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chameleonwritess · 5 years ago

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Feels Like Home (Ch 1)

Myriad of Stars

Not-So-Secretly in Love

Feels Like Home (Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3)

Forever Starts Today (Epilogue)

Extras:

Infirmary Duties

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace

Nico's summer has been amazing thanks to Will but he isn't ready to face the following year when it ends. He knows there are going to be a lot of changes this year and that frightens Nico. Luckily, Will is there for him through everything.

Word Count: 7446

Read the whole Myriad of Stars series on AO3

Chapter 1- Demigods and Parents

Nico di Angelo was pretty sure that he’d had the best summer of his entire life.

Minus almost being destroyed by Gaia, of course, but he was grouping that with the rest of the year which had, quite frankly, been dreadful.

Still, as soon as the impending threat had vanished, Will Solace had stepped into Nico’s life and suddenly everything seemed to make sense. Nico had found not only a place where he belonged and could be himself but a person with whom he belonged and could be himself with. As the son of Hades, that in itself was a miracle Nico had never seen coming.

The fact that Will was attractive, funny, caring, utterly charming and the most infuriating demigod Nico had ever met just made everything so much better.

Of course, summer didn’t last forever, though. Nico knew it didn’t and yet he’d somehow hoped it would, causing reality to crash down around him during the last week of the holidays.

“My mom’s picking me up from Camp next week,” Will announced very suddenly one afternoon whilst the two were sitting inside Nico’s cabin, playing with some of Nico’s old mythomagic cards for the sake of nostalgia and because the two of them were huge nerds.

Nico’s eyes snapped up immediately.

“You’re going home?” he asked in a slightly strangled voice. So much for concealing his emotions.

“Not exactly,” Will said. Nico raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what that was supposed to mean.

“Meaning?”

“Well, I go to school but not properly,” Will started to explain, “We need a healer at Camp all the time and now that Lee’s dead, I’m the best healer we’ve got.”

“How does that work, then? I thought school was a full time thing?” Nico asked. He knew he’d been to school in Italy but the memories were very faint. He hadn’t even thought about going to school since; he’d always been too tied up in monsters, Titans, giants or whatever else was deciding to destroy the world.

“It usually is. My mum has a special agreement with the headteacher, though. I go to school for a few weeks each term so that I can collect all the work and then I return to Camp so that no one dies from falling off the lava wall or getting a leg sliced off in Capture the Flag,” Will explained.

“So you won’t be gone for long?” Nico checked. Will chuckled.

“Why, you gonna miss me?” he teased, nudging Nico’s leg with his own. Nico rolled his eyes.

“I was just thinking about how peaceful Camp would be without you. No Jackson bugging me, no Grace bugging me, no you bugging me,” he said wistfully.

“Hey!” Will complained, “we only bug you because we love you. Besides you were totally upset when I said I was going home after summer.”

“Was not,” Nico spluttered.

“Was too,” Will retorted.

“Not.”

“Too.”

“Alright, shut up, of course I was going to miss you,” Nico finally relented, shoving Will, who had decided to lean his body right over Nico’s, in the chest. It was suddenly dawning on Nico just how much he would miss Will, though.

Even before they’d started dating, Nico had still spent the majority of his time with Will and over the last month or so the two had practically been inseparable. Now he was going to have to go for weeks without seeing him. Nico already felt suffocated. Never had he expected to become so reliant on one person.

“Ha, that’s pretty gay,” Will smirked in retaliation to Nico pushing him. Nico inhaled deeply.

“I changed my mind, can you leave today?” he deadpanned. Will laughed and flopped down on his back besides Nico on the bed.

“I’m bored of mythomagic,” he stated.

“You get bored easily,” Nico shrugged.

“True, but I wanted to ask you something,” Will replied, looking up at Nico from the bed from what Nico assumed was not a very flattering angle on his behalf.

“Go on, then,” Nico encouraged with an unenthusiastic eye roll to accompany it.

“It’s going to be weird spending time apart after we’ve spent all summer together so I was wondering if you wanted to come over and stay at mine during the first weekend? My mom will love you, I can sense it, and she’s always happy to let my friends stay over,” Will offered.

Nico swallowed a lump in his throat. Meeting Will’s mom had not been something he’d ever even considered and being new to the twenty-first century, never mind just dating, made Nico panic a little that he had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to act around a mother.

The only parental figure in his life was Hades and Nico doubted he could just nip down to the Underworld to pay his dad a visit and ask a few questions about his love life. It wasn’t really the father-son relationship they had.

“Don’t worry,” Will jumped in, noticing Nico’s hesitance, “it’s just an offer and I don’t want you to feel like you have to. I know you’ve probably not done anything like that before but just so you know, my mom is lovely. She’s the kindest woman I’ve met. She already knows I’m gay and will be so thrilled to meet you. I can already tell she’s going to love you.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. People didn’t exactly have a habit of ‘loving’ him upon first encounters.

