Chapter Text
An oath to keep with a final breath.
That line of the prophecy was pretty easy to understand. Jason had been sure one of them was going to die, and had been fully prepared to throw himself into the line of fire when it happened. When the smoke cleared and the seven demigods finally started to realize that it was over, that they had actually won, they were surprised to see they were all still alive. And unharmed, for the most part. All seven of them were bleeding, but it was nothing a little ambrosia wouldn’t cure.
Leo started shouting triumphantly, taunting the once again sleeping goddess in a way that Jason feared would wake her up all over again. Then Piper threw herself into his arms, laughing. There were hugs, kisses and laughter while they made their way back to the Argo II. Most of them barely made it to their beds before falling asleep. After weeks of fighting and worrying, they were all exhausted.
In the middle of the night Jason suddenly woke up, swore loudly and hurried to the common room. There was a growing feeling of dread in his gut as he looked around. The screens usually showing scenes from Camp Half-Blood were blank, but that didn’t have to mean anything. Jason’s hands were shaking as he prepared to send an Iris-message.
“Reyna, at Camp Half-blood.” he said, tossing the coin into the rainbow. It went straight through, falling down on the floor with a ominous clank. Jason tried his best to remain calm as he picked it up to try again.
“Nico di Angelo, at Camp Half-blood.” He said, his voice shaking. This time the coin disappeared, and the dark figure of the son of Hades became visible. He was sitting alone on a bed, holding his head in his hands. He looked up at Jason, and his eyes seemed more hollow than Jason had ever seen. Even after they rescued him from the bronze jar he didn’t look this bad.
“Grace.” Nico greeted without a smile. “So you guys have defeated Gaia. Is Hazel okay?”
“Yes, we’re all fine. Hazel’s asleep.” Jason reassured him. “Nico, is...is Reyna there?”
“No.” Nico said quietly, turning his gaze away. Jason stared at him, unable to speak. He couldn’t mean…?
“She protected me. Throughout the journey, she protected me. Then we finally got here.” Nico said, his voice cracking. “We thought we had managed to get here just in time. Both armies were ready to fight, but they hesitated when they saw the statue. We thought it was going to work. Then the arrow came out of nowhere. Poison.”
“No.” Jason said weakly. “No, that’s not how she...no.” Nico looked up at him again, and there were tears in his eyes.
“The camps attacked each other. I managed to get them to notice Gaea’s forces in the end, and they worked together to defeat them. The camp is safe, but...” he whispered. “I couldn’t save her. I’m so sorry.”
“NO!” Jason screamed. “She wasn’t supposed to be the one! She didn’t even make a proper oath to bring the statue back! It can’t be true!”
“She...she made an oath to me.” Nico said, turning his gaze down again. “To protect me. I didn’t want her to. That arrow was intended for me.”
Jason stared at him. The air suddenly seemed thick and hard to breath, and he was cold. He had known he would lose someone in this war, maybe even die himself. The thought that it would be Reyna had never even crossed his mind.
“I’m sorry.” Nico said again, and the message faded away. Jason remained where he was for a moment, standing still as a statue, staring at the spot where Nico’s face had been just seconds before. Then he walked out on the front deck and looked down at the peaceful Grecian landscape below them. Jason screamed.
All his rage, guilt and sorrow was contained in that one scream. Jason’s knees wobbled, and he sunk down on deck, sobbing quietly. He barely noticed as the others started appearing, looking confused and barely awake. His scream must have startled them. Jason didn’t particularly care. At that moment he would rather his screaming had attracted monster’s for him to fight.
“Jason, what’s wrong?” Piper asked, kneeling beside him. Her voice sounded concerned, but Jason didn’t look up at her.
“Reyna is gone.” Jason said quietly, his voice breaking with every word, but apparently it was loud enough. He heard the others gasp in surprise.
“How?” Annabeth asked. “What happened?”
Jason shook his head. “An arrow. Poison. Nico said the camps are safe.” he said. Piper put an arm around him, and he leaned into the touch, resting his head on her shoulder.
“We should get going.” Leo said, his voice moving away. “We should see for ourselves.”
