the six left from the seven and nico were all huddled at the poseidon table in camp half-blood, staring at their food. since leo had sacrificed himself two months ago, they were grief-stricken, every one of them. even nico. jason had his arm around piper's shoulders, who was leaning on his chest. tears were silently dripping down hazel's face, and her hand was clasped with frank's. percy and annabeth were just staring sadly into each other's eyes. nico was slumped at the end of the table, his head facing the floor. it was all his fault. he should have gone into tartarus, then leo'd be fine.
nico stood up abruptly, causing the plates, cutlery and cups to rattle violently against the table. "i'm going to the underworld." he announced gruffly, trying to keep his face clear of emotion. "to find leo." without waiting for a response, the son of hades walked off, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his aviator-style jacket. his inky black fringe infiltrated his vision as it flopped into his dark eyes, but he left it there. he wanted to show as little of the hurt on his face as possible.
nico closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. his body seemed to disappear as he shadow-travelled to the nearest exit to the underworld. he didn't lime to go straight there. he prefered the scenic route. nico's syes snapped open and he stumbled back, grabbing onto a nearby wall so he didn't fall over. same as always, he felt sick in the pit of his stomach, like he was going to vomit. his head span for a moment, but it finally stopped after a few minutes. he was getting used to it by now.
nico slipped down the street, weaving through people until he reached the exit. a men's clothes shop. nico pushed the door open, shuffling through, ignoring the looks he got because of his shabby clothes and appearance. he made his way to the changing rooms and stopped at the one on the end with a 'do not enter' sign. the boy pushed back the curtain, stepping in and pulling it back. in front of him was what seemed to be a massive hole. nico closed his eyes and stepped into it.
when he opened them again, he was next to charon's boat, as the man was about to set off with a boatful of dead people. it was rare, nico thought, bit shrugged up off. charon waved away one of the souls and nico took it's place, sitting down on the worn-down wooden seat. "off to see hades?" charon asked nico, his voice somewhat wheezy and tired. nic gave him a small nod.
the boat stopped on the other end, and nico jumped straight off. he pushed through the queue, ignoring the angry shouts, and entered the secret passage straight to hades' palace. nico ran through it, so quickly he was gasping for breath when he came out the other end. his face was bright pink, an odd sight, as he was usually deathly pale. emphasis on deathly.
nico made his way through the palace, straight to the 'throne room' where his father sat alone. nico knew persephone was away for summer. "dad, i need your help." nico saod breathlessly, staring at his father with wide, dark eyes.
"nico, what is it this time?" hades asked wearily, massaging his temples as if in pain.
"can you check if leo valdez, son of hephaestus, is here or not."
hades sighed. "nico, son, i told you last time. he's not here." hades' voice was slightly softer than before. "i'm sorry." nico frowned in distaste.
"thanks anyway." he replied halfheartedly, before shadow travelling back to camp.