Fate Withstands

Chapter 26

After watching his sister almost die, and himself being turned into a corn plant, Nico was happy to leave Venice behind as they sailed down the Adriatic. But the water smelled too much like Percy, and he got sea sick too quickly, and after being in Venice his English didn't come out well.

The first night, he locked himself in Percy's cabin and took the shoe box in his lap. It was old, the lid was falling apart, and he wasn't sure what to expect inside. But he swore to get it back to Bianca somehow.

When Nico finally opened the box, his heart nearly stopped when he saw what was inside.

(di Angelo heritage hadn't died yet)

He recognized his mother's necklace before anything else. It laid in its own small box, its diamonds sparkling as they were once again exposed to the light. He remembered the day she had got it, the first time he had met his father. Hades liked to come every once in awhile with gifts.

Nico kept it in its box and could only hope that it would one day hang from Bianca's neck. It's what his mother would have wanted, it's what his father would have wanted.

But his father still had Bianca locked away and wasn't doing a damn thing about it.

There was also two pairs of diamond earrings, one belonging to his mother and one belonging to his sister. He kept them with the necklace, knew he couldn't let anyone get close to what his sister thought was most important to protect.

The last object in the box was an old combat knife. He could still remember the day his father had given it to him, Maria's insistence that he was too young, his nonno locking it away until he was "old enough". He thought he should have been old enough when he went to war, but it seems fate had other things in store before he could claim the adulthood.

Nico picked it up, looking at the jeweled hilt and black blade. Maybe his father knew even back then that he'd always be a fighter.

He strapped it to his thigh next to his shorter sword and felt fully armed for the first time in his life.

Tartarus still screamed that he wouldn't escape.

Nico could only hope that the Mist kept Percy and Annabeth shielded from something he could never forget.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nico took a deep breath before knocking on the door to Piper's cabin. As soon as he did he retracted his hands and stuffed them in the hoodie's pockets, out of sight and out of the cold.

(the hoodie didn't smell like Percy anymore)

"Come in!"

When Nico stepped into the room Piper was sitting on her bed, brushing through her hair. She looked slightly surprised when she saw that it was him, but that quickly faded as she set the brush down. "What's up?"

"Um..." Nico sighed. "Fuck it. I need you to show me how to put my hair up. It's fucking annoying me but I don't want to cut it because if I cut it I'll be going off to war all over again."

Piper blinked a few times before laughing. "Come sit, di Angelo, and be glad I have an extra hair tie to give you."

~~~~~~~~

Nico liked to spend his time up on the top of the mast despite his little knowledge of boats. But it was farthest from the ocean and Percy's scent, and the wind was loud enough to keep the voice of Tartarus on the down-low.

When he thought about the others on the Argo II, he was proud of the relationships he had formed. He was closest to Hazel, and surprisingly Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite. He knew that she knew about his secret love. She didn't know who he loved, but she could feel it rolling off him in waves.

"Do you know how Jason and I met?" she asked the day after they had visited Venice, standing beside him on watch.

Nico shook his head. "I met him a couple times at Camp Jupiter, but he didn't have a girlfriend. So...new relationship?"

"You can say." Piper leaned against the rail. "Hera took his memories, put him on our school bus, and made me think we were dating. She gave me memories of our first kiss and everything. I...I always feel as if he doesn't feel like I feel for him, because he doesn't remember as much as I do, even though it was fake."

Nico pulled his hair up into a small ponytail just as she taught him. "I have feelings for someone who doesn't feel the same, also. Just be glad he likes you somewhat, Piper."

She looked over at him, the different colors in her eyes unnerving. "You don't have to tell me who, but you can if you want."

"Not yet." Nico played with his new knife. From the first time he held it, it felt right. "I'm not ready yet."

She nodded, didn't press it, stared into the water. "Do you think Percy and Annabeth will live?"

Nico sighed. "I hope so. Without them, we'll never be able to close those doors."

What was said was true and he knew it to be so, and it kept his hope from rising too high. Because their souls were weak, somewhere where human souls didn't survive. And they kept getting weaker.

But if it was in their fate that they had fallen, he knew they were meant to be down there. Whether it be to succumb to an honorable death, or to close the doors and save them all.

But fate was fate, and the Fates wouldn't spin a world in which they themselves died.

Nico was just about to come down from the mast himself, but the giant turtle decided to knock him off. And for the second time, he blacked out on the Argo II.

He really wasn't liking that little fact.