Young and Old, Back and Bold

Chapter 33

The night passed by in a blur. Nico slept beneath the thin blanket, got through eight hours without a nightmare. When the morning came he felt more rested than he had before.

"Nico can't come?" Harry asked. "He seems just fine to me."

"It's the darkness inside me." Nico explained, making a face at the potion in his hands. "Mom's gonna have me chained to my bed when I get home."

"Oh...well, is there anything I can do?"

Nico downed the potion before shaking his head. "Nah, I'm good. Just tell Dominic where I am and keep an eye on Ron for me..." He sighed at the door. "Nevermind about the first part."

Dominic walked over to Nico's bed. "What did you do?"

Nico rolled his eyes as Harry made a hasty exit. "I'm stuck drinking light potions until I go home."

"And you need them why...? " Dominic asked. "Your dad down under or...?"

Nico nodded. "All that darkness builds up. After the last war, Will kept me in the infirmary for days because of it. I almost melted into the shadows."

"But you were just going to keep going about your business if no one said anything." Dominic shook his head. "You need to stop looking for your own death."

"And you need to stop reading those books on Divination." Nico replied. "We both have problems, I get it. But you're going to be late for the feast."

"I'm not going." Dominic sat on the bed Harry had once occupied. "Guess who I saw."

"Who?"

"Allyson." Dominic didn't seem as happy about the name as he used to be. "Back at her stupid table."

"The Ravenclaw table isn't stupid..."

"Yeah, well, she is." Dominic clenched his fists. "And no one else seems to realize she was gone."

Nico slowly turned to Dominic. "What do you mean?"

"No one looks at her any different." he frowned. "Kind of creepy, if you ask me. I asked Ron and he remembers her being here the entire time."

"Ron isn't one to go to for that," Nico admitted.

"Hermione said the same."

Nico felt his brain spark before settling into discomfort. "The Mist...she used the Mist. So she is a demigod. She's probably the one that told camp on me."

"Uh, Nico? You lost me."

"The Mist," Nico explained. "It's used in the Greek world. Like if we fight a monster in public, mortals will see something understandable. It's to protect their mind. Some people can use it to their own needs. Allyson is probably able to. It makes her look like she's been at school when she's been who knows where. It's to stop everyone from raising questions."

"Where do you think she was?" Dominic asked.

Nico shrugged. "Probably something demigod."

"Wait," Dominic brought his knees to his chest. "So can all demigods or something see through it? Cause you aren't tricked."

"Some mortals can, too. Some demigods can't." Nico gestured to Dominic. "Like you can see through it. Or you're just too obsessed with her."

Dominic shrugged. "So you can, though?"

Nico nodded. "Ever since before the last war. I was working on it because I thought it could give me an advantage." He thought back to Tartarus, thought back to exactly how that place looked when the Mist wasn't there to cover it up. "That didn't work how I expected."