If only he told her
Nico didn't know he could ever feel as much regret as he felt in the jar. He had a feeling it was quite obvious that he had a crush on Percy, even though he never directly said it...yet. But nonetheless at least no one would ever know about his other crush. No one would know, not even the crush herself...and that just made the regret even stronger.
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Nico fell out of his shadow and decided to walk the rest of his journey. He didn't know what was going to happen once he reached the doors of death, but he HAD to close it soon. Even if it meant he was going to die. No one, not even Hades himself knows how the doors of death works, and yet he decided to take on an unknown task on his own.
Well except, he thought he was alone. As he traveled through the endless woods, somewhere hundreds of miles away from Camp Jupiter, he encountered endless amounts of stray monsters. The monsters seemed to keep reappearing faster and faster. The doors of death were the only things that kept them from coming back from Tartarus too fast and it was now reopened. It only motivated him more to close them.
Nico was a son of Hades; he didn't need help, he didn't need to fear any place of the underworld, and he certainly didn't need to feel at home, as long as he saved the world. Home... he thought.
But first, he needs to get a temporary home and rest. So he sneaked into an abandoned empty cave for some rest. He never realized he was tired until he laid down. It was then when he relaxed that his eyes started to feel heavy.
The thought of "home" only gave him feelings of loneliness. A melancholy that only came from knowing that he would never belong, and that he would never find his place. Bianca was the only one who was "home" to him, but she was gone now. It certainly did hurt, like a thousand skeletons clawing into his heart. But even so, he was able to find the strength and solace in someone he knew. Someone he looked up to, who was also VERY close to her. Not Percy...that was just his infatuation. But it was none other than Thalia Grace herself. The daughter of Zeus.
Nico admired many things about her, from her spiky black hair, to her black clothes and leather jacket, and her skull earrings especially. Oh skulls...boy did he love skulls. He learned to love them from how they looked on Thalia. She wore so many dark clothes and accessories, that it only made her look cooler. He was even inspired by her, giving him and idea for his own choice of fashion. Not many people knew, but he wore black clothes not just to appease his father, but because he loved how it looked, mainly because of Thalia. Despite her beautiful dark fashion, she still managed to look pretty and graceful with her electric-blue eyes. Like her surname: Grace.
Nico felt so many things for that girl, but maybe it was because he was young and impressionable? Yup...it was definitely because he was young. Even though he probably never had a chance, he still wished he could've told her how he felt. He didn't like having a 'what if' in his life. He had so many chances to tell her while she wasn't a hunter at camp, and yet he wasted it, feeling hurt and betrayed by Bianca. But maybe...just maybe there's still a chance. He wasn't too far out into the woods was he? ...maybe she was still helping with the search for Percy. Maybe...just maybe she was still there in the cities with her hunter friends.
With that thought his eyes flashed open. He ran out of the cave and desperately tried to look for an easy shadow to phase into. Maybe if he shadow traveled fast enough, he could find Thalia really quick, and tell her before he goes on his mission to close the doors. He ran around the woods desperately scanning which shadow was the biggest. He found a really dark shadow on a tree facing away from the dim sunlight. Yes...score... he thought.
Nico touched his hand into the shadow only for it to spit his arm back out. "What the...?" He muttered to himself. He tried again, only to have the stubborn shadow spit him out.
Suddenly a powerful force sent him flying backwards. As he saw the world spinning as he flew, he took a glance to see the same cave he'd slept inside of pulling him with dark gravity. He held onto a tree, his hands white with effort.
Yes, come closer son of Hades. I saw your suffering while you rested. You are filled with regret...and you wish to tell her to pardon yourself from further internal suffering by telling her how you felt. But nonetheless, I am TARTARUS...I lust for more suffering: You will suffer even more, as you will never get to tell her. A deep sinister voice echoed from the cave.
Nico learned something: Tartarus can awaken by simply sensing your pain.
"No! I'll tell her! I...HAVE TO!" He yelled, still holding onto the tree. He smiled in triumph as he successfully climbed behind the tree and away from the dark gravity range.
He breathed with relief as he sat behind the tree. "Thank gods..." He said, almost laughing.
Suddenly, the tree he lay on was instantly pulled from its roots and into the black hole he flew.
"No!" He impaled his sword onto the ground holding him temporarily. Thalia... he thought.
He wasn't going to give up that easily, he had set his mind to telling her, and he was going to do it.
Oh no you don't. Tartarus boomed.
The ground under his sword cracked and formed a giant endless black fissure.
"No! Thalia!" His voice echoed as he fell into the bottomless pit.
Into Tartarus Nico Di Angelo fell...
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Nico lay inside of the hollow jar, hopelessly waiting to be rescued.
The jar itself was empty, and it felt so cold, just like his heart. He was full of loneliness, heartbreak, pain, and worst of all...regret.
If only he had told her...
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Credit Song: So Cold-Nikisha Reyes (instrumental)