Captivated by the idea of Nico dying in the second war. He just fully fades out, his body turning into shadows before everyone's eyes, and no one knows what to do about it. Hazel is shotgunned back to the US aboard the Argo II and no one knows what to say to her when it's all over.
She sobs.
She screams.
Jason is devastated while Frank holds his girlfriend, trying to hold back his own tears to soothe her as she wails. Annabeth's skin is cold. She and Nico weren't close but she cared for him.
It's Percy's reaction, though, that shocks everyone.
Grover understands. Annabeth understands.
They understand why the ground shakes beneath their feet. They understand why the ocean froths. They understand why his eyes are a storm. They understand why the sky thunders and pours rain. They understand the hurricane he summons.
They understand when he disappears.
Percy hunts down Thanatos, grabs him by the throat, and chains him down to the bottom of the ocean. He storms through the lobby and bats Charon away. The Styx parts at his command, fighting against him more violently than the Lethe did, fighting against him more violently than it did when he sank into it willingly. But he runs across the black sand, the dessicated souls, the shark ridges of bones, and it doesn't touch him once.
Nico startles at his father's side when Percy barges in, fighting off Furies and Cerberus. His ghostly frame shudders, glitching like a freeze-frame of his last moments. Percy doesn't even hesitate when he sees him.
They try to stop him. Hades shouts orders, shouts about rules, about decisions. Nico tries to pull himself out of Percy's grasp. He tries to say he's fine.
Percy doesn't listen. He fights through hoards of ghosts, skeletons, monsters and gods. He runs across grass, across sand, across rivers. Hades never leaves his eyeline. By the time he makes it across the Styx, Riptide is covered in ichor. He can feel Hades grabbing at the back of his shirt. His clothes are torn, his body is slashed and bruised. His muscles burn. His bones protest.
But he won't stop running. It's not until he's passed the door, when the sun is staring down at him, when the sky is blue and clear, when the air is warm and fresh, when Nico is breathing loud and clear in his ears, that he stops.
That he crumbles to his knees and holds him firm and close.
Blackjack huffs loudly nearby but Percy can't hear it. Can't hear Hades shouting at him. Can't hear Nico's complaints. Just the loud soar of relief in his thoughts, his mind finally clear. His hands are pressed to Nico's wrist, his fingers seeking a pulse that beats steady under his touch.
He exhales solidly and drags Nico, alive, alive, alive, alive, onto Blackjack's back. Ignores the stern look his uncle gives him. Ignores Nico's frustrated words. Just loops his arm around his waist and disappears into the clouds. Somewhere at the bottom of the ocean, he can feel Death being unshackled but he doesn't care.
Nico is alive.
That's all that matters.
