Where Are You Going?!
Chap 7.5
Nico Point of View
Song: Not in Love (Crystal Castles Ft. Robert Smith)
"Wake up you motherfuckers, it's time to show these demigods. I want to see each and everyone of you up and half way done your already prepared meals in 5 minutes" my favorite part of the day. I deliver a different wake up call everyday and man does it feel good to see them jump at my voice. The best part is when they don't get up. I had already been up 2 hours prior, as always.
"Hey Pain! I'm gonna need you to go pick up the snoozers, you already ate right?" She is a sight, especially after seeing the bathrooms.
"Why else would I be up?" she's not really one for stupid questions.
"Maybe to see me work out" I smirk, my canines sticking out.
"Bitch please, go find an Aphrodite boy to do that" she's pulling coco puffs out of her hoodie pockets.
"Well I tried Percy, but he said something about being in love with some girl, I wonder who that could be?" I wink at her, she punches me.
"It's times like these I wish I could break your nose and it would stay that way" she looks like she might try anyways.
"You know you love my face" she seems to remember she has to go and check for anyone sleeping in.
"Try again" she jogs off. Always with the camo.
"10 minutes!" the ones that had been sleeping till now, came running in.
"Okay, Okay!"
"Dammit Pain, stop"
"Ow, you bitch"
"I think they're awake now" she laughs, I chuckle hearing the early morning silence. They knew to shut up and eat.
"Sir, the campers are starting to wake. Ares cabin mainly"
"Shove the rest of that food in your mouths, change of plans. We're starting off with stretches then a 10 mile warm up. Lets go, outside of the pavilion" Some of them are picking up their plates and letting gravity take place and some had already been done. "You too, Pain" I say.
"Now you just wanna watch me work out. " she smiles, a real genuine one.
"You wish Evergreen"
"Couldn't live with out me" she says flex her arms, and skips to lead stretches. "Come on ladies, I wanna hear those hamstrings stretch!" I go to the back of the group and follow her instructions. Our stretches end right as Ares cabin starts to leave the showers. She catches my look and she stands, I make it to the front of the group.
"Ready to show these mortals that we are not to be compared?! Lets go, last person has cleaning duty" with that I start at a full sprint. We go though camp before we hit woods. There are trails in the forest contrary to what people may think the monsters aren't that bad. Running like this doesn't give you room to think. We take a trail than I turn, the rest following jumping over a log and ducking branches. Trails are too easy, they weren't picked to make Betty Crocker recipes. Though those are pretty delicious, I remember when Will used to make those after getting home from school. Before I know it a body pops up from the ground and as I back pedal the ones following me start piling up on one another.
"Sorry, no one really runs though here, well the forest period. Are you okay? Hello, sir, I promise I'm not a monster" I can't breathe, dizziness and nausea over take my senses. I don't notice the pile of bodies toppling into me. I fall and catch myself on my hands and knees.
"Well, sure haven't seen you in this position in a while" It's Thalia, and she see's the reaction I'm having. I stopped acting like this years, decades ago. I see the knees of a person hit the ground next to me. I'm slightly shocked they're not silver fatigues.
"You need to give uhh," he looks at me "Death some space, get those people up, try to breathe. I'm a certified doctor, I'll help him if you'd like to continue your running." Thalia looks down at me, and I feel 14 again. She puts her hand up in the air.
"Zoe, take the rest and finish the warm up, I'll try and meet you for the rest of training, if not each 2nd in command lead the respected sessions. Go show them what we're made of!" the forest floor shakes with the force of the troops.
"I'm Pain, you are?" she's smiling, she always liked Will even fought for him when I decided to leave for Chaos, to find answers.
"Dr. Will Di Angelo - Solace, head healer. This is Death, right?"
"Yeah that's me, the one and only" I try for a smirk, to get back some normality.
"No need for bravado now big guy, tell me what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I've got to go make sure they're doing the right training."
"Death you're shaking"
"He's stubborn Mr. Solace, I'd highly doubt you'd even get an hour out of him in the infirmary" what is she doing?!
"Oh really? Well since you don't want to cooperate with me Death, I'll just have to find out myself. 3 days in the infirmary, a full 72 hours, no less." This catches my attention. I stand to my full height and it was at the age of 17 that I noticed I was taller than Will. He follows suit, and blue eyes meet black. Even if I wasn't morphed he probably wouldn't be able to recognize me.
"You know who I am, so why are you ordering me around Apollo spawn?"
"I have a strong belief that life over powers death, and I as a bringer and sustainer of life, I over power you" he looks me over "And before you say that isn't true, I've dealt with a person bigger and badder than you could hope to be"
"I doubt that, who was it?"
"My husband, Nico Di Angelo – Solace" Even when he'd introduced himself it hadn't sunk in, I was still in the middle of whatever that was. Married, we had been married for 2 years. We were making plans for adoption. 2 years of being bonded to, Will legally was hardly a fraction of the time we'd been together.
"Where is he?"
"On a mission"
"Yet, he still hasn't come back, I'd get a little suspicious if I were you"
"Well Mr. Death it is quite obvious you've never had the pleasure to know Nico, nor have you experienced the love we share. Now if you wouldn't mind getting yourself to the infirmary without the use of force that would be great"
"Death, you might want to listen to him"
"If I recall Pain you're the one you shot me in the chest with an arrow, so please start picking more crucial moments to care about my health"
"This should be good for you, shouldn't be putting too much force on your self anyways, especially because of that arrow. Help you learn something, relax, get some stick in your ass, I mean get the stick out of your ass" she smiles and in the time that I blink she has us flashed to the infirmary. "Have fun, see you in three days, maybe" and with that she leaves me in the clutches of Will Di Angelo – Solace.
"Where are you going?!" It's a shout to thin air "Oh I am so locking her and Reyna in a room together"
"What was that?"
"Nothing, what do you want me to do?"
"Pick a bed, and stay in that bed. I'll be back to check on you. There are still patients from Capture the Flag. Don't get into anything, please" I watch him leave and some of the light in the room seems to follow. I remember when he made me run into a tree during capture the flag when I was 15 by bending light into my shadow. He'd gotten the power back after our quest to Delphi to defeat Python. Stop being an asshole, apologize. Fronts and masks are for cowards.
"Will!" you hear the steps falter. Golden, is the only way to describe Will. Golden hair, golden skin, golden personality. When you see him you feel the same way you do when you're surrounded by precious metals, by wealth. It feels so much better than being surrounded by death, but they are both sides of the same coin.
"Yes , Death"
"I apologize for causing you so much grief. Once you have, uhm, a free moment I'd like to discuss what happened in the forest" he smiles and it reaches his eyes before it even touches his lips.
"Will do, and if you wouldn't mind I'd like to get an idea of other injuries. If I'm going to be Head Healer, I need to know how to heal you guys" his smile never fails to quicken the beat of your heart. You nod, because if you open your mouth you'll blow your cover and you're not like Percy, you don't have another person in your head to lead you or pull reverse psychology to tell you not to do something. You're you, just you, and as Will leaves once more, just you remembers why it's always you leaving him. This bringer of life, a sustainer of life doesn't back off when the going gets rough, no he stays till the end. No, you're only there to take when it's easy and give when it's convenient.
You're just Death.
