Solangelo after the war

Chapter 3; the infirmary

Nico didn't know what to expect. Of course they were going to talk. Of course the Will was going to try and ask something. And of course they had to be interrupted.

"How did a manticore get in here!" Shouted Will, but Nico didn't reply. He stood still. His face showed total pain. For this was the exact same monster who had come after him and his sister whom Percy, Grover, Thalia and Annabeth had come to save.

He remembered Percy being hit. Annabeth sacrificing herself to save them. And the one memory he had tried to relieve himself of over the past few years...

Nico and his sister had first met Percy, Thalia, Grover and Annabeth when he was rescued by them from a monster. They'd also met the hunters of Artemis and Artemis herself. Then Apollo had popped up al little later. Nico had found out that Zoë Nightshade had convinced his sister to join the hunters of Artemis, leaving him alone.

Soon after returning to camp Half-Blood, Nico had been shown around the camp and the campers had soon discovered that Artemis had been taken, aswell as Annabeth being captured and tricked by Luke. So off Percy, Thalia, Grover, Zoë and Bianca left. Going to save Artemis and Annabeth.

Nico had made Percy promise the night before that he would protect his big sister. He had already lost her to the Hunters of Artemis, but he couldn't bare let her leave this world. But, after spending a week or so at Camp Half-Blood, Nico found out that Bianca had sacrificed herself to save the others. She'd gave up her life to save them due to a fault she'd made. Percy had tried to give him something that day they'd returned, but Nico just threw it down and ran away. That's when he'd managed to hide in the shadows and talk only to ghosts and lost spirits.

Nico had not taken that well. He was only 10 so, how else would he have taken it? He had lost the only family he knew he had.

And so, like all other 10 year olds who find out they are alone in the world because the one person they began to love had broken the only thing they've asked of them, he ran away and tried to bring her back. Well, he was pretty sure those other 10 year olds would've ran away if they'd been through all that he had.

Those were the dark days. When Nico had tried to shelter himself from the rest of the world by accepting his heritage as the son of Hades and staying in the dark. Communicating only with lost spirits, or ghosts, to find out what he needed. But Nico wanted to forget those.

He was quickly brought back to the present when he heard Will shouting his name repeatedly. He was back in the hospital. He didn't remember a thing, but Will was stood over him, holding onto his hand and begging for him to stay. Gods his hands were so warm.

Nico had fully awoken by the time Will had stopped. In this time, a crowd had gathered. Nico could see Percy, Annabeth, Will, Leo and Piper stood around his bed.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked Will.

"Let him at least have something to eat," he replied "he's only just woke up."

And so, Will helped Nico begin to eat some ambrosia. It was nice to eat and filled him with happy memories, which he was surprised he had. His life had been a wreck.

Nico sat up and a sharp pain shot up his arm.

"We were attacked by a manticore," Will began "it came out when we were sat near Zeus' fist. Nico's face went pale, and it attacked his arm. After that, he blacked out. I had to try and fend it off but then, it had spoke."

"What did it say?" Nico heard someone shout from the back.

Will continued with the story, "It had said that we should worry about an oncoming storm, one that'll leave us all on ice."

This had all happened too fast for Nico. First Will wants to go for a walk with him. Then he goes to ask something whilst they are alone. And then he finds out they were attacked. Nico faintly remembered that part. That's when he had gone into a state of shock at the sight of the beast, similar to Dr.Thorn, the one that had first attacked him. His memories had come flooding back to him by this point.