#xico

She'd created a portal out of Mictlan, the Mexica Underworld, in search of Camp Half-Blood. She'd originally escaped to the camp the previous year, when her home in Morelia was invaded by an angry Goddess of Death, Mictecacihuatl. Although she had wanted to fight to protect her home, her father, the Underworld god Mictlantecuhtli, ordered her to leave and find Camp Half-Blood in Long Island. There she would be safe, and she could train to be a stronger fighter by the day. It'd been a treacherous journey across America, though she and her dog, Pistache, had braved it together.

Thinking of dogs brought Xomali back to the matter at hand: the gargantuan hellhound locking eyes with her now. Its eyes glittered like rubies, a low growl revealing sharp, dense teeth.

Xomali was normally a dog person, though she had a feeling this dog was not too keen on playing fetch.

"I don't want to hurt you," Xomali murmured, trying in vain to calm her heart at the sight of the monster. "I come from the Underworld, just like you."

The hellhound, to her surprise, leaned forward and sniffed her. Just as Xomali was starting to think the hellhound might not hurt her, it growled and lunged, tackling her against the earth.

Xomali instinctively stabbed her knife-face into the dirt. The ground around her rose, the hellhound sliding off her. The daughter of Mictlantecuhtli rolled off the uneven earth, scrambling to her feet just as the hellhound let out a hair-raising howl.

Her ears ringing, Xomali held her hands over the earth, willing the ground to open before her. Two jaguars burst from the dirt, growling and circling the monster.

Xomali didn't like to summon the jaguars—but seeing as she only had her knife-face on her, she saw no other way.

The jaguars charged the hellhound, the monster letting out a bark like a clap of thunder before biting into one of the jaguars. The poor creature yowled, crumpling to the Earth.

The other jaguar pounced, scratching down the hellhound's back, the monster howling in pain. Her heart pounding, Xomali charged the hellhound, jumping on top of its back and charging her knife into its neck. The monster crumpled beneath her, turning to a glittering golden dust.

Xomali caught her breath, her eyes stinging as the fallen jaguar's body sank into the earth. He would be reborn again in Mictlan, but that wasn't the most reassuring thing to tell herself after seeing her poor protector fallen like that.

Xomali wiped her stinging eyes, sheathing her knife-face as she continued through the trees. Luckily, no other monsters seemed eager to attack—either because they saw what she'd made of the hellhound, or because the remaining jaguar continued prowling by her side.

It wasn't long before the trees thinned and Xomali emerged from the woods, her heart skipping a beat as she recognized the back of the Hades cabin. She gestured for the other accompanying jaguar to leave her. Her protector did so, pawing the earth before sinking back down into it. He would be back to Mictlan soon enough, back to his usual duty of eating the hearts of her father's visitors and other cute, fun activities.

The cleaning harpies chittered about the other side of the cabins, but Xomali wasn't too worried. Per usual, she wasn't wearing shoes, meaning her steps would be completely silent—as long as they didn't see her, she should be good to go.

Indeed, she just managed to slip inside the cabin as the harpies worked their way over, meaning she was in the clear.

Xomali let out a deep breath, relieved at the familiar sights and smells of the Hades cabin. Nico always melted candles that smelled like vanilla or pine, making the dark room seem a little more like a home.

The son of Hades was in his bed, though he didn't seem to fall asleep in any conventional way; his blanket was haphazardly draped across his sleeping form, and he was resting against the black stone wall. It couldn't have been comfortable.

Her steps still silent, Xomali approached him, sitting on his bed. She then placed a hand on his forehead—his skin was cool, as always.

A moment later, Nico snapped awake, grasping Xomali's wrist. He met her eyes, for a moment looking as though he were ready to fight before realizing who she was. He let go of her wrist, letting out a shaky breath as he calmed himself down.

"I don't know how many times I told you to stop doing that," Nico managed, pulling Xomali into a hug, resting his forehead against the crook of her neck. "I swear, you're taking years off my life every time...but I'm glad you're back."

He pulled away, studying Xomali's face. "Are you okay? You didn't get into any trouble on the way, did you?"

Xomali frowned. What kind of question was that? She was a demigod, same as him—or a godspawn, anyway. Trouble would always find her.

Still, she shook her head, shrugging as if to say 'nothing I couldn't handle.'

Nico nodded, seeming satisfied with her answer. "I fell asleep waiting on you—I know you said I shouldn't, but I can't help it. Next time, I'll go with you, okay?"

Xomali shook her head. It wasn't that she didn't want Nico to come with her—it wasn't even that she doubted how he could handle himself, because she'd seen him fight. It was just that he'd never been to Mictlan before, just like how she had never been to the Underworld before. There would be a day for that at some point in the future, but for now...

"You know what they say about in-laws," Xomali said, her voice soft from a lack of speaking.

