Title: I'll Stay With You
Summary: Hardly anything changed in the Fields of Asphodel, spirits would wander and scream and try to remember who they were. No one ever got out, no one ever remembered. And everything remained the same, everything was darkness and solitude, until a boy with dark hair and sad eyes came… and stayed.
A small interruption, eyes here please: I'm sorry guys. I'm really sorry (why am I apologizing? You'll find out soon). Also, the quote below was taken from Hazel and Frank's conversation when they saw Hazel's past in the Fields before Nico came to get her out.
Chapter I
"What happens now?
"Nothing, nothing… for all eternity."
.I.
He learned not to question why he was here, he realized that if he asked, he'd keep asking and probably end up as insane and lost as the other spirits that passed by him.
He tried not to think back to the before, it was by thinking about before that made these souls restless and wander for a way out.
He knew there was no way out.
So he trudged on. He walked and looked around and saw faces upon faces that made no sense that expressed different stages of agitation and grief and loss of hope. There probably was a time that it used to get to him but then he realized he was just like them and since he did not pity himself, he learned not to pity them. Even if there was a time he pitied himself, he didn't remember.
.II.
He didn't know why he didn't talk.
He knew that the others like him could talk. He heard their endless whispers, their desperate questions…
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing here?
And he had the same questions, only he tried not to think about it and tried not to voice it out loud. Not saying anything eased a coiled emotion in his heart, an emotion he probably lost the name for a long time ago.
He didn't know why he didn't talk. Probably, once upon a time, he did know but just forgot. Like how he forgot his name, his face, before.
He at least remembered that he forgot a lot of things.
.III.
Something changed in the Fields of Asphodel one day. An insignificant day like every other thousands, hundreds, or maybe million days he'd spent walking and walking, not knowing where he was headed. It was an insignificant day, but something changed.
A teen or a man (he couldn't distinguish one over the other anymore, he didn't know what made a person a man or a child) walked among the Fields of Asphodel, his hair and eyes as dark as shadows, he wore a dark overcoat, a sword on his side. He walked like a warrior, a soldier who has had enough of wars, his shoulders heavy with an unseen burden.
The confused spirits made way for him, eyed him hungrily. They knew, as he did, that the teen (a man?) was not one of them, that he was different. Shadows clung to his form, serving as a barrier from the hungry spirits.
The teen (or man) stopped in front of him, he looked younger than he thought but his eyes were older, sadder, for a person who did not dwell in Asphodel.
The spirits all around kneeled and he knew that it was not to their liking. There was just something about this person, a power that demanded respect. He was about to kneel too but the person dressed in shadows reached out a hand and held his face (he forgot he had a face, that he even had a form, but this dark person must be doing something, because he could feel his soft touch even through his glove).
"I'm sorry I took awhile," He said, "But I'm here now."
His words did not make sense, not in the Fields where everything was a question that would never be answered.
But the teen's words soothed him and despite the never-ending coldness of the Fields, he felt warm.
He wondered if someone ever held him like this before.
.IV.
"Nico." The teen had said this was his name, but the tone was weary. He probably told him his name a dozen times, a hundred, but it was of no use. He could never remember especially when the dark teen- Nico, he told himself- left. The Fields of Asphodel erased everything: your past, your identity, your soul.
He wondered why the dark one continued to tell him his name.
Nico had probably come to him a dozen, a hundred, a thousand times, but he could never remember anything from before today, before walking, and searching, and asking himself who he was, where he was, why he was here.
But he knew that Nico had become a constant in the Field, the lone prince of darkness that walked through a thousand spirits, looking for him. He wanted to ask him why, but maybe he'd forgotten how to talk, just like how he'd forgotten why he didn't talk.
So, he didn't say a word and just looked at this impossibility he'd forgotten until he'd come back to remind him that he was here. That he was always here, that he will always be here.
He had the urge to ask why.
But he didn't.
And later, when Nico would leave again, he would forget.
.V.
"You're different from them." Nico told him one time (or maybe a dozen times, he forgets, he always forgets). He would reach out with his darkly gloved hand and take the hands he didn't know (he forgot) he had, until that moment. "Do you know what you look like?"
