Archive of Our Own

He should of known, the past summer had been far too quiet, with no death-defying quests sent out, and not a word from any of the gods, it was only a matter of time before the Fates got bored.

Him and Hazel had been enjoying a quiet day in the woods. A group of Roman Demigods had road tripped over for the weekend, and camp had been in chaos as friends from both sides reunited with each other while the Hermes and Mercury kids were planting the seeds of a prank war.

It had been good. After the war two summers ago, friendships formed between both counterparts of the gods kid, with Aphrodite and Venus kids gossiping with each other about the cutest kids at their schools and the best knives to use in hand to hand combat, Ares and Mars kids fighting furiously in games of monopoly and dueling to death, and worst of all, the large prank battles between both sides of the Mischief god’s children.

Nico had barely been able to see his sister since the group of Romans has arrived, her busy breaking up debates between Bellona and Athena kids and returning stolen goods from the camp store. He spent most of the week (cough cough past few months cough) hanging out in the infirmary with Solace or teaching sword fighting to some Hecate kids, and that day was no different until Hazel burst into the sick bay and dragged him out to the forest, leaving a cackling Will behind.

“So, tell me everything, how’s camp, how’s life?”, she asks, still dragging him into the wooded area. “I’ve missed you”

Chuckling, Nico lets himself be pulled across camp by his short, yet really strong, little sister. “I’m good, life’s good, camp’s good”. And it was true. Two years ago, he couldn’t have ever dreamt of the day’s he’s been living, hanging out with Jason during meals and annoying Solace constantly, it was good. He was good.

“How about you and Praetor Zhang, and the rest of camp Jupiter?”, he asks smugly.

“Camp’s good”, she laughs, tackling him to the ground. “And Frank and I are great. We’ve both been really busy with our duties but we still make time”

“I’m sure you do”

She slaps him playfully, mocking an angry expression. “Oh you’re one to talk, older brother!”

“What is that supposed to mean”

Chuckling to herself, Hazel sends her brother a knowing look. “Oh you know…”

“Um...no, I uh don’t”, Nico sputters, blushing furiously.

“Oh my god”, she giggles slapping him in the shoulder. “You are so smitten”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about”

“Sure”, she winks. “Sure”.

Her eyes are glittering with smugness, smirk splitting across her face. Nico wished he could take a photo of this moment and live in it forever. With his sister, in his home, safe and happy and finally allowed to just live.

Than her face falls.

“Nico?”, she whispers, looking over him in fear.

The son of Hades looked down.

His first thought was that he certainly wasn't dying. Nico had been close to death before, far too many times for his liking, and this wasn’t it. There was no pain. His body begins to dust before his eyes and he grabs onto Hazel for support. She grasps onto his shoulder, her eyes widened in fear.

“Nico!”

His hands starts to break apart as he caresses her cheek softly, trying to comfort his sister.

“It’s okay”, he gasps, trying to stay calm. “I’m okay, we’re okay”

“No, no, no”, she pleads, a single tear sliding down her rosy cheeks. “No please, don’t- don’t go”

“I’ll be back”, Nico promises, shifting his remaining weight onto her. “Tell Will-”

The ghost king woke up with a jolt. He jumped to his feet, patting down his body quickly. His hand had returned to normal. Infact, he was perfectly intact, no dust, no cornflaking away, no nothing.

Nico chose to survey his surroundings.

It was red, to say the least. The floor seemed cloaked in a red mist, flat and dusty as if he was in the nevada desert. There were no landmarks in sight, no life, no movement except for the heavily clouded air.

His sword was still sheathed at his side, and he felt the heavy weight of Ambrosia bars stuffed into his jacket pocket. At least he had that incase he stumbled across some..unsavory individuals.

The area didn’t seem specifically Greek at all. The son of Hades couldn’t even feel the gods presence at all, and even death seemed.. confused. He could feel nothing.

Nico bawled up his fists, willing for the shadows to his command. He scrunches his eyes in concentration. Maybe this was a dream. Another nightmare brought upon by his time in the Pit, perhaps a mind control creature had caused him to have visions. Maybe he could wake up by Hazel’s side, her still laughing at his idiocy.

He peaks on eye open. Nothing, he sighs.

The half-blood wandered the landscape for awhile, taking in the view. There seemed to be no temperature, no weather, nothing but the misty air and desert-colored arena.

He wondered quietly if something had gone wrong with The Mist. Perhaps Hecate had done something horribly wrong, maybe another crossroads debacle. His bets were on it being Zeus’s fault, though, as most of the world’s problems were his to be blamed for.

The half-blood absentmindedly thought of flipping off the sky, simply because he could now without being electrocuted on the spot. Thinking it over in his head, Nico paces the plain landscape, gripping the hilt of his sword.

This place made him uneasy, and not just for the fact that he had no idea where he was and had no ideas of how to get home. The whole place was reeking with living death and yet there was no sign of other life.

At least, he thought.

He’d been walking for what felt like hours. Yet, he had no thirst, no hunger, he didn’t even feel tired. Nico was getting more and more frustrated with the environment, continues to kick the rockless dirt beneath his feet.

Suddenly, a wave of emotion shot through him, and, with nothing to grip onto for support, the half-blood collapsed onto the floor, head spinning.

In his head, a siren went off. Being a son of Hades, he felt death. He was used to it, being a common visitor of graveyards and was welcomed often to his second home in the Underworld with his dad’s wife.

But this feeling, it wasn’t death persay. More disrupted, as if it couldn’t decide between the openness of death or the whirlwind of living. It was chaotic and if Nico was right in his head, he’d rush the other way.

But he wanted answers. He needed to get out of there, back to Hazel and to camp and..and to Solace. So, with not a drop of common sense rushing through him, the son of Hades sprints forward, letting his senses guide him.

Obviously not thinking straight (not that he could do anything straight), Nico calls out “Hello?!”

“Is someone there?”, a voice echoes. “M-Mr. Stark?”, the voice asks hopefully.

From the distance, Nico could make out a figure, them too running. He absentmindedly wondered if he was making a mistake, if maybe a harpy or empousa was on the move to rip him to shreds.

But really, he had no other options at this point.

The two teens rushed to each other, one scared and the other frustrated, but both lost and in need of being found. In the end, they find each other.

As the figure grew closer and closer, Nico started to notice details. Like the fact they were dressed in an iron-armored suit, with an engraved spider splayed across the chest. The figure in said suit was well, maybe a year older than him, but a teenager nonetheless.

His hair was messy beyond reason, skewed in every direction like he’d just woken up, and his eyes looked dead. His eyes were red-rimmed, like he’d been crying for days on end, and an amazed expression slid onto his face.

The teenager looked over Nico wearily, taking in his bright orange t-shirt and aviator jacket. And then he noticed the sword. The boy’s eyes widened in fear and he thrusted his arms forward, preparing if the half-blood made any sudden movements.

“No-No, I’m not gonna hurt you”, Nico gasps, holding his hands into the air. The boy was obviously mortal, though clearly clear-sighted, and he definitely didn’t want t be enemies with the only living thing in this desert hell. “I’m Nico, Nico di Angelo. Human, Earth”

It was a small lie, but there was no way a regular mortal would trust a half-god, especially at a time like this.

“I’m P-Peter, um I’m from Earth too, and yeah, human”, the other teen whispers, slowly returning his hands to his side.

“Okay.. okay well that’s good”

After a beat, Peter asks “so what’s with the sword than?”

“Oh um, it’s a.. it’s a long story”

Peter, not looking the least bit convinced, nods slowly, though still taking a few steps back apprehensively.

“Do you know...do you know where we are, what happened...anything?’, Nico asks cautiously, suddenly feeling so tired. He’d been walking for hours, days maybe, and he was so desperate for any news, any ideas… anything really.

