Title: Forget-Me-Not Black
Summary: In trying to help Leo get back to the camp, Nico incurs the wrath of a certain vengeful goddess and overuses his power. Now, not only is the son of Hades fading physically, he is also fading in the memories of everyone he ever knew. SolAngelo
A tiny interruption: I know some of us has a small opinion that Hazel can also feel when people dying so she should have felt Leo coming back too. She may have had a small feeling in his return but nothing like Nico's, just a small disturbance in the back of her mind she couldn't pinpoint. After all, the children of Hades represent his two domain: the dead and riches. Nico is with the dead and Hazel's powers are on the riches and manipulating the mist. She didn't realize what the nagging feeling on the back of her mind was until Leo shows himself at camp and IMs her.


Chapter II

"Di Angelo!" Leo stood up hurriedly as he stumbled towards the other's direction and clapped him in the shoulder. Normally, the son of Hephaestus wouldn't even dare to touch the son of Hades (because one, the guy hated any type of physical contact and two, he scared the hell out of Leo, not that he'd ever admit it) but he was just so happy to finally see a somewhat, friendly face! Gods, it's been so long! Also, there was something different about Nico that finally made him approachable. "I see you came to help us out of a tight spot again! Man, we can always count on you."

Nico rolled his eyes but Leo was happy to see there was some amusement on his face, "It's becoming a nasty hobby." He shrugged, "Besides, you made quite an entrance into the land of the living, as the son of the lord of the Underworld, I had to come and see if anyone broke through the doors of death again and if they had to be put down." He said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Leo gulped, immediately retracting his hand and wondering if he was going to get into a fight. Sure, he was one of the supposedly most powerful demigods currently in existence, but Nico di Angelo? He was in a whole other level as them, being able to summon the dead and control them… He even had the feeling that the son of Hades could turn you into a spirit if he willed it.

Nico huffed in amusement at Leo's expression, making the other freeze. "Calm down, Valdez, there's nothing to worry about. I'm not here to bring you to the underworld like some old-fashioned Grim Reaper. Like I said, I came to drag you guys back to camp."

"Okay…" Leo said slowly, aware that Calypso was watching their exchange with interest. He looked at her remembering he hadn't introduced her yet, "By the way, this is Calypso!" He said with a proud smile, the son of Hades shook her hand only with slight hesitation. "So… are you the only welcoming party? Didn't any of the others want to get some love from Team Leo?"

Nico withdrew his hand. "When I sensed the disturbance in the world of the living, I had a vague sense that maybe it was you but I didn't want to get the other's hopes up so I decided to come on my own." The teen explained, "There was still a chance that the person who came back to life wasn't you, so I felt like it was my responsibility to see that nothing was escaping out of the Underworld and back here."

"That makes sense." The fire-wielder said as he looked around. "So, are you going to transport all of us with your shadow travel?"

Nico nodded, "Yeah."

"Wouldn't that be hard? I mean uh, you seemed worn out with transporting Coach Hedge and Reyna to camp with the Athena Parthenos. Last time I saw you, you looked about ready to drop dead. No offense." He said quickly.

"It's fine. It's actually been a few weeks since you 'died'. Nyssa would be glad to hear that she doesn't have to replace the head of the cabin again." Nico said as he set his bag down, looking for a thermos inside and extracting it to take a drink. "I've been getting some rest since then and it helps that you guys landed in China which is the place I used to shadow travel to a lot when I was just learning my powers."

"But still, you need to rest." Calypso was the one who spoke this time, surprising Leo. Nico just turned his eyes towards the goddess, "I do healing magic and I can see that shadow-travelling too soon after your rest isn't good for you."

"I know." Nico admitted. "But someone has to help you get back, what with your ride looking like it can't last another ten miles. No offense." He said the last two words with a slight smirk.

But Leo was not offended, rather he was touched that the creepy son of Hades had actually cared enough about someone he was barely friends with, to come shadow-travel all the way to China just to get him and his sort of girlfriend back to Half-Blood hill. Leo had to seriously erase everything he knew about the son of Hades and rewrite it, with the words awesome and life-saver being the top two.

"We'll start to heading back tomorrow. We're just going to go at this a few hundred miles like I used to do with Reyna, that way I won't collapse once I'm back in camp." Nico said as he put down the thermos. Leo didn't notice his face was pale until he drank the whatever-it-was and started getting back some color to his face. "If you guys don't mind, I'll crash out on the most comfortable rock and patch of grass." He said before getting up towards a tree, taking out a blanket and lying down abruptly. In a few seconds he was asleep.

