Chapter 1

Nico never had a normal childhood from the start. His mother died from a gunshot when he was eleven. Shot by one of his father's enemies. His father was a drug dealer. He was so good in his work; he was considered the king of the Underworld. But after his mother's death, his father sent both him and his sister, Bianca, to a boarding school called Lotus Public School.

He attended his classes and quietly accepted his mother's fate. He tried not to be a burden on anyone. He still considered what happened to his mother to be his fault. After all, if he hadn't called her then…. Anyways, his sister became the closest thing to a motherly figure in his life. His father disappeared, going underground. His drug dealing business stopped, and for a while, everything was going smoothly.

That was until his sister's death. That changed him for life.

Nico grasped his sister's hand. It was five years since his mother's death. They were heading to the graveyard near their school. It wasn't where their mother was buried, but almost the same.

Both of them had tears in their eyes thinking about their mother, Maria Di'Angelo. How cruel was it to depart their mother from them at such an early age? To make them mature when they were so young.

They held each other's hands a little tighter. Both relishing the warmth of the other at their side. When they came to the crossing, Nico hesitated. It was a similar crossing as the last time. The place similar to where his mother died. Bianca, sensing his hesitation, walked to the middle of the road.

"Nico see, there's nothing to be afraid o- "

Nico watched in slow motion, mouth agape, as a drunk driver ran his car over his sister. His voice disappeared, he couldn't scream at his sister, shout or do anything. He was frozen in panic, everything going numb as he saw the person he loved, taken from him again.

Finally, once he saw that she was motionless, and the drunk driver drove away in terror, he found his senses and ran to his sister. Remembering what the paramedics did during the last death he witnessed, he checked for his sister's pulse, while shouting at the crowd forming to call an ambulance. Someone amongst the crowd screamed that they already had.

No pulse. That's the last thing he remembers. No pulse and his screams. No pulse and the paramedics removing him from his sister's dead body. No pulse and them trying revive her through CPR, but remaining unsuccessful. No pulse and his sister being driven away to the hospital, where her corpse would be kept for the funeral later on. No pulse, and a very dead Nico inside. How cruel were the fates.

They had her funeral, later during the week. He barely knew anyone from his family, the last one he was in contact with, taken from him. He just stood there, alone with a few of her classmates. But after a while, even they left, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He kept thinking how cruel his life was turning to be. How he mustn't get close to anyone, lest they too be taken from him.

He was so lost in thought; he didn't realize someone else there. A big warm hand wrapped around his shoulder and Nico burst into tears. His father never showed up at any point in his life except for the funerals he went to. He wasn't close to his dad, but at that moment, he needed the comfort of someone he knew. His dad wasn't around, but family was family.

"Why?", he sobbed. "Why me?"

His father gazed at him with eyes that both he and his sister got from him.

"It may seem unfair at times, but these are obstacles that you must face by yourself. Death may seem cruel now, but given time, even he turns out to be a friend. Some deaths seem understandable, others not. But you mustn't think of death as an enemy. Greet him as a friend. I have witnessed many deaths in my time Nico. At first, I too was enraged by the concept of my loved ones being taken away from me, but with time I understood that some deaths are meant to be. One has a certain amount of time to live. After that, no one can do anything about it."

Nico couldn't help it. His father's warm words washed over him. He hugged his dad and broke down in another set of tears. At first, Hades Di'Angelo seemed taken back his son's actions. But then he remembered that his son was a hurting sixteen-year-old in desperate need of comfort. He wrapped his arms around his trembling son.

"Nico listen. I may not be around much longer. I have enemies ready to strike so I'm disappearing for a while. You may even hear that I'm dead. Don't believe any of that until someone comes and gives you a box with my symbol on it. You remember my symbol, yes?"

Nico numbly nodded his head, clutching on to his dad's coat tighter.

"Then only understand that I'm truly dead. I love you son, never forget that."

Having said that, Hades broke away from his son's embrace and disappeared in the dying sun, leaving Nico alone, but a little at peace.

It was three years since his sister's death. He graduated high school with the highest marks. He became the lonely smart kid with issues. He became distant from everyone. It wasn't a willing option, only that the whispering following him drove him to an edge. He didn't want to get close to anyone either. He was afraid of loosing the person he loved.

Now he was in NYC for business management. He dedicated his entire time to his studies, trying to distract the hurt in his heart by focusing on his education. But it wasn't helping. Each night his father's words haunted him. His sister's dead face stared back at him. His mother's dying words prevented him from sleeping. He became pale and dark circles were a common feature of his face. People whispered here too. They talked about his looks and the 'scary death' vibes they got from him. Only one person talked to him, but he was just an acquaintance to Nico. Percy Jackson, a senior about two years older than Nico, found him gloomily sitting outside one day, and made it his personal mission to annoy Nico to the ends of the world. He would sit with him, talk to him randomly. People would whisper about that too.

