Apparently, Hazel forgot to leave out one very important detail when Nico had asked what had been going on at Camp Jupiter as of late; she was a Praetor, now that Reyna was a Hunter.
Nico was happy for her. He was proud. That was a really big accomplishment. He congratulated Hazel and kissed her cheek. She offered Nico and Will her Praetor room, and the only reason Nico accepted was because he didn't want the other Campers to see him not being able to fall asleep, or waking up from nightmares. Or just the fact that he didn't like sleeping in front of people in general.
He had another sleepless night, and another meal left uneaten.
He couldn't stop thinking about Tartarus, he couldn't stop thinking about the jar, or the Labyrinth, or his mom dying, or his sister dying, or Jason dying, or Eros, or growing up in the 30's. The thoughts wouldn't leave when all he wanted was for them to go away. They repeated in his mind again and again and again. Why was this all happening?
While his mind filled with horrible memories, and his back was hurting again for some reason, and he felt like he was going to jump out of his skin whenever a noise was too loud, he tried to get through the day.
He tried not to say anything to Will. He didn't want to worry him any more than he already had. But Will always knew when Nico was upset.
"I really don't know what's wrong with me, Will."
"Hey, just try to relax, okay? We'll figure this out when we get back home. I know who to take you to."
Nico sighed. "Okay. When are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Okay. I'm going to try to spend as much time as I can with Hazel today, and see Reyna tomorrow."
"Are you sure you're ready to see her?" Will asked.
"I wouldn't say I'm ready, but if I don't see her tomorrow, who knows when I'll ever see her again."
"Alright. Whatever you want to do."
"I do want you to come with me, though. You need to meet her."
Will grinned. "That sounds like a good idea, but first we have to go to the party!"
"What party?"
"The party Camp Jupiter is hosting to celebrate Camp Half-Blood being here, of course!"
"I don't like parties. Camp Jupiter has never even held a party before, at least to my knowledge." Nico whined.
Will shrugged. "I'm excited."
"Of course you are. So when does it start?"
"I don't know, a couple of hours."
They heard a knock on the door. "It's Hazel. Can I come in?"
Nico opened up the door, and she stepped inside. She was holding clothes.
"So, I have a favor for you, Nico." She said.
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Well, I really miss the dances I used to do as a kid-"
"No." Nico cut her off. He knew where she was going with that. "No, I will not do any of those dances again."
Her eyes turned sad. "Please, big brother? Nobody else knows how to do them."
"Go teach your boyfriend." Nico suggested.
"But I want to do it with you! Someone who was actually from the era, like me! I want to dance with my brother."
"Those dances are humiliating."
"No, they're not! They're fun! Please? Just Lindy Hop?"
"Hazel, everyone's gonna stare at us. I don't like attention. I'll seem really out of place."
"Please? For me?"
Will nudged Nico's shoulder. "Come on, Nico. I'd love to see you dance like that. It'll be hot."
"You think that'll make me want to do it more by you saying that?"
Will flipped his palms up towards the ceiling and shrugged. "I'm just saying."
Nico rolled his eyes. "Fine. Just let me go ice my head first. I have a bad headache."
Hazel handed him clothes. "You can wear these!"
Nico looked at them. They were clothes that Nico saw a lot of guys wearing when he was still in the '30's. A plain, white, collared, button-up shirt with cuffed sleeves with a grey vest over it. Fancy black trousers that were cuffed at the ankles. Black dress shoes.
"You want me....to wear this?"
She nodded. "I have an old-fashioned dress that I'm going to wear. It'll be like old times, you know?"
"I love you Hazel, so I'll do this for you. But I'm never doing this again, okay?"
"Okay. And don't worry, I'll pay you back."
Then she left, and Will grinned.
"There's no chance I'm missing this party." Will said.
Nico changed in the bathroom. When he walked out, Will gasped.
"Do I really look that bad?"
"No! You look....amazing!"
Nico looked in the mirror. He looked like he was still living in the 1930's. He didn't think that was amazing.
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
"I really can't believe it, either!" Will exclaimed.
"Come here." Will gestured to Nico.
Nico stood in front of Will while Will fixed his hair. "There."
"Thanks."
Soon, the 2 of them were walking out of the barracks hand in hand. And Nico was very nervous.
"Why is there a party at Camp Jupiter, again?" Nico asked.
