Chapter Text
Nico groaned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The past few days had been horrible, and that was coming from someone who would describe their entire existence as a complete and total trainwreck.
After the battle of Manhattan, he expected to be tired. Hades, he was always tired. Between his constant state of fatigue and his potential overextension of his powers while fighting, he was sure he would be more tired than usual. And yet, after taking a day or so to relax a bit at Camp and begin Hades Cabin planning, he was still tired.
The exhaustion he felt now was… different. He felt his own exhaustion, that heavy weight in his bones he had grown accustomed to, but it felt like there was another layer to it, one that wasn’t his own.
There was a lingering thought in the back of his head that could explain it. He remembered a conversation from his first week at Camp, an uproar from other Hermes campers after everyone was back to the Cabin that night.
It took him a few times, but he eventually garnered the attention of the other campers to ask for an explanation of what was happening.
One of the older girls spoke up, smiling brightly. “I just found my soulmate today. I mean, I was pretty sure I knew who it was, but it was confirmed finally.”
Nico frowned, confusion written on his face. “What do you mean soulmate?”
Another unclaimed demigod spoke up, “It’s kind of self-explanatory, dude.”
A boy sitting near Nico shot the other demigod a look. “Hey, he’s new. Doesn’t hurt to give an explanation, right?”
The other kid rolled their eyes, but nonetheless, remained quiet as the boy next to Nico began to explain.
“Your soulmate is usually another demigod, although it could be anyone. Aphrodite herself is supposed to choose your other half or something, and in the process of linking your, uh, souls, your feelings and pain are linked too.”
Nico stared blankly at the group, still confused. He had seen so many weird things in his first week at Camp, from a manticore to the actual god of the sun, and yet this concept of soulmates was the tipping point for him.
One of the other boys picked up the explanation, registering Nico’s clear confusion. “Ok, look. Let’s say that me and Amelia were soulmates,” he said, gesturing to the girl next to him. “This would mean our emotions and pain would be in tune, depending on how intense the emotions are. If I broke my arm or something, there is a high chance Amelia would feel it. Similarly, if Amelia was really angry, I’d probably pick up on her agitation too.”
Nico had just nodded along at that point, not wanting to push the subject. At that point, he had never felt this soulmate connection. If he had, well, any memories of it were washed away with the Lethe.
That was a whole other story, he supposed. How was someone like him supposed to have a soulmate, someone out there who was his supposed other half?
For one thing, he doubted he would be happy with an ascribed female from the goddess. He spent hours pouring over books with old wives’ tales about soulmates and had never heard of a soulmate of the same gender. The most popular story he found was Plato’s on the superhumans-turned-pairs. But from that split of those too powerful humans came man and woman. Where did that leave him?
And even if he did have a soulmate, they were most likely long dead. He was out of time, in the wrong place where he didn’t belong. No matter where he went, there wasn’t a place for someone from the past like him, and therefore there would be no soulmate for him either.
Nico chose to ignore the whole concept by the end of the Titan War. When Percy and Annabeth finally shared their first kiss after the battle and confirmed that they were soulmates, Nico decided it wasn’t worth it. He would never find that; it was just confirmation that he was going to always be alone.
So, understandably, Nico was taken by surprise when the pains started.
It was subtle at first, so hidden that he believed it was just aftereffects of straining himself during the battle. The dull ache of his lower back, the slight burn in his legs; all could be attributed to the Battle of Manhattan.
The realization dawned on him that this wasn’t pain that he was familiar with a day or so after the battle. He was standing in the dinner pavilion, grabbing a plate to quietly pick up some lunch before going back to his supervision of the Hades Cabin construction, when his hands began to burn.
It went from one to a hundred instantly as the plate tumbled out of his hands and smashed on the ground. He felt the eyes of nearby demigods boring into him, but for once he could care less as he stared at his unmarred palms, confused at the burning sensation.
The only way to truly describe the feeling was as though someone forced him to hold his arms right under the lava stream at the climbing wall. The pain climbed up from his palms and just reached his elbows. He tried to close his hands, but his fingers cramped at the motion as he let out a low hiss of pain.