Only one thing kept Nico from running away from Percy, that was his desperate attempts at trying to capture Annabeth's heart. His smooth (read the sarcasm) attempts at trying to talk Annabeth into dating him was amusing to say the least. It would go like this-

Percy would talk Nico's ear off. Then Annabeth would stroll in, with her pretty blonde hair and grey eyes and ask Percy a doubt regarding their class together, though why she'd go to Percy of all people, someone who had no clue as to what classes he himself had, was a mystery to Nico. Percy being himself would stumble through his words, making an ass of himself. Annabeth would smile and giggle. Percy would blush an unnecessary amount (including his ears, which Nico found weird, but whatever), and as soon as Annabeth would leave, Percy would sigh dreamily. "She's so beautiful, isn't she?", Percy would state. Nico honestly never had any feelings towards Annabeth, so he couldn't respond to that, and he would voice out this thought to Percy, who would sigh dreamily again and go back to annoying Nico.

After at least three months of not sleeping in the night though, one day he was so tired and dead, that during class he collapsed, his body not able to take the exhaustion he was feeling. He doesn't recall anything, except waking up in a hospital bed, with Percy sleeping in a chair next to him. Rolling his eyes, Nico nudged Percy's arm a bit, waking him up. Nico was connected to an IV machine. Apart from that he seemed to not have anything else on him.

Percy woke up and pressed the button for the nurse. Then he told Nico what happened after he passed out.

"You were breathing really less, and Paul (Percy's step-dad, who was coincidentally the school's economics teacher), called an ambulance. I was walking out trying to talk to Annabeth, when he saw me and told me what happened. He and I then drove to the hospital. The doctor said you have anemia, for which you'll have to take medication for, and you are also very exhausted. So, he recommended a day's rest and observation for you."

"What about the hospital bills, if you could tell me where to do the billing- "

"Don't worry about that", Percy said with a smile. "Paul's paying for you and your medication.

"But that's not needed", Nico complained.

Percy just smiled and shook his head. "It's only this once Neeks. Accept it."

Nico was exhausted, and he was running low on money anyways. So, he nodded tiredly and thanked Percy and sent a silent thanks to Paul too.

"Get some rest Nico", Percy told him. "You look like you need it."

Nico nodded and let the darkness envelope him once again.

OoooO

It was week after that incident, and Nico felt tempted to tell Percy what stopped him from sleeping at night. Percy, bless him, didn't ask a single question. But he kept smiling like an idiot for the remaining week. Nico thought that Percy would mention it himself. But then it became clear to Nico that he would have to ask, so he did just that and Percy squealed.

"Annabeth asked me out yesterday!"

Nico simply raised an eyebrow. "You know it happened the other way around, right?"

Percy simply shrugged. "I was being a chicken, she got tired of waiting for me, so she asked me out instead. I was a jackass though. As soon as she asked me, I just stared at her. I think she got hurt or something, cause she was like, "Say something seaweed brain." I then said yes and told her about how I was a chicken. "

"Good job. At least it happened. I was growing tired of the sexual tension between the two of you."

Percy drinking his milkshake, almost choked on it. They were in the school's cafeteria, having lunch, while Percy was telling about how he got Annabeth to agree to go on a date with him, though Nico feels it should've been how Annabeth got Percy to go on a date with her.

"Sexual tension?!"

"You heard me."

"We do not have any sexual tension. How dare you, especially after I bared out my guts to you."

"Percy, about that, do you think you can keep a secret?", Nico asked after making a quick decision.

"Sure, is it something to do with your insomnia?"

Nico glared at Percy. "It's to do with my past actually." Then he told Percy the events in his life.

Percy silently heard. Finally, once Nico finished, he shook his head and said, "Nico, I had no idea- "

"I don't need your sympathy, I just felt like sharing it with you, especially since Paul paid for my medical bills."

Percy nodded. "I respect that, but I think you need to visit a psychologist. Telling me won't help you. They would be able to guide you better. The best thing is that since we have a psychology department here, the price for one consultation is half of what it usually would've been. Why not try it out?"

OoooO

Nico never thought he would've actually gone, but after standing outside the building for five minutes, he huffed out a breath and walked inside. It was inside that building where he would meet the man the changed his life for the better. He just didn't know it yet.