Title: Forget-Me-Not Black
Summary: In trying to help Leo get back to the camp, Nico incurs the wrath of a certain vengeful goddess and overuses his power. Now, not only is the son of Hades fading physically, he was also fading in the memories of everyone he ever held dear. Canon Pairings

Chapter I

Nico's eyes snap open and he abruptly sat up as he sensed a change in his death radar. Will Solace, who had been checking his vitals, jumped back.

"Whoah, you really don't like being touched do you?" The son of Apollo joked as he retracted his fingers which had been taking the other's pulse. "Look, I'm sorry for taking your pulse while you were asleep but I thought you needed some rest and I wasn't about to wake you up just to-"

The son of Hades opened his mouth, probably to tell the blonde healer that he really didn't mind and he was sorry for scaring him (he isn't sure about what he feels about Will yet, so he is treading carefully around him because he doesn't need another heartbreak after Percy Jackson, thank you very much. And if the skeletal butterflies in his stomach were anything to go by, this boy-this bright, cheerful, totally-his-opposite boy-had the potential to be another Percy Jackson in his life and might possibly cause him even more heartbreak than Percy ever did if he didn't smart up and do something) but then he froze and he looked at the window, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Will cut himself off, tilting his head slightly at the strange reaction, "Nico?"

The dark-haired teen raised a hand, silencing the other automatically as he closed his eyes, face turned to the window. He could sense the living souls all around him, the bright pinpoints of lights that represented the fire of life of the demigods. A hundred kilometers west he could feel the souls of the old and dying coming from a hospital not far. He concentrated, pulling himself into a trance as he searched even farther and tried to grasp the disturbance he felt.

His radar seemed to shake, as though someone who was supposed to dead had somehow gotten back into the world of the living. The feeling felt distant but it was there and he was pretty sure it wasn't Hazel, whose presence he could feel and was on the other side of the world (people who were dead but came back to life had strong presences, just like that Gwen girl). This presence felt faint but most probably that was because of the distance but it was familiar, almost like-

The face of a certain demigod from the Seven entered his mind, smiling brightly, hair crazy, face covered in soot, and his soul so bright and powerful just like the flames he controlled. Nico flinched back as though burned, eyes snapping open in surprise.

A pair of warm hands caught him by the shoulder and Nico looked up into the pale blue eyes of the son of Apollo who was frowning down at him in concern.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I- uh-" Nico couldn't help but be distracted by the face so close to his and he flinched at the touch on his shoulder but instead of letting go (really, Solace had no self-preservation sense at all if he was touching Nico of all people. Nico who could summon an army of skeletons to kick his ass for even daring to touch him), Will's grip tightened. "Death trance." He finally breathed out, "It's uh, when I need to concentrate, I go into a trance and uh, yeah." Great, he sounded like an idiot. He probably looked like an idiot in front of Will too.

The young healer frowned at him before finally letting go to cross his arms. Nico let out a sigh of relief, trying not to miss the warmth as he looked at Will. "I thought I told you no Underworld-y stuff? Are you breaking our deal, di Angelo?"

"Don't be a drama queen, Solace." Oops, there goes his default moody-teen setting. His nerves were ramped up because of the presence he felt and hope was warm in his chest. He felt slightly light-headed at the good news he could tell his friends, Jason and Piper would be so ecstatic, he wouldn't be surprised if they cried in front of them. Still, this was no reason to start snapping at his new-maybe-crush. He cleared his throat, "I was just trying to sense everyone's aura. I thought I felt something."

"And?" Will's eyebrow raised, "Is there a threat?"

Nico blinked, "No, no threat. I just felt a minor disturbance in my radar, but no threat." He assured him.

"Your radar?"

"Hard to explain." The son of Hades said automatically as he looked at the window before back again, "Anyway, were you performing my last check up?"

The son of Apollo gave him a look at the change of subject but decided not to push. "It's the third day, I can't exactly let you go without seeing if you're good to leave." He said as he sat by the edge of the bed and reached out.

By now, Nico was used to the son of Apollo taking his hands to sense if the darkness was threatening to envelop his existence again. His pulse jumped when warm hands took his cold ones, the thrum of electricity in his veins warming his blood. He watched Will close his eyes, humming to himself, the son of Hades took this chance to observe the features of his counterpart in the setting sun.

