Soulmates. They exist.
People are born with a mark on their skin, somewhere on their body, and someone else has the exact same mark. It was common to have a symbol on your skin, often a combination of what represented each of the two partners.
Nico had a mark, like everyone else. A cross with a circle on top of the horizontal line, an Ankh, Annabeth had called it. She said it was Egyptian and that it meant Eternal Life, (she couldn't resist researching it when she saw it the first time). The mark was completely black, standing out on his pale skin. It was placed on his chest, a few centimetres below his left clavicle. It had been there for as long as he could remember, so he paid it no mind. However, everybody else seemed interested in it, soulmates in general, and were all fairly disappointed at the fact that no-one at camp adorned the same symbol as him. Nico thought nothing of it, not feeling the constant need to search for his soulmate.
Percy and Annabeth had been easy enough, their symbol an owl's head encased in waves. The symbol was placed on their lower ribs, just below the right side of their chest.
Jason and Piper's was a heart with electricity surrounding it, placed on the skin behind their left ear. (Piper had gushed over Nico's mark when she'd seen it, talking about how prominent it was and how close it was to his heart. Apparently, the closer to the heart the mark is placed, the more destined the soulmates are, and since Nico's was practically on top of his heart, he was special, or something).
Some of their friends had suddenly lost their mark, meaning that their soulmate had died. When that happened, they usually closed themselves away and got depressed. Some got over it, some did not. (Nico remembered Percy telling him about how Silena reacted when Beckendorf died, the iron heart on her neck disappearing.)
There was a saying, that the bond could withstand death, if the person was reborn. This, however, was not definite, and it was extremely unlikely that this would ever happen. A person's life would be too short for the other to be reborn in their lifetime. In case it did happen, the person would be so old, that they would die shortly after, if they hadn't already given up living after their soulmate died.
Annabeth had told Nico that even gods could have soulmates, often other gods, but sometimes humans, this was very rare, and there had been only two known cases of this; one was Zevs and a mortal woman (whom Hera had unceremoniously destroyed after she found out), and Artemis and a mortal man (he had died in battle, and many suspected that Artemis' loss had made her swear not to have any lover).
Nico found the interest in marks to be slightly irritating. He thought of the mark as something private, his hand, more often than not, creeping up to rest protectively over the Ankh on his chest. He preferred not to think about his potential soulmate, rather choosing to focus on his everyday chores.
That was until he met Anubis.
Nico met Anubis completely by coincident one day in April, the air turning warmer and bees buzzing all around.
The son of Hades had been interrogating a spirit in a graveyard in London, when he heard a calm voice say: "It would be wiser to offer them something in return for information."
Nico noticed that the spirit in front of him bowed to whoever was standing behind him. He turned around, his hand instinctively pulling his sword. The fact that he hadn't sensed anyone approaching made him raise his guard.
When he looked at Anubis, he honestly thought he was a spirit, the feeling of death so strong it almost overwhelmed his senses. The boy seemed to be around his age, but there also seemed to be something timeless about him; his aura radiating wisdom and age. He was dressed in black skinny jeans, like Nico, a black shirt, also like Nico, and a leather jacket, which (gasp!) Nico also wore (it was his old aviator jacket, but it's made out of leather so it counts). The guy had black hair, a bit shorter than the demigod's and his eyes were dark brown, like melted chocolate.
He shocked Nico by raising his hand and pushing the sword away, his fingers sending a jolt through the entire blade and into Nico's hand. "There's no need to raise that blade against me, Stygian Iron won't do me any harm. And besides, I'm not here to threaten you. I sensed a demigod in this graveyard, and since this doesn't happen so often, and you felt like death, I decided to take a look."
Nico lowered his sword, "You felt my presence in a graveyard? How exactly can you do that?"
The boy raised his hand, as if to offer a handshake, "I'm Anubis. All places of death are my territory, so I know every grave site on earth."
The demigod reluctantly shook his hand, his skin prickling where it touched Anubis'. The god seemed to notice as well, his eyebrows furrowing. "I'm Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."
"I gathered as much. Your whole being radiates death, it's almost as if you have actually died before..." the god of death trailed off, his eyes flickering between Nico's. "No, I probably imagined it."
The son of Hades wondered what Anubis meant by that, almost missing how the god's hand sneaked up to touch the left side of his chest, he probably would've missed it if it didn't remind him of what he himself often did. The thought made him raise his hand to hover over the Ankh on his own chest.
If the god of death noticed that, he didn't show it.
After their first meeting, they met up on several occasions. Where they met was often random, sometimes a graveyard, sometimes even in the underworld.
One time, Nico had been sitting on the black sand on the bank of the river Styx. He'd been fiddling with his Mythomagic cards, his shuffling often pausing when he reached certain cards; the Hades card as well as Hercules' (Percy had told him how much of a jerk Hercules was, but his card was a good card, it had 2200 attack points and 1700 defence points. It even had a deceive feat, which made it appear as another, weaker card until attacked, when one used seven mana-points (energy-points) to summon the card instead of five).
He'd been so engrossed in his cards that he hadn't noticed Anubis until the god sat down next to him.