Peter sunk to his feet slowly, bawling his fists. “Thanos, he must of...he did it. He must of...this has to be him”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa wait”, Nico interrupts, eyes wide. “Did you say Thanatos, like god of death Thanatos, like always loses his IPad and never helps out Thanatos? That Thanatos?!”

“No, what, no he’s not..he’s not a… at least I don’t think he’s a god”, Peter mumbles, sending Nico a curious look.

“Thanatos, got big black wings, glowing gold eyes, tall, annoying, never gets off his ass”, Nico questions. If this really was Thanatos, than they were all screwed. The half-blood worryingly paces. “Cause if it’s him, then we’re screwed. We’re sooo screwed. Gods, we only just released him 2 years ago, what could happen now. Oh gods is Gaea back-”

“Wait, wait, slow down”, Peter grasps the ghost king’s arm. “Thanos is not- he’s not...wait did you just say GOD?”

“I uh yeah god”, Nico stutters, knowing he had really fucked but was too relieved that Thanatos wasn’t behind this to care. “Um, the gods are real? Surprise” The half-blood gives the spider-kid a sheepish grin.

“Wait-WHAT?! Dude that is so cool”, Peter looked astonished and a ghost of a smile slid onto his face. “So like Athena, Artemis, Hades, all of them? They’re all real”

“Pretty much yeah”, Nico couldn’t help smirking slightly.

“Like the Mythomagic cards?”, Peter asks, eyes wide. Nico’s eyes widen.

“Wait, you like Mythomagic”

“Dude, of course!”, the spider-kid grins. “That game is my jam, I collected like all the expansion packs and deluxe figurines, me and Ned used to play it all the time-”

His face falls at the thought of his friend. The moment of relief was gone and the two lost teens were just that, lost, both weary of each other yet unable to be alone at the moment of crisis.

“Well, at least we’re not dealing on the god level”, Nico mumbles. “Though if this ‘Thanos’ could do whatever ‘this’ is, then he’s pretty damn close to one”

“He… he really”, the spider-kid starts. “He’s really powerful. He has the stones, all- all six of them. He’s unstoppable”

“Wait, what kind of stones?”, Nico rushes to ask. It couldn’t possibly be..

“I, uh, Mr.Stark- well he said they were infinity stones, that they-”

“Oh Styx!”, Nico groans, yanking at his hair. “Oh god we are SO screwed”

Peter jumps to his feet. “Have you uh heard of them?”

Nico rubs is temples. “I hear...whispers. The fields of punishment are filled with screams, it can get quite annoying honestly, it’s impossible to get a goodnight’s sleep...but that’s beside the point”

“Anyways, I’ve heard rumors about stones of infinity, crafted from the oldest gods, the Protogenoi, stones encapsulating the deities power. They were only myths”, Nico frowns at his feet. “Though really, I shouldn’t be surprised. Myths always seem to come true whether we believe it or not”

“So these infinity stones… they must be beatable, right?”, Peter fearfully asks. “You all have some powerful weapon that can destroy them...right?” He seemed to almost be pleading to the universe.

The son of Hades returns to pacing, tapping at his sword hilt anxiously. “The gods are immortal, that is their whole thing really, but it is possible to… take away their power in a way. I mean, many of the Protogenoi have already been silenced, or at least stripped from their magic”

“I mean we settled Gaea two summers ago-”

“-Wait, WHAT?-”

“-so it’s definitely not unheard of with our magic power, but when their strength is in a stone? The only thing that could really destroy them...is the stones themselves”, Nico mumbles incoherently, mind racing. “But that doesn’t explain this-this world, why we’re here, why us, why anything!”

The half-blood collapses down next to the spider-man, curling into a safe ball by wrapping his arms around his knees. He just wanted a break for Hades sakes. Enjoy the sunset without some deity coming to ruin the moment.

The two teens sit in silence, the son of Hades completely lost in thought while the spiderman grappled with understanding this new found information.

His head was swirling with the events of the past few days, going to space, fighting aliens, freaking dying...it was a lot to take in. And the thought of the Greek Gods being alive had crossed his mind, how could it not after Thor came to earth.

But the Greek Gods always seemed so far away, so inhuman yet so unbelievably relatable that they couldn’t be real. The myths he’d researched in latin class, the thought of them being real was absurd, the world would have ended centuries ago if that was the case.

Peter looked over his newly met companion with interest. His eyes were immediately drawn to the glowing, silver sword at the other teen’s side. But from there, he notices a golden locket hung from the person’s neck and a metallic, glowing skull ring slipped onto their bony fingers.

The boy was hunched over tiredly, as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and his only movement was the intake of short breaths, filling his chest with bursts of air.

Peter watched Nico, who seemed so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the comforting hand placed on his shoulder.

“It’s-it’s gonna be okay. We’ll stop him, we have to”

Nico flinches at the contact, shuffling away from the boy. Even though it’s been more than a year, he still didn’t...he wasn’t comfortable with the whole “touching thing”. Really, he only let Hazel do the whole hug and comfort thing. Force of habit.

“Yeah… yeah everything’s gonna be fine. We just… gods I need to get home”. His face fell in realisation. “Oh my gods...gods Hazel she probably thinks I’m...oh gods”

“So did you… did you dust too?”, Peter asks quietly. “Sort of, breaking away, like-”

“Cornflaking away”, Nico supplies helpfully, still not meeting the other teen’s eyes. “And yeah, I did. But it was weird. It didn’t feel like death. And trust me”, he says, stopping Peter before he asks, “I know what death feels like. This was more like a dream, it didn’t feel real”

“Well”, Peter laughs sadly, “It..it felt pretty real to me. But I guess I’m not used to ‘feeling death’”

“Uh, you sure about that”, Nico grimances. “Cause you have this, so to speak, aura of death around you”

“I have a what?”

“It’s kind of hard to explain but you’ve obviously been close to death, and recently”, the ghost king explains, gesticulating fiercely. “But that’s beside the point. You said it felt like death. How?”

Peter shifts uncomfortably. “Well….it felt...horrible. Like every cell in my body was burning at once. Like you know in that really old movie-”

“Probably not”

“What?”

“I probably won’t know that ‘really old movie’ that you’re referencing”, Nico explains. But he was thinking the boy’s words over in his head.

“Oh”

“So for you, it hurt”, Nico starts, as Peter slowly nods. “While for me, it was like nothing...huh, maybe my pain tolerance has gotten better”, he grumbles bitterly.

“Well...it might be because I um...I have these heightened senses, y’know, so whenever I get hurt, I like really feel it so uh that might be why?”, Peter mumbles. Tears prickle at his eyes at a buried deep memory. He rushes to wipe them away.

Nico rests a callused yet soft hand onto the Spider-kid’s shoulder. Peter looks up to meet the half-blood’s understanding smile. He gets it. It stikes Peter like a wrecking ball. This random kid, the only other living thing in a 10 mile radius, the one who looks as if he rolled out of bed late for school and yet looks like he’s lived for centuries… and he gets it.

“So um, whose Hazel? Were you with her when you, y’know..cornflaked?” Peter all too ready to move on from this conversation.

Nico, knowing he’ll bring back the conversation when Peter is ready, allows for the change of topic. He understands not wanting to open up, especially to basically a stranger.

“She’s my little sister and yeah...she was there. We were at camp, I hadn’t seen her since the Solstice so we were trying to catch up. And then I just...started dusting away. I...well I used to get hurt a lot and she probably thought I did something really stupid to get myself crumbling”.

Peter chuckles softly. “It sounds like this is like an everyday occurance for you, literally crumbling apart”

“Well”, Nico thinks it over, “Weirder things have happened to me, if I’m being honest”

“I...I don’t even want to ask…”

“You really don’t want to”, Nico says seriously. “Let’s just say, they’re all long stories”

“Noted”

The two sit for awhile in silence.