“Really?” Nico asked, surprising even himself at how weak his voice sounded. Will sat up on the bed and placed his hands on Nico’s shoulders, forcing him to look into his dazzling blue eyes.

“I mean it. I’ve never disliked you and people say the two of us are pretty similar. She’s also one of the most stubborn people I know. When I was younger she’d keep me quarantined if I got a slight tickle in my throat so if you think I’m bad, wait till you meet her,” Will reassured Nico. He smiled slightly at Will’s anecdote.

“It’s hard to imagine anyone more stubborn than you,” Nico smirked.

“I’m not just Apollo’s good looks and charms, y’know,” Will teased, sending Nico a wink. Nico laughed at the action and allowed his head to fall against Will’s chest.

“I’ll think about it,” Nico agreed. Will wrapped his arms around Nico’s chest and kissed the top of his head.

“Thank you,” he said, “it means a lot to me.”

Nico still felt anxiety bubble up inside of him at the thought of spending a weekend with Will’s mother but after everything Will had done for him, this was the least he could do in return, especially if it meant a lot to Will.

He just wished it didn’t feel like such a big deal to him.

Will had to return to his own cabin before long (ever since it was confirmed that the two were together, the Apollo cabin had taken to threatening Will in order to ensure he returned back each night) and Nico was left to his own thoughts.

He knew how much Will’s mother meant to him. It wasn’t really school that Will was going home to- it was Naomi Solace. He always spoke so highly of her which just made Nico even more anxious. Normally, he didn’t care what people thought of him. The first time he’d realised he cared about what Will thought of him was when he’d begun to realise that he viewed Will as a little more than just ‘that annoying healer’.

Still, he hadn’t exactly gone out of his way to ensure Will actually liked him. Never before had he felt the need to make a dedicated effort to ensure someone didn‘t dislike him..

It was terrifying.

Nico also had literally no clue how he was supposed to interact with his boyfriend’s mother. The only adults he ever even spoke to were Chiron, Mr D, Hades and occasionally Persephone if he was in the mood for an argument. All of whom were immortal beings- definitely not mortal mothers.

Feeling Cabin 13 growing gradually stuffier as his panic increased, Nico stood up abruptly and decided he needed to take a walk outside to calm his nerves and get some fresh air. It was still half an hour until curfew so luckily, the cleaning Harpies wouldn’t be around to tear his flesh apart just yet.

Instead of wandering to Nico and Will’s usual spot, Nico continued further down until he was sat by the far edge of the canoe lake where few campers ever seemed to go. Nico himself rarely sat by this side of the lake, despite its proximity to the Hades cabin.

If Nico had been hoping for some brooding time to himself, though, he was severely disappointed as a tall, dark figure appeared from the darkness of the trees and made his way to Nico’s side. Nico had recognised him immediately.

“Father,” he greeted, sounding distinctly unimpressed with Hades’s sudden appearance.

“Hello, son. It’s been a while,” Hades commented. Nico looked at him sternly.

“You closed off the Underworld so I couldn’t enter,” he pointed out. Hades chuckled nervously, a sound that seemed utterly strange coming from the Lord of the Underworld.

“That I did. I apologise. It wasn’t to prevent you or Hazel from entering, I assure,” Hades said awkwardly. Nico let out a sigh.

“What is it that you want?” he asked. Whilst Nico knew he saw his Dad far more than other demigods saw their Olympian parents, Hades still only tended to appear when he wanted something from him. Either that or he was going to gift him a skeleton chef to go with his skeleton Chauffeur, Jules-Albert.

“I just wanted to catch up with you, Nico,” Hades said simply. Nico raised an eyebrow.

“That’s unnerving,” he commented. Hades sighed.

“I still can never tell if you’re being sarcastic or not,” he complained. Nico shrugged. He wasn’t entirely sure whether he was or not, himself.

“Anyway,” Hades continued, “the Apollo sprout.”

Nico’s cheeks flushed, “Wait, this is about Will?”

“Oh, that’s his name. I couldn’t remember if it was Bill or Will. Yes. You seem… infatuated with him, correct?” Hades asked. Nico groaned and placed his head in his hands. The last conversation he’d ever wanted to have with his father was about his love life.

“Do you have to talk to me about this?” he asked.

“I’m not allowed to get involved with my son’s personal life?” Hades questioned. Nico nearly willed the ground to open up and swallow him. He was tempted to do it had he not known that Hades would just follow him anyway.

“Fine, yes, I’m happy with him. If you have a problem with it I don’t care,” he snapped. Hades looked almost taken aback.