"Because this is the first time Camp Half-Blood has come to Camp Jupiter. Well, the first time where blood hasn't been shed, I suppose."
Nico sighed. "But why does dancing have to be involved?"
"A lot of parties have dancing."
As Nico glanced around Camp Jupiter, multiple people were looking at him. Just like he thought would happen.
The question was, why were they staring, though? Was it because he was wearing old-fashioned clothes? Was it because he was holding hands with a boy? Was it both?
They reached the area where everyone was hanging out, and yes, people were dancing. Dancing, eating, talking, playing party games. He noticed a girl with bright pink hair dancing with a dryad that was made out of poison ivy.
Hazel walked over to the 2 boys. She was wearing a yellow dress, no doubt something she wore when she was in the 30's and early 40's. She had on a grey little coat over the dress, and bright white shoes. She looked stunning.
"You look great, Hazel." He told her.
She smiled. "Thank you. You look great, as well."
Nico sighed. He put his hand out to Hazel. "Would you like to dance with me?"
She smiled and took his hand. Together, the 2 of them walked onto the dance floor. Nico noticed Will standing close by, watching intently.
Hazel told him that after the song that was on now, it would change to an old song. Sure enough, the next song was a song that he had heard as a kid.
He pulled her onto the dance floor, swinging her with his arm around and around while their feet did all the work.
He noticed people stopping and staring, but he kept going. He twirled Hazel around, while his feet moved to the beat of the song. It had been so long since he had danced like this, yet it felt so familiar.
He put his hand on Hazel's waist and swung her around.
Over and over, Nico swung her by her arm as they went in circles, then grabbed her waist, swinging her around again. Sooner than expected, the song ended, and the two were left out of breath but smiling.
Everyone was still staring, and finally the pink haired girl started clapping. More people joined in, and soon everyone was clapping.
Hazel held Nico's hand, and the two of them bowed. He heard the pink haired girl tell the nymph that they had just done "the Jitterbug."
After they had walked off the dance stage, Hazel whispered to him. "I wanted to bring you out of your shell a bit. You seemed really sad, and I wanted to do something to take our mind off of that. Something familiar. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, I'm sure I could've thought of something else for us to do that wouldn't bring so much attention to you."
Nico shook his head. "It was actually kinda....fun. Thanks, Hazel."
Hazel smiled. "Well, I'm glad you had fun."
Will ran over to the 2 of them, his eyes bright.
"That was just- that was so amazing! Both of you are such amazing dancers!"
"What else did you expect?" Hazel asked him.
"Well I knew you must be good, but you guys were really good! It was so fast, and just crazy cool!"
Nico kissed Will on the lips. "You are adorable when you're excited."
"How could I not be excited? The dance was so upbeat and awesome!"
Hazel gave Will a pained smile. "The era we lived in may not have been happy, but our dances sure were."
Frank came in and swept Hazel back onto the dance floor. By now, people were mostly done staring and they were back to dancing.
"You said that dance was called Lindy Hop? If I remember correctly, that looked a lot like the Jitterbug." Will told Nico as they watched people dance.
"Well, it was originally called Lindy Hop, but it was later changed to the Jitterbug."
"Huh."
After multiple songs had played, Will stood up in front of Nico. He held his hand out. "May I have this dance?"
He took his hand, and Will pulled him to his feet.
"As long as I don't have to Lindy Hop again, luce del sole."
Will smiled. "That's perfectly fine."
They danced for a while, moving to the speed of each song. They ate food (even Nico ate a little bit, after Will begged him to) and they even played some games.
The thing was, Nico kind of enjoyed himself.
Nothing took away his thoughts, the things that wouldn't leave his mind. Nothing took away from the constant weight and sadness of Jason's death. The whole time, even when he was happy, he still felt sad. But that didn't mean he didn't have fun.
Later that night, as he carried a sleeping Rosemary to the barracks, he realized that his head hadn't hurt for hours.
And when Nico couldn't sleep, him and Will danced the Lindy Hop in their pajamas, and talked into the early hours of the morning.
Nico just wished that Jason was here to enjoy this day with him.
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Art by Rowan-Scribbles (I forgot to credit the other artist for the other chapter I added a picture, sorry. I actually can't find the artist for that one, but if I find it I'll add it in.
Luce del sole: Sunshine