The Girl With the Diamond Blade- Nico di Angelo x Reader (Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter 14

Quick A/N before the chapter: today is Nico's birthday!! :D I was saving this chapter for Saturday, but I couldn't not do something for him :P hope you enjoy the chapter!

Also, I want to take the time to thank people who have been commenting! I love reading comments, especially ones discussing lore. One thing though: be polite, please! :3 thanks guys!

Everything happened very fast.

One second, Nico was staring out onto the road, and then he had turned to you, dark eyes pools of mysterious promises. You started to say something, but found you couldn't open your mouth. Nico's eyes had transfixed you. You felt a hand, cold and solid, sliding into your own. You didn't dare look down, but you knew Nico had wrapped his hand tightly around yours. Then, as if feeling uncomfortable with the touch, his eyes flitted away to stare at something, anything but your face.

"Hold on."

Those were Nico's only words as you felt reality unraveling around you. You opened your mouth to scream, everything was happening so fast and it was so new and dark--

The next thing you knew, you had fallen--no, been pulled--into Nico's chest. His arms were around you, one around your waist and one on the back of your head, keeping you tightly secured to him. You tried to bury your face into his chest, feeling the warm leather of his jacket contrasting just how cold your surroundings felt.

Nico felt like your only tether to existence.

And then it was gone. The air around you wasn't trying to suffocate you out of being, the darkness wasn't pressing against you, you felt feather-light and free in comparison to the crushing void.

It was then when you realized just how close you were to Nico.

His arms were still wrapped around you, head bent down to yours in an attempt to shelter you, his eyes closed. You observed that with his eyes closed like that, Nico looked peaceful, angelic. Like this weight had somehow been lifted off of his shoulders.

And then his eyes opened once more and you jumped back at the same time, you from embarrassment and him from dislike of contact. You rubbed the back of your neck and laughed awkwardly.

"So..." you trailed off, eyes wandering to anywhere but the boy in front of you. "Where are we again?"

"J-Just outside of Hollywood," Nico said, voice sounding tired, "I think," he added as an afterthought. To be honest, as you gazed at the dark-haired boy--well, practically everything about him was dark--he looked exhausted.

"Hey, Nico, you okay?" you asked, concerned. Nico glanced at you.

"Shadow traveling. All beings of Hades can use it," he said. You didn't understand why that was important, but you played along. "Except that when you use it, especially when it's new to you or you're carrying a load with you, it makes you very--" Nico was cut of by a long yawn.

"...tired?" you supplied. Nico nodded drowsily. You glanced around, noticing that you were on a street in a city, presumably Hollywood. You noticed that Nico would keep staring at points in the distance, and when he blinked he would keep his eyes closed for a few moments longer than needed before jerking back upright.

You needed to find a place to rest. Now. You spotted a yellow cab coming down the street, and raised your hand in the air to hail it.

"No!" The voice in your head said forcefully. "That's a mortal cab. Wait for a black one." You decided to take the voice's advice, and quickly put your hand down. After a few more minutes of waiting, which included you having to shake Nico awake several times so he wouldn't sleep standing up, you spotted a dark cab cruising down the street. The taxi sign on it appeared to be in some strange language, but before your eyes, the symbols started to rearrange themselves.

"Olympian Taxi Cab" it read in Ancient Greek. Your eyes widened and your hand shot into the air. As if on cue, the cab picked up speed from its meandering pace and raced towards you. You cringed as it raced closer, but it stopped a yard away from you and Nico with a loud screech.

"Where to, kid?" a gruff voice called from the front seat as you pulled Nico behind you into the seat of the cab.

"Uh," you stuttered, "the entrance to the Underworld?" you offered. The voice huffed, then spoke up once more.

"That place is all the way on the other side of the city. Gonna take about half an hour. You got money?" the driver asked. You felt around your pockets and pulled out a dollar.

"Here," you offered the money to the driver. He shook his head.

"Nah, I mean money," he said. Then, something clicked: he meant Greek money. You pulled a golden drachma out of your backpack and held it up to the driver.

"How about this?" you asked. He eyed the coin, then snatched it from your grip. In the flash of movement, you caught sight of clawed fingers, but you pushed it out of your mind. You took the screeching of tires as a yes, and as the cab peeled off down the road, you turned to Nico.

"You can rest if you'd like," you offered, patting your lap, and he looked up at you gratefully.

"With great power," Nico said sleepily, "comes great need to take a nap." You quickly analyzed him: his hands were closer to yours on the seat, he was slow in his speech, and he was keeping eye contact with you. He was letting his guard down, you guessed. You didn't mind when he laid down sideways on the seat, long, gangly frame stretching out. You didn't mind when he laid his head on your thigh, and you could tell from his breathing that he was asleep before he could even think about disliking the contact.

You looked at him, face gradually softening into the open fragility of sleep. His dark hair contrasted his pale skin as if fanned around his head. You ran your hands through it without thinking, and found that it was very soft, if not a bit long. When did this guy last get a haircut? you wondered. You worked your fingers through his hair, working out the little knots that were probably a direct result of not giving a shit.

The cab pulled up outside of a building with the words "DOA Recording Studios" emblazoned upon the front door. You gently shook Nico's shoulders, whispering "wake up"s and "it's time to go"s gently as his eyes fluttered open. Nico blinked drowsily before sitting up quickly, then yawning loudly, stretching his long limbs.

You realized that you missed that warm intimacy of him resting in your lap.

"The entrance is in there," the driver said, pointing a thumb at the building. You smiled at him, opening your door and stepping out.

"Thanks!" you called as the cab sped away. You turned to look at the building as Nico stepped up beside you. "All rested up?" you asked, glancing into his eyes. He looked back at you with a slight spark in his dark eyes.

"As good as it's going to get," he admitted. You chuckled, and pushed open the door to the studio.

SEE I TOLD YOU GUYS

NOT AS MUCH EXPOSITION THIS TIME

Sorry for the poetic start to this chapter, I found this super cool playlist on 8tracks for writing that had a bunch of really cool soundtracks for background music and I couldn't help it :>

This week's trivia: the DOA in DOA Recording Studios actually stands for "Dead on Arrival", which I think is really cool and probably the name of some metal band.

Hope you guys enjoyed this week's chapter!! I have so much fun writing these it's not even funny lol

See you next time!