Nico had felt jade eyes questioning him though he didn't raise his own to meet them. For the first time ever Percy Jackson didn't press the son of Hades to answer his questions and share whatever burden hung from his shoulders. There wasn't time to decide if he was grateful for that, or if it had been the one time he would have preferred Percy be as stubborn and persistent as the sea. The way the corners of the other demigod's lips twitched spoke volumes; he wanted to press forward but he was respecting Nico's assertion that he couldn't share.
"Bob, I need you. There's something we have to do before we can go any further."
The silver haired Titan nodded as if he were already aware. He then turned to Ker. If she was in the least bit curious, she didn't show it. Instead, she regarded the son of Hades with a look he might have taken as a knowing smile if it weren't for the fact that, well, her face was part insectoid so it really could have been anything.
"Ker, you stay here with Percy. We won't be long." And then, to Percy, "Try not to be too heroic while I'm going, okay?" The green eyed demigod grinned at him, even if it looked a little forced.
"Who, me? Never."
Bob twirled his broom in his hands like he was the leader of some unseen marching band as the two walked in silence. Nico needed just a few minutes to attempt to compartmentalize and process everything. When he woke up in Percy's arms he was entirely disoriented. Percy sobbing over him and kissing him — okay, his forehead but whatever — and the mess of limbs and laughter they had been afterwards? Talk about throwing a guy for a loop. It was just another thing to push down and forget about. There wasn't time to try and think anything about it. Percy had been worried about losing him… about having to go on without him. It was normal. The guy was a hero. He took every person's life entirely personally.
"Lady Styx said she had a gift to give. It's for you?" Bob's words pulled him from his thoughts; he nodded. "She said today is a good day. A day where oaths are kept." Although it sounded positive, the Titan appeared unconvinced from the way that he had begun tugging on a thread from his coveralls. Honestly, the work uniform had seen much better days.
"You okay, buddy?"
"Oaths are not small things." He replied simply. "And to get a gift from a goddess…" he clucked his tongue against his teeth and let the sentence die there. It went without saying. The son of Hades reached over and patted the Titan on his forearm.
"I'm doing the best I can." Before he realized he wanted to say anything, the words had slipped passed his lips. Nico's shoulders fell when he spoke because it wasn't just Styx but Ker as well. He was desperate and it wasn't like the demigod didn't know what he was doing but the weight of everything had finally caught up with him. He may as well have been Atlas struggling to shoulder the weight of the sky on his shoulders. Each step took him closer to an inevitable conclusion… and how was any demigod supposed to keep walking when they understood exactly what they were walking into? When they knew the cost?
"That is all any of us can do." Bob's large hand squeezed his shoulder and warmth sprung to Nico's cheeks. It set off a chain reaction that had the teenager's insides caving in on themselves. His fingers carded through his hair and pushed the dark strands from his face— he was pretty sure he caught sight of a few silver strands but that was hardly at the top of his list.
"This gift that she has for you… it will help?"
"I think so."
"We are going to die." Bob stated, his words as sure as the river that ran beside them. Nico's heart broke in his chest because hearing it out loud somehow made it more real. It left his tongue thick in his mouth, his throat constricted and it was impossible to swallow. We. Because Bob included himself without question in that equation.
He shouldn't ask this of him. Not after everything he had done. Not with everything they had taken away from him. Not after he had already done so much. But, from under the mop of dark curls, Nico nodded.
"Y-yeah… it looks that way, Buddy. There are monsters massing at the Doors of Death, a whole army waiting to make their way to the mortal world."
The noise his companion made was disapproving. He wasn't sure how to approach the rest of it but each step had Nico's legs feeling more and more like they were made of lead. Omission was still lying and he needed to be honest with Bob.
"Ker said that the doors are chained down. We'll need to sever the chains down here in Tartarus while my sister and our friends do the same up top. Once the elevator is freed, it will have one last trip back up. Whoever isn't in it won't be getting back. And…" Nico paused to take a breath and debated how to say the next thing. The child of Hades had not been surprised when Ker had relayed the information to him. "And someone needs to stay behind to distract the arm while someone else holds the button for the twelve minutes it takes to go up. " Silence falls between them thick with so much unsaid. Nico swallowed and continued.