“Sooooo...where were you when you got dusted?”, Nico asks curiously, interested what the whole spider getup was for.

“Oh well uh… in space?”

Nico gave him an unamused look. “Look, if you don’t wanna tell me that’s fine, I just thought-”

“No! I mean, I’m serious, I was in space. Long story”

“We got time”, Nico points out gesturing to the nothingness around them. Peter glanced at the ground tiredly.

With a sigh, Peter begins. “Well, I was on a field to Moma…”

From there, he described the earlier events of the day (days before?) from being beamed up to an unknown spaceship to failing defeating the purple grape that was Thanos. Time was relative and Peter’s ramblings could have lasted ten minutes of 2 hours, neither felt tired, nor sleepy, nor even light headed for lack of food or water.

The two continued talking from there. At first, Nico did most of the listening. He wondered how Peter could have a “secret identity” that was still a secret when he talked so much. But the son of Hades in enjoyed the teen’s rambling, it helped them both ignore the dire situation they were in.

Normally, Nico would be searching for a way out, leafing through ridiculous ideas that pop into his head, trying to do something to get out of there. But honestly, he was so done with this hero stuff and the way Peter described these so called “Avengers”, he could say Earth was in decent hands while he was away, and they too must be looking for a way to find this desert prison.

So Nico enjoyed his time discussing Mythomagic cards and listening to Peter gush over Tony Stark for the time being. In return, Nico retold hilarious horror stories of camp, only mentioning the events of the past 2 years and nothing before. It was obvious Peter knew he was deliberately leaving things out but being the kind person he was, the Spider-ling didn’t call him out on it.

“-and then the entire cabin roof was covered in flames. Everyone blamed it on Leo but I knew, I knew, it was Piper”

Peter rolls onto the floor in hysterics. “My god, your camp sounds insane! How do you guys get away with this stuff?”

“Eh, well our camp Director is usually too busy playing pinochle and drinking diet coke to care about who set which cabin on fire this week”, Nico explains, leaning back onto his hands. “So things can really go wrong, especially when our uh sister camp comes to visit”.

“So do you guys have like archery and arts & crafts and all that camp stuff that’s in movies?”, Peter asks, interested.

“More of the archery and less of the crafts”, Nico laughs. “My friend’s cabin mates basically live at the archery range so they pretty much own that joint. It gets kinda annoying actually, especially when Lou Ellen charmed their arrows to explode anything around them in a ten foot radius”.

“Uh, Charmed?”, Peter questions, raising an eyebrow. “Like, with wizardry magic?”

“What, no- I meant that-”

“Look”, Peter says seriously. “You can tell me. I literally just fought against a purple grape with a time wizard and a group of criminal aliens in frickin outer space. Honestly, I’ll believe anything you say at this point”

Mulling it over in his head, Nico fiddles nervously with his sword hilt. Obviously, the teen already knew something was up, what with whole sword and everything. And Peter had pretty much spilled his life story to him, though unprompted.

Deep down, though it pained Nico to say it, he maybe sorta kinda trusted the other boy. Not in a let’s be best friends kinda way, more like “we’re both stuck in a maybe life threatening situation and we can bond over Mythomagic together” kind of way.

“...y’know how I said the gods were real… well sometimes those gods come down to Earth and get it on with mortals. And sometimes, that leads to...well me. Or others like me”

“Whoa, whoa wait...so you’re like...like a demigod, like Perseus, like um… that guy with the ship?” Peter’s mouth is agap, split into a wide grin. “Dude, that is so awesome!”

“Well usually it’s actually pretty sucky…”, Nico grumbles before meeting Peter’s sparkling eyes. He couldn’t help but smile. “But yeah, it is kinda awesome…”

“Oh my god, I have so many questions!”, Peter squeals. “Have you met Athena? How many demigods are there? Who are you the god or goddess of? Do you guys have a magic school like Harry Potter?!”

“Um yes, too many to count, my dad is Hades, and I have no idea what you’re talking about”, Nico answers, smirking softly.

“Hades?! He’s got like 4000 attack power! Wait, do you have like powers and stuff? Oh my god, can your hair turn into blue fire?!”

Nico groans, falling onto his back. “If you’re referencing that horrid Hercules movie that Percy showed me, than get out because that thing is highly inaccurate in every way...but yes I do have powers…”

“Like…”, Peter prompts eagerly.

“Well I can control the dead, um bend shadows, shadow travel, and...can kinda banish souls”, he says, whispering the last part under his breath. “But I still have some trouble not overexerting myself and uh...fading”

“...fading?”

“It’s uh, another long story. But a couple a years ago I tried shadow traveling with this really tall, magic statue and I almost faded completely. I had a bunch of trouble having the strength to use my uh...my powers”

Nico wanted to take back his words instantly. He could instantly sense the teen’s pitiful gaze. “Look, it’s not that big of a deal, let’s just...let’s just start moving. Maybe we’ll find some other beings or something”. The son of Hades stumbled to his feet, dusting off imaginary dirt and not meeting Peter’s eyes.

“Yeah-yeah sure”

The two teens begin walking, silence filling the air between them.

The silence left Nico alone with his thoughts, something he’s avoided constantly for...well years. Nothing ever went right in his head, it’s where his memories were buried deep in graves and terrors roamed the dark crevices. Being around others helped him, though he’d hate to admit it.

Listening to Jason’s rambling or Reyna’s debates, even just being in the presence of Solace… it helped it. He’s never enjoyed being alone, he always thought he just had to be.

“Hey...so you can raise the dead, right? I was thinking…”, Peter whispers under his breath, coming to a stop. “You could remake the Thriller music video but like...with real zombies.”

The son of Hades raises an eyebrow, looking over the spider-ling’s sheepish grin. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about...but sounds like a plan”

“Oh man”, Peter hops gleefully. “If we ever get outta here, I’m totally holding you to that”

--

The two continued to walk, no longer in silence but in constant chatter. The teens debated the pros and cons of each Mythomagic expansion pack (Nico strongly claimed that the Hindu expansion was far more superior than any other) and Peter explaining his nerd movies to the confused and very not-up-to-date-with-moving- pictures Nico Di Angelo.

Among the discussions between them, Peter brought up a certain cute girl he may or may not be crushing on, mush to Nico’s amusement. It was completely obvious how smitten the teen was with the girl and the blush spread across the boy’s cheeks only furthered this fact.

The way he talked about her, and his other friends as well... it made Nico homesick in a way. His thoughts still worried about Hazel, and how much she may be worrying. Though he wasn’t stranger to...disappearing out of nowhere, crumbling away certainly wasn’t his usual mode of transport and it was clear that Hazel too knew something was wronged.

Nico wondered deeply in his head if anyone would even miss him, but he quickly diminished that thought. Sure, maybe a year ago, that statement would have been an obvious fact but recently, he felt, and hoped, that he had found a home at camp, found people who cared and worried for him.

From there, his thoughts strayed, only half listening to Peter’s rambling as he sinks deeper and deeper into his head, a dangerous trip within itself. Deep down, he almost hoped that Hazel and Jason and...and Will were freaking out about where he was, tearing their hair out to get him back.

But than the guilt settled into his stomach. What kind of monster hoped that their friends were panicking and full of worry. He should be hoping that they’re happy, enjoying the shining sun and that week’s game of capture the flag, wishing that they’re fully at peace among themselves and laughing with each other.

Yet he wants them to worry, to feel something, anything, at the lack of his presence. He wants them to...to care.

“Hey...hey, you okay?”

Nico looks up. “Hmmm, yeah I’m good….So tell me more about this MJ, you seem quite smitten”

“I-What, no, no definitely...I’m not y’know smitten or anything”, Peter stutters, blushing a deep red. “She’s just...really cool, y’know”.

