Okay, so this is a series of songfics, probably, with any songs that I think fit the PJO characters. The first one is Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day for Nico di Angelo. Enjoy!
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone
Nico di Angelo had always been a loner. He has had people in his life, oh yes, he has; Bianca was with him for the first (and best) ten years of his life.
Then she goes and joins the Hunters of Artemis and leaves him alone, and to make matters worse, she dies. He was heartbroken to say the least and Percy broke his promise of keeping her safe.
Though he supposes that it wasn't really Percy's fault his sister abandoned him. But he goes on with life alone, and he does a pretty good job of it.
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
When the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk alone
Hades doesn't make things much better, either. He's a pretty bad parent, but what else can you expect from the surly god of the Underworld? Nico knows where he gets his brooding look and sinister appearance from: either he's a juvenile delinquent, or a son of Hades.
How about both? His mind suggests. Nico thinks it over and agrees. After all, he is suspicious of everyone and everything, he 'walks alone' (always has, always will), wears goth and emo clothes with skulls and skeletons over it, and has an iPod full of funeral dirges, My Chemical Romance and Green Day.
He's the lonely rider, and he knows it.
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk a...
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
The roads are home to me, Nico muses as he listens to this uncharacteristically sad song by Green Day. Most of the time he doesn't know what his destination is, he has only one goal: to go forward, and as far away as he can get from camp.
He liked being alone, which was one thing that Percy would probably never understand. It hurt too much to get attached to people, because they have to leave you someday. They always leave him, anyway.
And besides, the kids at camp don't care if he helped a lot in the Second Titan War, he's a son of Hades, weird and different and sinister. And so he must be humiliated and shunned in all the worst ways possible.
Looking at the empty streets after dark calms him somewhat. He feels stronger at night because of the shadows, and in some eerie way, it makes him happy. Happy to know that this is how it's going to be, always. My shadow, my echo and me, Nico thought.
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'til then I walk alone
But some days he'd wake up screaming for Bianca and Mom and Percy and Annabeth and everyone. He screams because he knows that every day he walks alone, he's losing his grip on sanity. It's minuscule, but he's beginning to think that sheer loneliness can drive you crazy.
Despite his tough nature, he can't help breaking down sometimes. It just hurts that he has no one (Hades doesn't count). He knows it'll all end in heartbreak for everyone, but he can't help hurting inside, because he's distanced himself from everyone and no one really loves him anymore. It hurts because he knows he'll never get that happy ending he's been subconsciously hoping for.
I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line
Of the edge and where I walk alone
People, animals, plants, they're all scared of him. He doesn't care much whether they like or hate that guy on the subway dressed in oversized black with eyes too old for his face and a lean, pale face and the sword at his waist (he doesn't know what they see, though).
Animals shy away from him; he radiates death, the one thing they fear above everything. Plants' nervousness isn't so visible, but they all wither when he's around. That may be why Persephone hates him so much; he's a reminder that her husband cheated on her. But then, he used to do that all the time.
Spirits only worship him because he's the Ghost king and son of Hades; they respect him out of fear, not love. Hellhounds are a whole different story. He had to talk to Daedalus and ask him how he got Mrs. O'Leary as a pet. He wanted one, too.
Read between the lines
What's fucked up when everything's alright
Check my vital signs
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone
Nico has lost count of the times he has done exactly that after a monster encounter or bullies in an alley. Though the latter rarely happens; bullies are scared shitless at his aura of death.
As to what's fucked up… well, everything and nothing. His life is so fucked up there isn't a bit that's smooth or straight, but he likes it that way. Anything else would be too new and too good for a guy like him.
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk a...
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'til then I walk alone
Nico frowned; every time he listened to this song, he felt as if someone who knew him very well had written a song on him, someone who had been inside his mind. He knows he looks like a juvenile delinquent; he often feels like one too, and maybe he acts like one. But this song is Nico's favorite.
You may ask why. Well, this song has his character and life down to the tee. And that scares him. He's seen too much to be scared of anything now, but the knowledge that someone out there knows him as well as this is terrifying.
And he loves the feeling.
I walk alone
I walk a...
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
When the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk a...
It gives him a rush of adrenaline like nothing else does; it's his own personal drug. Of course it isn't healthy; is anything about his life healthy? Abandoned, unwanted, 'misguided youth' (as Demeter would say, but he does everything he does because he wants to, no other reason), thrown away, dissed, beaten up, and sometimes just plain ignored.
But he almost liked it that way.
Almost.
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'til then I walk alone...
And walk alone he does.
He walks, and walks, and walks, and maybe sprints in the middle, then ducks into an alley to catch his breath, but mostly he just walks.
Oh, and he shadow-travels. He once found a strange cult in Britain that wore robes and used sticks that were supposedly magical wands. Later, he finds out they were Hecate-blessed mortals, and were allowed to live on when Hecate begged Zeus to pardon her creation. One of them was the subject of a terrible prophecy, too, just like wonders if the boy had a smart, kick-ass girlfriend and a loyal sidekick, and if there was a loner in the group. A loner like him.
Another time, he came across a few boys and girls that wore Egyptian clothing and spoke strange spells and used things that looked like boomerangs. Apparently, Greek-Roman mythology is not the only one alive today; Egyptian mythology lives on.
But one day he eventually stops, when he finds his way blocked by a familiar black-haired, blue-eyed girl wearing skinny jeans and a Death to Barbie shirt. She looks the same as she did when they last met after the Second Giant War, but different somehow. Her eyes are vibrant and piercing, her hair cropped short, just brushing her chin. She looks as though she has been living like Nico for a while, aka on the streets, but she's still gorgeous, and supposedly still the girl he had first loved. He is sixteen now, around her age.
But there is indeed something different about her. She does not have that glow that she had earlier, nor does she have the circlet. He doesn't have to read her mind or ask to know she got kicked out of the hunters. Why is the question.
But he doesn't say anything for the moment. Dark brown eyes stare into electric blue ones. Time stands still for them. And all they do for a while is stare, communicating their experiences silently as children of the Big Three can.
They step forward and embrace; he hugs her tight and she squeezes the breath out of his lungs. Hunter or not, she is certainly very strong. He hears her choke back a sob, and he hugs her tighter.
And Nico di Angelo, the lonely rider, is finally home.
I couldn't resist adding some Thalico at the end. Please don't kill me! I'm rather focused on songfics for now, and I'm really sorry that I haven't updated any of my stories. I have got to have the worst case of writers block, EVER. I promise I'll try to get something out this month, but don't kill me or who'll write these stories? I'm actually thinking of deleting one or two of them, like the AU high school one. I'll publish one like it later. Oh gods, I'm rambling again! Anyway, cookies for those who read, favorite, alert or review! (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)
-Goddess Athena In Disguise