Leo turned towards Calypso, grinning and was about to say something but then he noticed the frown on her face. His grin fell as he asked, "What's wrong?"

The goddess shook her head, "You do not know how much he is sacrificing just to get you back to camp."

"What do you mean?"

"His shadow-travelling is taking a graver toll on his body than you think." She quietly stepped towards the son of Hades and leaned down to push his bangs aside. But then Leo's eyes widened when Calypso's hand passed through him for a moment before she retracted.

"Ni-!" Leo was about to yell in surprise and worry but Calypso shook her head.

"He knows. I believe that the last time he did this, he was almost consumed by the shadows." She said as she walked back to the fire-wielder. Leo's eyes were wide with fear and worry.

"But- why come and get us? He should have- should have had some back up or I don't know, waited! We'd get to camp eventually!"

Almond colored eyes looked at him silently, "He didn't want to get their hopes up and I believe he didn't want anyone to suffer his company since he can see more clearly than others how some people are afraid of him."

The son of Hephaestus gulped nervously, "Then he should have waited for us to get back."

"There is a lot of danger around us. With Gaea's recent fall, a lot of gods and goddesses on her side are vengeful and seeking their chances to take revenge. Monsters also thirst for demigod blood. He knew that the sooner he got to you, the safer you'd be." Calypso explained and well, Leo just felt like crap at this point. He sat down on the ground frowning heavily.

"Well, what should I do then? Is there any way to prevent him from disappearing before we get back to camp?"

Calypso smiled at the other's care, "Like I said, I used to be a sorceress and I was a healer to every hero that ever landed himself in Ogygia. If you want to help your friend, then help me make a medicine that would work better than unicorn draught."

"Unicorn draught?"

"It's what he was drinking to stabilize his body." Calypso patiently explained, "Now stop moping, Leo Valdez, and help me."


Help us.

Remember us.

Join us.

The whispers were getting worse, following him even in the daylight when he chose to trudge rather than shadow-travel, following his radar on that one not-quite right soul that 'shouldn't-be-alive'. The cold was always there now, clinging to him even when he walked in the hottest dessert. The shadows almost looked solid enough that they hung off his body like tar and even though he fought them off every step of the way he could feel himself sinking, sinking… being dragged down.

"Hey, Di Angelo."

Warmth.

Black eyes snapped open in surprise and he came face-to-face with the familiar grin of a certain son of Apollo. He was dressed in a faded SURF BARBADOS t-shirt, cutoff shorts and flip-flops, hair mussed like he just crawled out of bed to come check on him so early in the morning. The son of Hades felt his heart jump at his throat and he looked down to find the source of the warmth holding his hands.

"You're doing pretty well on your second day. The darkness in your system is almost gone. Your stitches are healing quite nicely too." Will said as he retracted his hand and the son of Hades looked back up to see him turn and get a clipboard, writing down his observations. He turned back to Nico and gave him a wink, "Now, was getting some rest really that hard?"

Nico knew that this was one of his memories on his three days at the infirmary with Will hovering around him and prodding him with highly questionable-looking items while Jason came and went as he pleased, like a relative visiting a sick cousin. He also knew that at this point he would have said something snarky to the son of Apollo just to hide his blush or to ramp down the skeletal butterflies in his stomach.

But instead of saying anything, Nico just smiled at the healer. He smiled at the memory of Will talking to him while he checked on Nico's condition. The son of Hades allowed himself to hold on a little longer to the hands that eventually held his to check the darkness in him again. He allowed himself to stare a little longer at the twinkling blue eyes that were as clear as the cloudless sky.

Maybe it was a bit pathetic of him and maybe it was just a tiny bit sad that his comfort memory was being stuck in the infirmary for three days with a son of Apollo nagging his ears off whenever he can, about powers and responsibility. But this was the only memory inside of Nico that didn't make him sad or make him reminisce a childhood now gone.

So he held on to it, he held on to the memory like a child of five held on to his first teddy bear, gripping it tight and never letting it go. Not even when the edges of the memory began to blur and Nico found himself blinking into wakefulness.


"-ill…" Nico mumbled as he turned a bit and blinked at the sunlight seeping through the leaves of the trees. He groaned, covering his eyes with his hand and looking around, "Will?"

