**Sorry for the delay y'all, I just wasn't comfortable with where the story was headed. But I finally just realised I should just change the story. So, it's gonna get really dark in the later chapters, but I hope everything next has a little more zeal :3

By the way, guys, it's the return of the fangirl. I know some of you don't like those bits, so I'll keep 'em short, but I just love them too much to not include them :P

OK, we have a few cray-cray realizay-zay in this chap, along with: Trigger Warning: some kissye-kissey-lovey-dovey, self harm, minor language and general angst.**

The next day, Nico was feeling even more unmotivated than usual. Percy shook his arm and chirped playful nothings in an attempt to get him out of bed, but he soon recognised the depressed Nico making a sullen reappearance.

'What's up?' He crooned. Percy was practically lying on top of Nico, who was pushing his face further into his pillow with the more attempts Percy made to make everything seem normal.

'Nthngg…'

'Did something happen yesterday?' Nico's silence was all Percy needed. 'Look,' Percy tried once again to push his face next to Nico's, but the Italian just squirmed away. Hiding his hurt with a simple pout, Percy continued. 'I know things have been hard, and they will be hard, for a long time. But we are totally capable of figuring things out.' He kissed Nico's cheek before getting off of his boyfriend and heading for the door. Pausing a moment to give one last wistful look at Nico, Percy left.

With a sigh the son of Hades rolled over and none-too-gracefully lowered himself to the ground, hugging his knees and loathing everything. Except Percy. Is this seriously all because I'm feeling possessive of Percy? Gods, being in a relationship is hard when it comes to people not in the relationship… Scratch that, when it comes to people who aren't Percy, period.

With a satisfied nod, Nico heaved himself off the ground and into the shower.

'Oh honey, I know. But you guys are like that for a reason, don't wor—'

'Shh!' The other Olympians hissed at the love goddess. Though she was the eldest of them, she still giggled like a child.

'What? I'm just saying. I know love.' She said, clearly knowing something the others didn't, and with a growl the gods turned back to the screen.

That day sucked as much as any of the others. Nico couldn't get Jason out of his mind, or Percy. It made construction of the Pluto cabin… Fretful.

Nico had ordered the zombies (which a little late he realised must've been dead Romans, awkward) to clear the space where the foundations of the Pluto cabin were still present. It tweaked at Nico's sentimentality to see the ruined place get torn down, reminded of the times he and Hazel would talk up there. Well, it had to be rebuilt eventually, right? May as well make it better this time. At least, that's the Roman mentality. Still, there was the Greek voice in his head saying that the old cabin was just fine.

'Talking to yourself again, Nico?' The cheery voice of Rachael Dare greeted Nico's ears. He turned around to face her, and she gave him a quizzical look. 'Or is there a ghost here? Are you talking to Caesar, or something? Can I see him?' She started waving her arms about in front of her, like a blind person trying to not walk into anything.

'No, Rachael, just myself.' Nico chuckled. Rachael laughed as well, and taking another step forward wrapped her extended her arms around the son of Hades.

'Hey!' She said, once they parted, 'I didn't get a proper answer about you and Perc—'

'And I didn't get to hear why you were at Caldecott Tunnel!' Nico retorted, clearly trying to indicate he didn't want to talk about how he and Percy met. Rachael fixed him a look, but didn't counter him. They sat down on the dusty ground, much like the day before.

'So?'

'So, there's not much to tell. I'm at school, cracking up from the jokes Malcolm was making about our costumes. Oh! There was this one, and he sa—'

'Rachael.'

'Right. I'm just doing my business, and suddenly everything goes grey and kind of dim, and there's this voice in my head telling to get to that tunnel, because I'll be needed.'

'Was it like a prophecy?'

'Well, nobody reported green smoke, but it was a bit like…'

Nico waited expectantly as Rachael stopped talking and her eyes became vacant. They fixed on Nico for a moment before turning bright green and green mist filled the air. Nico was about to comment on what a great reenactment it was, but then he realised Rachael was actually delivering a prophecy.

'It's happening, it's happening!' Athena squealed, repeatedly hitting her half brother's shoulder.

'I know, I know!' Apollo replied.

'I didn't think you were one to really get excited over this stuff, 'Thena.' Poseidon noted, standing idly at the back of the "entertainment room". The goddess of battle strategies quickly straightened her armour and flipped her hair over one shoulder.

'I… Don't… It's just… People gaining knowledge makes me happy.'

The olympians gave doubtful mmhmm's and let Athena lean in closer to the screen.

Gods, these things creep me out, Nico thought to himself as he leaner forward to steady Rachael's shoulders. More green smoke left Rachael's mouth, and with it the words:

'To revive the light in the hero's blackened soul

One must return the happiness one stole

And to fight the woes of a lost death

A hero will fight to his last breath

At the turning of the heart from soulmate to stranger,

To forgo the caution is to forgo the danger.'

