In which Nico and Leo bicker like little kids, but at the end of the day they're brothers and they love one another and they're both worried about each other and Percy.
Replies:
Jubby1905: You shall have to wait and see! I hope I don't disappoint you.
Drizzle: Yes he is, and yes it will scar I'm afraid, but uh, don't feel too bad about it.
Undeath9087: I mean, it won't be fun to explain, poor Percy. But uh- she'll get a moment or two which I consider to be very therapeutic for her.

Nico wished he had two jackets.

Oh he appreciated his own, it had been useful more than once, the ability to disappear was useful- and he was sure it would be doubly useful in Tartarus. Except he wasn't willing to use it- not when Leo didn't have anything of the sort to protect him, and so Nico didn't use it as they followed the river, stumbling over the glassy black terrain, jumping crevices, and hiding behind rocks whenever the vampire girls slowed in front of them. It was tricky to stay far enough back to avoid getting spotted but close enough to keep Kelli and her comrades in view through the dark hazy air. And both Leo and Nico had agreed it would be better to keep an eye- after all there was the chance that they'd catch the smell of Percy- in which case they'd need to be able to move quickly to get to her before the monsters did.

Nico grimaced, wiping the sweat from his brow. The heat from the river baked his skin and every breath was like inhaling sulfur-scented fiberglass. When they needed a drink, the best they could do was sip some refreshing liquid fire, which couldn't be good for them, even for Leo who was a big fan of all things hot.

Time was impossible to judge too- Nico and Leo had both tried to check their phones but there was nothing, they wouldn't even turn on- and Nico's phones screen was shattered entirely.

Still, it felt like hours were passing as they trudged along following the river as it cut through the harsh landscape. Fortunately the empousai weren't exactly speed walkers. They shuffled on their mismatched bronze and donkey legs, hissing and fighting with each other, apparently in no hurry to reach the Doors of Death.

Once, the demons sped up in excitement and swarmed something that looked like a beached carcass on the riverbank. Nico wasn't sure what it was, and he didn't want to know- and based on the way Leo's face turned faintly green his brother didn't either. Still, the monsters attacked it with relish and Nico pulled a face.

When the demons eventually moved on there wasn't much choice but to move on- and he was grateful for the fact that they found nothing there except a few splintered bones and glistening stains drying in the heat of the river.

After a few more miles the empousai disappeared over a ridge. When Nico and Leo caught up, they found themselves at the edge of another massive cliff. The River Phlegethon spilled over the side in jagged tiers of fiery waterfalls. The demon ladies were picking their way down the cliff, jumping from ledge to ledge like mountain goats.

Nico grimaced as he stared below them. Even if they reached the bottom of the cliff alive, they didn't have much to look forward to. The landscape below them was a bleak, ash-gray plain bristling with black trees, like insect hair. The ground was pocked with blisters. Every once in a while, a bubble would swell and burst, disgorging a monster like a larva from an egg.

All the newly formed monsters were crawling and hobbling in the same direction—toward a bank of black fog that swallowed the horizon like a storm front. The Phlegethon flowed in the same direction until about halfway across the plain, where it met another river of black water—maybe the Cocytus? The two floods combined in a steaming, boiling cataract and flowed on as one toward the black fog.

Nico grimaced. That wasn't good, they had no way of knowing what was in there. But- they didn't have much choice did they?

"You know it's times like this I'm real jealous of Jason." Leo muttered the words.

"Oh?" Nico raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because being able to fly would be pretty good right now." he pointed out reasonably, and Nico had to concede the point.

"You are not wrong. Which honestly is terrifying in itself-"

"Oh screw you Nico." Leo shoved his shoulder gently. "You're suck a dick."

"Shame we don't have your wings." Nico pressed his lips together. "They'd have come in useful."

"They're back on the Argo II. I didn't exactly have time to pack for a trip." Leo snorted the words, "But I mean, maybe if I could get some fabric- I might be able to make a hang glider or something."

"Probably not a good idea, as much as it might be easier." Nico eyed the darkness above them.

Dark winged shapes were spiralling in and out of the blood red clouds.

"What are they?" Leo frowned and Nico shook his head.

"I'm not sure." he admitted, "Demons maybe. Tartarus has thousands of them. Which means we have to climb."

"Yay." Leo's voice was sick with sarcasm, but together the two brothers started slowly making their way down the cliff- stopping halfway, there was a decent sized ledge- and Nico and Leo were both experienced enough to know that it would be for the best- taking a break was never a bad idea when climbing, as long as there was a safe spot.

"You okay?" and Nico gave a very faint smile at that as he gave Leo a sidelong glance. Sometimes his brother could be serious, only sometimes though.

"Okay isn't exactly the right word."

"Okay. On a scale of one to ten, how shitty are you feeling right now. One is, 'I feel like I've got beaten up by a hellhound', ten is 'I've just gotten blown out if a literal volcano, but there's no pretty girl waiting on a magical island."

And Nico laughed at that, rolling his eyes. "How about 1000? Stuck in a pit which even my dad fears where every monster I've ever killed is probably just waiting for the chance to meet me."

"Hm, very good point." Leo snickered. "I will concede that. You win."