Suddenly a mop of curly brown hair and wide mischievous grin entered his sight making him yelp and sit up, crawling as far away as he can from Leo Valdez. "Morning sunshine!"

"Valdez!" Nico shouted in annoyance at the fire-wielder, "What did I say about personal space?"

"Uhm, nothing?" The seventh wheel said with a roll of his eyes, "Look, I didn't want to get up close and personal but you're pretty hard to wake up." And then a sudden twinkle of amusement shone in his eyes and Nico just had to wonder if this guy was probably a son of Hermes instead of Hephaestus and just got mixed up in the hospital with another baby. "I could even say that you sleep like the dead." He snorted.

The son of Hades rolled his eyes at the lame pun as he brushed off the leaves and grass blades on his shirt and pants. "Haha, so not funny."

"Aw, man! Come on, you had to admit that was a classic!"

"I could drag your spirit to the underworld and introduce you to William Shakespeare and the other dead guys who invented 'classic' back in the BC years." Nico said pointedly and Leo closed his mouth with a snap. Satisfied he got his point across, the son of Hades looked around, "So, how long have I been asleep this time?" It still seemed light out, so it can't be that long…

"Uh, fifteen or eighteen hours, give or take?" Leo said as he looked down at his fingers counting just as Nico turned to him, eyes wide. "Sorry, I wasn't keeping track." He shrugged.

"That's not- Eighteen hours?" The son of Hades said in disbelief, running a hand through his hair. "Di immortals, it feels like I've only been napping for an hour!"

Leo's eyebrows were scrunched in worry, "Dude, no, it's waaaay past an hour." He said, "Are you alright? You said you only felt like you rested an hour, maybe you should get some more rest-"

"No, we've wasted enough time already." Nico sighed, pinching at the bridge of his nose. He looked up and noticed that a certain goddess wasn't there. "Where's your girlfriend… uh, Calypso?"

The son of Hades watched with a touch of amusement as the tips of Leo's ears went red at the mention of a girlfriend but the Latino cleared his throat, "She went to get us some food. She's really good at getting free food." He said thoughtfully, "Now that I think about it, Chinese people really like giving free food to beautiful goddesses."

"Or they're just really hospitable like that. I'm pretty sure they don't limit free food to beautiful goddesses."

"No, I'm pretty sure they do." Leo said with a serious nod, "Last time I went with her, I was pretty sure the town was ready to start throwing bread and salt at me. I think they thought I was some demon who kidnapped a pretty girl. Crazy right?"

The son of Hades smirked, "It probably didn't help that you looked like the part of an evil demon kidnapper, what with your face looking like that."

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with my face!"

"I didn't say there was."

Leo blinked in surprise before suddenly laughing out loud, wiping at the corner of his eyes. Nico eyed him warily, as though his amusement was grounds for concern. It probably was. "Man, I don't know what happened to you in the few weeks I was gone, but happiness suits you well, di Angelo."

It was Nico's turn to flush this time, made even more obvious because of his Italian olive skin. So Nico turned away, trying to scowl and look scary but it wasn't working because something had changed him, something (someone) had made him less of a creepy son of Hades in Leo's eyes and more of an awkward, teenager playing to be emo, which was both endearing and irritating at most. "Shut up, Valdez."

Leo grinned when he realized that Nico never denied being happy. So instead he sing-songed, "Aw, is the scary son of Hades blushing?" He teased but then he yelped in fear when a skeleton hand came up from the ground and grabbed him by the ankle. He shot a glare at Nico, "Not. Funny."

The son of Hades let out a gruff laugh, hiding it behind his hands, and Leo felt his initial hostility from his first impression of Nico all those months ago, fade completely at the sight. He just snorted and admitted, "Okay, maybe a little funny." He said, "But if you don't tell this guy to let go, I'm going to set fire to your pants." He pointed.

Nico snorted and waved his hand casually, the skeletal hand going back under the dirt as Leo watched with curiosity. "You know, you'd be a riot during Halloween parties." He said in a contemplative tone.

"No." Nico said before Leo could say anything more.

"I didn't even-"

"No."

"Looks like you guys are having fun." Calypso's tone distracted Leo from his pouting and he turned abruptly at the direction of the goddess, a wide grin splitting his face.

"Hey! How goes the food hunting?"

The goddess shrugged her shoulders, caramel-colored hair held up in a ponytail instead of the usual braid on one side. "I got us some noodle things and buns with filling in it. The man who gave them to me assured that they were delicious."

Leo raised an eyebrow, "Man?"

