[[If you don't wanna read the entire chunk of stuff, it's just me telling you I'll be writing the sequel around March to April. Love y'all]]

Hey guys. Just wanted to say the prequel is ending! Thanks to all those who have been reading and for all your support for this story. Thanks to all those who took the time to feedback and HAHA i know I've accidentally posted the wrong chapter many times XD. But yeah.

Also, I'm taking a hiatus so i can write 'Will Solace, William Solace' better and think it out through. I've been overworking myself out this past 9+ months pushing out the 4 stories I've made. Maybe i was hungry for improvement (i read my old stories and OH GOD THE CRINGE) and yeah, i did improve, but i guess it's time to stop for a while.

I don't usually write A/Ns unless at the end of the story, but i suppose i wanted some sort of vague connection with my readers. I love to write and won't ever not write (sorry haters) and I've kinda been into anime recently. I will return to write the story later. In a while. I guess. Around end of March. Yep. Around there.

Stay safe. Don't get sick. Continue to love Solangelo

…

Nico ran to the harbour and toward the railing. He stopped just before he fell over. The clouds seemed to mock him, and the seas appeared to laugh at his pleas.

For probably the tenth time those two days, Nico screamed at the sky above him. He screamed out to the vast endless ocean before him.

"You think this is funny, Solace?! Huh? Is this some kind of joke!? Are you trying to play with me?" He shouted.

Nico felt sobs building up inside of him again, but he couldn't cry. He couldn't let it out.

"Is this my fault!? Is it something i did?! Tell me Will! Don't be a coward! Tell me what i did wrong! I-i can change!" Nico yelled.

A gale made him unsteady on his two feet.

"It's not funny Will...come back." Nico's voice broke. "Please come back. Please come back Will."

The seagulls squawking obliviously. Children turned to look at him as he cursed and swore loudly. Most of them were alone. Their parents hadn't died. They were down here, in Elysium, with no one but themselves.

"I didn't even get to tell you you were a good brother." Nico said hoarsely, his voice tired from strain. "I didn't even tell you what you meant to me…"

Nico hit the railing. "Is this the price? Huh, Will? And what was with the kiss? Was it because of that that you left?!"

Nico's nose hurt. "You told me I was your world. In all those countless birthday cards I refused to read."

Nico felt dizzy from so much screaming and shouting and yelling. But what else could he do other than continue?

"You said i was your world." Nico gripped the railing tight. "But I saw galaxies in your eyes. So...so...so many galaxies."

The wind blew through his hair. It sent chills down his spine.

"What's a world in a universe?"

Nico's legs weakened, and they buckled under him.

"Is this it!? Is this the end? Is there no more? Was there really not meant to be anything? Was kissing me that big a mistake?"

He fell to the floor. He was so damn tired. His heels rolled back, and he sat on the ground, defeated. So this was it.

No more pair skating. No more apologies. No more nights thinking up confessions. No more cute nights, lying on his bed, thinking about Will. No more eating his breakfast. No more. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Nico hugged his knees close to his chest, and wrapped his arms around his legs. He had never felt that vulnerable since he was a young child.

Nico had asked for something to feel, and there he had it. All the pain and sadness and anger in the world to feel. Like the burden of Atlas upon his shoulders, the pain was all his burden to bear.

He got what he asked for.

"Is...this how your world of feelings felt like?" Nico murmured, talking to himself. "Is this how feelings feel like?" He asked louder.

Silence. No one responded. The children continued to stare and look, and the passersby all gave him a wide berth. Sandcastles were half made, still in progress, but their owners stopped building. The rustling of newspapers appeared ten times louder in the silence.

"Because if this...this stupid, wretched, cursed feeling, is how feelings feel like, I'd rather not feel at all. And if this is how it feels, then maybe, just maybe, I can understand why you'd leave me here."

Nico took a deep breath. "Cos it sucks! It hurts to know that I could have stopped this, but I didn't! I let it all slip by! I didn't even get to say I was sorry!" Nico clenched his fists.

"How," Nico breathed out heavily, his chest exhausted from keeping him alive. "Did you survive this long?"

Nico stood up, and the joints between his legs popped. Everyone looked at him, like they were ready to run forward to catch him if he fell. Understandable, really. He looked like the Walking Dead.

"I-i gave you all my time...and a-all of my love." Nico pointed at himself, while shouting out to the surface.

"Th-this isn't supposed to be my repayment! This isn't how it's supposed to end! This isn't what I was promised!"

Nico's whole body convulsed in shakes, but not a single tear fell. "It's all my fault...I should have known. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I shouldn't have pushed you away."

"I'm sorry alright Will?! For whatever I did! I'm so fucking sorry! J-just...please come back...don't leave me here...i-i don't want to be alone again…" Nico rocked himself back and forth on the balls of his feet. He took in a deep shuddering breath.

