Old and Young, Inside Out

Chapter 17

The next morning he woke up with Will on his mind and Will only. He locked himself in the bathroom before going into a trance, trying to find Will's soul. The son of Apollo was in a healthy state, the same as when Nico had checked up on him last. But that didn't stop Nico from worrying. Persephone said he was safe, but why did she think his quest was so important?

He told everything to Dominic over breakfast. His old friend was looking more stressed than he had in a while.

"What is it?" Nico asked. "Is there something I'm just oblivious to?"

"What? No, it's fine." Dominic laughed nervously as he looked back at his uneaten plate. "I-I...Can't lie to save my life."

"No, you can't." Nico moved closer. "What is it?"

"I...don't want to tell you." Dominic looked away.

"I couldn't give a fuck," Nico hissed. "Now, tell me."

"First of all, you are way too close." Dominic moved further down the bench. "Don't go kissing me again."

"I'm not in the mood to kiss anyone." Nico moved closer again. "Tell me."

"Too close, Nico."

"I'm gonna keep getting closer until you tell me!"

"I'll tell you if you back up!" Dominic stood from the bench, causing a few heads to look over. "Come on, let's go to Myrtle's."

Nico stood up, his hands in his pockets. "Are you stalling?"

"No, I'm making it so you don't get that close to me ever again." Dominic led him out of the room. "You have too long of hair for me to be into you and you have Will."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not into you. As you said, I have Will."

"Good."

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They got to Myrtle's bathroom in record time, having completely memorized the way by now. As soon as she caught sight of Nico, the ghost vanished.

"Now, what were you thinking?" Nico asked. "And tell me the truth."

Dominic walked over to the sinks and trailed his fingers across them nervously. "Um...it's just a thought, I'm not sure it's correct...but I've been looking into this stuff ever since you told me about the gods."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Okay...?"

"I was reading those Divination books, and you gave me that thing on Christmas, and I found a couple of other books in the library, too," Dominic explained. "Then...then you went and said that this morning."

"What part of what I said?" Nico asked. "I said a lot."

"That Apollo's had flings over here in Europe." Dominic's eyes started to water, something that made Nico freeze in realization. "What's to say he's not my father? What's to say I'm not one of you? I've never met my birth father. For all I know, my mom could have just made up that name."

Nico's blinked in surprise. He had been thinking that for the past year but never had he thought Dominic had been so set on it. Looking at him now, he really believed it.

"Dom..."

"Just help me find out if it's true," Dominic pleaded. "Because what Persephone said would make sense. She mentioned that quest so we could figure it out about me. And...and it would explain a lot."

"A lot...?"

Dominic turned to look at him, his hands resting on one of the sinks. "I'm a 'fucking psychic'. I'm...I grew up Muggle but I still didn't grow up normal."

Nico stepped forward. "Tell me everything. It's important."

"It's important..." Dominic scoffed quietly. "Why is this my life..."

"Hey, I've been dealing with it for years, life's not fair." Nico sat on the ground and watched his best friend. "But I can help you if you tell me everything."

"I don't know what everything is. Even though I have you as a friend, I'm still clueless about your world. You say monsters. But what kind? The kind with the horns that drive double deckers or just the really evil humans that kill? Or would you classify a monster as the ones children claim are under their beds? Or shadows? Or the really ugly things that used to bully my friend and me? Or would it be anything not human, cause that would make you one? So what's a monster, Nico? There's a lot of different answers that I assumed but never knew."

Nico opened his mouth, closed it, tried to force some words to come out but none did.

Dominic turned to look at him. "If a monster's nonhuman, then yeah, I've seen them. You're right in front of me. I'm pretty sure the horned drivers are nonhuman, so there's them. My old friend wasn't quite human, but I always assumed he was a wizard when I got here. But maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was nonhuman and non wizard. Maybe I am a demigod but I always thought the monsters were just a screwed up part of everyday life! I didn't even see them as monsters! Then I come here, wizards are real, everything seems to be everywhere. I never thought twice about what I've seen."

Nico stood up with shaking legs and walked over to Dominic. "Grab my hand."

"Excuse me?"

"Grab my hand!" Nico demanded, his arm outstretched. It was another second before Dominic did as he was told, and they disappeared into the shadows.

They appeared in the grassy area before Half-Blood Hill, Dominic groaning in shock before standing on his feet. "Where are we?"

Nico got up and dusted his uniform off. It he got grass stains on it, Mrs. Weasley would kill him. "Half-Blood Hill. If you're a demigod, you'll be able to get into camp."

"And where is camp?" Dominic asked, looking around. His robes blew in the breeze.

"It's for a demigod to figure out." Nico gave him a small smile. "Use your powers, fucking psychic."

Dominic looked at his old friend before giving him a slight nod. He looked up at the hill, his eyes widening. "Damn, you guys have a dragon?"

"Mortals would see a pile of jumper cables or something equally as idiotic," Nico commented.

"Right..." Dominic started up the hill, Nico following close behind. "Are the campers going to attack me?"

Nico shook his head. "I'm with you. And new demigods have to come from somewhere. Just don't go too close to the dragon."

Dominic looked back at him. "You have a dragon but we can't pet it?"

Nico grinned. "You can if you want to meet my father."

They got to the top of the hill, a notable distance from Thalia's tree and the dragon underneath. Beneath them, Camp Half-Blood stretched out in the early morning.

"Time difference..." Dominic muttered to himself. "The sun's barely up."

"Can you see it?" Nico asked.

Dominic nodded. "Does that mean...?"

"See if you can step foot in." Nico stepped in himself. "And I haven't invited you in, so that's not what's up."

"I'm going to pretend I understand what that means." Dominic looked around him in awe. "So this is America..." He took a deep breath and took a step.