Sorry this took so long to update, mates. This chapter was a lot harder to write semi-decently than I thought it would be. And the usual reasons. You know life has gotten weirder when you start using tvtropes to refer to your own fanfiction to make sure you're not using obvious clichés. Guh. Anyways.
For those who haven't been privy to the inside loop, yes, the comic version of Break Myself is underway. Its home is currently on smackjeeves dot com under 'Break Myself' cause we were that creative and that poor. We put a ton of time and love into the comic mates, and it will contain parts of the story NOT in this written version - including some of Percy's side.
Link – www. breakmyself .smackjeeves .com
ByTheLetterK - I don't know if it's a good thing to say I'm proud to have converted another to the slash community, but welcome aboard.
valkyriecain2110 - ...how is it. That in 24 chapters. NO ONE pointed this out before. Or the OTHER major reference mistake I made, which I noticed myself before anyone else. Well, I'm too lazy to fix them. So ha.
New Eclipse, TheFrenchMouse, Crazy Ninja Lover, Lazuli, - YES, SOUL EATER REFERENCE. There's been Doctor Who, Kingdom Hearts, World Ends With You, Firefly, and various other references flying about, I felt I had to stick one from my current favorite anime in. Strangely, no one caught the Firefly one. Or at least no one's commented on it.
curledruler - Oh, Poseidon isn't handling it well at all. But that's not covered in this story - wait for the comic P: You'll see more of Percy's side of the story there.
Bragi151 - ...no speculating on the possible sequel plot bunnies. ALL OF YOU, STOP PREDICTING PLOT BUNNIES!
Blackmagiclily - thanks mate, I'm rather proud of awkward-parent!Hades.
Orochi-Ne - thank you - third wheels are always awkward. Even if they don't know it's a third wheel yet... except for, y'know, the third wheel. Uh.
to the flamer - if you're complaining several chapters into a PLAINLY stated boy/boy love story, then I have a remedy for you. Either stop reading, or face the truth: you like it, come out of the closet, take a chill pill, and never homophobicly comment again. It just shows how stupid you are.
And because you reviewers asked (and some begged) for it, there will be an extra bonus chapter that will contain a lemon. But to comply with 's standard, you will have to message me AFTER THE FINAL CHAPTER POST for the bonus chapter. If you don't have an FFN account, I apologize.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It didn't take long. Nico only felt the slight surge of the souls around him, as if a black hole opened up right beside him and the dying were sucked in. He whipped around, facing the god who hadn't changed at all leaning casually against the car they had bailed from. The pull of the dead tugged at him like a receding tide, and somewhere in there was Percy's.
And it was all this asshole's fault.
"What is wrong with you?" Nico spat. Thanatos' face didn't even twitch as Nico ranted on. "You caused this whole accident, didn't you? How did you know about Percy's Achille's Heel?"
"I'm the god of death, brat," Thanatos said neutrally. "If anyone knows how to kill, it would be me."
"So you're fine with just standing by, watching shit play out when Hypnos –" Nico's mind stuttered over the words, " – When he did crap and then when he tortured Percy and then you just… just expected him to be punished and when he is by going where he deserves you go apeshi –"
Nico barely saw the backhand fly, ducking out of the way in time.
"You don't know anything, you mortal," Thanatos spat, his face etched in anger. "You wouldn't comprehend what my brother means to me."
"I'll get Hypnos back!"
Even Thanatos quirked an eyebrow at that. "How." His tone belayed no question, as if mocking Nico's statement.
"You said it yourself. Only someone with the power of the Underworld can move through its depths." Nico's resolve hardened. He could do it – he had to do it. There was no other choice. He wasn't going to let Percy die. "I'll save Hypnos, if you spare Percy's life."
"Why do all mortals think things can be settled with a trade?" Thanatos scoffed. "There is no equality between a god's life and a mortal's."
"Percy's is!" Nico felt hyper aware of himself amid the whirlpool of the dead. He took mental stock of himself from Thantos' eyes; dirty and covered in still-wet blood, messy hair and his face – both pained and determined. He squared his jaw and stoicly repeated his bargain. "I. Will save. Hypnos. So spare Percy."
Thanatos just looked at him, analyzing him. Nico hoped to Olympus and back that his fear and desperation weren't as apparent as they felt. He may not be certain of his age, but Nico definitely felt like a small child who had seen too many years.
"Fine," Thanatos finally declared, leaning back against the car.
"Swear it on the River Styx," Nico demanded, even as he felt the annoying lurking idea that somewhere, someone was going to call him stupid several times for this.
The corner of Thanatos' mouth twitched. "I swear, on the River Styx, that Percy Jackson will live if Nico di Angelo goes to Tartarus and delivers Hypnos from its depths."
Nico felt a strange twinge he hadn't experienced before as Thanatos sealed his oath. No going back now… as if that had ever been an option.
Nico opened a shadow portal behind him, stepping backwards because he refused to turn his back to that sly, sick smirk stealing across Thanatos' face. "Percy's going to live," Nico stated as the portal swallowed him. Nico swore Thanatos' smirk only grew deeper before he was whisked away to the Underworld.
