Chapter Text
He didn't know what to do. Gods, it was his first day at this school and he was already late.
Running to grab his bag, he panicked. Did I have my stuff? Why are there even Mythomagic cards in my bag? When did I even get these?
Nico hadn't even realized he had zoned out until he heard Hazel call his name. He hadn't even changed out of his pajamas yet. Honestly, he could care less they practically looked like normal clothes at this point anyway. However, he knew Hazel would never let him leave the house in skeleton pajama pants and a dancing skeleton shirt.
Could anyone blame him, though? He liked skeletons there was nothing wrong with that.
He walked over to his dresser and grabbed the first pair of pants he saw. Most were just plain black jeans anyway, but a few had designs because Piper had taken him shopping over the summer before school started. She had insisted that he needed to try things other than plain black jeans. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but looking now, he really did only own black jeans, skinny, baggy, ripped, but all black. He didn't care enough to check the shirt he grabbed before walking into the bathroom to shower.
He yawned, looking in the mirror. Gods, his eye bags were horrendous.
He slowly lifted his shirt to check the bruise. It was still there, and it looked even worse on the lower part of his ribs. He usually put ice on it, but normally his bruises didn't last this long. It had been a while since Nico's dad had hit him that hard.It was his own fault for not realizing his father was awake when he tried to steal his liquor.
Obviously, his dad didn't care that much about the liquor itself, because right after Nico got caught, the bottle was smashed over his back. It knocked the wind out of him before his dad kicked him, which brought him to point B, the bruise and the cut on his eyebrow. He was good at hiding them from Hazel and knew how to treat them so they would heal quicker, but he wasn't quite sure what to do for the one on his ribs. He sighed, knowing he would just have to deal with it later.
Hopping into the shower, he quickly rinsed his hair and washed his body before washing his face and stepping out. The shower felt great, and Nico wished he could have stayed in longer, but he got soap in his eye, which ruined the whole shower,damn stinging in the eye was practically hell. Luckily it was fine, since he was almost done rinsing his hair anyway.
He really needed a haircut. Since Bianca's death, he hadn't really cut his hair. Hazel had trimmed it a year or so ago, but he hadn't touched it since. It had grown quite long, starting to curl slightly past his shoulders like an overgrown wolf cut. His hair wasn't straight; it was wavy and curly, a dark black color same as his eyebrows. His eyes were a dark brown with other shades of browns in it, and because he didn't really take care of it, it usually looked like a mess. Jason had told him that Piper said people don't really care about that nowadays, and that it passed for a "messy style," so he figured it was fine.
He grabbed the clothes he brought with him and changed. He let out a light chuckle upon realizing that the shirt he had grabbed was a plain black one with a skull. Guess he wasn't leaving the house without at least part of a skeleton on him.
Looking back in the mirror at the cut on his eyebrow, he saw it had closed up a bit. It was obvious that if he got hit or fell, it would reopen, but his hair would hide it from Hazel and everyone else anyway. He didn't bother trying to cover it up, knowing it would be a pain.
Instead, he grabbed his concealer. He had first started wearing it when his mom and Bianca passed away, since that was when his father started getting more abusive. It was the easiest tool to use to cover the bruises and scars.
He shook slightly at the thought of the scars on his face. Gods, he hadn't thought about them in a while. Turning his face to the left, he saw the three long, jagged scars stretching across his right cheek. He exhaled sharply at the sight of them; he hated them a permanent reminder of what had happened.
He quickly grabbed the concealer and covered them up, along with his eye bags. It didn't help much, though. He was pale, skinny, and sleep-deprived, and he hated it. He looked down at the plain black marble sink. Gods, Hades was way too fancy for his liking. The house was huge, and there were only three of them living in it
.He grabbed his skull ring, spinning it around his finger to try and clear his head. It always seemed to calm him down.
"Nico, hurry up! We're gonna be late, and you know Dad hates that!"
Styx. He knew. Of course he knew. The last time he was late, he was practically knocked unconscious. Hazel didn't need to know that part all she knew was that Nico had been "grounded," as their dad called it. He was fine with that as long as it kept her from worrying about him.
He hadn't met Hazel, his stepsister, until a few years ago when Nico and Hades decided to move to America. Later, he found out they moved because this was where Hazel was born and raised. He had been so angry when he first met her, realizing his father had betrayed his mother like that, but he could never bring himself to be mad at Hazel.
He walked down the stairs and saw her in the kitchen. She wore faded blue jeans with a red and white Canadian hoodie that Nico knew belonged to Frank, paired with gold-colored bracelets and hoop earrings. Her hair was done up in two buns, one on each side of her head.
"Nico!"
she said as she turned to face him.He looked at her and smiled sheepishly, knowing they were most likely going to have to sprint to the bus stop to make it in time.
She threw an apple at him. "C'mon, you need to eat something."
He nodded back, but as soon as she turned toward the door, he slipped it into his bag. I'll just throw it out at school and tell her I ate it or something, he thought to himself.
"Niccolò!"
He cringed at the sound of it. His full name. It felt so weird to hear after going so long without using it.
"Coming! Sorry, Hazel!"
He made sure to grab his aviator jacket as he raced out the door to catch up with Hazel.