After a tense moment, Rachael coughed and shook her head, letting Nico steady her as she regained her bearings.

'Shoot,' She croaked, 'did it happen again?' Nico nodded mutely. Blackened soul? Lost death, last breath?! What the Hades, I'm so sick of this shit, I thought we were done.

As soon as Rachael could stand on her own, Nico was off to the centre of New Rome, ignoring Octavian's yelling behind him of how much work he had yet to do, chanting the lines of the foreboding prophecy over and over in his head.

~ O ~

Nico was tempted to just shadow travel to Reyna's office after he'd walked all the way to the aqueducts only to be told that a praetor had called Percy to the praetor's quarters, but he knew the time to walk would help him gather his thoughts. By now the demigod had committed the prophecy to memory, and was able to analyse the lines. Now matter what happened next, a blackened soul had to refer to him, didn't it? Returning happiness is probably Percy helping him through whatever is to happen, Nico was sure of that, too. The next two lines were fairly straightforward, but the last two were what troubled Nico the most. The changing of hearts is exactly what he was dreading right now. Shaking himself from his musings, Nico turned the corner to the entrance to Reyna's office. The door open made Nico's gut twist, but the familiar voices inside made his stomach drop.

'I'm just saying, though some of the Romans can't really show it, we're all really appreciative of how much you're helping us.' Jason's voice echoed from inside Reyna's office.

'Thanks Jason, that means a lot… Um, I was planning to go check on Nico, now… Or just go back to work, or something.' Even from there, Nico could tell Percy was feeling cornered.

'Wait, I was… Thinking, maybe we could, um, talk about the construction going on, and about what'll happen when the aqueduct is done? Maybe, over dinner at Cassandra's?' Nico cringed at the name of the restaurant where he and Percy had celebrated their one-month anniversary.

'When the Primus is done, Nico and I are going back to Long Island, and if it isn't finished by the time our week is up, it'll have to be finished the slow way. Now if you'll excuse me, praetor, I'm needed elsewhere.' Percy's tone was clearly a warning, and before Jason could protest, Percy was gone. Nico braced himself for his boyfriend to round the corner and see him there, and demand what he heard, but it seemed the Fates were on Nico's side; Percy walked out of Reyna's office and headed in the other direction down the hall, too busy brushing a hand through his hair nervously to even notice Nico. With a surge of confidence and no small amount of jealous rage, Nico stormed into Reyna's office to see Jason still standing when Percy had left him, a dejected expression on his face that the son of Poseidon had obviously missed.

'What was that?' Nico demanded, storming up to the praetor. Shock crossed Jason's features, but before a single word could leave his mouth, Nico had drawn a blade to his throat, his hand trembling dangerously. 'Did you just ask Percy to dinner?!'

'Nico, I swear—'

'Do you have any idea what he means to me? Did you even think about what would happen to me if you took him?!'

'Please, Nico, I'm s—'

'I don't care if you're sorry or not, I want to know why you're suddenly out to get me, I thought we were friends!'

'We are friends, Nico, and that's why should think of what happened when our roles were reversed.' Nico's pulse was roaring in his head, and he quickly thought of whenever Jason had a knife to his throat.

'When our roles were reversed, Nico, and you begged me not to tell Percy because you wanted to tell him. I'm just trying to do the same thing now but not put you through the pressure of having to keep a secret like that.'

'Are… Are you saying that you're crushing on Percy?' Jason's eyes darted to Nico's blade, but it wasn't moving.

'… I… I think so.'

Despite what Jason probably thought would happen, Nico's knife fell away from his throat with a dry sob from the smaller boy. Surprise and relief were the first things through Jason's mind, but then concern. He wasn't lying when he said that he still considered him and Nico friends.

'Nico, I know this is…' Jason's words just echoed back to him, as Nico was suddenly gone.

In perfect silence, all of the Olympians turned to look at Zeus, who gave them a defiant stare in return.

'Don't look at me!' He said, pointing to Poseidon, 'this whole thing is his son's fault!'

'Percy can't help it if he's adorable!' Squealed Aphrodite in protest, but the god of the seas raised a hand to silence them.

'Thank you for defending my son's honour, Aphrodite, but Zeus is speaking of Anteros, another of my sons.'

The love goddess's smile grew at the mention of her very close business associate, the minor god of male-male love, and Poseidon threw his brother a victorious smirk.

'Okay, I think something's happening.' The gods returned to their best entertainment in centuries.

