CHAPTER ONE
As soon as the battle was over, Frank spotted Nico laying on his back, monster corpses surrounding him from all directions. He immediately feared the worst, but as he continued looking at the boy, he saw the subtle rising and falling of his chest.
He thanked the gods and jogged towards his girlfriend’s brother, taking him to the infirmary his top priority. As he was jogging toward the pale teenager, he tripped over a corpse and fell face first into the grass. Frank groaned, quickly getting up, looking around hoping that no one had seen him fall. However, as he did so, he saw the corpse he had tripped over, and it wasn't a monster corpse like he had initially thought.
Instinctively, he screamed upon seeing the blonde boy’s body.
Hazel rushed over to him, the other four hot on her heels. They were all worried for his safety, but when they had reached him and saw why he had screamed, their expressions turned grave. They collectively looked around for Nico to see him limping towards them.
Hazel walked over to him, trying not to raise any suspicion and nervously offering him if she could take him to the infirmary, motioning down to his leg. His leg was okay, but his ankle was twisted and obviously swollen. Unfortunately, Hazel trying not to be suspicious is the same as Hazel waving around red flags and wearing a bright red t-shirt that has “Something has gone severely wrong” written in bold. At least it was in Nico’s eyes, because as Hazel attempted to usher him away, he paled, further than any of them thought was possible, and pushed past her, ignoring the searing pain in his ankle. Jason and Piper tried to block the body as Percy and Annabeth urged him away, but he kept his pace, determined to see why Frank had screamed when he saw the body of his boyfriend.
Instead of letting out a scream of anguish or breaking down as everyone had expected, Nico only limped over to his boyfriend’s corpse, not even batting an eye, and kneeled next to him, ignoring the painful pressure he put on his ankle. He grabbed his boyfriend’s cold, dead hand and held it, closing his eyes looking completely focused.
Everyone looked at each other worriedly, still awaiting breakdown, but when Nico opened his eyes, it didn’t come.
“He’s going to be okay,” Nico informed them calmly.
They immediately looked over at Hazel, the only other demigod from the god of death himself, regardless rhe version. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before cautiously telling Nico that he had been dead too long for him to come back, but Nico only shook his head.
“No, he’ll be back.”