There has to be something I can do! There has to!

That was Percy's first thought. There was absolutely no way Nico could really be dead, right? He had to still be alive, right? Nothing this nightmarish could actually happen, right?

Wrong. And Percy knew that. But that didn't stop him from feeding himself false hope and denial. He would not accept that Nico had died, and because of him. He just wouldn't have it.

And so the teen ran all the way up to the Big House with the boy limp in his arms, and rapped on the door loudly.

He didn't stop until he was sure someone would come. He heard the familiar clip-clop of hooves and soon enough the door creaked open and a very disgruntled Chiron peeked out.

"...Percy? It's the middle of the night, what could you possibly-"

But then he saw the body in his arms and the tears on his face and stopped short. He immediately perked up and swung open the door for Percy to come in.

"Is that Nico? What happened?"

Percy tried not to cry any harder but found it increasingly difficult as he was forced to say aloud what he feared most.

"He's... dead."

"What?!"

Percy laid down the body on the couch as Chiron hurried over. The old centaur checked all his vitals, yet confirmed what Percy had said.

In a low voice, he turned to Percy and asked, "How?"

Now Percy would really have a hard time explaining this. How would he say that Nico had committed suicide, because of his own actions? How could he possibly say that gently without shocking the centaur?

"He- He, um..." He began.

Chiron immediately noticed the uncertainty in his voice and knew something was up. Just the fact that Percy was crying profusely was enough for him to know this was something besides typical demigod deaths.

"Percy," he said calmly yet firmly, "what happened?"

With that Percy lost it.

"He killed himself! He jumped off the dock and drowned in the ocean!"

An expression of shock displayed itself on the old centaur's features, an expression not common to Chiron.

He looked to the silent figure laying on the couch with a look of deep sadness.

Eventually, he whispered, "Why?"

Percy sighed, more tears rolling down.

"Because of me."

Chiron turned to the teen, his confusion inviting him to explain.

"He... He was in love with me for the longest time. Ever since we first brought him here. But I never noticed him, and I didn't really want to. And now, much too late, I realized I... I... loved him too. But I had caused him too much pain... he was just beginning to get over me. And I made it worse, like I always do. And that drove him over the edge."

Percy was full fledge crying now, wiping desperately at his eyes which would not stop spouting forth tears.

Percy sniffled, "I don't blame him."

Chiron only sighed and pulled Percy into an embrace, and the teen buried his face into the centaur's nightshirt whilst crying loudly. The old teacher's eyes stayed trained on the pale body of Nico di Angelo, while his lover wept, clinging to him.

Chiron held to the base of his head and rubbed his back sympathetically. Percy choked out his sobs, crying very uncharactiscally, only proving to Chiron how much this had really hurt him. Yes, Percy had seen the deaths of many demigod, friends and enemies alike, but Nico was something different. Nico was the boy he had fallen in love with, albeit much too late. And now, here he was, his pride crumbling before his friend, all his defenses lowered. He had completely fallen apart.

First Leo, now Nico... what a very unfortunate month... the centaur thought, shaking his head.

When dawn had come, Chiron broke the news to the Campers. Quietly he awoke each cabin and ordered them to quickly get dressed, for something bad had happened and a meeting was to be held at the pavilion.

Soon, groggy campers filled the pavilion one-by-one, yawning and rubbing their eyes in the early morning light. When everyone was present and standing there in confusion, wondering what was going on, they finally saw Chiron exit the Big House some distance away. But instead of heading over to them, he held the door for someone else, someone wearing the typical Camp t-shirt, carrying something resembling a body.

It wasn't until then that they noticed the funeral pyre set up across the pavilion and put two and two together.

"Wait, did someone die?"

"Is that Percy? Who's that he's carrying?"

"I don't notice anyone gone from here, do you? Who could that be?"

When Percy got close enough, the Campers finally identified the body he carried.

"Is that... is that that creepy kid from the Hades cabin?"

"It's that emo kid, di Angelo."