"You enjoy playing with cards?" the amused voice of Anubis spoke up.
Nico looked at him. The god of death was wearing the same as usual, all but his shoes, where he had switched out his combat boots in favour of a pair of grey converse.
"I used to play this game when I was a kid, but I've just kinda stopped playing it. I still remember how to play, it's just that I don't have anyone to play it with," Nico said, turning the deck of cards over in his hand.
"Can I have a look? Maybe you can teach me how to play it and then we can play it together?"
The son of Hades was surprised at the god's interest but handed him the cards nonetheless. Anubis took them and carefully examined each card, his gaze trailing over the pictures and text.
"If I'm correct, these are all Greek gods. I wonder if a game such as this exists with Egyptian gods. I wonder what my card would look like..."
Nico smirked at the thought, "Probably something like: Anubis, Lord of Funerals and bed-heads." That earned him a slap on the arm. He continued, "You'd have 500 or something in attack points and 5000 in defence points, you're not exactly a fighter, y'know."
"I can fight, I just prefer not to. And I know a lot of magic, death magic that is-"
"Wow, shocking."
"And I am also capable of summoning the dead to fight for me, like you."
Nico paused. "Y'know, we're a lot alike. It's actually a bit freaky. I bet people who know you would mistake me for you if they saw me," he said. "There's one thing that we don't have in common, though. I'm 16, disregarding the 70-something years I spent at Lotus Casino, and you're, what, 4000 years old?"
"5000, actually. But time is different in the Duat, I don't really feel like I'm 5000."
Nico got that, he didn't feel like he was 80-something either, but that probably had more to do with his father dunking him in the Lethe, erasing all his memories.
They were quiet for a while after that until Nico spoke up,
"You wanted to play Mythomagic, right? I'll teach you the basics."
Nico felt like Anubis was his best friend. Well, he didn't have that many friends, so there wasn't really much of a competition. He and the god of death spent a lot of time together, now even playing Mythomagic when they wanted to. After Nico had taught Anubis the basics, they had started playing, and the god proved to be very capable of beating Nico after a few rounds. The demigod still managed to beat Anubis, but it was proving more difficult than he had originally thought.
"It would be great if they made more cards to this game. These cards are great, but don't you think it would be funny if they made more?" Anubis said as they finished their fourth game of the day, their score tied with two wins for each.
"They did make more. An extension pack where they made the Giants' cards and another extension pack with the Titans'. I thought about buying it, but I kinda forgot about it."
Anubis didn't respond to that, but he smiled a tiny smile that Nico would have missed if he hadn't been admiring his facial features.
Wait, what?
January came around with all its cold and snow. The campers even managed to talk Mr. D into letting it snow at Camp Half-Blood for a few days. As the last week rolled around, the ground was covered in about ten centimetres of snow.
Nico actually liked snow, even though he had to change shoes in the cold weather (he quite liked his winter combat boots). He liked to spend his time watching the Ares kids get peppered with snow balls from the Apollon-cabin members, their accuracy ridiculously good.
Jason had taken a visit on Nico's birthday on the 28th, handing him two neatly wrapped presents.
"Those are from Reyna and me. She wanted to come, but there was an urgent Preator meeting."
He then gave the son of Hades another present, in black paper with silver skulls on it. "This one is from Thalia. She suddenly appeared and demanded I give you the gift. An this one-" he reached another present in silver wrapping with a crescent moon on it to Nico. "Is from Artemis. Don't ask me why she gave you a gift, because I really don't know... Anyway, happy birthday, dude," he had said as he gave Nico a one armed hug.
Nico vowed to open the gifts later on and thanked him.
Percy was next to congratulate him, presenting him with a gift in, can you believe it, blue wrapping paper. The wrapping was not nearly as neat as Jason's, strings of tape wrapped around the present in, what looked like, a meek attempt to make the paper stick together.
"Sorry about the wrapping, man. I haven't really wrapped that many gifts in my life," the son of Poseidon grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "This is from mom, she insisted on giving you a present." He gave Nico another gift, this one decently wrapped in black paper with silver bands around it.
The younger demigod smiled, Sally was too nice for her own good.
"And this one is from dad-" he gave him another gift in blue wrapping paper, a trident printed on it. "-and this one is from Tyson." Another gift, this one in greasy, brown paper which smelled suspiciously like peanut-butter.
Nico smiled and thanked Percy, before making him promise to thank his mom and dad as well as Tyson.
Annabeth and Piper had both come over to him and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek (they both knew he preferred boys and had become quite touchy-feely as the time passed).
"Happy birthday, Nico!" Piper said and handed him a present in crimson paper.
Annabeth was next, her present in beige paper, "Happy birthday, death boy."
She then gave him two other presents, one in bright green paper and another in dark brown with spirals of mossy green.
"The green one is from Juniper and the brown is from Grover."
The younger demigod stared in awe at the presents. None of them had heard from Grover in months, apart from the occasional news from Juniper that he was alive, but the satyr had thought as much as to give Nico a birthday present. To say that he was happy would be an understatement. He knew that Grover had always been pretty scared of him, but he'd decided to give him a present nonetheless.
