Solace, Solace

Chapter 11

Nico hadn't gotten any sleep after Will had left. He had lied awake in his bed, letting his mind wander from dark to bright thoughts. When Hazel woke up he was already dressed and was filling up a glass with water. 

"Morning," said Hazel lazily putting an arm on Nico's shoulder. He shuddered and hid the glass behind his back. "What?" teased Hazel, "Embarrassed to keep yourself hydrated?" she raised an eyebrow and when Nico couldn't muster a response she let it go and went to the bathroom. 

Nico gave a sigh of relief; he didn't know whether he should tell Hazel about the roses yet. I mean, he would eventually if he was going to keep them in the cabin, and they had kissed in front of everyone yesterday. Oh crap. Nico, was not at all up for Jason, Percy, Piper, Leo, Annabeth, and Hazel to harass him with questions and jokes (mainly Leo, Percy, and Jason). Although, Hazel had not said anything to him this morning, 'It's probably because she just woke up,' he thought to himself. 

Hazel got out of the bathroom and dropped onto the couch "Ugh," she said. "Frank and I have a meeting with Chiron after breakfast, and then with all the head campers after lunch. Jeez, I came here to have fun, not for a conference." Nico leaned on the armrest of the couch and said: "Well, I'm sure Rachael will have a mournful prophecy sooner or later, you know, the usual battles and death sentences." 

Nico had said it in a sarcastic way but Hazel shot him a look. "We could use some action but I don't need dad welcoming any of my friends to the Underworld." Nico continued to manifest his skills in sarcasm by replying "What? The Underworld is a 5-star resort! Plus, dad is great company!" Hazel smiled at his brother, and then looked at the clock. "Gods dammit! I need to get dressed!"

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Nico and Hazel went to breakfast together, and Nico felt as if all eyes were on him, which at this point is pretty standard. The spiders in his stomach were riding a roller coaster and Nico felt as though he was going to barf. He caught Jason's eyes and they nodded at each other, but Jason didn't come up and say anything to him. Nico was grateful but surprised: he had expected to be harassed with questions and jokes. They sat down at the Hades table with their food, without anyone approaching them except to say "Good morning" and Frank who had kissed Hazel before joining the Ares kids. 

Nico stared at his croissant without eating it, then he looked at Hazel and said: "It's nice to finally have some company." Hazel smiled and said: "I missed you, big bro." Nico gave her a death stare and said "I told you not to call me that." Hazel laughed and almost spat out her croissant.

Nico and Hazel were done with their breakfast and were ready to get up and get on with their day. Nico had kind of wanted to talk to Will this morning, he wondered if everything was ok with him. Hazel waved goodbye as she headed towards the Big House with Frank for their meeting with Chiron. Nico had a Greek Mythology lesson in an hour (a course he frequently ditched because boooorrriiiiiiinnnngggg) and decided to stop by the Apolo Cabin to see Will.

He was standing in front of the cabin door, hesitating to knock. He thought about turning around, but he needed to know why Will hadn't been at breakfast, even if it was just something stupid like sleeping in. He rang the doorbell and a blonde-haired girl, maybe 15 years old, opened the door. She was tan, fit and had green eyes, she was wearing an oversized camp half-blood t-shirt knotted at the front to make a crop-top. "Hi," she said friendlily "You're Nico di Angelo, right?" 

Nico scratched the back of his head and smiled in slight embarrassment "Uhm, yeah, I'm looking for Will Solace," The girl's smiled faded  "Oh, he's in the infirmary." Nico was happy to hear that Will was ok and had just an extra shift working in the infirmary. He thanked the girl and began to walk off the cabin porch. 

Nico had meant to go back to his own cabin, but his legs took him to the infirmary. He approached the secretary at the front desk. It was a short dude who wore glasses. He looked really young, 14 at the oldest, he didn't seem very athletic and he had messy brown hair that covered his forehead and eyebrows. "Hi," said Nico shyly. "I'm looking for Will Solace."

"Room 65b" replied the boy without looking up to face Nico.

Nico new had an idea where room 65b was because he had stayed in room 63c when he had injured himself during a very not-fun game of Capture the Flag. He went up to the third floor then took two lefts and a right. He walked along that hallway until, eventually, he was standing in front of room 65b.

He placed his hand on the doorknob, he figured he should knock first because there must have been a patient in there with Will. He knocked, and heard a voice say "Come in,"

Nico knew that voice anywhere, so he slowly pushed down the doorknob and opened the door. There was only one person in the room: a patient. Nico ran to the bed where there laid the son of Apollo.