The Battle of Light and Dark
The two characters are four years apart
Nico di Angelo, seven years old.
Nico di Angelo, son of Hades knew he was disobeying his father.
Staying awake during the daytime was not only difficult, but the one rule he had.
He had shadow-traveled out of his bedroom, out of the Underworld, and into the open Earth.
It was really amazing, the sunrise. He'd never seen something so bright and open.
If only he had someone to share it with.
The light burned his pale skin, but he didn't move. Wishing it could last forever, his lips tilted up by less than half a centimeter. "È bellissimo."
"Maestro Nico! Non dovresti essere qui!"
Sighing, he nodded and followed his dead nanny back to the realm of the deceased.
Maybe he would be able to come back again and sit, when he was older.
Will Solace, eleven years old.
"Will!" Piper laughed, peeking around another tree. "Where are you hiding?"
The son of Apollo grinned. He and his other Demigod friends were playing hide and seek in the forest.
Percy had been the first to be found and soon after everyone but he and Annabeth had been spotted.
Of course she was the daughter of Athena so she would undoubtedly win, but at least he would get second place.
"Found you!" she said, popping her head around his tree.
His ever-present smile widened and he dropped out of the branches with the precision of a warrior.
"Show-off," She laughed. "I'll race you."
The two crouched down ready to take off when they heard a sharp piercing whistle.
"Aw!" the two groaned, trudging back to Chiron, their caretaker.
Few Demigods ever met their parents so he took care of them, training them.
Nico di Angelo, twelve years old
He wasn't there when his sister died.
She and Hades had had a fight so she had left and joined the Hunters of Artemis.
Nico could feel her death, but he hadn't physically been with her.
He scowled, throwing his Mythomagic Zeus statue onto the blue fire.
Apparently she had died by picking up a cursed Hades figurine. For him.
He had been given it; it was the only thing he wouldn't burn.
Nico wouldn't spit on his sister's memory like that, but he couldn't bear to see the cards and countless statues, mocking him.
He had finally agreed to take his position in the war as the Ghost King.
The son of the Underworld would spend all his spare time to get better, to fight harder.
He would avenge his sister's death even if it killed him.
Summoning a warrior Skeleton, he stood up and grabbed his dagger. "Attack me."
Will Solace, eighteen years old
Will Sobbed uncontrollably, his shoulders shaking silently, his face in his bloodied hands.
His hair was messy and his clothes were covered in crimson.
He'd lost another patient. The war was getting to him.
He hated the undead soldiers and their leader, the Ghost King who could raise them faster than the soldiers could cut them down.
He was never the violent type, but if he ever met him, Will promised he would kill him.
Not with a sword or a bow, he wanted to feel the life draining from his body.
Will had a little magic to heal, but he also had powers to destroy.
For the first time in his life, he wanted to use it.
That murderer needed to suffer and he wanted to be the last face he ever saw.
Quickly enough sadness turned to anger.
Will frowned, got to his feet, and walked out to the forest.
H
Nico di Angelo, fourteen years old
Nico panted, sitting down underneath a tree.
He held up his hand, not looking at it, but through it.
The Ghost king was turning into a shadow with every use of any of his powers.
Usually he would Shadow-travel to the Underworld, but he couldn't. It would kill him.
He set his sword against the tree, sighing.
Distracted he didn't hear footsteps approach him and jumped when a blanket was draped over his back.
Staring up in fear, he saw a freckled boy with wild blonde hair and hurt blue eyes.
He had blood in his hair, on his face, and on his hands, but there were obvious tear streaks on his cheeks.
The enemy.
Nico hated himself for being a murderer and seeing the miserable stranger who was kind enough to give him the blanket broke past his two-year barrier.
He broke down, tears running down his face continuously.
"It's okay," he said, crouching down and wrapping his arms around Nico. "You're alright."
The enemy's voice was soft and comforting, like a pillow after a hard day.
Knowing it was wrong but not caring; Nico buried his head in the stranger's bloodied shirt.
"Mi dispiace!" Nico choked out, pulling back.
The human contact was weird and didn't feel right.
He hadn't hugged anyone since...
He hadn't hugged anyone in a long time.
Will Solace, eighteen years.
Will ignored the stranger's Italian and helped him up. "Ας πάμε στο νοσοκομείο."
The kid, who was clearly younger than him, looked more like a shadow than a human.
