Nico remembered the giant hand grabbing him. Not much else after that though. Everything was a blur. He knew he was in that cursed bronze jar, and he knew he ate a pomegranate seed. He knew the nightmares would come.

He waited for them. As he slipped into the death trance, he started to regret it.

.

Piper's scream still rang in his ears. The dull thud Jason's body made echoed in his thoughts.

Everyone wanted Nico to talk about it, but to be perfectly honest, describing how monsters brutally killed Jason right in front of Nico just wasn't very high on Nico's list of moments he wanted to relive.

The past two weeks he spent fighting monsters and destroying them. Nothing he did made him feel like he had gotten justice for Jason's death. Nico just kept killing monster after monster. He never felt anything like this before.

Well, that wasn't completely true. When Bianca had died, he was like this. Unlike then, Nico had someone to help keep his head on.

Will Solace was the son of Apollo and, despite the current atmosphere in the days following the two week long invasion, he managed to keep his cheerful, happy-go-lucky, cando attitude.

"You don't seem as drained as before," Will pointed out when he finally deemed Nico fit to leave the makeshift infirmary in Apollo's temple three days later. "When you had the statue, you almost dissolved into shadows. After two weeks of non stop fighting, this is pretty good."

"Shadow travel is a lot more draining than anything else I can do."

"Still. I'm glad you're not becoming one with the shadows this time, di Angelo."

Nico's stomach fluttered. Then he scowled. "Why do you care, Will?"

"Because you're my friend," Will answered promptly. "And I like you."

Now he was blushing. That was so embarrassing! He's the son of Hades. He doesn't blush. He scowled darkly and looked down, letting his hair fall in his face. "Yeah, well, you're alone there. No one wants to be around me. Who would? My father is literally the ruler of death. I have a zombie chauffeur. I was trained by actual ghosts."

"Zombie chauffeurs are cool," Will grinned. "Plus, the Seven… they like you too. And you did hear what I said at… at Camp, right? You pushed us away, not the other way around." He frowned. "And you're doing it again."

"Jason's dead, Will. I should have been able to protect him." Nico balled his fists tightly. "That's like my whole life story. I should have been able to save Bianca. I should have been able to resist stupid Minos. I should have been able to help Percy without betraying his trust. I should have been able to tell Annabeth where Percy was. I should have been able to evade the giants. I should have been able to find the Doors of Death and close them. I should have been able to save Percy and Annabeth from falling into Tartarus. I should have been able to transport the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood faster. I should have been able to save Leo. I should have been able to save Jason." He squeezed his eyes shut so the tears threatening to fall couldn't. "Tell me something I did that was worthwhile, Will. Because it seems like everything I've done, I should have been able to do more."

"You convinced your dad to fight the Titans. I… I always admired that."

Nico blinked. "You did?"

Will shrugged. "Well, yeah. We probably won the war because of that. At the very least, you and your dad saved a ton of lives that day."

"Lives that have now been lost to Gaea."

"That's not fair to compare the two events," Will said disapprovingly. "You contributed a lot to the Titan war. And if you want to talk about feeling useless… I can't fight, Nico. I mean, I'm decent with a bow. A lot better to be honest after lessons from Artemis, but healing has always been my strong suit. I know it's still helping, but kinda feels like I'm useless in this War. Promise me that if you make it out of this alive you'll socialize more? And be careful with your Underworld-y magic stuff?"

Holy Hera, those skeletal butterflies must be doing whole gymnastic routines. Nico crossed his arms. "Yeah, yeah. Promise. Don't die on me either, Will. You're a good friend, you know."

.

"OH YEAH! LEO VALDEZ IS BACK!"

Nico would have punched Leo in the face if it wasn't for Will's glare to remind him not to 'overexert' himself.

Three weeks after the giants attacked Olympus, Leo Valdez apparently decided he didn't want to be dead anymore.

"SUPER SIZED MCSHIZZLE IS BACK BABY!"

Leo landed Festus and slid off the metal dragon's back. He was met with silence. A girl with long caramel brown hair and almond-shaped eyes slid off after him. Her jeans were streaked with grease and dirt much like Leo's whole body. The only clean item the two appeared to have was the pink ski jacket the girl wore, although it too had some dirt on it.

"Leo?" Piper whispered in shock. She launched herself at her friend and hugged him tight. "Leo! Gods, we missed you!" Then she socked him in the arm. "You idiot! We all thought you were dead!" Her voice broke and her arms wrapped around herself.

Leo's smile faltered. He scanned the crowd of demigods and gods that all seemed rather indifferent to his arrival. "What happened? We went to Camp Half-Blood first, but… it's not even there anymore. Piper?"

Percy finally stepped forward. "Leo, it's been almost two months since you… didn't die. Stuff happened. The giants forced us too flee to Olympus. Three weeks ago, they attacked. The fighting only just stopped about a week ago." He finally noticed the girl at Leo's side. "Calypso?"

