Heroes of Olympus: After Gaea

Nico

He ran, tired and out of breath. He vowed never to step foot in that Camp ever again. But his health was slowly deteriorating, his skin turning an unhealthy tint of blue.

"One more shadow travel," he murmured, "and I'll never need to again."

He had a plan. He'd travel to Italy, start his life all over again. This was to be a permanent move, he was certain of it.

But right now he wasn't even certain that he could live. Reluctantly, he collapsed, breathing heavily as if he never breathed before. The bear he fought clawed him on his ribcage and Nico held onto it with desperation, knowing one or two were probably broken.

Blood was gushing out, staining his black top. He fought to stay awake, but black dots were eating up his vision, and the world started to spin.

He wanted to scream for help, but he had no energy to call out. Holding his chest with his left hand, he dragged himself towards the nearest tree, praying to see a sea creature who wasn't scared of him to help him out. Instead, he saw a boy, practising archery on a tree.

He was stunning, his hair like a golden halo, framing his defined features. Nico thought he Apollo, with his powerful stance and sharp fingers shooting arrows at a speed that was genuinely not possible for humans. But, his vision was blurred, so he didn't know what he saw.

"Ap-" he began, those letters draining his last amounts of energy. He saw the figure turn around, his blue eyes staring at Nico for a millisecond, before everything going black.

*

Nico opened his eyes, expecting to be standing in front of Hades. Instead, he was greeted to a bunch of plugs in his chest.

"Ahhh!" Nico screamed, trying to touch the plugs. A pair of strong hands hold Nico's. He looks up to see Will towering over him, the same eyes he last saw in a forest.

"Shh," Will cooed, "it's alright, it's alright."

Nico wanted to fight off Will, shadow travel to somewhere else. Anywhere else but here. But he felt trapped in Will's hands.

They stayed in the same position for a while, the only sounds were beeping from the machine that kept Nico alive, before a knock on the door disrupted them. Will instantly let go of Nico and went to the door. Instantly, a cold rush swept through Nico as if Will's hands were his only source of heat.

"He can't have visitors right now." Will said to someone. Nico sat up, pain rippling from his chest as he did.

"I need to see him, please." A voice he heard before responded.

Leo.

"Is that you, Leo?" Nico's voice creaked. Leo ducked underneath Will's bicep and ran towards Nico, hugging him.

"If you could," Nico winced, "let me go. My ribcage is kinda in a mess."

"Ohhhh." Leo said, letting go of Nico. He grinned wide, showing his slightly crooked teeth. "How are you, bro? I've joined your resurrected gang!"

"You have?" Nico wanted to point out that he hadn't died, just was in a casino for a while, but left it. Besides, he was happy that Leo was alive.

Well, happy is an overstatement.

"Yep," Leo continued, "I was supposed to go kaboom and get wiped off the face of the earth, but death isn't nothing Mr Bad Boy Supreme couldn't handle." Leo smirked, flexing a muscle.

Before, Nico would've snickered that nothing was there, but Leo was really becoming bulkier. Okay, he was no Frank, but he was much healthier that before.

Nico couldn't relate.

He looked at Will, realising that Will was staring at him this whole time. Shyly, Will looked away, pink creeping up to his cheeks. Nico quickly looked at Leo before he was faced with the same fate.

Another voice piped up from outside the room.

"Leo, can I talk to you?"

"Not now Calypso." Leo snarled. He quickly looked at Nico and flashed a smile again as if nothing happened. But Nico wasn't a fool.

"What's up, Valdez." He asked. Leo sighed, and Nico looked at Will who was, again, staring at him. Nico looked at the door for Will to leave, and he nodded.

"I need to check another patient," Will commented, "I dare any of you to do anything."

He left, and Leo held both his hands high.

"Geez," Leo remarked, then went to sit next to Nico, "your doctor's a bit feisty. Anyway. I saved Calypso. I like her and that, but she seems to like Percy."

Who hasn't, Nico thought, then shook his head.

"She had Percy on her island before, and she fell in love with him. I feel like Percy loved her too, because when I once spoke to him, he said he found one of the most beautiful girls he's ever met in his life, and that girl was his 'what if'. He never said it was Calypso, but who else could it be? Who's more beautiful than she is?"

He sighed and went to sit on the couch. A silence hung in the air before Nico decided to speak.

"Leo, they may have been in love with each other, but she loves you now. I remember hearing that Calypso couldn't leave her island without being mortal, and she left that for you. She was cursed with needing to love everyone that ended up on the island, but her curse is lifted, and she's still coming to you, asking for forgiveness."

Leo looked down, playing with a little spark appearing on his right finger. He got up, determination evident in his brown eyes.

"Nico, man, you're right." He said. "I'll go to Calypso right now and speak to her. Thanks Nico."

"No problem, Valdez."

Just as Leo was about to open the door, he stopped and turned back to a Nico that was drifting off.

"Hey, bro?"

"Hm?" Nico responded, drifting to sleep.

"Just wanna say that you can't go. Everyone in this camp needs a guy like you."

Nico let his words hang in the air, as if he doesn't want to lose them.

Leo snapped out of his serious phase and smiled at Nico again.

"Flaming boy is out!" He exclaimed, shutting the door behind him.