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Nico jerked upright, gasping for air. It was dark in his cabin, only the dim glow his glow stick boyfriend gave off for light. He and Will had fallen asleep watching Avatar the Last Airbender on his bed, they’d been so warm and comfortable. He clutched his chest, now something awful was happening inside him, a burning, roiling, pain in his gut. His lungs closed up and he fell off the bed, scrambling for something to grip onto as the sensation rose to his chest.
The feeling became overpowering and he pitched forward onto all fours, body juddering as he retched over the wood floorboards. He could breathe again. Panting, he rested his forehead on the floor.
Above him, Nico was vaguely aware of Will waking and sitting up. The bedside lamp was switched on.
“Hey, Neeks, what’s- ahh!”
Will’s cry made Nico raise his head and his eyes widened. Glistening in the lamplight lay a mass of black ooze. Somewhere between a solid and a liquid, it sat on the middle of the floor where Nico had thrown up.
“What is that?” Will nearly fell out of bed getting to Nico, he turned the son of Hade’s to face him, putting a hand to his forehead.
“I-I don’t…”
“Are you okay? Did something attack us? You look so pale, wha-“ Will broke off and his thumb brushed over Nico’s lip. It came back smudged with black. “Did that…come from you?”
Nico glanced at the dark vomit on the floor and wrapped an arm around his stomach. The burning sensation had started again. As way of reply, he doubled over and threw up again.
“Oh, gods.” Will dashed to the bathroom, coming back with a towel. “What happened? Hey, baby, it’s okay. Breathe.”
Nico shuddered, trying to breathe through the waves of nausea that had overcome him. Twice more the black gunge left him, like a water pump into a bucket. He was soaked in sweat and shivering.
Finally, it passed. The burning feeling left him and Nico lay on the floor gasping.
Will skirted around the weird substance that had left his boyfriend and helped him sit up. “Easy does it, you’re okay. How do you feel?” He had a new set of pyjamas next to him and began stripping Nico of his sweaty, sicky shirt.
Nico only nodded, gripping onto the bed to keep himself sat up. He made no complaint as Will fussed over him, too tired to protest when he was towelled down and talked to like a child.
“Up you come, let’s get you back into bed.” Will half lifted Nico into a standing position and his gaze fell on the ooze.
With a sound like tape coming unstuck, the ooze moved.
Will nearly dropped Nico and the boy turned to see what was causing such alarm.
The thing writhed on the ground, slowly at first and then with purpose, haphazardly crawling toward them.
Nico’s hand went for his sword, propped up beside the bed and his other arm pulled Will behind him instinctively. He lifted the blade and his knees buckled.
A strong arm came around his chest as Will caught him, practically holding him upright.
“Thanks.” Nico levelled his blade at the thing, bringing it down hard.
The ooze divided in half, apparently unharmed, but when Nico drew back his sword he gazed in horror as a section of gunk separated from the rest and began to creep up his sword. He swatted at it, amazed at the speed of the thing, but as his skin came into contact with the stuff his world exploded with pain.
Nico let out a cry and dropped his sword but the ooze clung to him him. Will watched in helpless horror as it absorbed itself into his boyfriend’s skin. He could see Nico’s veins stand out inside his hand as the darkness flowed into them. Up his hand the blackness went, through the veins on his wrist. Nico scratched at the dark veins, letting out a scream as the thing made it to the inside of his elbow, and up to his shoulder. There it disappeared for a second and the son of Hades’ eyes rolled back in his head. Will had the presence of mind to catch Nico before he fell and half lift him onto the bed.
He stood in shock, staring as the blackness began to emerge in the veins around Nico’s ribs, pulsing like something alive. Nico groaned, arching his back as his hands closed into fists.
Will whirled around as the leftover goop made a squelching noise and stumbled back as he saw it had sucked it’s way to within a foot from him. He grabbed Nico’s sword, stabbing and slashing the thing but it was no use. The mess parted and reformed every time the blade went through it. It was like trying to stab cornstarch and water.
The thing was inches from Will’s feet now and he was the only thing between it and Nico. He grabbed the lamp, using it to scraped the black vomit away from him but it just climbed up the lamp toward his fingers. He threw the lamp from him impulsively and it smashed on the floor, plunging him into darkness.
Closing his eyes, Will concentrated on making light. A dim glow began and he opened his eyes. The thing was on his hands. He bit back a scream as it crawled up his fingers, not absorbing itself into him like it had with Nico but still very much there. His glow became stronger with his panic, spreading down his arm and into his hand. The glop let out a shriek like rubber shoes on tile. It crumbled to dust as the light under Will’s skin touched it.
He gasped, staring as the black mass fell off him like sand. Not thinking twice, he plunged his glowing fingers into the rest of the slop on the ground and it too screamed and turned to dust. The dust lay quiet and unmoving. Dead.
Will took a moment to calm his breathing. “Hey, Neeks, I think I fixed-“ he turned and realised Nico was lying very still. Too still. “No. No no no no no!”
The blackness had begun to pulse across Nico’s ribs, undulating like it was trying to break free from where it had almost entirely encased the boy’s chest.
