When Worlds Collide

121) He Got the Memo (drop the 'm'))

Nico had learned to fear the light. The darkness meant he was alone, safe from the tests the doctors performed on him. The light, that meant they were coming. It meant they were going to gas him— or even worse, they wanted him awake.

Luthor had told him that the others had been released, but Nico couldn't really tell if he was lying. Maybe Luthor still had them and just told him otherwise to keep him cooperative, but every attempt to ask for proof just ended up with the collar paralyzing him or stripping him of one of his senses.

Leo had been right about celestial bronze making technology more advanced. Slade had just scratched the surface with what it could do, but Lex had done his research. The remote he had held seemingly endless possibilities for what it would do next.

"Hello Nico," Lex's voice said through the speaker as the lights turned on, causing Nico's chest to tighten.

The demigod sat up slightly in the bed, pressing his back to the corner of the wall as his eyes watched the overhead vents.

Luthor chuckled. "No gas today, don't worry."

Nico still worried.

"I just had an enlightening meeting with your brother," Lex said, stepping into the room.

Nico looked at him in confusion. "What?"

Lex shrugged. "Your friends were released, so I assumed that they were informed about my involvement in your disappearance— but either they don't know, or they just don't care."

Nico stared at him for a long moment, not understanding what he was hearing. Sure, his brain had been telling him that for weeks, but to hear it confirmed was a different thing.

"He wasn't even looking for you," Lex continued. "He just thought you were sick at your boyfriend's house. How pitiful that your own family— one that chose you no less— didn't even care that you were gone."

"Shut up," Nico muttered, not able to come up with anything better to say considering there was no arguing with the truth.

Lex laughed once again, a grating sound to Nico's ears. "The truth is often painful to hear, so I'll give you the day off from tests and the likes. Enjoy your darkness son of Hades, may it give you the comfort that your 'family' never could," Lex said as he left the room, the light going with him.

Nico took a deep breath, his body calming as he took in the darkness that swallowed the room so completely. He knew the cameras had night vision, but he ignored them.

All he could do was take in what little comfort he had.

His family had abandoned him. His friends had apparently left the base and not bothered to tell anyone where he was. He was truly alone in the very world he helped save, and yet he couldn't even find it in himself to be angry.

He deserved it.

A son of Hades was meant to be alone. The Oracle knew it, his friends knew it, and so did he. Chiron always said that to fight a prophecy was pointless because the fates would always have their way, so why should he be different?

Why should it matter what he wanted his life to be when there was what it should be? He wanted to be a hero, so why should he get to escape the hero's ending? A hero was meant to die a painful death after suffering from a lifetime of tragedy— that was all he was.

Maybe he would be remembered in a tale of grandeur, or maybe he would be forgotten just like so many heroes that had come before.

He turned the tides of two wars, but his life was inconsequential.

He was nothing more than another demigod who died for the greed of others.

A/N: sorry this was so short, but I'm fighting and uphill battle with the flu and it's winning.

Vote. Comment. Tell me your best flu remedies (I'm desperate)