[ open ] a thousand silhouettes dancing on my chest

[deathkid]

who: nico + you
what: memory share
when: oct 9th-23rd
where: various
warnings: violence, death, allusions to animal abuse, feels of the tl;dr nature.


𝙤𝙣𝙚...

[ it's dark. a cold, snowy night with the lights of an old building visible in the distance. but the scene isn't focused there. it's focused on four figures standing at the edge of a cliff. two boys and a girl in a floppy green hat. a quick look at the two toward the back shows that one of these figures looks like a younger version of nico, and indeed it is. the girl standing next to him, just a little taller, is a girl who shares a lot of his features. a sibling. but for some reason, neither nico nor the girl seem to be the main characters here in this vision. the focus is situated on another boy with equally dark, jet-black hair. this boy wields a sword, one that gleams in the dark, and stands tall against a freakish creature that snarls at the group. as nico and his sister stand at the cliff's edge, the boy with the sword swings it. there's seems to be a suffusion of light encasing him, as if there's something godly about him. a hero that has nico staring with open admiration. his savior. this boy, who'll later introduce himself as percy jackson, is everything that nico has dreamed of.

but the scene soon shifts. the monster is gone and now both nico and percy are standing under a pavilion, and something is clearly wrong. the boy percy looks apologetic, contrite, while nico looks torn between fury and heartbreak. ]

You promised you would protect her. [ nico is trembling a little, head bowed so that his dark hair covers his features. percy, meanwhile, looks even more guilty. ]

Nico, I tried. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us. I told her not to. But she—

You promised!

[ nico shakes harder still because this is his worst nightmare. when he looks up at percy, his eyes are rimmed with red and he looks on the verge of tears. his hero... the one he had so much faith in... the boy who he was drawn to, who made butterflies flutter in his stomach. percy jackson had failed him. ]

I shouldn't have trusted you. You lied to me. My nightmares were right!

Wait. What nightmares?

[ but nico is too angry, too heartbroken to respond. the figurine that has been in his hands all this time is flung to the ground. a figurine of hades which clatters across the marble floor. ]

I hate you!

She might be alive. I don't know for sure—

She's dead. I should've known it earlier. She's in the Fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges right now, being evaluated. I can feel it.

[ to an outsider, it may seem like nico is trembling with rage, but this isn't quite true. he's trembling also due to his suppressing the urge to cry with sheer and utter disappointment. the boy he's fallen in love with has failed him. ]

𝙩𝙬𝙤...

[ the memory opens with a trio of demigods, one of which is nico di angelo. he's older, more world weary, and it's visible in his eyes as he glares at the boy across the field from him. the other boy, sallow and sneering, is bryce lawrence. a known traitor to the roman legion and someone currently an enemy. especially to the girl next to nico. despite the standoff, she is regal and poised. and clearly on nico's side as they are both facing the sneering bryce with stern and angry features.

this boy is a creep through and through. from his pond scum colored eyes ( so different from the vibrant emerald green of percy jackson ) to his sallow features, it's clear he's the kind of person who enjoys hurting others just for fun. he calls himself the son of the god orcus, god of traitors and oath breakers. but it's when he starts threatening the girl, reyna ramírez-arellano and all the secrets she's shared with nico in confidence, nico's rage explodes.

at first, all he does is scream. loud, rough, until his throat begins feeling raw, and even then, he keeps screaming. the air around him drops to freezing as the grass as his feet frosts over and dies. the earth itself bleeds black with shadows and nico unleashes wave after wave of darkness. shadows that are filled with all the secrets nico's ever kept. his love for percy and anguish that he'd never have him. the terror and fear he'd experienced in the deepest pits of the underworld. even his loss over losing his sister. but he doesn't stop there.

he strides forward toward the cruel boy. the boy who'd admitted to killing his superior. who got off to hurting animals. who found glee in others' pain. nico gives him pain and then some. blood begins to stream from bryce's nose and he stumbles backward while nico continues to advance. soon, the earth is opening up beneath the boy before nico and all the while, the son of hades speaks. ]

You took an oath to the legion.

[ nico’s breath steams in the cold around him, his colorless eyes are alight with a fiery madness. ]

You broke its rules. You inflicted pain. You killed your own centurion.

[ bryce stutters, tries to deny it, but nico continues on. ]

You should’ve died for your crimes. That was the punishment. Instead you got exile. You should have stayed away. Your father Orcus may not approve of broken oaths. But my father Hades really doesn’t approve of those who escape punishment.

[ please! bryce begs as he's drawn into the chasm in the ground, trying to claw his way out. but nico doesn't let him. the earth continues to pull at the fallen boy. and nico... he doesn't understand the plea. ]

The Underworld has no mercy. Only justice. You’re already dead. You’re a ghost with no tongue, no memory. You won’t be sharing any secrets.

