𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

Epilogue

Nico walked through the camp. Life after the battle with Gaia was hard, but everyone adjusted slowly. Nico himself helped out at the infirmary sometimes, sometimes he trained younger demigods.

Some of the teenagers, kids, really, waved to him as he walked by. Percy and Annabeth had left a month ago to start their academic year, Jason and Piper had moved away as well. Nico should have felt completely alone at camp, shunned, excluded, ostracized.

But strangely, he had never felt more at home.

He made friends- Will Solace, Austin and Kayla, Lou Ellen, Clarisse, the Stoll twins, and so many more. He had never been happier in his life.

He stopped by the Demeter cabin, poking his head in. For some reason, the Demeter kids loved him (maybe it was because he was turned into a plant twice). They were always happy to help, giggling and joking every time he came to them.

"What do you suggest?" He asked.

"Tulips, definitely" Miranda Gardiner had conjured up a bouquet of tulips in no time- purple, white and pink. Perfect. Sometimes, Nico thought he really loved these guys. But then they tried to chase after him to try and turn him into a plant again and he would hate them.

Tulips in hand, he made his way into the woods.

His path was basically memorized by now. He couldn't believe it had been a month already. It seemed like just yesterday that Ajax had pulled him into the woods at midnight. The clearing wasn't that different. Green grass, trees surrounding it. It looked almost the same. Except for the gravestone.

Nico, like most other demigods had dyslexia. But he knew what the stone said, he had suggested the words to be written.

Here lies Ajax Avery

Treasured by all (dork)

It was pretty easy to tell what he had suggested.

Nico knelt down, dusting the leaves from the gravestone. Usually, Greek heroes were burnt after their death. But this seemed more fitting for someone like Ajax. With shaking hands, he set down the tulip bouquet as he cleaned up the grave.

He remembered being twelve or thirteen, being so obsessed with bringing his sister back. He had never felt so broken and alone. And now here he was again, only less broken.

"If I was a child of Demeter, I'd put our... Two-lips together"

Nico sighed so deeply, Ajax thought he had suddenly transformed into an old man. "Get it? Tulips? Two-lips-"

"I fucking hate you so much"

"Liar" Ajax said, helping Nico to his feet. "Love the tulips by the way"

Nico took the bouquet from the ground and handed it to Ajax. The other boy wasted no time in putting their two-lips together. Even now, after everything, Ajax felt like home. Nico had never belonged with anyone else, or anyplace else, as much as he did with Ajax. And Ajax had never felt so perfectly content with anyone else.

Nico's fingers travelled to Ajax's hair, the other hand holding his jaw. He was pretty sure Ajax moaned into the kiss.

The flowers fell down on the grave, Ajax didn't care.

"So, we have five more months" Ajax said when he pulled back, Nico kissed his jaw. "Any ideas what we can do?"

"I have some ideas"

"And you say I have a dirty mind" Ajax snorted.

"Trust me, there's just as many things to do below ground, as there are above" Nico stepped back, "But you're right, I don't want my dad walking in on us making out" Just the mental image was enough to make him shudder.

"Oh man, you're so vanilla. I was definitely thinking more than making out"

Nico punched his shoulder. "That would be even worse"

"Oh, Angel, you want me so bad it makes you look stupid"

"I do"

Ajax choked on air, he wasn't expecting that answer.

Nico smirked.

"Race you to the dining pavilion?" Nico suggested, "Loser has to eat moldy bread"

"You're on, amore"

Six months in the land of living, six months in Hades' realm. It was the perfect compromise really. Ajax had drawn the idea from Hades' "healthy marriage". He didn't really like being compared to Nico's stepmother, but whatever worked best for them. He'd be Persephone if Nico was Hades. And this time, there was no Demeter to be enraged and no kidnapping. It was a win-win situation. Hecate had actually been super supportive of it.

Reluctantly, Hades had agreed to it. Some persuasion by Persephone had helped of course. Hades had said that he wanted Nico to be happy, and now he was. He was so fucking happy and so in love.

Two gods watched from the shadows as their sons raced out of the woods.

Hecate lay blue belladonnas on the grave and Hades frowned.

"Obviously, my son will ask your son first"

"I know Ajax and I know Nico. Come on, who are you kidding? I bet you a polecat Ajax asks him to be his boyfriend first"

"Whatever, stay delusional Hecate"

"Will you, Nico di Angelo, take me to be your significant annoyance?" Ajax laughed as they raced.

"I thought you'd never ask"

"Technically, that counts so pay up Hades" Hecate laughed.

And life went on. What more is there to say? 

They had their problems of course- Apollo getting turned mortal, Leo apparently being alive all along, and Jason... Gods, not Jason. 

They had heartbreak and love and maybe that's what life is all about. Living and dying. Loving and dying.

Death never really goes away, just goes out of reach for a while. 

Not all stories have a happy ending, and maybe this isn't the happy ending you expected. But in the end, stories are all that remain of us. 

This fic was such a rollercoaster to write. 

I'm so grateful to you guys and I love all your support 😭😭 I'm actually sobbing rn. This is also the first fic I have actually completed which says a lot about me as a person. 

I hope you guys loved reading it as much as I loved writing Ajax. At the time when I came up with the idea, it was mostly because of dysphoria and personal experiences (also a crush on Nico) and it turned into so much more. 

See you in the next one ig. 

Shameless self promo again- check out Cœurs brisés, it's a Percy fic bxb :)

Love you guys