Battling Demons: Book 2 [COMPLETED]

Chapter 2: The Heroes of Olympus

Nico's POV:

Nico woke slowly, blinking crust out of his eyes. He felt strangely at peace and started to sink back into sleep. He turned to his side and found himself looking into a face. He screamed, startled, and fell out of the bed. He hit the ground and rolled into a crouch, grabbing a knife that was on the floor. He pointed it at the figure in his bed.

"Who are you?" The figure didn't move. Nico cautiously got up. He peered down at the figure and realized it was Will. "Gods! Will!"

Nico dropped the knife, going to grab his boyfriend's shoulders. Nico shook them, but to no avail as Will didn't stir. Nico screwed his eyes in concentration, struggling to remember why Will was here. He looked at his hands as he tried to recollect what had happened. He noticed that his cuts were faint. He pulled them closer to inspect them. The skin was merely scar tissue now.

He pulled up his shirt to look at his stomach. All the bruises had faded; the cuts, merely scars now. He glanced at the bedside table and saw an empty vial. That's what it was. The sleeping draught made Nico's memory slow when he first woke up. He remembered Will arriving the night before and the way he had broken down in front of him. Will had healed him after Nico had gone to sleep. He must have drained his powers, which explained why he wasn't waking up.

"Will, c'mon, you need to wake up," he shook him more vigorously. "Will!"

No response. A cold feeling settled over Nico. Had Will completely depleted his energy? That wasn't good. He needed to get Will to the infirmary. He rushed out of his cabin. He jogged across the lawn and made it to the steps of the Big House. He walked through the house and pushed his way into the Infirmary doors. As the door opened, Kayla jumped at the desk she was sitting at, dropping her pen.

"Holy Zeus, Nico. You scared me!" She caught sight of Nico's face and immediately stood, walking over to him. "What happened? Are you okay? You look so gaunt! When is the last time you ate?"

She peered into his eyes, placing a guiding hand onto his arm to try to lead him to a bed.

"Fine! Kayla, I'm fine! But Will..."

Kayla interrupted him. "Yes, yes, Will is arriving later today. But are you sure you are alright? I know I haven't checked on you the past week or so. I've just been busy with family stuff and camp disputes."

"Kayla-"

"You haven't been cutting, have you?"

"Kayla-"

"Do you need more sleeping-"

"KAYLA!" He shouted. Kayla closed her mouth. "Will is already here and he's hurt!"

"What? How?!" Panic set over Kayla. She frantically started gathering up supplies. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried... Look, it doesn't matter. He isn't badly hurt. He was healing me, and I think he drained his energy."

Kayla stopped moving. She turned to Nico, eyes narrowing. "Why was he healing you, Nico?"

Nico ignored her question. "Are you going to help me or not?"

Kayla gestured to two of her siblings who had wandered in to see what the commotion was. "Go with Nico to his cabin and bring Will in here. He's drained himself yet again." They nodded and Nico started to lead them out. "Oh, and Nico?" He turned. "Don't think this is over because we will be talking about this once you get back in here."

Nico gulped as he led the two Apollo kids out. Kayla had taken over Will's job as Nico's doctor while Will was at school, so she knew all about his self-harm, eating, and sleeping habits. She had been swamped the past couple of weeks as well so she had been unable to see the deterioration of Nico's health.