Nico thanked the girls and told them he'd open the presents later.
Jake Mason and Will Solace had sauntered over to him, their cheeks red from the cold, snow stuck in their hair (Nico suspected they had rolled around on the ground somewhere).
"Happy birthday, Nico!" Will had said as he wrapped his arms around the son of Hades' waist and lifted him up in the air, effectively knocking the air out of him in the process.
"Th- thanks-" Nico managed to press out as he was sat down again.
Jake slammed his palm on his shoulder, his rough spawn-of-Hephaestus hand probably bruising his skin.
"Happy birthday, man," he said, a smile prominent on his face.
Will reached him a long present in golden paper, then another long one in the same paper, this one with an engraved sun on it.
"The one without the sun is from me and the other is from Apollo," the archer said.
"Why would Apollo give me a birthday gift...?" Nico wondered aloud, earning him nothing but a shrug from Will.
"Don't ask me. He only told me to give this to you and that he knew of your secret, whatever that means."
Nico raised an eyebrow. What secret was Apollon referring to? His crush on Percy had been a secret but wasn't anymore. So what was it?
A thought suddenly struck him and he smiled to himself; he now had a pretty good idea of what the present contained.
Jake reached him a present in dark brown wrapping paper, which looked a bit singed, "This is from Leo. He left in on his bed before he left on his journey with Festus. And this is from me," he reached the son of Hades another present, this one in black wrapping paper (or was that sandpaper? Nico wasn't sure). "I don't really know you that well, so don't judge me if you don't like it."
Nico smiled and thanked them, telling them he'd open them later.
Hazel had surprised him by suddenly turning up on Arion, her curly hair a mess after the trip.
"Hey, Nico! Happy birthday!" She gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek, a habit she had picked up after the war ended. She then gave him two presents, one from her, in black paper with swirls of gold on it, and one from Frank, his in dark grey with small skulls on it.
"Frank wanted to come with me, but-"
"Urgent Preator meeting. Yeah, Jason told me."
"Oh, well, that's fine then. He told me to tell you 'Happy Birthday', so you know he cares at least," Hazel hooked her arm in his and demanded he tell her everything she'd missed.
Hazel went back to Camp Jupiter after dinner, leaving Nico with a brief kiss at the top of his head (he had to bow down for her to do so, seeing as he was taller).
Percy had mortified him by getting the whole Camp to sing Happy Birthday at dinner, the son of Hades melting in his chair out of embarrassment (he felt flattered, but the sudden attention had left him quite shell-shocked).
When he'd been offering some of his food, he made sure to make a thank you comment to all the gods who'd been so kind as to give him a birthday present.
He'd left dinner with more than a couple pats on the back, some making him stumble, mostly the members of the Hephaestus cabin. Even Clarisse had smashed her palm into his shoulder, almost dislocating it, wishing him a happy birthday in her own rowdy way.
When he finally reached cabin thirteen, he felt exhausted. He noticed that three presents had miraculously appeared on his bedside table, probably his dad, before he fell face first onto his bed and let out a sigh of relief, the solitude of his cabin making him glad for once.
"You look like you could need a good night's rest," a voice spoke up beside him. Nico looked up, his dark eyes meeting Anubis'.
He turned his head again and talked into his pillow, his voice muffled, "Ever heard of knocking, Mr-I-like-to-appear-out-of-nowhere-for-the-sole-purpose-of-startling-my-friends? You know that doesn't work on me, I used that trick long before you came around."
"Oh? Well I guess that makes sense, you like hanging out with shadows anyway. Is this how you celebrate your birthday? How old are you now?"
Nico thought for a moment, "17. And I've never really celebrated my birthday, these presents-" he gestured to the pile of gifts on the black marble floor. "-were not something I thought I'd receive."
"You mortals never cease to amaze me; you celebrate your birthdays every year. Can you imagine how stressful that would've been for gods, if we were to celebrate our birthdays every year? I would've celebrated over 5000 birthdays by now," Anubis chuckled and looked down at Nico. "You kinda start to forget your own birthday when you reach my age, I don't think I've ever celebrated my birthday."
"Well that sounds like a jolly life. Is it like that for every god?" Nico sat up, noticing how close the god of death was sitting. He resisted the urge to pull away, just as much as he was resisting the urge to shorten the distance between them.
"Some of the gods, like Seth, get stronger on the day they were born, so they like to utilise that power on their birthday. I guess you could call that a type of celebration?" Anubis tilted his head and asumed his adorable confused-expression. Nico hadn't really thought about it, but the god did indeed look very cute when he tilted his head like that (Gods, he was beginning to sound like a teenage girl with a crush).
"I guess."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while.
"Hey, let's see what my freaky friends got me, huh?" Nico bent down and got his presents, placing them out on his bed.
"Wow, I thought you said you didn't have any friends?" Anubis said as his eyes scanned the gifts. "It looks like you've got many friends."
Nico shrugged, maybe he actually had more friends than he'd originally thought. He started with Annabeth's present, ripping of the paper with eagerness he hadn't experienced in a long time. It was a book; "The Art of Commanding the Dead".