"You've been a surprisingly good patient for the last three days, di Angelo." Will said as he opened his eyes and gave him a lazy smile. He let go of Nico's hands, "You're almost at a hundred percent now. You just need to take it easy and continue drinking some unicorn draught for the next few days." And then he added sternly, "Don't overuse your powers. Since you're a child of Hades, you're more powerful than the other demigods but your power isn't compatible with your body, which is why when you use it too much, there's a harsh backlash on you."

It was probably because he was too thin and ate McDonald's too much during his younger years, Nico decided. He nodded before asking, "When can I leave?"

A flash of emotion passed Will's face, too fast to see but the son of Apollo quickly smiled at him to cover it up, "Aw, come on, your stay in the infirmary wasn't really that bad, was it?"

Nico wondered if the healer was hurt at his sudden eagerness to leave. "No, no it wasn't that bad." He assured the other quickly, "I got some rest even if Jason was being annoying and insisted on visiting every few hours." He grumbled.

Will laughed good-naturedly and the expression on his face softened, "Yeah, he didn't need to worry about you being lonely here." Nico sputtered, "Besides, I was here to keep you company, right?"

The son of Hades was horribly aware that he must be blushing so he cleared his throat and just nodded. He can't help but curse his pale complexion which probably brought out his blush even more. "Yeah, uh, thanks, Solace." He said it sincerely though with a touch of embarrassment, "So, am I good to go?"

"Oh, wait, not yet. Let me do one last thing." Will said as Nico blinked at him. The young healer leaned forward and cupped Nico's face, making the younger teen look at him in surprise. He leaned forward and touched his forehead with the other's, eyes closing.

If Nico was red before, he was afraid he looked like a sunburnt radish now.

"Okay, you're a little warm but I guess that's just probably from sleep." Will said as he leaned back and let go with a grin. Nico gulped and had the urge to punch the son of Apollo in the stomach, run, and never come back. "You're okay to leave now, Nico."

Of course, when his emotions got the best of him, Nico did the only thing he'd always done whenever faced with a confusing situation. Get angry, "Don't do that again," He hissed but he had a feeling that he didn't look as scary as he wanted, especially with the blush still present on his cheeks. "I don't like being touched."

Instead of recoiling like Jason and a hundred other people did, Will just shrugged, "I held your hands before to sense the darkness in you and that constituted as touching." He pointed out, "You didn't seem to complain." He said teasingly and Nico felt the swarm of skeletal butterflies in his stomach become bees.

"That- That was different! It was for medical reasons!" Nico said defensively, "You could have used a- a thermometer!"

"Too much of a hassle." Will said easily as he leaned forward, still grinning. "Anyway, are you going to go and leave or should the doctor order you another three days in the infirmary?"

That made the younger teen jumped up from his bed, nearly tripping in his haste. "You're such a pain, Solace." And you're not even a real doctor.

"Aw, is that your way of telling me you love me?"

The heat in his face couldn't be healthy. The son of Hades was starting to feel light-headed, "Sh-Shut up! I'm leaving!"

He just knew Will waving at his retreating form, "Don't forget! No Underworld-y stuff for at least a month!"

"Whatever, Solace!"

"Nico." The voice that called to him was serious this time surprising him into looking back. Will's face was stern, "I'm serious."

His stomach did a strange flipping thing and he fought the urge to swallow nervously so he just nodded. He cringed internally at his lie. "Yeah." He said softly instead.

The smile Will gave him could have put the sun to shame.

Nico knew that finding the sudden, unexpected presence of one Leo Valdez in the land of the living was not something he could ignore. He knew that he should probably tell the others about this, but he didn't want to get their hopes up and watch it fall when it turned out that he had been dreaming the return of the infamous fire-wielder. So, he did the next best, logical thing, which was to pack for a self-assigned mission, get some permission from Chiron (so that the others wouldn't be suspicious of his absence), find Leo, and if he found him, drag him back to the cabin without anyone knowing he'd used his Underworld-y powers only a few weeks after nearly fading from existence.

Yep, that sounded about right.

The son of Hades opened his backpack, checking his money, placing a small bag of drachmas, a few hundred dollars, some clothes, ambrosia, nectar, and unicorn draught, and a first aid kit inside. He mentally checked anything he may have forgotten before straightening and snapping his fingers, putting out the torches.

Because of the dark walls, the Hades' cabin was darker on the inside than the other cabins, and this allowed Nico to sink into the cold embrace of shadows once more.

