Somehow, he had died last. When he was younger, Demeter had always picked on him for not eating enough grains, and he always resembled a ghast. Sunken cheekbones, eyes that gazed menacingly from beneath sagging eyelids- old age did Nico di Angelo no favors. His hair had lost its black luster years ago, and now he looked about as young as Jules-Albert.

And yet, here he lay dying, with only his father standing by his side, icy hand in hand. He looked up and saw Hades, still a middle-aged man. What an odd sight to look older than your father, Nico thought. Around him, the dimly lit candles flickered. Hades always had a flourish for the dramatic, opting to use finger-bone candles crafted with the fat of Tartarus victims. He closed his eyes. It had been a long life, hadn't it?

After Gaea slept again, so many decades ago, the world had changed. And as the years slipped by, they had many adventures together, but death eventually claimed each one of them slowly, but surely.

Will was first, and so young. Nico's first boyfriend, and also his last- after he died, to Nico's ears, no guy could compare to the blonde's sunny voice, laughing and speaking in that soft fashion he always did. Of course the selfless young man died doing what he loved- during a particularly bad Ebola outbreak, he had flown out to Cuba.

"Babe, I'll be back next week, promise." Will smiled back at him from the doorway, and leaned in for a quick kiss, but the edges of his face were blurred by memory.

"I- I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this," Nico said, fiddling with his necklace.

Will laughed softly and pulled Nico in for a hug. "Mom, you say that every time." His bright blue eyes shone back at Nico, dipping a bit when he saw the uncertain frown on his face. "Lighten up, I gotta go to the airport now. Love you as always!"

His gray fingers drifted gently over the necklace he always carried in his pocket. Will had given it to him for his 20th birthday. It was a sun, crafted out of solid gold. Will had his friend Lou enchant it for him, so that there was always a shadow on the sun that pointed out what time it was.

It was 3:26 when Will had died in a Cuban hospital, alone.

He had cried himself to sleep for years, but as time slowly wiped his tears, all he felt now was a slight discomfort in the corner of his eyes.

Percy, Annabeth, and their daughter - a freak accident involving a hellhound, a portal, and Manhattan. Although he had long been over Percy, Nico was still close friends with the handsome man. Interestingly enough, he had grown to become closer with Annabeth, as they both discovered a passion for law- she loved real estate, while Nico specialized in prosecution, especially murder cases.

Before the hellhound erupted into their bedroom when they were sleeping, Nico had spent an afternoon with Annabeth.

They lay down, side by side, poring through Annabeth's ancient collection. In another room, their daughter Zoe was screaming as Percy tickled her; them both laughing, a symphony of giggles.

Annabeth frowned as she pressed a button on the floor, and the vacuum sound system enveloped them in silence.

"Hey Annie, look at this." Nico shifted over a bit, pointing his finger at a line in the tome he was reading.

"-in 2027, Ms. Trump acquired the properties of Triple G Ranch, a stunning 500-acre plot in Houston, Texas, through a government program established by her father."

Annabeth widened her eyes. For the past month, Nico had been fighting tooth and bone for a pro-bono case. On a government-gifted ranch in Texas, a guard had shot a pair of homeless teens who had tried to huddle there for the night. The case was a perfect combination of their talents.

She shifted her glasses up. "Oh Nico, that's gotta be it. I remember learning at Yale about a case similar to this…" She drifted off, as Percy's singing somehow broke through the sound vacuum. "Oh, shut up Seaweed."

Luckily, most of his other friends lived past their twenties. Frank and Hazel split up in their forties, a brutal divorce suit that rocked the nation, as both had become corporate leaders. In the end, Frank was found overdosed in a cheap motel, while Hazel grew old with Nico and passed away decades later, quietly in her sleep.

Jason and Piper, true to their perfect-couple status, lived a full life as charity managers. When Piper got breast cancer at age 57, Jason watched over her in the hospital until she died, and he died of a broken heart days later.

Nico hadn't visited the hospital in a while, and felt bad. He had been so occupied with his law firm lately that he almost forgot that Piper and Jason existed.

But then Jason called in the middle of the night, as all their other friends were either dead or too far away. And Nico had come, holding a bundle of white tulips.

He knocked gingerly on the door marked 237. The handle opened, and Jason Grace looked out, a soft smile appearing when he saw Nico.

Nico had first really known Jason during that meeting with Eros, where he had come out to the blonde. Although they were never as close friends as Nico was with some of the others, he always felt a strange connection with Jason. The guy was expected to be a fierce leader and warrior, the son of Jupiter, and yet all he wanted to do was to protect and heal. Neither of them met the expectations placed on them.

By age 57, Grace had aged a bit, but he was still looked the second-best in the room, with his square jawline and perfect piercing eyes, he reminded Nico of Will. Of course, first place went to Piper, even if she was asleep and had tubes stuck in her neck. She looked the part of a supermodel, and even in her current state and with Nico being gay, he could still feel a pull on his heart.

Jason shook his head softly. "She's been like this for hours. The doctors… they don't think she'll survive the night."

Nico placed his hand on her fragile arm, and he could feel her soul inching towards the Underworld. The doctors were too optimistic; she had less than a few hours left, but he didn't have the heart to tell Jason.

And finally, there were the truly lucky ones. Thalia had chosen, after decades of serving with the Hunters, to retire and die in peace. After saying her goodbyes, Artemis had tapped one finger to her forehead, and she had melted into dust; a punk teenage girl surrounded by elderly friends.

Leo and Calypso had completed some quest, something about Hera and the great Unicorn of Athens. Anyways, Hera had them both permanently instated as her lieutenants, and although Leo complained quite a bit about Hera, he and Calypso lived happy immortal lives as the eternal patrons of daughter-father relationships and bad love puns.

And finally, Reyna. Nico's own best friend, whom he had first bonded with next to a snoring satyr and Giant Athena. After Will died, she had comforted him in her own way; by standing solemnly at his door while he cried, and making sure that overemotional friends didn't bother him. She stayed single, as well; for her, Jason was her only.

And she had died doing exactly what she loved, just like Will- she died protecting people, fighting for the rights of women in the Middle East. In her sleep, a shell hit her hospital.

Now, he felt the candles go out as a sudden gust of freezing wind sifted over his pale, saggy skin. Nico opened his eyes one last time, and found Hades smiling softly down at him.

"Mio amore, you did well. I'm proud of you."

Nico di Angelo closed his eyes.