"No need to be jealous, Leo Valdez." Calypso said, sitting next to the fire-wielder. "That man did not save me from Ogygia nor did he melt my table and become an infuriating pain in my backside for a few weeks before eventually making me fall for his stupid face and promises."

The son of Hephaestus grinned at that, "Glad to hear I made such an impact to your life."

"Who said I was talking about you?" She teased, making Leo splutter.

Nico shook his head at another couple making disgusting declarations of love in front of him. He reached out and took the bun and the noodles from Calypso before pointedly sitting as faraway from the love struck teens as possible.

He was half-way to finishing his food in peace when Calypso kneeled in front of him, a thermos in her hand. "Son of Hades, here." She offered it to him.

Nico raised an eyebrow before taking the thermos. He opened it and smelled the delicious scent of blueberries, "Nectar?"

Calypso shook her head, "No, it's my own special blend of medicine." She explained, "It's to help your body stabilize every time you use too much of your powers. It'll be more effective than unicorn draught."

The teen blinked in surprise looking down at the thermos filled with whatever-it-was before looking at Calypso. He opened his mouth and closed it before opening it again and saying a simple, "Thanks."

The goddess smiled at him, soft and gently, opposite to how she was with Leo which solidified Nico's certainty that the son of Hephaestus was indeed special to her if it could bring the fire out of this usually quiet and well-mannered goddess, "You're welcome." She said before standing up and going back to Leo's side and possibly chastise him for eating with his mouth open.

Nico watch them for awhile before looking at the thermos in his hand, smiling lightly.

It's nice, to have people who cared.


They had shadow traveled three times already and it was on the third day that Calypso felt something strange following them.

To be fair, it wasn't the first time that a monster came seeking them out, thirsty for the blood of powerful demigods. Nico, despite being worn out and looking like Death warmed over him, still put up a good fight, raising an army of skeleton even while he was panting on the ground, looking vulnerable. Most of the monsters came from the pit so he had this sense about them and always eliminated any danger before Calypso could even take out her blade or Leo could even summon fire.

This time though, the shadow-travelling was clearly taking a toll on his body, because the moment they arrived at the outskirts of some town somewhere, the son of Hades had even barely gotten to take off the harness he had wrapped around himself before he fell to the ground with FWUMP!

As Leo rushed forward to help the already snoring son of Hades, Calypso narrowed her eyes and looked around trying to pinpoint the location of the eyes she felt at the back of her neck. Sadly, her powers as a sorceress was slowly diminishing ever since she left Ogygia so all she could really do was look around and see no one in sight. She turned back to Leo who was frowning down at the son of Hades.

Underneath the sunlight the young teen's skin had taken on a sickly pallor, sweat shined on his brow and his breathing was a little heavier than what was normal for sleeping.

"Maybe we should try to tie him up for a few days, force him to rest." The son of Hephaestus said seriously. "That way he can give his body a break or something."

Calypso shook her head, "He's in a hurry to get home. You can't blame him, you want to get back as soon as possible too."

"Yeah, but not at the risk of Nico fading!" The fire-wielder frowned, "I don't understand why he has to push himself so much like this. What does he have to prove?"

The daughter of Atlas hummed as she reached out and intertwined her hands with Leo who flushed at the contact. "I have sensed the son of Hades' soul, it is a very sad and dark soul which has a lot of regrets. Maybe, getting you back to Camp is his way of proving to himself he's not a bad guy."

Leo looked exasperated, "I could tell him that! I could tell him right to his face when he wakes up later-"

Calypso shook her head, "It's not the same thing. Besides, he's trying to prove to himself that he's not a bad guy." She smiled softly, "And maybe he has someone he likes in camp and he's trying to make himself feel worthy of that person's affection or something."

Leo blinked in surprise, "Wha… Nico?"

"Yes, Nico."

The inventor turned to his friend, eyebrows furrowed, "Nico likes someone?" He pondered with this thought for a moment, humming, "Hm, well it's hard to picture him liking anyone but I've seen him with Hazel, so maybe it's not really that hard to picture him caring for someone." He admitted, "Well, if he wants some romantic advice, Leo the love expert is right here!"

"Should I be suspicious of how you've suddenly become a love expert?" Calypso raised a delicate brow, "Have you had a lot of lovers while I was locked up in Ogygia, Leo Valdez?"

