"You really don't have to do that," Nico told them again.
"Awww, we love to," Travis cooed, hanging over the smaller boy's shoulders.
"It's fun," Connor smirked.
"Fine whatever," Nico sighed. "Suit yourself." Wriggling out from under Travis's lanky arms, he moved closer to one of the cracks engraved into the dirt. The whole area was covered in them. Sharp rifts and board fissures reaching far below. It was not a pretty picture but at least the corpses were gone.
"You sure you, uhm, you should be doing this?" Travis asked as Nico stepped forward with a determent expression on his face. "You only got out of the infirmary and believe me when I say Solace throws some mean hissy-fits."
Nico's lips tugged upward, no doubt he could handle a cranky Will Solace. "It barely takes any energy." He paused, contemplating how best to explain. "The earth wants to be back together. It wants to be whole."
"Still, it's a lot of ground to cover," Connor muttered but did not intervene. The other demigod knew what he was doing. At least he hoped so.
"If you faint we're gonna carry you bridal style through the entire camp," Travis threatened, while Connor blushed at the mental image.
Nico didn't notice. His gaze was fixed on the small building in the distance. Finally, his eyes drifted down. The air became stale and shallow. Beats of sweat gathered on his forehead. Both brothers felt a chill in their bones that made their hair stand on end. Tremors went through their bodies as everything started to vibrate. The pressure increased, the sand at their feet whirled up, little pieces of debris trembled, before bouncing higher and higher with each breath the son of Hades took. It was one thing sitting nice and cozy in the arena's seats, watching Percy and Nico duke it out, and another standing right next to the prince of the underworld as he pushed and pulled tones of soil around using nothing but his mere will. The experience was a humbling one. Amongst all of them the children of the big three were the strongest demigods and while both, Travis and Connor, had known Nico to be extremely powerful - heck, just a couple of days ago they were maimed by his skeleton army - the extend of his might could only be fully understood when experienced. It was worthy of a gods. Travis shivered. What must it feel like to be on the other side of the boy's blade? With a little luck, he'd never had to find out.
Slowly they headed to the dark crater where their troubles had started. It took the brothers everything to follow and not turn tail. When Nico stilled at its edge so did the rest of the world. The dust cleared, and to their amazement, the last crack closed as if nothing had ever happened, no trace left behind.
Connor's eyes strayed, falling on the black spot in front. He winced. The shape of the land may have returned to its normal state, smooth and even, but the earth around them remained dead. "What about -,"
Instinctively Travis stomped on his brother's foot and put a hand over his mouth "Pshh!"
The son of Hades just shook his head. He looked tired and much smaller now. "This," he said slowly, kneeling down and pressing his shaking palm against the burned ground as if to soothe them both. "Is a little trickier."