Nico

I spent the next few days hanging around the infirmary, learning more about being a medic. Though, it wasn't as if I was going to be one. I may as well kill everything I touch, everything I care for. That was why I scoffed at Will suggesting that I could be a medic. I mean, sure, I know what rosemary is, but I was born of darkness and death, in a time of darkness and death.

Every night I dreamt. Sometimes they were nightmares, and sometimes they memories. Or memories warped into nightmares.

The most recurring dream is of Bianca. She is whole and live and beautiful, as she always was before. She laughed, her eyes twinkling. Suddenly, we are in Tartarus. She watches me with cold eyes. I call out to her every time, and every time, she turns away and her clothes transform into those of a Hunter. I fall away into the abyss. Usually I wake up. But tonight it is worse.

This time, one line of thought echoes through the Pit. She left you. She does not love you. She hates you. It is your fault. You did not save her.

I can almost hear Tartarus laughing at my fate.

In the past nights, I had been able to contain my anguish, and stay silent whenever I dreamed. But tonight, I jerk awake gasping, and promptly break down crying. I desperately tried to calm down before anyone woke up and saw me. Too late. Will stirred and sat up. He spots me half sitting, curled up on my bed in the dark. He climbed out of bed and sits on mine. He put his arm around me, murmuring softly. I couldn't hear him through the blare of my thoughts. You did not save her.

Will looked at me with concern in his eyes, and I let go of my tears. They came streaming out as I sobbed in the older boy's arms, not caring what he thought. Maybe I was the son of the Underworld, but I could still be broken by the souls it claims.

I woke up to the soft sun rays shining into the infirmary. I was still curled up in a fetal position. I felt warm breath on my arm, and suddenly jerked, fully awake. By doing so, Will woke up, his arm still curled around my shoulder. He blinked a few times.

"Good morning Neeks," I tensed slightly at the nickname, one that he adopted recently after hearing some of the Seven use it, "Nightmare last night?"

I nodded hesitantly. "Yeah," I whisper. I lay back down. Will didn't ask anymore, and busied himself with taking my vitals before anyone else woke up. I almost missed his warmth as his arms wrapped around me. Almost, I reminded myself.

A while later, after I had gotten up and was about to head to breakfast, Will spoke up softly.

"You can tell if you are ready. If you never are, that's fine too. But I'm here." I paused. Then nodded, and continued out the door.

For a week, we continued on as usual. I found myself wanting to talk to Will more, if just to hear his voice. I also found myself noticing small things. Will would often rub a spot on his wrist when thinking or worried. Another thing was, his Southern accent. It became much more prominent when he was upset or agitated in some way. happened when he almost thought that a Roman camper had a wound infection, but then realized that the smell was from something else. There was also a small strand of hair that was always hanging in front of his face, though he never tucked it away. I resisted the urge to reach up and do it myself.

No, you can't just… do that! Ugh, damn Solace and his hair. It is not my fault he looks so cute all the time. I thought, and stopped short at the last part. No! wait. What? He is not cute. I mean I don't think he is. He looks ok, I guess. But still! Ugh.

I refused to look at Will for the rest of the day. The next day, at breakfast, I found him studying at me.

"What is it?" I asked him, warily. He blinked, the only sign that he was caught off guard, but quickly gave a half smile.

"I think you are ready to go back to your own cabin. Your eating habits have improved very much, and your colour is much better. Less… pale." Will said. I only nodded reluctantly, but I knew he didn't pick up on it. Only I did. I did want to go back to my cabin and be rid of the infernally protective and over-obsessing doctor, didn't I?

Will

I had been considering letting Nico go for a couple days. But, I didn't. Well, I could tell he didn't like being cooped up in the infirmary, but I kept him there for… well, selfish reasons, really.

For one, it was nice having someone there helping me with injuries. The rest of the Apollo cabin didn't know as much about healing as Nico, after so long in the infirmary. He knew what I needed, and how I worked. I had to say, it was very efficient. Though, I knew this excuse in my head would only last a little while longer, as many of the wounded were ready to leave.

Another reason, and probably the real reason I didn't want to let Nico leave was because I liked his presence. I liked having him around. I enjoyed getting to know him. Once I found myself watching him sleep. Thankfully, I caught myself before anyone noticed, or worse, he woke up. I knew something in Nico was very fragile, and maybe still broken. I couldn't resist wanting to help him. The night I heard him wake up, I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I kind of acted on instinct. I wanted to be there for him. Somehow, I could tell that it hadn't been his first night waking up. And I knew it wouldn't be his last.

Eventually, I told myself that Nico was perfectly healthy, and he could go. After talking to him at lunch, he packed his few possessions at the infirmary and went to his cabin.

That night, I slept at the infirmary again. There were still a couple demigods that had more serious injuries that had yet to be fully healed. As soon as I fell asleep, I was dreaming. It was a common phenomenon as a demigod, and I was used to it. I was in a dark room, shadows haunting the corners. Then I saw a boy in all black curled up in the corner so that he almost blended in with the shadows. At first glance, he was just sleeping, but coming closer, I could see that he was crying. His shoulders were shaking violently, and his face was buried in his arms. A moment later, I realized it was Nico.

I tried to go closer to comfort him, dream or not, but was stopped by some invisible dream-force thing about two meters away from Nico. I tried to call out to him, but no sound came out. I banged on the unseen barrier shouting out Nico's name. I sank to the ground, distraught.

Suddenly, I woke up. It was oddly cold and dark. I assumed it was just the after-effects of the dream, but I realized that I knew these shadows. I felt them through skin whenever I touched a certain other demigod.

I looked at the time. It wasn't yet morning, but the lanterns around the camp were almost always on. I stumbled blindly outside to a pitch black view.

"Nico," I whispered. I could hear whispers and shouts of confusion everywhere. People could feel the aura of death and darkness, and had come out to find out why. I started towards the Hades cabin.

"NICO!"

So, another chapter!

Sorry this took a while. I am also working on another fic, also Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) if you want to check that out. That will be a priority, so sorry if this isn't updated for a while. I will be heading out of town soon and will only be back in August. I will try to get another chapter published before then.

- citrus-shadow