Brothers Reunited

Chapter Twelve: Nico PoV

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Word Count: 1588

I head down the stairs in search of Will. I find him in the stairwell, crying.

"Will. Hey, Will," I sit next to him, "Family's stupid. I don't know why I'm here. You can't rely on anyone. Bianca left me, my mother died, Hades-he's Hades, and Bucky's nosy; there's no way he really cares about me. Forget about Clint; let's forget about all of the Avengers and go back to camp."

"Neeks, Bucky definitely cares about you, and I care about Clint. As much as I can't stand him right now, he's my brother, and I will always love him. Go back up to the Avengers, and I'm going to leave. I need a moment to think. Halloween's next weekend. Maybe you guys can make some plans?" Will responds, wiping away his tears.

Halloween! I'd almost forgotten about the Death Gods conference. My father, or his alter ego, has been training me to master my Roman abilities during the week. I've been pulling up gems and shaping the Earth while still working to hone my shadow traveling and control over the dead. My ability to raise skeletons has continuously grown weaker, much to my father's frustration. I've talked with Aristotle a few more times about his theories, and they seem pretty accurate. The closer my connection with the living, the weaker my relationship to the dead. I'm not sure what that means for my future, but it can't be anything good.

Aside from the training, my dad's decided to become a therapist. On Wednesday, he trapped me in small spaces until I stopped having panic attacks. Thursday wasn't so bad; I just had to eat many pomegranate seeds and try not to freak out. Yesterday, he wanted to get me to open up about my feelings, and I only just managed to stop myself from throttling him. I haven't shared anything with Will. He would totally freak out.

"Fine. I'll head back up," I pretend I like Will's plan, but the truth is, you can't ever count on anyone, family included. I don't owe Bucky anything, and I don't know why I'm still pretending to care.

"See you at camp, Neeks," Will replies, standing up. He starts down the stairwell.

I trudge back up and make it in time to hear something about school. I groan.

I come up the stairs to see a group coming towards the stairwell.

"Nico! You're back. Looks like we don't need to split off to search for you. Where is Will?" Clint asks after seeing me walk out the stairwell.

I look up, "He's heading back to camp. I'm still going to stay until Sunday."

"Speaking of," Bucky says, "Peter here goes to Midtown, a school nearby. I'm going to enroll you."

"No, you're not," I respond, walking further into the living room.

Everyone in the room glances at each other nervously before Peter pipes up, "School's actually not so bad. Anyway, you have to go; it's required by the law until you're 16."

"Well, I'm in my 90s. Anyway, I'm already learning everything I need to at camp." I snap back. There is no way I'm attending school, especially not one where Peter can spy on me.

Steve adds in his two cents, "Come on, kid-"

"I'm not a kid!" I almost growl.

"-You're biologically 14. Nico, you need to go to school. Also, I don't trust this camp. Why did so many kids die there? Is it dangerous?"