With Jason's words ringing in his ears, Nico didn't even mean to shadow travel, but he was grateful for the escape. Falling onto the carpet of the flat he and Percy shared, Nico felt like a trespasser. Of course you weren't going to be able to hang on to him, Nico, he's freaking Percy Jackson! Turbulent thoughts raced through Nico's mind and it took a minute for him to notice the tears rolling down his cheeks. What was I thinking? Percy may think he loves me now, but in the end, he's going to see how much he's missing out on. Nico curled up into a ball on his side and hugged his knees. Children of Hades shouldn't be around others. It just doesn't end well.

A few more minutes passed.

'What was I thinking?' Nico whispered to himself again. More time passed, and before Nico knew what he was doing, he was in the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror, with a disposable razor in his hand. Percy was going to leave him, Nico was sure of it. Where would he go after that? He wasn't really welcome at Camp Half-Blood unless he was bringing Percy with him, and he sure as Hades couldn't stay at Camp Jupiter. Percy was going to become a Roman. He was going to say he loves Jason and go off and have lots of nice hero demigod sex, much better than anything Percy could have with Nico. Nico would be an outcast again, but it's not like he was ever not an outcast to begin with.

All of these emotions left Nico so overwhelmed he was left with nothing. A familiar cold, empty feeling began to settle into its old place in Nico's soul. With a shiver and a few guilty thoughts toward Percy, Nico set about finding a sharp object. Breaking apart one of the razors wouldn't go unnoticed, but Nico couldn't bring himself to touch his knife after it'd touched Jason. So he grabbed his sword from his belt which lay idle in a pair of jeans, and shivered again as its cool surface touched the skin of his left arm.

~ O ~

Percy walked happily back to his and Nico's flat, and he had a pretty good feeling. Well, mostly. The tiny but persistent sense of foreboding could probably be blamed on Jason's uncharacteristic clinginess earlier that day. Still, going through the door and seeing Nico curled up on the couch wearing an oversized long-sleeved wooly jumper made his spirits soar. Percy still had a bit of an off feeling, but he wouldn't let it rub off on his gorgeous boyfriend.

'Hey,' He grinned, not hesitating to plant himself next to Nico and wrap a tanned arm around his shoulders.

'Hi,' Nico said in a quiet voice, bringing his arms in closer to him, but only so he could press the rest of his body against Percy. They sat there for a minute or two, just enjoying the peace, before Percy wrapped his other arm around Nico and pulled the Italian onto his lap. Nico giggled nervously as Percy started to nuzzle into his neck, and though he didn't exactly push Percy away, he didn't reciprocate.

'Is something wrong?' Percy asked, pulling away.

'No! No, Perce.'

'Just not feeling it?'

'I'm feeling it, I'm just…'

'It's all right, you don't have to do anything, I'll take care of us.' And with that, Percy swept Nico up in his arms and carried the flustered Italian to the bedroom. Gently placing him on the bed, Percy climbed above Nico and began to ravish him. Soon enough, both boys were definitely feeling it, but Nico grabbed Percy's wrist when he moved to lift up Nico's jumper.

'Can I keep it on? I'm kind of cold.' Percy straightened up.

'Do you think you're getting sick?' Nico hid his guilty expression. Gods, it felt terrible to lie.

'No, I'm just… Cold.' Percy nodded and simply worked his way south of Nico's jumper. Soon, he had reduced Nico to a trembling mess, and nothing really explicit had occurred between them yet. In a moment of passion, Percy pushed his warm hands up Nico's sweater, feeling his sides. Suddenly, Nico jumped back with a yelp of alarm, and Percy quickly backed up as well.

'What, what's wrong?'

Nico couldn't really answer straightaway.

'… I, uh…' He couldn't meet Percy's gaze, but Percy saw the tears welling in his boyfriend's eyes.

'I… Um…'

'Nico?'

'I was… Just—'

'Did you cut?'

A horrible silence filled the cabin as Nico's silence and tears rolling down his cheeks were all Percy needed to know. Turning away from his boyfriend, Percy let tears of his own fall.

'Why?' The disappointment in Percy's voice made it hard for Nico to speak.

'I had to,' He whispered.

'No, Nico! No you didn't!' As Percy yelled that, he turned to look at Nico. As his words faded, Percy saw Nico was trembling. He was looking into his lap, tears falling onto his knees.

Gods, what do I do now? Percy thought as Nico was wondering the exact same thing.

'I'm … Gonna stay tonight at Jason's. Be careful Nico.' He gathered a few clothes and kissed the top of Nico's head. 'I love you.'

It was a few minutes after Percy left that Nico fully realised what Percy had said. If it had been anyone else's cabin, he would've raced out into the night after Percy and screamed that he was so sorry and promised to try harder to be worth Percy's love, but all of the strength drained from him when Percy said Jason's name and Nico felt more tired and empty than ever. Falling back onto the bed, he stared at the ceiling and waited for sleep to come. It didn't take long.

