King of My Miserable Life

Chapter 4

Percy's green eyes were rimmed with red and his hands shook as he had his fifth cup of coffee. He stared at his window, stared at the fire escape as if Nico would just appear there at any moment. But he never did.

The rain hadn't let up nor had the wind. Shots of water burst against the windows, what sounded like heil was scattered down onto his city, onto Nico, wherever he was. The room was dark but Percy could see the light of his alarm clock, the small numbers claiming the witching hour. Three AM, no sign of Nico.

It was five AM when something finally disrupted the calm, but it wasn't from the fire escape. Percy could hear the front door rattling, hear someone trying to work their way in. Grabbing a baseball bat just incase, Percy quietly went to the door and opened it to find Nico standing there, soaked from head to toe, his clothes matted with blood and his hair sticking to his pale face. He took a look at Percy, stumbled into the apartment, fell into Percy's arms as if ever last fiber of strength abandoned him.

"Nico, Nico..." Percy closed the door before dragging the small boy to the couch. "Just breath. That's all you can do. You breath." He laid him down and looked him over, his eyes narrowing at the blood. "Are you hurt? Are you bleeding?"

"Sorry, Perce," Nico rubbed at his closing eyes. "Maybe a little."

"What did you do?" Percy ran to get the first aid kit from the kitchen before coming back in record time. "Where are you hurt?"

"My stomach, probably." Nico closed his eyes with a satisfied hum. "So tired..."

"No, no falling asleep yet." Percy shook him away before wrestling his shirt off of him. As he pulled it off of Nico's arms, his eyes landed on the crown tattoo on Nico's forearm and finally understood the meaning behind it. Of course, there'd be very few reasons to do that to a baby, but he hadn't thought of a good one until now. "Stay awake for me."

Percy looked down to Nico's stomach and quickly found the source of all the bleeding. A deep cut ran across most of Nico's stomach and down his side, still dripping blood. Dirt and rocks seemed to have gotten in the cut and the blood itself looked dirty. "Nico, what happened? What did you do?"

"Hm?" Nico looked down at himself, his breath stinking of alcohol. "Hm...got in a fight, maybe."

"Idiot," Percy began to clean the wound, knowing that was his first priority. "You idiot. Why did you run off like that?"

"She lied to me..." Nico laid back on the couch, his head resting on the worn pillow. "She lied to me about my parents, Percy...my parents...they're still alive..."

"You didn't hear her out. It's a very long story." Percy snapped in front of Nico's face. "Stay away. We have few hours left to talk about this and I need you conscious."

"Few hours? What, you have to run more errands?"

"This is serious, Nico. I don't care if you're drunk. You're going to listen." Percy finished cleaning the wound and began to bandage it. "You have to get sober soon because we have to go somewhere tomorrow. Somewhere out of the country."

"Out of the country..." Nico frowned. "Why?"

"Because. I'll explain more when you're sober." Percy glared over at Nico slightly. "Why did you get drunk?"

"I was upset."

"That doesn't matter. You still shouldn't have gotten drunk. You're too young." Percy finished the bandages and walked to the kitchen to start coffee. With a couple cups and a couple hours later, Nico was finally sober and cursing himself as he sat at the kitchen table. Percy sat beside him and watched the sun rise through one of the windows. "You ready to talk, now?"

Nico rubbed his eyes but nodded. "Tell me what's so important."

"You know your tattoo?" Percy asked cautiously. "The one on your arm?"

Nico scowled. "What does that have to do with anything? It's just a stupid crown."

"Your dad...your birth dad...had that tattooed on you as a baby," Percy explained. "Cause...it gave evidence that you're...you're the heir."

"To what?" Nico rolled his eyes. "Probably a drug plant or something."

"To Cartia." Percy corrected. "The entire country. Your dad's the king and now he wants you back. That's what mom was hiding from you."

Nico's eyes, pale and lacking any color, looked just like King Hades' as he looked at Percy. "Excuse me?"

Percy scratched the back of his neck. "He gave you away as a baby. Didn't want to deal with you or something. Mom found you. Now he wants you back because your birth mom is dead and you're the heir. He wants to teach to the be the heir."

"He sounds like an ass." Nico glared at the table. "A complete ass."

"So what if he is? That doesn't mean you need to be." Percy muttered. "And you were today, Nico. You hurt mom's feelings."

"I wasn't thinking." Nico looked down at his arm and ran his finger over the tattoo. "I'll apologize when she wakes up. I was...emotional."

Percy watched him out of the corner of his eye as he took another sip of his coffee. "You seem to be taking it okay."

"I'm too angry to be shocked." Nico hit the table, the coffee jumping in his cup. "I don't want to go to Cartia. I don't want to be heir. I don't want to be a Cartian."

"I wouldn't, either." Percy agreed. "But you are. You can't change that."

Nico looked up at him. "You said he wants me back. When?"

"The plane leaves at nine tomo-...this morning. Nine this morning." he watched Nico's face fall. "But don't worry. I'm going with you."

"Percy-"

"You can't change my mind." Percy smiled. "I'm already packed. And I'm not letting you go to a new country all by yourself. You're my little brother."

Nico bowed his head to hide the smile that graced his pale lips. "Thanks, Percy."

"What are siblings for?" Percy leaned back in his seat. "You should back and stuff before mom and Paul wake up."

"Okay, okay." Nico huffed as he got to his feet. "You're so needy." He walked out of the kitchen and to their bedroom, his movements slow as pain shot out from the wound on his stomach. Every step, every breath, every second felt like he was getting stabbed. But the pain didn't seem to matter much when he thought about the next day, when he thought about the country he came from. Of course, he wasn't normal. Of course, he wasn't like Percy or the others. He was a Cartian. Evil was in his blood. His dad slaughtered people for fun, his citizens ignored it. He had heard about King Hades, had seen videos of what he had done.

Deep down, beneath the pain, he was scared that he'd become his father.