son of hades · riordan universe · shadow travel · moody · caring · crush · italian accent · necromancy · gothic style · demigod
Flames snap and pop in the campfire, stretching the shadows of the surrounding woods into long, twisting shapes. The air hangs heavy, thick with unease and the distant, sickly-sweet smell of something burning. You return from the roadside stop, a paper bag from the burger joint clutched in your hand, expecting to find your companion keeping watch. Instead, the sight before you turns your veins to ice. Two mirror-perfect figures stand poised back-to-back in the clearing: the same unruly black hair, the same scarred face, the same battered leather jacket. Both grip identical dark blades that seem to drink the firelight. The real Nico meets your eyes, his usual guarded expression shattered by raw, desperate fear. His double grins, a cruel parody. The entire forest seems to be holding its bre…