At the accusation, Leo turned red. "Wha- No!" He began to splutter some excuse to which Calypso just smiled but then she felt that odd, cold presence again and she turned, eyes narrowed while Leo was too distracted trying to explain himself.

"-I mean, when I was in the Argo, I was with three couples! THREE couples, how can I not be an expert-"

The goddess shook her head and turned her attention back to Leo. If there is something out there, then she should be prepared for it.


Nico forged through the gray and black terrain, walking with no specific destination in mind, ignoring and brushing off his memories which whispered to him in temptation to feel the emotions he felt while those scenes of his life happened.

Of course, stomping through the dreamscapes with no real destination in mind would eventually get him to only one place. Nico was almost prepared for the way the ground dissolved at his feet and he fell into familiar backwater- the Hypnos Cabin at Camp Half-Blood. He had missed the camp bad enough that he didn't even snap at Clovis like last time for dreaming so powerfully.

Instead, he sat by the fire place where Clovis was sleeping on the leather chair as usual with a mug of chocolate milk with marshmallow bobbing on the surface, on the side table. He allowed himself reprieve from the dreams and the nightmares of shadows and the memories that constantly pulled him back into past regrets and depressions.

"I heard that visiting other people's dreams can be a reprieve from a person who dreams too darkly." Came a sleepy voice and Nico looked at the head of the Hypnos cabin, "Hello, Nico. Did I pull you off course again?"

"No, I was just walking around in the dreamscape, so of course I was basically asking to land myself here." The son of Hades said tiredly. Clovis gave him a searching, sleepy look.

"Sleeping is a way for the soul to rest." The son of Hypnos said with a tilt of his head, "It looks like sleep isn't doing your soul any favors though. Are you pushing yourself too much despite Will Solace's instructions?"

At the mention of the son of Apollo, the skeletal butterflies in Nico's stomach (which laid low in the days he was searching for Leo) were resurrected as he hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face in his arms. He didn't answer.

"Ah, well, I guess I can help you in that department." Clovis said, not really waiting for an answer, "After all, how can I call myself the son of the god of Dreams and Sleep if I can't even help a good friend to rest?" The son of Hades looked up just in time to see Clovis raise a hand, "Mind you, I don't usually like invading other people's dreams because you know, privacy, but sometimes their dreams come and seek me out and I believe I know whose dreams you'd find rest in the most."

The Hypnos counselor waved his hand and Nico's sight began to blur among the edges as everything was wrapped in a mist. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to see where he was when suddenly he recognized the familiar noisy buzz of the infirmary and he looked around to see himself surrounded by Apollo's children, restocking the inventory and the cupboards for supplies. At the head of it all was of course, a certain son of Apollo and head of the cabin, Will Solace.

"Oh, Nico!" Black eyes widened as Will turned to him blue eyes brightening. He wondered if this was maybe (hopefully) Will's dreams. "I didn't see you there, why didn't you say anything?"

"I-" His mouth felt dry, it's been days since he last saw the son of Apollo and suddenly being forced into his presence without warning was not fair. "Uhm…"

Will rolled his eyes as he reached out and grabbed him by the hand, surprising the son of Hades, "Come on, if you're just gonna stand there and make sounds, why don't you help us get some more bandages from town? Hey, I know, why don't we go together? Since I'm the Cabin counselor I can assign myself that task!"

Nico snorted at the suggestion and Will turned to him, eyebrows raised so he said, "That sounds stupid."

Will's lips twitched and his eyes looked wistful, "Hey, my cabin, my rules. I think it sounds great. Kylie, switch with me! I'll handle restocking the bandages and you check inventory!"

"Sure Will!"

"Now," The warm hand on his, tightened. Will flashed him a smile, "Let's head to town and get those bandages, di Angelo."

Nico felt his heart jump at his throat as he nodded mutely. In his mind, he thanked Clovis as he forced out a choked, "That sounds good to me."

Will's smile widened.


Author's notes: *stares at what she has made* I think this fic is becoming a monster. I just finished typing up until chapter 5 and I realized It will not end at chapter 5.

Thanks for the warm welcome to your fandom! I plan to contribute some more because my sister uh, she told me to make sure to contribute a lot -_- I WILL DO MY BEST (heh, get it? Will? Hehe) Also, please keep a heads up, I'm going to be posting a heartbreaking one-shot or two-shot about the pair. I'm in love with that one-shot but it's angst but it'll have a happy ending... in chapter two :D (if there is a chapter 2) Keep an eye out and thank you for the wonderful reviews!