The rainbow seekers guide to seeking rainbows

Nico

Nico looked Mr D in the eye and tried his best not to look away.

Mr D, on his part, had no trouble maintaining eye contact as he continuously sipped from his can of Diet Coke, the third he had consumed in the session.

Well, Nico supposed, since he was sitting there, he might as well tell everything to the guy sitting in front of him. That's what the man was being paid for anyways - he was there as a friendly ear, a person who could offer advice without judgement.

"My best friend died." Nico swallowed. "It reminded me of my sister's death."

Mr D nodded, whether it was out of politeness or understanding Nico didn't know. But he was grateful for the gesture anyways.

"My sister died when I was ten. Her name was Bianca - I don't know if I ever told you." He sighed. "I used to hold Percy responsible - I had a crush on him for a while too." Damn it, why was he telling all this to a virtual stranger? But maybe that was part of the appeal - this man wouldn't have any opinions of Nico, and it didn't matter what Mr D thought of him.

The funny thing was, he hadn't even told Will about his feelings about Bianca's death, not yet anyways. He didn't know whether he wanted anyone to know. It was a part of him that belonged to him, and him only - in some respects it was the only part of him that was exclusively his.

Nico took a deep breath, refocused his gaze on Mr D's eyes.

What did it matter? He was right. It wasn't like this man cared. He probably just did this for the easy money. All Mr D needed to do was listen and then offer some sage words of advice that could be found on any inspirational website.

None of it made any difference anyways.

What the hell.

Nico let the dam break loose.

- - - - - - -

Nico stared up at Percy with wide eyes.

He had promised.

He had promised!

"You said you'd keep Bianca safe!" Nico couldn't stop - didn't stop the tears that streamed down his face. "You promised! You promised to me!"

Percy looked at him, his eyes - green, they were green, Nico had promised himself he would remember - with clear remorse and regret. "I did. I'm sorry, Nico, I really am. I broke the promise."

Nico didn't know what to say. What did he tell Percy? The person who he had thought could do no harm? Who he had thought was flawless? And now...now it was this very same person, this person, this - this hero, who was responsible for Bianca's death? Who held himself responsible for Bianca's death? This person who Nico...loved?

It wasn't true.

It couldn't be true.

It couldn't.

If it was...

Had everything Percy said been a lie?

He tried his best to lend steel into his voice, to hide any sign of emotion from Percy. "Tell me what happened."

Percy nodded.

"We were on the hike - we went through the forest, up the trail like we'd planned to. Nothing had gone wrong - everything was surprisingly on track. Everything was okay. And then...some bear or something, it must've noticed us, because we heard a crash from behind us." He shrugged. "We all ran.

"Eventually, we found ourselves in this trash dump site or whatever. I'm not entirely sure. It was like one of those places where those cars get crushed and stuff. You know, with all the metal?" Nico didn't want to agree which anything this person said, so he didn't respond. Whether or not Percy picked up on it, Nico didn't know. If he were to be honest with himself, he hoped that Percy hadn't noticed.