Angel of the Dead: a Nico di Angelo fanfiction

Chapter 1: Death of Bianca

        Nico and Percy walked in silence. Nico tried to concentrate on anything but the bubbly feeling he gets when he's close to Percy, or thinking about him. Percy hadn't said anything about where Bianca is yet. Nico's mind started to wonder, and Percy's grim expression and the uncomfortable silence isn't helping it get anywhere positive. A while ago, Nico started getting nightmares of junkyards and metal giants. He always woke up drenched in sweat and a disturbing feeling of wrongness, like something familiar and constant suddenly disappeared, something precious wrenched away from him. Then the nightmares shifted to a dark river, a midnight castle on the opposite bank from Nico's point of view, and a boat carrying translucent humanoid mirages across to the castle. One of them looked exactly like Bianca. Nico had never gotten close enough to inspect, but somehow he was sure that was his sister. Even when he woke up, the feeling still persisted at the back of his mind. Percy's voice alerted him back to reality, "Nico... Bianca's dead."

        Suddenly the world spun. Nico faintly registered that they were on the dining pavilion. He stared at his shoes, feeling like the air has been punched out of him. Every muscle locked, his mind blanked, every ounce of his existence blocking out the cold, harsh, truth. Surprisingly, there was no feeling of surprise, as if he already expected this. In a way, he had. He had dashed into the Big House, anxious and desperate to be proved wrong. This was the last straw. Percy kept on talking, filling him in on the details, knocking it into his head the fact that, Bianca's dead.

        "She wanted you to have this." Percy brought out a little black figurine. A Mythomagic figurine, Nico realized. He held it in his palm, staring at it. It was Hades, the only one he didn't have. And it cost Bianca her life.

         Light snow fell on the marble steps of the dining pavilion, the bitter wind biting into Nico's skin. Suddenly Nico realized this was where he and Percy had last spoken before Percy went on the quest. This was where Percy promised him he would keep his sister safe.

        "You promised you would protect her," Nico said, his voice low.

        Percy looked stung, "Nico, I tried. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us." Excuses!  "I told her not to." Lies! "But she-"

        "You promised!" Nico yelled. Traitorous tears formed, and he glared through them. His fist clenched around the Hades figurine. "I shouldn't have trusted you," his voice broke. "You lied to me. My nightmares were right!"

        Percy's brows furrowed, "Wait. What nightmares?"

        Nico ignored him. Rage welled up inside him and he smashed the god statue against the ground. It made dull clacks as it skidded across the icy marble steps. "I hate you!" Nico shouted. It wasn't entirely directed at Percy.

        Desperation crawled into Percy's tone, "She might be alive, I don't know for sure-"

        "She's dead." Nico closed his eyes against the definite truth that rang with those two words. He's body trembled under the tirades of emotions. The feeling of Bianca's death, that has been haunting him for the last few weeks,  at the back of his mind nudged him again, and for the first time he embraced it. It sharpened until he could pinpoint Bianca's soul in the Underworld. "I should've known it earlier. She's in the Fields of Asphodel," Nico doesn't know how he knows the name, "standing before the judges right now, being evaluated. I can feel it."

        "What do you mean, you can feel it?"

        Suddenly Nico heard a hissing, clattering noise. He opened his eyes, and gasped, anger temporarily dosed by fear. Four skeletons in transparent gray skin, wearing army camouflages, holding sharp swords, advanced towards him and Percy at an alarming speed. Percy uncapped his pen, which grew to a three-feet-long bronze sword that accidentally came too close to Nico's face for his liking. Nico panickedly opened his mouth to asked a bunch of questions, like Hey watch it! Are you trying to kill me? What are these...things? Did they follow you? How did they get in Camp? But what came out in the flurry of events and emotions was, "You're trying to kill me! You brought these...these things?"

       "No! I mean, yes, they followed me, but no!" Percy's expression was grave, "Nico, run. They can't be destroyed."

        I'm not leaving you! "I don't trust you!"

        Percy fought ferociously, but every time a skeleton got cut down, the bones would just weave themselves together again, like a creepy, magnetic, jigsaw puzzle. He's also outnumbered four to one; any minute now he would be overpowered. "Nico, run! Go get help!"

        But would you still be alive when help arrives? 

        Terror coursed through Nico. They're going to hurt Percy. "No!" he screamed. No, not Percy. Not Percy. Nico covered his ears with his hands, everything is so overwhelming. "GO AWAY!" he screamed again, pouring all his strength and emotions into those two words. He felt a tightening in his gut. 

        CRRR! Percy rolled out of the way as a huge crack ripped open in the ground, right underneath the skeletons. Flames erupted from the fissure, the skeletons fell right in. The tightening started getting painful, and Nico felt a little woozy. He let go of the tension, and the crack in the ground snapped close like a stretched rubber band with a deafening CRUNCH! All that was left was a scar in the marble floor of the dining pavilion. 

        The adrenaline started to fade, and floods of conflicting emotions welled up again, clawing at Nico's exhausted mind, threatening to overwhelm him. "How did you do that?" Percy asked in amazement, his voice breathy with pants of exertion. Hearing his voice after such a close call with death elicited another swarm of that stupid, confusing, bubbly feeling that tugged on his heart. He had a sudden urge to rush into Percy's arms, cry on his shoulder, hold him tight, and...and kiss him. What? No! "No! Go away!"

         "Nico-" Percy tried.

         "I hate you!" Nico shouted brokenly. That couldn't have been farther from the truth, he realized. Nico loved Percy. No I don't! He thought panickedly, I'm a boy! Boys like girls! Only sick boys like other boys! I'm not sick! I'm not a freak! Nico took another look at Percy, never have the need to be close to him been so strong. Instead, he ran. 

Arthur's note: Hi! Thank you so much for reading that! Please comment and let me know what you thought! I know it's probably terrible! But thank you so much for your time! And any and all feedback immensely appreciated! Seriously comment anything at all even if it's short or random please! I will stop with the exclamation marks now. 

A wattpad helper says if you know more about me you'll feel more comfortable commenting soooo..... Um, I'm a girl. I'm a really big fangirl. I'm a teen. I like reading. I love PJO and Nico. I'm trash. 

What does a ginger bread man uses as a blanket?

A cookie sheet.

I'm so sorry I'll leave now bye