When he reappeared on a certain dark corner of the Big House, Chiron had been reading a dark, thick book on Roman history. He glanced up in surprise when the son of Hades stumbled forward with his bag. After a few weeks of not using his shadow-travel, the sensation of doing it had started to feel alien again, like the first time he did it. The son of Hades figured he'd get used to it again in time or maybe it was an after effect of being nearly becoming a shadow himself.

"Nico." Chiron said as he got up from his human disguise and emerged as a centaur. He frowned down at the son of Hades who blinked up blearily at him. "What do you think you're doing, shadow-traveling here? Hasn't Will told you to lay off on your powers? I heard from Hedge about what happened during your journey to get back the Athena Parthenos."

Oh great, had the coach told everyone about his moment of weakness? And how did Chiron know about Will's instructions? Had the healer gone around the camp telling everyone to keep an eye on him?

"I'm fine. I just didn't want to be seen." The son of Hades sighed as he ran a hand through his mussed up hair. "Besides, that was weeks ago and I'm feeling better. I was even released from the infirmary and everything."

"Recently released." Chiron corrected, still with a disapproving frown, as he crossed his arms. "You better have a good reason for this, son of Hades."

"I do." Nico said firmly, "Chiron, I want you to grant me a quest."

Whatever Chiron was expecting, it wasn't that. "A quest?"

"A retrieval of sorts." He faltered slightly at the centaur's inquiring gaze, so he added, "I sense that Leo Valdez may be alive."

Instead of being surprised, the teacher of heroes shifted from his spot, hoofs thumping nervously on the wood. "He won't be the first hero to come back to us alive." He admitted, "But if you say you sensed-"

"Earlier today I sensed a disturbance in the living world, like- like something suddenly appeared out of nowhere and came back. Sure, ghosts do that a lot, but this spark didn't feel like a fading soul, or a chained flame, it was more like a solid presence. Someone coming back to life." Nico explained to him. "It felt a lot like Leo's presence."

"Then, isn't it for the best if we tell the others of this good news?"

The young teen bit at his lip, eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not exactly sure if it's Valdez though. I could have dreamt it or it could be someone else entirely." He said before taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, "Either way, this quest is for the son of Hades. If it is Valdez then I'll bring him back here, if it's some random mortal soul coming back to life then I have to check out how it happened and put a stop to it before dead people come springing back to life, if it's another titan being revived then I have to kill it."

"This quest should be done by three people…"

Nico snapped his fingers and Jules-Albert appeared beside him, along with his favorite skeleton buddy, Bob Jr. "Three, like you said."

Chiron gave him an exasperated look, "You, Thalia, and Percy… I guess being stubborn and reckless is in the Big Three's blood." He sighed, "Very well, I grant you this quest Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, but in one condition."

The young teen looked at the centaur warily, "Yeah?"

"Promise me that once you come back, you will get the rest you deserve." Chiron said sternly, "Proper rest. The gods know you deserve it."

Nico cracked a small smile, "I'll see what I can do."

Brown eyes softened, "You know, you need not do this quest alone. I'm sure, there are people who would gladly extend their assistance to you. So, why do you choose to do this alone?"

The searching eyes made him feel uneasy so Nico just shrugged, "I don't know, I guess, I'm just trying to make up for some things."

"And those things would be?"

"A lot of things." Nico answered, "I just- I just know I have to do this. Not just for Jason and the others but also for me, I guess. Maybe I see this quest as a sort of redemption."

"You feel as if you're redeeming yourself." Chiron nodded in understanding, "I could tell you that you do not need to seek redemption, that you don't have anything to redeem for, but you wouldn't believe me, would you?"

The young teen flashed back to what he did to Bryce Lawrence, reducing him to nothing more than another faceless, nameless spirit and then to Octavian firing the onager and himself right towards death. He shook his head, "I've done a lot of awful things, Chiron. I'm not a good person."

"A truly evil person would not see himself in the wrong, he always believes he is in the right and that it's everyone else who is evil and wrong." Chiron said softly. The teen didn't say anything to that so the centaur said instead, "Be well, Nico di Angelo and may the gods be with you on your quest."

Nico had nothing to say to that, so he just nodded before turning to that one dark corner, falling forward and into the cold embrace of shadows and darkness.

It was nearing dinnertime and Will had just finished another busy round at the infirmary. After the war with Gaea, a lot of campers had to come in and do their regular check-ups so that the children of Apollo could check if they were healing nicely or if there would be complications with their injuries. Hopefully this week's number of check-ups were dwindling, since majority of the campers were healing up quite nicely.

