Percy came to, too late.
Hazel sobbed. Hazel screamed. She fell down again to have Jason caught her again as she felt her whole body rattled with shock and fear.
Nico... Nico...
She let out her sobs as the water came down. She was on the floor by then, landing her face down onto the wood. She felt herself scream but didn't hear it. It was overpowered by the crash of the water onto the land. She could feel the level of death increase even, if that was possible, and her own heart stopped... After that, nothing.
For a solid second, nothing happen. She only saw the darkness, felt the numb solitary of the pain to the point it didn't hurt, and did not live nor die in that second. It was the worse experience of her life.
She found herself being lifted up once the bright light and the feeling of being touch ended the horrible second. She opened her eyes to the even worse forever long reality.
My brother is dead... My brother is gone...
"Hazel." Jason shook her slightly. "Hazel."
Hazel raised her head up, looking through all the curls, seeing the world again. She looked out, feeling tears run down her face now. The land was wet, obliviously, but it was also soulless. It was empty and looked deserted, like no soul ever graced the land.
"Oh my Gods..." Hazel heard Jason gasped. Hazel's eyes were with his as they both caught sight of the bare steps of the castle. Nico's body was gone.
Hazel sobbed more, finally hearing her own cries. She settled down on the floor again and cried. She stayed there as Jason got up and ran off somewhere. She felt the faint sound of a deep groan broke out into the air, followed by a loud thud that shook the ground. She then heard the sound of footsteps and then dragging off a heavy object away.
She didn't really comprehended how long she sat there, drowning in her own pain and agony. She felt as if she had no small amount or a longing eternity. Time didn't touch her in her hurt, just like how the events around her cause no effect to her being.
She felt fury, sorrow, remorse all in one setting; a large douce of absolute misery spreading through her body like a virus.
She was so angry at everything; at how the world works and how the fates manipulated its actions. She was angry at Nico for leaving in the first place, creating all the leading up madness in his attempt. She was mad at Oltre Malavita for even existing; being created by her absent ass father and then traveling its way into the mortal world and fucking up everything. She was so, so pissed at Percy for ending it all because he couldn't keep his shit together. It's not their fault he can't go ten seconds with losing his sanity and killing someone. And it was her brother this time...
This rage also came with grief, making her sad that she just lost another person in her life, maybe two since Percy was possibly officially gone now. She recalled how lovely he looked before in the only night they spent in Oltre Malavita, how he used to look with his spiritual eyes and vigorous smile that matched his energetic aura. There no was no chance of that returning, especially since no one knew how to reverse it all. Annabeth, who had all her sympathy, was probably going to be stuck with him again and his pitiful broke soul.
Who gives a damn... Another part of her mind snarled viscously. My brother is dead. Let him burn in hell.
But most of all, out of it all, bitter guilt was the very thing that build up inside her to where she choked on it with her sobs. She felt as if she just found Nico first, maybe even made him feel more welcome in the first place, that he would have never even thought about leaving, demolishing the hellish future that they were all facing sufferingly now.
She was his sister, his only sister since... She was his family and family was suppose to take care of each other. She failed him. She did all of this to him and she didn't even look into it long enough to notice, much less care.
She was so disgusted with herself and everyone else. She loathed everything around to the point she was only merely content with her spot on the floor, where time, pain, and emotions didn't exist.
Jason shook her body. "Hazel, get up."
She didn't move.
"Hazel, seriously get up."
Hazel got up grumpily, cussing the son of the sky God in her head with every name in the book. But then her rage and moodiness subsided as she felt a tingle in her chest that aim towards the main land. She looked up and saw that the washed out battle ground look somewhat of a glow, like it was coming back from the grave.
"Hazel?" Jason asked.
"The land..." She stated, no longer use to her own voice. "It's still alive. It's extremely weak but alive, which means..." She lost her breath.
"Look." Jason pointed out to her. Together they stared at the view of a cloud like ghost slowly rise from the ground. He began to move, or so that's what they thought, as some more started to do the same.