Nico scoffed, but his smile was amused. "Yeah, I'm sure not everything is perfect with your family, same as mine, but...it's nothing we couldn't handle together."

Xomali shrugged, unsure of what to say to such an offer. She and Nico hadn't been 'together' for that long, if 'together' would even be the right way to phrase it. How could she be sure he'd still want to be with her enough to introduce each other to their home worlds?

She leaned her head against Nico's shoulder, linking an arm with his, signaling that she was going to sleep for the night. Exhaustion weighing on her from her trip, she found her eyes closing with ease, sinking into a light sleep as she rested against Nico.

———

Xomali was in the forges when Leo said it, and it made her wish she hadn't visited him at all.

"So your boyfriend—who's not your boyfriend, by the way—wants to go to Mictlan with you, and you're reluctant," Leo said, not looking at her—he was too focused on what looked like a porcupine-shaped go cart. He was sitting on one of those boards with wheels, and he scooted over to the nearby worktable, reaching around for a wrench just out of reach.

"I would help you," Xomali said, crossing her arms. "But if you're going to be rude, you can fend for yourself."

Leo cursed, reaching into his tool belt and pulling out a copy of the wrench he needed. "No matter, diablita. And I'm not being rude, just honest. You act as if you and Nico are an item but you're also not an item, and then you wanna do these couple things with him, but you don't, and it's like...gods, it seems exhausting."

"Easy for you to say," Xomali's face flushed. "With you and Piper being...how you are."

Leo grinned, finally pausing his work to look up at Xomali. "What do you mean?"

"Don't act dumb," Xomali frowned. "I'm not elaborating."

"Okay, fine," Leo said, wiping his hands with a shop rag. "I'm going to pretend that you said how you're really feeling: 'oh, Leo, you romantic genius, you! Please, give me relationship advice, I really wanna get serious with a guy that looks like a living skeleton!'"

"I'm this close to summoning a jaguar on your ass," Xomali muttered.

"Alright, I'll give you some advice!" Leo ignored her threat. "You need to be a bit more...traditional. Or forward. You remember how I made Piper that mechanical bouquet of flowers that changed for every day of the week? If you take the steps to actually cement that you two are a thing, then maybe you won't feel so hesitant about bringing him down to Mictlan, you know?"

Xomali pondered the advice. On the one hand, Leo sounded like an absolute ass, per usual. But on the other...maybe he had a point. Xomali was so used to things changing around her, it would be nice if she and Nico felt a little more...stable.

"Thank you," Xomali said softly, as if she were admitting defeat. "That...actually makes sense. I'll think about it."

"You're welcome," Leo replied. "Now, I gotta get this finished for Harley. If you need help making something for Nico...my queue is, like, a million years long, so..."

"Noted," Xomali wrung her hands together. She slipped out of the forges, looking around at the other cabins until she spotted the familiar pink Barbie Dreamhouse cabin. "I guess it couldn't hurt to get a second opinion..."

———

"Oh, hi, Xomali! Here, have a seat," Piper cleared away some space on her bed, which was currently cluttered with posters and knick-knacks. She must have been redesigning her bunk—and Xomali knew that she would look for any excuse to procrastinate on that.

Piper got out her makeup caboodle and opened it up, rifling through an assortment of eyeshadow pallets, blush brushes, and eyeliner pencils. There was a point a while back where Piper wouldn't touch makeup—and while she still wasn't the biggest fan, she was coming around to it. She mostly liked doing other people's makeup, and Xomali couldn't deny that she liked their little unspoken routine. She couldn't help but look in the mirror and smile at Piper's work whenever she gave her a makeover.

So, Xomali told Piper everything that was going on, just as she had done for Leo. She had to pause at random moments to stay still, and she almost got out her knife-face when Piper was a little too reckless with the eyeliner pencil, but they both got through unscathed.

When Xomali told her Leo's advice, Piper actually laughed, rolling her eyes before applying mascara to Xomali's lashes.

"Leo's such a prick," Piper said, her fond smile not leaving her lips. She glanced over at her bouquet of mechanical flowers—today's type was roses. "He watches too many rom-coms and thinks that holding a boombox outside someone's window is the fix-it for any issue."

Xomali's brows furrowed. "So...you don't like the things he does for your relationship?"

"Oh, no, I do," Piper shook her head. "I love those kinds of gifts, as long as he's not too too loud about it. The flowers are beautiful, but if he held a boombox outside of my cabin, I might use him for target practice."

Piper riffled through her nightstand drawer and pulled out a hairbrush, gently brushing through Xomali's hair. Xomali hadn't brushed it herself on her journey, but Piper never said anything to make her feel bad about it. The daughter of Aphrodite and Nico were the only people she allowed to be this close to her, and they knew how much this sort of thing meant to her.

