Disclaimer: All rights to Rick Riordan. I own nothing, but the plot.
Themes of self-harm, anxiety, and depression are expressed within this story. TRIGGER WARNING! Please do NOT read if these themes upset you. TRIGGER WARNING!
Criticism is appreciated, but please no hate. Please review and leave me suggestions! Enjoy!
Nico's POV
There was a rapid knock at the door. Will looked questioningly at Nico, who shrugged, indicating he didn't know. It was January 18th; it had been four days since Cecil had disappeared. The days following had been incredibly tense with search parties sent out multiple times every day. Will was beside himself with concern for his best friend, who was nowhere to be found. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air.
Nico got up from the bed to see who was outside. He opened the door, revealing Austin.
"Austin," Nico said coolly.
Nico had avoided the Apollo cabin the past couple of days, not wanting to interact with Austin and Kayla after what they had said about him. Nico had had to make Will swear not to say anything to his siblings, as Nico didn't want Will fighting his battles for him. Will had, grudgingly, agreed not to say anything.
Austin's eyes blinked, recognizing the cold tone. He didn't address it. "Is Will here?"
Nico heard Will get up from the bed.
"What's up Austin?" Will asked, walking over to the door.
Austin looked around Nico at Will. "We have a problem."
Nico felt his stomach sinking. "There's been another disappearance, hasn't there?"
"Ellis Wakefield," Austin informed. "Sherman reported it less than an hour ago. We are organizing search parties right now. Chiron needs everyone out there looking."
"Two disappearances in a week… this can't be a coincidence." Nico murmured.
"You think there is a link?" Will asked.
Nico thought about it. The threat of the Titans and the Giants were over. But Olympus had also closed itself off. Something was amiss, Nico could feel it in his bones.
"I don't really know. I have had this feeling of dread recently. And the conversation with my father a couple of days ago didn't really reassure me at all."
"Maybe they just left Camp?" Austin suggested.
"They had no reason to," Will pointed out. "And neither of them brought any of their possessions. This is something else."
"We need to go talk to Sherman," Nico suggested. "Get some more information."
Sherman didn't really have that much information about Ellis. He talked about Ellis was gone from the cabin that morning, leaving all of his stuff behind. It was the same story as Cecil's. He was mostly distraught as he blamed himself for the disappearance. But Nico headed to the Big House to report to Chiron, while Will and Austin tried to get more information from the Ares cabin.
Nico opened the door. "Chiron?"
He wasn't in the rec room, and a quick check upstairs proved that he was not in his quarters. He came back downstairs. He closed his eyes and listened carefully for any sounds. He heard light murmurings coming from the basement. Why is he in the basement? Grabbing the hilt of his sword, Nico lightly began treading down the staircase, pausing every now and then to avoid the creaking stairs. He peered down into the darkness and saw Chiron. He was talking quietly, but he was blocking whoever he was talking to. He made it to the basement floor before speaking up.
"Chiron?" The centaur turned quickly, looking at Nico.
"Mr. di Angelo, what are you doing down here?" Chiron thundered, clip-clopping over to him.
Nico saw who he was talking to. His heart started beating faster. The walls seemed to be closing in on him. "What am I doing down here? What in Hades is he doing down here?"
Sitting on a cot in the basement was Aaron Stevenson. His eyes widened with shock to see Nico.
"I can explain-" Chiron came forward as if to put a hand on Nico's shoulder.
"No," Nico stumbled back, tripping over himself. He landed on the concrete ground, catching himself with his hand. It started bleeding. The darkness in the room seemed to culminate around Nico. "He- he is supposed to be gone. He was supposed to be kicked out of camp."
"Nico, let me explain-" Aaron dared to say.
"No!" Nico pointed a shaky finger at him. His hand was crackling with dark energy as panic took over. "You don't get the right to an opinion. You don't deserve the right to talk to me!"
"Mr. di Angelo-" Nico shot up from the ground as his mentor spoke.
"And you! You've been- concealing Aaron's presence here for how long? I've slept upstairs in the Big House, the same place he is in, the infirmary I almost died in, because of him." He pointed an accusing finger behind him at Aaron. "He almost killed me!"
"I can explain if you all-" Chiron said calmly.
"Nico," Aaron spoke up, standing up. Nico whirled around.
"Get away from me!" Nico screamed.
He pushed Aaron away, feeling a burst of energy rush through him, seeing red flash across his vision. When the red faded, Aaron was motionless on the floor, Chiron holding Nico's arms back. Nico tried to surge forward to cause Aaron as much pain as he had caused him, but Chiron's arms were like steel.
