Chapter Seven

The sun shining on his face was too bright. Percy stirred, falling off the couch on to the hard floor. Sluggishly he pieced together the events of the past week: Nico finding him, Percy taking him home, fighting monsters, loving each other, fighting each other, and Nico left.

Nico left, and he slept on the couch to be close to his scent. Still, Percy didn't believe it wasn't a horrible dream until he numbly took an apartment tour, hopefully checking every room for any sign of the son of Hades.

When he was certain that he truly had left, Percy opened the shades that poorly blocked the sun that rudely awoke him. In his room he rooted through the dresser, pushing aside articles of clothing until he found a few spare drachmas and the pyramid crystal his mother had given him as a gift to keep in touch with Annabeth and Grover. It was a bit like a demigod cell phone. He set it on the only window in the living room, positioning it just right to create a faint rainbow across the beige carpet.

Throwing the drachma through the array of colors he spoke, "Iris, accept my offering. I would like to speak to Nico di Angela, son of Hades."

A video shimmered in front of him. Nico was sitting outside of a McDonald's sporting a menu in a language Percy didn't recognize, but it was hard to tell between that and his dyslexia.

Nico slouched at one of the outside tables, taking tiny bites of over-cooked fries. He kept throwing them down, as if they weren't his favorite food. He donned his usual black clothes and his aviator jacket, and his old sullen expression. Yet, it seemed worse. Nico's eyes were bloodshot and red, his lips set into a frown.

Seeing him kicked his heart up a beat; it was almost painful. He thought of exiting out of the connection before he was spotted, but he had to give it a try, even if it meant Nico yelling at him again.

"Nico," he called.

The boy dropped a fry, facing him. His eyes narrowed, twirling a fry between his fingers.

"Hear me out -"

Nico waved his hand and the image dissipated. He was staring at the pyramid and the rainbow it sent through the room, the particles of dust floating.

It made Percy mad all over again. There was nothing that he could do right; he couldn't take back the promise he made. What did Nico want? Him to beg? He was already doing that.

There was only one option, and that was to find him, but how to find someone that could be anywhere in the world in seconds Percy didn't know. It didn't help that there were billions of McDonald's.

He pushed himself off the floor. He took a bit of the money his mother left and hailed a sticky and smelly taxi to the beach. It was a pretty day, the sky a clear and crisp blue, the wind small and chilling but it was no surprise that the beach was crowded. Picnics were scattered about the sand while little children built lopsided castles.

Percy kept close to the rocks, away from the surfers and kids. The waves kissed his toes, ankles, calves, knees, hips, and finally he dived in, submerging himself. He swam against the pushing current, the lull of it pulling him deeper into its depths. He wondered briefly if he could drop by his father's palace, but negated the idea quickly since his wife and son didn't like him. He could have at least gone to the forges to see Tyson, but their father was likely keeping him busy. So he swam alone.

The ocean cleared his mind, abling him to think. The ocean healed him, gave him a sort of home away from home feeling. It was the one place he could think clearly, breathe properly, and it healed all of his wounds. If someone had forbidden him out of the sea, he would have felt lost – a kind of homelessness.

That was what he did to Nico, Percy realized. Persephone used him. Maybe his fatal flaw wasn't his loyalty and love, maybe it was not thinking anything through. It had never cost him as much as it had then.

His surroundings darkened to a deep blue. He swam past yellow and blue fish, and he spotted dolphins in the distance chattering away about the indecency of whales. Deeper and deeper he went, ignoring every sea creature that may have wanted to start a conversation he didn't want to have. Maybe the abyss was part of Poseidon's territory, he could live there, wallowing in the absent of light. He definitely didn't have any desire to go home - not when Nico wasn't going to be there.

He continued on until he was thinking of nothing at all and could see nothing in front of him. He fell into peace and pieces.

The moon had risen and the few stars that could be seen were twinkling above him when he emerged dry but deshelved from the ocean. He trudged through the sand, too weary to pick up his feet. He could barely recall the taxi and the trip up the stairs to the apartment. He stalled at the door, wondering if he wanted to go in to see the emptiness for himself.

As best as he tried to steel himself, it didn't stop his insides from plummeting when only darkness greeted him. There was nothing there of comfort in his absence, only Nico's lingering scent and that was fading fast.

Percy had been devastated when him and Annabeth broke up, but he had never felt empty. Someone had taken out his guts, leaving nothing behind. He was no better than a ghost.

He kicked off his shoes, leaving them in the middle of the living room to take up space. He plopped on the couch, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Percy?"

He looked up, Annabeth floating in an Iris message in front of him. The sight warmed him.

"Hey, Annabeth."

"What's wrong? You look like you've been through Hades."

Percy shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing's wrong."

"Where's Nico?"

"He left."

"Why? What did you do?"

"Thanks," he stated cynically. He shook his head. He didn't want to discuss it with Annabeth. He didn't want to talk about it with anyone.

"I wanted to tell you that I'm going to be here for a few more days. It looks like the younger ones could use some extra training. It would be great if you and Nico could drop by, help them out."

"Look, I gotta go."

"Tell me what's going on," she said so strictly that briefly he considered telling her. He didn't want to be alone, but it was better than Annabeth making him feel more guilty than he already felt. She had a penchant for telling the truth and the truth was not what he wanted. He wanted comfort and lies.

"I'll talk to you later."

"Percy, don't you think about cutting me off, I swear I'll -"

He moved his hand through the connection, the rainbow edges separating and falling like a mist. There was a chance that Annabeth would come and kill him in the night, but he wasn't feeling up to caring. Perhaps a murderous daughter of Athena wouldn't be so bad. No bodily damages that she could cause could make him feel worse.

Leaning back, his feet propping up on the coffee table, the light from the window behind him shined a spotlight on the table and the scenery of the last puzzle him and Nico worked. It was amazing that they were able to finish as many as they did - mostly because of Nico's talent.

Percy stared at the colors, the dark water of the canal, and the long boat with a hazy man holding an extra long oar. Tall and colorful buildings lined the tourist-like and romantic attraction.

It came to him suddenly.

Italy.

Nico was in Italy.