a/n: Hey y'all I'm back at it again with another chapter.
As per usual, there will be mentions of death and coarse language in this particular chapter.
It will also contain some pretty large spoilers from the Percy Jackson series so please refrain from reading if you don't enjoy spoiler.
I own nothing but the plot, all rights go to Rick Riordan.
Enjoy!
Nico's p.o.v
His room had become too bright to sleep in so he decided to peel his eyes open. For some reason, Nico's blinds had been left open. But, instead of being angry, he was...happy.
Nico sat up in bed and gazed at the beautiful, warm sun beaming onto him. He loved it.
Nico stood up, dressed and walked over to the bathroom to brush his teeth. It wasn't until he started scrubbing his tongue that he remembered last night.
For one, he knew that he had to talk to Percy. The shock from the dreams had faded but his curiosity had not. Nico didn't care that what he would learn might scar him. He owed it to Bianca, however he knew her.
He then remembered what he had been thinking about Will. he was disgusted with himself. He was absolutely innate that he felt that way about Will.
He spat. Half in disgust and half in necessity. He then stormed over to the window revealing the sun and pulled the blinds shut angrily.
He couldn't believe he was like this. What would his parents think? I mean, to be honest he didn't know but he felt like they'd probably hate him just as much as he did. And what would Bianca think? She'd probably never want to be around him again. Not that that much mattered anymore.
With that, he stormed out of his cabin, slamming the door behind him. He decided to head over to the dining pavilion for breakfast. The good mood that he had been in earlier was now almost completely non-existent. The only reason Nico had left his cabin at all was due to the anticipated conversation with Percy.
When Nico sat down at his table, Percy was, again, already there, ready to see him.
"Hey bro!" Percy exclaimed genuinely.
"Hey," Nico responded, "how are you?"
"Eh, I'm okay. Annabeth had to leave because there was some 'family drama' back at home. From what I heard, it's pretty bad. How about you?"
"I'm good. But, I haven't been sleeping very well as of late. I was hoping that was something you could help me with."
By this point, their plates had been filled with food.
"Okay, shoot," Percy said as he shoveled food into his mouth.
Nico launched into his semi-prepared explanation. He told him about the very first flashback, the dreams, Bianca, the woman and as an afterthought, the time discrepancy.
When Nico had finished, Percy looked up from his plate and at Nico.
"Interesting, what do you say we meet up at the amphitheatre after lunch and we'll go from there?"
"Yeah, sure," Nico said.
Nico was a little bit disappointed that he couldn't find out about all of these things as soon as possible. But he was also thankful that Percy was willing to give him privacy and tell him about all of this.
The two ate in polite silence with the occasional remark or question. Once they were done, Nico got up and headed back to his cabin, bidding farewell to Percy.
Nico was anxious. He laid down on his bed in the pitch black. He was scared. What was he going to learn? And was he going to like it? Was it worth it?
Nico thought back to all the scars he had seen on his body. He had definitely been depressed before. And he still had some of those thoughts lingering. He guessed that some of that depression had probably been caused or related to some of the childhood trauma that Percy had mentioned.
Nico had only been dealing with anxiety as of late. He was having trouble leaving his cabin in the morning. And worse, when he thought about some particularly random stuff, he felt so anxious he was going to vomit.
But there was two people in this world that made him feel so much better. This was Percy. He was so glad that Percy was in his life. But Nico knew that Percy probably didn't feel the same about Nico. And then there was that beautiful, blond-haired, blue-eyed son of the sun. Nico actually loved Will. But he really didn't know him well enough to know if he loved him or just the idea of him. And what hurt Nico even more is that he was almost sure that Will didn't feel the same about him.
Nico layed there for a moment more before getting up and running over to the bathroom in the back of his cabin. He only barely had time to flip on the light and open the toilet as he projectile vomited.
Nico coughed and flushed. He stood there, balancing on the counter and looking at himself in the mirror, contemplating why he was such a mess.