“Indeed I do know, since you won’t stop talking about her”, Nico smirks, obtaining a playful slap in the shoulder in return.

“Oh don’t go poking fun at me, I’m sure you got your own...special person out there that I can make fun of you for”

“You sound exactly like my sister, y’know”

“Wise women”, Peter remarks. “So, spill. Who's the lucky lover?”

“I literally met you like yesterday, I ain’t spilling my biggest secret to you, Mr. Metal Spider”

“SO you do have a crush!”, Peter grins triumphantly. “C’mon, I’ve spilt my guts to you, it’s only fair to do the same”

“I never asked you to spill your guts, you seemed all too ready to talk”, Nico points out.

“That’s irrelevant”

“Is it really, Parker”, Nico grins.

“I’ll get it out of you”, Peter says, narrowing his eyes. “Just you wait…”

Rolling his eyes, Nico playfully shoves the other teen. Peter responds to the attack with a grimace and stuck out tongue at the half-blood.

“You’re so immature”, Nico groans smugly.

“We’re the same age!”, Peter retorts.

Nico’s silence speaks volumes. “Oh my god...are you immortal?!”, Peter gasps, mouth slack.

“What? No, no!”, Nico interrupts, waving his arms furiously. “I am 100% not immortal, ok. I’m just...well it’s a long story but suffice it to say, I got stuck in a magic hotel for, give or take, 60 years, and didn’t age one bit. Again, long story…”

“Man, you’re life is like constant long stories, isn’t it. You could write like an entire book series about it”

Nico only groans in response. “Tell me about it”

---

Peter didn’t know what to make of the demigod.

The other teen (though apparently sorta kinda also not really a teen) had just popped up, dropping the bomb shell that frickin gods were real as if it was nothing and began to lead Peter, though neither knew where they were heading to, through the barren landscape.

The past few days have been a blur, with their only entertainment being talking. Whenever Nico grew silent, Peter would begin playing around with his new suit, not wanting to annoy the half-blood any further.

While the Son of Hades was left to his thoughts, Peter fiddles with his web shooters, launching random bits of webbing at his surroundings. Looking over at his companion, Peter notices Nico fiddling with a rounded object in his nimble fingers.

Shifting his view, Peter could make out a swift engraving on the gleaming metal. “Feel Better, Sunshine :)” it read.

Peter noticed the soft smile spread across the boy’s face, and the teen couldn’t help but grin at the other’s soft blush. Honestly, this desert hellscape adventure seemed to be turning into an elementary school sleepover and Peter wasn’t against it. He’d rather spend an eternity of sleepovers with Mr. Mythomagic over here than alone and crumbling to dust.

“Guess you weren’t lying about the spider web shooting”

Peter looked up from his fiddling to see a glaring demigod covered in his tensile cobwebs. Out of the corner of his eye, Peter noticed the boy pocketing the metal sphere into his oversized jacket.

“Oh, uh, sorry”, Peter says sheepishly, reaching to rip the webbing off his trapped companion.

“Where’d you even get the stuff”, Nico grumbles, peeling webs out of his messy hair.

“Oh, well, I made it myself”, Peter replies. “Took a lot of trial and error but I got it in the end”

“Cool”, and he looked like he actually meant it.

“I-...Thanks”

After a beat, Nico asks, “So...what else can you do?”

“Well…. I can talk to spiders”, Peter says seriously.

“...you’re lying”

“I’m not, I’m not”, Peter promises, though the corners of his mouth peaked upwards. “I’m not lying”

“Oh, you are so lying”, Nico grumbles, shoving the boy onto the floor. Peter, erupting into a fit of hysterics, does nothing to deny it. “Gods, you’re an idiot”. The spider-boy continued to roll around in hysterics as Nico watched, rolling his eyes whenever their gazes meet.

“I-I, I can’t believe you-you fell for it”, Peter cackles, stumbling to criss-cross applesauce position.

“I mean, how am I supposed to know!”, Nico retorts. “My cousin can talk to fish so I wouldn’t put it past you…”

“Ignoring how cool that is, imagine if I could control spiders, like, with my mind”, Peter grins.

“If you could...you’d be a whole lot more threatening of a superhero than”

“Hey!”, the spider-ling squints angrily. “I’m threatening!”

“You’re less threatening than a mortal puppy”.

“I’ll take that as a compliment”

“You shouldn’t”, Nico cackles before getting tackled to the ground.

“Well I will”

----

“I’m tiiiiired, can we stoooop”, Peter complains, dramatically leaning on his companion, earning a shove in response.

“You’re impossible”, Nico sighs, though he allows the spider-ling to collapse onto the barren ground without complaint. “At the rate we’re going, we’ll never find anyone else”

“Who says we’re not the only ones here”, Peter groans. “We’ve been walking for days, and we’ve found nothing. This place can’t possibly be that big”

“Well aren’t you the optimist”, the son of hades grumbles, though he too had his doubts. “You did say that those space supers got dusted, right? They must be around here too.”

“I guess”, though the spider-kid didn’t have much hope. “But where could they be?”

“Maybe this place is bigger than we thought”, Nico sighs, plopping down next to his companion. “Since you came from space and I was in New York, we weren’t placed here based on our original location, it could be random. If that’s the case, than we could stumble across anything from a regular mortal to an alien from light years away. It’s all random”

“So, hypothetically, we could find a dog”

He’s met with an amused look. “Hypothetically? Yes, though I think we already got one”. It takes Peter a few minutes to get it.

“Hey!”

“You walked right into that one”

But Peter was no longer playfully glaring at the half-blood. His gaze was set past his companion, and his eyes had widened in shock.

“N-Nico...look”

The son of Hades swivels his head in surprise, hand rushing to his sword hilt in case of danger. Nico could barely make out two figures in the distance, but that was all he needed. The half-blood jumped to his feet, Peter clambering behind him quickly, and the two continued to watch the figures, both hope and fear rushing through their heads.

“It’s...there are others”

“Yeah”, Nico whispers, observing the blurry figures.

“We should…”

“Yeah”, the half-blood repeats, still in shock. “We have to be careful. We don’t know...I mean it could be anything out there”

“Yeah, we could stumble over some nut-job claiming that the gods were real”, Peter jokes softly, earning an elbow jab in the chest.

“Shut up, Parker”

And after a beat, Nico sighs. “Okay, let’s go”

“Okay”

Neither of them move.

“You might want to-”, Nico gestures to Peter’s face, “Mask up. Secret identity and all that”

“Oh yeah, good thinking”, the blundering teen nods, quickly tapping away at his nanotech before his mask formed itself around his face. “Okay, ready”

The two set off, Nico unsheathing his glowing, Stygian Iron sword, and Peter readying his web shooters in anticipation, squinting his mechanic eyes at the slightest sound.

Nico took the lead, sword poised at the ready, and Peter followed. As they grew closer to the figures, the half-blood could start to make out some details.

There were two of them, one very tall dressed in a blur of blue and red. The other seemed to be almost glowing, with what looked to be blonde hair. Nico tightened his grip, narrowing his eyes.

The figures turned in unison, and Nico cursed in greek under his breath. The tall one’s hands glowed with golden circles and the other seemed to gripping a...metal stick?

“Wait...is that-”

Peter was cut off by a booming voice.

“Who goes there?”

Both pairs continued to creep forward, eyeing one another. Nico still couldn’t make out the new commer’s faces.

“We mean no harm!”, Peter yells back, his voice cracking. “We come in peace!”

“You sound like an idiot”, Nico whispers beneath his breath.

“I repeat, who goes there!” The voice seemingly echoes through the vast landscape, and the two companions shiver at the noise.

Freaked out, Peter quickly responds. “I uh, Peter Parker and, and Nico di Angelo”

“So much for a secret identity”

“Shut up-”

“...Nico?”