He saw the grasp reaching for him in the portal, narrowly avoiding it in a split second before he was nabbed. He existed out the other end, landing successfully on his feet, before he recognized the surge in his father's power. But he didn't have time to dwell on that before he felt the tugging of Tartarus, a tide at his feet threatening to overpower him.
Nico cautiously pushed the long sleeves of his bomber jacket to his elbows and lowered to his backend. He braced himself with his sneakers and hands before letting the current pull him, sliding towards the big damn dark hole with a set brow and grit teeth.
The sliding turned to falling, and he crashed into a puddle of sick. In that instant, Nico knew - a mortal wasn't meant for Tartarus.
He screamed as old injuries returned, his flesh ripping open on its own. Nico saw the band of scar tissue around his arm go slick and red before his eyes screwed shut in grimaces against pain. This was going to be very painful, very quickly. He forced himself to open his eyes, knowing he had a few precious minutes before the pain would overtake him.
Against his luck, he couldn't distinguish a damn thing. Slippery and sticky and dark and cold, a wet oil painting of all the misery and torment that existed in the world. It crushed in around him, suffocating him, as he struggled to somehow move forward in a place of no direction. The red of his blood seemed almost cherry against the darkness before it faded to black as well.
Nico tried to focus, focus his energy in one direction – trying to get a pinpoint on Hypnos with the power that was his and his alone, even as his legs went weak and shaky and he felt blood trickle down them. He wanted to sink to his knees as he felt the terror overtake him again.
He almost did fall, as other emotions surged forward. Every lonely day, every dark night, every miserable moment surfaced. The loss of Percy's love without ever possessing it, his father's disappointment, Bianca's death, the emptiness of the casino…
Then his mind split.
He saw his mother die, from the eyes of a child. He saw memories that weren't his and yet they were… childishly simple memories stuck together in the ball of pure hurt. It was so painful that he didn't even have these memories at night to reflect upon. He was on the verge of collapsing under their excruciating onslaught.
That was the instant he felt a sticky hand on his cheek and realized he was sobbing.
"Hello, my dark angel," came a weak, pain-thinned child's voice.
All the fear and hurt balled in Nico's stomach. For a moment, everything became painstakingly clear as the pain turned to rage. The fury concentrated his thoughts, and momentarily cleared him of the agony. Nico saw Tartarus for what it was, a hell-hole in his own mind, and saw the child form Hypnos in front of him – daring to touch him. The children of Hades had problems holding on to grudges, did they? Anger issues?
Nico punched Hypnos in the face.
"Shut up," Nico spat. He could taste blood. He grasped Hypnos' arm – nearly crying out himself but no, no he had to focus. Turn the pain to anger, use the anger to get through.
Hypnos was hurt – somehow. Weakened, Nico thought. The god was in a form that seemed only a few years old. He didn't move as Nico pulled him onto his back, burying his face into the fur of Nico's bomber jacket. Nico could barely move. Everything was so heavy, so pressing – it would be easier to sink down and give up.
The tittering part of Nico's brain that wasn't proverbially coughing blood sardonically commented on how much harder it was to get out of a hell hole. It hurt so much. Why was he doing this again?
Percy.
Right. Percy. Percy. He had to save Percy. No other option, no 'do or do not', no 'try'. An absolute. Nico collected his straying thoughts around that one focal point. Percy. Percy was the cool, sweet water thought his mind fled to from the flames.
Fire and brimstone didn't exist in the Underworld, not literally. But it burned, burned in a way Nico hadn't known before – from the inside out. Is this how Bianca felt in her final moments?
That thought almost consumed all thoughts of Percy, to the point Nico almost didn't realize the pull had released. He was out – he was free.
Nico finally buckled, Hypnos rolling off his shoulders and falling next to him. For a moment, curled around himself in the waste of the Underworld, Hypnos looked like nothing more than another lost child. Nico felt a surge of pity. It was easy to forget now that this child before him was the same jerk who caused all of this suffering.
Nico couldn't even shift his eyes when he felt someone approaching. He only saw Thanatos crouching beside Hypnos, and Hypnos' arms painfully encircling his brother's neck. Then Nico saw it, plain as day on Thanatos' usually guarded face, as the god tenderly embraced and lifted Hypnos.
He wanted to speak, perversely wanted to apologize for taking Thanatos' love away from him… But nothing moved. His body felt strangely distant and detached, rather like it wasn't his anymore.
So this is what it's like to die, Nico thought to himself. It felt almost pleasant – like the pain had been a wave crashing against the rocks, dashing him to pieces, and now he was just trickling away. His mind was slipping, but not into a haze of lights and sweet smells or an empty darkness this time. Just… slipping. He pushed – grasping desperately one last time – towards the source of his empathy link with Percy. His consciousness barely brushed against it, contacting long enough to know that Thanatos had kept his promise.
Then everything was okay. Thanatos and Hypnos were gone, leaving Nico alone in the dark. But that was okay. If he had gone to Tartarus and brought back Hypnos, Percy would live - Percy would live. Nico wasn't even that cold now. Maybe he was dreaming again – just dreaming, and he'd wake up soon.
To Be Concluded
