𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

51

Piper told them all later what had happened. She told them about Khione, about Leo being catapulted into the sky- gone. Just like that. She told them about how she woke Festus the dragon permanently, Ajax didn't understand how powers of love could do that, but he didn't think about it for too long.

All Ajax remembered was reaching out for Nico as the frost spread across their bodies. That's how Piper had found them later, Ajax on his bed, his right hand reaching for Nico who stood in the door. Nico's mouth was open like he was in the middle of calling for Ajax.

Somehow, Ajax knew Piper blamed herself for all of it. He could sense it, as well as see it in her body language.

But without Piper, they would have been considerably worse off. Not only did she try and almost win against a goddess, all alone with Jason turned into an ice statue, but she had also managed to direct the explosion of the icy sphere, so even though the ship had been pushed halfway across the Mediterranean, it had sustained relatively minor damage.

Still, Ajax had seen how bad it was. He didn't know how they could fix the ship without Leo's help.

Oh gods, Leo. Ajax was sick to the stomach with worry.

He was lost. Jason had said. Lost. Not dead.

He could be halfway around the world with no way to reach them in time. He could be in trouble. He could be hurt. He could be dying. He could be dead already, no matter what Jason said.

Ajax couldn't handle the thought.

He felt fingers in his hair before he realized who it was. His initial reaction was to jump away, but he leaned into the touch when he saw Nico.

"You're like a cat" Nico said. "I was going to tell you, you need a haircut"

Nico's hand was still in Ajax's hair. He wondered when they went from being on the opposite sides of the war to this. He wasn't complaining though.

They were on the deck, looking out into the darkness. Ajax could barely see Festus, that's how dark it was. Which is why the crew had voted to wait till morning and survey the surroundings.

So to recap. They were in the middle of nowhere, probably hundreds of miles off course, one of their friends was missing, their ship was falling apart and Ajax wanted to give up.

"Do you know how to cut hair?" Ajax asked.

"Not really" Nico admitted, "I mostly grow mine out"

Ajax had noticed it. When they came out of the jar, Nico's hair had been shorter, and now it looked a little more wild, soft, unruly curls at the base of his neck. It made his face look smaller.

Ajax almost told Nico to stop when he took out his hand from Ajax's hair. Almost.

"We can do it" Ajax found himself saying. "It's literally prophesied. We're going to do it"

Nico didn't look as optimistic.

"Come to bed?"

Ajax wondered when they had gone from Nico sleeping on the foremast to him asking Ajax to come to bed. Their bed. Their room.

Theirs.

Ajax suppressed his smile.

Nico gave him hope. It was ironic really. The most pessimistic person on board and Ajax couldn't help the warm feeling spreading through him whenever he looked at Nico.

They passed Jason and Piper who came above deck, surprised to see them there already.

Ajax reached out for Piper's hand. He squeezed it slightly and looked at her questioningly.