"I never really liked him... He scared me."

"He was weird as hell..."

"Wait, is Jackson... crying? Over him?"

"Why?"

Hearing the murmuring, Hazel Levesque shoved her way to the front of the crowd. They couldn't be serious, could they? Maybe they've mistaken someone else for Nico. That had to he it, right? Her brother couldn't actually be dead, could he? He was just here yesterday, and doing so well with his life at that.

But as she emerged before the crowd, her worst fears were confirmed. There in Percy's arms was her very own brother, Nico di Angelo, pale and lifeless.

"No," she whispered, "no..."

She ran to Percy, unable to process that this was real, that this was actually happening.

She rushed him and looked down at her brother's slack face, her arms holding him prospectively.

"No, no, no, no, no, this can't be..." she panicked, "wh- what happened? How? He's not actually... is he?"

The look on Percy's face said it all. The teen was desperately trying to hold himself together before the Campers, but as Hazel questioned him, more tears began to roll down his face. Nico really was gone.

Hazel refused to believe it. Her eyes widened and brimmed with their own tears, and she fell to her knees in shock.

"No! Nico! You can't be gone! You- you can't be..."

As she wept at his feet Percy swallowed thickly, trying to contain himself, and continued to the pyre. Hundreds of eyes followed him across the field, all bewildered and looking for answers. How did this weird outcast kid die? What did Percy have to do with it? And why was Percy crying over him? They all watched in shock as he began to cry harder, for the hero had never been one to do that. Only a handful had seen him shed a few manly tears. But this was completely different, and strange. Why would Percy suddenly cry like this for some random weirdo kid no one liked?

The crowd began to follow Percy at a distance now, as he made his way to the pyre. Finally, the Campers all to his back, Percy gently laid Nico's body on the wooden platform, and crossed his arms over his chest. He straightened his clothes and brushed his hair from his ghostly face, all the while staring longingly as silent tears poured out. Annabeth came forward to stroke his back as the teen mourned, her face solemn and stiff.

The Campers were finding this very odd. Not only that this kid died in the first place, but that Percy was this bent about it. Who was this guy to him? His mannerisms and movements, all the gentle touching, almost seemed to show love...

The most shocking of it all came right before the body was covered. Percy had really begun to cry then, his face contorting in pain as he wept, burying his face in the boy's pale neck. It had almost seemed that Percy was done, because he sat back up and hiccupped a few more sobs before calming down.

But he was not done, much to their bewilderment. Slowly Percy leaned down, just inches from Nico's face. He gazed upon the dead boy's face one last time, before closing his eyes and sealing his lips against Nico's in a kiss.

The Campers gasped. Eyes widened, jaws dropped, and quiet murmuring soon was heard.

"Did he just..."

"What the fuck?"

"He kissed him! Why would he kiss him?!"

"Percy's gay?"

"He can't be! He's with Annabeth!"

"So then why hasn't she killed him yet?"

"I'm more confused about why Percy would be gay for that kid."

But yet, none of this was heard by Percy, as he was too overcome with grief. Lightly he pulled the black cover bearing Hades' crest over the body of his beloved, and turned to leave. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, avoiding him as if that one kiss with the strange son of Hades had given him the plague. But he didn't notice, and only stared at the ground as he passed through the crowd, Annabeth at his side, hugging him with one arm as they went.

As they walked back to the cabins across the field, the whole crowd stared. Yet one other pair of eyes watched from a distance, hidden from view of the Campers.

Leo peered through the parted leaves of a bush, absolutely stunned by the series of events that had just unfolded before his eyes.

"Well, are you gonna go out there yet? We've been here all morning," Calypso asked boredly, leaning against the side of a snoozing Festus.

Leo stepped back from the bushes. "I don't think a grand entrance is such a good idea anymore..."

"Why not? You've been planning it for weeks."

Leo sighed and turned to his girlfriend. "Well, Nico is dead, Percy is gay, and he just kissed him on his funeral pyre in front of the whole Camp."