"Typical Annabeth," he said, putting the book away. He grabbed Piper's next, peeling away the red wrapping paper. He smiled as he found a box with a ring inside; a silver ring with small skulls engraved on it. He slipped it on his left middle-finger; it fit perfectly (to be expected of a daughter of Aphrodite).
"That's a nice ring," Anubis spoke up, almost directly into his ear. Nico jolted at that and felt his heart-beat speed up slightly as the Lord of Funerals took his hand and delicately stroked the ring with his long fingers.
"Yeah-," Nico could swear his voice had gone at least an octave higher than usual, sounding more like the squeak of basketball shoes on the court rather than a sound one would expect of a human. "It's from Piper."
"Ah, the daughter of Aphrodite. No wonder it fits you so well."
Nico pulled his hand free of the god's grasp, ignoring the immediate cold it brought his skin. He picked up another present, this one from Will. It was a golden bow with a quiver, the quiver filled with wooden arrows with golden feathers.
"Are you a good archer?" Anubis asked him.
"Not really, but Will thinks I should get better. That idiot," Nico shook his head in fond exasperation.
The god of death was silent.
"... Are you and he...?" Anubis trailed off.
The son of Hades stared at the other a few seconds in disbelief, "What?! Me and Will? Gods no. Why would you think that?" He started laughing, "No. We're not together. Besides, he and Jake's got a thing for each other, if they weren't so oblivious, they'd probably realise it."
Anubis sighed beside him, almost as if he was relieved at the news, "Oh, I was just wondering. Since, y'know, you spend a lot of time with him and he's your best friend-"
"Will isn't my best friend," Nico interrupted him.
"He's not?"
"No. You are my best friend."
Anubis looked at him with wide eyes before his face split into a brilliant smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling, "I regard you in the same manner, Nico."
The demigod felt his whole face flush, his chest tightening as his soul-mark burned with an almost painful warmth. He quickly looked away and busied himself with opening the rest of his presents.
When he'd finished unwrapping his presents, he stared at the gifts placed on his bed.
A bronze bracelet which spiralled out into a shield from Tyson.
A short black blade from Thalia as well as another one from Artemis, hers with silver swirls on it. They'd given him a sheath as well, which was supposed to be strapped around his hips so that the blades lay horizontal at the bottom of his back.
Percy had given him a hoodie with the Batman logo printed on the front. Nico had placed that one next to the piles of comic books he'd received from Frank and Jake.
Jason had given him a new headset, an expensive one at that.
He'd received a miniature dragon figurine from Leo. The dragon worked as an alarm clock and could spew fire if need be.
Reyna had gotten him an enchanted cloak, which could shrink to a small size and would deliver either cold or warmth to the bearer, depending on the temperature around it.
The present from Sally contained a pair of converse, grey ones. He was happy about that, because his last pair was practically worn out.
Poseidon's gift contained a fish bowl with small, black fish within. It was magic so that he never needed to feed the fish or clean the bowl, which was a relief because Nico frequently travelled outside of camp.
Hazel had also gotten him a pair of shoes, these ones Vans (even though she knew he was a strict Converse user).
Demeter got him an enchanted box of cereal, one that would never empty.
He'd received a magic white lily from from Juniper, one that would never die. It now stood on his bedside table beside the magic red spider lily from Grover.
His father had gotten him picture of Nico, Bianca, and their mother, Maria Di Angelo, together, all of them smiling. Nico had actually teared up a bit at that, Anubis' hand had rested reassuringly on his shoulder.
Persephone gave him a plant which, when in bloom, sprung out into flowers made out of onyx. The plant gave of a ghastly glow of red in the dark room.
Apollo had gotten him exactly what he suspected; a black acoustic guitar.
Nico grabbed the guitar and strummed a cord, knowing that the instrument would be in tune (as if the god of music would allow it any different). The guitar had a good sound, the notes flowing into the silence of his cabin. He noticed that whatever he played made the notes appear as golden, floating figures in the air (of course Apollo had to go for something showy).
"You've never played guitar in my presence before," Anubis stated from his place next to Nico.
"I know. You're actually the only person that knows I play guitar. Well, except Apollo, apparently."
The Lord of Funerals moved all the presents off the bed and onto the floor before lying down on it, his hands folded behind his head. In this position, he looked like any other teenage boy, Nico thought the look fit him.
"Play for me, then," he said, his eyes locked with the demigod's.
Nico felt himself blush and cleared his throat before he started to play an easy tune, the notes steadily flowing from the guitar strings. He hummed the lyrics as he played and watched on as Anubis slowly sat up. The god moved closer to him and reached into his pocket. He then brought out a present and gave it to Nico.
The son of Hades took it and examined the wrapping; black paper with an Ankh printed in gold on it. Subconsciously, his hand crept up to rub the mark on his chest, the watchful eyes of Anubis following the gesture.
"That's where your soul-mark is, isn't it? You tend to touch that particular spot a lot." Nico started as the god spoke up, his voice carrying an undertone of something the demigod had never heard from the other before.
"...Yeah-" Nico stopped short as Anubis reached out and rested his hand over his mark. The gesture sent a jolt through his chest, the skin under his shirt burning with a pleasant heat. Anubis seemed to notice as well because his fingers tightened in the fabric of the son of Hades' shirt, his fingertips brushing the mark with the movement.
