Chapter Text
Light surrounded Nico when he woke up. Where was he? He didn’t recognize any of his surroundings. A wave of panic cursed through his body. His vision was still a bit blurry, so he wiped his eyes in order to hopefully see clearer. When he noticed that he wasn’t in his cabin, he reached for his sword. Suddenly, a voice jumped up behind him.
“Whoa! What are you doing?”
He tried to unsheathe his sword when he noticed that there wasn’t anything there. He looked up, and it hit him.
He was in the infirmary, and the mysterious voice belonged to none other than Will Solace. Nico immediately calmed down and plopped back into bed, laying down comfortably but without closing his eyes.
“Were you scared of me?”
“What! No!” He paused. “I just didn’t know where I was, that’s all.”
“This is the infirmary. And don’t worry – he paused – you’re safe here.”
The words had a surprising effect on Nico. He felt calmer, somehow.
Will stood up and got further away from his cot. Nico’s eyes followed him carefully. He walked towards a window and removed the curtains, letting the morning sunshine flow in through the window. He brought back a glass of water and some gatorade.
“You slept for hours. Are you hungry?” He said, pouring some of the blue liquid in a glass and handing it to Nico. He took a small sip.
“Gatorade for breakfast? What kind of doctor are you, Solace?”
“Hey, I needed you to have some energy, somehow. You didn’t seem like you got a lot of rest, even after sleeping for so long.”
Will pulled out a chair and sat cross-legged on it, in front of Nico’s cot. The rest of the infirmary was weirdly empty. What time was it?
Will seemed to notice Nico’s anxious looking-around, and gave him a sideways smile.
“It’s 5 AM. Most patients only come in in the late morning, after they’ve had the time to get hurt.” He chuckled. “And even then, they usually leave before dinner. Unless we have an eventful capture the flag game, most people don’t stay overnight.”
Nico could imagine why. The infirmary wasn’t an uncomfortable place, but it was so… plain. White bedsheets, matching pillows, and rows of beds separated by a translucent curtain. The most interesting thing in the room were the windows- or in his case, the doctor.
Noticing that Will had gotten off his chair and was rummaging through some papers on the desk, he took that time to study him. His outfit was the same as the day before – Nico wondered if he’d even had the time change – He wore a green surgeon’s shirt, ripped jeans that were a bit too big on him, and pink flip flops. He wasn’t going to question his fashion sense. After all, this was one of his better outfits. He couldn’t help but remember what he’d worn during the battle against Gaea. As bad as his camouflage was (he’d worn all black but without covering his bright yellow hair), he pulled it off really well. A bit too well for his taste.
He looked down at his own body. He was still wearing the same outfit he’d been wearing since they’d stopped at San Juan. His tropical ISLA DEL ENCANTORICO shirt was ripped, muddy and had some blood spatters on it. It have the palm trees and the parrots a gloomier look than what was probably intended. Will’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“By the way, how old are you?”. He was looking at him from the desk, holding up a few pieces of paper. His piercing blue eyes were looking directly into his.
“Eighty-seven.”
Will laughed. “Come on, Death Boy. I think you look a bit too good for an eighty-seven year old”.
Nico looked at him, trying to hide his surprise. Will thought he looked good? He’d think about this later. Right now, he needed to answer his question.
“I was born on January 28th, 1932.”
He didn’t have any memories from his childhood before the military academy he had been sent to with his sister – his heart ached at the memory of his sister – but he knew the gist of it. Hades had told him during one of their father-son talks, which were more of an interrogation in the most respectful way possible.
Will just looked surprised. Nico figured he’d need to elaborate. He didn’t like talking about his past.
“My body’s fifteen.”
That should do it. It was all Will needed to know, even though Nico somehow didn’t mind telling him a bit more.
Will, looking equally as surprised as he did before, took a pen and wrote it down. He hesitated before saying anything else.
“Why?”
After seeing Nico’s lack of a response, he added “You don’t need to tell me.”
Nico ignored that last part.
“I spent seventy years in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. It’s a place where time doesn’t go by, basically. So while I had the impression that I’d only been there for a few months, it had been seventy years. I went in 1941 and got out in 2012.”