"Is this good?" Jason asked her.
Hazel did answer at first. She honestly didn't know the answer. "I don't know. They're coming back, but... They're weak and slow."
"They just went through battle and then a tsunami." Jason stated.
"They're the stronger survivors, and they can barely walk." Hazel shot back. "I'm not sure if their will be that many to come back..."
They were silent then, watching as the few and fewer came back in the long time.
{...}
They spent the whole night watching Oltre Malavita, counting only twenty in total to come back so far, that they could see from that side.
Hazel and Jason sat there without a sound being heard unless it was a number that went up the well kept scale by one.
As the young girl sat there, she could feel it all dreadfully, yet hopefully. She felt the land get only slightly stronger with each new soul. It made the tingling in her chest feel somewhat heavier, but in a nice way, a good way. It was a sign that the kingdom had a chance. Yes, there were very few survivors, but it was better then absolutely none. Especially after the accident with the knocked out fuck up in the back.
The water attack effected everyone on the land. The women and children never had a chance in their safe places inside their homes. The ghostly soldiers on both sides had no idea of what was going to happen; their only knowledge of so was in the same second of it actually happening. She feared that only the skeletons might not have been negatively effected by it. Yes, they probably went down like all the others, but they might have only smoothly return back to the position in the Underworld. The ghost literally lost their lives again.
She sat on the wooden deck, a candle to her left the whole night. Jason nodded off at the end, before Reyna quietly rolled her feet out to them. She sat beside Hazel, asking quietly for an update. Her voice was a whisper.
Hazel responded in the same manner, giving her the full theory they have discovered.
"How many are you guessing?" Reyna asked.
"Originally..." She stated. "None."
They were silent again. Hazel felt so tired, like she just sleep a hundred years, but that feeling in her chest kept her awake. Life was always to much to ever ignore.
"Have you-"
"No."
Hazel already knew the question. She had sure to make her tone sharp and mean, enough to end the questioning of her brother. She felt death all around her, but she also was accustom to her brother's odd aura of old powerful magic. She would know when he was dead; the motion would be too strong for her to ever mind over. She just wasn't sure if that part still applied to this station of problems or not.
She hoped he still was, but only if he was in good health. She had seen the massive damage from all the others it had caused, and they were just ghost. Nico was alive, making him more sensitive to pain and misery. She didn't want him to be in that kind of hurt. He had been through enough of the god awful pain in all ways throughout his life and she just didn't want him to suffer anymore. She didn't care about their father or anyone else's option on the matter. He was her brother, and so her say is a bit higher then theirs. If not more...
Something crawled in the bottom of her stomach at that thought. She felt herself glare at he air around her, like she was angrily deviated from the fact that she breathing the same source of air with that damn shithead in the back of the ship, sleeping soundly in the medical cot.
She expected that if maybe Percy had a say over it that differed from her's, her brother would choose his over her's. It made her want to hit something, and scream. It wasn't fair. She was his sister and his only sister. She loved him and cared for him when Percy was ready to forget all about him. Hell, that damn sea spawn was the reason for his possible deathly state in the first place! It's all his fault! Why would and should he tower over her in any way, shape, or form?
She felt herself breathed heavily as she forced her mind away from the matter. She stayed there the whole night. Both Reyna and Jason had left her in the last hour, but she didn't care. She watched the sun set as she felt the tingle in her chest strengthen. She counted fifty souls in the approaching twelve hours and found that to be somewhat of an improvement. She didn't feel Nico through, so it wasn't that big of a achievement in her eyes.
Into the night, more kept rising and Hazel wished she knew the population number of Oltre Malavita, to track the progress and what not. She lost count soon enough, but she could tell that the painfully slow progress was a bit faster, not much, but enough to make a same positive difference.
