The River
Nico wrapped the worn ripped coat that he had snatched from a dumpster tighter around himself. It was a futile attempt at staving off the biting chill that was known only to the Underworld. The green hue of the River Styx accentuated his face, highlighting the grimace that seemed to be permanently etched onto his visage these days.
He eyed the bright green water, he knew that the river could warm him up. Of course, it would then proceed to rip the skin right off his bones. He liked having his skin and bones and body, so instead, he chased away the tempting thought.
His boots crunched against the pebbles and rock that made up the river bank as he made his way to the edge of the water, the current nearly lapping at his shoes. He extended his hands over the water and closed his eyes.
He concentrated as he felt around for the shadows that lay beneath the surface. It was a bit hard to find shadows in a river that glowed, but it didn't matter, where there was light, there was darkness. It was the first truth that Nico had learned. And it was the truth that he needed to rely on if he intended this crazy plan to work.
So, when he felt even the smallest molecule of a shadow, he grasped on it with a deadly grip, and he pulled, pouring all the power he had on it.
The water of the River Styx began churning as the shadow grew, pulling in more of itself from everywhere that it could. It pulled from the river bed, the rocks, the water itself, which housed the shadows of people's dreams and nightmares.
He was pulling with power he never dared access before. Power that he knew was dangerous. His father had warned him. Hell, he didn't need his father to warn him. The cold wispy tendrils of shadow that his body slowly began dissolving into was indicator enough.
He grit his teeth as he felt the prickling in his fingers begin.
'There it is,' he thought, a grim smile on his face.
He needed to be quicker.
The shadow, now twice his own size, split into two, causing the water to ripple. Both shadows began taking form, human form.
Nico sighed. Now he could proceed.
He let go of his control over the shadows, confident that they no longer needed him to maintain their shape. With numb fingers, Nico reached into his coat pocket and fumbled with, before grasping and taking out, a small black glass ball.
Inside, two glowing orbs floated. One was the color of the deep green sea. The other, an electric, near neon, blue.
With what little feeling/strength that he had remaining in his arms, he chucked the ball into the river.
Upon contact, the ball shattered, and a bright white light engulfed the area, drowning the green hue of the river. Accompanying the bright light, voices seemed to fall over him, like a blanket.
'M'Lady, what's going o-'
'Annabeth, I love y-'
'Atlanta!'
'Thalia! What's going on, where are-'
The voices faded, replaced by shrill screaming.
'NO! Phoebe!'
'Please, Artemis, don't do this, please!'
'W-why?'
Nico clapped his hands over his ears. Tears spilled from his eyes.
He could have done something. He could have been there. All of this could have been avoided.
He shut his eyes, shaking his head, he was doing something now, and it was the best that he could do.
Once the light died down and so did the voices, Nico finally looked up.
At the edge of the water stood Percy and Thalia, their bodies not like the ones Nico had etched into memory.
They were wispy, their edges fading in and out as if they didn't exist. All of their color was desaturated. Their eyes, acidic green and pale blue, were nothing like they once were. They were shells of their former selves. Mere shadows of the people they used to be.
They stared at Nico, their faces devoid of any expression.
He hugged his arms to his chest.
"I, uh, I know it's not the best. I couldn't find anything else. Anything more substantial would have required me to have your bodies." He looked down, feeling the tears building up again.
"But they decided to cremate you both, hero's funeral and all that. Couldn't do anything about it."
They didn't reply, they just stared, expressionless as before.
"C-can you say something, please?"
They stared.
Tears were flowing freely now. He dropped to his knees, ignoring the pain as the rocks dug into his knees.
"Please!" He suddenly yelled, feeling some of his power slip from him.
Instantly, a smile forced itself onto their faces.
"Hello Nico."
"Hello Nico."
Their voices were monotone.
Nico breathed out shakily, he looked up at them, regret evident on his face.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He stuttered.
...
"I should have come when you Iris Messaged me, Thalia."
He sobbed, looking up at their unflinching smiling faces. Their eyes bore into him.
They held nothing.
"Please forgive me." He shut his eyes, hugging himself.
"Please..."
...
"Nico."
...
He looked up, seeing the smiles no longer on their faces. Their eyes gained something. Something that resembled personality.
Percy kneeled in front of Nico, his outline fading in and out with the shadows. He placed his hand on Nico's shoulder.
"You aren't at fault for our deaths. You didn't know." Percy softly spoke, his voice coming out whispery and delicate.
