Smile Like The Sun [COMPLETED]

Chapter 10

"Nico?!" Will was leaning over him. His hands were barely visible. "No, no no."

How could he fix something like this? Nico seemed to be dying, and he'd never treated his fading, it had always gone away with rest.

Who could he ask? He didn't know except for... But that would never work. But it was his only option. He held Nico close and grabbed a water bottle and a drachma.

Nico was half awake as he went to intertwine his fingers with Will's. But his fingers weren't there. He sat bolt upright, panicking.

"Will?! What's happening?!" He asked, panicking and breathless. He started to hyperventilate. His hands weren't there... he was fading... no, no! He couldn't! Nico looked Will in the eyes, his own filled with pure, unfiltered panic.

Tears pricked his eyes, despite Nico screaming at himself not to cry. He needed to calm down... but that wasn't possible in the moment.

Will tossed the water in the air, it somehow catching the light, and threw his drachma.
"HADES!" he screamed.

The god's face appeared, slightly irritated. Until he saw his son.
"What's happening? What have you done to him?"

Will was near tears. "I did everything I could! How do I fix him?" Hades could hear the desperation in his voice.

"Bring him here. We can make this right. I'll send a chauffeur."

A few moments later they were making their way quickly down to the Underworld.

~~~~~~

Nico was clinging to Will, just trying to find something, anything to ground him. To keep him attached to Earth, instead of the land they were heading towards. The Underworld.

"Will...?" Nico whispered softly. "Promise you won't let Persephone do anything to me... she's been trying to turn me into a flower for years..." he joked weakly, trying to ease the anxious look off his boyfriends face.

Will forced a smile and kissed his head, while he still could. 'No. We're going to fix this. He's not going anywhere.'

"I won't let anything happen to you." He held Nico closer to him as the drove down to Hades' palace.

The god was waiting for them, and despite the stereotypes, had a genuine expression of worry on his face. "Nico. Oh, my boy." Nico looked up weakly at his father.

"You can fix this, right? You need to fix this!" Will said, nearly shouting as he felt the first tears fall. "Please."

Hades nodded grimly. "Unfortunately, this happened so much about a year ago, I had to make something to help." The god snapped twice, and the trio teleported into a room, that looked like a normal teenage bedroom.

"If he stays here for about 12 hours, he should be completely healed." Hades stated, floating a now sleeping Nico to the bed in the corner of the room, the blankets magically pulling themselves over the prince of the Underworld. The lord of the dead turned to Will, gesturing for the boy to follow him out the door.

"Now that we're alone..." Hades said, ice cold. "I have some things I'd like to discuss with you. Why don't you have dinner with Persephone and myself? Don't worry, I found a way to get rid of that silly curse on the food since Nico started spending more time here."

He led Will to the dining room, where Queen Persephone sat at the foot of the the table. The lord of the dead gestured from Will to sit next to him, and for Persephone to join them, saying, "There's no need for formalities, my dear." 

She replied, "I know. I just prefer to sit in the seat furthest from you." Ouch.

Will sat stiffly, waiting for the 'discussion'. Was Hades homophobic? Was Persephone homophobic? Was he judged not good enough?

"Will, my boy, relax. We aren't going to kill you," Hades shot a look at his wife. "Aren't we, dear?"

Persephone frowned for a split second, then said, "No, we're not."

Hades turned his attention back to Will. "I was just pondering- what are your connections with my son?" he asked, getting a bit protective of Nico. Persephone honestly couldn't care less. She wasn't ever too fond of Nico anyway.

"Oh-uh..." Not the time to get nervous, William! He steeled himself.
"Your son and I are dating," he said, looking Hades in the eye.