The son of Apollo looked around the gathered campers heading towards the dining pavilion. He wondered where Nico was again. After his afternoon check-out from the infirmary, no one seemed to have seen him (he'd ask around) and Will had a bad feeling that maybe the son of Hades' ignored his 'no underworld-y stuff for about a month' order which would definitely earn the son of Hades a smack on the head by yours truly and also a week of confinement in the infirmary.

Will was headed towards his own rowdy table when he spotted Jason. He turned ninety degrees east and walked towards the son of Jupiter instead, running up to him and tapping him on the shoulder.

"Oh, hey Will!" Jason greeted, straightening his glasses. Will was still not used to the fact that Jason wore glasses now. "I heard Nico got out this afternoon, I wasn't able to catch him though. Is he alright?"

"He's fine, I wouldn't have released him if he weren't." The son of Apollo assured. "So, you didn't see Nico at all, after he was released?"

Jason's forehead crinkled, "No. I even went to his cabin before I came here and he wasn't there."

Just as Will was about to voice out his worry, Chiron appeared and headed to the center of the gathered demigods.

"Okay, everyone, settle down, settle down. I have a few announcements to make before dinner." The hero trainer said as everyone rushed to their own respected table with their siblings. Will waved at Jason, promising to talk to him later before going to join his siblings. His eyes couldn't help but stray towards the lone Hades' table, lips pursing at the absence of a certain dark-haired demigod.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one to notice Nico's absence. Percy was also frowning at Nico's table in contemplation, Annabeth seemed to be looking around as though Nico was just late, Jason was exchanging looks with Piper who sat at the Aphrodite table with her siblings. Even Lou Ellen and Cecil looked concerned.

Will sighed, Nico, maybe if your bangs weren't so long you'd be able to see how everyone cares about you. He thought to himself, joke falling flat when he turned to look at the Hades' table again.

"Our Roman friends has sent me a message, inviting any interested demigods who are about to go to university to a short tour in the College of New Rome." Chiron said smiling when a few older demigods began to talk excitedly amongst themselves. Percy shot Annabeth a bright smile. "Also, with regards to the Hephaestus Cabin on Bunker nine…"

Will allowed Chiron's words to wash over him, not really listening to the brief announcement about Bunker nine or the new rules and regulations of the camp or when Mr. D would be coming about or about Nico di Angelo -

Wait, Nico?

The son of Apollo's head snapped up just in time to hear Chiron say, "-is on a quest."

"A quest?" Someone echoed and Will saw Jason straightening up at the corner of his eye. "But with Apollo out of commission, there shouldn't be any prophecies for a quest. How can Nico be doing a quest?"

The centaur thoughtfully scratched at his chin, "You are right, of course, Jason. But even without prophecies, demigods are still constantly needed to keep the balance in the mortal world. Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, is doing exactly that."

"But he just got out of the infirmary." Piper protested.

"He assured me he was one hundred percent fine."

"Shouldn't you be getting that assurance from someone from the Apollo cabin?" Annabeth asked suspiciously, but she remained seated, "You know, someone like Will?"

"I trust Nico's judgment just as he'd trust me with his life."

"Tell me he, at the very least, didn't go alone." Percy pointed out, a frown on his face, "Tell me he brought a friendly satyr or one of the others with him."

"He has Jules-Albert and Bob Jr. with him. Perfectly capable company." Chiron assured them.

As the demigods began talking to themselves, (one of the Stoll brothers even asking, "Who the hell is Bob Jr.?"), Will slowly stood up, garnering a few of the people's attention to him.

"When will he get back?" The usually upbeat and easy-going son of Apollo asked in a soft voice. Everyone was staring at him now but he didn't care. "When will di Angelo come back from his quest?"

Chiron shook his head, "He didn't say, but knowing him and the task he had been given, which I'm not disclosing," He said automatically just as Percy opened his mouth to ask, "I presume he will be back in a week or maybe less."

The son of Apollo accepted this with a nod, "Good." He said as he sat back down, expression neutral. "When he gets back I want everyone to restrain him and drag him into the infirmary. I'll tie that idiot to the bedpost just to get it in his thick skull to rest, if I have to."

The campers let out wolf-whistles and the others clapped. Someone even yelled, "Kinky!" But everyone knew from the expression on Will Solace's face that he was serious in delivering his threats.