He hated himself. He started to cry and he sunk down against the wall with his knees against his chest. He then started to have a panic attack. His heart started to race, his chest felt tight and he felt out of breath. He couldn't breathe and he felt like he was dying. This was the first time he had had one since arriving at camp. Although, he felt vaguely like he had had many before.
He sat there for a good twenty-five minutes hyperventilating and sobbing. He couldn't move. He was paralyzed with fear. Over nothing.
He felt useless, like a failure and weak. He just looked at his tear-streaked face and trembling lips and hands and all he was was disgusted. With himself, with how he felt and how he was.
About an hour later, Nico stood up, sulked over to his bed and assumed his prior position on his bed and slept immediately due to exhaustion.
-about five hours later-
Percy's p.o.v
He was sweaty and somewhat out of breath. He had been at the arena practicing for what he thought was an hour. He was anxious. Some of the shit that Percy was about to tell Nico was pretty fucked up.
Percy knew that Nico had had a rough time since his sister. And he was scared how Nico was going to react to him telling him this. He knew that Nico remembered absolutely nothing and he felt like this was somewhat a good and bad thing. The good part was that he was shielded from all that pain. Percy knew that he would give anything to forget that place and not have to deal with the nightmares and flashbacks and pain.
But the bad part was that Nico didn't know his past. Percy saw the amazing strength in Nico that he had displayed during the war with Gaea. Percy knew that his past was what made him strong and was the reason he was the person he was. Percy saw the way Nico was now and he saw that he was different but not better. To Percy, Nico looked lost and he was just different. He looked sad. Percy hated seeing him like that.
Speak of the devil, Nico walked into the arena at that exact moment. But, Percy didn't notice him, he just kept on practicing.
"Hey," Nico started as he walked closer to him.
Percy whipped around in confusion. Nico looked like he had just woken up. His hair was a bit messy and his face was puffy. Probably from crying. Nico also looked pale and somewhat sickly.
"Hey, Nico," Percy said.
He walked over to the seats and signalled for Nico to follow. Percy sat down and wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked at his watch and saw that it was actually around 1pm. He had thought he had only spent like an hour training.
But the more that the thought about it, his exhaustion and lactic acid in his muscles matched the time frame of five hours.
"So," Percy started, "umm, where do you want to start? Or do you have anything in specific you want to ask?"
"Well, first of all, when was I born? Like I know the date but not the year."
"Your full birthday is January 28th, 1924."
As Percy said this, Nico seemed to become a bit confused."
"Okay," Nico said, "can we just get the whole story now?"
"Yeah, sure," Percy responded, "so basically, you were born in Italy back in 1924 to Maria di Angelo and Hades. You have an older sister, Bianca di Angelo. So, when your mom died, which was the scene in the first flashback, your father had to protect you and your sister from Zeus because he was jealous. He took you and Bianca to the Lotus casino and hid you there. Because it's an enchanted location, time passes differently there. You stayed there from around 1934 to 2007. Then, you both got moved to Westover Hall, a boarding school over in Maine. When I, Thalia and Annabeth who I'm sure you'll be able to meet and ask if you want to, came to rescue you guys, we took you back to camp along with the hunters of Artemis. This is where it gets a bit hard. Bianca decided that she wanted to join the Hunters. At that time, there was a prophecy that had been spoken and we had to go on a quest to try and solve it. You couldn't come because at the time, you were about ten. But just before we left, you made me promise you that I would keep your sister safe. I promised you. But, while we were on the quest, she tried to get a gift for you and she disappeared. That's how she died. When we returned to camp, you asked me where your sister was and i had to tell you that I broke my promise to keep her safe and that she died, at my hands. I felt awful and you hated me. You screamed and summoned some skeletons. That's where that scar in the marble floor in the pavilion is from. You then disappeared. I was devastated. And the rest of the story has to do with the war and everything so if you want to hear that I'll tell you but maybe another time."