[ bryce's body begins to turn into a dark smoke, his body buried up to the chest now. he tries to assert who he is with a cry of his name, but nico shakes his head. ]

Who are you?

[ the only reply is a chattering whisper. the son of orcus' face is no indistinct and indistinguishable. a nameless spirit. nico tilts his chin up and gives an imperious wave of his hand. ]

Be gone.

[ and the spirit dissipates, the earth closes. ]

𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚...

[ the church nico stands in is an odd and creepy one. with walls covered in the skulls of deceased monks, nico actually feels at home. finds it a welcome change to the stress of the quest he's been on. it's among death that he so often finds peace, possibly because he knows what'll happen to him when his time comes. or maybe it's something else. whatever the case, nico is taking a moment to reflect when a voice interrupts his thoughts. ]

A beautiful room, isn't it?

[ nico turns to the figure speaking to him only to see his father, hades. god of the underworld himself. dressed in the manner of a franciscan monk, hades has the cowl pushed back to reveal his normally long, black hair shaved close to the scalp. his eyes, so much like nico's, glitter like oil slicks. ]

Getting some redecorating ideas? Maybe you could do your dining room in medieval monk skulls.

[ hades arches a dark brow. ]

I can never tell when you're joking.

[ sighing, nico glances around before looking back up at his father. ]

Why are you here, Father? How are you here?

[ since the war with gaea has begun, nico would've expected his father's personality to be split between his greek and roman incarnations, like all the other gods. hades, however, merely traces his fingers across a nearby column. ]

You’re a hard mortal to find, my son. For several days I’ve been searching. When the scepter of Diocletian exploded ...well, that got my attention.

Breaking the scepter wasn’t my fault. We were about to be overrun—

Oh, the sceptre isn’t important. A relic that old, I’m surprised you got two uses out of it. The explosion simply gave me some clarity. It allowed me to pinpoint your location. I was hoping to speak to you in Pompeii, but it is so... well, Roman. This chapel was the first place where my presence was strong enough that I could appear to you as myself – by which I mean Hades, god of the dead, not split with that other manifestation.

I am very drawn to this place. The remains of five thousand monks were used to build the Chapel of Bones. It serves as a reminder that life is short and death is eternal. I feel focused here. Even so, I only have a few moments.

[ story of our relationship. you only ever have a few minutes, nico thinks to himself. ]

So tell me, Father. What do you want?

[ hades clasps his hands together in the sleeves of his robe. ]

Can you entertain the notion that I might be here to help you, not simply because I want something?

[ nico almost laughs. ]

I can entertain the notion that you might be here for multiple reasons.

[ hades merely continues on, detailing nico on the giant stalking him and his friends as they continue on their quest. a warning for what's to come, which is a rare boon that the gods hardly ever give their children. nico's mind whirls as he tries to come up with a plan, but if his father is right, he won't have time to do anything but continue the quest as fast as possible.

but then hades informs him of something that makes nico tense. one of his friends will die. nico asks who, but hades shakes his head. ]

Even if I were certain, I could not say. I tell you this because you are my son. You know that some deaths cannot be prevented. Some deaths should not be prevented. When the time comes, you may need to act.

[ nico isn't sure how to take that. his stomach rolls and he swallows hard. and then, to his everlasting surprises, hades continues in an almost gentle tone of voice. ]

My son. Whatever happens, you have earned my respect. You brought honor to our house when we stood together against Kronos in Manhattan. You risked my wrath to help the Jackson boy – guiding him to the River Styx, freeing him from my prison, pleading with me to raise the armies of Erebos to assist him. Never before have I been so harassed by one of my sons. Percy this and Percy that. I nearly blasted you to cinders.

[ sucking in a shallow breath, nico feels the chapel tremble under his feet. ]

I didn’t do all that just for him. I did it because the whole world was in danger.

[ the faintest of smiles forms on hades' lips and there is nothing cruel in the god's eyes. ]

I can entertain the possibility that you acted for multiple reasons. My point is this: you and I rose to the aid of Olympus because you convinced me to let go of my anger. I would encourage you to do likewise. My children are so rarely happy. I... I would like to see you be an exception.

[ nico is left staring, surprise in his features because tender words from the lord of the dead? it seems so strange. he listens with a mildly dazed expression as hades goes on to warn him that the task he is undertaking may very well kill him. brutal honesty, but there's something comforting in that. ]

I will see you again. I will prepare a room for you at the palace in case you do not survive. Perhaps your chambers would look good decorated with the skulls of monks.

Now I can’t tell if you’re joking.

[ Hades’ eyes glitter as he begins to fade. ]

Then perhaps we are alike in some important ways.

[ and with that, the god vanishes. ]