A Hero, The Hero (Solangelo)

Fade 2

Stage 4: Depression
I missed him so much. I cried every night and never ate. That's normal for me, right? I sat and looked into the distance, but I saw nothing. People talked to me, but I heard nothing. People tried to hug me and comfort me, but I felt nothing. I was force fed, but I tasted nothing. The room was filled with flowers for Nico, but I couldn't smell them. I smelled nothing. I was nothing. Without Nico, I was a spacious empty void that could only be filled with his presence.
I stopped letting them feed me. I stopped letting myself feel okay. I gave up on trying. If he was gone, I was simply nothing, no one at all. I didn't matter.

Stage 5: Acceptance
He wouldn't come back. It's been weeks. He was gone. I allowed myself to feel. A wave of pain crashed on my. Exhaustion, Excretion, Grief, and Pain all attacked me at once. I laid on his bed and cried. He was alive, but he was so cold. He would die.
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I woke up to someone poking my shoulder. It was soft, like they wanted me to wake up peacefully. I rolled over and buried my face into the pillow. I heard murmuring voices and I groaned.
"Go away." I looked up to see who would bother me at the ghastly hour of... wait what time was it? Noon! Seriously? Piper stood above me, with Annabeth at her side. I felt a slight resentment towards Annabeth. Why would he save her? With her frame, she would have turned out better than the small, thin Nico.
"What do you want?" I glared at them, pretty ticked off. Annabeth looked guilty and hurt, while Piper appeared unfazed.
"New news on Nico, thought you would want to know." That woke me right up. I shot out of the bed and landed flat on my face. I hurried up, and looked Piper dead in the eye.
"What is it. Piper, good or bad?" She bowed her head, and suddenly got very nervous.
"Well, there's two sides... Come with me, we'll go and talk to Chiron." She said gently. I stepped forward, then slowly followed behind them as they conversed. When I saw the look on Chiron's face, I picked up my pace to a jog.
"What!" I demanded,"Chiron, what is it."
Chiron took a deep breath before deciding to be blunt. "Nico has a 98% chance of dying, according to every Roman healer we brought in. If he lives, he'll never walk. He won't be the same. What happens in a shadow coma is scaring. I have faith in him, Will. He'll be okay, eventually. But he needs you. You need to eat." I couldn't think. 98%. I could bet on those odds. All my drachmas.
"Good news? Piper said there was good news." I croaked, terrified for my... boyfriend? He was so much more than that to me. We've been through so much together. Whether it be pain or happiness, we know each other deeper than words could explain. There was no word for what we had. No word would ever be able to explain what he was to me.
"As for the good news, see Rachel. She had a prophecy today. You could take it either way, good or bad. She's in the mess hall." I sprinted the entire way there, avoiding livid campers after accidentally body slamming them. I felt no pain. I felt nothing at all. I bombarded through the doors and faced a half-asleep Rachel. She turned to me and said,"Watch." She lunged for me and grabbed my hand. My vision swirled and I saw Nico, a living Nico, and he was on top of a hill on a wheelchair. A breathy voice spoke in the background,
"When chances are slim, but the one moves on, a battle is yet to be won. The living dead makes the final stand while sedentary. The living dead dies there, or dies not. The blessing and burden placed upon thy shoulders. The living dead burns out, or burns for eternity." Then, the vision swirled around me, and I was back in the mess hall. Rachel looked up sheepishly, then began to ramble,
"I've been trying to decipher it! It's Nico, most likely. I think that-" I stopped her there,
"Explain it to me Rachel. Tell me," I ordered.
"Well, 'the chances are slim', he only has a 98% chance of survival, right? And then, 'the living dead', he's the son of Hades. Also, 'a battle is yet to be won', he has to fight somebody, and 'sedentary' means seated, as in a wheelchair. 'the living dead burns out, or burns for eternity'. If he doesn't die in that battle, he won't die at all. He'll be immortal. He's already 70-something, right? He might live forever, which could be a 'blessing and a burden'." I stood there for a minute, attempting to gather my bearings. Without a word, I rushed back to the infirmary.
I stumbled in, tears blurring my vision. I pushed aside curtains and carts as I rushed to Nico's side. Kneeling on the floor, I laid my head on his stomach and held back my tears. Stay strong for him.