He felt a presence in front of him as he heard a familiar voice.
“Nico? You good, man?”
He looked up from his burning hands, finding himself face to face with Percy. His anguish and panic must have shown on his face as the son of Poseidon’s brows knit together in concern.
“Woah… uh, let’s get you to the infirmary, ok? I don’t- um, yeah. I think Will or someone can check you out.”
Normally, Nico would have straightened himself out, denied Percy’s suggestion, and walked away with his pride intact. However, as another ripple of pain moved from the tips of his fingers and up his arms, he simply nodded mutely, allowing Percy to shepherd him towards the infirmary.
Percy held the door open for Nico as he held his hands out, still staring at them in a mixture of pain and shock, as if expecting them to light on fire any second now. It had gotten worse within less than a minute of walking, and he swore there was a similar burning in his throat as well.
“Hey, Austin, right?” he heard Percy say. A voice - most likely Austin - hummed in agreement. He heard Percy ask where Will was, along with a few other questions. However, the noise around him was drowned out, making him feel as though he was under water. He vaguely pinpointed the emotion to exhaustion, but he was still confused why he was suddenly so exhausted.
He sat himself down on a nearby cot, attempting to take a deep breath. He reached up to push some hair out of his face, when he realized that probably wouldn’t help the irritated burning sensations of his hands.
He was fairly certain a voice was now addressing him, but he couldn’t be completely sure. He felt two steady arms on his shoulders, pushing him back so he was lying down on the cot.
Nico curled in on himself involuntarily, still making a conscious effort to keep his hands away from any sort of contact. He closed his eyes, laying still as he focused on the constant thrum in his head.
He had no idea how long he laid there, drifting into minute power naps between flashes of pain. Eventually, he realized the burning had subsided (albeit not much), slowly daring to open his eyes.
He remained on his side for a few more minutes before turning on his back and sitting up slowly, still wary of keeping his arms away from contact with the cot.
As he sat up, he took in the view of the infirmary around him, blinking as he found himself face to face with the glare from the fluorescent ceiling lights. While his eyes were adjusting to the sudden light, he heard a voice to his right.
“Hey. Glad to see you’re up.”
Nico rubbed his eyes, turning to catch sight of the voice’s source. For a split second, he thought it was going to be Percy, his heart fluttering slightly and his hopes raising. However, any of his brief hopes were dashed as he realized it was just Austin, with no one else in sight.
His heart sank momentarily, but he quickly chided himself for feeling that way. He and Percy were barely friends as is. He probably hadn’t even wanted to cart his sorry ass to the infirmary in the first place.
Nico forced his expression to remain stoic as he realized Austin was watching for his reaction, nodding cooly. “Yeah. Feeling better already.”
He swung his legs over the side of the cot, standing up and straightening out his clothes. Austin blinked, raising his hands in a placating gesture as he stepped forward.
“Dude, you were basically passed out a few minutes ago. I don’t think you should leave yet, not until Will gives you his approval.”
Nico scowled impatiently, grabbing his sword that was leaning near the bedside table (someone must have taken it off him when he was out of it).
“Where is he then?” the son of Hades barked, eyes darting around for any glimpse of the head medic.
“Honestly, I don’t know. He’s been working a lot the past few days, so we sent him to bed for a little bit. But I’ll send Kayla to go rouse him right now, and once he gives the ok, you’re free to go.”
Nico shot the other boy a withering glare, already turning to the nearest shadows. “Let Solace sleep in all he needs. I’m fine, and I’ve got places to go.”
That was a lie; he was supposed to stick around Camp for a little longer to oversee some more of the Hades Cabin groundwork. But the last thing he wanted was some Apollo kids poking around at him to find out what was wrong, especially when they probably wouldnt find anything.
Nico knew what the pain meant; somehow, his soulmate was out there. Maybe he should have been excited, but instead he felt a vague pool of dread form in his stomach.
Whoever the fuck his soulmate was, he didn’t want to meet them.