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

Chapter 17

You walked briskly down the dark corridor, running your hands up and down your arms to try to combat the goosebumps rising. Despite the blue fires burning in braziers at regular intervals, the air was chilled, sending a shiver down your spine. You wandered through the dark hallways of Hades' palace for a few minutes until all the twisting and turning of corridors spat you out in a small hallway. there was a single door at the end of it. You glared at is suspiciously, and then took a few careful steps towards it. You had placed your hand on the skull-carved bronze handle when it burst open and someone ran into you, making you stagger backwards. Hands shot out and grabbed your shoulders, helping you keep your balance and not fall backwards.

"Oh, ______!" you looked up to see Nico in front of you, dark eyes wide. You smiled.

"About time. I've been looking everywhere for you!" you said. Nico looked away from you.

"I was just about to come look for you. Didn't want to leave you with Hades for too long," he said. "Let me grab my things." He turned back around and walked through the door into the room beyond. You watched him for a second, and then he turned around to face you. "You can come in, I guess," he said.

You gazed at the room's design, obsidian walls and onyx floors. There were no proper windows--though you guessed that in a place like this, you wouldn't want windows--and black and bronze tapestries hung down the walls, emblazoned with red pomegranates that contrasted starkly with the background. There was a huge four-poster bed in the middle of the room, made of dark oak with a black and bronze comforter on it. It was neatly made; in fact, it looked rather like it had never been used.

"Uh," you struggled to find something to say as Nico grabbed his sword, "you like...pomegranates a lot? I didn't know that."

Nico gave one of those laughs of his that didn't sound genuine. "Yeah, sure. This may be where I sleep when I'm down here, but this place will never be my home."

"Oh."

Silence.

"...hey, Nico?"

"What."

"We're...friends, right?" Nico's body turned towards you faster than a vinyl on a record player.

"Well, I guess," Nico didn't meet your eye, "I guess you could say that."

"Then why haven't you told me about your sister?"

Nico was silent for a long moment. You mentally slapped yourself for bringing up such an obviously painful subject.

"I mean, I'm sorry if that's intrusive or--"

"No, it's fine, I guess," Nico said. "It's not like it was a secret or anything."

"It't just," you paused, carefully picking your next words, "what Hades said about her, it seemed to really upset you." You heard Nico take a long breath.

"Don't take this the wrong way, ______," Nico said, finally meeting your gaze. The sudden coldness in his dark eyes managed to freeze you in place. "That's not really any of your business." Nico adjusted his jacket, then said, "Let's get going. You know what we're looking for, right?"

You didn't answer for a moment, still transfixed. Then you shook it off and followed him out of the room and down the hallway. "Hades said something about the Tear of Life," you said, forcing yourself back into the rhythm of things. "He said it was somewhere in Asphodel."

Nico groaned. "Great. That place is huge! It'll take us forever."

You thought for a moment as you walked out of Hades' palace. "Well, doesn't most everything look the same there? It shouldn't be too hard to find a tree with fruit on it." Nico snorted.