Leo's eyes shot open about thirty seconds before. Something was going to happen, something bad. But what? He swung his legs from the bed and got up. He got to the thresh-hold when a scream broke the silence. Leo's breath caught and he tensed, his insides churning at the sound. The sound of complete terror, helplessness, defeat. And it came from Percy's room.
Leo didn't know how he had gotten there so fast. But he was at the door in a heartbeat. He swung the door open and saw Nico on the floor, thrashing and wheezing and sweating and practically suffocating himself in the blankets. "Nico!" The Latino boy shouted as he got to his knees and pulled away the blankets from the Hades child and shook his shoulders. The sound of hurried footsteps came from above deck, and Nico's eyes finally opened. He coughed and hacked and Leo moved back as the other turned on his stomach and took in as much air as possible, filling his desperate lungs as he trembled on the ground. A voice sounded in Nico's ears, but it was jumbled and distant. Progressively it got louder until he could hear it clearly. The voice was yelling his name, and the voice belonged to...
"Leo?..." Nico managed in a voice that trembled as much as his body did as he looked up at a face covered in concern, relief, and framed in dark curled short hair. "That's me." Multiple hurried footsteps came down the hall and Leo got up and walked to the door. Nico was too weak to move his head and look up, so he remained on the cold floor. Suddenly it was Hazel in front of him, and voices behind him as Leo explained. None of the others were surprised, this wasn't the first time. "Can you sit up, Nico?" Hazel asked her trembling brother. Nico shrugged slightly and sat up, with the help of Hazel, and hurriedly put his hands to his head as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Hazel put an arm over him, and she did what she always did when nightmares occurred like this: she shushed him and held him until the trembling stopped, and asked if he wanted her to stay longer, though the answer was always
"No."
Nico said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear and get the message. Only Hazel and Leo remained.
Hazel had stood afterwards and left her brother, back pressed against the wall and knees to his chest. She gave one last look to Leo, who identified mixed emotions in her eyes before she went back up to the sunny deck. Then it was just Leo at the thresh hold. With a small sigh, he continued to stand there casually. It annoyed the son of Hades.
"If you're waiting for a conversation, have it with someone else." Nico said flatly and leaned his head back against the wall, eyes closed. He heard no shuffle of footsteps and decided Leo wasn't going to leave. So Nico decided not to speak, which forced the other to awkwardly attempt at exactly what Nico told him not to do. "I've tried talking to myself before. It's basically the same as talking to you with the amount of responses I get." He said, grin clearly heard in his voice which only made Nico's scowl deepen as he continued to stay silent. Leo carried on.
"Y'know, if you tell people about nightmares you have, they won't come back." He said. No amusement or tease in his voice; just as if he were asking about the weather. Nico's eyes opened and slowly they found Leo's, though the Ghost King's stance stayed the same. Leo had to say, this was quite a scary deal he just walked into. With a visible shiver and small gulp, he met the others eyes straight on. Surprised, Leo watched as Nico opened his mouth to begin his reply. And never will he forget the words. For many reasons.
"Maybe it's not a nightmare, it's just a reality you've never seen."
His voice was cold, eyes were cold, stance, form, aura, presence. It all chilled Leo to the bone. He gaped at the words, opening and closing his mouth as he searched for an adequate response. But Nico wasn't done. In his curled up form and face to the ceiling, he looked evil as his eyes continued their grip on the others.
"Maybe it's a memory of a failure, a grudge with yourself, a needed punishment. Maybe I don't want it to stop because I de-"
"I swear to the twelve gods above if you say you deserve this I will burn you."
Leo managed forcefully as he got up, not wanting to hear the rest as he walked out and straight to his room. How, why, why would anyone ever think that whatever caused them to scream with such terror be something they deserved. It wasn't right. It wasn't right.
"It's not right, it's not right, it's not right." Leo began to mumble as he went to the engine room instead, without realizing it. He also didn't realize that there was a plan forming in his mind. A plan that brought back the smirk and the warmth and the Leo that was needed to make this work. He would do this and it would be right. It was right.