Even flying, it took the Argo II three days to reach New York. Some smaller monsters attacked them on the way, and Jason was thankful for the distraction. He had managed to calm down and get control over his emotions, mostly because he didn’t want Piper and the others to worry about him, but he still felt hollow. Maybe it would get better after hearing the full story.
The welcome committee was large as they landed at Camp Half-Blood. Hundreds of demigods, satyrs and nymphs stood on the ground, cheering as they got off the ship. A hero’s welcome, truly, but Jason found himself unable to enjoy it. He made an attempt to smile anyway, like the others did. Jason wondered if the crowds realized how fake his smile was. Maybe they just didn’t care.
Chiron came out to greet them, and led them to the main building for a private audience. As they walked, Jason could see the statue of Athena looming over them on Half-Blood Hill. A strange scar ran through the earth from the statues feet and almost a hundred meters forward, as if someone had dug a deep ditch and then filled it again. Nico, Jason immediately thought, though he wouldn’t have been able to explain why he felt so sure.
It turned out he was right, though. Chiron told the story of Reyna’s death with a lot more detail than Nico had provided. Apparently Nico, Reyna and coach Hedge had appeared with the statue in the nick of time, minutes before the two armies of demigods would have clashed. She gave a speech that should have ended the war then and there, while Nico was resting behind her. That was when the arrow had been fired.
If Reyna hadn’t put her sword down as part of her speech, she might have been able to deflect it, but as it was, she had pushed Nico out of the way and taken the hit. Later it was clear that the arrow had been shot from Gaea’s mist-covered forces, but at the time both sides were blaming each other. The war started, but thanks to Nico it had been brief. In anger he’d managed to open a rift in the ground between the two forces, with skeletons crawling out of it. Nico had pointed out the real enemy to the stunned Greeks and Romans, and with their combined forces the battle had been won.
Jason zoned out as Percy and Annabeth described their own battle to Chiron. As soon as the meeting was over he told Piper he wanted to be alone for a little bit. She seemed a bit reluctant, but she let him go. She had friends of her own she wanted to see at the Aphrodite cabin, anyway. Jason avoided company as best he could as he made his way towards the statue, where Reyna had died. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find. Blood, maybe, or the actual arrow that had killed her, but there was no trace left anywhere. Except the scar in the earth.
Jason wondered where Nico was. He’d seen him briefly with Hazel after they arrived, but walking back to camp, he could see Hazel and Frank talking to some Roman soldiers. Nico was nowhere to be seen. On a whim he walked up to the Hades cabin and knocked on the door. At first there was no answer, then the door slowly opened. Nico di Angelo looked surprised to see him.
“Can I come in?” Jason asked, and Nico wordlessly stepped aside for him, closing the door behind him. Jason looked around. He had never been inside the Hades cabin before, and probably wouldn’t want to come there again after this. The place looked like a mausoleum. Jason couldn’t even imagine trying to sleep in there.
Nico was watching him, looking uncomfortable, but he didn’t say anything.
“Chiron told us what happened.” Jason started, and Nico looked down on the floor.
“It should have been me.” Nico said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about?” Jason asked, momentarily confused. Then it dawned on him, and he became angry. “Reyna gave her life for you. Don’t you dare apologize for being alive! Don’t you dare!”
Nico flinched at his words, but didn’t say anything, didn’t even look up from the floor. Jason was still angry, but he sighed deeply, trying to calm down.
“Reyna wouldn’t want you to feel guilty.” he said. Nico nodded slowly.
“I know, she told me. But...”
“Wait.” Jason said, confused again. “She told you? When?”
“Last night. I summoned her spirit.” Nico said. “I wanted to ask...It doesn’t matter. She said she was going to choose rebirth.”
Jason stood speechless, staring at the boy in front of him. It dawned on him how different Nico’s perception of death was from his own. How much more tangible the concept was. How much nearer.
At the same time, he was still angry.
“A lot of people would have liked the chance to say goodbye to her.” he said. “You couldn’t have waited another day?”
Nico flinched again. “I’m sorry. I don’t know if you’d been able to see her. Or hear her. People don’t usually ask me to...I’m sorry.”