"Have you..." the Lord of Funerals swallowed. "Have you... found your soulmate?" His eyes were flickering between Nico's, his gaze wavering.
Nico audibly gulped, his throat suddenly dry, "No, I haven't. Don't really know if I ever will, and believe me, I'd tell you if I met them."
The god paused, his other hand coming up to clutch at the place where his shirt covered the middle of his own chest, "Did you know that some gods get soul-marks?"
"Y-yeah. Zeus and Artemis had one, but their partners died," Nico replied, his voice low. "Why?"
Anubis looked down at his hand on the demigod's chest, his brow furrowing, "It's different for the Egyptian gods. Many of the gods share soul-marks, and those never fade, because they are immortal. But some gods share soul-marks with mortals, and these fade if the mortal dies, as you probably know. And the marks return if the person is reborn."
"Yeah, I've heard about that," Nico paused. "Why are you telling me this?"
Anubis pursed his lips, and Nico's eyes automatically flicked down at the movement. "I... I have a soul-mark."
Nico felt his eyes widen, "You do? How come you never told me?"
"It just felt a bit too private."
Nico understood that, since he'd never liked the attention the marks got.
He looked down at the present on his lap, the golden Ankh prominent on the dark paper. He looked back at Anubis and noticed that he was closer than before, not more than half a feet separating them, his eyes seemingly fixed on the demigod's lips.
"May I..." Anubis paused, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. "May I try something?"
Nico paused for a second before slowly nodding, his throat too dry to utter a sound, let alone speak.
"Don't kill me for doing this," the god said as he closed the distance between them and brushed his lips lightly against Nico's.
A jolt went down the son of Hades' spine, his skin prickling like small needlepoints puncturing his skin. The mark on his chest burned with a now searing heat, however, Nico couldn't find himself to dislike the warmth, no matter how burning it was. He sighed and let his eyes close as he applied the pressure of his own lips against Anubis'. That action seemed to ease the tension in the god's shoulders; he relaxed and the hand on Nico's chest started pulling him forward. He ended up with his chest pressed up against the god's, their lips still interlocked in an almost desperate embrace.
Anubis sighed against Nico's lips as his hand left the demigod's shirt to slip into his hair, his lean fingers carding slowly through the dark strands. A sound akin to a moan left Nico's throat as the god tugged playfully on a tuft of his hair.
The son of Hades inhaled through his nose, the scent of earth and soil invading his senses; the scent felt so familiar it almost smelled like home. He let the present slip from his hand, then slid both hands into Anubis' jacket, pushing the fabric down his arms. The Lord of Funerals complied, his hands leaving Nico's hair in favour of shrugging off his jacket, his lips momentarily leaving the demigod's.
"May I remove this?" Anubis asked, his fingers curling into the bottom of Nico's shirt.
The son of Hades gulped. Removing his shirt would uncover his soul-mark, but he trusted Anubis with his life, so he nodded and bit his lip as the god pulled his shirt upwards and over his head, effectively removing it.
Nico had never really thought much about how he looked, if he was scrawny, or lacked muscle mass, but under Anubis' burning gaze, he felt very self-conscious. He looked down, not able to meet the dark eyes of the god of death. He shivered as the god's fingers touched the Ankh high on his chest. The mark then burned, electric pulses shooting from the place where the digits were in contact with his skin.
"It's you. It's really you..." Anubis spoke, his voice no more than a whisper. Nico looked up again and locked eyes with the god and his eyes widened at what he saw; Anubis' eyes were brimmed with tears, of which a few slipped down his cheeks, relief painted to god's face in a way that made it look as if he couldn't believe what he'd said was true.
"I finally found you," the god continued. He proceeded to remove his own t-shirt, leaving his chest bare.
Nico stared. A mark was visible on Anubis' chest. A black mark; an Ankh.
"You..." Nico's voice trailed off as he reached out with his hand, his arm trembling with anticipation. His fingers touched the dark surface of the mark and Anubis' entire body shuddered. The god of death closed his eyes and drew in a shivering breath as Nico's palm flattened against the mark. He raised his hand and placed it on the Ankh on Nico's own chest, their arms aligned.
"You're my soulmate, Nico," Anubis said, a smile splitting his face in two. He leaned forward and let his lips press against Nico's again. The back of Nico's eyes burned, tears threatening to fall, but he closed his eyes and fervently kissed the god back, desperately trying to convey his feelings through his lips.
A strange sensation made the son of Hades pull back, his eyes opening to see that Anubis was flickering, his form fading in and out.
"What's going on?" Nico asked, the form of Anubis almost transparent at times.
"No. No, no, no, no, no. You can't do this, not now! I found him! You can't pull me away after I finally found him!" the god of death yelled, his eyes filled with rage and desperation. He grabbed Nico's hand, intertwining their fingers, "The other gods are pulling me away from you. I have no choice but to go. I'm sorry Nico. I'll come back, I promise."
The son of Hades nodded and closed his eyes as Anubis kissed his forehead. Then the Lord of Funerals was gone.