Percy looked up at Nico. Nico was shocked and he knew why. Percy didn't like thinking about how he had failed Nico and Bianca. He started to cry. He hated breaking promises and hurting people. That's when something unexpected happened. Nico leaned in and wrapped his arms around Percy. And hugged him. Percy felt better almost immediately.
"Thank you," Nico whispered in his ear, "I just want you to know that I forgive you. It was unfair of me to have been angry at you for that. It wasn't your fault."
Percy removed his face from his hands. He was shocked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He never believed he'd hear that, he never imagined that Nico could forgive him.
"R-really?" Percy asked
"Yeah. Of course, I wouldn't ever do that to someone. I'm sorry that I hurt you and made you feel like it was your fault. It wasn't fair."
It was then his turn to hug. Percy turned and embraced Nico tightly. It took him a second but, he hugged back.
The two enjoyed a wholesome moment of forgiveness and appreciation for one another.
After that moment had passed, Percy grabbed his sword.
"Hey Nico, how'd you feel about a small sparring match?"
"Sure," Nico said as he stood up and took Percy's hand.
Will's p.o.v
Will was so tired. He hadn't eaten in two days and he felt so sick. He had tried to eat a popsicle earlier and the whole thing had just come right back up. He was really anxious and he hated it. He hated not being able to sit still or hold almost anything without his hands shaking. He felt like a ghost, like he was floating and like he was about to pass out. The one person who had noticed was Kayla.
He hated the fact that she cared about him. He didn't want to talk to her about what was going on because he knew that she's probably think he was weak. And he really didn't want to tell anyone about his mom lest they thought it was his fault.
Will felt sick and knew that he probably shouldn't be in the infirmary given the state he was in. It had been relatively empty all day, except for a few sprains and one major cut. Will was trying to put things back into the cabinets but he was struggling. His hands trembled and his eyes stopped focusing.
He was trying to put a container of tongue depressors on the shelf when his grip failed and he dropped it.
"Shit," he said as he began to pick them up and put them in the container.
"Hey," Kayla said as she walked in, "is everything okay in here?"
"Yeah," Will said.
"Will, you put those in someone's mouth, you have to throw them out after they touch the ground."
"Oh, yeah. Totally." He said as he took them out and threw them away.
"Here, Will, I'll clean this up, why don't you head back to the cabin and try and get some rest?"
"Okay," he said.
Will was too exhausted to even care. But he was still a bit mad. Did Kayla see him as weak? And like she needed to protect him? He was going to show her that he was strong enough on his own.
At this point, he was already in the field. He decided to take a walk. He felt like if he stopped moving that he might pass out.
He just walked around camp for about a good hour, his mind wasn't silent for a single second. All he could think about was how frustrated he was with himself and his anxiety and the fact that he couldn't function or think. His head hurt and his muscles ached. He was so zoned out that he didn't even notice the boy coming across the field.
Nico's p.o.v
Nico was astounded. As soon as he picked up his sword, his fingers instinctively just curled around it. And he was good. Even though he would never admit it, he was good. He was better than Percy. He had beaten him like five times. Nico was surprised. The whole thing came to him almost naturally.
He didn't know where he had learned how to use a sword. But what he did now know was that he had a sister. And he now understood what she was saying about how she had "abandoned" him. But, he forgave her. He didn't understand why she had joined the hunters but he forgave her.
He missed her. He was sad that she wasn't here. He knew that she was probably the only person who could tell him what his early childhood must have been like, given that she was there too.
When he looked up, he saw the beautiful blond boy coming towards him across the field. He was nervous. He didn't know if it was weird for him to just start talking. But, in an instant, his instincts just took over.
"Hey Will!" Nico said. It may have come out a bit too enthusiastically.
Will's head snapped up and a small smile formed on his face.
"Hi," he said.
"How are you?"
"I'm good," Will said tiredly, "how are you?"
"I'm goo-WILL!"
a/n: Thanks so much for reading. See y'all soon!
