The Infirmary

Nico's P.O.V.

Nico sat next to Piper at the Poseidon table, with Percy and Annabeth on the other side. An empty space in between him and Piper remained; one that could've held a good friend. An annoying friend- yes- but a good friend.

Piper stared blankly at her food, while Percy began to feed Annabeth, who complained that she wasn't hungry.

"Percy, really. I'll eat in the morning, but I'm just not hungry right now." She looked him in the eye. "Okay?"

Percy shook his head, his hair fluffing up slightly. Nico wanted to reach over and pat it down. "Nope. Eat Wise Girl, or I'll be obliged to make sure you eat." He raised an eyebrow. Annabeth sighed and took a bite off the fork the Percy was holding.

Nico looked over at Piper, who was shifting her food around her plate. "Come on Piper, you've gotta eat some too." Piper shrugged, twirling pasta around her fork. "Piper..."

"Nico, you can't get after me for not eating when you've barely even looked at your plate." She threw her fork down. Annabeth sat up and grabbed her arm over the table.

"Piper, deep breaths. He's just looking out for you. And besides, he's had to deal with bodies all day. You lose your appetite after a while." Nico grimaced. That was partly true, but the wounds on his arms had been screaming all day, and made his stomach turn.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just..." Piper trailed off and  looked at the empty spot besides her. Nico looked down at his food, sensing the waves of emotion from everyone. So desperately, Nico wanted to say that there was something off  about Leo's death. But what if he was wrong? He would be striking false hope into his friends' minds.

"I know he'd want me to move on; be happy, but I can't. Jason and I were up there. We survived, and I don't understand why he didn't. They should've fallen out of the air-something!  They can't just disappear." Nico bit his tongue.

"You're also not used to not having the rest of the team around." Annabeth comforted. Percy nodded.

"We understand. But we can't really help, since we knew him for a shorter time than you did. All we can say is that, if you need us, we're here." Percy added.

"And so is everyone else, even in different camps." Annabeth chimed in. Nico smirked slightly, noticing they were talking together, not as two separate people.

"Yeah... when are you guys leaving?" Piper asked, looking up. Nico raised his eyebrows at Percy, who turned toward Annabeth.

"Next week without complications. But we'll still be here for you." Piper nodded, finally taking a bite of her pasta. "And Nico," Nico looked at Annabeth, waiting. "We're here if you need us too, okay?" Nico nodded, then noticed a hand near his plate.

"Hey!" He cried out in protest as Percy popped one of his French fries into his mouth. "You don't just steal peoples' food." Percy gave a grin before taking another. Nico was about to say something more when a sharp pain trickled through his arm.

Rolling his eyes at Percy,  he took a bite of his hamburger, trying to push out the pain. His stomach churned, and he sat his food down, taking a sip of his drink. He stared blankly at the table in front him, waiting to make sure he wasn't going to vomit, the smells nauseating.

Nico looked up, realizing that everyone else was finally eating. He contemplated eating some more, but his stomach said no.

Nico pushed his plate towards Percy, who seemed to have the only real appetite. "Here, you can have the rest." Percy raised his eyebrow.

"Um, you sure man? You've eaten like, nothing." Nico nodded.

"Yeah. I'm not feeling too great. I may just head to bed, get some sleep. Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning." Annabeth nodded as Nico stood.

"Good idea. Go get some sleep. See you in the morning." Nico raised a hand in farewell, and turned to walk away. Two steps away from the table, a gripping pain rushed through his chest Nico clutched at his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, courtesy of the gift store, and sank to the floor, grimacing in pain.

"Nico!" Annabeth's alarmed cry rang through the room. Gasping for breath, Nico collapsed completely,  curled into a ball of pain.

"Will, we need your assistance, now!" Percy shouted as Piper and Annabeth rushed over. Nico began to violently cough, and Piper attempted to charmspeak him out of it, but was failing.

Nico felt himself begin to dissolve. The voices that had whispered in his ear were back, only this time, he couldn't fight it. He was leaving, falling into the shadows, like he hadn't for the longest time.

Hands pulled him back, electricity running through his face. Commands shouted to others rang through his ears. Nico painfully opened his eyes.

Will Solace kneeled over him, hands on his face, and was examine him as he shouted orders.

"We'll need bandages, oxygen, an I.V., heart monitor, blankets, and ambrosia. Go!" Nico took a shuddering breath, trying to keep his eyes open. This caught Will's attention, and he looked into Nico's eyes, glaring. "You're and idiot, you know that, right?" His glared eased. "But an idiot that I prefer alive."Nico felt a warmth spread through his chest, before his whole body was gripped with ice.

Nico couldn't take another breath, and the last thing he saw was Will's pained and panicked blue eyes before he faded into the darkness that he knew all too well.