"Let me go!" Nico was panicked, trying to pull himself away.
Another burst of dark energy ran through him. Chiron released his grip and Nico ran to the staircase. He stumbled up it, his clothes steaming with his expended energy. He felt his body being overcome with panic. He burst out of the front door and into the sunlight. He didn't have any place he was running to. Just away from the Big House. And Aaron. Thinking his name, sent another wave of panic through Nico.
He stumbled as he ran across the greens, to his cabin. When he got to his door, he flung it open. He stumbled to the bed, finally noticing the tears that had been streaming down his face. He wiped the tears away quickly. His world was ending. He couldn't breathe. His throat was closing up. He felt lightheaded. His hand was bleeding thoroughly.
As if on autopilot, he began shoving clothes into a bag haphazardly. He grabbed his sword. He then reached for the shadows which whisked him into the darkness, far away from Camp Half-Blood.
He emerged, gasping. He collapsed onto the floor and tried to breathe. The panic had not disappeared. If anything, it was worse. He let out a little whimper as he crumbled into himself. He felt his fingers dig into his palm, trying to remind himself that he was still there; to feel the physical pain as hard as he was feeling the emotional pain; to try to tear the feeling of the panic out of him.
Suddenly, a hand descended on him. He flinched away from it, curling in on himself.
"Please! Please don't hurt me! Please, Aaron, please!" He screamed, his voice cracking as his screams turned into sobs. He was back in the forest.
"Nico," a voice said.
A voice that wasn't Aaron's. Nico unscrewed his eyes to see who was talking. It was his father, bending over him, looking extremely concerned.
"Papá," Nico slipped into Italian. "Mi aiuti per favore." He reached out for his father.
Hades grabbed Nico's arm. "What is it, son? What do you need help with?"
"Knock me out." He requested his father. "Make me pass out."
"Nico," His father said warningly.
Another wave of panic. "Please!" He begged.
He heard his father sigh before he felt another cold touch on his forehead. He knew no more.
Will's POV:
He headed to Nico's cabin. He hadn't seen him all day and was incredibly stressed out. He had gone to go get instructions from Chiron, but neither he nor Nico had been in the Big House. They had probably started searching themselves. Will had organized search parties to search camp again but to no avail. Ellis was missing. Night was falling so he called off the search. Will knocked on the door and it opened on touch. Will looked at it suspiciously. He pushed it open.
"Nico?"
The cabin was trashed. Will was filled with apprehension as he stepped into the room. The comforter had been thrown off the bed. Drawers were opened, clothes spilling out. He found a bloodstain on the dresser. Fear shot through Will. Nico had been taken.
He was out of the door before his mind caught up with him. He sprinted to the Apollo cabin. He threw the door open. It hit the wall hard, making Kayla and Austin jump. Will skidded in front of Kayla, grabbing her arms.
"Will, what's wrong?"
"He's gone." It was bad enough losing his best friend; now he lost his boyfriend. "He's gone!"
"Who? Who is gone, Will?"
"Nico! He's missing... I went to his cabin... and it was empty! Kayla, it was empty he's gone. Just like the other campers. He's gone."
Kayla looked distraught. "Will; I'm so sorry."
"He's gone and it's my fault! I should have been with him. We- we were supposed to be using the buddy system. It's my fault that he's gone!"
"We spent all day convincing Sherman that it wasn't his fault that Ellis was missing. It's not your fault. There is another factor at play here." Kayla explained.
Will hung his head. His tiredness has vanished, replaced with adrenaline. "Search parties... we need search parties. Now."
"We've had search parties, all day. We need to re-" Austin started.
"No, we need to look for Nico!" Will yelled at his brother.
Austin held his hands up defensively. "Okay, let's get search parties started."
He stumbled up the seventh cabin's steps. He collapsed onto them, his head in his hands. Kayla and Austin sat on either side of him.
"I can't believe he's gone. Everyone I care about is disappearing." Will mourned. "We have to find whoever is doing this. Before they take more people."
"We don't know that whatever took Cecil and Ellis, also took Nico. We don't even know if it is a 'whoever'." Kayla explained.
"Nico seemed to think it was a person or group. Someone or something is taking people and now it took Nico."
Unnoticed by Will, Kayla and Austin shared a look. "Will, we aren't saying that Nico didn't get taken, but we should look at some other possibilities."
Will looked at Kayla. "What are you talking about?"
