Here is chapter two! Sorry it's a bit short, but I'm trying to find a way to space the chapters out so it makes sense. Anyway, thank you for reading, I appreciate you all!

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He was too late. By the time he got to the palace, she was already gone.

Nico was later told what had happened. On the trip, Bianca and her friends had stumbled on an old, unstable house in the middle of the woods. Apparently, Percy had dared her to go inside, mostly as a joke, but Bianca took it as a challenge. When she went inside...the building collapsed. His sister was on the brink of death when she got to the palace, and if he had only been there instead of...instead of with Will, maybe he could have saved her.

Now, Nico didn't blame Will, it...it wasn't his fault, but he just couldn't bring it upon himself to see him anymore. Anytime he got anywhere close to that dock, he felt a wave of guilt rush over him like a tidal wave.

"I'm sorry Will," Nico said, fiddling with the bottle that hung around his neck. With tears brimming his eyes, he took the necklace off, putting it in a small, black box with velvet cushioning on the inside. He then hid it in his desk to be forgotten.

"Nico?" A familiar voice spoke from behind the young prince's closed door.

"Percy," Nico whispered under his breath, nothing but anger in his voice.

He stood up and walked across his room, then opened the door to see his cousin, the great Perseus Jackson standing there. At first, he looked relieved, then once he saw the ten year old's look, his face turned guilty.

"Look, Nico, I'm so sorry-"

Suddenly, everything inside of him burst and exploded like a volcano. Everything he had pushed down, every suppressed emotion came up in a well of anger at Percy. 

"YOU!" Nico yelled, venom in his words. "YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED BIANCA!"

"No I didn't!" Percy said defensively. "I-I didn't mean it! I didn't know she would actually-"

"WELL SHE DID!" Nico screamed, tears forming in his eyes. "And...and now she's gone..."

"Nico, I'm so sorry, and I know how you feel..." Percy said, trying to comfort the little boy, but then made the mistake of trying to touch his shoulder.

"No you don't," Nico sneered. "She was my sister...and I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"You're right, I don't know," Percy said. "But I do know that Bianca didn't...wouldn't blame me. So I'm so sorry-"

"Get out," Nico said, slapping Percy's hand away. He didn't want to hear his apologies.

"What? Nico, I'm sorry-"

"I SAID GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY PALACE!" Nico screamed. "I DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL ME WHAT I'VE BEEN SCREAMING AT MYSELF FOR THE PAST HOUR!"

"Nico I-"

"Leave! Leave and don't come back! I never want to see your stupid face ever again!" Nico yelled. "Don't make me get the guards," Nico said quietly, glaring at Percy, who, for the first time, looked at Nico with a bit of fear in his eyes before running away.

After he left, Nico ran back into his room, and fell to the ground, crying as many tears as he could, and praying to whatever god was listening, that it was all just a dream.

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Nico only got worse as time went on. Hades ignored his son even more, if that was possible. He never saw Percy, which was fine by him. And the only person he was close to was one of the guards, a strong girl named Reyna, who he befriended a year later on the day of his sister's funeral. As it turned out, Reyna was Bianca's personal guard, and cared deeply for the young girl and mourned her death almost as much as Nico did.

"She was a brave warrior," Reyna always said. "And you are too."

One of the only things that helped him cope was training. He took daily lessons with Reyna to practice and eventually master using a sword. He was a monster, as fighting was his only outlet for everything that had built up inside. While he still hadn't beaten Reyna, he had bested all of the other guards in the palace. Nico soon became nearly emotionless, always wore dull colors, and barely ever cracked a smile.

And Will, that little merboy from so long ago, would soon be forgotten by Nico. Becoming what the prince told himself was just a dream, an imaginary friend he had made up as a child to rid his loneliness. And that bottle that stayed hidden in that little black box would never be given a second thought.