Through the Burning Fires of Hell // A Nico Di Angelo Fanfiction (On Hold)

Chapter 7

Raven

Raven lay on her bed and stared at the rocky ceiling, fishing out the golden sun pendant she wore beneath her clothes.

She traced the delicate ridges of the sun pendant and smiled softly at the memories. Ever since Elian had died, she'd only come here once every year, on his birthday, the longest day of the year. June twenty-first.

Today was June twenty-second. One day after Elian's birthday, Nico had run into her.

And something was going on between her and Nico. Even Elian hadn't created that sense of companionship that Nico did, not to mention that how she and Elian had fought together was nothing like how she and Nico did.

She missed him. Sometimes, the pain of losing Elian was intolerable and the only thing that prevented her from jumping into Chaos was knowing that he'd want her to live. So she did.

Your fault, your fault, your fault that he died, her brain chanted. It was her fault. If it wasn't for her, he would have lived to be far over eighteen years of age.

A flippant mask and wicked delight was a good way to hide the pain. Those few minutes after his death, Raven had allowed herself to mourn him. Then built her wall so high no one could even get past halfway.

The darkness in her had only grown, and grown, and grown, and everything inside her was now night. Except for that tiny ember of light. And even that was about to go out.

A tear pricked the corner of her eye and Raven hastily swiped it away and rolled out of her woolly mat. I won't be getting any sleep tonight, she thought, and headed towards the central chamber.

When Raven passed Nico's room, she stopped. Since there was no door, she could easily see him twitching in his sleep and muttering something.

Nightmare, she guessed, and prepared to keep going. Demigods got nightmares all the time, and Tartarus was no different.

"No . . . Bianca," Nico whispered. "You promised, Percy! I hate you!"

Raven stopped dead in her tracks.

She peeked back into his room. Now that she was examining him, she could see a sheen of sweat on his brow, and his skin was pale. Very, very, pale.

"Nico?" she asked, approaching him.

Nico muttered something in his sleep and turned over, but not before Raven saw the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Nico," Raven repeated. When there was no response, she reached out and poked him on the shoulder.

Still no response. Gods, this guy slept like the dead.

"No . . . " Nico whispered again, and Raven felt a tug in her shredded soul. Without thinking, she sat down next to the mat and extended her wing over him, letting the shadows snaking off the feathers calm him.

Nico's breathing immediately eased and deepened, and he stopped twitching and muttering in his sleep.

Somehow, Raven found herself tracing her eyes over the contours of his face. In sleep, all the worries and stress on his face had disappeared, along with the fear. His black hair was artfully mussed up, and the light did wonders to his cheekbones and jawline. In short, he was almost painfully cute. He even looked like his namesake, Di Angelo. Angel.

She wanted to touch him.

Raven shook her head. What is wrong with you? she screamed at herself. Do you want another repeat of Elian? Besides, no way in Chaos would your feelings be reciprocated. How could they, when you're a blood-sucking monster and the daughter of Nyx and Erebus?

She pulled out of that train of thought. Never again. Raven knew she should just leave, but still, she couldn't bring herself to withdraw her wing. So, she sat like that, her wing spread over him, for about twenty minutes, until she noticed him stirring, and quickly retracted her wing.

Nico opened his eyes, eyes that looked like dark chocolate, and jolted upright. "Gods, Raven. Were you watching me the whole time? And how long did I sleep for?"

Raven fought the heat rising to her cheeks. "No, I wasn't," she retorted. "And you slept for about two hours."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Whatever." He stared at her.

"What," she snapped.

A smirk tugged at Nico's mouth. Raven blocked the traitorous train of thought that crept into her head about that mouth.

"Nothing," Nico said. "Just . . ."

Before he could say anything, Raven blurted out, "Who's Bianca?"

"Wh-what?" Nico said, tensing. His eyes shuttered. "How did you . . ."

"You said her name in your sleep," she replied, fighting down the creeping jealousy in her gut. "Along with Percy." Raven, you're being ridiculous, she chided herself. You barely know him. And you're getting jealous of someone you don't even know?

"Oh." Nico watched her warily for a moment before looking thoughtful as if he was debating whether he could trust her.

Raven stifled the pang. Elian had looked at her the first time they met, and seeing it on Nico's face was downright painful.

"How 'bout a question for a question?" Nico asked.

Raven shrugged. She couldn't care less about what he asked. "Sure."

"Bianca was my sister," Nico started.

"Oh," Raven said.

"Who did you think she was?" he questioned.

"I just-never mind, go on," she replied, fighting the rising flush.

"Anyways," Nico said, smirking a bit, as if he knew exactly what that had been about, "she was my sister, and two years older than me. We grew up together in Italy, and then, after my mother died in the second world war, my father sent us to the Lotus Casino in Nevada. We spent seventy-two years there until Alecto pulled us out and sent us to this school in Maine."

He stopped, a weird emotion Raven couldn't place flashing across his face.

"And then we met Percy Jackson and his friends, along with the Hunters of Artemis, who saved us from a manticore."

Ah. Bitterness, that Raven could see. "She joined the Hunt," Raven guessed. "She left you."

Nico nodded. "Then she went on a quest to save Artemis. She never returned."

Raven didn't know what to say. 'I'm sorry' didn't cut it. She'd hated those two words after Elian's death, not that many people said that. Pity was something she never liked.

"It's okay, I know," Nico replied, apparently reading the struggle on her face. "I get it."

Damn the gods. How could he read everything on her face like that? Not even Elian . . . Raven shoved that down into the black pit inside her, focusing back on Nico.

"What does Percy have to do with it? You are talking about Percy Jackson, aren't you?"

Nico tensed again, then relaxed. "One question," Nico reminded. "You owe me another one."

"Fine."

"Percy followed after them because one of the original hunters couldn't go. He promised me that he would take care of her, but he failed. I hate him for that. But I also hate myself for that."

"No, you don't have to say anything," Nico added as he saw whatever expression on her face.  "And don't say 'It wasn't your fault.' Because it was my fault."

"I wasn't going to say that," Raven protested. "I understand. I really do. But really, you can't blame yourself for everything, you know."

Nico smiled wryly. "I know you understand. But you also blame yourself, don't you?"

"For what?" Raven asked him.

Eyes the colour of dark chocolate met those of molten gold. "For Elian's death."