Nico di Angelo

After I missed lunch and wasn't able to hold down most of my dinner and then slept through breakfast the next day, Chiron told me that due to the concern of multiple people, including him, I had to go into rehab for what he called an eating disorder.

Chiron, knowing of my job for my dad, insisted that he'd send Lupa a message to inform Reyna that I'll be busy for a few weeks as to not cause concern when I'm gone because I guess the program is a minimum of two weeks.

The building is also apparently built in a way that demigod powers don't work in it because they're a facility connected to camp and they can't have kids escape with their powers.

So you know, I had to actually go and not just say I would and then shadow travel wherever.

And it was two months.

I was in there. For two months. It was the start of May by the time I got out because I was no longer in a critical range for weight and the meals were small, but I was eating 2-3 a day, just depending on if I slept through breakfast because I'm still depressed and miss my boyfriend.

Most of the two months were a blur, in all honestly. Falling into such a strict pattern became monotonous, but Sally did visit a few times, and a couple of those times Rachel was also with.

Obviously, there was still no known whereabouts for Percy.

Sally's the one that ended up picking me up from the facility, and she was insistent that I have dinner at her place before heading to California because while she knows that I have to get back there ASAP, she wants to send me with a full stomach and some sweets to snack on as well.

And you know what? The food was really good, and I fell asleep on the couch as I had been waiting for the cookies she was going to send me off with that she was making.

I woke up in Percy's bed at 5:30 in the morning more rested than I was for the two months that I was in the facility.

So I got up, threw on one of Percy's sweaters, and went to go leave a note for Sally.

To my not total suprise (she does work morning shifts), she was already up, though.

"Hey, you're up!" Sally said as she stood up. "You fell asleep pretty early so I figured you needed the sleep. Did you sleep well?"

Taking a second to process the question, I nodded my head, noticing that she was walking towards me with an actual Tupperware container that looked to have cookies in it.

"Yeah, I actually did for the first time in a while," I reassured my boyfriend's mom, accepting the container. "Thanks. I should probably head out, though. I know Chiron said that he'd send a message to the others in California to have them not worry but... Communication's are down so I doubt the message was received. Thank you, though. The food was good and the cookies will be cherished."

"You know you're always welcome here, sweetie," Sally reminded me, giving me a hug that I gladly accepted. "Keep me updated, okay? I'll see you in a few weeks."

"See you in a few weeks."

And with that, as she's gotten used to by now, I walked down the hall into a dark corner and shadow travelled to my guest room in New Rome that was virtually the same as I left it.

After putting some of the actual food Sally gave me to have as leftovers in the fridge and putting my bag down, I figured I'd go try to find either Reyna or Hazel. Tell them I'm alive.

Reyna spotted me almost immediately and I'm sure the only reason she didn't try to kill me was because Hazel and Frank were with her.

"Nico di Angelo!" I heard the Praetor yell as I turned around and saw her barrelling towards me. "Where the hell have you been? It's been months since you were here last!"

"Hey, Reyna, relax," I insisted as the other two caught up to Reyna. "I'm sorry, it wasn't my choice to be gone for so long."

"Hey, you got some color back to you, though!" Hazel at least noticed my healthier complexion of once again having color in my skin like I used to. "where were you? We were worried something happened."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, nothing severe, just last minute," I insisted. "I ended up having to go to a treatment facility and yeah. Got out yesterday."

"A... Treatment facility?" And I could see Frank's surprise, but more of his confusion because I think he was worried that I was there for drugs. "What... Why? What were you there for, if I can ask?"

I was very scrawny and very pale.

"Yeah," Reyna agreed. "How the hell did you end up in an inpatient facility?"

"I... Well I wasn't doing drugs, if that's the underlying question," I reassured the others and saw Frank breath a sigh of relief. "Yeah, no. No drugs. Just an eating disorder that my boyfriend's mom wanted me to get help for because I was like, losing weight to an unhealthy amount and yeah."

"Oh..." Hazel said, probably not really knowing what eating disorders. "That would explain why you were so pale, then. Has there been any word about your boyfriend yet? He's still missing right?"

I nodded my head.

"Yeah, he's still MIA," I confirmed for the others, shrugging. "Um, yeah. Nothing new. He's not dead, but... That's about it."

"How do you..." And Reyna almost stopped herself. "This might be rude to ask, but how do you know he's not dead? It's been months since you talked to your dad, hasn't it?"

"I mean it's been a while, but there's a few other things to kind of reassure us that he's alive," I explained as the four of us sat down in the cafe we usually eat at together. "one, a weird... It's not a power, but when people close to me die, I'll get a ringing in my ears. That hasn't happened. But also there..."

There's an issue with me saying this to the three of them, though.

"Does he know?" I asked Hazel, referencing Frank. "That I'm not actually...?"

"A Roman demigod?" But he didn't call me Greek, which was the important part. "yeah I found out a while ago. Why?"

"So my boyfriend's best friend is a satyr," I explained. "And they have a mental link, which basically means that if my boyfriend were to die, it should also kill his friend, but if it doesn't, his friend would definitely know if he was dead. Because of communications being down, the link, he said, is definitely weaker, he can't sense emotions or like, pop intonhis dreams like he used to be able to, but he's able to sense when he wakes up and goes to bed, but that was new as of the last time I was there in February so... Either something happened and the link is a little stronger than before or he was in a coma. Either way, he's alive."

Did they believe me when I told them about that? I'm not convinced because they still seemed skeptical, but it's also my boyfriend, not theirs, so...

I spent the next weeks wandering around California in new areas, even venturing a little towards like, Nevada or Oregon.

It was to no avail, but I also killed a good amount of monsters for Reyna at camp so it wasn't weeks spent doing nothing.

It's getting harder, though. To believe that he's okay.

Grover said he goes to bed and that he wakes up.

But that was two months ago.

So, after a couple weeks, I told Reyna and Hazel that I'm going to be gone for at least a week to just be in New York and help with stuff there and to talk to Sally and to just not lose my mind.

He's alive. He has to be alive.

I don't know what I'll do if he's not alive.