She still feel Nico though, through death or life and it scared her shitless. The unknown knowing ate her alive as she sat there and watched for each new spirit came back to the land. She desperately hoped for one of them to be her brother, to feel the sense if death mix with his aura. Yes, he would be dead and possibly still in pain but she would know and be done with her endless worrying and constant fear of never finding out. But she knew that would not happen. If Nico did die he would not be in Oltre Malavita because there would be no Oltre Malavita to return to. The land would have done what it has always done when the son of Hades died and they were left Kingless. The land would have gone into a coma like rest into the earth. No souls would be reappearing. The land would be numbly alive and not progressing like it has been.
She watched as the small community came together and began to search for others which they would usually find and take to the castle for shelter and treatment. She felt herself increase with agony as she still saw no sight of her brother. She felt like dying every time...
It was finally morning, a full 24 hours when she made up her mind. She knew she had to do this. She would never forgive herself if she didn't do it.
She finally stood from the sitting position she had been in for so long. Her knees popped and her legs ached but she shifted into the room where the rest of her three friends were debating over something to do with the psycho.
Can't we just ditch him somewhere and leave him to rot? Hazel moved on from the thought and focused on her mission, which was more difficult then she thought it would be.
Once she voiced her request, all three of the older demigods flipped. Jason was the loudest about the protest but it was Reyna who got straight to the point instead of sugar coating it like the other two were.
"Hazel, we can not send you off to a magical, dangerous place where-!"
"I am not leaving this damn place until I know if my brother is alive or not!"
They agreed then, letting her go for only a few hours. She ate her meal fast before going off to do it immediately. She mainly did it under the motherly order of Annabeth, but also because she was starving and ungodly tired. She went along with it through, not asking about Percy the whole time.
She basically ran out of the ship through the lower level entree way, throwing her jacket on and harshly breathing in the cold, salty air once it hits her face. She stops running and breathes to clear her mind.
Please Nico be alive. Please, please be alive...
She walked on softly, taking her time as she slowly realized that this might truly not be smart. She glazed out into the still open passage way to Oltre Malavita, barely seeing any movement at all. It dishearten her at first, thinking that she just made herself look like an idea for make a lost cause a big deal. She went on though, simply because she meant what she stated earlier. She really needed to know. It will eat her alive till her death if she doesn't find out, and this was her only chance.
A part of her told her that if she didn't get a message of his death now from anything, maybe even her father, then that maybe he was alive. Another had doubt crumble over that theory and left her in her nervous, weak state now.
She walked into the cave with ease, no longer having a problem with making the giant waterfall do her willing. She walked into the new world causally, even preparing for the fall with easily landing in her feet. What she wasn't ready for was the sight she discovered as she regain her balance and focused on the unfamiliar land in front of her.
She gasped in shock and horror at the destroyed land. Buildings that used to be all and decorated with lovely flowers and paintings were now nothing but chalky rumble. The stone road of shining white light was stained and chipped off, covering it on pot holes and gray streaks of what appeared to be human faces forever tinted on it. The grass was dead and brown with many broken spears and abandoned weapons scattered everywhere. The sky seemed to fade into a sadder, dimmer blue, but what scared her the most were the ghosts.
The people of the kingdom, that were so sprightly and basically stimulated with life were now as dead as they actually were. They were the complete polar now, and it was saddening to the fullest.
Hazel shakily began to walk into the wasteland, trying to not seen so surprised and not to stare at the broken down people. The ghost were so weak, some barely able to walk, some just laying on the ground. They were low spirited, most never looking fully up to see and notice Hazel's presence. She recalled them all dancing and singing and celebrating everything they had in the magically home they all loved. Now it was all gone... They were better off dead instead of wasting away here...
She walked one, following the new foreign road farther into the land. She walked quickly, hoping that no one would stop her. She wasn't sure if her plan would work fully, but she was destined to find her way back to the castle and hunt down her brother. If he was alive, he would be there. If he was dead, hopefully someone would tell her.
She kept walking, her head low and down. She was lost in her fear filled thoughts. She wasn't sure how she would function after the possible lost of her brothers life. Yes, he had been absent for a while now and she lived on nicely without him but she still had that evil fear of him being found dead somewhere, not knowing about it ever... And maybe seeing him die right in front of her and still not knowing the truth...
