A/N: This is a darker one-shot. It's set post TLO, and hopefully, I got Nico's character right.

The basic idea for this one-shot came from a lesson in my English class, but if you don't understand where Nico fits in with the description, you might want to Google "the Byronic Hero." It's pretty cool.

I have a few new things coming, and remember to go look at my profile if you want the inside information. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The · By · ron · ic · He · ro

Noun

1. Idealized but flawed character exemplified in the life and writing of Lord Byron

2. A melancholy and rebellious young man similar to Lord Byron himself

Nico walked through the woods, melting with and around the shadows. He had been gone for some time now, and he wasn't even sure where he was going. The trees were thick in this part of the country. There was just a sliver of the moon hanging in the sky, and it didn't produce enough light for him to see. But he didn't need it anyway.

He had always been like that. He never followed the norm. He didn't appreciate social gatherings like most other people he knew. He wasn't the normal teenager.

Which, he guessed that he deserved it. The facts piled up around him and reminded him that he still wasn't normal. One: he was from the 1940s. Two: he was alone. Three: he was an outcast. Four: he was a son of Hades. Five—

And the list goes on and on and on and on.

Nico really didn't think that it was fair. Why was he the one that was different? Why did he have to be the one that stuck out so painfully much? Why?

Even though they had won the war and everything, and even though everyone was kind of accepting him now, he just couldn't make himself learn to fit in. Sure, the gods had honored him for being a son of Hades and doing the right thing, but sometimes, Nico still felt like doing the wrong thing. When they had still been in the war, there were only a few factors that kept him from joining Kronos. Back then, there seemed to be more reasons for him to join Kronos, and it had been a serious struggle to keep his mind straight.

Percy Jackson was one of the things that seemed to threaten him and make him think that he could fall either way.

Stop, Nico thought desperately. He didn't even want to think about that name.

For a long time, Nico hadn't been able to stop thinking about him. When Nico had first met the son of Poseidon, he had been really young, and Percy had looked like a real hero. He had saved both Nico and Bianca that day, and from then on, Nico had wanted to be Percy Jackson.

Things got difficult when Bianca wasn't with him anymore.

Nico had turned his back on everything he had ever believed and thought when he found out that Bianca wasn't coming home. He supposed that was when his "emo" phase started. When it was too difficult to breath. When it was too crazy for him to stand up.

He had completely waved off the remote idea of becoming someone like Percy Jackson. Nico had hated him. He was the reason that Nico had lost Bianca. He was the reason that Nico was alone forever.

The forest seemed to darken with Nico's thoughts, and it became a little more difficult for him to slip through the trees without making mistakes. He could hear a few monster calls in every direction, and he might have been crazy for hoping that one of them would find him. He could use a fight right now.

That's really what he had been doing when he had left Camp after dinner last night. He couldn't really remember why, but he had just felt like he needed to go somewhere else without having to be around everyone. It wasn't necessarily that he still hated Percy—that wasn't true in the slightest—he just couldn't stand to look at him sometimes.

Maybe it was because he had all of these feelings built up inside of him, and he just needed a release. He needed something to get his mind off of all of the good things that were happening to everyone else lately.

Nico slipped through a few more trees. They were starting to thin out, and the moon in the sky was getting brighter. He had spent a lot of time out in these woods, and he knew that he was almost to the small pond that was a few miles from the edge of Camp. As he got even closer, he felt like someone was watching him.

Suddenly, Nico could hear voices.

He pulled back into the tree line immediately, halfway considering shadow traveling back to his cabin before someone caught him out here after curfew. Curiosity won out, and for now he decided to stick to the shadows.

Nico looked down the slight hill, and he could see two people running through the trees and down to the pond. The one closest to the water was laughing, and as Nico watched the one behind was trying to catch up.

"It's pathetic that I can outrun you, Seaweed Brain!" The one in the water said with a laugh.

Nico grimaced when he heard the familiar nickname. What were Percy and Annabeth doing out here?

"I so let you win, Annabeth," Percy said as he grabbed her from behind. She was laughing, and for some reason, the sound almost made Nico sick.

It wasn't Annabeth that made him upset. She definitely deserved to have a good, solid relationship after all of the stuff that the gods had put her through. She deserved to have a guy like Percy. She deserved so much more than Nico did, and he felt crazy for some of the things he thought about her.