"Hi, Percy," the girl said with a sad smile. "Please don't apologize. I don't blame you for what happened."

Percy nodded tightly. "I wasn't going to," he said stiffly. "Just so you know, Annabeth's fine. She survived your curse," he said bitterly.

Nico raised an eyebrow as he looked between Percy and Calypso. History was clearly shared here.

"Because there's these things called arai in Tartarus," Percy continued as Calypso's face got paler. "And if you kill them, they curse you. I got poisoned by gorgon's blood like Phineas, an arrow shot through my chest like Geryon, you know, all the different ways I've killed monsters over the years. Annabeth was blinded, that was Polyphemus of course, but the curse that made her feel abandoned was the worst." His eyes held a steely glint. "Your curse. Maybe a curse was deserved, but you should have cursed me. Not Annabeth." He looked at Leo. "Welcome back, Leo." Then he stalked off.

Nico moved towards Leo. "Your death felt different," he said. "I guess that's because you didn't die."

Leo snorted. "Nice way to greet me, di Angelo. But, uh, the Physician's Cure brought me back. Flew to Ogygia and got Calypso. Went to Camp about a week ago. Tried Camp Jupiter too. That was three days ago. Both camps are…" he trailed off.

"They are gone," Calypso said quietly. Her face was still pale white from her encounter with Percy. "At Camp Half-Blood, Leo wished to find Bunker 9. The earth attacked us," she said, gesturing to the dirt stains on their clothes and skin. "We believe Gaea swallowed the camps."

Nico's chest tightened. "Oh gods. What about the mortals? We haven't been down there in weeks. Have they left the mortals alone?"

Leo and Calypso's silence was all the answer Nico needed. He had felt many deaths since they fled to Olympus, but he had always held out hope that the mortals were not being utterly decimated by Gaea.

"Look," Leo said lowly. "I want to try my plan again. My fire wasn't strong enough to kill Gaea, but I think if Jason or Thalia like sent a Hades ton of lightning at her the same time I set fire to her… I think it'll work."

Calypso looked unsure, and Nico was ready to join her in this uncertainty.

"The prophecy said the world would fall to storm or fire. Not both," Nico pointed out. Then he backtracked. Leo didn't know…

"Um, Leo," Will said gently.

Nico started. He forgot Will was there.

"Jason… Jason's dead," Will said quietly. "Three weeks ago. The day the giants began their attack on Olympus."

Leo flinched back. "What?" His eyes darted to Nico as if to confirm it.

Nico averted his eyes. He did not want this. Jason's still form was burned into his mind as clearly as if he were looking at him now. The worst part of it all was Nico had no way to confirm that Jason was in Elysium where he belonged. His father did not dare visit the Underworld for fear that Gaea would capture him.

"Then we have to do this," Leo said firmly. "For Jason."

"For Jason," Nico echoed hollowly.

.

Leo had brought with him his chipper attitude Nico so fondly remembered cursing on the Argo II. It was infectious too, it seemed because as the demigods and gods prepared to make their last stand against Gaea, everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

"Gaea will have resurrected as many giants as she can," Nico said at the next meeting of the Olympians and head demigods in Athena's temple. He glanced at his father. "I don't think she's been able to have her followers chain open the Doors again."

"It's most likely that she hasn't," Hades agreed. "The Doors will not like having been chained the first time. It will be a while before they can be chained again. Decades at least. Centuries at the most."

Athena breathed a sigh of relief. "That will be good for us. If Gaea has to resurrect the giants herself, it will be taxing for her."

"We need to send a few gods and demigods down to kill a giant every so often until we're ready to execute this plan," Ares said. "Force Gaea to resurrect her giants and keep her weakened."

"That might be dangerous," Poseidon pointed out. "Our own powers are weakened. If we cannot get ourselves and our children out of harm's way, then we might not have even bothered going down at all."

"Either way, she can't resurrect the giants quickly," Hazel pointed out. "And it will take the giants a significant amount of time to regain their full power. Trust me, I know. We'll have four months before they regain their strength at the latest. Probably three at the earliest."

"We'll be ready in two months," Leo promised. "Once I get Festus repaired, we can do this."

A chill ran down Nico's spin. They had two more months of life at least. He remained in his seat long after everyone else had left.

"Nico?" Will called.

Nico looked up. "Hey. Sorry, just… thinking. Two more months of life probably. I've faced death before, but this is different, you know?"

Will nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Our enemy is literally the Earth and that kinda sucks and seems like an impossible enemy. Knowing exactly when the fight is going down is, well, it's terrifying."