During the minutes following Anubis' disappearance, Nico thought about what he'd found out. Anubis, The God of Death and Lord of Funerals, was his soulmate, his actual soulmate. He'd always felt a strong bond with the god, their similarities and differences making him want to get even closer.
Now that he actually thought about it, he'd been attracted to Anubis for quite some time, he'd just been afraid of admitting it. The god's pull on him was much stronger than the pull Percy'd had on him. He'd been drawn to Percy because he looked up to him, and he still did, but he'd always thought that the elder was something unattainable, someone he would never be on even ground with.
Anubis was different, he'd sought Nico's company many times, in fact, it was usually him that found Nico, unless the son of Hades deliberately went into a graveyard and asked the god to meet him.
Anubis was wise, he may not know as much as Annabeth (but she had to uphold her name of Wise-Girl), but he had lived a long time (Nico refused to call him old, because he didn't like the thought of a possible relationship with an old man) and had experience way beyond any he knew. He often sought advice from Anubis, and the answers he got could make him reassess the situation in an entirely new light.
In short, he treasured Anubis, and was most likely in love with him.
Now that he actually admitted it, it didn't sound that bad. There were many obstacles, Anubis being a god and all, but maybe they could make it work, Anubis was his soulmate after all.
After he thought the situation over, he noticed that Anubis had left his leather jacket. Nico chuckled and grabbed the dark jacket, slipping his arms into the sleeves, surprise hitting him as he found that they were a bit too long. The jacket was a bit too big in general in fact, the material hanging loosely on his lean form. He'd never thought about the fact that Anubis was bigger than him, only that he was taller, but he obviously was bigger than the demigod.
Nico zipped it up and buried his face in the collar, the god's scent enveloping him. He smiled and flopped down onto the bed, his back meeting the mattress with a soft thud.
"What the-?" Nico muttered as his hand reached underneath his back to pull out a hard object he'd apparently laid down on. It was the present from Anubis.
The son of Hades smiled as his fingers traced the Ankh on the wrapping paper, before he ripped it off and stared at the contents. Two rectangular packages stared back at him, two packages containing decks of cards; the extension-packages for Mythomagic to be precise.
Nico shook his head in fond exasperation, leave it to Anubis to remember that the demigod had told him he'd wanted them all those months ago.
He let the cards be, choosing to look at them with Anubis rather than by himself. He placed them on his bedside table and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, his hand resting comfortably on his mark.
Months passed and there was no sign of Anubis anywhere, much to Nico's disappointment.
The days passed slowly, the snow melting and tiny flowers sprouting from the soft earth underneath. Some of the campers seemed to miss the snow while others, especially the Demeter kids, were delighted that the snow had disappeared. The Najads seemed happy enough, their laughter echoing up from the lake once in a while.
Nico didn't really mind the change in temperature, disregarding the fact that he had to discard his beloved aviator jacket as not to melt away. He had taken a liking to wearing Anubis' leather jacket, seeing as it wasn't as warm as his own (it also smelled like the god, but that wasn't the reason he wore it...).
He was sitting on a dock by the beach, staring down at the masses of water, when a bubble started forming at the surface of the lake. It drifted upwards and splashed into Nico's face. The son of Hades sputtered and wiped his eyes, stopping when he heard a familiar laughter coming from behind.
Without saying anything, he placed his hand on the ground and felt the other demigod's location. He then willed the earth to part, causing the person's feet to get stuck in the fissure.
"What-? Hey! That wasn't fair! I only gave you a small face-wash," the frustrated voice of Percy Jackson spluttered.
"Well ,you should know not to mess with a child of Hades, Percy," Nico said as he turned around and glared at the elder.
"Yeah, but your sister is way scarier than you, no offence." The son of Poseidon tried to wiggle one foot out of the ground, giving up after a few tries. "Can you get me out of the ground now? I've learned my lesson."
Nico hesitated for a moment, pretending to consider his options, earning him a 'Come on...', before parting the soil, freeing the other's trapped feet.
"Thanks, man," Percy said as he pulled his feet free, proceeding to sit down next to the younger.
"You've been quiet, well, more so than usual," the son of Poseidon paused. "Anything bothering you? Do I need to beat up some bullies, or something?"
Nico scoffed, "No, you don't need to do that." The Ghost King hesitated before deciding he trusted the idiot next to him enough to tell him, "I... found my soulmate."
Percy didn't miss a beat, "Really? When, how, who?!"
"Calm down, Perce," Nico started. "I met him a long time ago, but we found out we were soulmates a while ago and I haven't seen him for months."
"Woah. Hold on, do I know who it is?"
"Yeah, but you haven't spoken to him that many times."
"Oh, who is it? Tell me."
"... It's... Anubis."
A few seconds passed. Nico cringed as he waited for the inevitable.
"ANUBIS?! But- What- Isn't he a god?! Is that even legal?" Percy's voice suddenly got high pitched and he stared at Nico with wide eyes.
