If there was one thing Nico di Angelo couldn't stand, it was holidays. He didn't mind them independently; he quite liked the nighttime Halloween parties Camp Half-Blood sometimes threw. It was only when—cliché as it was—his father and stepmother got involved that things went downhill.
It would start out well enough. Out of fear of being forced to stay forever, Nico wouldn't touch any of their Underworld food, but who really ate any of their parents' food anyway? Then he would casually mention a vague memory of his father taking him and the other di Angelos to Disney World. Before Hades could even respond, his wife would icily say what a cash cow the whole Disney company was. Nico would barely be able to suppress a glare.
He didn't really blame Persephone. He knew that if someone kidnapped him and never let him leave, then started a family with someone else, he'd be pretty bitter. He was more upset by the fact that his father never said anything to defend him. The lord of the dead just sat there, not daring to agree or disagree.
Nico knew he should've been used to it, but no amount of family holidays seemed to dull the pain. He preferred to deal with it on his own—who at camp would even listen to a rant that had already been in a million different movies?—but that year, he couldn't take it.
The black-haired boy groaned as he looked out at the campground. Percy was the only one there he was even remotely close to, but the guy had the emotional skills of a tree. Nico would have to swallow his pride and try someone else.
Annabeth was better at sensing emotion, but she was even worse at dealing with it. Nico knew that if he talked to the daughter of Athena, she'd try to think through it and come up with a solution. Sometimes that was the right thing to do, but what about problems that had no answers?
Nico briefly looked over at their Oracle's cave, then was tempted to laugh. Rachel would just try to shake him out of it with some snarky comment, which he really wasn't in the mood for.
Without any real reason, Katie Gardner—or was it Gardiner?—smiled over at the son of Hades. She seemed nice enough, but she was maybe too nice. The last thing Nico wanted was to be coddled like a baby.
"What are you doing just standing there? Looking for a fight?" Clarisse said, interrupting his thoughts with her best death glare.
"Uh, no. I'll get out of your way," Nico hurriedly replied as he backed away towards the amphitheater. He could've thought of a million more intelligent responses, but he really wasn't looking for another battle of stubbornness.
The amphitheater wasn't much, but it was peaceful, which, Nico figured, was as good as it was going to get. He was just crouching down in one of the seats, running his hands over Hades' Mythomagic figurine, when he heard a sigh that sounded distinctly feminine.
"Am I going crazy, or is there someone else here?" he called out.
The voice emitted a small groan before stepping into the light. "Sorry," the girl quickly apologized. "I just thought no one would be in here."
"You and me both," Nico said. He recognized the voice as Thalia Grace's, but the fact that he could barely see her made him doubtful. Thalia was a Hunter of Artemis, even if the phrase did taste bitter on his tongue. She should have been glowing with immortality rather than fading into the shadows.
Nico was tempted to ask her what had happened, but he could make out her expression enough to think otherwise. It was desolate, with eyes that had seen more than they should have. Nico knew that face all too well, and knew that nothing he could say would fix it.
Not knowing what else to do, Nico slid into a seat next to the daughter of Zeus, who thankfully followed suit. They didn't say much (or do much, like Drew later insisted); they simply sat in companionable silence until Thalia spoke up.
Nico half expected her to try for something insightful, but all she said was: "The world's shit, isn't it?"
The son of Hades looked her in the eye and smiled a sad sort of smile. "Pretty much."
And for once, that was enough.