"I have to do something," Nico said suddenly. He stood up. "I have to go, Will. I'll… I'll…"

"I'll be in the infirmary," Will said pointedly. "I have to help set up in preparation for this big mission of Leo's. My dad already volunteered to bring anyone hurt in the fight back to his temple for healing."

Nico nodded and rushed out of Athena's temple. He found Percy and Annabeth talking quietly.

"Hey, Nico," Annabeth smiled when she saw him. "You okay? You kinda zoned out in there."

Nico felt sick to his stomach to be honest, but he managed a small smile back. "Yeah, just the whole, we might all be dead in two months thing."

"What else is new?" Percy snorted. "I've had a death sentence hanging over me since I was conceived."

"Did you need something?" Annabeth asked when it was clear Nico's mouth was failing him.

Nico exhaled and nodded. "Yeah, I figure since I could die soon, I should get this off my chest." He took a deep breath. "When we were on our way to the House of Hades, Jason and I ran into Cupid. He had the scepter of Diocletian."

"Scepter of who?"

"Um, that doesn't matter. Anyway, I thought I should clear the air."

Percy smile wavered. "What do you mean?"

"For a long time," Nico said, "I had a crush on you. I just wanted you to know. Before we all die," he added unnecessarily.

Percy looked at Nico. Then at Annabeth, and if Percy decided to confess his secret love for Nico, Nico just might punch him. Percy looked back at Nico. "You-"

"Yeah," Nico interrupted. "You're a great person. But I'm over that. Besides, I've always thought you two belong together," he added with a grin remembering the first time he met Percy and had bombarded him with questions, one of them being about if Annabeth was Percy's girlfriend.

"You… so you mean-"

"Right."

Annabeth's grey eyes started to sparkle. She gave Nico a sideways smile.

"Wait," Percy said. "So you mean –"

"Right," Nico said again. "But it's cool. We're cool. I mean, I see now … you're cute, but you're not my type."

"I'm not your type … Wait. So –"

"See you around, Percy," Nico said. "Annabeth."

She raised her hand for a high five.

Nico obliged. Then, with a much lighter heart, he walked down the roads of Olympus towards Apollo's temple, to where Will Solace was waiting.

.

"WILL! WILL!"

Nico's desperate shouts rang through an empty Olympus. His breath hitched as he stared across the remains of Annabeth's hard work from after the Titan war. Ruined again.

Gaea had sent a small force of monsters to attack Olympus. How she knew they had left the palace of the gods virtually defenseless was beyond Nico. How Athena or Annabeth didn't expect this move was beyond Nico too.

"WILL!" Nico shouted again. He knew it was probably futile, Apollo's temple was completely leveled and there was a very strong aura of death surrounding the ruins.

"WILL!" Nico's voice cracked. "Will, please."

A groan to his left. Some of the debris shifted. Nico ran over to help.

"Huh? Nico?"

Will Solace looked completely out of it. His eyes were glazed and he was covered in dust. He blinked slowly. "What happened?"

"Gaea sent her monsters to attack!" Nico shouted angrily. "They leveled Apollo's temple. I thought you were dead you dork!" Nico kissed him before he could realize what he was doing. He pulled back, red faced. "Oh gods, Will, I-"

Will cut him off by pulling Nico back down for another kiss. "You have no idea how long I wanted to do that," Will mumbled. He frowned. "Wait. If you're back already, did we win?"

Nico gave him his best glare of death to which Will only responded with a laugh.

"Yeah," Nico answered. He did a double take at his own words realizing what he said. "Yeah! We… we won! Gaea's gone!" The excitement quickly faded though and he sat next to Will on the pile of stone that used to be part of Hestia's temple.

"Who did we lose?" Will asked quietly. He put an arm around Nico hesitantly.

Nico stiffened, but finally leaned into the touch. "Frank and Hazel," Nico answered, equally as quiet. His voice wobbled when he said his sister's name. "Hecate. I haven't found Kayla or Austin or anyone, and Apollo's missing too." He felt Will tense up. "Leo and Thalia took out Gaea, but… the fire and lightning, I don't know. I guess it was too much." Nico let out a shaky breath. "I thought you were dead too."

Will squeezed Nico's hand. "I… I'm not. I'm alive, Nico. I'm here."

.

They learned death had a name that day. Jason, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Hecate, Apollo, Austin, Kayla…

Nico wasn't sure what the final death count was. He didn't want to know. He ate another seed. He only had two more left after this.

A/N: The promised flashback! Also, I suck at writing romance so... SOLANGELO! Boom. Done. Kinda just threw that one in there. Like, oh! Where did that come from? Not the hopeless Solangelo shipper writing this story. When Nico walked across the green to where Will Solace was waiting, my life ended. Also Hidden Oracle. They were just too cute, omg love Solangelo.
My favorite line this chapter would have to be: "I had a crush on you. I just wanted you to know. Before we all die," he added unnecessarily.
Oh, Nico!