Disclaimer: I don't the characters, they belong to Rick Riordan. I don't own the plot, it belongs to MBC. I just joined them for fun.
Episode 12: Part 3
After finally getting out of the car and ordering some meals in the restaurant, Nico began to worry about other things.
The first thing he had to do was to keep hiding his disappearing arm from Will, he will approach that topic after lunch.
The second, they had to resolve- or better yet, Will had to help him put his plan in action -the killer's situation.
"It's tasty! Worthy of a recommendation." Nico broke the ice during the silent meal, but it seemed like Will's attention was somewhere else. He hadn't even begun eating. "Are you mad about something? Why won't you say anything?" He asked him, curious.
"That hand..." Crap... He saw it... "What do we do?" Nico wanted to argue about it but Will didn't let him. "You've been hiding it since a while ago because you think I'll see."
"I was going to tell you after we finished eating." He confessed, upset he had discovered it.
"I can't... bring myself to eat." Will stopped pretending he was going to eat his food but wouldn't look at Nico. Defeated- and glad that there was no one else in the restaurant but them -, Nico raised his arm and showed to him how it was flickering between presence and absence. Will simply saw it and sighed.
"It's been a month. Ever since my Uncle passed away." Nico explained to him.
"What do we do?" Will repeated.
"We'll have to figure it out."
"How can we figure it out?" Nico felt happiness when Will included himself in the plan but was still unsure if he wanted him to help him.
"While you were asleep, I spoke with your father about many things." That statement only confused Will.
"You spoke with my father?" He checked with him, earning a nod from Nico.
"I didn't know who Apollo Solace was, so I met both sides. That's how I realized why our plan failed." Now that he had Will's full attention, Nico elaborated.
"What is that...?" Will wondered.
"There was something your father had not yet told me about." Nico stated, talking about his 'previous' meeting with Apollo. "The fact that he had already met the true killer that day. And that they had made a promise between themselves. That's why turning everything into a dream had no effect." He reasoned out. "That bastard was still in his state of realization while all of my memories were gone. I made a mistake. I chose the wrong point in time when he made it all a dream. That's why everything's been tangled like this."
"Then...?" Will wanted to know more.
"So I thought about it. Let's make a promise." Nico saw Will wary about it but asked about it.
"What is it?"
"When we go back to the workroom, draw me a picture." What Nico never expected was Will's reaction about it.
"What are you talking about, again? What- You're telling me to make all this a dream again?" Nico watched as Will let out a rant. He could see he was angry as his words- no, Nico was sure Will was angry because of his words. I should have worded it differently... "You want me to draw all of this as a dream again?! Then you disappear from here again? You can live perfectly fine with forgetting everything about me. But I- I have to be by myself while remembering this twice?! You were going to do this in the end, why did you tell me you wanted to go on a date? Why did you kiss me back then?" Time to end this track...
"I didn't say anything about a dream."
"That's what you're trying to say right now!" Will insisted, trying not to raise his voice but Nico could see it was hard. He had kept all these feelings to himself, who would believe him if he explained them...? "To ask me to turn everything back, to before the killer realized anything! To tell me that that's... the only way everyone can be safe again!"
"That's what the Nico di Angelo from the manhwa suggested. I don't intend to do any of that." Nico argued with him. He wasn't angry at Will, he was just trying to understand his point of view- wrong one, but Will had a record to prove it. "Back then, I was desperate so there was nothing I could do. But right now, I have time to think and that's not right. I don't have any desire to live the same life once more. And I don't want to leave you with memories to suffer through."
"Then what is it? What do you want me to draw for you again?" Will asked him, sounding a little more confident about it.
"Draw this for me." Nico pulled out some photos of his pocket and handed them to Will. Will took them and glanced at them.
"What is this?"
"I think your father can only come back if the killer is killed." Nico began explaining his theory. "And I don't have the qualifications of the main character, so I don't know when I'll cease to exist. There still is only one way. The story that your father and I planned from the beginning." Will looked from the pictures to Nico, and he could see how Will was thinking about the last time that happened. "After catching the true killer, leading Zeus Olympia to kill the killer. That is the most certain way. So we must go according to the plan. That way, your father and I would be able to live. However, I want to change the ending that your father made." He surprised Will, smirking. "The last scene should be Nico and Will should get married and live happily. That is the most logical happy ending of W. Whether the readers curse at us or not! Isn't it?"
