Nico liked living in a hotel. For a 7 year old boy, it was a dream come true. The hotel was fancy, a home for i ricchi. A new adventure every single day, whether it was getting breakfast in a real dining area, a crowd of Americans, or the tall stranger always speaking to his mama in hushed tones.
Today was a good day, though. Bianca had let him color with her, even though last time he had accidentally snapped her orange crayon. Mama had said that she couldn't get a new one because there wasn't enough money. There was a war on the verge, very close now, mama said, and prices were rising.
Mama only ate at breakfast times. Nico and Bianca had breakfast and dinner. Always the same. It was okay though. Nico was happy to color next to his sister, ignoring the whispers of the strange man next to his mama. He wasn't burdened by the loss of money. He was never too hungry. He was a 7 year old boy. He had no time to wonder why they could afford a hotel like this, but not lunch. And he didn't care. He was content.
He did this for quite some time, drawing in the lobby of the pretty hotel with his sister, blocking out the world, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Creatura," Maria was leaning over him.
"Yes, mama?"
"Did you not hear me calling? Ha la teste tra le nuvole, amore." Your head is in the clouds, love.
"La sua testa è sempre tra le nuvole, mamma." Bianca added. His head is always in the clouds, mom. Nico stuck his tongue out at her, and Maria laughed.
"Beh, ogni tanto vivere con la testa fra le nuvole ci aiuta a tenere i piedi per terra." Well, if you live with you head in the clouds every now and then, it helps you keep your feet on the ground.
The stranger. He had never spoken to Nico directly before. He walked up and put his hand on mamas shoulder, who was still bent down to be at eye level with Nico.
He had a deep voice, and his accent made him hard to understand. He didn't sound American, but he certainly wasn't Italian. He wore un nero abito, con strisce bianche. A pinstripe suit. He towered over Nico, and he couldn't decide how he felt about the man. His mama seemed to trust him. But he was wary.
Nico felt the hair on his arms stand up as his mama let go, ruffled his hair, and walked to the other side of the room with the man. She sat, gracefully as ever on the sofa, and the man sat on the chair, very close to her. They began whispering again, but louder this time. Nico didn't like it. The man sounded angry. Mama sounded determined. He wanted to distract himself.
"Bianca!" He said, tuning towards his sister.
"Si, Nico?"
"Let's play carte!"
"We don't have any cards, scemo."
"Beh poi facciamo un gara!" Well then lets race!
"Va bene, va bene." Okay, okay.
They began to run, and run, playing to avoid the marble columns, and see who could run the most laps around them before getting too tired. They'd played this game a lot in the past few days, having little other passatempi.
As they played, Nico watched his mother kiss the tall man, and stand up from the sofa. He chose to ignore it. She'd tell him about it later. He continued running circles with Bianca, laughing excitedly as she began to slow.
Suddenly the room filled with a mind numbing electricity. Bianca stopped running. She could feel it too. The strange man, the man with no name, un trascurabile faccia, a forgettable face, stood from the couch looking troubled, and yelled out, "No!"
Before Nico could move, before Bianca could pull them away, before he could find mama and ask what was going on, he was surrounded by a wall of black lightning, sewn together in little squares, his sister with him on the other side. He couldn't see through. She ran towards him, exhausted from their game, and grabbed his hand.
"Bianca! Che..." What... She squeezed his hand as the wall refused to go down.
"Non lo so, Nico. Non lo so." I don't know, Nico, I don't know.
She was frightened. It was clear. But she was a big girl, almost 10 years old. She tried to look brave, Nico could tell. For him.
There was a loud crash, and she screamed. Or maybe it was mama.
Finally the black wall, bursting with energy, went down. All Nico could see for a moment was dust, rubble. The hairs on the back of his head, his arms, his legs, up high. There was fire. Lightning and thunder somewhere behind them. Then he saw it. Mama. In the strange man's arms. Lifeless. Bianca chocked out a sob. All they could do was stare as the strange man yelled out to the sky, until suddenly the hotel dissolved away.
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Nico didn't know where to look first. He knew he had to look at something though. Keep distracted. Why wouldn't he? This was everything he had ever wanted to be real, and here it was. Real.