Even if he did have the highest level of respect for Annabeth, he couldn't stand to think about Percy and Annabeth's relationship. They may have both deserved someone, but Nico deserved someone too. He wanted someone to laugh with. He wanted someone to joke around with. He wanted someone to kiss and hold hands with. He wanted someone to call "Seaweed Brain."

He wanted someone to love him.

Maybe it was because he was a son of Hades. Maybe that was why no one ever thought or even considered caring about him. Maybe he was just so repulsive and so bleary that no one thought he was capable of love.

Nico was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard a monster growl. The sound was so close, Nico thought that it was right beside him.

He was right. Not far to his left there was a bear and or lion looking creature (Nico wasn't any good with the historical content of monsters; he only knew to kill them if they growled at him) staring down at the spot where Percy and Annabeth were beside the pond. Right now, Annabeth was beginning to pull Percy closer and—

Nico cut his attention back to the monster. The thing was close enough that Nico could actually smell its scent. He could hear the growl that was coming from deep in its throat. He could see the way its eyes flickered back and forth between Percy and Annabeth, as if it were deciding which one of them would be an easier target.

The monster hadn't noticed Nico. Maybe because he was buried in the shadows. Maybe because he was Nico di Angelo, and he wasn't worth a monster noticing where he was. How pathetic was that?

Suddenly, the monster beside Nico tensed. Its muscles were bowed up, and it looked like it was ready to attack.

That was when Nico realized that he was in the perfect position to kill the monster before it attacked Percy and Annabeth. He could just kill it now before they even realized that anything was wrong.

Nico hesitated.

Why would he bother? If one of them got hurt, then that would mean he could step in and save the day, right? Whichever one of them survived (if either of them did) would owe Nico so much, and maybe they would realize that they could love him, right?

But was that fair? Could Nico really be able to live with himself if that happened? Would he be able to put up with the guilt of knowing that he caused one of them to die?

Nico slammed his eyes shut, trying to cram all of his thoughts out of his brain. What would the other campers think of him right now? If everyone could see how he was debating with himself about saving the camp's favorite leaders, would they even consider talking to him anymore? Would they make him an outcast like he was before?

If Bianca were here, what would she do? Would she do the right thing that helped everyone else? Or would she do the wrong thing that could make her life better?

Nico stepped out of the shadows.

Quicker than a rattlesnake, Nico struck the monster in the throat, cutting off all of the sound that the beast could have made. Its body turned to dust, and its spirit passed to Tartarus with an easy hiss.

"Did you hear that?" Percy asked suddenly.

Nico cast his eyes back down toward them.

Annabeth was lying on her back in the grass right beside the pond. Her hair was already out of her usual ponytail, and her blonde curls were splayed around her head. Percy was hovering over her, and he was looking back over his shoulder. Both of them had their shirts pushed up around their necks and-

"Hear what?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was breathless, and she had her arms around Percy, impatiently tugging him closer to her.

He looked around, and his eyes froze in Nico's direction. For half of a second, Nico thought that Percy had seen him, but then he just blinked and looked back down to Annabeth.

"Nothing. I thought I heard something," he said, bending his head back down.

"You're such a Seaweed—Oh! Percy!" Annabeth uncharacteristically squealed with a short laugh.

Nico scowled and stepped back into the darker shadows. He definitely wasn't going to stand here and watch this.

Maybe he had saved the day this time. Maybe that meant that he belonged with all of the other heroes. But what about the moment that he had hesitated? Did that mean that he really was an outcast? Did that mean that he should just stay in the Underworld for the rest of eternity?

His scowl deepened, and he moved with the shadows, bending and twisting them until he was back in his cabin and far, far away from Percy, Annabeth, and the pond.

He crawled into his bunk, wondering if he would ever really be a hero or if he would be stuck in this in-between good and evil stage for the rest of his life. He wondered if he would ever really be able to distinguish between right and wrong.

But he guessed it didn't matter. Having this problem was probably a common thing for a son of Hades, and it made Nico who he was. Maybe it was something to be proud of. Even as much as he hated it, he had to deal with it.

And hopefully he would figure out how.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a review!

-SomethingMoreCreative