Something about this was familiar, I decided. I was lying in a white bed with curtains around it. My sword was leaning against the wall.

My right arm was heavily bandaged and my forehead, when I gently touched it, also had a cloth bandage wrapped about it.

Suddenly, a recollection of the events- yesterday? This afternoon? Who knows how long it was. A recollection of the events preceding this moment brought itself forward in my mind.

Restlessness. Training. Fighting. The forest. Monsters. Overwhelming memories. Turning to see Will. His very blue eyes looking very confused. Everything going black.

I frowned. Footsteps approached and Will's voice started to speak just beyond the curtains.

"I'm gonna check in on Nico," he said. I quickly looked down at my hands, ashamed, as he stepped into my small area.

I just left this place. He must think I'm an idiot for landing back in the infirmary so soon.

"Oh, good," chirped the son of Apollo. "You're awake. We brought you in this afternoon and it is now currently evening. It's been five-ish hours."

I kept staring at my pale hands.

"Is it alright if we do a check up real fast?" I glanced up at him long enough to nod, before breaking eye contact again. I didn't want to look at him long enough to find the telltale signs of disappointment. "Great. So. First some questions. When'd you last eat? Assumably before lunch."

I thought back for a moment before speaking softly. "Breakfast."

"What all did you have to eat?"

"A piece of fruit."

"What kind?"

I thought for a long moment. It was... either an apple or a banana, I was sure. Or was it a pear? I shrugged. "Don't know."

"How many monsters had you fought in the forest?"

I merely shrugged again, feeling bad for probably causing a bit of frustration.

"Can you name any of them?" Will asked, though he seemed to have a good idea as to what my response was going to be.

"Um." I thought, eyebrows furrowed. "Some myremekes. I think a hellhound or two? Some others, I'd guess, but I can't remember what, exactly."

Will nodded. "How have you been feeling lately?"

I started to instinctively say "fine," but I was interrupted before I could say much more than "f".

"Don't say fine, it's obviously not true."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, then. I've been feeling... angry or frustrated for no reason. More often I feel empty, nothing, et cetera, et cetera. Most often, I'm restless."

Will nodded again and scribbled on his clipboard. "And. What was going through your head while you were in the forest?"

"Memories."

"Memories?" I nod. "What sort?"

"Um. Some of my worst. Bianca... dying. The Titan War. Giant War. That sort of stuff."

Will, again, nods.

"Listen. It's an imperfect science, and I can't say I know for a fact, but I'm pretty sure you have depression and slash or PTSD."

His words

hang

in the air.

After a long silence, he offers me a miniscule smile. "It's not mecessarily cureable but it is treatable. It can get better."

It was the next morning when I got out of the infirmary. I was stopping at my cabin to change, and in fact had just replaced my shirt when a screen of water appeared before me, showing Hazel's smiling face. She did, however, look wary.

"Hello, Hazel," I said softly.

Her eyes immediately snapped to my forehead. "Nico, what happened?"

"What, this?" I laughed nervously. "I was out in the forest training-"

"Why weren't you training where you are meant-"

"Doesn't matter," I interrupted. "I was training in the forest and I got in a little too over my head. Will found me and brought me to the infirmary."

"Found- wait- you went to the forest without backup?"

I avoided her eyes. "Um. Was there a particular reason for this call?"

"Yeah, okay, I'll change the topic but we are discussing this later, do you understand me?" Hazel relentlessly insisted. I nodded weakly. "Okay, so, why didn't you tell me not to tell Jason and Piper about how different Leo's death felt?"

I stiffened. "Hazel." I gave her a Look.

"Listen, can you blame me? You didn't tell me, and now they know and insist on looking for him."

"I need to stop them- get them. I can't let them make my mistake."

"I can't," Hazel said apologetically, regret in her eyes. "They already left. They're not sure where or whe-"

For the first time in my memory, the Iris message filled with static inputs, breaking up the call before shutting off completely.

"What? I- no!"

I groaned in frustration, leaving my cabin and speeding off to the training center.

I could understand why Jason and Piper cared so much; not only could I relate with my experiences with searching for Bianca after her death, but I had actually, quite unnoticed, grown fairly close to Leo during my time on the Argo II. Closer, at least, than some of the seven got to him.

But I already learned my lesson on getting hung up on deaths. You can't.

Suddenly, I realized that in my moments lost in thoughts, I had completely shredded the dummy I was sparring.

I took a shakey breath and moved on to another one, sparring intensely.

"Please tell me you went to lunch at a different time than I did, and that's why you're sparring right now and not eating," Percy's voice said.

I turned and saw him, twirling Riptide in pen form on his fingers. "Um. No. I haven't."

He gave me a disapproving look.

"I'll eat after I finish perfecting this move, 'kay?"

He continued to give me the same look. "Fine, but I'm staying to make sure you actually do."

I rolled my eyes but didn't bother protesting, instead choosing to keep training.

But I didn't get to continue long before I was dragged off to lunch, where I astonished Percy by eating a small handful of grapes, and nothing more.

"You need to eat more," he called to me as I left to continue training. I had to get better if I wanted to avoid another incident like the woods.

I ignored the son of Poseidon as he called after me.