He blinked and shook his head. He didn't even know he looked like anything. Everyone in the Field looked the same. Faceless spirits with lost looks on their faces.
Nico's thumb drew circles on his palm and he watched for awhile before looking up at pained dark eyes. Did the pain have something to do with him? Did he cause that pain? Why does Nico keep looking for him when all it caused him was grief?
"You have blonde hair, as bright as the sun." Nico said and he intertwined their fingers, ghostly and mist-like against black leather. "Your eyes are as clear as the cloudless sky, did you know?"
No, he didn't.
He'd forgotten.
So he shook his head and Nico's grip on his hand tightened. The impossibly dark eyes dimmed and he bowed his head, shoulders shaking. He said one word, one word that seemed impossibly familiar in this atmosphere of forgetting and losing yourself.
"Will."
.VI.
He couldn't remember a time when the impossible, dark-clothed teen didn't come. To him, there was no before the prince of darkness, even if there was, he didn't remember.
He wouldn't want to, even if he tried.
"Nico." The prince of the dark would tell him once he'd come to view. He guessed it probably became a greeting for them, since he'd always forget who the prince was and only remembered when he would come. "How are you doing today?"
Maybe if he'd remember emotions or how to use his facial expressions, he'd give him an exasperated or incredulous look. Nico knew nothing ever changed in Asphodel.
Nico gave him a small smile, as though he'd read what he'd thought despite his probably blank face. "It's pleasantries. There's this thing called manners in the mortal world."
There was a mortal world. Something beyond this endless field of walking and asking yourself what you've forgotten, who you've forgotten, why you've forgotten.
But instead of asking himself if he'd once been part of that, if he'd once had an identity other than the spirit who walked among spirits, he asked himself instead why Nico was here. Why was he in the Fields of people who always forgot and who knew nothing about themselves and each other? Why was he not somewhere that was not here?
But Nico could not read minds, so he sat down on the field of endless footprints made by spirits who tried to go to the end of the Fields of Asphodel. The prince looked up at him and gave him a small smile that was both sad and tired.
He felt an unexpected tug at his chest.
.VII.
A woman (he presumed it to be a woman, he'd like to think he didn't forget to distinguish between genders at the very least, like how he knew he was a he and that the dark prince was a he), with hair like brown earth and gold dust, appeared before him instead of the dark-haired prince he was used to. Another anomaly in the Fields, and it all seemed to be happening to him.
Her face was kind and warm, golden eyes standing out in her features and there was something familiar in them, something about her that was like the dark-haired prince that visited.
She was older than the dark-haired teen, but the prince's eyes were sadder and so much older than hers. The spirits all around paused, staring at her as though she was the answer to all their questions.
"My name is Hazel Levesque." She said in a kind voice, again, different from the prince. "I am the daughter of Pluto. Pluto is the one who looks over everything in the Underworld. I'm Nico's sister."
Nico. He remembered again the prince's name.
Still, he didn't know why she was speaking to him. In this field of a million spirits, he was nothing special.
The woman smiled as though she'd read his thoughts and she reached forward to take his hands. They were warm, warmer than Nico's but they didn't make him remember that he had a form, that he was once alive.
Hazel's eyes were sad now, like molten gold as she stared into his eyes, "I'm Nico's younger sister."
In his nearly ghost-like form, he didn't think it was possible to freeze, but he stilled, and he knew that if he remembered how to, he would have looked at her with surprise.
Nico's younger sister and Nico was younger than a man and this woman was clearly older.
But she was his younger sister.
The woman (Hazel, he firmly told his mind) blinked back tears from her eyes, "Do you understand, Will?"
He understood, he knew very well what she was trying to tell him, but it didn't make sense and in the end, it wouldn't matter.
Because later, he would forget.
Regardless, Hazel went on, brushing a stray tear from her face as he looked right at him, eyes so, so sad. Too sad for a person who did not dwell in Asphodel.
"He gave up everything for you."
.VIII.
The dark prince stumbled towards him, appearing in shadows, expression worn and tired. "I'm Nico." The prince introduced himself as always when he found him. He stared into sad, dark eyes, gloved hands taking his ghost-like hands.
