A Story To Be Told - Nico Di Angelo X Reader

Three

Y/N had never cried as much as she had that day. Even when she never got the chance to meet her mother, and there was no trace of her father, with nowhere else to go, she didn't feel a sense of hollowness as she had felt now.

Her sunset colored eyes were filled with tears, and Nico was regretting sneaking around. Hephaestus's cabin seemed empty. There wasn't the usual energy you always felt when you entered this wold of blacksmiths and inventors.

They had lost their counselor in a battle the second time now. The one who had lifted everyone's spirits when they were down. The one who always joked around. The one who was special.

Leo Valdez had been born with the ability to control fire and bend it to his will. He also brought Calypso, a banned maiden, back into society. He built a whole warship in three months and used it against the army of the earth goddess. He was even the one who defeated her, sacrificing his life in return. It wasn't a child of the Big Three, who were the strongest demigods of today, it was just a mere, scrawny, thin dude who laughed and joked a lot. It was Leo Valdez.

Nico was heartbroken at the sight. Well, yes. Maybe he and Y/N didn't have the best relationship, maybe they even hated each other, but what had the girl done to deserve this?

He gave a slight knock on the door, and Y/N stayed silent, thinking it was one of her siblings, given that they were all down at the forges, until she heard his voice. It was deep and controlled, like the dark blue of a night sky.
"Y/N? Can I come in?"
She didn't give an answer.
"I'm coming in, okay? Don't throw anything at me please." He was acting kindly, something even strange to him. Since when has he gotten so soft? He shook the thought away as he cleared Y/N's working space and sat on the table by her bed.

They stayed like that for a while, and Nico could tell that time was flying by as free as a bird. It was clear from the stained windows that the sun was starting to set.

Hearing her cries and pleads was enough to help him make up his mind. He patted her shoulder, and once she lifted her head, the pain she was experiencing was illustrated and saved in his brain. Like a document being saved to his desk-top. It was already there, and no matter what you did, you could never delete its existence.

He tried to give her a warm smile, "Would you like to go to the beach?" It was the place he hated most, but it was one of the best places to take in the beauty of the Long Island sunset. And it just happened to be the same color as her newly stained red orbs.