Nico spent the rest of the afternoon sharing stories of his adventures with the rest of the patients, and the other demigods that had already went to quests told theirs. But not only that, a lot of children of Hecate, Nyx, Hypnos, Eris, Phobos, Deimos, Nemesis and even a few children of Hermes (Connor and Travis) decided that they'll be having classes with di Angelo about the Underworld. They wanted to know more about that mysterious place, which myths don't tell you enough about. They were so fixed on their curiosity that they wouldn't let Chiron prohibit them to form this new class, they won't even let the son of Hades refuse to be the teacher.
It shocked Nico how comfortable the rest of the demigods were around him, after all the only feelings he was costumed to receive from them was fear and hater. But now people wanted HIM to teach them about the Underworld and five kids, that weren't older than ten years, wanted to learn sword fighting from him. This strange behavior from the rest of the patients, the comforting hands of Will tending his wounds and all this new emotions that he was feeling were too much for di Angelo to understand. So he was relieved when the children of Apollo told everyone to return to their own room because it was time to rest. However, he also felt sad for being left alone after having s good time sharing stories and happy to see that the rest were as disappointed as him.
Maybe Jason was right... I do have friends here or at least I can make some. Thought the son of Hades smiling before laying down on the bed and falling into Morpheus arms. A few hours later he was awaken up by sobs coming from his outside the infirmary bedroom he was staying at. After a few minutes of thinking he decided to go outside and try to comfort whoever was feeling sad. Nico knew that probably that girl would want him gone and that would hurt him a lot, but he was also sure that everyone needs someone to lean on when they are feeling bad. So even though he never had anyone there to help him out when depression took over his life, he would do his best so no one had to go through what he had gone... or do what he almost did.
di Angelo slowly got off the bed, walked towards the room's door and opened it carefully of not making any sound that would disturb the others. Leaning against the wall next to the door frame was the small shaking body of a girl, who was crying on her knees and had her arms wrapped around her legs "Hey" the son of Hades said softly. The girl shrieked surprised by the sudden noise and looked up, with tears in her cheeks and red eyes, locking gazes with Nico. The girl must have been the same age as di Angelo, a year younger tops. She had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes, which now were dull by all her suffering. The son of Hades recognized her immediately, she was Kayla one of Will's youngest sisters "Why are you crying?"
"Th... the majority o... of my si... siblings di... died!" she answered sadly, returning to hid her face on her knees "Th... the Apollo ca... cabin is al... almost empty. Wh... when I lo... lost Lee a... and Michael I co... couldn't be... bear it, bu... but I h... had my si... siblings there f... for me. N... now I a... am al... alone".
"Kayla look at me" Nico ordered her softly, reluctantly she did as she was told "Now breath with me. In and out, in and out, that's right keep on doing it" after a couple of minutes Apollo's daughter had finally calmed down and her breathing returned to be normal "I lost my sister when I was ten years old" di Angelo began to tell Kayla his story "I was so angry and sad that I fixed my mind in only one thought: it was all Percy's fault. After all he had promised me that he would protect Bianca and bring her back alive, she died saving Artemis. But do you know what? After all this years I finally discovered the truth. It wasn't Thantos or the Fates who had taken my sister away from me, it was Bianca who had left me alone" the son of Hades sighed as he was sitting down against the door frame, so he was able to have a good sight of the moon shinning outside the window. For so many years he had hated it with all his heart, 'Why was Artemis able to shine so bright but his sister had to die?', but now he only felt tiredness "Bianca accepted the be a huntress because she didn't want me in her life, she was tired of having an hyperactive and annoying little brother to take care of. And then when Thantos went missing and a lot of souls escaped the Underworld, I went to bring my sister back to life but she had already asked to be reincarnated... leaving me behind all alone again. What I am trying to tell you with this is that your brother didn't leave you because they wanted it, they were forced to. Also, even though you don't have a lot of siblings left you still have family. I on the other hand, was alone with no one to lean on. The campers didn't need me, my father preferred me dead over my sister, Bianca had left me, mom was dead and I wasn't even in my correct time" the son of Hades turned around to look at Kayla with a sad small smile. He was a bit surprised at finding out that she wasn't the only child of Apollo that was hearing his story, but tried not to show it. Will, Austin and Victoria were there and had their own tears on their cheeks "There is always someone out there that is having a worse time than you, always keep that on mind. I think that it was the only thing that helped me keep on going in Tartarus. Are you the only left from your cabin?".
"Yes, we are" answered a depressed Solace, which surprised di Angelo cause he had never seen him so dead on his feet "Nico I am so sorry you had to go through so much on your own!" the blond guy jumped on the son of Hades and hugged him tightly "I will be a better friend, I promise!".
Nico astonished by the gesture retuned the hug awkwardly, he didn't know if he was more surprised about being hugged or that he didn't flinch away. After all he hated having contact with others "Will stop hugging him!" demanded Victoria "I want my Nico-cuddle time!".
"Nico-cuddle time?" asked di Angelo confused, once Solace let him go. But he didn't receive an answer, he was just hugged by another child of Apollo. Looking at all this blond teenagers with sad blue eyes, Nico made a decision: he was going to look after them. To make sure they don't fall into the darkness as he did, to make them see that they still have people to lean on "Whenever you need a shoulder to cry or a pair of ears to hear you out, you have to know that you can count on me".
"Thank you Nico" the children of Apollo thanked di Angelo as soon as they snapped out of their surprise.
"Let's take this to a more comfortable place" said Austin before guiding everyone to Nico's infirmary room and closing the door. They laid down on the bed, Nico cuddled in the middle of Victoria and Kayla and Will behind Victoria while Austin was sleeping behind Kayla, and fell into the arms Morpheus.