Stygian (Percico)

Chapter 2

Nico was laying on the couch, his hand dangled a foot from the floor. His face held a blank expression, but his eyes shown nothing but sadness. Percy was gone. That was something he had to deal with. Going back to get him wasn't an option, that was clear.

Nico slept on the couch, (when he did sleep). He didn't want to sleep on the bed, the bed he slept in with Percy. Sleeping in it without him felt wrong. Eating without him felt wrong too, so he didn't eat.

Nico lived on the couch. Because living life without Percy just didn't feel right.

Hazel was worried about him. After a night at Camp Jupiter, Nico begged to come back to his apartment. Hazel stayed with him, not only to comfort him but to stop Nico from going to the underworld.

She would force him to eat something, a cracker at least, but Nico would reject it. Sometimes, however, Nico would eat the cracker to calm his sister.

It's been three days. Three days of living like this. Three days of blank expressions, and three nights of tears.

"Nico, do you want anything?" Hazel asked. Nico slowly moved his head to form a no. Hazel sighed, "okay."

Someone knocked on the door, Hazel got up to answer it. "Hey," Jason said in a weak voice. Nico was not fazed by the visit. A lot of people had visited. Annabeth, Leo, Reyna, Frank, Percy's parents. Jason visited every day, always bringing someone with him. This time, it was Piper.

"How is he?" Nico heard Jason ask. Hazel spoke, "same. He doesn't move, he doesn't eat" she sighed, "I don't even think he's sleeping." Then Nico heard Piper say, "poor Nico."

Nico didn't care what they said. He didn't care that they were talking about him like he was a mentally ill person. He didn't want their sympathy, he just wanted them to care about Percy's death as much as he did.

Jason walked over to the couch, "what are you doing today Nico?" Nico shrugged, "watching TV." Jason glanced at the television, "do you want me to turn it on?" Nico shook his head.

Jason scratched the back of his neck, "I want to help you through this Nico." Nico didn't say anything. "So I got you a therapist."

Nico sprung up, "you what?!" The blank expression was gone now, replaced by rage. "I'm not crazy! Why would you think I need a therapist?"

Jason knew Nico would react like that. He was prepared. "Nico, you are not eating or sleeping and all you do is stare off into space. It's not because you're crazy, it's because you need help coping with this."

Nico squeezed his eyes shut, holding back tears the best he could. "No, I don't. I'm not ready to get over it. It's only been three days!"

"Three days of slowing killing yourself! This is not the right way to grieve!"

"And pretending it didn't happen is better? You don't seem to care at all!"

Jason closed his eyes for a moment. The truth is, he did care. He cared a lot. He only tried to hold himself up around Nico for his sake. "I do care," he said quietly, "but I'm worried about you. Please, just see her for one visit."

Nico swallowed the lump in his throat. "When?"

"Tomorrow, 3:00. Dr. Campbell."

Nico wanted to yell, but sadness took over his anger. He was going to talk to some mortal about getting over the death of his boyfriend, that made him more depressed than angry. "Okay," Nico said, "I'll go."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Nico shook his head. He wanted to do it alone. He needed some alone time anyways. Being around people who threw a fit over him made him feel more irritated rather than comforted.

Hazel walked over to where Nico was standing and gave him a hug.

The next day, Nico did go. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Hazel asked as she watched Nico get his stuff to leave. "I'm sure. I'll be better off going alone."

"You're not going to try anything, are you?" She was referring to him trying to get in contact with Percy's spirit. "No. I know it's not a good thing to do. I learned my lesson." He was mostly saying that to get Hazel off his back, but it wasn't like he was planning to bring Percy back that day anyway.

Nico left for his session. He didn't do it because he wanted to. He didn't do it needed to. He did it so everyone would leave him alone. He had already thought about running off, but he didn't want to do that to Hazel. If something -anything- happened to her, he would never get over it.

The session didn't help at all. It didn't even matter to Nico. He waited in the waiting room for twenty minutes, then got called back to a small room down the hall.

Dr. Campbell was a small woman. Her glasses sat on the end of her nose and her gray-streaked blonde hair fell around her shoulders. She was probably in her late 40s or early 50s.

She droned on and on about how talking about it and coming to terms with it helped to heal. "A band-aid doesn't fix the problem," she said, "it's only a temporary relief from a painful wound."

When Nico left, he didn't feel any better. In fact, he felt worse. Dr. Campbell got him thinking about Percy, something he's been trying to avoid.

The walk home was a slow mental torture. He passed buildings, cars, tons of people, but his surroundings never registered with him.

In his mind, he and Percy were on their first date. Percy was telling him stories about how he found out he was a demigod and all the crazy stuff that happened when Nico wasn't present.

Then he was at Percy's mom's apartment, eating a sandwich and watching TV with Percy by his side, laughing together at the people who couldn't sing.

Then he was sitting on the couch, eating breakfast with Percy the morning they went to the park. He mentally relived those moments, feeling his instincts tear him apart, fighting the Drakon, hearing the crack of the tree before feeling Percy's soul pass over.

Nico broke down.

Tears streamed down his face as the overwhelming feeling of sadness rocked his very being.

Nico quickly ran into an ally, leaning his back against the side of a building. He slid down the wall and hid his face behind his arms and knees. For a long time, Nico let it out. He tried so hard not to cry in front of Hazel or the others, so he only cried at night, but that wasn't enough.

Percy's face kept popping in Nico's mind, his smile, his laugh, the strides in his walk, his chest rising and falling at night... his body on the ground.

Nico leaned his head back against the brick wall to breathe and wiped his cheeks.

He heard a whine, a dogs whine come from his side. He looked over and saw a black dog the size of a full grown german shepherd. He looked like a german shepherd, with his pointy ears, medium-length fur, and long, strong legs. His eyes were green, bright green, and filled with concern.

Nico sniffled, he didn't know what to do with a strange dog watching him. He was obviously a stray, he looked thirsty and weary.

But Nico didn't want to scare him off, in some way, he felt better with the dog there.

The dog must have sensed this, because he stepped forward, right by Nico. Nico reached his hand out for the dog to get his sent. After a few sniffs, the dog nuzzled into Nico's hand. Nico smiled slightly, the first time since the attack.

The dog's fur was softer than it looked, probably because it was dirty. The dog whined again and licked Nico's hand. His tongue wasn't as wet as it should have been. "Are you thirsty?" Nico asked quietly, he thought if he spoke too loud, he might cry again.

The dog nodded, which was a bit odd, but Nico thought nothing of it.

"Come on, you can come home with me." Nico got up and the dog followed close behind him the whole walk home.