He sat down on the bed, looking like he was going to cry. Jason finally took a good look at the scrawny boy before him, and realized how scared and defeated he looked. Nico seemed to just be waiting for Jason to blow up at him, to tell him how Reyna shouldn’t have sacrificed herself for someone like him. He didn’t look like he’d say a word to defend himself if Jason did start screaming at him. Maybe some part of Nico wanted him to.
Jason sighed again, and sat down beside Nico, who tensed up as if he was preparing to run away. If it had been Leo, or Piper, or pretty much anyone else, Jason would have put an arm around them and told them it was okay, but Nico had told him in Croatia that he didn’t like people touching him. Jason had to respect that.
“Listen.” he said instead. “Nobody is blaming you for what happened. It wasn’t your fault. If anything, we should be thanking you. You managed to stop the war. You’re a hero.”
“Everybody is afraid of me.” Nico said quietly. “I’m not a hero, I was just so angry. I didn’t even realize Gaea’s troops were there until after I’d created the rift and summoned those skeletons. If that arrow really had come from either camp…”
“But it didn’t.” Jason said. “That’s what matters. We have a real chance of uniting now, thanks to you. ”
“I still don’t belong here, or in New Rome.” Nico said, turning his gaze towards Jason for the first time. “I’ll stay the night, but tomorrow I’ll be on my way.”
Jason didn’t think much of it, to be honest. Nico di Angelo had had a habit of coming and going for as long as Jason had known him. Some part of Jason missed him and their budding friendship when he was gone, but unifying the camps kept him very busy for a long time. After Reyna’s funeral, which was also the funeral for all the other demi god who’d lost their lives in the battle, Jason was flying between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter on an almost weekly basis, acting as a consultant and peace-keeper, developing strategies for cooperation between the camps.
Despite everything that had happened, during the first weeks of unifying Jason almost feared that another civil war may begin. He barely had time for his girlfriend at all. In the beginning they kept sneaking off together as soon as Jason landed in Camp Half-Blood, but after a few months these moments were starting to become rare.
“You worry too much about the camps. ” Piper said on one such occasion. “You should spend more time here, with me. Maybe we should even run away somewhere.”
At first Jason readily agreed, then he hesitated. “Are you charm-speaking me?” he asked, which was obviously a stupid thing to say.
“Do you really think I would charm-speak my boyfriend?” she asked, her eyes blazing with anger. “Though it might be the only way to get you to spend any time with me anymore.”
Jason tried to make it up to her, he really did, but things were never the same between them after that. Sometime later she told him she was moving in with her dad for a while, because she hadn’t seen him in so long. Jason suspected she wanted some space, away from him. They hadn’t officially broken up, but he had a feeling it was over anyway.
When he went back to Camp Jupiter after that, Hazel came to see him. She looked upset, and at first Jason thought it was because she’d heard about the situation with Piper, but she had something else on her mind.
“Have you heard anything from my brother?” she asked, and Jason was surprised.
“Why? Is there something wrong?”
“I can’t get a hold of him.” Hazel said, sounding worried. “I haven’t heard from him in three months.”
“I haven’t seen Nico since we got back after the battle.” Jason said. “He hasn’t contacted you?”
“Not a word. And the Iris-messages don’t connect.” Hazel said, her lip quivering. “That makes sense, if he’s in the Underworld, but it’s not like him not to contact me.”
“But he’s okay, right?” Jason said. “I mean, you’d know if he...”
“He’s alive, but I’m worried about him.” Hazel said. “Please, if you hear from him, tell me.”
“I promise, but he’ll probably be back any day now.” Jason tried to reassure her, but she didn’t seem convinced.
Later that night Jason attempted to contact Nico himself, but the coin wasn’t accepted. It just passed through the rainbow and fell down on the other side. Jason got a nauseating feeling of deja vu, but Hazel had been sure that Nico was still alive. Still, Jason started to worry.
“I’ll help you close the Doors of Death. Then that’s it. I’m leaving-forever”, Nico had told him once. After everything that had happened since then, Jason couldn’t believe Nico would just disappear. He might have left the rest of them, but for Nico to leave Hazel like that... Jason shook his head. Something must have happened.
