The gratitude they got from Persephone was something Nico had never expected to come from his stepmother's lips. Joy, thanks, promises of making it up to him. The scene was watched by Hades, who sat on his throne with a bored expression but a calm attitude about the whole situation. Lillian herself clung to her mother's leg and watched with a smile on her face, her dark baby hairs curled around her small ears.
When it was finally over and Nico escaped back to his room with Will, the two collapsed on the bed as if they hadn't slept in years. No anxiety, no worries, no bad guy to fight. Just a warm bed to sleep in and a lover to sleep by.
The Underworld didn't have a sun but Will still woke at six in the morning, when the sun would just be peeking over Half-Blood Hill. Nico's room was dark and ominous, but it was cozy in the back parts of the castle. Comfortable furniture, loads of pillows and blankets, a dresser full of clothes that Will borrowed after taking a short shower. They smelled like Nico and were warm, but he had hoped Nico would have owned some kind of color. But every article of clothing was black, including the Camp Half-Blood shirt that he had somehow dyed to fit his taste.
"Hey, Will..." Nico's tired voice caused a smile to break his mouth open. "Can we talk?"
"Sure, sleeping beauty." Will sat next to Nico. "You need more sun in this place, I swear." His smile turned fake as he tried to decide if he really wanted to hear what Nico was going to say. "You need to get some lights or something."
"Will." Nico sat up before gently touching his fingers to Will's chin, using them to move Will's head to face his own. He stared into those blue eyes, leaned his forehead against Will's tan one. "I...I killed that man..."
"It wasn't unexpected." Will grabbed Nico's hand. "And you feel bad. That means you-"
"I don't feel bad. That's the point." Nico bit into his tongue but somehow kept his eyes level with Will's. "That's the point. I'm a murderer. I killed him and I had fun doing it, and I still don't feel bad. I...I laughed while doing it, Will. I laughed. And I heard once that when you have a problem the first step to getting better is admitting it to the world. So I'm admitting it to you. Because I want to get better."
"Nico, Nico." Will kissed his forehead before moving his hand to the pale boy's cheek. "We've gone through this before. It's okay. You're scared of yourself just as you used to be scared of your powers. But it's okay. We'll get through it, okay?"
They sat in silence for some time, Will rubbing Nico's cheek and kissing his forehead until Nico finally got the courage to speak again. With his words, tears also poured out. "You don't hate me? I'm evil, Will. People will call me evil. I'm a cold-blooded killer."
"You're a teenage boy that's confused and who has been put into too many rough situations." Will corrected. "Not a coldblooded killer. Stop beating yourself up. We're going to work on it, okay? We're going to keep working on it."
Nico relaxed into him and tried to believe his words, despite the morals that were clashing together inside his mind. A killer here, an avenger here. A simple work of justice or a murder in the dark of the shadows? He couldn't decide, and nobody could decide for him. It was his choice, his decision, his life he needed to fix.
It was in the sun at Camp Half-Blood the following day when he turned to look at Will, felt his chest lighten with his words. "I'm going to get better. I'm a murderer, but I'm going to get better."
"You're going to get better." Will agreed, the sun kissing his skin. He was everything Nico had ever wanted, he held the key to the life that seemed perfect for the two of them. Nothing held them back now, nothing sat in their way. Even the Fates smiled at the end of their story, or at least where the pages stopped being written.