There was an undercurrent of something that resembled electricity there. It was familiar.
But nothing should be familiar.
He looked at the gloved-hands, curling his own against the other's. Nico blinked at him and asked, "Did something happen?"
I don't know. He'd like to say, because even if something did happen, he wouldn't remember. For the first time he felt something in his chest coil.
He realized it was frustration.
His agitation was new to him and it came off him in waves that had Nico stepping closer to him, forehead crinkled in worry. "What's wrong?" Nico had asked but he should know what's wrong and he shouldn't be asking someone who'd forgotten everything, even his own identity.
"Will…" And it was that name again. That name that was familiar but was something he'd never heard before now (or if he had heard before, then he'd forgotten it like everything else). Was that his name? Was that who he was? Was that the reason why Nico came here, in this Field of lost souls and forgotten memories? Did he come here looking for a person that couldn't remember him and even worse couldn't remember himself?
Had Nico come all this way, sacrificed so much, just for a shadow of a person he used to know?
His hands on the dark glove tightened even more and he felt his face make an expression for the first time, probably one of frustration, that surprised the dark prince.
He opened his mouth and spoke the question that echoed in every Asphodel dweller's mind, "Who am I?" He asked as he looked at Nico. "Who am I? And who are you?"
Dark eyes were wide at his words but he couldn't stop and kept asking.
"Who are you?" He asked in a firm tone, "Who am I to you? And who are you to me?" He shook his head, "Why are you here?"
The expression Nico gave him made him want to curl against himself. It reminded him of his reason why he didn't talk in the first place. He knew that if he opened his mouth, anything that he would say would only add to someone's suffering, be it his own or someone else's.
He didn't want his words to break someone's heart.
.IX.
Everything was silent and for the first time the frustration in him gave way to fear that had nothing to do with the thought of wandering the fields of Asphode. He wondered if he'd destroyed the one constant thing he'd like to have in the Fields. He wondered if the teen with the sad eyes would leave now and realize he was just like every lost soul, a shadow of what he used to be.
But then Nico spoke.
"You don't need to know who I am or who you are. You don't need to ask why, you don't even have to remember, it's okay." Gloves were taken off and for the first time, his mist-like hands touched Nico's warm ones. He remembered he had a heart and if it was beating it would probably trip on itself at the touch. "You just have to know that I'll be here, that I'll always be here."
Their fingers intertwined and a distant memory echoed in his mind, something about baby satyrs and giving birth and darkness.
And amidst his confusion, amidst the familiarity and the frustration… Nico whispered.
"I'll stay with you."
He wondered if it was possible for a heart that long stopped beating to beat again just from the words alone.
.X.
Three black-robed figures in golden masks stared down at him. It was a familiar scene, one from a long time ago, when a soul of a brother had been in the balance.
He could feel the memory burning at the back of his head. It was fuzzy, but it was better than nothing. Being away from the Fields of Asphodel was doing wonders to his lost memories. He looked to the side and saw a familiar person clad in a dark overcoat. His pale skin stood out amongst the dark shadows and the three golden-masked judges. He was familiar but he didn't know (remember) who he was.
"Will Solace, son of Apollo." He snapped his head back and he recognized his own name for the first time. He repeated it in his head. Will Solace. He repeated to himself, Will Solace, that's my name. I'm Will Solace, I'm a son of Apollo.
Solace means comfort. Sol is Italian for sun. He remembered somebody told him this once, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember who.
"A demigod healer who helped in the war against Kronos and the war against Gaea." The judge on the right said, "He died saving a son of Apollo who had betrayed the gods and their children to the Titans' followers. Refused Elysium and accepted the offer of the Fields of Asphodel for him and his brother instead of the Fields of Punishment for the traitor."
As the judges talked, it all came back to him: How after the fight with Gaea they'd found peace for a few years until their camp was attacked by Gaea and the Titan's remaining devoted followers. He'd saved as many as he could, putting his life on the line and when he'd found out that it was his brother who'd betrayed them and let the monsters in during the time when the camp was with the least demigods, he'd gone after him and tried to convince him back to their side. He died saving his brother from the Titans' followers who backstabbed him in the end.
