Art of Ethan Nakamura by LianApproaching
The second I woke up, I knew it would be a bad day.
My head is pounding, the kind of headache that starts in the center of the brain pushes on the backs of your eyes. When I sit up, I'm dizzy When I get dressed, I feel nauseous. As I trudge my way up to the Great Hall, I try to drown out the chatter that refuses to stop seeping into my skull. I sit down at the Slytherin table, trying to focus on any of the food items instead of the spots swirling in my vision.
“Are you okay?”
“Hm?” I look to my side. The kid, Malcom?, has sat next to me, too close for my comfort. That is to say, next to me.
“You don’t look very good. Are you ill?” He asks, sounding concerned.
“I’m fine,” I mumble, turning my attention back to my empty plate. I’m not sure I can stomach food.
“Okay, but-“ Luckily, he’s interrupted. Unluckily, it’s by the mail coming in. Hundreds of noisy owls fly in overhead, thumping down packages and knocking over glasses. People laugh and cheer, and I can’t help but put my hands over my ears. They’re so loud. Surprisingly though, Cerberus lands in front of me. I had gotten restless the other night and had sent him off with a letter, but I didn’t expect him back so soon.
Or with so much.
Trying to ignore my pain for a moment, I take in how many letters there are. Surely, that much hadn’t happened. I take the first one, trying to open it with my badly shaking hands. I hate migraines. But I finally manage. The first letter was from Leo, who was apparently not dead, the jerk.
Hey Nico,
Bad start… he never calls me by my name.
I’m really sorry, man.
-Leo
Sorry?
The next one is from Will. Good. Maybe he’ll explain.
Nico,
I’m really sorry. We just got word from Piper. Apparently the quest with Apollo made it’s way to her, getting her and Jason to help. She didn’t tell us what exactly happened, she just said “Tiberius”. But Nico, whatever happened, Jason is dead. I know you two were close-
I don’t read the rest. Or the rest of the letters. The ringing in my ears increases tenfold and I get dizzy all over again. I’m going to be sick. I can’t breathe. Where am I? What’s going on? Someone is touching me. Who is that? I want them off. I WANT THEM OFF!
💀
“Nico?”
What?
“Nico?”
Who is that?
“Nico!”
“What?” The ringing in my ears barely goes away, but my head clears enough for me to realized where I am. A forest. Why am I in a forest? And who’s with me? There are… three life forces nearby. One is touching my shoulder gently. I’m curled up. I shouldn’t be curled up. It’s so defenseless. Though I’m not sure I could defend myself if I wanted to.
“Nico, are you alright? What’s wrong?” The person touching me asks.
“Hermione?” I try to focus on her, but my vision is blurry. Was I hit in the head? No. The blurriness goes away for a moment before coming back, leaving a wet trail on my face. I’m crying. I quickly try to wipe at my face, not wanting them to see me like this. I can’t be seen like this. I just-
But I can’t help it. I burst out into tears again. I try pulling up my shirt to hide my face, but it only gets as far as my nose before the tie and buttons stop it. Jason is dead. The one demigod that wasn’t my sister or boyfriend that trusted me. I told him I would stay at camp Half-Blood. He seemed so upset at the thought of me leaving. He was so excited to go to that stupid boarding school.
“Oh, Nico.” Hermione wraps me in a gentle hug. Everywhere she's touching feels like my skin is burning. My brain is screaming for her to let go, my battle instincts telling me how unsafe this is. But I can’t find it in myself to care. I cling to her shirt, sobbing like there’s no tomorrow. Because for me, for demigods, that’s never guaranteed.