Ch. 10 Percy had dozed off. He had been sitting with Nico for a while. A little bit later, he felt something gently tugging at his sleeve. He opened his eyes and saw that Nico was trying to get his attention. "What is it, buddy?" he asked. Nico wiped his tears away. "I think it's happening again," he whispered. The demon took off his jacket and held up his arm. Black patterns, resembling claw marks, stretched down his arm to his wrist. Percy's heart plummeted. The patterns could only mean one thing: it was almost a new moon. Every month, on that night, Nico went full demon. Percy knew it was hard for Nico. It caused Nico a lot of pain, and he would unintentionally hurt people or destroy things. "I'm scared," Nico said, tears streaming from his eyes, "I don't want them to hate me even more." Percy held him close. "It's okay," he said, running his hand up and down Nico's back, "we'll get through this together. I promise."
Ch. 11 The next day was relatively calm. Nothing major happened. After breakfast, Percy returned to his cabin to find Nico playing with Stripy the stuffed tiger. He pulled the young demon into a hug. "Glad to see you happy, bud," he said. Nico giggled. "When can we see Mama?" he asked. "Well, we could Iris message her," Percy said. Nico began to jump up and down in excitement. "Yay!" A few minutes later, the boys were talking with their mom. "Could you send us more blue cookies, Mama?" Nico asked. She smiled. "Of course, sweetheart." A few hours later, the boys were enjoying their favorite treats. Nico had eaten almost half of the cookies already. "Slow down, buddy," Percy said, "you'll get sick." Unfortunately, he was right. Nico sat on the bathroom floor, shivering. "Do you want me to bring you something else?" Percy asked. Nico nodded. But the young demon couldn't keep any food down. He began to cry. Percy was concerned. What could make Nico this sick? Recently, some camp counselors had been taking him to a "special place" during meals. Were they putting something in his food? Nico shuffled over to Percy, tears pouring from his big, dark eyes. "What's wrong?" Percy asked. "It hurts," Nico whimpered. "What hurts?" The little demon screamed, "Everything!" Percy held him close and gently slipped off his jacket. Then, he saw what was hurting Nico: he was extremely thin. He realized that they didn't put stuff in the demon's food in the special place they took him to. They didn't give him food at all. Nico was sobbing. "I know you're hurting," Percy told him, "but why aren't they giving you anything to eat?" Nico buried his face in his brother's shoulder. "They hate me, Bubba." Percy gently picked him up and carried him to his bed. "It's okay," he said, "you'll always have me."