She was never his real sister. She didn't know him all that well, but what she did know about him is that he could relate to the exact same pain she feel in her life. How lonely and unaccepting it is to a child, knowing that people in society would resent her, in a way, due to her parentage. He understood her confusion when it came to the modern day technology that literally blew her mind and how scared everything was in the new world with all of it changes. He led her the way to understanding, and he became a part of her family. As she did with him.
She felt a tear run down her cheek and we breathing slow down into a heavier paste when she notices the activity beside her. She jumped and snapped to her right, hearing deep voices yell out in the foreign language she heard earlier. They were taking down a already shattered building. They kept at it and Hazel was about to walk away but then she recognized a face in the group, the one that was calling out orders and pulling the rope that was around the building.
"Bradshaw!" She cried in unthinkable happiness. She should have hunted him down first. She was currently kicking herself for not thing of it first.
The general spirit popped his head around to her. He was out of breath and breathing heavily but still bowed once he realized it was her.
"Your royal highness!" He tried to get out. "How are you? Is Percy alright? Any troubles?"
Hazel was a bit off about the royal status that he just assumed she had since she was the king's sister, but she wasn't about to let it go when she could use it to her advantage. "Yes, I demand to see my brother."
Bradshaw stopped, mouth ajar, and looked at her with a certain light in his eyes. She stopped breathing and felt herself tremble. She couldn't believe it. No, no he's wrong... There's no way... No!
"Are you sure you want that?" He asked carefully, like he could read the truth in her mind.
Hazel kept her face together, having a tiny bit of hope pop inside her from the question. Maybe... Just maybe he's alive... She nodded firmly. She was finally going to get her answer.
Bradshaw aged a thousand years right before her before nodding and bowing again. He called back to his workers and then led her towards the giant, gothic castle that stood at the end of the road.
Her nerves were numb from the internal pain that she was beginning to feel again. Her feet thudded on the dead ground like she was having trouble walking, which was true. She was trying to keep herself from falling down and sobbing. She had to keep it together for the time being. She couldn't break down. Not yet anyway. It mainly depend on if Bradshaw led her to a weak king or to a grave.
They traveled on for what seemed like lifetimes. They passed countless of ghost who just slugged around the barely alive land. Hazel kept her head down as some noticed her stage of life but didn't not acknowledge it. They didn't care anymore. They only appreciated the living because it was who they related to the most. But now, the table has turned and they didn't mind her, in fact, some envied her. It wouldn't be the first time she was resented by the dead.
They arrived to the black gates with no guards. Bradshaw pushed through them and went on his way, Hazel trotting behind him like a dumb, limping dog. She just pulled her coat tier around her torso as the wind continued to blow. She didn't recall the weather in Oltre Malavita being so brutal and harsh.
She eyed the back of Bradshaw see through body. He was a slow walker with slight grace. Hazel found that funny, but then dismissed the thought. She wasn't laughing either way.
They made their way to hall that seemed to be endless, departed from the same dim light at the end. Hazel now walked beside the smooth walking general, feeling guilted by each second. He man was silent the whole time they traveled to the castle. She felt it was the appropriate time to say her sorrows.
"I'm sorry for what happen to your home." She stated. "My friends and I didn't mean to fail you all. Percy has caused great damage to Oltre Malavita and its his fault for it, but-"
"He has also helped up a great deal as well, young girl." Bradshaw stated. "He defended the army we would have lost too."
They stopped and stared at each other. Bradshaw was exactly scolding her, barely sassing really. He was just stated the good to her harsh bad. Hazel wasn't sure how she felt about that or of Bradshaw in that moment.
He was the first to walk on, steps ahead of her. She finally caught up to see the light at the end now being her heading on entree. She saw the dim lighted room, that she assumed was the throne room at one point of time, hold a single narrow and slim bed. On it was a thin, honey body under some covers, with a mop of greasy black hair took place at the top, sticking out among the ill infected soul. Bradshaw grabbed her by the arm before moving closer, looking down at her in a look that was as serious and cold as the wind.
