A/N Because there isn't enough Chiron and Nico fluff. And there is no way that Chiron completely ignored Nico or didn't realize who his father was.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chiron sighed as Percy, Annabeth, and Grover walked away from the Big House. He couldn't help but feel quilt over what Percy and Annabeth had just told him. Nico di Angelo was gone. Ran away from Camp Half-Blood. Chiron honestly hopped that Luke and Kronos wouldn't get to him, that boy wasn't evil, he had one of the most pure hearts Chiron had ever seen.
Nico was naïve, he didn't realize how cruel the world could be, he didn't know that bad things could always happen to people one cares about. Okay, maybe Nico did realize the last one, he just didn't want to think about it. More than once Nico had come to Chiron while Bianca had been on the Quest. Chiron couldn't help but remember those past couple days.
Flashback
Chiron was just in the hall of the Big House, shaking his head at the mess Dionysus had left on the table, when a knock sounded on the door. Wondering who it was, since most of the camper's were out doing training, Chiron called, "Come in. The door is open."
The door silently was pushed open and a camper walked in. In all honesty, this camper was the last one he expected to see coming into the Big House. It was Nico di Angelo. The newest camper at Camp Half-Blood. The boy's head was towards the ground, his hair falling in front of his eyes. Chiron gently galloped up to the boy as the boy looked up towards him. Nico's eyes were full of fear and red rimmed from obvious crying.
"What is wrong, child?" Chiron asked Nico, looking worriedly at him, already checking for injuries.
"What if Bianca doesn't come back from the Quest?"
Chiron froze as he stared at the boy. He knew that sooner or later the boy would ask that question, it was obvious that he was worried for his older sister since Bianca accepted the Quest, Chiron just wasn't sure about how to answer the boy. The prophecy wasn't very kind, it was a death warning that prophecy was. "One shall be lost in the land without rain," and "And one shall perish by a parent's hand," were very scary prophecy lines, and a clear death in both of them. It was even more worrying when the godly parent's of Nico and Bianca were unknown. Although Chiron did have some ideas, he just didn't like any of them. But it was fairly easy for him to narrow down the gods from Bianca and Nico's appearance, but the gods the list had been narrowed down to were not the gods he would trust, ever. And the certainly wouldn't be good parents.
"I'm sure she will come back, child,"
"I'm not dumb! Don't act like I'm some stupid, little kid!" the boy shouted. Chiron had to resist the urge to point out that he is a little boy, although he is not stupid. "You know the prophecy, Bianca could die and then I'd be completely alone." By now the boy was crying, tears rolling down his face and whimpers escaping him.
Chiron had never been really good with crying children but he didn't even hesitate when he wrapped his arms around Nico, pulling him to his chest. Chiron gently rubbed the child's back, whispering, "It will be okay, I promise you that your sister will come back, safe and sound."
"R-Really?" Nico looked up with his tear stained face, staring imploringly at Chiron.
"Yes, really,"
~Line Break~
Chiron sighed as he got up from his bed and the knocking continued, never stopping or breaking for even a second, "I', coming, I'm coming. Just hold on a second."
Chiron finally managed to get to the door and opened it slowly up, afraid of hitting whoever it was on the other side. Chiron froze as he looked over the three demigods in front of him. Travis and Connor Stoll were looking worriedly at him, both motioning to the demigod in next to them. Nico was standing in the middle of them, his face tear streaked, and whimpers coming from him.
"What happened?" Chiron asked, looking down at the small boy who had his eyes clenched tightly together.
"He had a nightmare, woke up-" Travis started.
"Screaming. And when we finally got him awake he-" Continued Connor.
"Demanded to see you, something about the Quest," finished Travis. The both motioned towards Nico, obviously worried about the small ten year old.
"Both of you go back to the Hermes Cabin, I'll take care of Nico,"
Connor and Travis nodded, although it was easy to see that they didn't like the idea of leaving Nico, even if it was Chiron they were leaving him with. Travis turned around and began to walk away while Connor knelt down next to Nico and whispered something to him, Chiron didn't catch anything of what Connor said, but it seemed to cal Nico slightly. Connor then proceded to run after his brother, disappearing from Chiron's sight. As soon as Chiron knew they were both gone he knelt in front of Nico, his horse legs folding underneath him.
"Child, what was your nightmare about?" Chiron knew that demigod nightmares were almost never fictional, they always had truth in them.
"I-I was in s-some d-dark place and t-there was t-three old g-guys on a p-podium. I-In front of t-them was B-B-Bianca. S-She was d-dead. S-She's d-dead," Nico burst out in tears, sobbing his eyes out.
Once again, for the second time in a couple days, Chiron wrapped his arms around Nico, trying to calm the boy, "It wasn't real child, none of it was real, just a nightmare."
"Really?"
"Really,"
Chiron hated lying to the boy. Chiron now knew that Bianca di Angelo wasn't coming back. She was dead, gone to the Underworld. And now Chiron knew for sure who Nico's godly parent was. It would be hard not to after finding this out. Nico had had a nightmare where he was in the Underworld, watching his sister's judgment. This only meant one thing, Hades was his father.
~Line Break~
Chiron placed his head in his hands as the Iris Message faded out. Two people had died and another had joined the Hunters. Thalia had become a Hunter, lutanist to Artemis. Zoe Nightshade and Bianca di Angelo had died. Chiron looked through the window, spotting Nico, Travis, and Connor. Those three had become inseparable,Nico looking up to Travis and Connor and the twins unable to say 'no' to the boy, instead showing him all the pranks they knew and playing around with him. Chiron knew that telling the child that his sister was dead would hurt the boy badly, how could he break that innocence and happiness shinning in Nico's eyes? He couldn't. So for now he would let Nico have his happiness and fun, not bearing down on him this horrible news. Nico deserved to stay a child.
End of Flashback
Now it seemed that not telling Nico had been a mistake, as was letting Percy tell Nico. Nico was a scared child, and he had done what any scared child would do, he ran away. Chiron just hoped that wherever Nico was he would find a home and be safe. Although he doubted it.
~Line Break~
Nico shivered as he pulled the ratty blanket closer to him. He had no idea where he was going, or even where he was. All he knew was that one minute he was running through the forest at Camp Half-Blood and the next he was in a crowded, dirty city. Nico's stomach growled in protest of having eaten nothing today and Nico curled into a tight ball. He was scared and wanted nothing more than to be held by someone nice, someone who had protected him. Like Chiron. But, no! Chiron had lied to him just like Percy had. They both had promised that Bianca would come back, but she didn't. They lied. Despite these thoughts Nico still wanted to be near Chiron and Travis and Connor, to know that he wasn't fully alone. They had cared, at some point.
Nico pulled the blanket closer to him and lied down on the hard, cold ground. Tears prickled his eyes but he held them in, not willing to show any type of weakness anymore. Nico looked towards the sky and whispered, "Goodbye Chiron, Travis, and Connor. And especially you, Bianca. I'm sorry."