The two look up from their bickering to see the figures much, much closer than they were seconds before. From here, Nico could make out their details. His eyes weren’t immediately drawn to the cloaked ‘wizard’, but directly to the other figure.

His breath caught in his throat.

It’s not possible.

That blonde hair that almost radiated sunshine, those comforting blue sky-like eyes, that smile that could power the entirety of New York, it couldn’t be-

“Will”, Nico whispers, not quite believing his own eyes. He didn't know when he began running, but suddenly he was rushing forward, and Will was there to meet him halfway.

The two collapsed into eachothers arms. Nico grasped onto the Will’s torn camp shirt, as if the boy would disappear before his eyes, and Will held him just as tight, notching into the crook of his neck.

For a second, they just stand there, not paying the least bit of attention to anything else but each other.

“Hey sunshine”, Will whispers softly, and Nico chokes out a sob.

“Hey yourself”, he chuckles softly into the son of Apollo’s ear. “You come around here often?”

And suddenly it’s okay. Maybe they were stuck in a desert landscape with a spider-ling and a wizard, maybe they had no ways of getting home, maybe they were as clueless and lost as they’d hate to admit. But they had each other, and for that small moment, that was all that mattered.

Nico was reluctant to pull away, and as if he sensed it, Will only held him closer, and the son of Hades was suffocated with the comforting smell of strawberries and the usual rubbing alcohol that was just so Will that it hurt.

“Gods, I love you”, he murmurs into the half-blood’s shirt.

“What?”

“I said I hate you”, Nico covers up, ignoring the soft pang in his chest.

“I Love you too, Sunshine”

----

Peter watched in glee as his companion from the past few days reunited with his Will.

From what he’s heard from the emo half-blood, this Will was quite important to him, even if he didn’t explicitly say it. And if the boy’s heavy blush a relieved smile were anything to go by, this was Nico’s person, his sunshine.

And he sure did look like freaking sunshine. The boy looked almost opposite of Nico, with almost glowing blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes compared to Nico’s unruly black locks and tired yet warm dark brown eyes. Yet they fit like a glove together, slotting together like jigsaw pieces. Two halves of a whole.

Peter averted his eyes as the two reconciled, not wanting to ruin the beautiful moment. Looking away, his eyes settle on the other figure, which, now that he noticed, was in fact Dr.Strange.

The Doctor Strange who had, what seemed only days before, gave up the timestone, saving Mr. Stark’s life, knowing each and everyone of their fates as he did so.

Strange was looking over the reuniting couple curiously, and Peter thought he almost saw the ghost of a smile across the wizard’s face.

The two lovebirds finally broke apart, still clasping hands tightly.

When Will finally looks looks around, his eyes fall on a sheepish, unmasked Peter.

“Nico….”

“Hmm?”

“Is that-that’s...that’s the Spiderman… right? Am I, am I losing my mind, or is that-”

“You mean Mr. Webs over here? Yeah, pretty much”

Will turns to his sorta boyfriend, aghast. “Neeks, you know SPIDERMAN?! Like the spiderman? Like saves New York and is my second superhero crush spiderman?”

“Uh I guess”, Nico shrugs, a sly grin across his face. “Though he’s kinda annoying, so he should be delegated to third crush, at least”

“You really need to leave camp more often”, Will chuckles beneath his breath. “Do you even know the Avengers?”

“I know that Parker over here says he’s one of them”.

“Hey, I am!”, Peter interjects. “Technically, I am”

WIll only shakes his head in disbelief. “Gods, I need to drag you out of camp for more than just McDonalds”.

“I doubt this superhero stuff is as important as a decent Happy Meal, I’m just saying”, Nico says defensively.

Will only rolls his eyes, amused and already so done with Nico’s nonsense. “You’re impossible”

“You love me”, Nico grins smugly.

“I do….most of the time”, Will sighs, ruffling his boyfriend’s (are they boyfriends? Will sure hoped so) already messy hair, much to the shorter emo’s annoyment.

“Idiot”, Nico whispers softly, eyes sparkling in love.

“Wait, so who's your top superhero crush than, if I’m being pushed to third”, Peter interrupts the soft moment with his annoying curiosity, as usual.

“Captain America, duh”, Will smirks. “Have you seen that man’s arms?”

“Okay, true, but Thor, man, THOR, he definitely is the hottest”, Peter argues. “Like come on man, he’s more like the god of handsomeness than the god of thunder”

“Nah, Captain America owns him by a mile. He’s got a heart of gold and muscles of steel, a winning package”

“Well, Thor-”

“You two are ridiculous”, Nico groans, interrupting their idiotic argument. “Loki is obviously the hottest, no explanation needed”.

“Okay fine, if we were adding Villains to the list than of course he’d be top, but that’s beside the point-”

“As insightful as this conversation is..”, Dr. Strange interrupts, his face grim, “There are more important things at stake at the moment”

“He’s right”, the son of Hades sighs. “Whatever is going on… it’s on the god level, at least involving their magic, and definitely more powerful than we’ve faced before, if my guesses are correct. And I really hope they aren’t”.

Nico turns to Dr. Strange hastily. “These stones that Peter mentioned… I think they were created and formed by the Protogenoi. Please tell me I’m wrong”

The wizard rubs his temples furiously. “The Infinity Stones were created by the Cosmic Entities eternities ago, they’re each tied to different aspects of the universe. They could be related to your own gods in a completely different pantheon, or even be the same renamed, it’s impossible to tell. But indeed, the stones have power beyond imagine, almost indescribable”

“So these stones...each hold their own power, but what can they do together?”, Will asks, almost too scared to know the answer.

“Theoretically…”

“Anything”, Nico finishes. “Their power transcends anything the Olympians could control, and just us demigods could barely stand up against Gaea with the god’s help. These stones hold 10 times more power, and could do almost anything. Defeating them will be...difficult to say the least”

“But what can we do, we don’t even know where we are, what’s going on, anything”, Peter groans. The hopeful teen looked more tired than a college kid at finals.

“We’re within one of the stones”, Doctor Strange replied bluntly, and all heads swivel to meet brewing eyes. “Not the stone itself but a realm connected to the stone. The Soul Stone, to be exact”

“But why are we here, what did he do?!”

“He killed half of all life in the universe. And in the end, we were all brought within the soul realm, held like prisoners until his snap is undone.”

For a moment there’s silence.

“On the bright side...we’re not completely dead…”

….

“Shut up Parker”

----

“We can’t do anything”, Strange finally sighs.

“There has to be something”, Peter objects.

“There isn’t”, Nico interjects. “We’re in the soul world, our powers our worthless here, and it’s not possible to ‘break’ ourselves out. We have to be let out”

“But could we send a message? Maybe contact the gods?”, the son of Apollos suggests, leaning against Nico tiredly.

“I was wondering that…”, di Angelo sighs. “Since this Thanos guy snapped away half of all life..he could of theoretically snapped away some of the gods. And if that’s the case….than Earth must be in chaos”

“But even if they’re all still… on earth, there’s little chance we’ll be able to contact them”, Nico finishes. Turning toward his boyfriend, the son of Hades asks “Have you had any dreams, or visions while we’ve been here”

Will only shakes his head sadly, resting his head upon his lover’s own. “Not a peap. But even before we got snapped, the Oracle had been silent for a year and a half, and I haven’t had a vision since...gods maybe a couple months ago?”

“So basically, we’re on our own”

“Not entirely”, Doctor Strange responds. “There are mortals out there fighting, they don’t seem like the type to give up”

“Especially”, the wizard gestures to Peter, “when some of their own are gone”.

“But even so, they can’t beat an alien with the power of 4 primordial deities on his side. If they could, we wouldn’t still be stuck here”

“Well aren’t you Mr. Sunshine”, Will grumbles softly against his boyfriend’s neck.

