Death's Reason

Chapter 31

Nico knew they didn't know him well yet, but he still went to Piper's room that night. He needed someone to talk to, and from what he remembered, Piper would be the best for this.

After a quiet "come in", he opened the door to find her sitting on her bed, her hair wet from the shower, her brushing through it with a comb. He couldn't remember the last time he brushed his.

"...Nico? Everything okay?" she asked.

"Mind if I talk to you about something?" he asked. "I, uh, don't know who else to go to."

Piper gestured to the end of the bed before sitting back against the frame. He sat there and picked at his nails, unsure of what was so bothersome about all this. How to phrase it. Where to begin.

"I feel like a girl sometimes," he blurted.

"Huh?" Piper asked.

Nico blushed before scratching the back of his neck. "It's a...a long story."

"Tell me."

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Piper was looking at him in a whole new light, but this one was full of trust.

"Even if your situation is, what you're experiencing isn't so uncommon," Piper started. "Everyone's different. Some people like finding a label that fits them, others don't. What do you think about you?"

"It's really common? Really?" Nico asked. Something about that didn't add up in his 1930's brain. "I'm not even weirder than I already am?"

"First of all, you were never weird. Second of all, no, this does not make you weird." Piper laid back and stretched. "You were just...different. You're older than us and you've obviously been through some shit. Then the whole travel through time thing...different, even for demigods. But you're not weird."

"Do you feel uncomfortable in your body?" she asked after a minute of silence.

"Sometimes," he admitted. "But it's mostly my name. I liked when Hazel called me Neeks. And I...I don't like when people call me man, or boys, or he."

"Then we'll call you Neeks, and we won't call you he," Piper said. "It's who you are. It's not like you're asking us to learn Italian."

She smiled. "But I do have a question, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind."

"Did you feel this way before you remembered Jacquotte?"

Nico frowned. "I...don't know. I guess, deep down. Like...like it felt weird to not have a chest... I thought it was just trying to remember her. I didn't know it was this."

"It was always you, Neeks." she kicked him lightly. "Now go on, go get some rest."

He smiled and it burned, but it was a good burn. "I'll see you tomorrow, Pipes."

"See you, Neeks."

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"What are they?" Hazel asked, staring down at the monsters roaming around Venice.

"Katobleps," Nico answered. "Everyone sees them as stray dogs. Even mama thought they were, and that was back in the 1930s."

"Are they dangerous?" Hazel asked.

"Not if you're just a passing mortal. Just don't mess with those roots all over the ground."