"Listen, Bob, there's something I need to tell y—"
"I know."
Nico halted in his steps and tilted his head up to catch the other's eye. Whatever it was that Bob thought he knew it couldn't be as big as everything he had to say. "No, Bob, really. I haven't been entirely honest with you. And I just have to say this before we—"
"You love him."
The suddenness of the statement has Nico's knees weak because it is not a question. There is a confidence in the Titan's tone that is as simple as Bob stating the sky is blue or the ocean is deep. It sent Nico's stomach knotting and stole away his breath.
"Yes." He whispered. For what he was going to ask of him— to give his life so that another might live? Nico owed him the truth. Because was the best and the truest friend anyone could have ever asked for. Nico loved Bob like family. "I love him."
They were stood on the desolate landscape of Tartarus but nothing else existed in that moment but the two of them. Nico, with his dark eyes trained on Bob, waited for the other to respond. There was no reason for him to accept the statement. There was no reason for him to accept what was implied in Nico's statement— that they should give their life to save Percy Jackson. And when had he known? Which of the stories had Nico told to the Titan that allowed him to put together the puzzle pieces of a secret that the child of Hades had kept sequestered away so deeply? Or had he dared to let anyone else know him in the way that Bob did, would they, too, have figured it out?
"He is loyal. He would sacrifice everything for his friends."
"He would."
"Then we will save him." The answer was as easy as breathing.
Nico was glad for confiding in Bob but it tugged his heartstrings all the same. Not for the first time, guilt hanged around his neck for all the things he hadn't told the Titan.
"I can't ask that of you— not unless you know everything. I haven't been honest with you. There's more that you need to know before you—"
The Titan squeezed his shoulder once again and shook his head, silver hair falling across his eyes. There's a seriousness on his face that quieted the ghost king so his friend could speak. "Bob knows, little prince." There was no heat in the statement, but there was warmth. He even wore a sad smile as he brought their eyes to meet, even if he had to release Nico's shoulder and tuck a finger under the demigod's chin to force his gaze upwards. "You gave me Bob. You gave me friendship— yours and his. You gave me family and the chance to be good. No one ever believed in Iapetus the way you believe in Bob. What more could Bob wish from life?"
The teeth that had been worrying Nico's bottom lip stopped and he cracked a small smile, his eyes damp. If there was one thing that Nico di Angelo did in his entire life it was to befriend the Titan. To dare to trust in someone, no matter how different. To share everything he had. Nico reached up and closed his hand over the Titan's larger one. And it was all thanks to that stupid sea green eyed kelp for brains that they had each other. Despite clearing his throat a few times, his voice cracked when he spoke. "You're my best friend, Bob."
The smile that broke across his face was slow and Bob wrapped the other in his arms, pulling him to his chest in a rib crushing hug. Nico probably looked like the Titan's favorite rag doll from the way his feet hung towards the ground but he laughed and returned the embrace.
"You are Bob's, little king of ghosts." It's a good minute or two before the big guy is finished with the embrace and finally puts Nico back down onto the ground but the child of Hades honestly wasn't complaining. "We shall protect him, whatever the cost," and all Nico needed to do then as they continued their journey was to nod. His burden felt just a little bit lighter.
They were attacked on their way but honestly it went without saying. A few empousai with their mismatched donkey and bronze legs tried to sink their fangs into Nico. They probably assumed that they would take whatever scraps the Titan beside him decided he didn't want but they must have been pretty terrible at reading body language because they seemed genuinely shocked that Bob wasn't interested in eating the demigod, or maiming him, or whatever else. Nico might have enjoyed killing them just a little bit more than he should have but after they attempted the whole mist magic mind meddle thing to be all seductive and beautiful on him, he really wasn't having it. Bob knew that he loved Percy and it was sort of freeing (in a totally he wouldn't want anyone else to know sort of way). It made the whole seduction element all that more offensive to him.
