Heart Attack

Nico made his usual rounds of cabin checking for the day, holding Will's hand. "So there's about five left- just the Zeus and Hera cabins and then a few of the minor gods," Will said. "You can take the two up front and I'll-" he smiled and kissed Nico's forehead.

The younger boy blushed and mumbled a reply, darting off in the direction of the two frontmost cabins. He didn't understand why they had to check those two. No one really stayed in them since Thalia and Jason had left and Hera had no children. He often sat on the floor of the Zeus cabin, contemplating life in a more brightly lit place than the Hades cabin, though. For some reason, he'd grown attached to the place.

Nico poked his head inside the Hera cabin and looked around. Not a speck of dust was in sight, nor any misplaced candy wrappers or anything of the sort. He withdrew his head and turned to his left.

As he walked over to Cabin 1, he couldn't help but feel as though a foreboding sense of dread was falling onto his shoulders. He couldn't explain it but he couldn't shake it off either.

It all came clear the instant he set his foot on the porch of the cabin. A stab of pain rocked his body, sending him plummeting to his knees. Another wave came, worse than the last, dropping him to the floor.

No..... it can't be..... not him. Please, gods, not him. Anyone but him.

Nico struggled to his feet and dragged himself inside the cabin. The pain got worse as he neared the bed where Jason had stayed. Finally, he gripped the sides of the bed and fell into it.

Please..... I need him here.....

Tears began to form in Nico's eyes. With Leo, it hadn't been this bad. One little shock to the heart and that was it. He hadn't been close with Valdez, only speaking to him when he needed to.

No..... please..... bring him back.....

But Jason..... Jason had been the first person that knew who Nico really was. The first to learn that he was gay. His lifeline to the past.

And now he was gone.

Nico curled up in the sheets, bringing the pillow that held the scent of cool morning air and burned grass in it to his chest. The pillow that smelled like had been struck by lightning and then carried on the breeze to camp.

Jason's scent.

It was all there was left of him, according to the pain in Nico's chest.

Nico felt Leo's death. But that one hadn't been for certain. Maybe that's why the pain was so fleeting.

The amount of pain wracking Nico's body was worse than he'd ever felt. Worse than a cut, worse than the starvation he'd gone through at the hands of the giant twins. It was like he was covered in a blanket that delivered pain to him through a million little IV drips.

He cried until Will came and found him and took him back to the Hades cabin. Nico held onto that pillow like it was a piece of pizza and he was a starving man.

Will stayed with him for a few hours, feeding him a little, letting the pain slowly subside. He had to leave at curfew, but promised to be back in the morning to console his significant annoyance.

A few hours later, at around three in the morning, Nico sat up.

The pain was gone.

Finally.

And with it, the last remnants of Jason Grace to be found.