Will looked puzzled. He didn’t say anything, which Nico took as an invitation to talk more about it. He didn’t mind.
“My father put me in there, hoping I’d be one of the kids from the prophecy. He also deemed that the second World War wasn’t the best place for a child of Hades to grow up in.”
Will nodded. He seemed to understand a bit better, but there was an underlying tone of surprise splattered around his face. After a pause that seemed to last an eternity, he spoke up.
“I don’t know if I can ask any of this, so don’t feel like you need to reply, but… what was it like?”
Nico was indecisive. Did he really want to tell Will all of this? He didn’t want the son of Apollo to feel pity for him. The way Will felt about him was already confusing enough. He’d called him a Friendly face. A friend. He’d even expressed that he would have appreciated his presence in the infirmary over the past few days. Nico had conveniently come in during the least busy day after the battle. If Will had managed to heal that amount of people in such a short amount of time… It was impressive. He already knew he was good – the best combat medic the camp had to offer – but he didn’t realise how good. He had a gift for healing. His thoughts went back to what he’d told him before coming in. He wanted to see him. He though of him as a friend. A friendly face. Dense, too. The hundred skeletal butterflies came back, invading his stomach with a feeling he didn’t recall feeling often. What did he mean by dense?
Nico noticed he’d gotten lost in his own thoughts when he heard the rummaging of a few papers and the scribble of a pen. He turned his head to look at Will. He looked lost in thought, filling out paper after paper. They’re infirmary forms, Nico noted. That’s why he asked how old he was.
He decided to break the silence.
“What are you doing?”
Will looked up. “Paperwork. Probably the worst part of the job. I hate it.” He looked back down at his desk. “Plus, I’m dyslexic. This is a nightmare”.
“I could summon a ghost to do it for you”.
Nico hadn’t thought very hard before blurting that out. He wanted to help, that was all. Will had a stern look on his face.
“I told you,” he said. “No more underworld magic. Doctor’s orders.” He didn’t look pleased.
“I- sorry. I didn’t realise”.
Why did he care about what Will Solace thought of him? Even better, why should he care about what he thought of him? No matter how much he tried to convince himself that Will didn’t think highly of him, and that he must be repulsed of him after what happened with Octavian, he couldn’t help but remember the conversation they’d had. ‘You can’t help out a friend?’ ‘I hope you got over that nonsense about leaving Camp Half-Blood’. Did Will actually want him to stay? He probably just wanted him to stay so he didn’t get hurt. So he didn’t need to come back to the infirmary to be healed. So he didn’t need to see him again.
The knot in his stomach dissolved instantly after hearing Will sigh “It’s fine.” He went back to his paperwork, and Nico decided that it was best not to say anything. He was there to rest, right? So that’s what he was going to do. No more overthinking. Just two more days, and he could be out of Will’s way.
He readjusted his pillow below his head. It wasn’t uncomfortable, it was even better than the pillows in his cabin. Skull-shaped pillows weren’t the best thing one could sleep on. He really needed to redecorate. Putting a hand under his pillow and the other one around himself under the thin covers, he drifted off to sleep.
He only had one dream, and it was surprisingly not a nightmare.
He was walking around the strawberry fields on a breezy summer afternoon. The apollo kids were practicing on the shooting range, and a few other campers were sparring in the arena. It was a pleasant moment. He breathed in. The smell of the strawberries, the lake, the tall grass surrounding him. He liked it. He laid down on the ground, looking up at the sky. There were a few clouds, but to Nico, they completed the scenery. He felt safe, at home. It was the best he’d felt in a long time.
It didn’t feel like a demigod dream. It was just… a dream. No visions, no predictions. Only a dream.
Shortly after he realised that, the dream took a turn. He was now standing on the top of the lava tower. His sword was at the bottom, it had probably fallen off while he was climbing. That’s when he noticed Will Solace, on the left side on the tower, barely hanging on. The lava was advancing dangerously close to where he was, and if he were to let go, the fall would have been either very painful or deadly. Nico watched, paralysed.
He was helpless.
There was nothing he could do.