"I don't know how they treat god-demigod soulmates in Egyptian mythology. Anubis told me that many of the Egyptian gods are soulmates, but I don't think there's ever been a case where a god is fated to a demigod, since they're Greek and all." While explaining, Nico's hand had crept up to rub his soul-mark. The whole situation seemed kind of hopeless when he thought about it. Would Anubis be allowed to see him after the other gods found out they were soulmates?
"Whoa. That sounds complicated."
"Tell me about it."
"I think you'll be fine." Nico looked at the elder, a look of disbelief crossing his face. "Dude, you're the son of Hades, and the Ghost King! You can just shadow-travel to wherever and kick those gods' asses!"
Nico snorted before he started laughing, leave it to Percy to crack him up. He smiled at the other demigod, "Yeah, I think I'll manage. Thanks."
"Anytime, man."
They sat in silence for a while, Percy dangling his feet in the water and Nico staring at the sky. It felt nice sitting like this, not really talking but just enjoying the quiet afternoon.
A horn sounded in the distance, meaning it was dinner-time. Nico got up and dusted off his pants, he then offered a hand to Percy and helped him up.
"Great talk, Nico. We should talk again sometimes," Percy said, a stupid grin on his face.
Nico rolled his eyes and punched the elder in the shoulder, "As if you don't pester me enough already."
Percy laughed at that and challenged Nico race to the dining-pavilion. (Nico won of course, he just shadow-travelled to the pavilion, earning him a punch in the shoulder and a "Dude, that's cheating!", to which he responded with a "You didn't state any rules.")
Another week passed without a trace of the God of Death. Nico had gone back to his usual chores, which included sword fighting with the minors (and occasionally Percy when the kids begged), and travelling between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter to deliver urgent messages.
Saturday evening rolled around and the son of Hades found that he had nothing to do. In times like these, Nico liked to visit a particular place at camp; a large willow tree on a clearing in the forest. Without further do, he let himself become one with a nearby shadow, the darkness yet again feeling so comfortable that he wanted to stay. This particular feeling had scared him at first, making him feel as if he was gonna be swallowed by the shadows and dissolve into oblivion. He had gotten used to it after a while, but the feeling still made him shudder.
The darkness around him grew thinner until he was able to make out the base of the willow tree. He stepped forward and rested his palm on the tree-trunk; the feeling of something solid always settled his nerves after shadow-travelling.
He turned around and sat down on the cool grass, his back resting against the tree. He listened as he sat there, hearing the wind rustle the leaves of the trees and the buzzing of insects. If he concentrated, he could hear the whispering of the dead as well. The whole camp was full of demigod spirits, the place seemed like a giant grave site. Anubis had told him that the camp was a place of death when he'd first showed up in cabin thirteen. The whole camp was full of old spirits; some from humans, others from demigods whose souls hadn't travelled to the underworld. The first time Anubis had appeared in Cabin thirteen, he'd stated that the camp was like a giant grave site. He'd also informed Nico of the fact that it was easy for him to appear and stay in places of death, and that he could only stay in other places for a limited time. He closed his eyes and felt the earth thrum beneath his fingers, the minerals responding to his touch.
Nico woke with a start. He'd probably fallen asleep without noticing. He stretched his sore muscles and massaged his aching neck before looking around. The sun was nowhere to be seen and he could hear the chirping of crickets, some fireflies had even decided to flutter around.
As he sat there, he grew increasingly aware of the presence of someone else nearby. He glanced around and spotted a figure about ten meters away; the silhouette hunched over as if staring at the ground. The son of Hades slowly got up, his hand instantly gripping his Stygian Iron sword. He made the shadows thicken around him, lowering his presence, and crept forward. He made it about seven meters before the figure turned around, a grin plastered on the stranger's face.
"That won't work on me, I thought we'd already been through this," the smug voice of Anubis spoke up. Nico halted and stared at the god, his jaw slack.
"Anubis...?"
"Hello, Nico."
The demigod stepped forward, a small smile forming on his face. He then pointed the sword at the Lord of Funerals, the tip dangerously close to Anubis' throat, "How do I know it's really you? Many gods and monsters have the ability to take the appearance of another."
"Always on alert. That's the Nico I know," the god smiled before pushing the sword away, his other hand pulling his shirt slightly down, exposing a black Ankh. "No-one else knows that I have this mark."
Nico smiled as he dropped his sword, his arms then embracing the god. "Hello, Anubis."
"Did you miss me that much?" Anubis said with a chuckle, his hands moving up into the demigod's hair.
"You've been gone for months without so much as a hint that you were even alive, of course I was worried," Nico replied, punching the god's arm as he did. Anubis' eyes softened, his fingers tracing the side of Nico's face, "I'm sorry, but the other gods wouldn't let me see you before my trial was over."
Nico's eyebrows shot up, "Trial? What trial?"
"Egyptian gods are forbidden from getting romantically involved with a mortal, unless the god is inhabiting a human. I has to prove my worth by answering a few questions while holding the Feather of Truth. They then concluded that you were indeed my soulmate, and since you are a demigod, they allowed our soul-bond."