"Don't say anything negative to our king about the pearl of Oltre Malavita. He is weak, and he will not tolerate it. I won't let him."
I'm his sister. Hazel snapped at him in her mind. I come before some bastard who done him wrong.
She decided against it anyhow. She understood why he had threaten her in the first place and knew she would do the same in his position. It still irked her greatly through. She nodded anyway and pulled her arm away. She walked over to the left side of the bed, gasping silently at what she found.
It was Nico. She thought,at least. He was so deathly ill looking at she could barely recognize him. His skin was paler then the last time she seen him, paler then she ever seen before. His lean muscles seem to vanish underneath his skin, leaving him with only bones, making his arms thin and his cheeks hallow. His bumpy chest slow rises up and deepen down like each breath was painful, like it was hard to keep and release. The dark, charcoal black bags under his eyes were as dark as his hair used to be, which was now slightly lighter, like it was possibly turning grey at his young age. It was as if she was looking at his still heart beat corpse and it frighten her to no end.
"My Gods..." She trembled visionally. Bradshaw stood at the end of the bed.
"Will...will he live?" Her voice was close to a cry but masked itself as a whispered.
"Most likely." Bradshaw replied. Hazel wanted a firm yes or no but bit her tongue back. "With the proper care and medicine. Also, plenty of rest, he will live and be healthy and healed again."
Hazel turned back down to her brother. His head turned a bit before his dark eyes slowly blinked opened. They focused on her first, and she smile down on him, not sure on what else to do.
"Hazel?..." His voice was so soft, almost soundless. He turned his head only slightly and then suddenly flinched in pain. "What are you doing here?..."
Hazel couldn't find her voice at first, only staring at his in total disbelief. He was not dead, but very close to it.
She bent down to his level, on to her knees. She took his hands and tried not to break down again. Gods, I need a break.
"I just needed to see if you were okay." Hazel said. "We... We all saw the battle."
Hazel then went on to tell him about her work with the most and the Iceland land and how they all saw everything. She also explained about how Percy was the cause for the water problem. Then she went on saying that after seeing him go down like that that she had to come back and see him, to see if he was alive or not.
Nico's pained face mainly stayed the same. He castes his eyes away from her when she spoke about the battle and how they saw his defeat with the leader of the tyrants. They stayed hidden when she went on to Percy, but the light changed inside them, like they became more distant and were locked away into another new world that she and her talking didn't exist.
"I'm alright, Hazel." His responds was along with a squeeze of the hand. "I'm weak and I almost died but I'm okay."
"How did you survive?" Hazel asked.
"They didn't hit my spot." Nico simply answered. Hazel got the hint that he wasn't going to tell her about his secret mortal point. She didn't blame him; she would keep it to herself as well. All she knew is that he still had his iron skin, even if it was very visible.
"They came close through, didn't they?" Hazel edged on carefully.
Nico stayed silent. He only looked out into the dark shadows of the walls in front of him.
She moved on. "Nico... Your work is done here. You did what Hades wanted. The war is over and you have won. Come back home."
She saw a slight jump from Bradshaw when she stated her desire, but she didn't care. She just wanted her brother back.
"We will take care of you. We can heal you on the way back and everything. You can come live in New Rome or go and stay at Camp Half-Blood and-."
"No, I can't." Nico cut her off suddenly, like he couldn't take even the temptation of the offer. "I have been visited by my father again. I have more business here I need to take care of. Oltre Malavita needs me, and I don't want to leave it. Not yet, anyway."
Bradshaw still stood stiff but Haze was somewhat annoyed with both of them. She knew it was very childish but she was just upset at her refusal. It just wasn't fair.
"What do you have to do here?" Hazel asked.
Nico tried to shift his position on the bed but it was too hurtful for him so he stopped. "I haven't been given the full intrusions yet, but I have been told that I need to heal and build my strength back up before I do anything, and that might take awhile."