Thalia kneeled next to him. "Besides, it's all in the past now."
Percy nodded, a smile on his face. "Leave it all in the past."
Percy stood up, holding out his hand, which Nico took.
"Come with us, let's forget the past." He began pulling Nico towards the toxic green water of the River Styx.
Nico faltered. He stopped, shaking his head. "Percy, I can't, that'll kill me." He tried pulling his wrist free, but he found that Percy's shadowy hand had a very strong grip on him.
"How else can we be close then?" Asked Thalia, her sickly pale blue eyes looking into Nico's own.
"I forgive you, Nico, but you've gotta make it up to me." She whispered, tears in her own eyes.
"I died screaming in terror. I thought you or Percy were going to save me... but you didn't." Her ice cold shadowy hand gripped onto Nico's other arm.
"But all that can be forgiven, little cousin. Join us in the River, and it'll all be like it used to."
Tears trailed down Nico's cheek as he shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Thalia, I can't." He tried to remove his arms from both of his shadow cousin's grips, but he found that they weren't letting go.
"L-let me go." He pleaded. They ignored him, instead, they began dragging him towards the River Styx.
Nico's eyes widened. He pulled again against Percy and Thalia, but he found that they were far stronger.
The water's edge was less than a foot away. He needed to do something.
"Stop!" He yelled, putting his power behind it. It did nothing. Percy and Thalia still kept moving.
Once upon the edge of the water, it sunk into Nico that this was it. He looked at Thalia and Percy, hoping to see any sign of deception, or recognition at what they were about to do, any sign that they weren't about to do this.
There were none.
Thalia and Percy threw him in.
Upon contact, Nico's skin burned. It felt like each square inch of his skin was on fire. The sickly green water got into his mouth, burning him from the inside out. He tried to spit it out, but he couldn't anymore. The river had burned through his tongue and jaw.
His hands had nearly melted off. The skin was floating, separated from the muscle and sinew. He wanted to swim, to get out, but his mind was being assaulted by pain beyond imagination.
Nothing could possibly compare to this. In this moment, he was feeling every pain imaginable to the human body.
Eventually, after eating at his muscles, the river burned his nerves. Presumably, and with good reason, once the nerves of the body are burned, pain can no longer be felt, nothing should be felt. But this was the River Styx, it wasn't a normal river.
Once all of Nico had been disintegrated, his skin, muscle, organs, brain, the pain focused on his soul.
It burned. Every moment in his life burned. Memories of what had happened in his past became corrupted. He was burning. Always burning.
He was a curse upon this world. A curse upon his own self.
He could remember how he burned when he got saved by Percy and Thalia from Westover. He remembered how he burned he found out Bianca would be leaving him to become an immortal hunter. He remembered how he burned when she had died, and he could remember how he burned when Percy didn't keep his promise.
He was burning, not his physical self, it no longer existed, but his soul, his emotion, his memory.
Eventually, after what felt like forever yet no time at all, Nico pulled on his power. He had no idea how that would affect him. He no longer existed. He had no body, no limitation. He wouldn't exhaust because there was no body TO exhaust.
He felt the shadows coalesce. They were formless right now, without direction, without master. He pulled once more on his power.
All of a sudden, he could see.
He could once again see the sickly green water around him. He could feel again. Feel the water flowing around him. But this time it didn't burn.
No, of course not. How could he burn when he was always burning?
He looked down to his... hands? His hands were pure shadows. They had no detail. What was this?
He couldn't feel, but he could.
He tried swimming, and he did, except it didn't feel like he was expanding energy to make his muscles move. He effortlessly made it to the surface of the water.
Peering over to the shore, he saw Percy and Thalia, both smiling at him before promptly kneeling for him.
Nico knew he should have felt anger, hatred, or anything towards the two that had essentially killed him. But he didn't. Rather, he felt gratitude towards his fallen cousins.
He made his way to shore, and then over to them.
He ignored them and looked at his shadowed hands. With his power, he willed himself to look like he used to. Instantly, he saw his hands gain color, though desaturated, just like Percy and Thalia. They were also wispy, like his body of flesh used to get when he exerted too much control over his powers. Now, though, he was free to exert as much as he wanted. He was no longer limited.
"Percy, Thalia..." he began, looking down at them.
"I forgive you."
Thanks for reading. Make sure to leave a review. And welcome to 2022!