Fate Withstands

Chapter 30

It didn't take long to kill Clytius. Nico wasn't sure what he had expected, but once the giant was killed and Hecate was gone, he felt amped up on the win. And there was Percy and Annabeth, exhausted but alive, and for a split second Nico felt like anything was possible.

You will never escape me, son of Hades. You will never escape-!

Nico pushed the voice out of his head as he looked where the doors once stood. They were closed, for good. The giant was dead, the sorceress was defeated. Tartarus couldn't get him, not after this victory.

"Hey." Hazel beckened him over.

Nico walked over to her and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're okay. The ghosts were right. Only one of us made it to the Doors of Death. You...you would have made dad proud."

She put a hand on his cheek. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"We've got to get out of here," Jason cut in. "Uh...Frank?"

Frank shook his head. "I think one favor from the dead is all I can manage today."

"Wait, what?" Hazel asked.

Nico looked over to Percy, shared a small smile with the son of Poseidon. They were both still alive, though Nico could only wonder if Tartarus was also speaking to the two newest survivors.

Don't trust a survivor until you know what he did to stay alive. Nico still trusted Percy despite the old saying. They were brothers, after all. Blood didn't mean anything.

Hazel grabbed his arm. "We'll have to shadow travel."

Nico winced, remembering the dark passages of the dead. "Hazel, I don't think I can-"

"I'll help you," she assured.

A piece of the ceiling decided to come down right then, inches away from crushing some of them.

"Everyone, grab hands!" Nico yelled. He took ahold of Hazel and Percy, knew they were who he cared most about in the group. Once the last hand was joined and the shadows came closer, they slipped into them.

They stepped out of the shadows onto a hillside, the sun too bright for their darkened eyes but welcomed regardless. Nico felt himself sink into the grass, thankful now more than ever after his latest experience with almost becoming one of the dead.

The demigods around him exchanged stories, told of their own fights and the fights of their comrades. Nico spent his time looking at Percy, tried to fight whatever crush was left. Will Solace, he told himself. Will Solace is the boy you love. Percy Jackson is your brother.

"How are you feeling after that shadow travel?" Percy asked him, their hands still clasped together with dirt and blood and whatever else Percy's skin had picked up down in the depths of Tartarus himself. Their fingernails were all cracked and broken, some still bleeding and others black with dried blood. Maybe this was the blood that officially made them brothers, brothers of the battlefield and brothers at the hearth.

"Fine." Nico found himself easily looking away from Percy Jackson, tilting his head to the sun and basking in its rays. "If he speaks to you, just shut him out. He has no power over you, anymore."

The other demigods didn't seem to understand the sentence, but Percy and Annabeth both seemed to already have experience with the voice.

Percy gave Nico's hand one last squeeze as the Argo II came closer to the mound of resting demigods. "We're going to get back to mom, Nico. We've gone through Tartarus, we can go through the rest."

Nico found himself believing Percy's words despite his hesitation to ever go back to the Jackson apartment. He gave Percy a nod, tried to hide the hesitation, but brothers saw right through each other.