Or maybe he’s just been as busy as I have been, Jason thought, trying to convince himself. After getting back to Camp Half-Blood, he asked the others about it, but they hadn’t heard from Nico either. Jason had expected as much. He very much doubted Nico would have contacted Percy unless the world was ending. Again.
“I’m sure he’ll turn up soon.” Annabeth said, and Percy nodded.
“I really can’t understand the guy. I mean, Bob told us Nico used to go see him, but he never seems to visit his living friends. It’s so strange.”
Not really, Jason thought, but he didn’t comment. So much of Nico’s behavior made perfect sense when you knew his secret. Jason wished he could tell them so they’d understand, but it wasn’t his secret to reveal.
Two more months passed, with no sign of Nico di Angelo. Hazel was getting frantic.
“He wouldn’t just leave!” she insisted, and there were tears in her eyes. “I’m so scared that one day I’ll wake up and feel him dying, on his own. I can’t...we have to find him!”
Frank put an arm around her as she started to cry.
“We will find him.” Jason promised, silently adding that he would kick Nico’s ass if it turned out the boy had just ran away. “I’ll go look for him.”
Hazel looked a bit uncertain. “Are you sure?” she asked. “He’s probably somewhere in the Underworld.”
“I’ll find him.” Jason insisted, though in retrospect, maybe he should have thought it through.
Hazel, who would have been the greatest help, couldn’t come with him. If she went down to the Underworld again, she might never be allowed to leave. Frank had duties as praetor of New Rome, a responsibility that was exclusively his until Reyna’s successor would be chosen. Leo was working around the clock trying to find a way back to Calypso’s island. Piper was touring America with her father. Which left Percy and Annabeth.
Jason saw both of their faces turn pale as he asked the question.
“Nico might be in trouble, yeah, we should look for him.” Percy muttered, holding Annabeth’s hand so tight his knuckles whitened. She seemed to be doing the same thing.
“What’s wrong?” Jason asked, and they shook their heads.
“The Underworld. It’s so close to...” Percy said. “So close to Tartarus. It’s hard to even think about going down there.”
“But you’re probably right about Nico being there.” Annabeth said. Her voice was steady, but her fingers shook. “We should, we should look for him.”
“No.” Jason said, causing both of them look up at him in surprise. “You two stay here. You can keep an eye out for him above ground.”
“You can’t go into the Underworld alone.” Percy said, but judging from the relieved looks on his and Annabeth’s faces he wasn’t going to argue very hard.
“Hercules and Orpheus did it.” Jason said. “How hard can it be?”
Very hard, it turned out. Even though Percy guided him to the entrance Orpheus used, a shortcut into the Underworld if you will, and used a portable record player to open the doors, it was still hard getting anywhere in the Underworld at all. It was vast and confusing, and uncomfortably underground. Jason was a son of Jupiter. The underground was not his favorite place. He seemed to lose his sense of direction when he didn’t have access to the open sky. If the furies hadn’t caught him he might have never found his way to the Palace of Hades.
The god of the Underworld, Nico’s father, was sitting on a black throne looking bored and quite frightening when Jason was brought before him.
“What is a son of Zeus doing in my kingdom?” he demanded, eyeing Jason suspiciously.
“Jupiter, actually.” Jason said automatically, massaging his shoulders as the furies let go of him. It would still only take them a second to catch him again, if he tried to run. “My name is Jason Grace.”
“Ah, one of the seven!” Hades said, clearly not impressed. “I assume you’re here about that Roman girl who died. A little late, I’m afraid.”
“Her name was Reyna.” Jason said, angry to hear his friend spoken about so casually. “She chose rebirth. I’m not here for her.”
“Oh. Then why are you here?” Hades asked again. “Taking the tour?”
“I’m looking for...” Jason started.
“Grace!” a familiar voice exclaimed behind him. Jason spun around, and Nico di Angelo stood there. He was painfully thin, as pale as a corpse and had dark circles under his eyes. In other words, he looked the same as always. Nico walked over to Jason, who stared at him in disbelief.
“What are you doing here?” Nico asked, and Jason’s paralysis broke. He stepped forward and punched Nico in the face.