"I remember." Will said, breathing out in surprise before his eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Why have you called me back, after all this time? I still don't think Mike deserved the Fields of Punishment. He repented in the end!"
The middle judge snorted, "Worry not for your brother, Will Solace. We will not throw him to the Fields of Punishment, the decision for that has long passed." He said, "We have called you here to offer you the chance of Elysium once more."
The son of Apollo gaped and looked at them disbelievingly, "Why?"
The last judge, the one on the right, sighed, "You have shown selflessness only one other demigod had ever portrayed, Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto did the same for her mother, despite everything Marie Levesque had done to her." He said, "This selflessness and your dedication to the gods is more than deserving to enter the place of heroes."
Blue eyes looked at each one of them in turn, "No, that's not the reason why you're letting me go. There's something else." He contemplated before reaching an answer, "Someone convinced you to let me go." He said, surprised.
The three judges grunted in annoyance.
"The circumstances that led to this decision are none of your concern." The one on the right said, "These are special circumstances, learn to accept that and just be thankful."
Will opened his mouth, possibly to annoy them enough to tell him who it was that got him out, when the person leaning against the shadows stepped forward to intervene.
"That's enough." The teen with dark-hair said, pointedly glaring at the judges. "The sentence to welcome Will Solace into Elysium has been passed." Maybe it was just Will's imagination, but the teen seemed to have tripped over his name. "You may leave." He made a sweeping gesture with his hand and the three judges were covered by shadows that took them away without protest. "I apologize, it was exactly those attitude of theirs that caused traffic in the judgment section of the Underworld."
Will just blinked and looked at the pale teen in his dark overcoat and dark sword on his side. The teen wasn't looking at him. "I know you."
The teen turned to him, eyebrow raised, "Do you? I doubt it."
"No, but-" Will's eyebrows crinkled, "You seem familiar."
The teen seemed to look at him with pity. But there was something about his eyes that seemed almost sad, "You just came from the Fields of Asphodel. It often messes with a person's perception." He said as he led Will towards the gates of Elysium, "You don't know me."
Will highly doubted that, but for some reason he couldn't call up memories with this specific person so he had no choice but not to pursue the matter anymore or he might get kicked out of the Underworld.
The teen beside him chuckled, as though he knew what he was thinking about. He blinked at the other in confusion, "You look like you're worrying that you'd be kicked out." He said, "I can assure you that no one would kick you out of here. Well, I won't let them anyway."
The blonde gave him a surprised look before smiling, "Thanks."
The dark-haired teen seemed to freeze, giving him a wide-eyed look.
"Uhm, are you okay?"
His companion cleared his throat, "I'm fine. Just-" He waved it off, "It's nothing. We're here." He said, gesturing to the ivory arches decorated with golden vines that led to the Underworld's Elysium.
"Huh, Elysium." Will looked up. He wondered how long he'd been here, if his friends were already on the other side, all waiting for him. A thought came to him and he turned to the dark-haired teen, "So, am I gonna be seeing you here after you, you know, pass on too?"
"I can't ever pass through here." The teen gave him an indifferent look as he said, "I'm immortal."
Will blinked as disappointment and something more churned in his stomach. "Oh." He said and then unable to help himself, he asked curiously, "Why?"
The younger teen seemed to give him an amused and yet sad smile, "It was the only way I could stay by someone's side."
"Your father's?"
"No." He shook his head, "Someone else."
"Okay," The son of Apollo said, "Girlfriend?" He gave a wild guess, "Didn't see you as the romantic type."
The son of Hades shook his head, "I'm not." The gate lit up and the two of them looked into it to see a beautifully designed garden that resembled Olympus, waiting for Will. The dark-haired teen whispered, "It's time for you to go."
"Oh, yeah, right." He said stepping forward, but then he hesitated and turned back. "Can't you, uh, at least tell me your name?"
The teen shook his head and Will huffed.
"Aw, come on, this may be the last time we see each other." Nothing, not even a flinch. "I can't just keep calling you emo kid in my mind…" He said and still nothing. He decided to go for a random statement he always said just to get other people to do what he said, "What if I said 'doctor's orders'?"
