If you can reach her... Please tell her that."
Nico nodded and before he could think, his lips began to move right as Percy disappeared and his dream ended.
"I love you..."
He jolted awake on the car, the traffic buzzing around him.
"Thanks to this jam, we've been stuck waiting here for f**king 2 hours!" Frank groaned, motioning to the destruction in front of him.
"Is it a hard stop?" He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"It was... but we're reaching the front line now. The traffic is going now, and we'll make it to the electricity facility."
"Okay..." Annabeth was busy typing on her phone.
"Percy says he loves you," Nico said without thinking.
Annabeth's eyes widened as they stared at him. "W-What did you just say?"
"Percy wanted me to tell you that he loves you," Nico muttered flatly before turning away from the shocked gray-eyed girl and to the streets before him.
The cars were honking and the lights were flashing as people stopped and started over and over again. Patience didn't exist on the freeway full of hundreds of cars all waiting to get to different places. Heck! Famous people who represented important matters could be waiting in the exact same situation Nico was in! And their fame didn't make anything any different. They were all stuck.
Just like Thalia's mom was a famous actress, Hazel's mom was a rich jewel owner, and how Nico's mom was a beautiful woman with grace, they all died, despite their differences. It didn't matter who they were. Everyone, whether famous, rich, kind, beautiful... they were all going to the same hellhole called the Underworld. The place his father called home.
Before Nico could continue his deep thinking, he was jerked out of his thoughts by a heavy honk from Frank's horn. He stared, surprised, at the Chinese-Canadian Babyman, who was angrily beeping at the car in front of them.
"Uh... Frank--"
"That's Luke!" he yelled. "It's Luke's car!"
Nico had his gun ready before Frank even finished his sentence. All the rage at Luke for putting Percy in his painful position flared up inside of him as Nico aimed. Luke was sending smug smirks at them, his blue eyes glinting tauntingly. Annabeth and Frank both had their hands on their weapons' hilts, though they didn't shoot. Their faces showed hesitation.
But rage was coursing through Nico's vision. Red, blinding fury swept over Nico's vision as he saw Luke get out of the traffic jam just in front of them, their cars on full speed. Here they were on the highway. No cameras, no nothing. Everyone else had gone and there wasn't anyone else to witness what was happening.
Luke stuck his head out from the window, despite the warnings from health class to say not to do that ever.
"Hey, losers!" he jeered. "Still trying to save your dear Percy?"
"Luke!" Frank shouted, his face red with anger. "How dare you do this to a person you called a brother!"
"He was my brother, but he stood for the wrong things. I stood for the right things and I continue to stand for them!" Luke growled. "The gods have to pay for Thalia!"
"Thalia's alive and well!" Nico yelled before even thinking. "It's all thanks to Percy and you decide to do this to him! Well, f**k you for all I care!"
Luke laughed, holding his gun up in his hand loosely. Putting his head back into the van, he closed the window as their vehicle continued to speed ahead. Rage for the blonde boy's relaxation while a person who cared about him to the bare bone was almost dying because of him, Nico did something senseless. He pressed the trigger.
He watched as the bullet zoomed forwards and the world moved in slow-motion. Regret stabbed through Nico as the led bullet fired through the air, launching for the window of the van. At first, he thought it would hit Luke, but it simply grazed the side of his cheek as it blasted into the steering wheel.
The van skidded to the side, twirling around, out of control. It landed in a ditch and Nico dropped his gun, shocked by what had just happened out of rage. Annabeth and Frank were both in shock, staring at him. Nico felt like he was going to throw up.
"N-Nico..." Annabeth stuttered.
"I..." Nico felt tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "I..." The words were choked in his throat and no matter how hard he hacked, he couldn't get the words out.
"Nico, why..." Frank's voice was drowned out as the tidal wave threatened to come.
Finally, it did. Tears flew freely down Nico's face as he sobbed for what he knew as the world in that very instant. Pure suffrage.