Nico fell backwards while the furies caught hold of Jason again, crying in outrage. Jason didn’t care.
“You son of a bitch!” Jason yelled. “Do you have any idea how worried Hazel is about you? How hard is it to send your sister a message?”
Nico sat up on the floor, looking dazed. His nose was bleeding, and Jason would have felt bad if he hadn’t been so angry.
“Let him go.” Nico told the furies and he got on his feet. They looked at Hades for confirmation, before reluctantly letting Jason free. “Why would she be worried? She knows I’m okay.”
“Six months, Nico. Six months. Of course she’s worried.” Jason growled. “How could you just leave like that?”
“I didn’t, I...” Nico started, then hesitated. “Six months? Really?”
“If I may interrupt.” Hades said sarcastically from the throne. Jason jumped. He had forgotten the god was there. “The son of Jupiter still hasn’t explained why he’s here.”
“I was looking for Nico, obviously.” Jason said. Hades raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Nico was wearing a similar expression. The family resemblance was eerie. Jason wondered why they seemed so doubtful. What else would he be doing there?
“You would face the horrors of the Underworld just to find my son?” Hades said, sounding vaguely amused. “That’s...unexpected.”
“Come on.” Nico said, gesturing for Jason to follow him after taking leave of his father, who kept watching them with a bemused smile. Jason wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
Nico led them to a small room that held nothing but a wardrobe, a bed and a desk. It reminded Jason of the Hades cabin at Camp Half-Blood. It was probably Nico’s room, but it felt more like a prison cell. Or a grave.
“So why are you really here?” Nico asked as he closed the door behind them, as if he expected Jason to have some kind of secret. Jason scowled at him.
“I told you. I was looking for you.” Jason said. “And now that I’ve found you, I’m going to drag you up to the surface with me.”
Nico studied him in silence for a moment, as if he was trying to determine whether or not Jason was telling the truth. “Time is difficult to determine down here.” he finally said. “Has it actually been six months?”
“Yes. What have you been doing, if you didn’t realize?”
“It’s been chaos down here since the war. I was helping Thanatos find escaped souls for a while. And there are hundreds of monsters loose in the Underworld, since the Doors of Death closed and they can’t go directly to the mortal world anymore. Not to mention all the people that died in the various accidents Gaea caused. We’re still trying to make room for them all. I’ve been recruiting extra workforce for Daedalus to expand the Fields of Asphodel. Even Elysium is starting to become too small.”
Jason laughed slightly, mostly at the absurdity of it all. “Sounds like you’ve been busier than I have, which is saying a lot. How about a vacation? In New Rome, with Hazel?”
“I can’t just run off. I have responsibilities here.” Nico said, sounding unsure. Jason took a good look at him. He seemed really tired, and almost looked starved. Jason wondered when he last had a decent meal and a good night’s sleep.
“If it helps, you can tell them I kidnapped you.” he said, giving Nico a smile. “I promised Hazel I would bring you back, so don’t think I wouldn’t.”
Nico gave him a pale grin in return, and Jason was surprised to see it didn’t look creepy. “I’ll go talk to my dad. You wait here.”
Jason sat down on the bed to wait as Nico disappeared out the door. The bed was hard as rock, and the room seemed even gloomier after Nico left, which was saying a lot, considering Nico didn’t exactly radiate sunshine. Jason thought it was no wonder the boy looked tired, he wouldn’t have wanted to sleep in here either. It struck him that he was probably the only living human that Nico had ever brought to this room. The thought made him sad. Nico really needed more living, breathing friends. Or to at least recognize the one’s he already got. Jason silently vowed not to let the boy back into the Underworld until he did.
After a while Nico came back, looking more relaxed.
“Dad gave me permission to leave.” he said. “Not that I really need it, but it’ll make coming back easier. Let’s go.”
“Lead the way.” Jason said, following Nico out the door. He was glad to have a guide, but more than that he was glad to have company. Jason had rarely been on a solo mission in his life, and coming to Hades alone had been scarier than he wanted to admit. Nico walked beside him in silence, but it felt comfortable anyway. One of the furies gave Jason a “I’m watching you”-gesture as they walked out of the palace.
