Boys Like Boys [Nico di Angelo]

chapter seventeen

"Thanks for uh...cleaning everything up last night," I said sheepishly as Nico glanced up at me from behind the cards in his hands. We were playing a new card game, and I was determined to beat Nico, but it looked like he was winning.

"It's fine. Sometimes you just have to let it out," he assured me, a soft smile on his lips. I grinned back and felt my cheeks heat up as I looked down at my cards. "Each time you look away, I'm going to skip you," he murmured, playing a 'Skip' card down. I gasped dramatically, glaring at him.

"You didn't."

"I'm pretty sure I just did," he said deviously, a smirk on his face. I felt butterflies swarm in my stomach at how attractive he looked with that kind of smile. My face flushed, so I avoided his eyes. "Skip."

"How am I ever going to play the game if you keep skipping me?" I asked, exasperated, as I threw my hands in the air. I looked up at his eyes and he raised an eyebrow, challenging me. Fine. If he was going to play like that, so was I.

Our eyes locked and I refused to look away. His smirk softened and I raised an eyebrow, grinning as his cheeks flushed a slight pink. I raised a hand and ran it through my hair, watching as he looked towards the floor.

"Ha! Skip you, motherfu-" Suddenly, Nico's eyes widened as he grabbed onto my hand. "What? What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"We have to go."

"Go where-"

Suddenly, everything went dark and a weird feeling settled over me. As soon as I came to, I saw that we were in Nico's cabin anymore. I blinked and noticed wilting flowers, and that we were in a dark and eerie place. The sky was a dark brown, like a contaminated wasteland, and the ground was obviously dead and decayed. Where were we?

"N-Nico?" I whimpered and felt his grip tighten on my hand.

"I'm right here."

Thunder boomed off into the distance, but it sounded louder and scarier, like a dark, ominous rolling that couldn't possibly mean anything good. I felt my chest tighten as I stood in front of him him, placing a hand on his jacket and tightening it in my fist.

"Where are we?" I asked quietly and he took a look around.

"If we're being technical? The Fields of Asphodel."

"The Fields of...that means..." I trailed off, watching as a woman paler than Nico sludged passed, as if she were walking through mud. She looked at me, and her eyes were dull and lifeless. It reminded me of the cats eyes when I had caught it.

I quickly looked down at my shoes and felt my hand shake in Nico's grasp. He must've noticed my distress, because he looked down at me.

"Hey, it's okay. She's just a spirit."

"Why are we here?"

Another boom of rolling thunder sounded off in the distance. Was that thunder? It almost didn't sound like it.

"My father called me down here," he responded quietly, pulling me as he walked quickly through the Fields of Asphodel. We weaved in between spirits and the thought that these were lives portrayed in front of me really messed up my head. The thunder rolled again and I jumped. "It's not thunder. I promise."

"Then what is it?"

"I think you'd prefer it if I didn't tell you," he said quietly and it made a shiver run down my spine.

"I don't like it here," I whimpered and he tossed me a look.

"We're almost to Hades' place. It'll be a lot better," he assured me, and it kind of helped, but the place was still really horrifying, so I just looked at Nico. I watched his eyes flicker as he navigated us, how his frown seemed permanently stitched onto his face. He looked almost at home and at peace here, and I overwhelmingly felt like an intruder. Suddenly, a mansion came into view. It was black as night and several stories high. Nico tugged me there, before knocking on the door. It boomed and echoed throughout the whole place, before it creaked open and a woman came into view. She was gorgeous, incredibly beautiful, and gave off a regal vibe.

  Her hair was a golden blonde, and her eyes were a soft sky blue. She kind of reminded me of summer and the sun, but her clothes were dark and heavy looking, like a teenager in their goth years. Well, that's who Nico gets it from, I thought to myself, a small smile settling onto my face.

  "I need to speak with my father," Nico said and the woman nodded, before her eyes settled on me, a blonde eyebrow raising. "This is Calum, a son of Thanatos."