Then there had been a few telephone and a stray hellhound or two. The latter really got to him because they reminded him of Mrs O'Leary and it turned is stomach over on itself. But for the most part? Bob and he walked the rest of the way in the sort silence between two friends who have said all they need to and knew the other understood.
The acid clouds of Tartarus' thick atmosphere glowed red caused a trick of the eye, figures appearing to dance in the steam that exploded upwards from where the river of fire mingled with its lovers' waters. They Phlegethon and Styx mingled together briefly at this point before they strayed their opposite ways once more. Styx was not long in Tartarus, its waters only briefly skirting along the edge to tangle with her love before disappearing once more where she came from. Small Bob had chased on the Titan's heels attacking with his bone claws but the sight of water and steam must have spooked the thing because he climbed up the other's tree trunk legs until it disappeared in the bib pocket of his coveralls.
"She will not be far."
"Do you mind waiting here? I think I need to do this on my own."
Bob furrowed his brow and wrung one of the rags that he wore affixed to his belt. Small Bob protested with a high pitched mewl. Eventually, he nodded towards the son of Hades. "I shall keep watch. Make sure no monsters get too close."
"You're the best." Nico flashed a nervous smile to his friend before he turned and approached the banks of Styx.
She was waiting for him when he stepped foot on the banks, no different than she had appeared in his dream. Stood on her banks, Styx looked out of place on the hells cape of Tartarus. Everything was fire, acid, tumors, the rivers acting as veins. But Styx? She smelled of damp earth and fresh rain; it was the first thing he'd smelled that reminded him of the world above. Dark hair flowed down her shoulders, braided with colourful water-weeds and shells. Her crown of water lilies was woven with reeds and cattails. Fish swam inside the folds of her dress, flowing and free like the river itself. Styx regarded him with soft eyes.
"My lady." Nico fell to one knee and bowed his head to her, enough to be courteous but not so much that his vision was entirely compromised. He was unsure, after all, about how much she would be able to do if their meeting was interrupted by one of the inhabitants of Tartarus. Her waters mostly flowed from the Underworld and that is where he power truly laid.
"You may rise, Child of Hades."
When he stood, the goddess reached out to him and he offered the hand she requested. Her waters washed over him, surrounding him. Fish swam around him, tadpoles played tag against his skin. Curious minnows nibbled at his fingers before fleeing when he wiggled them. The water was calming, cool as the swimming hole he had visited with his mother and Bianca when he was a child. Dark curls floated around his head, moving with the gentle current of the vortex of water. Water was not his element and yet he felt relaxed. At peace.
You have grown since we last spoke.
Geras…
No, that's not what I meant, little one.
Her voice echoed all around him, the sound of whispers under the water. It was as much in his head as it was in his ears. He had the sense of water swirling around his chest, as if pointing there to his heart. Nico turned his head to glance down but she had become the body of water itself, that was the easiest way he could describe it, and he floated in the river that was the Styx itself but was not. There was nothing to see but the tadpoles swimming and the fish and beautiful water flowers that danced in the current of water. She was everywhere and yet he was alone. A chill crept up its spine but he was accustomed to shivering; it was not all that different a sensation as when he felt someone close to death passing from one world to the next. There was comfort in it. Familiarity.
You are here because you were never meant to be, little one.
I don't understand. Nico thought back to the voice in his head.
The Fates weave the lives of mortals, apportioning the length of your life lines. This is unchangeable, unless the divine intervene and yet you, Nico di Angelo, disrupted the strings of fate.
But I didn't do anything.
That's where you are wrong. When you rescued the girl, you unwound the apportioned strings for the three of you. The Fates are tied to the Gods, and as their natures splinter, they have also been impacted. You were able to do something no one has ever done before… and it has consequences.
Her thoughts were sympathetic. Nico knew she did not blame him for doing all he could for his friends. There was fate and there was free will, and he understood. With his powers growing and the Fates weakened because of the schism in the gods and goddesses natures, he was able to overpower even their work.
