Solangelo 2

Part 11

NICO

'I'm sorry, this is a closed meeting.' Reyna says, without looking up. Her voice is calm and commanding and almost makes me want to turn around and leave, but Percy stands his ground, and so do I.
'So we'll just come back later? Thought we had a bit more seniority than that, but sure.' Percy says, enjoying them being oblivious.
'Oh my Gods. Reyna says, standing up, 'you didn't...what...'
'Nice to see you too.' Percy says. Reyna gets up and walks quickly to give Percy a hug. Just as Hazel comes into the room from the toilet and sees me in the doorway.
'Nico!' She says, running toward me and jumping in my arms.
'Hey.' I say, holding her tightly, not realising how much I missed her, 'You okay? You good?'
'I'm okay.' She says, as I let her go. She holds my face in my hands and looks at me, hugging me again. Jason and Frank have also gotten up, and joined us in the doorway.
Hazel moves over to Percy and Reyna steps before me. She places a hand on the back of my head and smiles.
'It's good to see you again.' She says.
'I've missed you.' I say.
She pulls me in for a hug and it's all so much. It all comes rushing back to me, the weeks we spent together, the pure exhaustion, the fear.
'Will, it's so nice to meet you.' Hazel says, pulling Will out from behind me where he's been waiting. He seems out of his comfort zone, clearly unprepared to meet everyone I've told him about. And I hadn't really thought about introducing him either.
'You too, Hazel. Nico talks about you all the time.' He says.
'That's what I like to hear.' She says, smiling at me.
'Um, yeah, everyone, this is Will. Will, everyone. He's...he's, uh, my...he's my boyfriend.' I say, and feel my face go red. Will smiles at me, and nods lightly.
'It's lovely to meet you, Will.' Reyna says, moving over to introduce herself. Will seems to relax slightly, seeing that he isn't about to be interrogated by my friends.
'Frank, Gods, I missed you.' Percy says, plowing into Frank with a bear hug. Frank laughs slightly and returns the sentiment.
'Nico, good to see you.' He says, turning to me. 'We've missed you.'
'It's good to be back.' I say, and we both awkwardly nod to one another, neither the type for hugs so much, and equally content to leave at that.
'Where's Piper?' I ask Jason, as Percy him and I stand back as the rest talk with Will.
'She's on some fitness workout group activity thing. She said she'd come round here when she was done, should be about ten, fifteen minutes or so.' He says, 'she'll be so happy you're here. How come you didn't tell us?'
'Well I didn't know till this morning that I was coming.' Percy says.
'And I told Hazel, figured she would tell you.' I say.
'I wanted to surprise everyone.' Hazel says, overhearing our conversation, 'figured we could all do with something a little exciting, before...'
'Before what?' Reyna says, turning serious suddenly.
'Well, uh, we're kind of here for a reason.' I say, looking to Will.
'I'm guessing that reason is not for a fun reunion.' Jason says, leaning back against the table.
'Not exactly.' I say, 'you guys might want to sit down, this could take a while.'
I see everyone's faces drop. No one wants any more problems.
'Are we in any immediate danger?' Reyna asks.
'No.' I reply quickly.
'Alright, then. Tell us what's going on.' She says, moving over to the head of the table, and sits beside Frank.
Percy and Will both take seats, but I stay standing.
'Okay. Alright. I...I've been having dreams.' I say, and I see Jason look up to the ceiling, preparing for the worst, 'but they're not like normal. I can't tell I'm dreaming. I...it feels real.'
'What happens in the dreams?' Reyna asks.
'I...see people die.' I say, 'a girl at our camp. Grace. Daughter of Aphrodite, I saw her drown. Then I woke up, and she was found dead in the lake.'
'No one saw anything.' Percy say, 'it's like it didn't happen.'
'And...and then...In the same sort of dream, I saw...I saw Will killed, twice.' I say, turning to him. I've told him this already, but he still looks a little pale when I say it, 'once by a Minotaur, and the second time stabbed.'
'Okay. What else?' Reyna ask, her voice quiet and wary. She knows there's more.
'In the first dream, the one where I saw Grace die for the first time, Thalia's tree was struck with lightning.'
'What?' Percy says, turning to me, 'I didn't know that, you didn't tell me that?'
'I'm sorry. I tried calling her, I couldn't get through to her. I figured we should come here as quickly as we could.' I can tell Percy isn't content with this explanation, but Reyna takes control again,
'Go on.' She says.
'Her tree split in two. I...I don't know if it means she's in danger, or if it's all in my head, I...I could be dreaming all of this. I don't know.' I say.
'You can't tell now?' Will asks.
'No.' I say.
'I will contact the Amazons. They often keep track with the Hunters, they can give me information on Thalia's whereabouts.' Reyna says, 'as for Hazel and Will, no one leaves them on their own. Someone is always with them, and Nico cannot be included as that someone.'
'What? Why?' I ask.
'You can still be with them both, but not in charge of them. We need someone uninvolved. Either me, Jason, Percy, Piper or Frank.' Reyna says, 'if that's everything we need to know for now, I will go and contact the Amazons.'
'Yeah, go.' I say, sitting down at the table. She rises and heads out of the room, leaving us in silence.
'You should have told me about Thalia.' Percy says, quietly. He's not angry, but he sounds like he's getting there.
'I was going to.'
'Annabeth would have come. She deserves to know if Thalia's in trouble. I deserve to know.' Percy says.
'She's my sister.' Jason says, who has been quiet the majority's the meeting, 'he did what he thought was right.'
'Yeah, what if she's in trouble now?' Percy says, his voice raising slightly.
'Percy.' Will says, looking to him, his voice stern.
'We could have done something by now.' Percy says, louder still, standing up and pacing down the room.
His voice frowns out slightly in my head. The room begins to go a little fuzzy
'Percy stop.' Will says, seeing me, and standing up to come check, 'Nico? Nico, can you hear me?' His voice is calm and I can hear his change in tone - going into doctor mode.
'Will, I...' I manage to say, but then my body stiffens up and I lose control over it. I fall out of my chair and onto the floor, Will is instantly by my side, checking me over.
'Nico, Nico, focus on my voice. Focus on me.' He says. I try. I can feel myself shaking.
'Hold him down.' Will says, Frank and Percy doing as he say. Will always has the ability to take charge of a room, and even I can sense the change of dynamics that have happened in seconds. Will is in charge now, everyone is responding to him.
'How close is your infirmary?' He asks, as I'm still struggling to try take control of my body. I can feel Frank and Percy holding me down to stop me hurting myself.
'Ten minutes that way.' Jason says.
'Gods, Okay, someone's going to have to carry him.' He says.
'I got it.' Frank says, lifting me up, and holding me tightly. He barely reacts to my kicking.
'Will.' I say, through gritted teeth, 'I don't want to sleep. I can't. I can't. It'll happen again.'
'Nico, you're okay, you've got to stop fighting yourself. You need to let yourself sleep. I promise you, everyone will be okay.' Will says, moving my hair out of my eyes, 'please, let yourself sleep.'
Almost as soon as he says those words, my body drops. I go limp. My head falls back and I go falling, stumbling back into Tartarus. Darkness consumes me, and nothing else exists.