"Honestly Solace, screw you. Go fuck yourself. What made you think you could just leave me? And what made you think listening to Dad was a good idea? He probably just wanted you gone!" Nico screamed in frustration.

People murmured among themselves; possibly about the tragedy of the young man before them.

But Nico wasn't taking this shit. Pushing them aside, Nico made his way to the one place he knew Will would have been to before he left.

…

"Will?" Nico nodded miserably. The receptionist put a finger under her chin. "I mean, he was here yesterday."

"Yeah. I knew he'd have been here."

"Why are you suddenly asking? Is this some sort of chasing thing?" She sullenly asked.

"I-what? What do you mean?" Nico's head snapped up.

"Hades is here too. I thought when you came you were looking for him or something."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Hades is here?"

"Yeah." She scoffed. "Not the Lord. Like...your dad."

"Some kind of father he is." Nico mumbled under his breath. "Well, I was looking for Will. Not him."

"Is he missing or something?"

"Hades? No, he's rig-"

"No. Will."

"Ah...he…um...he..." Nico felt the lump rise in his throat, like he was about to cry again. "He…"

"Um...you don't have to tell me." She backed away. "It seems pretty difficult to come to terms with."

"It's not!" Nico retorted. "Okay fine. It's...been pretty rough."

She raised her eyebrows, and bent down to put back a pair of rented skates. "Right."

"It's hard alright? Geez...Are you happy now?" Nico glared at her.

"Oh my god. What did I do?" She sighed. "Whatever it is, Hades is in the rink."

Nico heard a loud thump of the ice followed by a groan. "Yep. Definitely Hades." Nico mumbled.

"I'd better go see what he's up to." Nico scooted away.

"Yeah. And Nico?" She called. Nico turned around as he was about to go on the ice. "I'm sorry about whatever happened."

"I'm not gonna say no problem since it really is a cause for concern but ok." Nico smiled.

"And...you needa wear your skates before I can allow you into the rink." Nico looked down at his feet and rolled his eyes.

He stopped, rushing to a bench to put on his skates.

...

He entered the rink just as Hades fell flat on his face.

"These knife shoes…" Nico heard him mutter.

"What are you doing here?" Nico hissed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Hades didn't hear him. "Dad! Why're you here?"

Hades drifted forward a few inches then waved his arms about to regain his balance. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Avoiding." Nico snapped. "You look exactly like you're trying to avoid the incident altogether."

"Are you not too?" Hades' top lip curled upwards into a snarl.

"No. I've been dealing with it." Nico said defensively.

"Oh you really believe that don't you? Or do you?"

"At least I'm not denying it happened." Nico took a deep breath and pushed himself forward in a circle around Hades.

Hades turned a half circle to meet Nico's gaze, but he turned too much and fell on the ground again. Hades cursed softly, just loud enough for Nico to hear, and picked himself up.

"At least I didn't cause this. Like, I wasn't the one who suggested it to him." Nico began.

Hades tried unsuccessfully to get a single word in.

"At least I didn't send him to the surface. At least I didn't convince him to go on the run on the surface. At least I didn't lie to myself that it was all gonna be fine."

Hades opened his mouth to argue, but Nico shut him down even before he could say anything.

"At least I wasn't the one who kept it a secret. At least I didn't hide it from anyone. It's not like I'm the one who hid it from my son."

At the opportunity, Hades jumped in. "Ok! I get it!" Hades sighed. "What do you want from me!? I was just trying to do the right thing as a father!"

"Totally turned out right." Nico said snidely.

"You wanna try being a father then?" Hades sighed and pressed his eyebrows together in forced concentration. "Look. I was doing my best at giving my children what they wanted."

"Guess what? You've just lost both in the process! I'm leaving!" Nico yelled in the heat of the moment.

"You...what?" Hades demanded, his feet tripping over each other clumsily on the ice..

"I'm leaving!" Nico said more resolutely this time. That's right. He could leave. He could go to the surface. He could go look for Will on his own!

"You can't! I'm not letting you! I'm not losing another son!"

"You never really took me for your son anyway did you?" Nico mocked.

"That's not the point! Besides, I did take you for my son. Whether or not you took me for your father...now that's a different matter altogether."

"Oh. Back to the manipulative self isn't it?"

"Holy f...I totally need to bring you to the mental institute." Hades shook his head.

"If you can get me." Nico glided gracefully to the exit. He made a face both at Hades and the receptionist and proceeded to quickly remove his skates. He kept them in his bag, and hurried out of the rink.

He could still hear Hades shouting for him to return and Nico couldn't help but think maybe Hades was right. Maybe Nico was the 'bad guy' in this story. Maybe Nico had really failed to see how Hades had changed.

Maybe Nico wasn't so right after all. And yet what was he doing now? Running away. As he always did. Like the coward he was.

"Not so perfect huh, di Angelo." Nico muttered to himself.

Please give any ideas for the sequel. I'm currently open to ideas :)