Nico's father was talking to Eliza. He had claimed her. This hit Nico like Coach Hedge's baseball bat. He had another sister. He stood up, dizzy. No wonder Eliza looked a little like Bianca. Their father had made sure Bianca's soul was reborn into Eliza's body, he realized. Hades had made sure that she reminded him of his dead sister.
"I'm...I'm not feeling so great...I-I think I'm going to my cabin." He said. His father nodded. Then turned to Eliza again.
"You are my daughter. You have great powers, like your brother." Nico heard Hades say. "Learn from him how to use and control them. They are dangerous." Hades disappeared.
Then Nico finally reached his cabin and when he got inside, the Lord of the Underworld was standing there.
"How could you?!" Nico screeched, enraged at his father. "She looks too much like Bianca! Why would you do this?!"
"I didn't know she was going to be born Nico. just when I found out, I thought you might like it. But I guess I was wrong. Too late now." Hades turned to go and then paused. He handed Nico a Stygian iron sword, similar to his own.
"Give this to her. It is a gift from me." then he disappeared again. Just then Will barged into the cabin. What was it with people not knocking?
"You ok Neeks?" Will asked, pointing a concerned look in Nico's direction.
"I don't know." he replied. It seemed like his whole world had been turned upside down. He now had a younger sister that looked like his dead older sister. He needed to be there for her. He wanted to make her life as a demigod bearable, unlike his when he first came to camp. She'd obviously gone through some major depression, based on the scars on her arms, like any child of Hades. She looked like him enough, and she seemed very quiet. Tears formed in Nico's eyes and he buried his head in his boyfriends shirt. He wasn't ready to be the responsible one. He wanted his old life back. With Bianca, and their mother. In Italy. He wanted to be a child again. But no, that couldn't happen. Bianca had been reborn into Eliza's body, another shot at being Nico's sister for her. And another shot at losing someone dear to me. He thought. He could already feel the bond between him and the new camper that would be living in Cabin 13.
"It's ok Nico. just let it out. She'll look up to you. She'll love you and you will help her through her problems." Will held him tight until there was a knock at the stone door.
"Come in," Nico said, his voice a bit muffled by his boyfriend's orange camp t-shirt. Whoever was there heard him somewhat clearly and came in. he looked over Will's shoulder and saw his new sister standing in the dark doorway.
"Did I do something?" she asked sounding a bit hurt but also worried. "It's fine you can tell me if I did. I'm used to it. I disappoint a lot of people." she sounded sad.
"You specifically didn't upset me, dad did. And it's not fine. You shouldn't expect everyone to reject you. I know from experience. You don't need to." he let go of Will's hand and took Eliza's. "You are my little sister. We can't change that. But i am going to help you. I have gone through some stuff too. I know how you feel." he hugged her. She stiffened at their embrace but after a second hugged him back.
Later that night, Nico heard a sniffling from the bathroom. He got up and walked silently down the dark hallway. When he reached the bathroom, he could make out the silhouette of the dark haired girl. The only light was the moon shining through the window and his sister was leaning against the sink her head against the counter and her hair fanned out in front of her face. He also noticed a bloody razor in the sink. Her body racked with sobs.
"Eliza….." He whispered. She picked her head up and cried even harder. Nico raced forward and hugged her, unsure of what else to do. He recalled the first time Will had seen him like this. Everything turned out ok, so he tried to remember what Will had said. "Don't do this...I'm here for you. You don't need to. You have people that care about you." he whispered into her hair. She picked her head up from where in had been on Nico's shoulder.
"I know. I-I was just...nevermind." The blood from her wrists was on the counter and on her face. It was also all over both of them from their hug. "I'm sorry." she said.
"Shhh. You don't need to apologize. Let me go get some bandages. I have some in my dresser." he turned and went to rifle through his drawers. When he got back into the room Eliza was sitting against the cabinet underneath the sink with her head back and her eyes closed. He grabbed a washcloth from the shelf next to the shower and wet it with warm water. He dabbed it on her cuts and then wrapped the bandages around her arms.
"Don't ever do that again. You scared me. And we only just met, but that's really hard to do. Scare me, I mean. I must really love you." he said. "If you ever feel the need to do that tell me. Please. He held onto her hand and led her back to her bed. Then hummed until she fell asleep, just like Will had done for him the first time they had been in this same situation. He'd never felt the need to do it again after he knew Will was always there for him. He hoped the same would be the same for him with Eliza.