Nico stood, backlit by the light of the rising sun. Tears streaming down his face. His cheeks were flushed and his face was screwed up as he choked back sobs.
The merciless wind whipped his messy black locks around his gaunt face, tugging at his aviator's jacket. He opened his lips and let out a broken cry, the sound was ripped from his throat and swallowed by the roar of the wind.
He looked at the wreckage all around him through clouded eyes. Tears continued to trail down his angular cheeks, dripping off only to be blown away by the wind. Cuts and bruises painted his skin a motley spoiled milk, crimson, and dark purple, but the pain his body was in was nothing compared to his heart.
As he fell to his knees, his head dropped to his chest. "Why?" he rasped between sobs. "Why did this have to happen?" He flung his sword away from him in disgust. A fresh round of sobs escaped him when a hand grasped his. "You shouldn't have taken that blow for me, you idiot!"
"You can't die, I won't let you," he almost shouted at the person, his voice catching.
"Nico," they managed to get out between ragged breaths, "you know better than most that you can't interfere with death."
"I don't care what the rules are! I won't let you die. You have so much to live for!"
A broken smile graced the person's lips. "I love you, Nico." With that, the hand went limp.
"NO! Don't you do this to me! You can't do this to me. You can't just die. Please," his voice failed him. He hoped they weren't dead, but he knew. Oh gods, he knew. And he hated it. He could feel the life slip away. "I love you, too." Nico sobbed for gods only know how long. No one came for him, they were still occupied with the battle raging on. Who knows if it was hours that he kneeled there with the broken body in his arms, but he cried. He cursed and sobbed, but it changed nothing.
How, he wondered, could no one notice someone this important, this selfless, had just slipped away. Why didn't the world just freeze in collective shock and horror? Why did no one notice? How could no one care?
Only Nico di Angelo seemed to care; a broken angel was the only one to mourn the loss of this hero. And now he was all alone again, his heart just as broken as before. Alone in a cold, cruel world with no one left to love him or for him to love.
A/n: I wrote this while listening to Hallelujah. I thought it would be a fitting song for a scene like this, something slow, beautiful, and sad. Please review!