House of Hades: Percy Alone.

Nico II

Nico was perched atop the mast of the Argo II. it was 10 feet up from the hull, giving him some much needed space. It wasn't like he hated the other demigods on the voyage, he just got tired of spending so much time around other people. Besides, the seven needed someone on watchman duty, and he had good eyesight.

He had always been an introvert, but ever since Percy fell into Tartarus, Nico found himself needing more and more time alone. It was hard, trying to focus on getting the others to Epirus. it was hard, pretend like everything was okay.

Leo still joked a lot during lunch and dinner. That wasn't really appropriate in the given situation, was it? Monsters attacking daily, not knowing whether they would live or die, and to top it all of the most powerful among them stuck in literal Greek hell. Sure, its probably just a coping mechanism to deal with everything going on, but still. . . Nico tried to skip meal times as often as he could, he couldn't really take all the light-hearted attitude. If everyone else was allowed to cope using ill timed humor, He should be allowed to cope by avoiding it.

Then the sound hit. it was a low, harsh buzz, Like a saxophone, but a couple octaves lower. Nico felt it in the base of his skull more than he heard it. It only lasted a moment, but it still made his stomach churn. Perhaps it was because he knew what that noise entailed. What that noise represented. He had to tell her what had happened.

Nico fumbled with the ladder's rungs as he descended down the ladder. his fingertips were cold, and a bit numb, from gripping the mast too har. he jumped the last five runs, and broke into an unsteady run.

Hazel was on deck. they probably sent her to baby sit him.

"Hey Nico, are you -"

"Take over watchman duty for a second, I need to go." His reply was hasty. he knew that Hazel wouldn't be offended, she understood him that way.

He ran past the ballista, straight down the stairs. he passed Piper in one of the halls, then saw Frank in the dinning room. He didn't slow down. He didn't need to talk to them.

Down a couple more flights of stairs, and he reached the engine room. It was big, almost the size of a cavern, but filled to the brim with pistons and pumps. Gadgets and gizmos of celestial bronze whirred, no doubt running all kinds of complex tasks for the flying ship. But he didn't care about that.

He turned his attention to the imp like boy before him. He was tinkering with the engine, with his back turned.

"where is she?" Nico asked

"Can you pass me the small vial of Greek fire? i need an extra spark." Leo pointed at a table with more pieces of equipment strewn over it. He didn't even turn to face him. Typical.

Nico couldn't see any Greek fire, but there was a lot of bronze bolts. He took a handful and dropped them on the floor.

"Hey!" Leo jumped, then looked around wildly, checking for flames "Dude, what gives? if you hit the wrong thing you could have set this whole thing on fire."

"The engine is fire-proof, so are you." said Nico, "Now where is Annabeth. she said she'd be helping you with repairs"

Finally, Leo looked at Nico. He blinked, then blinked again, like he was trying to focus on him properly. "She said she needed a break, I think she went to her room, why?"

"Great, thanks." He turned and ran out back out of the room, back up the stairs.

He could feel his breath quickening, getting more and more shallow. Either from the panic or the running, maybe both.

up another flight of stairs, then he almost ran into Jason.

"Hey dude, where-" He started

"No. later," was the reply. Nico pushed him to the side just a bit, and ducked under his arm.

Jason was always trying to get him to talk, to "figure him out." Put it to the leader type, always trying to glean more information on everyone else, always trying to seem more relatable. Frankly, he didn't like it. And Nico didn't have time for that now. His mind was occupied, and there was little space for any other emotion but panic.  

He ran down the Hall, till he reached Annabeth's room. By this point, his heart was pounding. He could feel it hammer against his rib cage. He tried to steady his breathing.

He was readying himself to knock, when the door swung open.

Annabeth stood at the door frame. She looked worse for wear. 

Her grey eyes were like storms, complete with the dark shadows under her eyes. Had she been sleeping enough? Her blonde hair was messy and tangled. she gave up trying to do it properly three days ago. She wasn't wearing anything out of the ordinary, but her shirt was wrinkled and tattered. She looked bad. so bad. could she handle the news?

Her room was musty, like it hadn't had fresh air in too long. 

"What's wrong Nico?" she asked. her voice was soft, her intonation was kind. But he could hear the strain in her voice. 

Nico felt his throat closing up. She needed to know, she deserved it. But that didn't make it any easier for him to say it.

"Percy's gone, I felt it."