There were many, many reasons why he didn’t like being in the company of Percy Jackson. Him making bad decisions was one of them.
Yes, he’d ran off into the forest alone to track down Gaea and her powers.
No, it hadn’t gone very well.
He’d thought that, since he could make beings arise from the ground occasionally as well, he might have an advantage. Of course, controlling the dead was something very different from controlling the earth, even if one was usually covered by the other. So, he’d ran off, darting over thick tree branches and under bushes and lianas, not knowing where he was going or what his plan was.
Eventually, after slashing through quite a stack of mud minions, he’d found the place where they erupted out of the ground; a muddy clearance with little to no life in it. With a trick or two, he’d managed to close the thing off, but not before half an army of the creatures had turned against him.
He’d had to fight his way through them, climb the trees to get away from Gaea’s powers and make his way back to the beach on his own.
It’d gone wrong when he hadn’t been paying attention for one second; one of the warriors had managed to follow him up and had knocked him out of the tree. He’d fallen down, not protected by Calypso’s magic this time, and landed on the hard ground so wrongly and painfully that he’d heard his leg snap.
Snap.
The most incredible pain had surged through his leg up to his hips, but he’d known he couldn’t stall. He needed to get out of there if he wanted to live.
So he’d convinced himself that he wasn’t feeling any pain – only half-succeeding – and had ran on. His leg disobeyed him, turning away from under him multiple times, but he’d reached the beach eventually.
Of course, it had to be Percy who’d helped him on his way to the raft, fighting monsters while letting him lean onto him to keep the weight away from his leg. Nico had tried to push him away, telling him that his leg wasn’t all that bad, but he’d nearly fallen over standing on his own and the nausea had been catching up with him. Percy would have none of it, so Nico had been trapped with his arm hooked around Percy’s neck.
Now he was lying in the raft, a backpack stuffed under his head and his eyes drooping. His leg felt horrible and he’d screamed when Annabeth had tied it up, apologising all the way.
Grover and Percy fed him bread and a little bit of nectar, but he didn’t feel any better. He was just contemplating whether maybe just getting rid of his leg altogether would be less painful when the world seemed to turn pink around him.
“What’s happening?” he asked weakly.
Percy was at his side immediately. “Nico? Are you okay?”
Nico shook his head, pushing himself up on his elbows. He looked out at the water, where the pink glow collected until it was so thick it became solid and took on the form of a girl. “Cal–”
“Shh!” Calypso said, her finger pressed against her lips. “The others can’t see me. They’ll get to know later. Leo needs his time.”
“What happened? Why are you here?”
“Nico? What are you doing?” Annabeth and Grover came to kneel by his side as well. The three of them followed his gaze, but their eyes stayed distant, unfocused. They really couldn’t see Calypso. Which was a bad sign, to say the least.
Calypso smiled sadly. Her eyes looked teary, but that could also have been the reflection of the water through her not-quite human form. “I’m going to join the gods up at Olympus. They released me from my curse. Or, rather,” she chuckled, “we released me from my curse.”
Nico nodded. “But you’ll live?”
“My own life, very different from yours. But yes, I will.”
“And –”
Annabeth had grasped his arm, willing him to turn around, but he pulled free. He jerked his leg, which hurt, but he kept his eyes on the goddess. He’d thought something like this would happen. More than anyone, he knew that everyone had their own place, and a goddess belonged at Olympus.
“No questions, Nico.” She held up a hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you, and I’d love to talk to you some more, but that’s not what I came here for.”
“Is he hallucinating?” The others had turned to talking among themselves instead of attempting to get through to him.
“Must be – I mean, he can be weird, but not this kind of weird, right?”
“Shut it, Grover.”
“Just trying to help, dude.”
Nico groaned and let his head rest in his hands. “What is it, then?”
She sighed, laughing. “I just wanted to tell you that it’s okay. No one is going to judge you for how you’re feeling or whom you’re feeling it for.” Almost obnoxiously, her glance turned to Percy.
“Really? That’s what this is about?”
“Bit cliché, isn’t it? But it’s true. You should accept yourself as you are. Because, let’s be honest, you are quite a wonderful person.”
Now it was Nico’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious! And I’m sure Percy thinks the same way, if you only gave him a chance. Don’t shut him out. Now, you don’t hear me saying that you’ll ride off in the sunset together on a unicorn shitting rainbows –”
“Your Leo is showing,” he said, drawn.
Calypso gave him a weak smile. “That’s all I’ll have left of him. At least permit me to enjoy that.”
There was a pain in her voice that Nico remembered all too well; the pain of love lost. He’d felt the same way when Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. He’d blamed himself for not being able to save them. Blamed Percy for being so stupid as to just let go. Blamed the world for everything – and yet the pain hadn’t gone away.
“I just want to help you. You’ve got little to lose and so much to gain!” She nodded at him until he nodded back. “Good. I have to go now. They’re waiting for me. Take care, Nico!” She smiled one last time, her dark eyes now definitely lighting up with tears, and waved – then she disappeared in the foam of the sea.
Nico let himself drop back onto the backpack.
“Hello? Earth to di Angelo?” Percy hung over him, his Camp Half Blood necklace dangling only inches from Nico’s nose.
“Percy, thank you.”
“What?” The boy frowned, thrown off. “What for?”
“Saving my life, more than once. For not abandoning me like everyone else would’ve done. For –” He took a deep breath. “For trying your best for Bianca.”
Percy’s brow arched up, disappearing under his tangled black hair. “Ehm – okay? You are totally welcome. Are you sure you’re feeling well?”
Nico shook his head. “My leg feels like it’s dying.” He turned back to Percy again, looking him in the eye for the first time in what felt like forever. There was that sickening feeling in his stomach again – that feeling he’d tried to shake off for such a long time. Only right now, it didn’t seem so bothersome at all. “Do you think Mr. D would allow me to live in Camp Half Blood again every now and then?”
Percy smiled cheekily and Annabeth handed Nico another flask of nectar.
“I’m telling you, man. The pain’s making him see things,” said Grover, ruffling Nico’s hair until it felt like he had a bird’s nest topping his head.
Nico laughed.
