Percy Jackson, The Missing Hero.

51. Atropos, We've Come to Bargain.

Once they had passed into the Underworld, Nico had hoped that being in familiar territory would make him feel better.

Nico was wrong.

There was a heavy sense of dread in his chest, guilt and concern battling for dominance the closer he led them to the Cave in which The Fates resided. The fact he was literally shackled to Octavian aided him in no way shape or form, knowing that he was physically dragging him closer to his demise. He should have agreed when Percy offered to be the one chained to the Roman Legacy instead of insisting that it should be him. He couldn't help but feel guilty that he was going to be responsible for Nathan losing a loved one, despite Nathan being responsible for him losing Percy and Will, especially when the latter had seemed far more permanent than the former until just a few days previous.

There was also the concern that this was all going to be for naught, that The Fates would laugh and tell him that the exchange was permanent and there would be no trade. It was his worst fear at that moment, and the closer they got to the Cave, the more he wondered whether or not he wanted to face that fear.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked softly, making him realise that he had frozen at the end of the path that had led them from the Labyrinth into the outer rings of the Underworld. He knew that they were somewhere between the entrance to Tartarus and his father's palace and part of him wanted to take off running towards it, to run into the embrace he knew his father would give him.

Despite the rocky start to their relationship, it had eventually blossomed like one of the flowers in Persephone's garden and his father now doted on him in the same way Poseidon doted on Percy. If he went to him now, Octavian in hand, his father would surely go to The Fates for him, saving him the heartache and pain of having to stand there and try and negotiate a trade; the soul of Octavian in exchange for the soul of Will Solace.

There was no 'til death do us part' in relation to his love for Will, it had surpassed the grave long before Nico had known he could return him to the land of the living. Despite the guilt he had felt for four years because he had missed his final moments, had missed being there to comfort the love of his life as he passed from one life to another, he had never stopped loving him. He hadn't wanted to.

"I'm fine." He managed to choke out when he realised that Percy was still waiting for an answer. "I was just thinking about what direction we needed to take."

It was a blatant lie and it was obvious from the gentle look in Percy's eyes that he wasn't fooling him. He just hoped he had fooled Octavian at the very least; Icarus too, if he was lucky. He knew that he was lucky enough that Percy had simply nodded and didn't call him on it.

"The path that leads from my father's palace to the Judgement Pavilion is just over there." Nico pointed with his free hand, hoping that Icarus would take Percy's lead and not bother to ask him why pointing at a path he knew well had taken so long. He also hoped that Octavian would just not talk. "We'll follow that past the Fields of Asphodel until we get close to Cerberus and the Main Gate. There's a small path that leads from the main path to the one that runs along the Walls of Erebus, which is where The Fates have their Cave."

"We'll let you lead the way," Percy invited, giving him an encouraging smile.

He started to lead, wondering why his feet felt as if they were made of lead.

"Down here," he finally found himself saying.

The path that cut through the very edge of the Fields of Asphodel was thankfully a short one, though it was still a path that he had to drag Octavian down as the Legacy eyed the nearby souls who wandered in the Fields with uninhibited fear. He was obviously well aware of the fact he had formerly been one of those very souls, wandering around for eternity with dead, unseeing eyes. None of them knew if Octavian would be returned to Asphodel or if his future accommodation would involve a little more punishment. Nico had to be thankful for the small mercy that meant it was the Fields of Asphodel that they had to cut through and not the Fields of Punishment because he was fairly certain they would have had to carry Octavian, kicking and screaming.