"What I mean," Piper continued. "Is that it doesn't take me being a daughter of the love goddess to know that people give and receive love in different ways. Some people might want the boombox. Some people might want flowers. Some people might want nothing but their partner holding their hand. You just gotta figure out what makes you and Nico work, and you'll be fine."

"I don't think Nico would like the boombox," Xomali thought allowed. "Or the flowers..."

"Me neither," Piper agreed, making quick work of braiding Xomali's hair so it swept over her right shoulder. "If you ask me, I think he's the happiest when you're just there holding his hand. But you know, you can always ask him."

Piper flipped opened up her caboodle again and opened the mirror, allowing Xomali to get a look at herself. She wasn't sure if it was Aphrodite magic or just Piper being Piper, but she was perfect at this sort of thing. Not too much makeup, not too little, all the perfect tones—she just highlighted all of the features Xomali already liked about herself.

Xomali couldn't help but beam at her reflection before looking up at her friend. "Thank you."

"Of course," Piper put away her caboodle. "Just...unless it's about a car or something, come to me before asking my boyfriend for any kind of advice, okay?"

"Will do," Xomali laughed.

———

It was later in the evening when Xomali returned to the Hades cabin, holding a jar she'd gotten from the Big House. She'd thought over the conversations she'd had with her friends while taking a walk through the woods. It was there she'd found a pretty large spider—she wasn't sure what type it was, but it was cool. She felt towards spiders the way she and most others felt towards dogs—the creepy crawlies were cute and deserved to be admired.

Xomali had poked some holes in the jar and put the spider in there. She wasn't sure if she'd keep it there forever, but when she put in another bug with it, the spider didn't seem in a rush to leave its meal.

Xomali slipped into the cabin, jar in hand, finding Nico reading by candlelight. At the sound of the door closing, he looked up, closing his book. Xomali noticed it was a book on Mexica mythology, which she'd never seen him read. He took an interest in what she'd told him about Mictlan, of course, though she never thought he'd done research on his own.

"We're not going tomorrow," Xomali said, nodding towards the book. "No need to cram."

Nico shrugged, placing the book on his nightstand. "You've read books on the Underworld, though, right?"

Xomali nodded, coming over to sit on the bed. "Greek mythology is kinda required reading here—but I also want to know about one of the places you consider home."

"I feel the same about Mictlan," Nico pointed out, a smile tugging his lips as he admired Xomali's braid. He gently pulled off the hair tie, undoing her braid only to start it up again on the other side. He liked doing things like that—it kept his hands busy, and it was a way to be close to Xomali without seeming so...direct and purposeful. “We don't have to go if you're not ready, though."

Xomali paused, her eyes on the flickering flame of the candle on Nico's nightstand. "No, I...I think I'm ready. It'll be sometime vaguely soon, but let's not put a date on it. And you'll show me the Underworld, too."

"It's a date," Nico's face flushed at the implication, as if he and Xomali weren't already together. She'd seen him in battle, that fierce look he got when sending monsters down to Tartarus. Still, it was hard to distinguish the warrior from the soft boy in front of her now. "But we can't eat any of the food down there, or else we'd be stuck there." He explained quickly. "We'd just bring our own."

"Sounds good to me," Xomali smiled slightly. "I...I don't think I was worried about the trip to Mictlan or the Underworld, anyway. I knew that we were going in that direction, but..." her smile faded. "I guess I was just worried about how we were doing, in general. Like, we're not as open about being a couple. It took Leo almost a month to figure it out, you know?"

Nico nodded, fastening the new braid with the hair tie. “So…what are you saying? You think we should do more…affectionate, couple stuff? Because, I mean…I like you, but I don’t think—“

“No,” Xomali cut him off, her stomach filling with nervous butterflies. “I don’t want that, I was just wondering what you wanted. I talked to Leo and Piper today about their relationship, and it just seems more…traditional. Like, he got her flowers. And I started to wonder about what kind of stuff you would want, and if that would make us feel more…solid, if that makes sense.”

“Oh,” Nico brushed a lock of hair behind Xomali’s ear. “I don’t really want anything—I’m not really into that sort of thing, so no need to worry about that.”

Xomali nodded, looking back down at the spider in the jar as she ran her thumb across the glass. “I kinda always knew we both weren’t really into that stuff. But…here.” She handed over the jar. “I know you like the creepy crawlies, too.”

Nico brightened at the sight, taking the jar and looking at the spider as if it were a puppy at the shelter. “This is awesome—thank you, Xomali.” He placed the jar on the nightstand, then wrapped Xomali up in a hug.

As she rested her chin on his shoulder, her doubts were more erased than ever before. They didn’t have to be like anyone or anything to be together in the ‘right’ way—they were together, and that was what mattered.