"Eh, could be worse." Nico remarked.

"Oh? How?"

"I could be on my own. You're annoying but you are mildly better than being stuck here with no one." like Percy was. But Nico wasn't going to be the one to point that little fact out.

"I knew you loved me." Leo declared dramatically, tossing his arm over Nico's shoulder. "And for the record, I'm glad I'm with you too bro, brother, baby br-"

"I will stab you-"

"Point taken." Leo snickered, shaking his head, "Though, mom would not approve of that-"

"I dunno, if she was here she probably wouldn't blame me." Nico remarked, "You are infuriating."

"This coming from you." Leo scoffed, "I still remember the time I walked in on you and Will making out- it was disgusting, honestly I needed brain bleach-"

"Well we're in the Underworld." Nico snickered, "We could find the Lethe. I know from experience that that river wipes you clean."

"No thank you." Leo said the words almost sing song, "I saw how having no memories fucked with Jason, I would rather not."

"I didn't mind it that much." Nico admitted, "I was- I was just happy because I found my place pretty quickly so I wasn't too bothered but I knew it really messed with Bianca."

"Very good point." Leo snorted, "Still, I'm definitely glad we fell into the whatsit called rather than the Lethe."

"Yeah." Nico nodded, "Though- it might have been easier to get Percy out of the Lethe- one time she managed to control it- which given the fact that she was like, really injured at the time was insanely impressive."

"Wait what?" Leo laughed, "When was this?"

"It was-" Nico paused, "Technically I don't think I'm allowed to talk about it much- but it was badass, Percy tossed a Titan in there." a smile played across Nico's lips, "When she dragged him out she told him he was our friend-" there was an almost melancholy look on his face, "I used to visit him sometimes. Before dad pulled his Underworld ban."

"Which Titan was it?"

"Iapetus." Nico snickered, "If I remember right she mocked him about the whole Atlas thing because he was Atlas' father. Only after his dip in the Lethe Percy renamed him Bob."

"Bob?" Leo laughed, "Bob the Titan. I like it."

"Yeah. He was pretty cool once his memory was gone." Nico stared out across the ashen plains. "I hope he's still okay up with dad. Dad did swear he'd look after him and- dad doesn't usually break his promises, especially not to people he cares about. Which admittedly is a short list but I mean, it was a promise to Percy, Bianca and I so I mean, we're pretty high up there."

"Then I'm sure he's fine." Leo declared, "Probably a lot better off than we are." Leo pulled a face, "Gods I wish we hadn't started talking about the Titans..."

And Nico pulled a face too- he was pretty sure they were having the same thoughts.

There were probably a lot of pissed off Titans down here that would quite enjoy the chance to kill some of the demigods

who had lost them the war- and it made Nico's chest tighten. Percy was on her own- if any of them found her... and what if Kronos was somehow down here? Oh sure they'd been told that he'd probably never be able to reform but... that didn't stop the thought from creeping into Nico's mind.

What if they'd been wrong about him being able to reform. Nico could almost picture it, the Titan of time, fully reformed chasing his sister who was probably terrified and alone.

"We need to get moving." he managed to pull himself to his feet quickly, and Leo was nodding at his side, his own expression just as grim as Nicos.

"Get down, keep going, find Percy and make sure no one so much as blinks in her direction."

"Yep." Nico nodded.

And with that they started their descent once more.

It took what felt like a lifetime. Nico was certain that if Leo hadn't been with him he'd have never made it, but his brother managed to distract him, they talked nonsense as they moved, and it kept Nico's mind off of the full body ache, kept his mind off of the blisters forming on his fingers, off the cramp in his arms and legs. It even kept his mind off of the clawing, stabbing pain of pure hunger in his stomach.

And gods but he had no clue how long they'd been in Tartarus but he had never been so hungry before in his entire life, not even in the Labyrinth when he'd gone for days at a time without food when they couldn't get any.

Leo was his anchor- his big brother was his anchor down here. He was the only thing that made Nico keep going, with Leo he could distract himself from seeing Tartarus, from thinking too much on where he was. He knew that he could see Tartarus as it really was- but if he focused he could block out the horrible images that he was sure only a child of the underworld would be able to see.

And Bianca hadn't had a Leo, she'd been alone down here. She'd had no one to help her focus, to anchor her.

Gods but he wasn't sure how she'd stayed sane down here.

By the time they reached the bottom Nico was about ready to collapse- he just managed to catch Leo when his grip slipped, the weight of his brother knocking him off his feet.

Still, at least they'd gotten to the bottom. That was something at least.

And Nico took a deep breath as he looked around. ahead of them stretched miles of wasteland, bubbling with monstrous larvae and big insect-hair trees. To their right, the Phlegethon split into branches that etched the plain, widening into a delta of smoke and fire. To the north, along the main route of the river, the ground was riddled with cave entrances. Here and there, spires of rock jutted up like exclamation points.

Under Nico's hands the soil felt alarmingly warm and smooth. He tried to grab a handful, then realized that under a thin layer of dirt and debris, the ground was a single vast membrane…like skin.

He almost threw up, but forced himself not to. After all there was nothing in his stomach but fire.