I'm ready.
Nico thought it. He had no idea how the goddess could hear his thoughts… but he knew that she was somehow in his head as much as she was all around him. She would understand what he intended even if it wasn't clairvoyance or telepathy or anything. It wasn't clear how, but Nico could feel the swell of pride all around him at his answer. He should have been worried, should have found it impossible to breathe but he knew even before he did it that when he inhaled she would not let him drown.
What are you ready for, young prince?
Nico could feel the crosscurrents of her waters making his ringlets dance in the water. It tugged and teased at his clothes. It felt like a trill or a laugh. Like when his mother had smiled at him, waiting for him to answer a question she already knew the answer to. It warmed him, that undercurrent of pride that swelled around him. Nico's shirt floated up around his stomach and his hands moved in gentle strokes as if to keep afloat though he knew he wouldn't sink.
To be the hero I've always wished I could be.
It was the right answer. The waters fell away and the goddess reformed before him, the look on her face gentle as she regarded him once again. Much like when Percy used his gifts, the son of Hades wasn't sopping wet. His clothes were dry and the soft babbling of a brook he took to be her laugh once he realized that she was smiling at him. Her hand reached out and caressed his cheek as she leaned down to bring her face to his (she stood twelve feet tall). "There is so much more to you than you realize, little one. More strength and love than I have seen in a child of the Underworld in an age or two."
"The world needs him… I need him."
Before he could answer, before he could say anything else, the goddess reached into her robes and produced a scepter. The ivory staff was nearly half his height and a brilliant white that practically glowed in Tartarus' dim landscape. That, and it radiated power, as if it whispered something to Nico that he could hear but couldn't quite place. It beckoned to him. Atop the scepter with their wings spread were golden eagles, and upon their backs they held a marble orb. The scepter itself was impressive but the orb drew Nico in, catching his eye. When he took hold of the staff in his hand, the dark marble of the orb pulsed a deep purple in time with the beat of his own heart. It recognized him and its power called out to his own.
"It is a powerful weapon, one with more uses than most remember. It is one capable of raising legions of the dead to fight alongside the living. But it is also a conduit, a means of focussing power."
The orb continued to pulse and Nico's eyes were transfixed. For a moment, he was certain that something was staring back at him from it. "And the orb… it acts as the conduit?"
Styx merely bowed her head in agreement. Nico didn't hesitate to tug the dark marble from its resting place. The scepter itself shrunk until it fit in the palm of his hand, the orb did the same. Side by side they looked like a black marble and a match stick. The son of Hades pocketed both.
"Will it be worth it?" Nico finally raised his eyes to meet the goddess' gaze. "Will I matter?"
"My child… it was never about trading your life for his. It was about doing everything in your power to keep him safe. But what that is worth… who can say? What is worth to you may not be worth to anyone else, and certainly not the gods."
Nico affixed the scepter next to his sword, rested a fist across his chest and over his heart before he bowed his head to towards the goddess. She stood at her full height once more with her hands clasped in front of her almost in a prayer. "Thank you, my lady."
"The world is not kind to heroes," her waters whispered as she caressed his cheek, "but you have my favor Nico di Angelo. Go bravely."
When he raised his head, the river was quiet before him and the goddess was gone, the shores dry and without sign of her presence. In his pocket, he felt once more for the gift she bestowed upon him. Nico listened to the soft burble of the river and, for a moment, felt peace (or maybe it was acceptance) at what was to come.
Nico turned and made his way back to Bob musing over Styx's last words.
No one has ever thought of me as a hero…
No, that wasn't entirely true. The silver haired Titan who practically glowed in the inky atmosphere that was Tartarus did and when the son of Hades returned to Bob, the other beamed at him and waved (as if Nico could miss him; he stuck out like a sore thumb).
Bob looked at him like a real hero.
Like the way everyone looked at Percy Jackson.
The son of Hades smiled and gave his friend a hug; he wouldn't be anything less than what Bob deserved and Percy needed.