“I’m just saying, you’ll guys need something you didn’t have before. Backup, if you will”

“And who is this backup, may I ask?”

Nico and Will exchange knowing looks.

“We know a guy”

-----

From there, the four began planning. Strange and Nico took to one side, discussing possible tactics against Thanos, averaging their odds. Nico figured out pretty early, and from Peter’s ramblings, that Strange knew what was going to happen, and the son of Hades respected the man for being able to keep such a secret.

Meanwhile, Peter went over the events of the past battle against Thanos, describing the Titan’s weaknesses and strengths while Will pointed out the weakest parts of the body and the easiest ways to access them. They both nerded out about Star Wars fan theories and Biology write ups in between chats about dismembering limbs.

Nico curiously asked questions about Doctor Strange’s magic, his inner nerd peaking out, and the patient wizard answered his queries, and even asked the half-blood about his own powers, enjoying deep discussions of magical entities while Solace and Parker exchanged top ten hot superhero lists.

The two boyfriends went over battle strategies with the two super heros, describing tactics and weapon styles that could be useful in taking down an organized army. Peter added in his own two cents, pointing out some Lord of The Ring’s fighting strategies that looked cool.

Being the only adult supervision, Doctor Strange kept the three teens on task, breaking up mythomagic debates between Nico and Peter, keeping the two lovebirds from doing nothing but resting on each other cutely, and stopping the constant arguing between the two superhero nerds of the group.

All in all, you could say the group of four was prepared for the oncoming battle. Now, all they could do was wait.

And wait, they did.

Strange had said that time was most likely relative in this world, and that there was not telling how long it could take to be let out by the outside.

Nico didn’t even want to bring up the thought that maybe there was no getting out. Maybe they were trapped in the foggy prison for eternity, no longer dead or alive. Stuck in a limbo, with nowhere to go.

He began to pity those in the Fields of Asphodel, forever in ongoing void of nothingness, with no memories and no hopes of being free. Stuck with no thoughts of your own, and nothing but the body you left behind.

Just simply existing.

It was terrifying.

“Hey, Sunshine... you okay?”

Nico twists his head to meet Will’s questioning gaze, his eyes soft and comforting. The child of Hades sat curled on Will, who was sitting criss crossed applesauce and happily playing around with Nico’s messy curls. It reminded Nico of the past summer, and the many times Will weaved flower crowns into the emo boy’s hair whenever they got bored of the infirmary. It was oddly comforting.

“Yeah...just thinking”

“A dangerous pastime”, the son of Apollo smirks.

“Shut up”, though he couldn’t help but crack a small smile.

A beat of silence.

Will’s eyes grow worried, and Nico would do anything to return the warming gaze of his crush. He rests a hand on Will’s own, softly stroking his thumb comfortingly.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me”, Will whispers, half joking, but still somber.

“Existing”

Will sends him a puzzled look.

“I was thinking about...existing, existing here. Forever. Between living and dead, almost stuck. And how I would never want to go through that again… I don’t- I hated feeling dead”, Nico whispers softly, looking down at his hands. “Every day, I felt like I wasn’t alive or dead, just stuck in between going through the horrors of both. It was terrifying, and I just..I want to live. At camp, with You, and Hazel, and the rest of the chaos that comes with it. And being in this place… I feel stuck again.”

Will tightened his grip around Nico, resting his chin on the shorter half-blood’s head.

“It’s horrible. I know it’s stupid, but this entire world is just reeking with both life and death, both almost fighting to be on top. It’s sounds ridiculous, I know, but it’s just this constant turmoil here, and it- It just sucks”.

“And gods, I probably sound so corny right now but you being here it just helps and just being around you makes me feel so warm and it’s just better. And gods do I know that’s so stupid and that I shouldn’t but I just do and-“

Nico cuts off mid-ramble as he’s attacked into a hug by the son of Apollo.

“It’s not stupid”, Will whispers. “And it’s okay. It’s going to be okay”

But it’s not, a tinged voice sprouts up within his head, but he ignores it. This is Will. Stupid, sarcastic, too optimistic for his own good Will Solace and he’s here, holding onto Nico as if there was no place he’d rather be. In all the millions of chances and despite all the odds, he was here. And it was okay.

“Always the optimist”, Nico mumbles softly, poking the son of apollo playfully.

“Well one of us has to be, Sunshine”

....

“So, what were you thinking about?”, Nico asks curiously, looking up into Will’s sparkling eyes.

“You”

“You’re so corny, I hate you”

“I’m serious!”, Will pouts. “Okay, well, I was thinking ‘bout us”

“What about us?”

And suddenly, Will wouldn’t meet his gaze. The nervous boy begins to fidget with Nico’s hands, rubbing them softly against his own, thinking over his words carefully.

“I...with what happened earlier, I just, I know for you it might of just been in- in the moment for you but I just wanna tell you that, that for me it- I well I meant it...and that I want to be more than...more than what we are”

Nico comfortingly caresses the nervous boy’s cheek, turning around in the boys lap, the two coming face to face. With no other place to hide, Will nestles into the crook of Nico’s neck, hiding his face among the obsidian waves of hair.

“You know… I’ve always wanted a significant annoyance”, Nico smirks, but his heart fluttered.

Will chuckles softly, but it catches in his throat. “I was thinking more...boyfriends? I mean, that’s only if you want to, I just-”

Nico surgeres forward, connecting their lips. Will, caught completely off guard, rushes to run his hands softly through the son of Hades mob of hair.

The kiss begins in a frenzy, both boys not fully believing that this was happening, that after years of flirting and gazing lovingly from afar, after weeks of worrying thoughts and internal arguments saying that there was no possible way the other would like them back...it was happening.

And neither wanted to let it go.

A Nico from years ago may have brushed it aside as a heart-breaking dream, a reality impossible for a broken soul such as himself, and a younger Will may have angrily pulled back, claiming that this was all a prank, that no one could ever love him, and never a person so perfect.

But this was now, and both boys were changed the second they met, and from that moment on, they were different. And now, they were whole, held in each other’s arms with the only thoughts on their minds of each other.

“Does that answer your question”, Nico breathes, a slight grin creeping up his face.

“It does...though I think you should say it, just in case”

“You’re an idiot”, Nico groans, bumping his nose against Will’s own.

“And….”

“And, you’re my idiot boyfriend”

“I’ll take it!”

Their eyes meet, both sparkling with joy and excitement, enjoying the peaceful moment. Nico brushes his fingers against his boyfriend’s golden curls, just taking in Will. His Will. His heart pitter pattered at the thought.

That this was real.

“So, boyfriend, would it be okay if I did-”, Nico pressed a quick peck against Will’s temple, “This?”

“Oooh, I like the sound of that”, the son of Apollo grins, going in for another chaste kiss. “I could get used to this”

“Are you two done yet?”

Peter barreled into couple, smug smirk cracked across his freckles face.

“R00d, we were in the middle of something”, Will groans.

“I could see that”, Peter giggles, ruffling Nico’s unruly hair. “I’m guessing Mr. Di Angelo over here finally had the guts to pronounce his undying love for you”

“You’re one to talk, Mr “she’s just a friend”, Nico retaliates.

“Hey-“

“It’s time”

Doctor Strange stood above the bickering teenagers, eyes stormy and brows furrowed. The three shut up at once.

They scrambled to their feet, forming a circle of four, and interlocking one another’s hands. Will sends a comforting the squeeze to Nico’s hand, keeping his eyes trained on his new boyfriend. Peter nervously gripped Doctor Strange’s and Nico’s other hand, shifting his gaze over each of his companions, waiting.

It began with their hands.

Peter let out a gasp as his fingers began to dust, feeling every bit of the pain that no other could.

“The other side-“, he gasps out.