"The circumstances do not really fit any of the other disappearances. His room was trashed; the Hermes and Ares cabins weren't. His stuff was missing; everyone else's stuff was still there. He disappeared during the day. Everyone else disappeared during the night."
"Yeah? So?" Will could see her logic but refused to accept it.
"Nico's been known to disappear at… difficult times." Austin said carefully. Will looked at his brother. "When things get tough…"
"Like when his boyfriend's brother and sister talk about him, and he overhears?" Will spat.
The siblings fell quiet.
"You know about that? He knows about that?" Austin quietly asked.
"He's not a very deep sleeper," Will informed. "Yeah, he heard you."
"Will… we didn't mean…"
"And the worst part? He wouldn't even tell me what y'all said. So, I don't even know why he is as upset as he is." His statement was met with more silence. "I know that you said he hurts me. What other lies did you say?"
Kayla and Austin exchanged another look.
Kayla started. "But he does hurt you, Will. Do you know how many times I have had to heal you after you healed him? How many times you've cried to me when you guys were fighting?"
"He isn't hurting me," Will tried to say.
"He is!" Kayla exclaimed. Will opened his mouth to defend his boyfriend but Kayla interrupted. "No! Let me talk before you go on defending him. All he does is hurt you, Will. He says terrible things to you to try and force you to leave him alone. He gets hurt and causes you to get hurt in the process. He's playing with you and your emotions and taking advantage of your overwhelming need to help everybody who is hurt! He's preying on the doctor complex you possess!"
"How dare you say that!" Will was offended. Nico was not doing that! Was he? "Nico has been through some traumatic experiences…"
"We've all been through terrible times; it's part of the job"
"He lost his family."
"Yeah? So did I!" Austin interjected. He sighed heavily, seeing Will's hurt expression. "Look, I'm not saying he hasn't had a hard life. Because he has. Worse than most. But you can't allow yourself to be taken into his sob story. He needs to pick himself up off the ground and actually want to get better. But all he does is mope around and slice his wrist open, waiting for your sympathy and your help. He's using you!"
A seed of doubt worked its way into his mind. Could Nico… No. That's not the kind of person Nico was.
"And he heard you saying all of this?" Will asked.
"We didn't even know he was awake!" Kayla exclaimed. "We don't know how much he heard."
Will took a composing breath. "Listen very carefully to what I am about to say because I will not be repeating myself. I never want to hear either of you talk about Nico like this again." Austin opened his mouth to speak, but Will interrupted him. "No. I'm talking. I love Nico with all my heart, and I care about his well-being. I know him much better than you guys do, and I know that he is not using me. He is struggling with himself and his mental health. He alienates himself because he doesn't want other people's pity. And if he feels like he doesn't belong somewhere, he runs."
"Then, he might have chosen to leave camp," Kayla suggested.
"If that is the case," Will felt his heart sinking. "then I would understand why he left. It's just… he said he wouldn't."
Kayla looked at him with sympathy. "I know, but we have to entertain the possibility."
A rustling from the nearby woods set the demigods into motion. Kayla drew her bow, Austin his sword, and Will a knife. Chiron came galloping out of the woods. Will let his arm fall in relief.
"Chiron, thank the gods. Nico's…"
"Missing, yes, I am aware." Chiron finished. "I've been searching for him all night."
"Do you know what happened? You were with him last. Unless he never made it to you…" Will trailed off.
"He made it to me," Chiron revealed.
"What happened? Where did he go?"
"I have- it's hard to explain, Mr. Solace." Chiron fumbled over his words.
Will knitted his eyebrows. He had never known Chiron to stumbled over his words. Something was wrong. "Then simplify it. You know something."
"I-" the centaur started before a flash appeared right in front of him. Will leapt back. The centaur was now holding a slightly burned piece of paper. His eyes widened as he read it. "I've been summoned."
A black cloud of smoke enveloped Chiron.
"No!" Will shouted, lunging forward to try and grab his mentor, but he closed his hand on the curling smoke.
"What the Hera was that?" Kayla asked, looking the spot where Chiron had disappeared. "We have lost campers and now our director!"
Will shook his head. "He's not gone. You heard him; he's been summoned."
"By who?" Kayla asked.
Will looked to Austin. "Austin, I'm assuming you recognized it as well."
Austin nodded. "Yeah, that was the smoke Hades appeared in when he brought Nico to camp once. Chiron was summoned to the Underworld."
Realization dawned on Kayla's face. "And if he was summoned by Hades..."
"Nico ran." Will finished. "And it has something to do with Chiron."