The Coming of Nico di Angelo

Nico Gets a Family Visit

CHAPTER SUMMARY

A surprised Nico gets a birthday present from his father.

BEGINNING NOTES

Chapter Rating: Mature
Content Warning: Self Harm
Word Count: 3509

This was originally posted on Archive of Our Own, so I do have beginning and end notes. I used to post this up here, but then I had computer issues and when I got back, WattPad deleted my account. So if you've already read the first seven chapters... sorry.

All the books are canon in this AU. Takes place a year after BoO ends, so Nico, Jason, Piper, and Leo are 16, Percy and Annabeth are 19, and Will's 18. It's end of August, so the whole Leo/Calypso thing cleared up and Leo's back at Camp Half-Blood where he belongs. Also Nico and Will are friends.

I include an Italian lullaby in this chapter--I didn't write it. You can find the words, and an audio recording of it being sung: here: https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1447

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

____________________NICO____________________

Nico woke up with a groan, a few rays of sunlight came into the Hades cabin. Nico hadn't wanted windows for this exact reason, but Chiron had insisted. He rolled over to try and fall back asleep, accidentally hitting play on his iPod instead. (Lou Ellen enchanted it to ward off monsters--she owed him a favor.) Fall Out Boy blared through the earbuds still in his ears.

Gods damn it. I just can't win, can I?

Nico slid down from his bunk and dressed, careful not to look at his arms until after he put on his aviator jacket. If he didn't see it, he didn't have to think about it. And if he didn't have to think about it, he could stop. Probably. Ok, maybe not, but whatever made him comfortable, right? Right?

He grabbed his sword and went off to do some early morning training before breakfast. When he got to the combat arena, he saw Percy had the same idea, slashing against some straw dummies. Nico whistled, making Percy turn, a stunned expression on his face.

"Whoa, Nico! You scared me!" Percy exclaimed.

Nico rolled his eyes. "So the big bad son of Poseidon is afraid of a sixteen-year-old kid? Wait, it's me we're talking about, so yeah, smart."

Percy laughed, making Nico roll his eyes again. He tried not to smile--it didn't fit in with the image of a son of Hades. "Sixteen?" Percy asked.

Shit. I've been awake for less than an hour and I already slipped.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"Wait... is it your birthday?" Nico's head nodded a fraction of an inch, his eyes trying to meet Percy's look of surprise. He hated birthdays, ever since the Lotus he'd stopped celebrating them. Sure, first he just forgot when it was. As time went on, though, it morphed into a desperate longing. His earliest memories were of his birthday back in Italy. He soon remembered his mother's warm smile, Bianca's macaroni cards... He recalled how Mama always lifted him on her lap, and whispered the words to a familiar lullaby in his ear. It became a tradition for her to sing while he tore macaroni off Bianca's card and played with it. All these years later, the Italian words still served as a source of comfort for Nico:

"Fa la ninna, fa la nanna [Go to sleep, go to sleepy]
Nella braccia della mamma [In the arms of your mother]
Fa la ninna bel bambin, [Go to sleep, lovely child,]
Fa la nanna bambin bel, [Go to sleepy, child so lovely]
Fa la ninna, fa la nanna [Go to sleep, go to sleepy]
Nella braccia della mamma." [In the arms of your mother]