Epilogue: Nico di Angelo

Nico di Angelo was intimately familiar with every nook and cranny of his father's palace. It wasn't that he spent that much time there — more that he just knew where each door went and which hallway led where. It had unnerved him when he first realized why he'd never gotten lost, but he'd since grown accustomed to the sixth sense — even depending on it, at times.

So it was that one evening in autumn found Nico wending his way to his father's throne room, leaning heavily into the barely-there shadow in his mind that knew the way and letting it guide his feet. When Nico emerged from the shadowed corridor, Hades was reclining in his stark, pitch-black throne at the far end of the chamber, gazing out the tall, arched windows onto the Fields of Asphodel.

"You… wanted me, Father?" Nico said hesitantly, more than a little worried he'd somehow landed himself in disgrace. Hades straightened in his throne, turning from the windows and flicking his hand curtly for Nico to stop lurking in the doorway and come here.

"It has come to my attention," Hades rumbled sternly as Nico stopped a few feet from the dais, "that you have enabled communication between the dead and the living."

Nico felt something in his stomach shrivel up into a cold, hard rock. He'd really been hoping his father wouldn't notice. "I — um — are you cer—?"

"Am I certain?" Hades demanded. "Did you truly believe I wouldn't notice, you foolish child?"

Nico ducked his head, cursing himself up one side and down the other for letting that silver-tongued Hermes spawn persuade him to break one of his father's most stringently enforced rules — and for continuing to do so just because — because —

"I just thought they should have a chance to say goodbye, Father," he burst out, surprising the both of them. "I didn't get — a chance," he mumbled, faltering under his father's affronted ire. "Not — not for either of them."

Hades stared at him for a long minute, then let out a long, weary sigh, almost seeming to deflate. "Come here," he murmured, gesturing for Nico to come closer. "Sit with me for a moment."

Cautiously, Nico mounted the shallow steps of the dais and perched himself on the arm of his father's throne, abruptly aware of just how much taller Hades was. Though the god was by no means a giant — he kept himself around seven feet, if that — Nico had always been slight for his age, and his father towered over him by nearly two feet. The difference in height was glaring, as close as they were sitting, and it made Nico feel far younger than he was.

They sat in fragile silence for a moment, Nico pulling his legs up onto the arm of the throne to sit cross-legged as the quiet stretched. "What was my mother like?" Nico asked finally, tentatively hopeful that his father's odd mood might lend itself towards an answer.

Hades frowned at him contemplatively. "I had thought some of your memories had resurfaced?" he inquired.

Nico fixed his eyes on his scuffed black boots, twisting his fingers in the laces. "A few, I guess, but I still don't really know much about her. I mean — I know she loved us, but…" He trailed off, suddenly at a loss for words, and hunched his shoulders. Hades sighed again, and Nico twitched as his father brushed his hand ever so lightly over Nico's dark hair.

"Your mother was… much like your sister," Hades said softly, "and much like you, also."

Nico flicked a surprised glance at his father out of the corner of his eye, startled that Hades had given him an answer. "Bianca and I… aren't much alike," he ventured.

Hades let his hand rest on Nico's back, and Nico fidgeted a bit, caught off guard by the unusual display of affection. "The two of you are more alike than you realize," Hades told him. "You both are sensitive, and kind — as much as you wish to appear otherwise — and the both of you are a bit more bold than is wise. Maria was… kind to a fault, and bold enough to fall in love with an immortal."

"She knew?" Nico blurted out, too startled to take offense at his father's subtle needling.

Hades eyed him with a sad, wry quirk to his mouth. "Did you honestly expect the woman who bore Bianca to be content with secrecy and avoidances in a husband? If I had refused her answers, she would have refused me, and that was… something I greatly wished to avoid."

Nico blinked at his father, stunned. "You married her?!" he demanded.

Hades shrugged a bit, and Nico felt him splay the hand resting on his back for a moment. "She would have had it no other way. Maria was… hard to refuse, and I was very much besotted with her. As she knew what I was, she wished for our relationship have a more… permanent aspect. So, yes, I married her. Persephone was… rather disgruntled, when she found out."

Nico was staring at his father unabashedly now. "And you never thought to tell me?!" he cried, his voice pitching dangerously close to cracking.

Hades shifted in his seat to face Nico more fully, folding his hands over his knee. "I will admit that it did not occur to me," he said, a bit sadly. "Before her death, you and Bianca never asked — it was simply something you assumed, that your father and mother were married. And afterwards… neither I nor you and your sister were in a position to have that particular conversation, for a multitude of reasons." He held up a hand to stall Nico's protest. "I am well aware that I handled her death poorly, and I have no desire to discuss it."

"Yes, Father," Nico mumbled. He scrubbed his hands vigorously over his face, furious with himself for getting so upset over a mother he barely remembered.

Hades hesitated for a moment, then reached out and rested a hand on Nico's knee. ""I have the rings she selected for us," he began slowly, "I had thought to give them to Bianca, when she was old enough, but — well. You may have them, if you like. I know… you have very little of her."

"I'd like that," Nico whispered after a long minute.

His father squeezed his knee briefly, then let go, shifting to look out at the Fields of Asphodel again. "Father?" Nico ventured hesitantly. Hades hummed a bit, not turning from his study of the deeply shadowed plains outside the palace. "Will you… tell me more about her?"

"Tomorrow," Hades promised slowly. "Tomorrow, I will tell you all you wish to know."

"Can — can I stay with you? Until then?" Nico asked tentatively, suddenly nervous that his father would turn him away.

Hades did turn then, deliberately locking eyes with his son. "You will always be welcome here," he told Nico firmly.

So father and son sat side by side in the dim light, taking comfort in the quiet and the presence of the other.

A/N: So, um… three months…

I swear I didn't mean to leave it this long, but life kind of went off the rails. My family spent the better part of August (including my birthday) out-of-state for a funeral, and then school started right after we got home, so it's been a wee bit crazy. But good news! I finished this story! Which means no more waiting forever for me to finally get my butt in gear and write! Yay!

I thought about just writing another letter and ending with that, but I feel like this works better. Hopefully it's a satisfying ending. I'm not sure if I'll write another fic, but who knows? I guess we'll see. I'm open for suggestions. Anyway, let me know what you thought!

9/18/2021