He ran because it wasn't true.
He ran because he was afraid it was true.
He ran because he thought he could outrun the truth.
And the truth was that Bianca di Angelo was dead. Dead. Gone.
His family was gone.
He had never known what happened to their parents and they always used to talk about how they'd come back some day. Nico used to dream about it. Now, too late he realised that the girl who now lay in the desert had been everything. She had been his mother, best friend and annoying sister.
The trees branches whipped his body as he ran into the shadows.
"Stupid Perseus Jackson, stupid quest, and stupid hunters of Artemis!" he screamed. How could they have let him and his sister down like that? His mind whispered to him of promises given and promises broken.
"I'll keep her safe. I promise"
"I'll always be there for you. I promise."
"I'll always love you little angel."
Every single promise was broken. It hurt him to think he had trusted them so easily. Percy's promise to keep her safe. Bianca's promise to be there always. His mother's promise to love him forever. But his mother and sister were dead.
He burned the figurine. What was special enough to make Bianca think that she could risk her life for it?
"I'll bring you back. I promise."
His own promise was broken.
20 years since that night, Nico di Angelo still wonders what his life could have been without broken promises.