Nico x Reader One-Shots (PJO)

Pain

The hot tears are still fresh on your cheeks when the fight is done. The boy drives his sword into the monster and it turns to dust. You drop the sword as if it were on fire and fall to your knees next to your dead parent.

"Y/n, I'm sorry, but we need to go before more show up," he says. You want to protest and yell at him, but you're still in shock. Numbly, you let him lead you way by your hand. You stare at your parent until all you see is black and you're dizzy. You feel as though your feet don't touch any ground and everything disappears. A moment later, you're standing outside in a grassy field with trees nearby.

Turning around, you see a huge valley outlined by trees on all but one side, which is met by a great body of water. The sun is beginning to set, casting a beautiful array of light across the valley. Between you and the water is many buildings and structures, along with a small field of red fruit, stables, and a climbing wall with orange pouring down it.

All the vivid colors, decorated buildings, and strangeness of how you got there was unimportant and distant in your mind. You follow the dark haired boy, unsure what else to do. As you descend the hill, two figures meet you. One has light, slightly curled hair and the other has dark hair.

"Are you hurt?" The light haired one asks. Your lips remain shut, your eyes empty of all but pain. A look of understanding passes over his face. "Let's get you to the infirmary."

Soon, you sit on a bed. The boy provided you a tank top to change into behind a screen so that he can attend to the cuts on your arms.

After they're bandaged, the boy who fought the monsters with you comes in to check on you.

"How are you?" He asks.

You swallow and croak out, "I'm fine." As the numbness slips away, the first feeling is the urge to cry again. The held back tears burn your throat.

He sits across from you on another bed. "No, you're not."

Sadness slides smoothly but quickly into anger. "Why do you care?" His concerned look turns to confusion, but is still slightly worried. "Just because you happened to find me before that... thing killed me too?! If you knew that thing was there, then why didn't you come sooner? My [Mom/Dad] died! Why weren't you there sooner?" Despite your efforts, angry tears roll down your cheeks. "I don't even know who you are! Who any of you are! I don't know how I got here! I don't have any idea what happened, except that you were too late to kill the monster that killed my only living parent!" At this point, you're standing with your fists clenched.

He stands slowly. "My name is Nico. The blonde one was Will, and the other was Percy. And I-" his voice cracks, so he clears his throat. "I'm sorry I was too late to save your [mom/dad]."

Nico turns and leaves.

Somewhere inside, you feel guilty, sorry. But on the surface, there's just pain. You're past the point of numbness, though you wish you could return to bliss of feeling nothing. Once the locked gates of numbness are opened, nothing can stop the flood.

Before long, you leave the infirmary. You don't know where to go, but you don't care. You begin walking towards the beach. Once you get there, you notice a boy -- Percy -- already there. He doesn't seem to notice you standing there, until he turns to possibly leave.

"Hey! How are you doing?"

You shrug.

His face softens, as does his voice. "I know it's hard, and I heard what happened."

You resist the urge to snap that he has no idea how it feels.

"Has anyone explained what's going on?"

You shake your head. He smiles and nods towards the decorated buildings. "I'll explain on our way to dinner."

As if on cue, a bell rings.

Percy explains who the people are that you met, though Nico already told you who they were. He explains that everyone here has a parent who is a Greek deity.

You hold up your hand, stopping him. "My [mom/dad] died when they were mugged and shot when I was little."

Percy shakes his head, and keeps walking. "I'm sorry, but one of your parents is a god or goddess. Normally, a satyr would bring a half-blood to camp, but Nico happened to see the basilisks enter your house. He couldn't get in, so he shadow-traveled. You can ask him later how that works."

Ashamed, you look away. "I don't think he wants to talk to me." When Percy inquires why, you explain your outburst. He stops walking, as do you.

"Y/n, it's okay. What you just saw... with everythg that's happened... you can't blame yourself. He isn't upset with you, he's upset with himself." He sighs. "When I first met Nico, he had an older sister. She went on a quest with me and a few others. I'd promised Nico I'd keep her safe, but... I couldn't keep that promise. Nico was, to say the least, broken. It was terrible. I felt terrible. Eventually, Nico forgave me. It's a heavy burden to think you're responsible for the death of another's loved one. Believe me when I say it wasn't his fault."

You ponder over his words as you get to the pavilion. "Have you been claimed? Was there ever a glowing symbol over your head?" Percy questions.

"Uh, yeah, a while back. It was [symbol of your parent]."

(If your parent isn't Poseidon):
He points you to a table. "Those are your siblings. We sit with our siblings during meals."

(If your parent is Poseidon):
Percy grins widely. "That means you're my sister. You get to sit with me. Our table is over here."

One week later

After dinner, you find Nico as he's leaving. You stop him before he gets very far.

"I, uh, wanted to say sorry. It wasn't your fault," you apologize, picking at the edge of your shirt. "My [mom/dad] is... gone because of the basilisk, not you. I'm lucky you got there before the same could happen to me."

When he doesn't say anything, you nervously keep talking. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, I was angry, and sad, and scared, and confused, but that doesn't excuse what I did." Your voice cracks a little bit, thinking of why you're hurting, but you push it back. "I'm also sorry I waited so long to apolog--"

"It's okay," he says softly. "I get it. You don't need to apologize."

You struggle to look him in the eye. "Y-yes, I do. I- I shouldn't have yelled at you, and--" you feel your composure crumbling as your thoughts slip towards the events of last week. Nico opens his arms, to your surprise, a concerned but understanding look in his eyes. After a moment of hesitation, you step forward and hug him. You feel a wetness on your cheeks that seeps into his shirt, but all he does is rub your back and whisper, "You'll be okay."

During your time at Camp Half-Blood, you grow close to Nico, though many others can relate to your story of loss. Over time, you become close friends, training together and sneaking into town together, sharing all your secrets with each other. When tragedy strikes, you find comfort in each other. You fight and argue, but it never puts a halt to your friendship.

A couple years later, you're dating. It wasn't any formal, tear-jerking love confession. Neither of you even asked the other to date. It just... happened. You grew closer, and you began doing little things, like holding hands. Sometimes when you're just standing there, maybe reading, maybe watching the sunset, he'll come up behind you and wrap his arms around you and rest his head on your shoulder.

He said you'll be alright, and he made sure you always would be.