"Yes. It is." Will replied, a small smile appearing.
"After coming here, I realized that your father is not the god." Nico continued, turning a bit serious again. "He was just simply deluded to believe he was god and that's why he suffered that fate. Your father couldn't have possibly created everything in that world. How could a writer predetermine all those billions of people?"
"That- that actually doesn't make sense." Will confirmed after a minute of thought. Nico nodded at him.
"What he was able to decide on were only a few characters that he made. That's why I've concluded like this. The manhwa is just a medium to connect the two worlds. This world and that world are independent of each other. Two separate worlds. The only things that are common among the two worlds are what show up in the manhwa. A number of fictional characters, including me, and a few specific locations that are drawn."
"Dad's tablet is the bridge, isn't it?" Will checked and Nico nodded again.
"The two worlds first meet through your father's tablet." Nico confirmed with him. "I was able to get out through the tablet, but starting the second time, there were variables; manhwa characters' self-realization. As fictional characters started self-realization, people from the real world could be summoned, or be taken out when an episode ends. Variables kept getting created and we have suffered the consequences because of those variables. It's enough to suffer this much. Now we should make use of the confirmed variables."
"How are you planning to use the variables on your favor?" Will frowned slightly, thinking. Nico pointed at the pictures Will was still holding.
"When you get out of here, you will go to the workshop and draw this. I have reassembled the tablet."
"No." Will shook his head. "You know what happens. If I turn that on, then the killer..."
"That's why we should catch the killer first so he couldn't be free." Nico stopped his rant gently. "So he can't touch the tablet. I will do that."
"You're planning on going 'main character' again, aren't you?" Nice to know I can't hide you anything...
"Leave that to me." He reassured him. "First, a car for me to ride."
"What is this...?" Will had paid attention to the second picture and was frowning again.
"The second thing you'll have to draw for me is a corpse. Then-"
"What about Reyna?" Will interrupted him, serious. "If we're a happy ending then she'll disappear again."
"I'm going to make her a variable."
"A variable?"
"I can't accept that there's only one reason for existence, starting from birth." Nico spoke, almost frowning. "When a variable appears in life, then it's natural that the direction is changed. Like how I met you." Will smiled sadly at him. "If they're shackled simply for being a character, then all you have to do is let them be free. Getting rid of Reyna's character set-up."
"Guess we better get to work."
After their date, Nico drove Will back to his father's house.
"Wait for my text. I'll tell you when to turn the tablet on." He reminded him once he got off the car. Immediately, Will leaned and looked at him through the passenger seat's window.
"How will you come back?" Will asked him, unsure. "If you go now, it's the end. You won't be able to come back here."
"I think I can come back." I'm pretty confident that my plan will succeed...
"It was only possible when you realized something." Will reminded him of the previous times. "That means you have to come back after losing your memories again... Then the dream-"
"I told you I don't want any more dreams." Nico interrupted Will, smirking softly.
"Then, what are you going to do?"
"I think I can do it. Wait here."
"I said that last time! I told you to wait until the surgery was finished and you disappeared." Will scolded him and Nico knew he was right.
"That was Nico di Angelo from the manhwa." He defended himself, ready to leave but reminding something, he turned to him again. "Oh! And there's one more thing you need to draw for me." Will waited for him to continue. "It's too expensive here, I can't possibly buy it in my current state." Will's raised eyebrow forced Nico to elaborate. "Please draw me the ring I lost."
That drew a smile in both of them before Nico drove away.
It was now when the plan started.
While driving towards his new destination, Nico recalled a conversation he had with Kayla the night before.
~FLASHBACK~
"Where is the place that the killer lives?" He had asked the girl, who looked unsure to him. "There must be a location. Don't you have any pictures from the research materials?"
"I do have the research material pictures. It's an apartment after all." Kayla had kind of argued as if her ethics as an artist were questioned. She began searching through some papers while Nico kept talking.
"Where is that? The address of the killer didn't come out in the manhwa, right?"
"Well, no. Since it blew up even before we were able to draw it." Kayla had explained, searching through some pictures.
"That's why the police were not able to find the location." Nico mumbled to himself, understanding now.
"Aha!" Kayla pronounced, happy, before showing a group of pictures to Nico. "The picture of the apartment... seems like this is it." Nico saw a common, ordinary and humble building unit that would be, somehow, perfect for this killer to hide. Behind the picture, it had the address of it: 1369 Blondell Ave, The Bronx, NY, Unit 815.
