Nico cowers in a tiny crevice barely big enough for him to fit in. He holds his hands over his ears, but to no use. The voice that speaks, speaks in his mind.
"Do you really think she loved you? If she did, don't you think she would have stayed with you? Taken care of you?"
"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Nico screams at the top of his lungs, his heart racing and his breathing quickening.
"She joined the Hunters, knowing full well that she couldn't be with you. She abandoned her little brother. That's what she did. She abandoned you. Because she never really cared for you."
He wishes he could kill the voice, he wishes he could knock himself out unconscious, he wishes he could die. Anything to make the taunting end.
"You know what you were to her, Nico di Angelo? A burden. She had wanted to get rid of you for years. She thought you were annoying and a waste of space. She despised you."
Nico starts sobbing and pulls at his hair. "You're lying! You. Are. LYING!"
The cold voice laughs, like it always does when Nico accuses it of deceit. "Then why did she leave you, Nico?"
"Because she was just teenager and she was too young to be dealing with taking care of her broth-"
"So you admit it. You were a burden to her."
"That's not what I meant!" Nico starts banging his head against the stones in hope that it would give him a concussion.
"And how about how she died, Nico. She could've let Percy Jackson sacrifice himself, but she didn't let him. Instead, she got herself killed, not caring if she left you completely alone in the world. She loved that boy more than she could love you."
Nico shakes his head again, he can't even contradict the voice anymore because of his sobs.
"And then when you tried looking for her, she never showed up. She knew you were alone, but she never once tried to contact you. But then when Percy Jackson asks for her, there she is. What does that say about her love for you, Nico?"
"She did it for my own good! She loved me and that's why she did that!" But Nico doesn't believe his words anymore. The voice is right.
"Of course I am right. I always am, am I not?"
A guffaw thunders through the darkness.
Nico hugs his knees to his chest, succumbed to a whimpering mess.
"Honestly, I don't think there's a single being in the universe who loves you."
Nico bites down on his lip and doesn't bother arguing with the voice anymore. He knows that everything it says is right. He only wishes it were false, it's the only reason why he ever shouts back. He only argues in hope that the truth will change.
But at the end of the day, it always ends like this, with Nico whimpering and trembling on the ground and the voice laughing in triumph.