Sea Angels

~1~

3rd Person POV

The shrill shriek pierced the otherwise peaceful air of Camp Half-Blood. Percy jolted up from his bed, goosebumps running up his bare skin. Ignoring the fact that he was only in sweats and barefoot, he ran out of his cabin to the person he knew had emitted the scream.

Some of the neighboring cabins turned on their lights, but they were quickly shut off as they shrugged off the scream. Percy thanked the gods as he ran that he didn't scream again.

After what felt like an eternity, Percy flung the door open to the Hades cabin open, and the door slammed abruptly against the frame, shutting with a bang. His heart nearly broke at the sight before him.

Nico was thrashing around violently in his sleep, murmuring someone's name under his breath, pleading for them to run. Sweat dripped down his forehead from his nightmare, which Percy quickly wiped away.

He sat at the foot of Nico's bed, gently shaking the son of Hades' leg, trying to get him to wake up.

"Nico," Percy said anxiously, "wake up. It's just a nightmare. Wake up." He then grabbed Nico's shoulders and began shaking him again. Nico screamed again, and Percy clamped a hand over the younger boy's mouth, muffling the noise. Percy winced when Nico accidently bit down on his hand, but it was worth it to keep him quiet.

Nico's eyes flew open, and he abruptly sat up, colliding head first into Percy. Both boys were knocked back slightly, and each rubbed the sore spot on their heads.

"Gods, you have a hard head," Percy muttered, still massaging his forehead.

"Percy? What are you doing here?" Nico asked rather coldly.

"Trying to wake you up. You screamed, and I figured you were having a nightmare. Came here trying to get you to stop."

It was at that moment Nico realized that Percy's entire torso was uncovered and found himself staring at his cousin's washboard stomach. He was lithe, like a swimmer, and had definitely gained muscles over the past few months. Nico felt himself blush, and Percy followed his gaze, making him realize that he was half-naked in front of his cousin.

Percy laughed nervously. "Sorry that I'm not dressed."

"I-It's okay," Nico stammered, his blush only growing. He had gotten over his feelings for Percy a while ago, but his ideals were still those of the 40's - you only saw your spouse undressed.

"Back to why I'm here...Are you okay?"

Nico glared at Percy. "Do you think I'm okay? You know what happened as much as I do."

Percy flinched, but the familiar feeling of sadness settled over him. "Yeah, I do. I'm sorry."

"For what? You weren't there, Percy," Nico said with anger lacing his voice. "You couldn't have saved them-either one of them."

It was Percy's turn to glare at Nico. "I know that I couldn't save them, Nico!" he whisper shouted, anger clouding his usually calm judgement. "I wish that I could've been there, or have done something to change what happened, but I wasn't. And I live with that regret every single day."

"I know how you feel. It's only been two weeks, but it feels like an eternity."

Percy had stopped responding, staring at a point on Nico's wall, desperately trying to conceal the forming tears. He had pulled Nico into an embrace, mumbling that everything would be okay as Nico let silent sobs rack his body. Soon enough Percy's own salty tears joined the mix, tracing down his cheeks and dripping off his chin onto Nico's hair. Both boys tried to comfort each other in their embrace, but the people they wanted to be comforted by would never be able to do it again.