Sun and Moon- Solangelo

Nightmares and Daydreams

       Will was patching up an Ares kid in the infirmary when he heard the screams.

       He immediately called the healer waiting right outside the room in, and ran to the source of the screaming.

       Will slid around the corner and hustled to the room at the end of the hall. Nico's room. He opened the door to find the young boy flailing around in the bed, still screaming.

       He scuttled to Nico's bedside, trying to calm the boy without getting hit. After a minute, Nico finally quieted down and became still. A moment later he opened his eyes.

        Nico seemed surprised to see Will at his bedside, but after a second, he simply asked "Nightmares?"

        "Yeah" Will replied. "You were screaming so loud I'm sure the whole camp heard you"

        The younger boy winced "That loud? I thought the nightmares were starting to go away. I guess I was wrong"

        Will pulled a chair from corner of the room over to Nico's bedside. "Sometimes talking things out help. If you want to tell me about it, I'm all ears"

        "Well" Nico began. "Most of my nightmares begin with me, sitting in a white room. Like an asylum. Then, I get, like, a flashback of my sister, Bianca's death. Except I'm there, and her voice is in my head. Saying over and over, You could have saved me. You could have saved me"

          Will wiped his eyes. He knew what it was like to feel guilty over a death. All those lives he couldn't save. All the wounds that were just too far beyond healing.

          "And then I'm just falling into this impenetrable blackness. That's when I usually start screaming." Nico continued, not caring if Will didn't want to hear anymore. He needed to get this off his chest. "If I get woken up quickly, it ends. But if I don't, like just now, then I end up down in the Underworld, in my father's palace. He looks at me and says in my head, The useless child. How dare you survive. I should trade your soul for your sisters" All these words seemed to be too much for Nico, who began to cry.

          "Hey, hey" Will murmured, rubbing his hand down Nico's arm. "It's okay. I'm here. I understand"

        "But you don't! Has anyone you cared about ever died?" Nico immediately realized he had gone too far. Will's comforting expression filled with pain, and there was anger in his eyes.

       But instead of snapping at the younger boy, Will simply sighed. "Being a healer... it comes with the territory. So many people you just can't save. And not just that." Will took a deep breath. "I have... had a sister. A half-sister, completely mortal. 4 years younger than me."

       Nico was silent, sensing Will needed to talk this out. "One day, 4 years ago, I was in the front yard with her. I was 12, she was 8. We were running around, tossing a ball. I threw it over her head, into the street. She ran to get it. Our road isn't usually busy, but today a truck driver decided to go by right as my sister sprinted out into the road." Will closed his eyes "She was dead before we could get her to the hospital."

         Nico was stunned into silence. He had always felt like he had failed Bianca, letting her die. But being the big brother, having someone who depended on you die right under your nose, that must be horrible

        "How... how do you sleep at night?" Nico asked. "I'm having nightmares about my sister, how do you not have any?"

      "Only in the past year have I been able to sleep through the night. Yours might be worse, because your fatal flaw is holding grudges. But no one judges you for it. We've all lost somebody."

        "Wow, and all this time, I've believed you were perfect or something." Nico said, beginning to go back down under the blanket.

        "I'm not perfect. Believe me, I'm nowhere near it." Will murmured, glancing at Nico with a faint smile. "Now try to get some more sleep. You need it"

        Nico followed Will 's order, slipping back into a slumber. But if he hadn't, he would have heard Will say "Perfect? If I was perfect I wouldn't feel this" as he walked out of the room.

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This one was more angsty than cute, huh? I don't think I'm as good at angst, but you gotta switch it up. It was a little short :( but I couldn't keep up this sadness, and didn't have much time to write.

Anyway, fluff should be back next chapter!