Solace, Solace

Chapter 8

Nico was in his cabin, laying on his bed, thinking about life, death, and other weird deep thoughts when he heard a knock on his cabin door. He hoped it was Will, but he could tell by the knock that it wasn't. He opened the door to see his sister, Hazel, smiling broadly at him.

"Nico!" Hazel exclaimed pulling him into a hug. Nico wasn't one for much hugging, but he had missed his sister. He pulled away and she smiled and said: "How are you?"

How are you: the classic introductory question that no one answered honestly. 'Well, I hit Percy with a bat, ran off a float during a pride parade in tears and kissed Will Solace' thought Nico, staring into the distance for too long and Hazel had to snap him back to reality.

"Oh, fine." he said running a hand through his hair. 'Dammit' he thought, throwing his hand down 'I've picked up Solace' s habits.'

"That long pause before your answer wasn't very reassuring." said Hazel raising her eyebrows.

"Calm down, nothing's gonna get me killed," said Nico with a slight laugh. He opened the door completely and let Hazel inside. She jumped on her bed and said: "Boy, I missed this gloomy cabin."

She got up off the bed and looked out the window to see all the floats and festoons. "Wow, I thought New Rome was over-decorated, apparently it's minimalist compared to the giant floats here."

Nico shuddered at the memory of last night's pride parade, but Hazel had her back to him so she didn't see. "That's because New Roman's don't believe in equal rights," he said smiling.

Hazel turned around. "Are you calling my people homophobic?" she said sarcastically pursing her lips. Nico looked down smiling, trying to think of a comeback.

"Speaking of Pride month..." Hazel grinned and twirled her finger in a strand of hair. Nico knew what was coming, he knew what she was gonna say, but still, he prayed to the Gods she would say something else.

"Any interesting boys?" Hazel bit her lip smiling, Nico just stared at her without changing his expression.

"OH MY GODS YOU HAVE A CRUSH!" Hazel ran towards him and threw her arms around him. She pulled away and jumped up and down saying "Who is he? Who is he? Who is he?"

Nico rolled his eyes and turned around to walk away before Hazel grabbed his arm. "Seriously? You're not going to tell your sister about your  romance?"

Nico opened his mouth to tell her off but what came out was "It's anything but romantic." His eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hand. Hazel just smiled like a loving mother and sat on the couch, and patted down next to her, signaling for Nico to sit.

"Boy problems; spill the tea sis."
Nico reluctantly sat down and said "Don't ever say that again. You sound like... I don't even know."

Hazel giggled and said, "Okay bro I won't call you sis-"
"Don't call me bro either. It's like what Jason and Percy do and it's absolutely ridiculous"

Hazel threw her head back laughing, but quickly became serious again. "So tell me," she said putting her hands down on her lap. Nico scrunched up his nose.

"No," he whined, "I don't want to talk about this."
Hazel rolled her eyes and said "Come on Nico. Look, you don't have to tell me their name, but tell me what happened. It seems like you need to vent."

"No," said Nico "I'm the son of Hades and possess a slight amount of dignity in my body. I'm not going to gossip like some teenage girl."

Hazel raised her eyebrows. "I'm going to try not to take any offense to that." she said sassily, but then changed her tone back to that of a caring mother "Nico, everyone struggles. It's okay to suffer, it's okay to be confused, and it's okay to talk about it."

"Ugh," said Nico clenching his fists "Why does everyone make my life sound like a cheesy chick-flick about a depressed boy?"

Hazel smiled at her brother, "So are you going to keep procrastinating or-"
"Yes, I am going to keep procrastinating because nowadays all everyone wants to talk about is my feelings and I can't take it anymore."

Hazel smiled and rolled her eyes "And you act like you don't like talking about your feelings"
Nico scowled at his sister, which only made her chuckle.

Then, someone knocked on the door. "Oh shit," thought Nico "I know this knock."
Hazel nodded her head to signal to Nico to open the door. In response, Nico scrunched up his nose and waved his hands. He did not want to have an interaction with Will in front of Hazel, especially after she had been trying to get him to talk about his crush.

They heard a noise of a piece of paper being slid under the door. They turned their heads in unison to face the yellow slip of paper on the floor. Before Nico could stop her, Hazel ran towards the door and snatched the letter from the floor.

"Hazel!" shouted Nico trying to snatch the letter out of Hazel's hand but she was holding it above her head and was taller than Nico. Nico hated feeling short so he gave up and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Give it here!" he ordered.

"Oooooohhh," said Hazel making fun of him. Nico furrowed his eyebrows and scowled at her. She opened the letter and Nico tried to stop her but he couldn't reach. "Skip dinner and meet me at the log in the forest. I have something to show you. Sincerely, Will Solace."

She put down the letter and looked at Nico with her mouth wide open "Will Solace?!" she screeched. Nico buried his face in his hands. 'So much for no one knowing' he thought to himself.