“We’ll meet you there”, Nico assures. His eyes locked with Will’s, cracking a reassuring smile.

“See you on the flips side”, the son of Apollo smiles, though his eyes filled with fear, matching his boyfriends.

“See you in a minute”

And, as if they were never there, the four companions disappeared, the only reminder of their presence, four piles of crumbled dust.

——

Nico woke up with a start.

His eyes were squinted close. He feared for his gaze to meet the oh so familiar misty realm, to only be stuck on the desert prison forever.

Praying to any gods out there, he flutters his eye open.

He’s met with a familiar landscape. And there was no desert to be seen.

Clusters of stretching pine trees, soft grass dotting the forested scape, a distant crowd of wooden structures.

Home

He was home.

He takes off running. The cool wind rushes past him, scents of strawberries and oak fill his nose, and the distant array of cabins becomes less and less distant. The son of Hades stumbles his way over tree roots and jutting rocks, eyes set on a distant glowing, column archway, engraved with those oh so familiar words.

Nico raced through the columns to only be met with chaos. But beautiful chaos, it was.

All around friends and siblings reunited, crying into each other's shoulders and hugging as if they’d never let the other’s go. The son of Hades jumped over the happily crying crowds, anxious to find those closest to him.

In doing so, he noticed some things. Specifically, how different things looked.

The amount of cabins seemed to have tripled while he was away, as have the amount of campers. There was a glowing portal near the all too familiar Big House, which glowed with swirling mist. Even the campers, he couldn’t recognize anyone.

Panic began to form a pit within his stomach. Where was Will? Or Hazel? Or-

“N-Nico?”

The son of Hades snaps his head around, only to be met with disbelieving, golden eyes.

“H-Hazel”, he whispers. Because it had to be. But it wasn’t.

“Oh gods”, her voice catches, attacking him into a hug, tears rushing down her cheeks. “Oh gods Nico you’re...you’re here. Y-You’re back”

“Hazel…how long…” Nico grips her comfortingly, kissing her temple worriedly. “How long were we gone?”

Hazel doesn’t move, barely being able to choke out a word. Nico pulls away, eyes wide. “Hazel...how long-”

“5 years”.

And like that, Nico rushes back to hug her, softly rubbing circles against her back as she bursts into tears.

“I’m so sorry”, he whispers softly into ear.

“Nico, i-it’s...it’s fine-”

“No”, he releases from the hug, finally taking a second to look his sister over. “No, it’s not okay. I told you we’d grow old together, I promised, Hazel, I am so-”

“For Hades sake, just shut up”, she lets out a watery chuckle. “You’re back, you’re all back. And it’s okay. We’re going to be okay”

“Nico!”

A blonde blur tackles the shorter teen, narrowly dragging him to the floor.

“Oh gods, you’re back!”, a shit-eating grin spreads across the son of Zeus’s staple scarred face, eyes alive with electricity. “Gods, you haven’t changed a bit”

“Well you certainly have”, Nico gapes, taking in the much taller, and much older Jason. Instead of combed back, his hair was messier than Nico’s own, with blue streaks at the tips, and alongside his legion marks, lay a small raven and eagle tattoo.

“If you think this is bad, you should see Leo….”

“Di Angelo!”

Reyna, seemingly coming out of nowhere, wraps one arm around his neck jokingly, ruffling his hair. “I see I’m not the only one who got dusted, it seems”

“Reyna!”, Jason gasps, reaching for a hug.

“Hey Grace”, she smirks, mocking a salute.

“Get in here”, Jason yells, tackling her into an embrace, much to the Praetor's annoyance.

“Uhh, well someone got tall”, she groans, peeling his arms off her, though she’s grinning at her friend’s ridiculousness. Though never one for gooey feelings, it was obvious Reyna had missed the group, even if for her, it had been merely a month, rather than 5 years.

“Can’t boss me around now, can you”. Reyna’s glare is returned with a laugh, though both knew who was really in charge.

Hazel grips her brother’s hand, not quite believing that this was real, and he’s back, and though things are far from normal, it might just be okay now.

Nico squeezes her hand reassuring, admiring how much she’s grown. His little sister, so grown, so mature, so amazing and he witnessed none of it. The thought put a pit in his stomach, but he pushed it aside. There were bigger things to worry about.

Nico searches the waves of heads for Will’s golden locks among the sea of people. He could barely see above the chaos, and he cursed his shortened height.

“Nico!”

Speaking of his boyfriend.

The cute son of Apollo rushes toward the group, Kayla and Austin trailing behind him, smirking. All three sunshine children seemed unchanged from the snaps events, and it was almost comforting that none had to live 5 years without the others.

“Hey, Sunshine”

Both groups watch, jaws drop, as Nico pecks a kiss on Will’s cheek in greeting, both boyfriends grinning at their shocked expressions.

“When did this happen?!”, Jason shouts, an almost offended expression spread across his face.

“Um, like ten minutes ago…”

“For us at least”, Will finishes.

“Oh come on!”, Reyna yelled in frustration. “I had bets on last year!”

“I think Kayla won”, Austin grumbles, searching in his pocket for Drachmas. “She had april of this year”

“Na-uh”, Jason intejected, “I had November this year, so fork it over ladies”

Rolling his eyes, Nico groaned at their friend’s betting nonsense. “Ignoring how ridiculous you guys are, we need your help. They need your help”

The two boyfriends quickly told their friends of their time in the soul realm, of spiderman and avengers and piles of dust, and went over the plans they have made with the superheroes. They all quickly decided that no legions should be formed, that everyone deserves to reunite with their friends without having to fight a battle after.

But Jason immediately Iris messaged Thalia, Reyna recruited some of her old favorite legionnaires (reuniting happily and thanking them for taking over while she was away), while Hazel gathered a very tall Frank and a seemingly unchanged Leo, whose hair was as oiled stained as ever.

After a suffocating hug from Frank, and a sarcastic high-five from fire boy, the four returned to their meet stop, carrying weapons and armor for the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, Hazel caught Nico up to speed with what’s been going on.

“Oh, and Percy and Annabeth finally got married! It was so pretty, and gods Percy was such a mess”, the older girl giggles, shifting around her heavy armor.

“That’s amazing!”

“Gods so much has happened while you all were ‘away’, it feels so unreal that you’re actually back”, she confesses, sheathing her cavalry sword. “I really, I really missed you Neeks...so don’t ever scare me like that again”

“I’ll do my best, little sis”, he smirks. “Though, no promises”

“Hey, older sis to you Mr.”, she laughs, swinging an arm around his shoulder. The tips of his hair only reached her eyes, and once again the half-blood cursed his short height.

“You’ll always be my little sister, no matter how tall you are”

“I hate you”

“Love you too!”

“I hear we’re poking fun of Nico”, a smirking Will plops down next to the pair, slipping his hand into his boyfriend’s.

“Oi, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I am...most of the time”

“I hate you both”, the son of hades grumbles, though accepts a soft kiss from his boyfriend.

“Love you too”, the two reply in unison, high fiving smugly.

Rolling his eyes, Nico drags himself to his feet, and begins clipping on bronze battle armor to his camp shirt. Will shrugs on a quiver of Arrows, which he’d only use if necessary, one shoulder, and a hefty med bag in the other. He clasped his bow in one hand, and pulls Hazel up with the other.

“So, who's ready to fight some Aliens!”

A grinning Leo hops up the hill excitingly, lugging his flaming hammer and charred tool bet in toe. Frank followed behind, his bow and arrows in hand, and eyes squinted in concentration, while Piper rolled her eyes sarcastically at the son of hephaestus, her dagger sheathed at her side.

After a few moments, Reyna marched up the hill, Dakota and Clarisse following behind, with the former clasping a spear determinedly with kool-aid drenched mouth, and the latter angrily grabbing her own electric spear.

