Memories of Love

                                    

                                          
 "So miserable, tell me Nico di Angelo, why do you run from me? I understand you better than anyone, I would make you perfect."  Akhlys' voice tormented him.
 'Fuck off.' Nico shot back mentally, his mental shields against the Goddess must have been weakened by the fuzziness in his head caused by her poison. Nico put as much energy as he dared into reinforcing those mental walls.
Akhlys' laugh rang in his ears as her presence in his mind faded once more. 
Unfortunately, that left him alone with his own thoughts, fighting desperately to stay conscious despite the pain slicing him up, and using his powers to hold his own blood inside his incorporeal body. His life had been pretty shit for the better part of five years but this was a new low even for him. 
But there was no chance Nico would let Akhlys get the better of him. Not a chance. 
So Nico drew upon his happy memories - the ones he'd locked away for the past five years, and the new ones he'd acquired. 
 Percy and him in the dreamscape, staring out at the calm ocean waves. Percy thanking him for giving him peaceful sleep.  
 Percy's excitement when the presents appeared under the coffee table, that little-kid enthusiasm which was nothing but contagious.  
 The view of Camp Half Blood from the roof of the Hades cabin, looking out at the glittering constellations.  
 The seven and Nico sat at the Poseidon table, blatantly ignoring camp rules, as they ate together. Piper scolding Leo for setting himself on fire for the third time that meal and Percy drenching Leo with blue lemonade to put him out. 
 The Capture the Flag game they'd won. The Big Three sons against the rest of camp, though they'd gotten lucky that Annabeth was away in New Rome at the time - they didn't have to outthink the daughter of the Wisdom Goddess.  
 His lunches with Reyna, Gods he missed her. And then, their Iris Messages when she became a Hunter of Artemis. When he finally forgave her for leaving him for the hunters, their relationship was still tenser than before, a lot left unspoken but Reyna had been able to let go of her guilt for having broken Roman laws, and she was happier than ever.  
 Hazel teaching him more control over his geokinesis, the two of them cackling as he blocked the son of Poseidon inside his own cabin with a wall of obsidian stone.  
Nico's form was solidifying now, he could feel the tingling of sensation returning to his extremities. He let the memories flow. 
 Percy. Annabeth. Hazel. Frank. Reyna. Piper. Leo. Jason -  
 "Nico, I've seen a lot of brave things. But what you just did? That was maybe the bravest." Jason had told him after their confrontation with Cupid. Nico didn't let himself think of the pain of Jason's death; the buzzing that had filled his ears as he felt his best friend's soul depart. Instead he remembered Jason's plots to get Nico and Will together, elaborate plans that never truly worked since both of them were oblivious. 
He thought of Jason, Percy and him in the arena, three-way sparring. Percy would whine about Nico's shadow travelling, saying how unfair it was that he could call up an army  and  teleport. But then Jason would zap him with a bolt of lightning and the fighting would begin anew. 
Nico intentionally didn't think of Will. He could feel those memories trying to escape from that locked box in his mind, where he'd hidden them away during his years of absence; knowing if he let them out he'd go back to Will, to the Camps in a heartbeat. But back then, and now, he knew the memories would only bring with them heartache and longing. And he didn't need them now, not when he remembered his friends.