Bianca leaving him was also real. But who could think about that when surrounded by cool guys with water powers, and greek god's children, and centaurs? Not Nico.
He was given a bright orange sleeping bag, and a toothbrush the same color, both of which might have been stolen. He wasn't sure. He didn't really like orange, usually, but everything about this place was mesmerizing. Even the crowded cabin he was told to sleep in. He clutched the orange supplies, along with his cards, and his figures, and he slept. For the first time since they had left that strange casino and stepped out into a strange, different world, Nico di Angelo slept without his sister by his side.
__________________________
Bianca shouldn't have gone. He shouldn't have let her. She had always protected Nico. Why hadn't Nico protected her?
He had stared into the distance long after the car drove away with his only family, his only friend. The only person who knew. His person.
He sat at the dining pavilion, head in hands, looking nowhere but the place he had last seen her. A few days ago. He'd never gone this long without her. He needed her. But. She was immortal now. She could only die in battle. She wouldn't age. Soon he would be older. In only 2 years. He would be older than she'd ever be.
She'd have to leave. She couldn't stay for long, Nico knew. She would go have fun in the woods, surrounded by hundreds of girls, led by a god. She would leave him here. She would leave him behind.
What had he done? Why had she abandoned him? Was it because of his secret? Had she secretly hated him? All of this time?
"Hi!" A cheery voice yelled from beside him, throwing him out of his mental black hole.
He turned around, and found a boy, about his age. He had bright hair, that almost seemed to be made of gold. It reminded him of a story Bianca had told him, one night at Westover Hall, about a girl who could spin straw into gold. He wanted to touch it. Instead, he blurted out, "Your hair is so cool!"
The boy smiled and held out his hand, like a proper gentiluomo. It made Nico giggle, but he shook his hand nonetheless.
"I'm Will! I've been here for a while. My dad's Apollo." He said proudly.
Nico frowned. "I don't know who my parents are."
Will frowned with him. "Well, you're only gonna find one here. C'mon, let's go do the lava wall!" He said, smiling again.
"Lava wall!" Nico repeated, eyes wide.
"Yeah, come see! We can go all the way up as long as we convince the older campers to not tell Chiron! And they like me because I can fix them!" He threw his hands up in the air.
"Woah."
"Let's go, let's go! You're over here with your head in the clouds. You look so sad," he pouted. "We should go do something to distract you from whatever you're thinking about."
Ha la teste tra le nuvole.
Ha la teste tra le nuvole.
Ha la teste tra le nuvole.
Nico sat up quickly, pushing himself away from the table, and the boy.
"Hey, where are you going?" He shouted after him. Nico didn't respond.
He saw the boy, Will, shrug as Nico walked away, and walk up to a tall, large girl, instead of following him. Nico heard him say, "Clarisse! Clarisse, Clarisse, Clariiiiisse! Can I climb the wall?"
Ha la teste tra le nuvole.
Bianca always said.Ha la teste tra le nuvole. At Westover. She heard it from someone. A quote. Someone said it first.
" Ha la teste tra le nuvole, amore." Someone said. Who? Why couldn't he remember?
Someone said something else. A response. A new person. A stranger. Whispers, he remembered, in a hotel room. A hotel lobby. Hallways. Whispers. Always. "Ogni tanto vivere con la testa fra le nuvole ci aiuta a tenere i piedi per terra."
Why couldn't he remember. She had said. She had. Somewhere. He couldn't remember. Ha la teste tra le nuvole. The saying. He felt loved when he heard it. Appreciated. Where did it come from? Who?
Something was wrong.
He could feel it. A violent buzzing in his ears. Like a crushing weight all over his body. Like a string cut. Like a connection lost. A feeling. Physical. Mental. Emotional. She was gone. He knew. He knew. He knew.
Something was wrong.
Ha la teste tra le nuvole.
Era morta.
She was dead.
I ricchi- rich people
Creatura- this has many meanings, but maria is using it to mean beloved creation, or "my baby"
Amore- my love
Beh- filler word, hades is using it to say; well,
Carta- cards
Scemo- stupid
Passatempi- pastimes
Gentiluomo- gentleman