Sorry I haven't updated in a while, holidays are busy and I've been reading a new series. And a good book comes before writing for me. Sorry for neglecting you(: Here's a Nico one-shot from TLO, in the Underworld after Percy gets his Achilles' Heel.

Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan

Hades' mouth curled in utter disgust as he eyed his scrawny young son. "Go to your room," he said with a small brandish of his hand, and suddenly Nico disappeared from the throne room and found himself in a dark bedroom. Gloom settled upon him like heavy layers of dust as he noticed a large lock on the door and only the light of a flickering green lantern to keep him company.

"Some room," Nico muttered to himself miserably. He was sure Percy was just as well off in his cell than he was in this cold, dark place. Percy. The name made Nico's stomach clench and tie itself into knots. What had he done?

Percy right now was probably hating his guts, convinced he was as much of a deceitful scumball as his dear old father. Now looking back on what had happened, Nico knew he'd hadn't been exactly forward with Percy on how the plan would work. If only he had told Percy he needed to bring him to Hades to talk, then maybe the older boy would see through his father's plans and refuse. Then they wouldn't be tangled in this mess.

But what was done was done, and now Percy was stuck in some craphole for the rest of his days while his father was going to let the Titans destroy Olympus without even raising a finger to help. And Nico was going to sit here, in this pathetic dark room, watching his world soon shatter to pieces. Time was ticking away for Olympus. And there wasn't anything he could do to slow it down.

Nico looked around the room to see if there were any assets to aid him in an escape. A lantern, a bed, a water glass, his sword, a nightstand- Nico froze. His sword! He rose excitedly and unsheathed his Stygian iron sword, cutting off the lock of his room as if he were slicing butter. So far, so good. He crept quietly down the hall, moving as though he was one of the shadows. Down the long black staircase. Across an empty banquet hall. Nico wasn't sure where he was in the palace, but he knew the cells were south of great castle and that's where he was headed.

It was slow going, evading guards and trying to decide which hall to take, but Nico gradually made it to the great doors at the end of the castle. Which were guarded by six armed men. Well, Nico struggled to call them men- they had ghostly white faces and glowing red eyes. He took a deep breath and reminded himself of the danger Olympus was in and vitality of rescuing Percy. He drew his black sword silently, and poised for attack.

Three...two...one! Nico leaped from the shadows like a pouncing panther, wielding his sword fearlessly as he knocked the first guard out cold and disarmed the second guard in just three seconds. He smashed the hilt of his sword into the sentry's skull and moved on to the four others that had gathered their wits and held their weapons ready.

Shoot. Nico knew Percy would be capable of taking them all out, but he was far from accomplishing that skill. He would just have to resort to his dark powers. He pointed at the four of them and willed their bodies to give way to a deep slumber. The guard's red eyes dimmed as they slowly slid to the floor in a great heap. Nico's eyelids sagged. Four guards at once! He had never done so many at once. The feat left him so weary Nico knew he wouldn't be capable of picking up the sentry's heavy bodies and hiding them. He'd just have race against the alarm and hope he and Percy could escape before Hades assembled his forces.

Sheathing his sword, Nico quickly pushed open the great black doors to the fields that lay beyond the castle. Squinting from the sudden brightness, he scanned the plains for a smaller gray fortress that would be holding Percy. There! Less than a half mile away. Nico began to sprint through the grasses to rescue his friend.

He knew he would have to accept his father's disappointment, wrath, and even disownment after he freed Percy. No doubt his father would have nothing to do with him again, and maybe he'd even send out the Furies to have him imprisoned or killed. Nico held his head high. Let them come, he thought boldly. I'll be ready. The time to fear was over. The time to act was at hand.

He was barely even breathless by the time he got to the gates of the Underworld jail house. He slashed his knife through the chains barring the entrance and slipped through without a sound. Time was running out. Nico could hear the clock tick-ticking in his head as he put each guard to sleep, raced down each corridor. Where would Percy be? Probably in the most heavily guarded cell, Nico mused to himself. He looked around the corner and saw four men standing by a doorless cell. This was it. Nico took a deep breath and emerged from around the bend.

"Hey, guys!" he said, gathering his strength as he approached the guards nonchalantly.

Before they could blink, Nico had flicked his finger and sent them to dreamland. He then ran to the wall to feel for an invisible opening, a trapdoor, something. Feeling ridiculous, Nico tentatively reached forward to touch the wall, but the moment the tip of his finger brushed against it, the wall disappeared, revealing the cell. Nico was a little taken aback. It seemed as if he had an unlimited supply of power to draw from. What other secret skills did he have?

A moan from inside the cell brought Nico to his senses. Percy was lying asleep on the cold floor, tossing and turning as if in a nightmare.

"Percy!" Nico hissed, the ticking of urgency pounding ever louder in his ears. With a whirl of motion, Percy was upon him, swordpoint at his throat.

Nico had completely forgotten the whole Percy-hates-my-guts situation and found himself desperately choking out his intentions before the blade drew blood.

"Want...to...rescue!" he cried out. And Nico realized at the moment he did. It didn't matter what his father thought. It didn't matter if he'd be banished from the Underworld forever. It just mattered that he was doing the right thing for once, even if it meant having a sword stuck at his throat. The clock was ticking. It was time to do something right.

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