Hazel glared back at Bradshaw. The general only looked at her bleakly. "It is doable though. With time and care, our stronger then death King will be healthy again. Just time and care."
Nico squeezed her hand again. "Bradshaw knows what he is doing Hazel. Don't worry."
That's all she did but she didn't voice that fact. Hazel stayed quiet as the two other men did the same. She didn't know what else to ask or to say. He was alive and she was happy about that, yes. But she was still extremely off edge by the sight of his state in the bed.
"How..." Nico tensed again in pain. "How is Percy?" He asked carefully.
Hazel felt herself fill in rage. She was ungodly mad at his pitiful request. Why would you like to know the well being of the monster that did this to you? I can tell you now that he is doing a lot better then you!
She kept that inside her flaming mind as she let a bit of a glare aimed at him take place on her face. She was screaming on the inside but managed to keep calm enough to answer.
"He's fine, I guess." She shrugged. "He passed out after the tragedy, but I suppose his okay."
Nico didn't like her answer, she could tell. He didn't say anything of it though as he stubbornly turned his head away. She felt bad for the message she gave out, but made no action to return it.
"Hazel," Nico spoke her name with some force. It was rather mad, but more like stubborn need. "My sword, over here by me..."
Hazel was hesitant but did so anyway. She stood and walked to his right, finding his forever old black iron sword, leaning against the frame. She took hold of the handle and held it, waiting for more instructions.
"Take it." Nico ordered. "Take it and give it to Percy. Tell him that it all okay, that none of this is his fault. Tell him I'm sorry for what I had done to him. Tell him that I will come back for him."
Hazel looked at her brother, predicting to see revenge and anger in his eyes, but that wasn't the case at all.
"Tell him that it's all okay. That I'm okay, and that I will return back to him." Nico pleaded for her to do so, and she just couldn't deny him. She nodded, feeling the blade under her fingers. She wasn't sure if she should keep the promise or not.
She said nothing, but still took the sword.
{...}
It was about midnight when Percy burst into her room.
She was finally in bed and sleeping comfortably; the only thing she had longed to do since her arrival back to the boat. She had entered in, everyone staring at her and the sword she carried. She quickly voiced the news about Nico being alive but weak, and that he was being healed soon. She also lied and stated a false demand for the department of the land by him. She walked on before any of them asked anything. She entered into her room, laid into the bed, and fell asleep as the boat set sail for the sea once again.
Percy had woken her up in a fright. She literally jumped out of bed, ready to run out and fight off whatever monster was attacking now, to only find a wide eyed demigod in her room. He stared at her in a confused strains, like he was acting off a mere thought or notion. Wouldn't be the first time, Hazel bitterly thought.
She stood there, feeling her own glare tighten and narrow with meaning to do so. She was getting angrier by the second. She didn't want to around this so called hero; she wanted to get out of the same room as him before she blew. She just didn't want to be around someone she didn't know anymore. She just didn't want to be around the same demigod that could have also been her brother's murderer.
"What?!" She finally snapped at him. He flinched back in hurt. Good, she thought. "What do you want? Do you want to drown me to death too?!"
She watched as the pain in his eyes grew, but his mouth remained sealed. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't speak. That only made Hazel even angrier. She recalled what Nico asked for her to do and she almost scuffed in loathing. Like hell I'll give him that sword if it's not up his ass, she bit back her threat.
"Speak!" She snapped at him, becoming enraged by the silence. Percy only looked at her with guilt and sorrow in his eyes. She huffed when nothing came and resisted the urge to strangle him. The sound of hurrying feet on wood was what stopped her.
"Nico says his sorry." Hazel spatted at him, wanting any kind of reaction from him. "That everything is okay, even through it isn't. And that his the one who's sorry."
Percy's eyes, that were always big and bright and filled with emotions changed dramatically at her statement. She wanted edge him on more, but the change made her stop. Her rage subsided for a solid second, softening her attitude as noticed something sad in the mix of green and blue.
