Chapter 21

Here's the double update, as promised. Remember, fifteen reviews and I'll post the next chapter! This chapter actually answers a few of your questions about the other characters reacting to Nico's death. I hope you enjoy.

"You really do drool when you sleep, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth muses quietly to herself.

Percy's eyes open to a grey eyed, blonde haired girl leaning over him, arms on his chest, smiling. He groggily smiles. "Old habits die hard, I guess."

Last night, the two of them had wandered to the stables of the Argo II, where they had fallen asleep after hours of talking and catching up. Annabeth shakes her head, smiling to herself, then kneels back to let Percy up. "We'd better get ready or we're going to be late for lunch."

"Lunch?" Percy asks incredulously. "How long did you let me sleep in?" He scrambles to stand up.

Annabeth shrugs. "I woke up about half an hour before breakfast was over. But you looked like you needed the sleep. Plus, you're cute when you sleep."

Percy grins, leaning in for a kiss. "Did you just say that I was cute, Annabeth Chase?" he teases.

Annabeth's hand shoves Percy's face away. "You're definitely not cute until you've brushed your teeth, Seaweed Brain. Go get ready before I kiss you."

Percy laughs lightly and decides to walk to his cabin, agreeing to meet up with Annabeth at the Mess Hall. He changes into his regular Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and a pair of shorts. However, when he reaches the Mess Hall, there's an unusually somber attitude about the campers.

He lines up to give some of his food to Poseidon, when he feels someone tap him on the shoulder. Surprised, Percy turns around to see Rachel Dare standing behind him, an uncharacteristic grim expression on her face.

"Are you coming tonight?" she asks quietly.

"To what?" Percy replies, momentarily confused.

"You know...Nico's shroud burning…" Rachel's voice trails off as she stares into the distance, consumed with images of a grim future.

Percy's face is confused. "Nico's what?" he asks.

Rachel's eyes widen in surprise. "You didn't tell him?" She turns to Annabeth.

Annabeth looks at Percy guiltily. "He had just come back, and...you know how he is, Rachel. I wanted him to be happy."

Percy really, really hates it when there's conversations like this - where he's the only one who doesn't know what's going on. Sadly, conversations like this seem to occur relatively often when he's involve.

"What happened?" Percy demands, looking between Annabeth and Rachel.

Rachel takes a deep breath and explains what Nico did. As she explains, Percy's hands slowly clench into fists at his sides as he realizes the depth of Nico's sacrifice.

"What?" Percy nearly shouts once Rachel finishes. "And no one thought to stop him?"

"None of us knew." Rachel says guiltily. "It was his choice, Percy. And...it was necessary." She gives Percy as meaningful a look as she can without Annabeth noticing.

Percy slides down the wall, rests his elbows on his knees and digs his fingers into his face. Suddenly, Nico's voice becomes one of many in that awful river down in Tartarus, and Percy becomes consumed with guilt. Percy understands why Nico did it - to extend his life so he could expel Tartarus from his body, to save the world. However, at the same time, Percy can't help but feel as if he owed Nico in the first place - for Bianca, for saving the crew while he was in Tartarus, for the countless other times that Nico had saved his life.

"Percy?" Annabeth asks hesitantly.

The son of Poseidon slowly stands up, then whips around to punch wall. It feels good, to let out all of his anger and frustration and guilt at one wall. However, he must have punched the wall a little too hard because the next thing Percy knows, his knuckles are bleeding and nearly everyone in the Mess Hall turns around to stare at him. People start whispering.

"I'm fine," Percy says awkwardly to the crowd, wishing they would stop staring. Great. He thinks to himself. Now I'm not just the guy who came back from the dead, but the nutjob that came back from the dead.

"You'll come then, right?" Rachel asks quietly after people turn around and return to their meals.

Percy takes a shaky breath, then rasps, "Yeah...of course I'll be there." His voice cracks slightly.

Rachel sets a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "It wasn't your fault," she assures.

Percy can't meet her eyes because all he can see are countless faces flashing through his mind: Bianca, Beckendorf, Leo, Silena...Nico. Another face added to a collection.

"It's just that no matter how hard I try, people just keep...and it's all my fault." Percy squeezes his eyes shut, trying to ward off images of the past.

Rachel's face softens. "Percy, if it's one thing I've learned since becoming the oracles, it's that none of this-" she waves her hand to illustrate her point. "-is our fault. You've done so much good for everybody in this Camp. You've saved so many lives. You're a hero."

Percy pauses to take a breath, calming himself down as he opens his eyes to look at Rachel. "Thanks, Rachel." he says quietly. "That means a lot."

. . .

Later that day, Nico's funeral is held on the beach. His black, velvet shroud isn't decorated, but it's beautiful all the same. A relatively small group of campers surround the altar to attend the service. No one is surprised. Nico has always been somewhat of an outsider. Chiron says a few words, and the service continues, but all Percy can think in his head is myfaultmyfaultmyfault.

When it's his turn to speak, Percy walks calmly to the altar, a picture of perfect control. In his hand he holds a mythomagic figure in his hand. He clears his throat.

"Nico DiAngelo was one of the bravest men I've ever met. He saved my life more times than I could count, and he's always been someone that I could depend on." The microphone shakes in Percy's hand. He stares out at the countless blank faces staring up at him, waiting. But Percy doesn't know what else he could say. Everything he can think of sounds inadequate. So he tells the story of Tartarus, and how Nico promised to guide the others to the Doors of Death. He finishes with, "Nico was a hero, even until the very end." Heros don't get happy endings, a cynical voice in his head reminds him. "I'm sorry." he whispers to the shroud.

Later on, Hazel stands up to say a few shaky half-whispered words into the microphone, ending with: "I love you."

As she sets fire to the shroud, the ebony flames curl into the air, creating beautiful shadows in the darkening evening sky. Percy walks up to Hazel, who sits at the base of the altar, head resting on her knees, watching the flames. He realizes that this is the first time he's talked to Hazel since coming back.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly to her. "I-I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Hazel looks up, tears in her eyes. "It wasn't your fault, Percy. He loved you, and that was the decision he made."

"He - oh." Percy, already numb with Nico's death, isn't all that shocked. Still, the news comes as somewhat of a surprise to him.

"He didn't give up on you, you know that? Even when we all moved on, he was still searching for you, insisting that you were alive…and we-we shunned him, Percy." Hazel sniffles quietly. "He was the only one like me...he was my brother and now he's gone."

Percy doesn't know what to say. Instead, he sits next to Hazel, puts his arm around her shoulders, and draws her close, his chin resting on her head.

And the two of them sit like that for a while, stay there even as the sun sets, deep in their own thoughts.

Let me know what you think in the reviews! See you soon.