𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩

Chapter φ

Phi - Twenty One
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Riding Around Town

  (y/n) was completely certain that Nico was still not feeling the best.

  Maybe that was given with the Underworld Kid title, and maybe sensing bad feelings, or the thing with holding Persephone's essence and sympathizing with basically everyone, or perhaps the fact that Nico didn't sleep a wink since Bianca's death, and now he was carrying heavy eye bags under bloodshot eyes.

  "How are you doing?" the British boy asked Nico.

  "I'm... Alright?"

  "Nico, you just saw your sister die, and you couldn't do anything about it, I'm not going to blame you for feeling bad," (y/n) pointed out. "Watching someone die isn't easy, much less when that someone's important to you."

  "... Did you, uh—"

  "See someone die before? Yeah, a few times. I saw Cyrus dying last summer, in the Sea of Monsters, and then I died, too. It was a monster's doing, but it felt ... real," (y/n) said. "It hurt. I could feel the blood on my back, and my organs giving out. I tried thinking positive, but I also thought Annabeth had died when we found you. I've seen people get slaughtered by monsters, shredded apart."

  "Oh..."

  "It's fine. It happens all the time when you're a Half-blood. I guess at some point you just... Grow used to it?" (y/n) shrugged. "It's hard. Sometimes you think Why not me instead? or Why did I live when they didn't? And then that gets to you. But you can't let it affect you. Your life's just as important as theirs, and now you also have the weight of carrying out their lives forward."

  "Yeah, I guess that's true."

  "If you get to the point where you question why it wasn't you in Bianca's place, remember that the Fates always have something planned," (y/n) hummed. "Remember that you're important to us, and that we don't want to see you go—I don't want to see you go."

  "... Thanks, (y/n)."

  "Don't mention it. We still have places to go."

  "What? Go where?"

  "You'll see."

🔥👑❀

  (y/n) sighed as he looked up at the mansion on the other end of the road. It had been just over an hour since he'd left Olympus and all its glory behind, now standing just where his journey started, two and a half years ago.

  His mothers' vacation home.

  "Uh, what are we doing here, again?" Nico frowned, confused.

  "This is my place—Well, it used to be. Haven't been over in a while," (y/n) shrugged. "You mentioned that you didn't know if you wanted to stay in Camp, right? This is a good time to start thinking about it. I'm not going to push any of your boundaries, and I know my moms won't either. Stay as long as you like, leave whenever you want, but... Take care of them for me. It's been a while since they had a son, they'd appreciate your company, just as you'll probably appreciate theirs."

  "So you're just... Giving me a place to stay?" Nico blinked.

  "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing."

  Nico gulped. "But I never met them before."

  "You'll do fine, I promise," (y/n) patted his shoulder, before he stepped forward, starting to cross the road with Benny in tow. "Just act natural."