Bold text = interlude by author.

As Nico walked around Camp, trying to find Chiron, every gave him funny looks.

He remembered when he was fifteen (15), and he thought that everyone at Camp hated him--Maybe now, that's true.

He knocked on the door of the Big House, and waited for it to open. There was Chiron, a stallion of a man (😏), with an eyebrow raised.

"Nico, my boy. . . Are you needing something?" Chiron asked, trying to not act so surprised to see Nico, and probably curious of Nico's state of mind.

Without slurred words, Nico asks hastily, "Has Percy Iris-messaged you recently?"

Chiron's look went from curiosity to concern, "No. Is he all right?"

-- · --

Chiron was sitting in his wheelchair inside the main room of the Big House. Nico was, unsurprising to anyone, mixing an alcoholic beverage. Mr. D was in the corner, rolling his eyes in jealousy, but Nico had argued many times before that a man's addiction and a god's pleasure are two very different things.

Nico took a large gulp of his glass before speaking, "Annabeth's been accused of poisoning him in New Rome."

Chiron crinkled his eyebrows, "How did this happen?"

Mr. D chimed in, "It was bound to happen. Deadly one, that Annabelle was."

Chiron glared but before he could reply, Nico explained more, "You're aware of their divorce, yes? A few months later, Percy was poisoned in their house, they were still leaving together. He almost died, but they're still identifying the type of poison and who did it. They have Annabeth in questioning, she's been a nervous wreck since their break-up and seems overly consumed by her work, as usual."

Chiron cleared his throat, "They asked for you to help, I'm assuming?"

At that, Nico chuckled out of vibe, "Yeah, of course they did. And obviously I'm not helping. But I wanted to tell you that Percy is doing better, and he suspects a new prophecy soon. He said strange things have been happening at Camp Jupiter. Thought maybe you should be aware."

Chiron nodded, "Well, thank you for telling me. You may need to support, though, Nico. I know what happened to your-"

Before Chiron could finish, Nico stood, downed the rest of his drink, and walked to the corner of the room. From there, he shadow-travelled away, back to his lonely cabin where he had drinks on drinks prepared. He didn't have to think about this crap, and he decided he never would again.

He couldn't even keep his own daughter alive. How could he help anyone else? And besides, even if he did, he would definitely get credit, which is something he felt he did not deserve.

F*ck healing and helping. They've got to figure their sh!t out on their own now. He's done.