SANITY; heroes of olympus

05.9

[act five; chapter nine     -     this love]

Zara had been the one to confirm her sister's death to Nico di Angelo. She found him sitting on the porch steps to Cabin 12—the Dionysus cabin—and took a silent seat beside him. Her face was red and puffy, and she could feel the heat from her tears. She was covered in dirt and grime, and blood and sweat. Her hair was a mess and so was her heart.

She leaned forward onto her knees, and turned her head over her shoulder to look at Nico. He was silent, his face void of any emotion. She knew that he knew. That he was aware of what had happened, even if he hadn't been at the sight.

Zara whispered, her voice cracking, "She's gone, isn't she?"

He nodded silently. His throat bobbed and his face scrunched up, like he was trying to hold back a wave of tears. "Yes. She is. Thanatos himself has guided her to Elysium." He wiped at his cheeks. "She's not in any pain now."

It broke her heart. She hadn't been able to feel it the same as Nico. She had known, from the drop of her stomach and the way her heart stopped in her chest for only a moment, that her sister was dying. Approaching where she had braced herself against a tree, Annabeth at her side, had only confirmed it. She had felt Andy's heart slow to a stop and how her soul slipped past the mortal realm and into the hands of Death.

Nico looked up and across the way at a familiar, blue cabin of Poseidon. Inside, both of them knew, was Percy.

Zara had watched his grief, his sorrow, and his anger. He had held Andy's body in his arms for nearly fifteen minutes, crying against her quietly, gently smoothing her curls back and rocking her, pressing kisses to her cold, pale skin. He had simply held her in her final moments, providing her with a sense of comfort that she would only ever find in him.