A/N: Um...this is my very first Percy Jackson fanfiction ever, and it is set after the battle with Gaia and everything, but I haven't read HOH yet, so forgive me. I tried to keep things vague. Forgive me if people are OOC or if I misspelled gods' names. I am ALWAYS doing that :P it's their fault for having such crap-long names, I tell you! xP Anyway, I'm really sorry if it sucks. I was originally going to write angst about Nico being alone, but I read a one-shot about that and realized people had already taken all the good ideas and I didn't want to copy anyone, so...this is my thing.
If it sounds too much like somebody else's, I probably haven't read it. I've only read a couple one-shots on Percy Jackson, because I only recently became really invested in the fandom, even though I read the first book like, three, maybe four years ago.
P.S: I haven't read those books for a really long time, so if there's anything in there about how a child of Hades HAS TO BE ALONE FOREVER AND HAVE ANGST AND CRY HIS HEART OUT, then forgive me. I missed it :P but my theory is that the aloneness was something Nico inflicted on himself, because Camp Half-Blood didn't really accept him.
Nico Di Angelo was, to put it simply, not a people person.
In fact, you could describe him as a loner. He skulked in the back of the crowds, he hid in shadows, he blended in perfectly with the darkness.
He was feared and he was unloved.
He never felt sorry for himself; it was the way things were and the way they had to be. He had to be alone. He was a child of Hades, after all.
There wasn't even a cabin at Camp Half-Blood for his father. Hades was the unlovable god, after all.
But as he sat there, tired and battle-weary and barely able to keep his eyes open, he began wondering how alone he really was.
He was clutching his Stygian sword, nearly dozing right there at the table, and his eyes flickered around the table in the dining pavilion, resting on each of the other demigods in turn.
There was Leo Valdez, cracking a joke with several other Hephaestus kids who had managed to snag a spot with the heroes of the hour.
There was Hazel Levesque, smiling and just shaking her head at the festivities while her boyfriend, Frank Zhang, sat beside her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
There was Piper McLean, trying to make her way out of a conversation with her brothers and sisters from Aphrodite, and there was Jason Grace, hair unexpectedly NOT perfect, going over to help her.
And there were the two real heroes, thought Nico to himself as his eyes landed on Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. They had been the ones who'd really helped the gods all this time and helped them defeat Gaia. They were the ones who people kept congratulating, but they were being left alone to eat, at least, unlike the others.
To his surprise, an amused smirk crossed his face at this thought.
He was being given a wide berth as well, but he didn't care. He was the son of Hades – for Zeus' sake, a son of Hades should be left alone.
He had a nearly untouched plate of food in front of him, but he had plans to change that. He picked up his fork and attacked a piece of chicken, just as Annabeth and Percy shook off the last of their admirers and scooted farther down the table, closer to him.
Nico glanced up at them suspiciously, considering moving away, but reflected that this would be childish and decided to stick it out and see what they wanted.
There were no words exchanged for a long time, but finally Percy broke the silence. "Hey." He nodded.
"Hey." Nico nodded back. He was a boy of few words.
"It's nice, isn't it?" Annabeth mused. "Just a bit of peace and quiet for awhile, huh?"
"What a surprise," Leo Valdez said, plopping himself down beside Percy. "Would've thought Ms. Chase here would have been soaking in the admiration from her Athena friends."
Annabeth gave him a tired smile. "Just looking for a bit of silence."
"That'll be impossible with Leo," Piper added, coming to sit across from Nico, holding hands with Jason, who obediently took the seat beside her.
"I think we can all agree we need somebody to lighten the tension," Leo chipped in, looking offended.
"And some of us need silence," Percy remarked.
The others talked for a few more minutes and then, one by one, they all fell silent, Leo being the last.
Nico glanced around at them all and surprised himself by feeling a great rush of affection for all of them.
Maybe, between all of the demigods, Greek and Roman alike, maybe, just one child of Hades could find companionship.
Maybe this single child of Hades didn't have to be alone.