"We decided on Unit 815. There's really no reason behind it." Kayla had explained, shrugging her shoulder. It had been really random.
~FLASHBACK~
And now, after a long drive and some minutes of walking, Nico was standing in front of said door, checking that he was alone in the hallways. Bothering the people that was inside was insane, they were not part of this.
He texted Will his instructions, believing that the time requested was more than enough. Pulling out the gun that Will still didn't know he had brought with himself when he crossed worlds, he concentrated.
I am currently out in the real world. Nico thought to himself. At the same time, I am a fictional character. Through the fictional character's will, if he can summon the person from the real world. The first hypothesis is that I... can summon myself into the manhwa world.
Starting now, I summon myself.
"Right here, into the manhwa."
The change was immediate, so fast, that Nico could have not realized about it if the time in the sky hadn't changed. It seemed like the world had stopped the night he and Will 'crossed over' and it was still that night. The sunny sky light of the real world that strained through the windows of the apartment block disappeared and now, the darkness surrounded him.
Nico didn't waste time. He turned around and kicked the door open. The surprise of its inhabitants was big which gave Nico a fair advantage. Both Orcus and Nico had a little stare-down before Nico smirked at him.
The real fight began now.
Orcus' first move was head towards his gun but Nico anticipated that move, kicking the gun and the couch where it was far away from Orcus. Immediately, Orcus received a kick on his stomach, pushing him even further. Nico pointed the gun at him but Orcus simply threw a bottle at him- that landed on the wall behind him.
A kick from Orcus after this distraction caused Nico to lose his gun and soon, both hero and antagonist were engaged in hand-to-hand combat, both focus on attacking than defending. Kicks and punches flew around the place, some landing on target, some others don't. Nico was hit several times but that hadn't stopped him. Even when it seemed that Orcus had him at his mercy, Nico escaped and fought back at him.
Soon, a strong push made Orcus stumble and collide with a wall strong enough to make him stumble and fall to the floor. Nico didn't waste the given opportunity and kicked him on the face, making him lose a little bit of consciousness. However, Nico was not even finished, as he picked him up by the collar of his clothes and kicked him again, making him collapse on the couch that was on the other side of the room.
This time, Orcus lost consciousness and the fight was over.
Nico searched around the tiny and disgusting apartment for some rope- and he found it, though he didn't want to know what could have Orcus planned with it -that he used to tie up his nemesis. It only took a few minutes and, once satisfied, made an important call.
"Yes, this is 911."
"I want to report a murder suspect." Nico announced to the surprised- or maybe not so much -officer replying the call.
"Please go ahead and speak. Which murder case are you talking about?"
"I caught the murder of the Channel W's mass shooting. Hurry and arrest him." By the time Nico had managed to talk to someone, Orcus was awake and trying to release from his 'prison'.
"Yes. W-Wait a minute." If the situation wasn't as serious as it was, Nico would be smirking at the stammering of the officer.
"The address is 1369 Blondell Ave, The Bronx, NY. Unit 815. His name is Orcus."
"We will dispatch right now to verify it. But then, can the one who reported reveal his identity?"
"Just a citizen." Nico replied, enigmatically, before hanging up and kneeling at Orcus, who was glaring. "Who would die first between the two of us? I think it would be you." He teased Orcus, smirking at him. "Since I caught the murderer, it will probably delay my disappearing. Because I did one thing the main character should do."
"Bastard." Orcus chuckled at him though it was obvious it was not amusing for him.
"Rot in prison. I will think about how you should die." Nico spoke his goodbyes, more as if saying 'goodbye' to his previous life.
Right after walking into his father's house and check on him, Will began pacing around in his room until Nico contacted him. Soon, he was getting a text from him.
'10 minutes afterward would be enough. At that time, turn the power on.'
Now given his indications, Will was resigned wait a little longer. Sure, ten minutes were nothing but long when you knew every single one of them counted differently in another world.
As soon as the ten minutes had passed, Will took a deep breath and pressed the power on button of the tablet.
The tablet flickered on and, out of previous experiences, Will took a step back.
One second.
Two seconds.
Relieved that nothing will happen this time, Will took a seat and began drawing the things Nico requested him.
