Lovely

Nico di Angelo

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Nico stared as six of the seven ate. All that did was remind him of Percy, but he tried to get him off his mind. He picked at the food with a fork.

Hazel tried to get him to eat but Nico didn't listen. She sighed and gave up.

Annabeth spoke up. "We have to find the Doors of Death. Where are they?" She turned to Nico.

Nico looked down for a moment before speaking, but it was barely above a whisper. "The House of Hades."

"What?" Frank asked.

"The House of Hades. We're going to Epirus."

The teenagers stayed silent after that. Nico never knew that Percy falling in Tartarus would take a toll on them. But it did. Even Jason, Leo and Piper who barely knew the guy.

He'll make it.

The rest glanced at him.

"Sorry, did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah," the others muttered simultaneously.

Nico nodded awkwardly and went back to staring at his food.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Nico barely got any sleep, due to the nightmare he received.

Percy was running away from something; Nico couldn't see it. Nico followed him but had to run twice as fast as he normally would since the older male was quick.

A girl was by Percy's side. She had dark and light brown hair, tan-ish skin and she had on a black shirt and dark blue jeans that were both ripped. Dark brown eyes that looked broken. She ran as fast as Percy, which deserved a reward.

Nico couldn't look behind him or turn away. He could only run forward, trying to catch up to the two teenagers.

A huge castle/palace (it could be both; Nico's seen one) came into view. The two teens paused in their tracks and stared at the huge building. Then—

"Nico?"

Nico bolted up and opened his eyes.

"You've been sleeping for a while . . ." Hazel muttered.

"What time is it?" Nico asked.

Hazel thought for a moment. "One PM?"

Nico blinked. "And when did I go to sleep?"

"Around, I don't know, six?"

Nico quickly did the math. "So you're saying that I slept for 19 hours?"

Hazel nodded. "It's good, but we were just worried about you, and—"

"What do you mean 'worried about me?'"

Hazel sighed. "Nico, we're worried about you! Does that surprise you? I honestly don't know what to do anymore! You're not alone, Nico."

"I know," Nico grumbled.

"Then why do you act like you're alone?"

That shut Nico up. Why did he act like he was alone? Well, wasn't that obvious? He just didn't want anyone to help him with his problems; It was his problem, wasn't it? But he couldn't just say that out loud. Could he?

"Nico, I'm asking for an answer."

"Because I'm not used to it. I'm not used to having people around me that have the same problems. I'm not used to opening up. I'm not used to people offering to help me. I'm just . . ." Nico sighed. "Change is for the good, right? But it's not. I don't feel the same and I never did since she . . ." He was on the verge of tears. "Hazel, I . . . I don't want to acknowledge the people around me. It's always just been her and I and I didn't want that to change. Then she chose the hunters and I—"