The Ghosts Among Us: A Percy Jackson Halloween Special

2 | In Which Percy Comforts Nico

Percy smiled as he climbed out of bed. Usually he was in a pretty grumpy mood whenever he woke up in the morning, but he was in surprisingly high spirits. He could just tell today would be a good day. He had surprisingly gotten through the night without any nightmares, and he was ready to start the day.

Percy walked over to his dresser, throwing on a pair of khaki shorts, the orange camp shirt, and his beat up pair of black Reeboks that he had owned for at least four years. His feet pretty much just stopped growing when he turned 13. He then went to the bathroom, washing his face with freezing cold water and brushing his teeth, then shaved his face.

Percy picked up his hairbrush and frowned. Why did he even own it? It's not like he ever even brushed his hair. But Percy also has a bad habit of hoarding, and kept everything. He set the hairbrush back down on the counter, then left the cabin, Riptide in his pocket in pen form, and a happy bounce in his steps.

Yeah, his good mood didn't last long.

As soon as he entered the pavilion, he knew something was up. Everything looked the same, there were no bad guys around or anything, but something about the whole atmosphere was just off.

Percy began to walk towards the tables full of food, dodging some grapes that a Hermes kid threw at him. The Hermes campers were always trying to start food fights. Percy looked over at them, and they stopped the middle of the food fight to all smile innocently at him. Dorks.

Percy chuckled to himself softly, then found his seat at the Poseidon table all by himself. He began to eat when Nico took a seat across from him. Chiron is usually pretty strict about the campers staying at their assigned tables during meals, but he lets Nico and Percy sit by each other since they're always alone. He's in the underworld half the time anyways.

Mr. D doesn't agree on that though, saying that "rules are rules and should be followed." As if he actually cares. Percy's sure he just says that because he hates him.

"Hey, Neeks," Percy smiled.

"Perce," Nico nodded in acknowledgement, beginning to pick at his waffles, not taking a bite though. He leaned on his hand, staring at the food and totally zoning out.

"Not hungry?" Percy said.

"Nah, not really," Nico shrugged, "Didn't sleep that well last night."

"Are you still getting flashbacks and dreams about Tartarus?" Percy frowned, suddenly very concerned. Nico had told Percy that he had been having problems with coping with it about a month ago, and Percy guessed he just assumed he had gotten over it by now.

Percy thought of himself as a trash friend for thinking that, of course he can't just "get over" something as big as that. Tartarus was one of the worst moments of his life, but at least he had his Wise Girl by his side throughout it. Nico had no one, he was all alone. And yes, Perch had the occasional nightmare of the dreaded place, but it must be ten times worse for Nico.

"Um, yeah," Nico frowned, slumping down a little. "It was really bad, you know? And I know that sounds kinda lame and generic and whatever, but I don't know how to explain it. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be able to get over it."

"Hey, it's not lame at all. And I know and understand how you feel. Tartarus was, well, an extremely scarring experience. I don't think I'll ever fully recover from it either. I just hope you know that if you ever need someone that can relate and understand, or just someone to rant off to, you can come to me. I'm always here for you, Neeks," Percy smiled reassuringly. Percy glanced down at his body and all the scars that he had gotten from Tartarus, thinking back to it.

Nico smiled back at him softly, his eyes brightening just a little. "Thanks a lot, Percy. I don't think I'm really ready to talk about it yet, but it means a lot that you're here for me, I guess," He said.

"Always have been, always will be," Percy grinned with a wink. Nico looked down at his waffle, then took a bite of it.

"So," Nico said, looking up, "Have you noticed Leo's been acting kind of weird lately?"

"What else is new?" Percy snorted.

"No, it's just that he seems like, um, more of a jerk?" The Ghost King said hesitantly.

"More of a jerk?" Percy smirked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know! I walked past him earlier and he was wearing a Camp Jupiter shirt. I mean, I know that's not exactly weird, but then he scowled at me and called me 'Greek scum.' As if he's not a Greek demigod himself! Leo's an idiot," Nico said angrily, waving his fork around as he talked.

Yup, definitely weird. That's Camp Half-Blood for you.