edited on 4.3.15
Three year earlier
Nico looked at everyone laughing and smiling. It was a normal day at camp and now they were going to have a bonfire.
Everyone sat around the fire.
He looked at all the couples.
Katie and Travis were giggling.
Clarisse and Chris were holding hands.
Jason and Piper were cuddling.
Percy and Annabeth were kissing.
Nico felt a stabbing pain in his stomach.
And it wasn't because they were kissing. He had been getting these pains for a while. But like all the other times, he ignored them.
He didn't think they were important.
After all, demigods got hurt on a regular basis. So it was probably an old injury.
Nico smiled as Rachel sat down next to him. The two usually sat next to each other during these thing, since they both preferred to be alone.
Nico watched as Chiron lit the fire and everyone started cheering.
Will, Apollo's cabin leader, brought put his guitar and he and his siblings began leading them in song.
Nico even got into the spirit, singing quietly to some of his favorites.
Then Travis began kicked off the ghost stories of the evening and Nico settled himself on the bench.
This was his favorite part of the camp bonfire, well besides making smores.
As Travis started talking, people began passing out the smore making materials.
Nico quickly got his by the fire and once it was perfect he ate it.
He made several more and listened to others began telling their stories.
Finally, he got the story stick and he launched into a story Bianca had told him.
He was happy to see that by the end of it, everyone was shaking and holding on tight to each other.
Someone one screamed and he laughed as Bianca appeared.
Once, they realized who it was they all began laughing. Everyone called out hi's to Bianca and miss you. Bianca smiled and disappeared.
Nico shifted on as another pain flew through him. It got intense, he felt like screaming. He stood up shakily and went to his cabin.
He collapsed on his bed and let the pain engulf him. This hurts more than when he was taken by Gaia.
He's walking in the park with Mrs. O'Leary when the next attack comes. He hunches over and feels dizzy. He is falling.
Feet pounding to him don't register. He only sees a shadow hover over and then it was gone. His eyes close and when they open, they land on a couple. The guy is calling someone while the girl is stroking his hair.
"You passed out. My boyfriend's calling the hospital."
"No hospital."
"Yes."
Nico wanted to argue but then her boyfriend turned and picked him up.
They settled him in the car and drove him to the hospital and stayed with him.
The doctors are hesitant to tell him what is wrong without a parent and Nico has no choice but to call Hades and Persephone.
They arrive an hour later and they are all sitting around a table.
It was funny. They were a messed up family. Hades and his step-mother are holding hands and she has her hand on his shoulder.
They wait as the doctor flips through his file.
She's young, with red hair and a gold ring on her finger. She is fiddling with it and Nico gets a bad feeling.
"Mr. and Mrs. Di Angelo…"
No one has the heart to correct the doctor. They are frozen in time.
" cancer."
He has cancer.
Cancer.
The world is shaking until he realizes it's his step mother. She's crying.
"Nico."
Nico hugs his step mother and lets out a few tears.
He has cancer.
Hades joins their hug and the doctor lets a few tears out.
After a while, they all sit down and she tells him about treatment.
Nico says nothing when she tells him that his chances aren't good.
When he thought about dying, he always figured it would be due to a monster not due to a disease.
They head home and that night Nico sleeps in his father and step mother's room.
He wakes up later to see Persephone hunched over a table crying. He sees his father drinking in a chair.
His family is affected by the news. Things will never be the same. He is dying.
He can't help but think it's funny.
He survived a war, nearly died by monsters. He has killed and has been harmed by countless of monsters only to be killed by a monster inside of him.
What kind of demi-god is he?
It is like this for months. Nico spends time with his father and step-mother.
Most nights, he wakes up in the middle of the night to find Persephone comforting Hades who is crying.
"I'm the god of death and I can't say my son from this disease."
Most mornings, he finds Persephone, in her garden. When she enters the house, her hands are covered in blood from the thorns and her eyes are rimmed red.
His cancer is taking the toll on everyone.
Demeter stops forcing cereal down his throat.
Ares keeps his kids of his back. Clarisse's brothers have left him alone.
Hermes brings him something every day.
Athena and Poseidon have called a truce, on his behalf.
All the other gods have been sworn to secrecy.
Although Athena begs him to tell someone.
Nico can't find it in himself to bother anyone.
It takes a second, a little second for Annabeth to find out.
Annabeth is smart.
He is pale and weak, he has gotten into the habit of wearing beanies, his hair has not begun falling off because of chemo, but it will happen.
She comes into his cabin one day, and finds him standing in front if a mirrors with several pills in his hands.
The doctor had prescribed him many pills, to ward off any other diseases and help battle the nausea.
It was his bad luck that she had walked in. They looked at each other and she opened her mouth and he shook his head begging her to say nothing.
She left his room but he knew she would back. It took him 10 minutes to pack and he was gone to the Underworld.
When Annabeth came to talk to him, he was gone and she knew she would have to use her brains, wit, and connections to find him.
But she was going to, she knew he needed a friend.
She would not let him go through this alone.
It was hard finding him, there were a few misses but she finally got him three year later.
When he needed her the most.
It's easier to fight a monster, when you have someone watching your back.
This was in my mind. I guess you could call it a prequel. Not too pleased but I swore that I would post whatever I have done, whether I like it or not. I am my worst critic after all, so my judgment can't be that good.
Review.
Love you Wallflowers.