Nico di Angelo gasped back into life with a fluttering heart rate and a flurry of fear. Every cell screamed at him to jump up and fight, to kill kill kill, to make up for whatever time he lost when he so idiotically fell into the temptation of sleep.
But he couldn't. Not when Bianca di Angelo's dark eyes were above him. And only when he saw them did all the memories come roaring back.
"One demigod against all mortals to decide the world's fate. I'll promise it on the Styx, son of Hades. If you win, my son will send you back for one last chance." Gaea's eyes were wide open. The blood of his friends already stained her skin. Her smile was made of all their bodies. "Give me a show, young hero. You were always my favorite."
"Nico di Angelo, you dare ask my help?" Old Kronos's voice rang through the old chasm of Tartarus. He never was put back together, but his mother's awakening reawakened his consciousness. "If you go back, you will lose the world to me."
"Better to you than to Gaea."
"Nico, are you okay?" Bianca was eleven or twelve again, with her dark hair falling down her back and her green hat flopping on top of her head. She was above him, and passed her head he could see a dark sky rumbling with an oncoming storm. It smelled like snow. "You passed out. Please tell me you're okay."
It had worked. Holy fucking shit, it had worked. Either that or he had finally fallen to his hallucinations.
Nico blinked a few times, took in the state his body was in. He could feel every last injury he had gotten down there, the burns and bites and missing organs. The pain was still there, which meant he was still alive. He was alive and fucking breathing and he could smell fucking snow. It had worked.
"Bianca..." he reached up and touched her face, remembered that he would have to be the big brother in this universe. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"I think we can both agree on that." Kronos wanted it just as much as Nico did. The son of Hades could read anyone he came across, even when it was just the voice to listen to. "But you will need to understand why I've never sent a demigod back in time before."
"Matter cannot be created or destroyed. If you go back, you will be replacing the you from that time. You will be the age you are now, the maturity you are now. Bianca's mind will easily accept it as she was so fragile after the Lethe. But gods, titans, we'll know you're a time changer. We'll see it on your very skin."
"What will they see?" Nico questioned. He was already covered in blood.
"A red aura, so much like what you wear now." Nico could hear the excitement in the titan's voice. "You will be complicating everyone around you and I will have the advantage. I will win the game this time, son of Hades."
"I'm not going to let that happen," Nico swore. "I know now to follow fate. I'll let Leo Valdez die."
Kronos laughed. But Nico had been through too much for the cold sound to affect him. And they both knew it. They were standing in Tartarus, after all. And both could call it home. It was now the safest place to exist.
"It isn't so easy as only one death."
"Yeah, I know."
Nico sat up and looked down at himself. Everything was the same as he remembered, with the blood-covered skin and tattered clothing and crudely sewn injuries. Weapons still coated him. "What do you remember, Bianca?"
Bianca sat back with a little escape of breath. "You got hurt and you passed out. We just got off the train, remember? Our new school's not too far."
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Death's Reason
FanfictionHades had warned him that some deaths shouldn't be stopped but he hadn't listened. At the time, Nico had had too much hope, too much confidence, too many heroic thoughts. When he chose to save Leo Valdez's life, the end of the world began. Through t...
