The image was engraved into Nico's mind. The subject of Will's death was like a virus that each thought always ended with. Poisoning his mind with the picture of it. His head riddled with the disease until everything that wasn't about Will withered and died and the memory of him encompassed every thought he had.
Will's sightless blue orbs staring at the ceiling. His mildly surprised expression. The vacant eyes. It was all just so wrong. Nico wanted to vomit just thinking about it. It made him sick, to see such a familiar face stripped of life and personality. Like a flame inside a lantern blown out by a delicate breath.
So...dead.
Nico felt a cold laugh bubble up in his chest and pour from his lips. Fitting for a corpse, he supposed. It was so tragic it was almost amusing. Will was dead. He was gone. He wasn't coming back. But Nico couldn't bring himself to admit it aloud. "It's not true, right? He'll wake up soon..."
Piper's own expression of pity only deepened. The bags under her eyes were painfully noticeable. Nico averted his eyes. She must've been tired. He wasn't sure why she was so dedicated to helping him recover. It was, after all, a hopeless cause.
You can't help it when someone's world is crumbling around them. Most of the time, no one sees it until it's too late. Nico never thought about what could've been hiding behind those bright, seemingly effortless smiles Will spent so carelessly.
Nico glared at the wall. They always said time would heal. And it always had for him. But not this time. This time it gnawed at him, eating away at him until he felt like a child, cowering before his own past helplessly. Wasn't that him, anyways?
Piper exhaled deeply through her nose. Her voice was soaked in a tone of defeat. "I'll leave you alone. But Nico? Remember to come to the campfire tonight. You need a distraction." He heard her shuffle. Then a few footsteps. Then the door opening and closing.
Nico's thoughts darted back to Will.
And his eyes darted to the blade of his own sword.
"I'm done trying to heal. I'm finished with attempting to forget."
