Nico's POV
Even though Nico hadn't eaten in forever, he could barely bring himself to stomach anything at the dining pavilion. Everything reminded him of the beetles crawling down his throat. When Will slid a plate his way, he tried his best to place a couple pieces in his mouth, chewing each piece as many times as he could before swallowing.
Kayla's question caught him off guard. When she mentioned the trip he'd proposed to Will before the quest, his heart ached. It was the dull reminders of what could have been that tended to hurt the most. He remembered how excited Will had been about going, but it was reassuring to think that Will would probably end up going anyways without him.
Will looked as bright as ever in the sun, his blond hair messy like that of a golden retriever's. Every time Nico looked at him, though, all he could see was his pale, dying face. Will, too, seemed to be constantly watching him, barely responding when Kayla addressed him.
He would be forever thankful to Reyna who decided to cut into their conversation, asking Nico to join her for a couple minutes.
From one hell to the next. Story of my life.
Reyna looked slightly different than the last time he'd seen her. Her skin was darker and her hair was cut shorter, held in a ponytail with a few stray strands escaping near her ears. She led him further behind the Artemis cabin, beckoning him to come closer.
"Don't ever do that again!" She looked as if she might throttle him, but she'd have to wait in line.
"Reyna... how I've missed your scolding." Nico muttered.
He had missed her a lot, but he wasn't willing to admit it to her.
"Don't give me that crap, Nico. What the fuck was that back in the woods? What were you running from?" She was blunt, but Nico heard the worry behind her voice. A couple of campers stopped to see what was happening but, when she glared at them, they scampered off, heads bowed.
Nico bent towards her, grimacing from the effort. "Keep your voice down. I don't want Will hearing any of this. Look... I wasn't being chased the night I ran into you. I had just returned from a quest; it was nothing much, I just got myself into a stupid situation. I was at the border of camp to get my things and leave, and I was hoping I wouldn't have to see Will, so I tried entering from the back of my cabin."
"Why?" Reyna did, in fact, not lower her voice. "I... really thought things were going well this time."
"Reyna. I know you felt it too, don't lie–I heard you in the infirmary. I can't stay here for very long..."
Her face drooped, in a disappointed manner that made Nico feel slightly guilty.
Nico drew close to her, and he felt her grow uncomfortable from the darkness that seemed to follow him, but he nonetheless brought his mouth close to her ear and whispered, "Can you promise me something?"
Reyna nodded slowly, but didn't hesitate.
"Whatever happens, you'll save Will–whatever the cost. Swear it, I'm begging you as a friend, but also because you're the only one I can trust."
Even if it means killing me.
Reyna laughed for the first time since they'd encountered one another. "Nico. You're such an open book sometimes. I swear on the River Styx I'll do just that." Her tone became more serious. "When you do leave, you'll be fine on your own... right?"
"I'll be perfectly fine. Now stop nagging me," Nico groaned, but her worry warmed his chest.
Reyna hugged him.
It was awkward for the both of them, considering they both weren't huggers... but also nice. He knew Hazel hated when she was compared to Bianca, but Nico knew that Reyna wouldn't mind that he saw her that way sometimes.
"Don't be a stranger, di Angelo, and try not to get yourself killed. I can't be your knight in shining armor all the time," she joked halfheartedly, shaking her head as if trying to free herself of her disgruntled temper.
When Nico rolled his eyes and gave her a small smile, Reyna composed herself and walked away, yelling at a couple of young hunters who seemed to be taking shots with their arrows at another cabin's door.
However, turning to return to the pavilion, Nico was met with a grimace so crushing he could barely move. Once lucid, blue eyes were cold and glassy.
Will had been stretched thin and he was going to snap.
"I can't fucking believe you were going to leave!"
"Look, Will. I really..."
Love him?
Don't kid yourself.
"Really what?!" Nico had never seen Will like this. The rims of his eyes were red and his stance with the two inches or so he loomed over Nico was almost intimidating, which had never been the case before. Usually, he gave off more of the impression of a large teddy bear.
"Will. you witnessed me make my choice. Don't make me repeat it. I'm sorry I wasn't what you wanted–believe me, I really tried to be." Nico stared over Will's shoulder to stop himself from breaking down, too. He kept tugging on the hem of his shirt which was almost two sizes too large. It was most obviously Will's from the middle-aged man vibe it gave off.
"You don't mean that. You were under pressure then; now, you're free." It constantly felt like Will was lighting matches in the snow, the light flickering, but never imposing any warmth. He couldn't keep pretending, and it would be cruel of Nico to keep playing along.
"Don't you understand?" Nico urged, his voice cracking, stepping closer now.
Why doesn't he get it? Why doesn't he understand that I'm never free from the underworld?
Nico could feel his vision dim and the shadows from the nearby trees grow closer. He tried to breathe in slowly, pinching his wrist to stop himself from losing consciousness.
Not now. He can't find out because then he'll never leave.
Curse Solace and his stupid savior complex.
Will stepped back, his face as white as a ghost's. He looked like he'd be ill any second, and Nico couldn't even hide his disappointment.
He must feel it.
Even the sun avoids the night.
"Do yourself a favor and back the fuck off, Solace." With that, Nico stomped off, not stopping until he'd reached his cabin.
When the door had been slammed closed, he laid down on his bed, sullen, and unable to think of what to do next.
"Soon night will fall upon the Earth as it did in the beginning of time before there was sun."
If he left, it'd be like setting off a bomb: Nyx's powers would never return to her and instead consume those around him. If he stayed at camp, though, he'd be in the same predicament–he'd have to kill Apollo (Was there a handbook to killing immortals?)
These are some great options.
He could always shadow travel, so that even if she did release her confines, he'd be in the underworld long before it could consume anything else. If he couldn't eliminate the consequences, he might as well try and get rid of the root of the issue--himself.
Would he end up like Amphithemus? A mindless replay of his old life as he wandered with the souls in the fields of Asphodel, consumed by his despair?
Maybe Hades would even display him as his new centerpiece, giving Sisyphus a well deserved break.
Willing to die for them again and again, it seems.
Nico balanced the coin Will had gifted him on his finger, watching the gold glint when it hit the beam of light from the window, trying to zone out the cacodemons' voices. He shoved it in his pocket when it arose memories of things he didn't want to deal with right then and there.
Nico had until the solstice. When the day came, he would have to shadow travel to the underworld, and Nyx's murk would consume him.
What he found funny was that he didn't care much that he'd die.
He found it strange how, his entire life, he'd fought day in day out to survive, when really he'd just been escaping the inevitable. All this time, by staying with the ones he cared the most for, he'd brought pain to their existence, yet now he could take it all back. It was an opportunity he wouldn't let slide past his grasp.
He felt the odd sense of righteousness one felt when putting down a sick animal.