“I brought help”, the Praeter announces, gesturing to those behind her. “And Frank rallied some other’s”

The tall boy nodded, smiling proudly as, rushing over to meet the at Zeus’s Fist, was quite a ragtag group of fighters, each more eager than the last.

An older Katie gardner held a sharp dagger angrily, her little sister at her back with a jagged knife. The Stolls stood grinning, a sash of land mines roped to each of their chests, and eyes gleaming with mischief. Travis and Katie smiled softly too each other as their siblings faked gag.

Butch of Iris cabin menacingly gripped his spear, t-shirt ripped as usual to expose his swirling rainbow tattoo. At his side, the fighting duo of Cecil, who expertly wielded double daggers, and Lou Ellen, her hands poised to manipulate the clouding mist.

Kayla and Austin, each carrying their own hand crafted bows, led the crowd, arrows loaded and smirks present. Sherman of Ares cabin and Pollux rounded out the group, both prepared for the oncoming battle.

A grin split across Nico’s face.

Meters away, a glowing portal erupts, slicing through the air in arc of golden sparks. On the other side, sat a darkened hellscape.

Nico, praying to any gods that tolerated him, the half-blood raises his glowing sword determinedly. At his side, Will loads his bow, Hazel unsheathes her cavalry sword, Leo readies his hammer, Frank pulls back his bowstring, Reyna points her sword forward menacingly… as Nico yells out a battle cry of fury.

“Half-bloods, let’s kick some alien ass!”

The demigods scream back in unison, raising their swords in fierce excitement, as they rush to the battlefield, Nico taking the lead. Around him, roars of anger and protection erupted, as the half-bloods surged through the portal.

As they entered through the golden opening, Nico surveys the surroundings to see dozens of the circular portals erupting through the battle-torn scape. To his side, a swinging figure crashes through the portal, landing with a heavy clank in quite a superhero pose.

Nico looks over the familiar iron suit with a grin and mock salute as the masked head swivels to meet the half-blood’s gaze. His mechanic, white eyes wink in recognition.

“Got your back-up!”, Nico calls to him, gesturing to the campers behind him. In the back, Connor Stoll yells out, “Is that spiderman?!”

“Ready?”, Peter asks, swinging to his side.

“Ready”, Nico grins, gripping his sword menacingly. “Can your superhero posse keep up”

“Oh, it’s on!”

Around the half-bloods, stood heros. Humans, Gods, mixes of both and everything in between. And they were apart of it.

Throughout the battlefield, one voice rose above the noise. It echoed through each and every hero, and brought determination to all.

“Avengers… Assemble!”

The armies surged forward, half-bloods ringing out a wave of furious screams and battle cries, swords unsheathed and cascades of arrows piercing through the air. Flying heroes cut through the air swifty, dodging bullets and blasting away enemies.

Nico and Hazel protect each others backs, swords slicing through the dust-filled air and enemies limbs. The daughter of Pluto wielded the earth beneath their feet, rocks crashing against enemies skulls and gems embedding themselves into armor, swords cutting through the alien metal easily.

Nico enveloped the pair in shadows, swirling the blackness around them in waves, controlling it in one hand and slicing through enemy soldiers with his stygian sword with the other.

Earth and shadows clashed in a whirlwind of fury, waves of pure energy radiating off the double threat of the children of the Underworld. Yet the aliens kept coming, as if they were expecting to beat the duo. They were proven wrong quickly.

From above, Frank, transformed into a majestic eagle, dodging enemy fire and dropping bundles of Lou Ellen’s pig-turning balls onto the alien forces. Falcon protected his tail, shooting automatic pistols from the sky and shielding the half-blood with his mechanic wings.

Swooping past the feathered pair, Valkyrie and Reyna, mounted upon a glistening, white-coated pegasi, sliced through soldiers as if they were better, the Praeter fiercely yelling out cries of support, and the Valkyrie screaming “this is for Asgard!”, as she stabs aliens through their spleens.

From the ground, The Stolls mischievously threw balls of explosive paint at the alien legions, filling the air with explosions of rainbow bursts and startling the nearby enemy forces enough for Peter Quill to sweep in smugly, blasting their faces off while screaming “this is for Gamora, you bastards!”. The three jokers high fived in victory as colored smoke drifted through the battlefield.

Across the battlefield, Piper Mclean shielded a wide-eyed Mantis, stabbing soldiers while the skilled Insectoid send waves of Fear and Confusion though the enemies heads with the slightest touch. All the while, the child of Aphrodite spouted out orders of fear, charmspeak thread through the words and making the army even more scared of the pair.

A jittery Leo roars with laughter as he slams his fiery hammer into the hoards, his hair emitting an array of sparks, as a machine gun wielding Racoon rains bullets down at his side. A screaming Groot shoots out bundles of roots from his hands, tossing bad guys aside as if they were nothing. Rocket grinned proudly at his tree son, and his laugher rivaled even Leo’s.

Hidden behind discarded rubble, skilled shooter Bucky Barnes and the two Apollo siblings took shots sniping down killer aliens left and right, Kayla and Austin reloading their bows faster than the blink of an eye, with the war veteran matching their fire power surely. After one particularly accurate shot, Bucky high fived the skilled archers, making quick quips about each other's aim.

The one and only Will Solace held his own against the enemy’s legions, bending swirling ribbons of golden sunlight through the dreary, darkened battle, the heat waves seering through enemies eyes, blinding them instantaneously while Doctor Strange slams balls of combined energy into the mass of monsters, erupting the landscape in glowing sparks of flames.

As the battle raged, the children of the Underworld rushed to other’s aid. Nico narrowly sliced through an enemy’s armors, seconds before they chopped of his own. To his left, Peter was tearing through monsters, his metallic spider legs slamming soldiers to the ground, knocking them out of consciousness.

Nico rushes to help the spiderling. He slams the flat of his sword against the monsters armored skull, and as it crumples to the ground miserably, the Son of Hades is quick to shield his partner as a especially determined alien makes a move to slice off the teens masked head.

His Stygian Iron Sword crashes against the undetectable out of world weaponry, sparks erupting at point of contact as Peter, just noticing that the half-blood had saved his life, entagles the alien in his sticky webs, immobilizing the sneaky enemy.

“Thanks, di Angelo”, Spider-man yells in thanks, aiming a kick at an incoming attacker.

“Anytime, Parker”, the son of Hades shoots back, slashing through a hoard of enemies. “Though I expect you to return the favor”

Peter’s infectious laughter echoes through his metallic mask. “I’ll try my best”

“Good”, Nico chuckles, piercing through a monster’s armor. “Cause Will would kill me if I died. And than you. And than me again”

“Noted”

The superhero throws a screaming alien his way, and quick as a flick, the half-blood slapped the flat of his blade against the enemy's skull. “Thanks for the heads up”, Nico rolls his eyes sarcastically, slamming his sword hilt against an incoming, charging monster.

The son of Hades sides steps a monster racing towards the pair, sticking out his leg smoothly, before the enemy trips dramatically, his foot catching on Nico’s own, to only be met with a fiery attack of iron spider legs the second his face slams into the ground.

High Fiving, the two teens turn to the approaching army, screeching aliens trampling upon the war town earth, monsters streaming through on all sides, out of world weapons slicing through the smoke filled air, battlefield strewn with Heroes, all fighting for Earth, for their homes, for their families, and for themselves.

Nico grips his sword tightly, cracking a signature smirk as the world around him erupts in chaos.

The two newly made friends, both brought together by the apocalypse and together there at the end, preventing it, stood together, blending the world of heroes and half-bloods into one as the world repaired itself around them.

“Ready, Parker?”, he grins, as the superhero fiddles with his web shooters expertly.

Peter smiles smugly, clenching his fists menacingly.

“Oh it’s on, di Angelo”