The Invisible Demigod

Sam - XXIII

I cracked my eyes open, squinting against the bright light,

A window at the top of the wear house was letting a large pool of golden sunlight wash over us. I groaned and sat up, stretching.

"Ugh," I heard someone say. "Someone, just kill me now." I looked over to see Nico grimacing in pain, obviously he tried to roll over in his sleep and woke up from the pain of moving. I chuckled.

"Sorry," I said, walking towards him. "But that's the exact opposite of what Apollo kids do." Nico moan in pain.

"Then someone get an Ares kid, quick." I snorted.

I grabbed some ambrosia and Nico opened his mouth, still not able to move. I placed it in his mouth and he chewed it, wincing.

"Hey Sam?" Nico asked suddenly as I tried to find food in my backpack. "Did you change my cloths?" I turned and saw that Nico's face was pink, well the spots that weren't burned had flushed pink. I felt my face heating up.

"Yeah," I said, not meeting his gaze. "But I didn't change your boxers." And I quickly turned around to hide my burning face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smirk. I rolled me eyes then continued to try and find some breakfast.

Finally, I heard a few grunts and yawns and saw Claire and Marry stirring. I was currently boiling water to make oatmeal from packets. I also had instant orange juice.

Claire sat up, rubbing her eyes. Marry stretched and ran a hand through her long strawberry blond curls. They both came over to start eating from the pot I had, since we had no bowls. I walked over to Nico and knelt besides him. I spooned some oatmeal into his mouth and he swallowed, wincing.

Claire knelt on Nico's other side. She looked pretty tired, bags under her eyes and her hair was kind of a mess. I remember Claire waking up, yelling, then insisted on taking the next shift. I was certain she stayed up for the rest of the night.

"Hey," Claire murmured. Nico tried to smile up at her, but it looked more like a grimace. She brushed some of his singed hair away from his eyes. "Feeling any better?" Nico thought for a moment.

"Sort of," he said, then paused to get another spoonful of food from me. "Sam's defiantly a son of Apollo." I snorted and Claire had a small smile on her face as she stroked his hair softly. "I'm okay, really." he said, looking up at Claire. "I'll live. Just a little sore."

"I know," Claire said quietly. "You just really scared me," I saw tears pooling in her eyes. I set the pot down and went around Nico to wrap my arms around Claire's shaking shoulders. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nico look up with a little bit of bitterness in his eyes. "I thought you might not survive." Nico smirked, the bitterness gone.

"It's gonna take a little more than water to kill this son of Hades." Claire let out a shaky laugh, then hiccuped. Nico slowly reached up, then caressed Claire's cheek before letting his arm fall back down. I could see the pain in his eyes, but he tried to hide it. "I'll be fine." he said in a firm voice. "I've got Mr. Medicine over here taking care of me." I cracked a smile.

"Come on." I murmured in Claire's ear. I helped her up and she sat back down on her bed pad. Marry came over and started to bush Claire's hair to distract her. I came back over to Nico and lifted to pot up. "Still hungry?"

"No," Nico said, shaking his head. "Thanks." I nodded and put the pot down be the fire. "For everything." I turned back and smiled.

"Don't worry," I said. "I'm not that cruel." Nico smirked before closing his eyes. I knew he was exhausted. "Nico?" He just hummed in response, not opening his eyes. "Don't move, I'm checking your burns." Nico grimaced, but didn't move.

I slowly peeled his bandages off, they looked about the same from yesterday. Maybe a little less red, but still shiny and blistery. His arms were fine and his face was as well. I slowly shifted his arms so I could pull his shirt off. He grit his teeth, I could tell he was trying to hold in any groans or noises of pain.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I'm being as gentle as possible."

"I know," Nico said in a quiet voice. "Still feels like Hades himself is punishing me." I pursed my lips before pulling his bandages off. I gasped, some blisters had burst on his chest. Nico's eyes opened. "What?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly. "What is it?" I bit my lip.

"Your blisters," I said. "Some of them popped." Nico scrunched his face up.

"Disgusting." he muttered and closed his eyes again. I gently cleaned away some puss oozing from his broken blisters, trying not to gag. I carefully rewrapped his burns, only changing out the old ones on his chest.

I help him pull his shirt back on, then I pulled his pants off. I had done this once before, so I wasn't as embarrassed. But I smirked when Nico flushed, it was kind of funny.

Again, I checked his burns and rewrapped them. Only the ones on his chest had burst, so that was good. Hopefully, they wouldn't get infected. I wanted him to heal as fast as possible, but I don't think I can risk giving Nico anymore nectar or ambrosia.

His burns do seem to be doing well with the help of the godly food. Nico let out a breath I hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Thank the gods that's over," Nico said. "I thought you were rubbing flaming cheese graters against my skin." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic," I said. "I was just checking them, I barely even touched your burns." Nico pursed his lips.

"Whatever."

I laid put away the bandages and cloths I had used, then walked over to Claire and Marry. Marry had just got done braiding Claire's silky ebony hair, I smiled.

"I like when you're hairs up." I said. "It shows off your pretty face." I poked her cheek and Claire gave me a small smile that I immediately returned, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. What was this girl doing to me?

"You wouldn't believe how many knots were in her hair!" Marry said, pouting. "It took forever." I laughed.

"You're such a drama queen." Marry stuck her tongue out at me. Claire stood and walked over to Nico. I watched as she sat down besides him and gently took his hand in her. I watched Nico open his eyes and smile, then they had a quiet conversation.

"I see the way you look at her," I snapped my head back to see Marry staring down at her brush. "It's really obvious you like her." Marry looked up and I blushed, my eyes darting back and forth, trying to think of a way to deny. I let out a defeated sigh and sat down, crosslegged with my chin in my cupped hand.

"It's true," I said. "I do, but so does Nico." I stared over at them, despair washing over me. "And I think Claire likes Nico more than me." Marry put her hand over mine.

"Don't worry," Marry said with a warm smile. "Claire isn't the only girl in the world." I bit my lip.

"But she's the only girl in the world like that," I said, still staring at Claire. "She's brave, she's kind and mysterious, she's beautiful, a natural leader, she's so..." I trailed off, trying to find the right word. "Perfect." I finally said. I turned back to Marry and I thought I saw hurt in her eyes, but I wasn't sure because it was gone so suddenly.

"Well," Marry said, removing her hand. "If you think like that, you'll be stuck on her forever." Marry started to clean the pot of oatmeal and pack it away."You just need to have an open mind and hope that another," Marry made a sour face and pulled out the golden hand and stuffed it violently into the bag. "Perfect girl finds you." I nodded glumly.

Right then and there, I vowed that next time me and Claire were alone, I'd confess my feelings towards her. If she liked me back, great, but if not... Well, I'd try and find another perfect girl.