Nico nodded and smiled at the Lord of Funerals, feeling as if a huge weight has been lifted off his heart. He leaned forward and let his lips gently brush the other's, a shiver running down his spine at the action. As the god kissed him back, he felt his mark heat up, as if it had -just as Nico had - longed for this moment. The demigod lifted his hands and rested them on Anubis' neck, feeling the blood thrum through the veins beneath his fingers. He felt the god's bones, the minerals reacting to his presence. Nico let himself relish in the sensation of the ancient energy floating through Anubis' body. The god's energy was laced with death and the son of Hades felt his entire being responding to the energy that was such a big part of him. He guessed this was the reason he felt so at home with the god, the natural aura of death surrounding Anubis always calling out to him, resonating with his own death-energy.
Anubis moaned slightly against his mouth, his hands sliding down from Nico's face to grip his forearms.
"Ah- could you please stop trying to fuse with the energy in my bones? It's kind of distracting – not in a bad way, just – it feels as if you're trying to absorb me," the god spoke up, his lips brushing against Nico's with every word. The demigod looked down at his hands and saw that they had begun to turn slightly black where their skin met. He quickly removed his hands, his fingers leaving behind black fingershaped marks. Anubis hissed slighly and shuddered, the marks dissappearing as he did so.
"Sorry, I have no idea what just happened, it's never heppened before. Are you okay?" Nico's fingers hovered over the god's skin, he felt a bit too anxious to touch him again.
Anubis smiled and rubbed the other's arms reassuringly, "Yeah, it was a bit strange. It felt like part of me was being dragged into you, like you grabbed a part of my soul and was trying to absorb its essence."
Nico shuddered, "Sorry, it's just that your energy is so inviting. I felt like I wanted to crall inside of you and stay in the center of your aura." The son of Hades scared himself a bit with those words, hearing the actual truth in them. He had to be a bit more careful with death-energy.
The Lord of Funerals kissed him again, his lips moving slowly against Nico's, effectively making the demigod relax again. The mortal's hands drifted downwards, slipping under Anubis' shirt, relishing the shiver he got, and trailed upwards until they rested on the Ankh. The god drew in a shivering breath, his hands gripping Nico's shoulder to steady himself. The demigod could feel pulses of electricity flow up his arms from the soul-mark, the hair on his arms standing up.
Anubis' lips pressed harder against his as he pulled Nico into his lap, one hand slipping up the other's shirt to press against the bottom of his spine, the other hand slipping up to press against the demigod's soul-mark. Nico arched into the god as a pulse of energy shot from the mark on his chest, sending pleasant shivers down his spine. He moaned and felt Anubis' tongue brush against the edges of his teeth, then slide further into his mouth. He let the elder gain control, feeling the god growl slightly at his submission – gods, his animal traits were definitely showing.
"I want to consume your everything, Nico di Angelo. You have no idea how long I've waited to find you, to hold you. It was like a thirst I could never quench, it was unberable. Especially after you..." the god grew silent, his head hanging low.
"After I what?" Nico asked, trying to lift Anubis' head.
"After you... died."
Nico flinched, he hadn't expected that answer. He finally got the god to look at him again, and he saw such deep sadness in the god's eyes, "What do you mean?"
Anubis inhaled and exhaled slowly, his hands tightning their grip on the son of Hades, "You died, Nico. And the mark dissappeared. I- I felt as if I died as well, but since I'm immortal, I can't die from losing my soulmate. And many years passed, many thousand years, and the mark returned. I was thrilled, but then at the same time absolutely terrified. I was glad that your sould had been reborn, but that meant I had to lose you again." The god leaned forward, his forehead burying into Nico's neck. "And you did, you died, again. I almost lost my mind after that, I lost track of time, days didn't seem to matter anymore. Until the mark appeared again, three thousand years later. And it almost broke me, I knew I had to live through the greif again."
Nico carded his fingers slowly through the god's hair, "That sounds horrible, Anubis. I don't know if I'd survive losing my soulmate twice."
"Most would lose their minds completely, go insane and end up fading away. But I met a skinny kid with a knack for attracting ghosts and other monsters. And he turned out to be surprisingly important to me, even though he can be a bit too gloomy sometimes." The son of Hades slapped his arm before bringing the god's face to his, pressing his lips against Anubis'.
"I'm glad you finally found me, mio amore," he whispered against Anubis' lips. The reaction he got was worth speaking Italian – the god's eyes flashed gold a moment before he bent down and bit the soft area above his left clavicle.
The demigod shuddered in surprised pleasure as he felt the other's teeth – were they normally that sharp? - sink into his flesh. There was a slight sting when they pierced the skin, a bit of blood oozing out. A warm tongue slid over the wound before Aubis nuzzled against his hair.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. The jackal part took over a bit."
Nico chuckled, releasing the other's hair, which he had instincively grabbed, "No, it's okay, just surprised me is all." He stroked the god's cheek and let his body completely relax in Anubis' grasp. "Can we move to my cabin? It's getting a bit chilly out here."
He felt a surge of dark energy and found himself on top of his bed in cabin thirteen. He laid on his back with Anubis sprawled on top of him.
"I have a feeling you won't be moving for a while," he said as he patted the other's back.
"I have no intention of moving until tommorow," the god replied before burying his face into Nico's chest and shutting his eyes.
Nico chuckled. He could have it worse than this.