Hold Me Close

Hurricane

I can feel your heart hanging in the air

Percy could tell that Nico was dying inside. It was clear from the crest-fallen look on his face, and the way his body had tensed up. Percy hated that he had to tell Nico that his sister was dead. It wasn't like he hadn't had the same conversation with the dark Italian before. That's exactly why he hated it. He had failed Nico once again. 

I'm counting every step as you climb the stairs

Nico was beginning to hyperventilate. Percy knew from the heaving breaths that Nico took that didn't seem to draw in enough for the young boy to breathe properly. He was tempted to touch his back in an attempt to soothe the boy, but he knew that Nico hated being touched. "Nico? I'm so sorry." The boy looked up at him with bloodshot eyes, before turning to run out of the Hades cabin.

It's buried in your bones, I see it in your closed eyes turning in

Percy sighed. He should've known that it would've come to this. Nico would run as soon as he got the chance to. But the way that the dark, sunken eyes had looked at him before closing and turning away made him cold. Percy knew that he shouldn't have let Hazel go on the quest with him. He knew that he should've asked Reyna or Annabeth or Frank, even. But no. He had asked Hazel because he wanted to check up on her and Nico.

This is harder than we know,  we hold it in the most when we're wearing thin

He wanted to check up on the children of the Underworld because they had both been looking worse than they did during the Giant War. Nico had gotten far too thin for his own good, and Hazel's golden eyes had dulled. Frank had come to him, worried about the two demigods. "Percy, help them. Please. Before it's too late," begged Frank before Hazel had called him over to the dining pavilion.

Comin' like a hurricane, I take it in real slow

Percy had noticed the shadows hugging Nico's eyes and the way the bright orange camp shirt hung off di Angelo's frail frame. He tried to bring it up to Nico, but the boy had just brushed him off. "I'm fine, Percy. Leave me alone," scowled Nico. "I don't need your help." After that, he backed off. Now he regretted it. If only he had pushed harder.

The world is spinning like a weather vane

It came to a head when Hazel had taken a dizzy spell on the quest. She had fallen and hadn't been able to get up. "Hazel! C'mon, get up. We have to keep moving." Percy had begged and pleaded with her to get up on her feet, but she couldn't. It was like she had given up her fight. He resolved to carry her to the safest location he could think of, the ocean. 

Fragile and composed

Somehow, everything seemed to slow down when he waded into the water with Hazel in his arms. "Dad . . . I need your help. Please, she's a close friend. She's saved my life more times than I can count. Help her, please." He poured sincerity and desperation into his voice when asking Poseidon to help him. He didn't get the answer he wanted. A bottle rocked gently in the waves against his thigh. The note inside made his stomach twist. There's nothing I can do. It's not the gods' battle this time. It's her own mind. I'm sorry, Percy.  Tears fell on Hazel's face.

Though I am breaking down again

He broke down. Percy had let Nico down again. He could remember coming back from the quest with the Hunters of Artemis only to tell Nico di Angelo that his older sister was dead. He remembered the devastation on the young boy's face. He remembered the anger. Oh, the anger that Nico held. Some days it still felt as though Nico was on the verge of a psychotic breakdown. Percy really tried to make it better this time around. He just wasn't good enough.