Title: Alone
Pairing: One-sided Percico (Percy x Nico) but focuses more on Nico alone.
Characters: Nico di Angelo, Percy Jackson, Bianca di Angelo, Artemis (mentioned), Jason Grace and Cupid
WARNING! Contains a spoiler of House of Hades!
Summary: Nico knew he'd end up alone from the get-go. He just wishes that annoying little voice in his head would just shut up and stop reminding him about it.
Author's Note: I actually wrote this story during English class and decided to post it here for everyone to read. I'm not going to lie - this is the first fanfiction that I've written that doesn't involve any OC whatsoever. I wanted to try writing a little tribute, I guess, for Nico di Angelo since he's my all-time favorite character from the Percy Jackson series and still is during the Heroes of Olympus series. Nico isn't a very easy character to write, so I tried my best and I hope I did him justice.
Disclaimer: I don't own the House of Hades, the Heroes of Olympus series, the Percy Jackson series nor any of the characters seen here. They all belong to the series' author, Rick Riordan. :)
ENJOY!
From the very beginning, Nico was alone. He didn't realize it at first since Bianca was always there to keep an eye on him, but there would always be a little spark of loneliness at the back of his mind. It gnawed at him, telling him that everyone's companionship was only temporary - that he'll always be alone.
He ignored it. Every time that irritating voice in his head spoke up, he ignored it.
And why shouldn't he? The idea was stupid! Preposterous to even fathom. Nico would never be alone; not with Bianca around. That's what he always thought, and yet that voice kept coming back.
It wasn't long until Nico and Bianca met Percy Jackson and his friends at Westover Hall. Honestly, Nico couldn't care less about the others. His eyes were on Percy. Percy was Nico's Mythomagic game brought to life - a real hero. He was Nico's dream-come-true, and Nico idolized him. Nico put Percy on a high pedestal; he adored him. Nico loved him.
At first, the feeling scared him. Liking another guy? That was wrong - it wasn't normal. But he shrugged it off. He told himself that he just admired Percy - it wasn't love.
That annoying voice in Nico's mind spoke louder, and this time it told him not to get his hopes up. Nico ignored it again.
Things started going downhill when Bianca joined Artemis's stupid Hunters. That voice in Nico's head was laughing at him, telling him that he should've listened to it, but he blocked it out. He was angry; he was devastated. Most of all, he was confused. Why would Bianca leave him like this? He was her brother. Family is supposed to stick together.
It doesn't matter. Nico scowled. I still have Percy, and then I'll have Camp Half-Blood with me. I don't need Bianca.
But Nico kept thinking about his sister. "Family sticks together", and Nico wasn't going to let Bianca go so easily. He had to find a way to keep his sister safe. And he knew just the person for the job.
When Nico made Percy promise to protect Bianca on the quest, the voice practically sounded like it was standing right next to him.
The voice was laughing again. Percy had come back to camp without Bianca. Percy told Nico that Bianca had died. Nico's sister, his only family, was gone. And he didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.
Nico was angry. He was angry at Artemis, at the gods, at Bianca. He was angry at Percy.
For once, Nico agreed with everything that stupid voice kept telling him and honestly, he wondered why he didn't listen to it at the first place. It'd been right all along. He was going to end up alone and guess what? He is. Nico had gotten his hopes up. And look at where that got him.
Alone.
Nico yelled at Percy; he blamed him for Bianca's death. Percy had let Bianca die - he'd broken his promise. Nico felt like he would never forgive Percy for what happened.
Then those skeleton warriors showed up. They approached Percy with their weapons drawn, intent on killing the son of Poseidon. The minute one of them had dared to raise their weapon to strike Percy, Nico saw red. He let loose a rage-filled scream and the ground opened up beneath the skeletons' feet, swallowing them up and taking them back to wherever they came from.
He had protected Percy, but he was scared. And judging from the look on Percy's face, the son of Poseidon was scared too. Just one look into Percy's frightened sea-green eyes was all it took to send Nico running away from camp. Away from Percy.
For a long time, Nico's only companion was that cursed voice in his head.
The years went by fast - almost too fast. A lot had happened since that night. Nico had discovered that his father was Hades, God of the Underworld. He'd explored the labyrinth of Daedalus; lost the trust of Percy Jackson (Nico still winced whenever he thought about that. He had to admit, that was a stupid move and a stupid deal.), and lead an army of the dead to battle with his father at the Battle of Manhattan. Along the way, Nico had also discovered something about himself that truly terrified him. He was hopelessly in love with Percy Jackson.
Nico had fallen in love with the son of Poseidon, the Hero of Olympus, and the boyfriend of Annabeth Chase. He wondered if this was some kind of poetic justice that the Fates had conjured up for him for almost selling Percy out to his father Hades, but something in his gut told him that this...crush...had been with him since he met Percy. He wanted to deny it, but couldn't seem to find the power to do so.
Seeing Annabeth and Percy together was too painful for him to watch. Every time he saw them together, it just reminded him of how utterly alone he was. So he left Camp Half-Blood and made it a habit to rarely ever come by to visit.
After that, his memories were a blur.
No, really. His memories were literally a blur, seeing as Cupid kept playing them back and forth just to torment him. Nico had just relived the key moments in his life that made him feel miserable in a matter of minutes and all of this done just so that the love god could get him to admit the secret that he always pretended to never had existed. But he wasn't going down without a fight. Nico fought back, but...
"I had a crush on Percy Jackson," he spat. Nico was too tired, too exhausted - physically, mentally and emotionally - to keep up this façade of his; the façade of a brooding son of Hades who hated Percy Jackson (Though the first part isn't a façade). He glared at Cupid, who decided now was the best time to reveal himself. "That's the big secret. Happy now?"
Whatever Cupid said next, Nico didn't hear him. Not because he couldn't hear the god of love, but because Nico just didn't want to hear a single thing that came out of that feathery jerk's mouth. So he muffled the love god's words and watched him vanish into the air before picking up the scepter of Diocletian from the very ground that Cupid once stood. All the while, Nico became painstakingly aware of another person's presence in the room - whom was now standing right behind him. The presence had been there from the moment the fiasco with Cupid started. This person - not presence - had seen it all and had heard Nico admit his big secret out loud for anyone to hear.
Nico turned and faced Jason Grace - the son of Jupiter and former praetor of New Rome. Nico didn't let his fear show. He couldn't let that happen; his pride was already wounded enough because of Cupid. Instead, Nico put up that same blank expression and stared Jason down as if he was challenging the Roman to speak.
Nico waited for a negative reaction - the look of disappointment or a scream of disgust. But instead, Jason smiled and said...
"Nico, I've seen a lot of brave things. But what you just did has got to be the bravest thing I had ever seen."
To say that Nico was shocked is an understatement. There is no word in any language in the world that could possibly describe how Nico was feeling at the moment. He just stared at the blonde demigod in front of him, trying to assess what Jason had just said to him.
Jason Grace, a Roman demigod who barely even knew Nico, accepted him with a second thought. And this time, that evil voice that plagued him for all these years...was silenced.
Relief and utter joy overwhelmed him; Nico wanted to smile, hug Jason and just let out all of his pent up emotions in one fell swoop. But he restrained himself. He still had to keep up appearances. But he appreciated what Jason had done. Though he isn't quite comfortable with expressing his emotions just yet, Nico appreciated Jason's support.
"Let's go back to the Argo II," said Nico, the faintest of smiles curling his lips.
For once in a very long time, Nico didn't feel so alone anymore.
A/N: If you liked this one-shot, feel free to leave me some feedback in the reviews. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks! :)