~ O ~

Walking to Temple Hill the next morning, Nico felt as dull as the fog that swept through the valley. Percy's words and disappointed tone kept echoing in his ears, and Nico knew his day couldn't get any worse.

Then again, Nico should've known by then to stop making assumptions like that.

Walking down one of the boulevards through New Rome (he was taking the long way to Temple Hill, through the main city, in hopes of catching a glimpse of Percy) when a familiar gait reached Nico's ears.

'Nico!' Jason called, then quickly straightened himself as nearby eyebrows raised in response to the praetor's undignified behaviour. With a scowl, Nico fastened his pace, but Jason caught up quickly.

'Nico, please. I—' Tossing off the hand Jason dared to lay on Nico's shoulder, the son of Hades spun to face the Roman.

'No, Jason! Don't you dare think you can say anything that will fix this! I don't care if you can't help your feeling towards Percy, if he was single and I didn't like him, I'd be fine with it! But he's taken, by me! Now, if you tried, he'd probably choose you, but just know there's no chance in Hades that I will just lie down and let you walk over me to take him!'

Nico paused for breath, and finally noticed how pale Jason had become. The street was deathly quiet, and looking down Nico saw black smoke pouring out of cracks in the pavement that had appeared under his feet.

Nico couldn't help but feel horrified, and saw Jason knew how close he'd come to receiving the bad end of a son of Hades's wrath. Since Jason was still practically frozen in his spot, Nico bolted. He turned, ran, and didn't stop running and making random turns until he was sufficiently lost. Ducking into a nearby alleyway and ignoring the looks passing Lares gave him, Nico did something he hadn't for a while.

'Dad, I know you don't hear from me often, because I know you don't like to, but I could really use some guidance right now…' The teen whispered quietly aloud. You're ancient, right? He added silently. That means you know a thing or two about love?

Then again, Nico reminded himself, he kind of had to kidnap his wife… On second thoughts, maybe his father wasn't the best person he could think of to talk to about this. Not for the first time, Nico cursed himself and his life for not giving him a normal father, one he could talk to about boys and his feelings.

With a sigh, Nico leaned back against the cool stucco wall, breathing in the darkness. He usually felt the most calm in the shadows — or Percy's arms — but this time only more dread settled in his stomach. Nico couldn't sense Jason approaching, and he wasn't being teased by Lares. What was wrong with him?!

But, maybe, just maybe, it wasn't him. Maybe—

'Well' A quiet voice hissed, 'that took you long enough.'

— it was an external force.

'Mania,' Nico whispered on fear, backing closer to the wall and the shadows out of habit.

'Calm, child. I can do you no harm, here.' Nico's eyes searched frantically around him for something he knew he wouldn't find. The mania would only reveal itself if it wanted to. 'Close, but not exact. You see, I am not strong enough to manifest a physical form. I cannot even penetrate your dreams.' Nico thought he heard a note of vexation in the madness spirit's tone, but he couldn't be sure. Still, the knowledge felt good, except—

'How do I know you're not lying?' There was a gravelly chuckle.

'You already know, child. You know my nature better than most.' It was true. Mania's weren't exactly fabled as tricksters or simply evil, they reflect a worry or flaw in someone's psyche back to them. They could show you exactly what you want to see, or something you've always dreaded.

'Why are you here?'

'Didn't you just answer that question for yourself? To wreak some havoc?' Nico felt the presence move further above him, floating toward the top of the buildings. Nico's voice wavered with dread.

'Why me?'

'Child, who said anything about you?' And like that, the spirit was gone. Backing into the shadows once again, Nico tried to reach out for his father, but all he got was a headache and more nausea. Strange, he thought, the Underworld must be especially congested if he's shutting me out so hard.

A wave of coldness and chills washed over Nico. With a strangled gasp, he immediately backed into the shadows and reappeared at the construction works at the newest parts of the aqueduct. Running out form the alley he appeared in, Nico strained to see Percy.

There he was, working gloriously and efficiently in the sunlight. With a sigh of relief, Nico couldn't feel the mania near. I'll still have to keep an eye on him, Nico told himself, on everyone.

**Ahh! What do you guys think?! I'm sorry, but who else loves maniae?! *raises hand* Just me? … Okay.

Primus is latin-ish for "first", but in this case, the "most important" aqueduct. AKA, the one Percy's working on.

Puuuleeeasee let me know what you think, I've been working on this chapter really hard since I got a sudden boost of inspiration for this story. Also, fans of Nico, Interrupted, be aware it may take me some time to get back into the flow of things to write another chapter. I promise you that one is in progress, but it's all a pretty touchy subject for me, and I can't do it in loads like YCLTD. Still, I hope you guys enjoyed this one :3

Sushi for all (Except vegetarians, you get… Rice. Flamers get wasabi!)

— TJ out**