“We have to take a little detour.” Nico said, shooting Jason an apologetic look. “I promised Cerberus I’d come see him today.”
“Cerberus. The three headed, giant dog.” Jason said, raising his eyebrows.
“That’s the one.” Nico said, and Jason supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised when Nico walked right up to the terrifying guardian of the Underworld and proceeded to scratch him behind the ears, saying something that sounded like “who’s a good dog.” Cerberus was obviously enjoying the attention. He was wagging his tail and his three heads seemed to be competing for the honor of being scratched. Still, the most remarkable thing about the scene wasn’t the three headed dog, but the fact that Nico di Angelo was smiling.
It wasn’t one of the creepy, slasher smiles he used to give, nor was it one of the guarded ones Jason had been witness to on rare occasions. This was an unrestrained, happy smile directed at someone who didn’t judge him, but rather appreciated him. The smile completely transformed his face, and Jason realized that he was staring. Beautiful was not a word he would ever have thought he’d use in relation to Nico di Angelo, but it was the only way he could describe what he was seeing.
He took a few steps forward, which was when Cerberus noticed him and started growling.
“Easy, boy.” Nico said to the dog. “This is Jason Grace. You’re not allowed to eat him.” Cerberus whimpered a bit as two of his heads returned their attention to Nico. The third one still stared at Jason.
“I mean it. I’ll never pet you again if you do.” Nico said sternly to the dog, who apparently understood him, as the third head bent down to be scratched again. Nico turned towards Jason. “Come say hi.”
Jason’s first instinct was to ask if Nico was kidding, but then he realized there was a challenge in Nico’s eyes. “How much do you trust me?” Nico had asked him once, while handing him a goblet of poison. This was the the same thing. Thinking about Nico’s unrestrained smile, Jason steeled himself and walked over to the boy and his dog.
“Hi.” he said uncertainly, reaching out as if Cerberus had been a much smaller dog. Jason feared he would lose his hand when one of the heads took a quick sniff at it, but after deciding he wasn’t a threat, or a snack, the dog quickly lost interest in him. Jason felt relieved and a little offended at that.
“Sorry, boy. I have to get going.” Nico finally said, giving Cerberus a brief smile when he whimpered. “I promise to stop by when I get back.”
“I take it not many people pet him?” Jason asked as the giant dog watched them walk away, looking sad and abandoned in the way only dogs know how. Nico nodded.
“He scares them off, and he doesn’t trust strangers.” Nico said. “But he’s cute once you get to know him.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.” Jason ventured. Nico scowled at him, but didn’t comment.
Nico stopped briefly a couple of times on the way, exchanging words with dead people and various monsters who served his father, but they soon found their way out of the Underworld. Jason took a deep breath, invigorated by the wind around him.
“Ah, that’s better.” he murmured. “Fresh air.”
“Ah, yes, fresh fumes.” Nico said sarcastically. “Grab my arm. We’re shadow traveling to Camp Jupiter.”
Jason didn’t argue, though shadow travel really wasn’t his favorite form of transport. He felt like someone had rearranged his intestines when his feet hit the grass of New Rome.
“I don’t think I could ever get used to that.” he said. Nico smirked at him and opened his mouth to say something.
“Nico!”
Hazel almost caused Nico to lose balance when she threw herself into his arms. “Thank the gods!” she sobbed. “I’ve been so worried. Where were you? What happened?”
“Er.” Nico said, overwhelmed even as he hugged her back. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. I didn’t realize how long it’s been.”
“Don’t ever do this to me again, you hear me!” Hazel said, punching Nico lightly in the shoulder. “Promise me!”
“I promise.” Nico said, kissing Hazel’s cheek like he used to. Jason was grinning at them both, and Hazel finally noticed him standing there.
“Jason, thank you so much for going to get him.” she said, not letting go of her brother.
“Don’t mention it.” Jason said. “I’m going to get something to eat. Don’t let him out of you sight.”
Hazel laughed. “I won’t.” she promised, probably only half-kidding as she continued to fuss over Nico, who just looked at her fondly. Jason left the siblings to their own devises and headed off to find some food, and then go to sleep. Hopefully Nico would still be there in the morning.