He knew he didn't imagine the way dark eyes flashed at his words and for a moment he stood there, just staring at the other teen, wondering why he felt such a pull towards him.
Eventually, the younger of the two cleared his throat and pulled something from his finger. "Here." He handed a silver skull ring to a surprised Will. "Names are powerful things, I can't tell you mine for various reasons, so I hope you accept this token as an apology…" Then he added almost jokingly, "And also as a bribe to stop annoying me."
Will would have laughed at that if he hadn't been staring at the object in his palm. He closed his hand around the cold object. For some reason the fact that this stranger was giving him this, seemed serious. He couldn't laugh at it.
Dark eyes softened as the son of Hades companion pushed him towards the gates. "Don't forget to try for rebirth."
"Three times, isle of Blest." Will nodded, remembering. "Thanks, uh for everything. And- and for this." He held up the ring awkwardly.
"You're welcome." The younger teen nodded as Will stepped into the arch, feeling the warmth of heaven pulling him in just as the person behind him spoke in a soft, broken-hearted tone.
"Goodbye, Will."
Will spun so fast, he almost broke his neck. But he had already gone passed the gate and he could see it closing over the vulnerable form of a certain son of Hades.
"Di- di Angelo…" He muttered, blue eyes wide as memories of the son of Hades overcame him.
You dressed in black, with the sun coming up. You painted your face but didn't cover that mop of blond hair. You might as well be waving a yellow flag.
I'm fine.
Tastes like tar and dirt.
Do not call me Death boy!
Three days? I-I suppose that would be okay.
I'll be right back, promise on the Styx and everything!
Solace means comfort. Sol is Italian for sun.
WILL!
You don't need to know who I am or who you are. You don't need to ask why, you don't even have to remember, it's okay.
I'll stay with you.
Will ran forward, fully determined to throw himself across dimensions if it meant he'd get to stay with the dark-haired teen who'd stayed with him for so long, who'd given up his mortality just to stay with a person who didn't even remember him, even if it meant forever, especially if it meant forever. "Nico!" He yelled as the portal closed and he was only able to see the son of Hades turning his back on hm.
"NICO!" He reached out a hand towards the arch as he pushed forward- faster, faster!
But it was too late. The portal had closed and even when Will jumped through the arch, he was still in Elysium. He stumbled to the ground because of the force of his jump.
You just have to know that I'll be here, that I'll always be here.
The son of Apollo punched the ground as he let out a heartrending scream that could have shook the heavens.
"LIAR!" He yelled in frustration, "Di Angelo you LIAR!" He could feel the cold metal of Nico's ring digging into his palm. He lied there shaking in anger, disbelief, and in grief. That idiot, how dare he…?
You have blonde hair, as bright as the sun. Your eyes are as clear as the cloudless sky, did you know?
It was a while before Will finally stood up and started walked away from the arch, coming to a decision. HIs hands were shaking, shoulders set in determination.
If Nico was going to live forever, still determined to push everyone away, he wouldn't let him.
Think… rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of Blest.
"Just wait for me, di Angelo." Will's blue eyes flashed, hand tightening around the ring. "I'll get back to your side, just you wait. And when I do, you better have a good reason for leaving me by myself." He stopped and looked at the sky, "Just you wait, Death Boy…"
This time, I'll stay with you.
Author's notes: Okay, I'm not really sorry. Hehe, so this was the heartbreaking story I told everyone to keep an eye out. You know, it makes sense though. Nico di Angelo who went to the underworld to bring Bianca back when Thanatos was kidnapped, I wouldn't be surprised if he went as far as staying with Will in the Fields of Asphodel if he ever went there. It's like, he knows what it feels like to be alone so even if Will doesn't remember, he'd rather not have him be alone.
It's sad like that.
Also, this was only supposed to be a one-shot. I don't know if I should make a chapter two XD I just wanted to portray this side of Nico. I'm undecided on a chapter two O_O
So yeah, thanks and stay tuned in to my less heartbreaking works? Leave reviews and everything!