Nico's Heroes

Camp

NicoPOV

Jules finally arrives at camp and Maria meows. I look down at her and smile. She puts her nose against my chin and I continue petting her. I really like petting her. She is so soft and it is relaxing. Once the car stops, Will gets out and grabs the pet supplies we got before meeting Maria. She jumps out of my arms and looks at me as if saying."C'mon, I want to explore." I laugh and climb out. Will comes around the back to see what we are up to.

"Let's introduce Maria to the others. She will need to get used to them." Will tells me.

"Alright, come on Maria. Let's go see the others. But first I want to stop at my cabin to get her used to her surroundings." I say. Will nods and we walk off to my cabin. I reach into my pocket and grab my key. I push it into the hole and turn. Once the lock clicks and the door swings open I walk inside with Maria and Will in tow. Will puts the bags on the counter and Maria jumps up on the counter as well. Someone knocks on the door and I jump slightly. Maria immediately jumps into my arms and cuddles me. Will goes to answer the door

"I'm okay Maria. I just startle easily." I tell her.

"Oh hey, Jason." Yeah, Nico is in there." Will tells Jason. I look up from staring and cuddling Maria to greet Jason.

"Hey, Jase. This is Maria." I lift her up slightly and He comes over to pet her. I pull her away from him.

"Jason you can't touch her. She is a service animal and needs to only go to Nico for things like pets, food, and treats." Will informs him.

"Oh sorry, Nico. I didn't know." Jason apologizes.

"It's okay, I haven't put her vest on," I tell him. He comes and sits down on one of the barstools at the counter and helps us unwrap all of the pet supplies we bought. Will grabs out her vest and hands it to me. I slip it on her and put her on the counter to get a good look at her. She sits down and looks me dead in the eye like "seriously, you're putting me in this?" 

"You look professional Maria," I tell her. "Let's go see the others." I stand up and pick Maria up. Will smiles and looks to Jason. I walk out of the cabin with both blondes in tow. We reach the dining pavilion and I sit down at the Apollo table with WIll and his siblings. Maria sits beside me and I give her small pieces of chicken. I talk and laugh with Will's siblings while I eat. Halfway through dinner, Percy and Annabeth come over.

"Hey, Nico, WIll. Ooh, cute cat. Can I pet her?" Percy asks. I look to Will and he answers.

"Maria is a service animal, hence the vest. You can't touch her sorry." Will informs them. Annabeth nods but Percy just looks confused.

"Why do you need a service animal, Nico?" Percy pesters. Annabeth swats his arm and he looks at her hurt.

"It's okay, she is here to help me with panic attacks when Will is unable to be there," I tell him. He nods and goes over to Jason to sit with him. Annabeth rolls her eyes and follows her boyfriend. I continue eating as a couple more people come over to meet Maria. After maybe three people I start getting tired of telling people Maria is a service animal and their looks of pity. Also, she is wearing a service animal vest that they can read. What did they think it was for? Decoration?

"Do you want to go to the campfire? I'll make you a  smores?" Will offers.

"Alright, but if one more person asks if Maria is a service animal they are going to the underworld the hard way." I threaten. Will laughs and we walk down to the amphitheater with Maria in my arms. I sit down with her in my lap as Will makes me a smores. I laugh as he burns three marshmallows and gives them all to his sister Kayla. For some reason, she likes burnt marshmallows. Once Will finally succeeds in roasting a perfect marshmallow, he presents it to me like I am royalty. I laugh and thank him for his service. He give s me a quick kiss as we sit and listen to the others and their singing. I fall asleep at one point and  Will carries me bridal style into my cabin, I am half asleep as this happens. Maria follows and jumps into my bed and lays down beside my head. Will lays down behind me and spoons me as sleep takes over.

MariaPOV

I lay down beside Nico's head as he falls asleep.  The blonde boy Will lays behind Nico and holds him close to his body. Nico smiles so I take that as a good sign. I fall into a light sleep. A few hours later I hear screaming and feel a lot of movement. I bolt awake and see Nico thrashing around, screaming bloody murder. Will is also awake and shakes Nico awake. His eyes fly open as he whips his head around as if looking for something. He finally sees Will and crawls into his lap and just stays there as he cries. I walk over and wiggle my way into Nico's arms. I pull me closer to his chest. I feel some of his tears soak my fur. WIll is telling Nico that everything is okay and that he loves him. I meow softly and Nico crying slowly stops. He is still shaking slightly as Will awkwardly lays him and Nico down. Nico buries his face into my fur as Will holds him tightly. Nico falls into a fitful sleep as Will and I stay close.  I fall asleep at one point and wake up to only Nico. I lift my head and look around for Will. Nico shifts and I put my head back down on his chest. I look at his body and see a lot of scars on him. Long scratches and small thin ones. his arms also the small thin ones. On his left arm, there are what look like claw mark scars. Nico wakes and lifts his head looking around. The curtains are open and sunlight filters in.

"Will?" Nic calls out. He sounds so lonely and desperate. I meow and he looks down at me. I put a paw on his chest. He pets me as WIll peeks his head in.

"You okay?" He asks. Nico looks up at him.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Maria was here."  Nico tells him.

"Well don't forget to take your pills. Why don't you do that now? Maria will be with you." Will tells Nico. He nods and stands up. I didn't see it before but my boy is fit. He walks over and puts on a shirt and pants. More thin scars on his legs as well. I don't know where they came from or how they got there, so I don't worry about them too much. We walk to the bathroom and he goes through his morning routine. He reaches up into a cabinet and pulls out a pill bottle. He puts a few pills in his hands and puts them in his mouth and takes a drink of water. He shudders slightly and relaxes. He walks out of the bathroom and over to Will. Will gives him a quick kiss and Nico giggles.

"No problems?" He asks, Nico shakes his head and Will smiles. "That's good. Ready for breakfast?" 

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Nico tells him. We walk to the dining place and I stare at all of the strange things that adorn this place. There are pegasi, a lava rock climbing wall, and I think I just saw someone catch on fire and no one went to help him. The boy who is on fire saunters over. and greets Nico and Will as if nothing is wrong.

"Hey, Leo. You got a little something right there." Nico motions to his hair that is ablaze.

"Oh whoops." He pats out the fire and not a single hair is singed. They continue to have a normal conversation as I am just stunned. This is going to take a lot of getting used to.