“Come on, breathe.” Will locked his fingers together and began CPR, pumping up and down on his boyfriend’s chest. “Please breathe.” His glow had gone out and he was in almost complete darkness. Almost sobbing, he tried to push air into Nico’s lung but he didn’t respond. Panting, Will closed his eyes as he started again. He needed to be calm, to think.
Redness started behind his closed eyelids and he heard Nico gasp. Will blinked his eyes open. His hands were glowing again, pressed against Nico’s chest shooting rays of light through the darkness toward his heart.
Nico pushed himself up, coughing violently and the black goop spattered his lips. He hunched over and Will slid onto the bed behind him, wrapping his glowing arms around the boy’s chest.
Once again, Nico threw up the blackness, only this time Will reached out to turn the live goop into dust as it landed on the bed. When Nico had finally coughed up the last strains of darkness, the veins around his chest were red and sore looking, but there was no darkness.
He leaned against Will and the healer thought he might be crying but he didn’t say anything. Whatever had just happened had been disturbing for the both of them. He felt his face grow tight and a sting behind his nose. He pulled Nico into a strong hug and the boy turned his head into Will’s neck, whispering something feebly. Will angled his ear so he could hear what his boyfriend was saying.
“S-sorry.”
“Hey,” Will stroked the dark curls on his shoulder, “it’s okay. Are you okay? Let me heal you.”
Nico nodded, letting Will’s warmth feed into him as he concentrated on breathing. After a few hours, dawn began to show through the edges of the blinds and Will shifted so he could see Nico’s face.
“What…what was that?”
The boy breathed in a painful sigh and let it out as he propped himself up against the wall. “I think that might have been from, um, you know. My trip last summer.”
Flashes of the Pit entered Nico’s mind, clouds of blood, blistered skin, everything lit by a red glow. He shook his head to clear it.
“When I was down there, I tried to shadow travel a few times. It was…different.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I could feel it later, when I was moving the Athena Parthenos. The darkness wasn’t just being controlled by me, it was calling to me. Like I was its own.”
Will shivered at the thought and brushed the dust off the bed. It just looked like black sand now, dry and harmless. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nico shrugged. “I didn’t really give it much thought.”
“Nico! You’re supposed to tell me that stuff, especially if it effects your health. You nearly died!”
The son of Hades let out a wheezy laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that. What a way to go.”
Will jabbed his knee against Nico’s. “You scared me. Don’t do that again.”
The boy reached out and placed a pale hand on Will’s knee. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”
“Is that going to happen again?”
“I don’t know.” Nico reached out and pulled the blind open so the first rays of sun fell across Will’s lap. He squinted at his boyfriend’s worried face. “I’ll ask my father about it. I think it must be some essences of Tartarus’ that seeped into me when I tried to call the shadows to me.”
“Which you shouldn’t be doing again any time soon.”
“Yeah, okay.” Nico smiled and slid his hand over to take Will’s.
The healer took the hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’re really sure it won’t come back? It tried to kill you. How has it been living inside you so long?”
“Maybe I’m finally healthy enough that it couldn’t leech off me anymore.”
A lump formed in Will’s throat and he pulled his idiot boyfriend into a hug.
Nico slipped his arms around Will in a shaky embrace. “I’m okay, really. Nothing stands a chance at killing me with you around.”
Will let out a mix between a sob and a laugh and buried his face in Nico’s shoulder. “I’ve no idea what I just did! What if I can’t do it again?”
Nico knotted his fingers through Will’s hair, leaning his cheek against his head. “You will. Where there’s a Will, there’s a way.”
“Nico!” Will laughed into Nico’s shoulder despite himself and pulled away to wipe his face. “Sorry, you’re the one who nearly died and I’m the one bawling.”
“Yeah, well, I was unconscious for most of that so you did all the work.” Nico tried to get up to start the day but his legs buckled and he caught himself on the bed.
“Hey,” Will caught his wrist. “None of that.” He pulled the boy back onto the bed and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. Tears were still wet on his cheeks but he made a show of being severe. “You’re on strict bed rest for the foreseeable future. No more scaring me.”
Nico pouted. “I’m fine, honestly.” But he didn’t try to get up again. His legs were as steady as two soggy french fries and he knew it. Plus the goop had given him more of a scare than he’d like to admit.
Sitting for a minute, he reached for the computer they’d been using earlier and switched it on. Will had begun to get up by now but Nico snagged the end of his hoodie as he pulled it on.
“Stay and finish one more episode with me?”
Will bit his lip. “I have chores, and Chiron will know I stayed over. It’s kind of not allowed.”
“Your siblings will cover. Please?” Nico lifted the duvet to invite Will to sit next to him and tried to make his eyes big and innocent. “I’ll be a good patient and drink lots of water.”
“I suppose…”
“Excellent.” Nico had already typed in the passcode and pulled up Netflix. He pulled Will down next to him and wrapped his arms around Will before the boy could think through his decision. “Chiron can go soak his head if he has a problem.”
Will rolled his eyes and pressed play. “You get me into so much trouble.”
Nico half closed his eyes, his chest still hurt as he breathed but he felt lighter somehow. “You knew what you were getting yourself into.”
Will stroked his thumb against Nico’s shoulder and leaned his head against his. “Yeah, yeah I did.”