He was small and clearly malnourished. He had intensely pale skin, piercing brown eyes, and shaggy black hair. Will could clearly see the boy's ribs through the blanket and his black skull shirt.
He flinched back in fear; something Will wasn't used to people doing.
Maybe it was a new Demigod who didn't know what they were.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you," he said in Greek. "I promise. My name is Will Solace, son of Apollo. I'm a doctor."
The stranger was still crying. He shoved Will away and instantly collapsed in a yelp of pain. He grabbed a black dagger (presumably his) and held it out as if to defend himself, but his eyes shut close and his sword arm fell to the ground.
Sighing softly, Will picked him up and walked back to base.
Nico di Angelo, fourteen years old.
Nico's eyes flashed open and he sat up as fast as he could, hitting his head on something hard, and falling back down.
He was in a bed and it was extremely bright.
"You gotta hard head." Will laughed, his eyes twinkling.
Scowling, Nico turned his head away and crossed his arms. "You don't want to be this close to me...Unless you're trying to kill me."
The doctor sighed. "I figured."
"You don't know you're a Demigod."
He scoffed. "Yes, I do. I need to leave."
"You need to stay. Doctor's orders."
He felt like telling him, but to see that smile turn to anger... "O-okay. I'm Nico. Son of- of..."
His throat choked on the word and he couldn't speak.
"It's okay. I don't need to know. You need food." he laughed, nodding to a tray on the side table.
Next to it was a tiny brazier. "McDonald's isn't very healthy, so I got you a kid's meal."
Oblivious to anyone watching, he tore into the box and alternated between eating a fry and tossing another into the fire. "What's this?"
He was holding up a small plastic bag that had something inside. Will tried to hide a laugh. "It's a kid's meal toy."
Hesitantly, he opened the toy and pulled out a small figurine of Athena.
Will Solace, eighteen years old.
The instant Nico saw the toy his eyes darkened, and he threw it into the brazier.
"Athena isn't that bad." he chided. "She's really cool."
Nico looked away, but not before Will saw the pain in his eyes.
It had been a mythomagic figurine. It was a really popular card game in the Demigod world.
"Will?" Annabeth asked, opening the tent flap. "Is he awake?"
"Yeah," he replied, turning to Nico. "This is Annabeth Chase. She wants to talk to you about your sword and your symptoms. I've never seen anything like it."
Nico nodded, but glared at the daughter of Athena.
"Will, could you give us some space?" she asked, frowning.
He nodded slowly, confused by her tone. He flashed a smile to Nico before leaving.
Nico di Angelo, fourteen years old.
"D'Angelo, is it?" she asked, critical of everything he was doing.
He snarled and looked away. "Di Angelo."
"Your sword is Stygian iron, a metal only found in the Underworld." She said quietly. "You're the Ghost King, aren't you?"
Nico sat up, trying to get a better defense, and he put his arm in front of him as if to keep her back.
"How old are you?"
"How old are you?"
Her frown deepened. "I'd say lower teens. Fourteen, probably. How does someone your age become so powerful? No one has ever actually seen your face."
He scowled at her with a glare that could scare the bravest person, but she only stared back at him. "That death stare won't make me leave. Answer my questions."
She had the persona of someone who gave orders and was used to people listening.
"Piper," she sighed, looking outside. "I need your help."
Another girl walked in, smiling kindly.
Her cheerfulness made Nico feel even angrier and sulky. "Go away."
"Aw, you don't mean that!" She was using Charmspeak on him.
He nodded, dazed.
"Why are you here?"
Even under powerful demigod magic he answered begrudgingly. "Will says I'm sick."
Annabeth nodded as though this lined up with what she'd been told.
"Where did he find you, why did he bring you here?"
"Under a tree in the forest. I was turning into a shadow."
Piper's smile turned into a frown. "Why were you turning into a shadow?
"Using my powers makes me lose contact with the physical world." He explained sullenly. Then he added, "It hurts."
Annabeth's facade of heartlessness dropped and she reached out to comfort him before remembering how many people had died because of him. Her cold expression returned.
"Why do you use your powers if they hurt you?"
Nico looked down and quietly replied. "Father told me to."
Now they had reached the point the two girls were most curious about. "Who is your father?"
"Hades."
Will Solace, eighteen years old
The son of Hades. The Ghost King.
It didn't help that he was very attractive and Will hated him for it.
Despite himself, he couldn't forget the sad look in his eyes when he had seen the Mythomagic figurine.