As soon as he was out of Orcus' apartment complex, Nico saw it.
His new dark getaway car.
Smirking at Will's drawing ability, he got in and drove away from the scene just seconds earlier than police patrol cars arrived and headed exactly to where he had fought Orcus. However, he wouldn't be there to see the face of the officers once they discovered the killer all tied up, or the evidence against him, or the reaction of Zeus Olympia when he found out that Orcus was apprehended.
Nor he needed to imagine what would his friends do when this news became public.
Nico drove to back to Valhalla and wasn't surprised to see that everything was in the exact moment where Will and he left it. The first thing he did was to check the news. He didn't realize that Percy had been calling him.
"Just now, around 10:30, a suspect estimated to be responsible for the shooting and killing 10 people in the building of WBN has been caught in his residency. The identity of this suspect has not yet been confirmed and it has been notified that he was arrested through a courageous citizen's report. This anonymous reporter entered the suspect's house and after a fight with the suspect, he personally..."
Turning off the TV, Nico made sure that everything was as normal as possible before a putrid smell filled his nose.
Gods, Will is very talented... Nico thought, covering his nose while eying the body. Will had drawn it in a corner of the house and it was identical to him, gunshot in his abdomen and all. Still covering his nose, Nico placed an envelope over the corpse and decided that nothing else was needed here, so he returned to his car to make one last phone call.
"CEO di Angelo, where are you?" Nico sighed at Percy's worried tone.
"Where else?" Nico replied, so far not lying.
"Did you see the news?" Percy continued. "That guy was caught, and Reyna thinks he was caught by you."
"That's right. I caught him."
"What? You really did? How?"
"Cousin, listen up." Nico focused Percy, serious. "Go to the house I was at, saying that you lost all contact for about half a month. And my corpse will be there.
"What?! What are you talking about... corpse?" Evidently, Percy thought he had heard wrong.
"Report it to the police and make sure it's opened to the public. The DNA will match mine." Nico insisted before giving an ultimatum to him. "Cousin. I'm dead. Dying from a bullet, unfairly framed." Nico heard Percy's sigh and decided to calm him. "But I'm still alive so you don't have to worry. I thought I'd at least have to tell you."
"Hey, punk..." Percy showed who was the adult here but Nico found it endearing somehow.
"Oh, but it's best for Reyna to know that I'm dead. For her life." He added, serious. "I'll call you later."
Five minutes later, Nico was gone from Valhalla.
"The police have confirmed, that on the 23rd, the body discovered in a house in Valhalla, New York is that of Mr. Nico di Angelo's, and he had died an unnatural death. Mr. di Angelo was on the run since the 22nd of last month, after being charged with the murder of WBN's Chief, Poseidon Jackson. Within 33 days of his run, he has been discovered as a corpse made through an unnatural death. Due to being hit with a bullet from the police on the run, Mr. di Angelo-"
After roaming the streets for several hours, Nico returned to Orcus' apartment complex. He parked the car Will drew for him before getting his last request.
His wedding ring.
He observed it for a few seconds, smirking. As if the feeling of having the ring had come back to him. Then, he got out of the car and walked back to Orcus' apartment. One could see the police tape and Nico had no intention to cross it.
His thought was that he should return from the same place he left. After all, his only transport was in the same place but in the real world. Doing the same as the first time, Nico concentrated as soon as he was standing next to the door.
The second hypothesis. Nico thought to himself. I've been summoned from the real world to this place. And so, when the mission of the episode is complete...
"I'm going back."
To Nico's immense pleasure, he could see the letters 'To Be Continued' forming with the corner of his eyes. Meaning that his theories were correct and that now, he was back to being the main character of the story.
Will was waiting anxiously for the call.
So, when the phone rang, he didn't even check who was calling.
"Hello?"
"I came back."
"Where are you?"
"On my way to you." Relief filled Will's body and chuckled. He couldn't be cheesier...
"Leave the mushy phrases for the girls." Will tried to save face but both found it amusing.
"Get ready. I want to finish our date. I'll fill up all five kisses today."
"What?" Will raised an eyebrow in question though Nico couldn't see him.
"I can't stand losing. It's not like I can lose to your old husband."
"That's a weird sense of competition. Are you competing with someone right now?" He teased him, trying to sound serious. Nico only chuckled.
"You'll know soon, that I'm much better."
"Why don't you come and we'll find out...?"