Chapter Text
Will chewed on his bottom lip and picked at the skin around his fingernails anxiously. His head was full of thoughts about what Nico might be doing with Percy that kept him away most nights. In the early morning, Will had felt the bed dip under Nico's weight as he climbed in, careful to not wake Will.
His efforts were in vain. Will hadn't been sleeping well recently: Nico had taken to late-night expeditions, and Will had always been a light sleeper.
What if Nico and Percy were having an affair? He dismissed the thought quickly. Nico wouldn't be unfaithful to him, no matter what feelings he had once held. Also, Percy was too devoted to Annabeth to ever do such a thing. More likely they were trying to find where Annabeth was.
The day before, Percy had stormed in, Grover trailing behind him, and Thalia had commented something about a stick up his ass. She'd been holding a goblet of diluted wine, and the liquid exploded out into her silver chlamys and straight onto her face and into her eyes and mouth. She spluttered indignantly, waving her arms. Percy peered back in, waved his hand, and Thalia was dry.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly. His face was blank. Then he walked away.
When Thalia questioned Grover about it, he just sighed and said, "Poseidon's not giving any leads for Annabeth." He looked so glum that Thalia didn't ask about anything else.
No, there was no way Percy and Nico were having an affair.
What could they be doing that took up so much time? Rituals? Blood sacrifices? If the were trying to ask Apollo for help, they could just ask him. They knew that, right?
Yeah, they knew that.
Will sighed, curling up on the bed. Growing up in Crete, he'd lived with all his siblings, and they had often slept in the same bed. If the bed wasn't big enough, they had all covered the floor in blankets and curled up next to each other. Coming to Ithaca had been ... different, to say the very least. Their beds were as big as the ones at home, but they stayed away from sharing one unless they were married.
He had grown used to sharing his with Nico. Without him, it now felt empty and as vast as the abyss of the ocean.
As if on cue, the door creaked open, letting a thin river of light stream through. Will knew without looking that it was his husband.
Nico stepped quietly towards the bed. At first, Will hadn't quite minded the fact that he didn't make a noise, but now it irritated him to no end on these nights. He couldn't explain why.
He drew the blankets tighter around him, knowing it would tell Nico he was awake. By this point, Will had trained his ears to know his exact movements. He heard him stop dead in his tracks. Nico exhaled the tiniest of exhales, knowing he was caught.
He sat on the edge of the bed. "Hard to sleep?" Nico said, shifting.
Will sat up. "Are you finding it hard to sleep?" he asked, glaring at Nico.
Nico had the audacity to smile. "A bit, yes," he agreed. "Good morning to you too."
"It's still dark outside," Will pointed out. Nico just shrugged. "It's still morning."
"Where have you been?" Will asked, cutting to the point. He was in no mood for deflection and changing subjects. Nico faltered. "Um."
"Don't even think about even trying to lie to me," Will warned, scowling. Nico swallowed. "I've been with Percy," he said, not fully answering the question. Will raised an eyebrow.
Nico sighed. "I was with Percy. But then I went to the Underworld," he confessed.
Will's eye twitched. Without me? he wanted to ask, but he didn't. "Searching for Annabeth?" he asked instead.
"Yeah," Nico said. "I ... I found some other things, though, and ..." He looked down. Will watched the movement of his throat as he swallowed again. "I ... might be gone. For the next week or so." He looked back up. "Maybe two weeks. At most."
"Why?"
"Father's sending me on a quest," Nico said. Will's heart stopped. "What?"
"A quest," Nico repeated. "I have to get some souls for him, and in return, he ... gives me some souls in return."
The bottom dropped out of Will's stomach. "Who?" he demanded. He grabbed Nico's hands. "Who do you need to bring back so badly that you'll do this?"
Nico took a deep breath. "A lot," he said. "I have to collect a lot of souls."
"Who?" Will repeated. He was starting to feel like an owl.
Nico closed his eyes. "I don't know the specifics of who I have to get except for two people. But as for the souls I want back ..." He exhaled. "Where to start?" He opened his eyes. "He won't let me bring back more than five souls. I could bring him a thousand souls, but I wouldn't be able to bring back everyone."
Will was starting to get annoyed by his lack of response. "Nico, I'm going to hit you if you don't tell me who you're trying to bring back."
Nico grimaced. "Five people from the fleets that were sent out to Troy," he replied. "According to Piper, they're all dead because of Annabeth."
Going to the Underworld to look for Annabeth had been ... strange, to say the very least. Percy had insisted on going with him, but Nico had managed to make him go to bed. Then he had shadow-traveled to his father's kingdom to search for Annabeth.
He hadn't bothered to look through the Fields of Punishment or through the Fields of Asphodel. He'd gone straight to Elysium.
He hadn't seen her there, either, and if he hadn't seen other familiar faces, he would have gone right back home and told Percy there was still hope.
But he had seen those other familiar faces. He'd seen both Hazel and Bianca and seen Thalia's brother and seen Piper and Leonidas and even Frank, the son of Ares. Before he left, he had gone through both the Fields of Punishment and Fields of Asphodel. He'd seen a thousand men and women, faces obscured by helmets, wandering around. He saw one man, and recognized the fiery red hair immediately. Annabeth had written to him and Percy about the boy: Achilles's son, Neoptolemus. He's got a worse temper than his father, she had written in one letter. Nico had recognized the annoyed tone in her voice through the words: he had imagined her rolling her eyes while penning the message. The thought had sent a pang of sadness through him.
In another letter, she wrote of how he had killed men with more ruthlessness than Achilles. I had to step in and bring him out to make sure he didn't come for any of our men in his anger. It's a miracle he hasn't attacked me yet.
In yet another, she wrote Neoptolemus has tried to rape one of our women. Piper and I tried to get him sent back to his mother, but the other men disagreed. They said it would be a liability to us. I fear what this may escalate to.
In the last letter, the one telling them the war was over, she had written, Neoptolemus has been killed. I am coming home soon; I am bringing one of Agamemnon's men with me. Tell everyone I send my love. Yrs, Annabeth.
So this is where he had gone. Nico watched as he wandered around, teeth gritted. He looked angry.
When he arrived at the Fields of Punishment, he saw no one. The fields were devoid of Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill or even Tantalus reaching up for the fruits above him with one hand and cupping water in the other, bringing them both up to his mouth --- and failing.
The place was empty. He stood in the dead grasses for a moment before turning and sprinting to his father's palace. By the time he got there, he was panting and out of breath, but he managed to push the doors open with what little strength he had left.