"I'm so sorry." Percy started. "I'm so, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt Nico. I couldn't even think of doing it."
Hazel stopped as she began to notice him on the very near edge of sobbing. She never seen Percy cry before. It scared her.
He took a moment to breath before starting again. "I hurt so many people in my life. And so many times... I thought I was as bad as the evil villains and demands because of it. I hated myself. I hated my life and everything I have done in it. Before I arrived in Oltre Malavita, I didn't even believed that I deserved to live when I had taken so many lives. I had spread so much death and pain and misery. I was broken beyond repair, living a hell of a life that was worse then Tartarus. The same one I went back to every night. Every fucking night... But I also couldn't began to ask for death since I didn't deserve the release from it. I deserved to live with the pain and guilt I brought into myself for what I had done. And if I did, I should have been sent straight to Tartarus, because that's where I belong. I wasn't a hero. I was a monster."
Hazel couldn't began to explain everything she saw in his eyes, or what she heard in his voice. She was frozen, stacked by his hurt and self loathing. She never thought of him in that state of mind.
By then, the other three demigods had found the two in her bedroom. They stopped when they saw Percy and were paralyzed just like her.
"A monster..." He repeated. His eyes were still aching to look at, but they changed again to something brighter, yet sweeter in a kinder sense. "But Nico saved me. He saved me so many times, even more then I couldn't begin to explain. He healed me, fixed me. He held me every night when I cried and suffered. I woke up to him telling me none of it was real and that I would never go back there. He promised to keep me safe, to protect me and make me happy. He promised to never let me be hurt again, and, goddamn it, I was so happy to finally have that. He understood the pain that I felt and helped me through it. He told me that everything that I have done, all the evil things that haunted me, we're not my fault and said that I really was a hero. To not only him but to everyone. And I believed him. I believed him and trusted him. He nursed me back into a happy way of being, to accepting myself as a whole, both good and bad, and made me love myself as I..."
His voiced trailed off, the light in his eyes brighter. Hazel predicted the rest but found it hard to believe herself. She glanced back to Jason who didn't look at her. She should have taken that as a sign, but didn't and listened on to Percy.
The demigod looked at her again, his eyes finally letting go of his tears. "I never wanted to hurt my angel. I couldn't image myself doing it. I thought of him constantly. I cared for him. I dreamed of him and me with a long happy life together in a heavenly place where no one could effect us. Just me and him, forever... How could I live with him if I killed him..."
He was crying full on now. Hazel watched in total unexplainable shock and guilt as she watched the hero fall to the floor onto his knees. He was breaking down for the first time over everything, and Hazel couldn't believe why.
"I love your brother!" He screamed.
Hazel watched him sobbed, guilt and realization settling into her mind. She understood everything now. Percy calling him his savior, Nico giving her the sword...
Hazel glanced to Jason in awe. Reyna and him didn't look surprised by the confession, like they saw it coming, possibly, already knew it. Annabeth kept her eyes casted downward, not shocked but confirmed in the news. They all held pity for Percy.
Hazel looked down at the breaking demigod, not knowing rather to hug him or not. She stood there like an idiot for a while, her mouth ajar, before caught in sight of the sword and decided what to do then.
She took the black blade out of her nearby chair and held it before him. He didn't notice at first but when he did, he didn't take it. He only looked at her with sad, broken eyes, like his soul was in the same condition.
She understood then what the two held together. The connection so strong and the attachment so strict. They were just two Herod trying to save the one they loved that most, and it ended in a classic Greek tragedy.
Hazel put it into his hands, using her own fingers to make his take it and hold it by the handle.
"He said he's coming back. No matter what, he will return back... For you."
{...}
I could never kill off Nico, guys. I be just as heartbroken as you all.
Also, sorry if I made Hazel really bitchy. I thought this would be anyone's reaction to her own brother's death. But she came around at the end. Sorry if Percy speech was long and nonmoving, I tried.
Thanks for reading. Sorry for the late update. Please review!