Oh well, Nico's return would definitely be something to see.

A few days later…

Leo let out a puff of breath, pushing himself away from beneath his mechanical dragon and looking up at the sky instead of bolts and screws for a change. He allowed his senses to be taken over by nature rather than machinery for awhile.

Suddenly his view was blocked by a pretty face, almond color eyes staring at him in curiosity. "Leo, are you alright?"

The fire-wielder blinked for a few seconds before a slow grin came over his face, "Hey." He mumbled as he consciously wiped at a grease stain he knew was somewhere on his face. "I'm fine, just got a bit tired with messing with Festus' inner working and stuff." He shrugged.

"Perhaps you should get some rest." Calypso advised as she finally pulled back and Leo had to sit up and turn just to keep her pretty face in sight. "You've been up a few days, 'tinkering'." Her nose scrunched up at the word but Leo couldn't help but feel pride at the fact that she was using one of the words he taught her.

"Yeah, but I really want to get back to my friends as soon as I can. I want to introduce you to them and maybe when you see Percy you can finally sock him on the face." He said hopefully to which Calypso just laughed. "Also, I'm not sure how long has passed since we left Ogygia and I'm getting worried that maybe it's been years or something and I have a lot to catch up on."

"That's true, but you aren't good to anyone tired Leo Valdez." Calypso pointed out, her eyes softening in worry. "If they are your friends, then I'm sure they can wait a little longer to be reunited with you."

The son of Hephaestus blinked before nodding slowly, "Yeah." He looked around. "Camping out here for long can't be healthy. I wish I knew where we are so we can find a place with an actual bed and fireplace for a change." He huffed.

"I do not mind." The young goddess said, "I always preferred looking up at the open sky of stars before I slept. It always made me feel so free. And now, I'm actually free." She gave Leo a blinding smile, "Thanks to you, of course, Leo Valdez."

Leo was aware that he was blushing, if he wasn't careful, his face would burst into flames. So he did what he was best at, which was to clear his throat and said in a confident tone, "Of course, I'm the man after all."

Calypso laughed at his false bravado, "The man of what?" She teased.

Leo's face of confidence was replaced by a thoughtful one, "You know, the man of awesomeness, action, heroism! Like Piper's dad!"

"You tell me her dad is an actor." Calypso said, "But he only plays a part of a hero, he isn't an actual hero. So I don't see the sense of comparing yourself to him when you are a hero."

Oh great, his face was probably going to self-combust at the rate he was blushing. Pretty girls complimenting him was pretty rare like water in a dessert. (Aside from Piper but hey, she's a different story) "I- uh, but you know he's really awesome when plays the part of a hero." He said instead, "Has the awesome powers and stuff. Like I think in one movie he had that power to travel into different places with a snap of his fingers."

Calypso hummed thoughtfully, "That is a pretty convenient power."

Leo sighed longingly, "Yeah, I know right? It would be pretty convenient if we had something like that right now. If only I could fly like Jason, I could just whisk you to camp and come back for Festus though I doubt I can carry this heavy piece of dragon metal." He patted his friend fondly to which his dragon replied with a whir. "Or maybe it would be easier if I could shadow travel instead like Nico di Angelo! Man, I'd totally rock the emo look and powers."

"Di Angelo?" Calypso repeated the Italian name curiously.

"Yeah, son of Hades and all that jazz." He explained, "He has this awesome Stygian iron sword and he can travel through places with the shadows, summon armies of skeleton for kicks at parties and he-"

"-can totally come to China and drag your butts back to Camp Half-blood." A voice cut through Leo's rant, making the new couple look up just as a certain son of Hades stepped out from the shadows. Dark eyes twinkled with softness and a relaxed emotion Leo had never ever seen on the other's face before. "Hello, Leo Valdez." The dark-haired teen greeted with a smirk, "Welcome back to the land of the living."

Author's notes: Uhm, hello SolAngelo fans! Nice to meet you! Is it okay to ride this ship of the sun angel? XD So yeah, here's my peace offering, this fic will span more than three chapters but less than five (I hope). I already started the second chapter so yeah, you don't have to worry about that. Uhm, this story is called Forget-Me-Not Black which is based on the flower Forget-Me-Not blue which is uh, now that I think about it, doesn't make sense except for the forget me not part. It's like a title saying don't forget Nico since the forget me not flower is named as such because the blue is hard to forget.

I think.

Anyway, thanks for reading this and uh, I love reviews! TY!