“I have no problem. In fact, I’m quite relieved. He isn’t Jackson or Grace and he has a good sense of humour,” Hades said in an almost approving tone. Nico’s father’s words suddenly sunk in. How did Hades know that Will had a sense of humour?

“Have you been watching me?” Nico spluttered. If Hades skin hadn’t still been so deathly pale, Nico would have thought he was going red.

“Not exactly. I just like to check up on you sometimes. I noticed an abnormal amount of laughing so wanted to assure you were okay,” Hades explained. Now it was Nico’s turn to go red.

“Yeah, well, he does have a good sense of humour,” he mumbled. Hades nodded thoughtfully.

“Invite him down for dinner,” Hades suggested, “I’d like to meet him personally.”

“Please don’t threaten my boyfriend,” Nico begged, thinking how strange it was to refer to Will as his boyfriend in front of someone else for once.

“I would never. I simply want to get to know him better. If the Apollo sprout is important to you, he should be important to me, too,” Hades stated.

“He can’t eat food from the Underworld, y’know,” Nico added.

Hades glared at him, “Do you take me for a fool, Nico? I am well aware of that.”

“Of course, sorry,” Nico apologised, rolling his eyes, “I’ll have to discuss it with him. He- er- might be a little apprehensive about nipping down to the Underworld just for dinner.”

Hades nodded in understanding and if Nico didn’t know better, he would have said Hades almost looked hurt by his comment.

“I hear you’re going to visit his mortal mother,” he finally added after a moment of silence. Nico groaned again.

“Do you listen in to all of our conversations?” he asked, wondering exactly what his father had overheard.

“No. Just that one. I was planning to pay you a visit but noticed you were preoccupied,” he said. Nico flushed and tried not to think about what Hades had overheard or accidentally observed.

“I don’t know if I’m going to visit her or not, though,” Nico explained, “I’m… nervous.”

“Naturally,” Hades nodded, “my own relationship with Demeter has not been ideal over the years since I married Persephone.”

Nico didn’t point out that there may well be a reason for that. He also didn’t point out that Hades was definitely not helping his nerves calm down.

“Right,” Nico stated, “any helpful advice or were you just here to interrogate me?”

“I just wanted to see that you were happy,” Hades said, “I know it isn’t easy being my son. You deserve a good life.”

Nico had had this sort of conversation with his father before. Last time, he’d thought to himself that there was no way he’d ever be truly happy. Now he felt as though his old self really had been wrong. Life felt pretty great for Nico right now.

“Thanks,” Nico said, allowing a genuine smile to cross his face, “you don’t need to worry. Will does make me pretty happy.”

It felt weird to say so to his dad but it was the truth.

“I can tell,” Hades smiled in response, “I think the Harpies are coming. I should probably let you get back to your cabin.”

Nico nodded and got to his feet again. Hades had already turned around and was walking away back into the darkness.

“Dad,” Nico blurted out on impulse, before his father walked away. Hades turned around in shock. It was the first time Nico had referred to him as anything other than ‘father’ or ‘Hades’. “Thank you for checking up on me,” Nico finished.

Hades looked at him and gave a warm smile, something that looked so foreign on his usually cold and stern face.

With that, Hades vanished into the darkness and Nico was left alone again to clamber back up to his cabin before the cleaning Harpies swooped in to eat him for their dinner.

He’d made his mind up about what he was going to do- he was going to visit Will’s mom. Family was important, after all.

It was the last day of summer before Nico knew it and there was a very melancholic feel around Camp. Whilst some campers never went to school, instead staying on at Camp year-round like Nico planned on doing, there were an awful lot of people leaving for the year, some of them for good.

Percy and Annabeth were the first to say goodbye to Nico.

“We’re going to go to college in New Rome,” Annabeth explained to Nico when they caught him wandering past the big house, “but Percy needs to pass his SATs first.”

“It’s going to be a painful year of studying,” Percy added with a grin. Nico huffed a laugh. He couldn’t remember what going to school was like but from what he’d heard, studying was not a fun activity.

“Yeah, I don’t envy you,” Nico said. Percy shrugged.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back to visit soon. Probably sooner than I want knowing how things tend to go at this place. I don’t doubt that gods will have some new problem that needs fixing soon,” he added.

“Don’t you miss the days when you were told not to go on a quest and snuck your way onto it anyway?” Annabeth asked with a nostalgic sigh.

“I would gladly go back and smack my younger self. What was I thinking?” Percy laughed. Nico could sympathise with that.

“At least you didn’t go crazy and start raising dead spirits,” Nico pointed out. Percy laughed harder.

“True, true,” he said and before the three of them knew it, they were laughing about all the ridiculous trouble and near death experiences they’d had over the years.

Nico had never considered using humour as a coping mechanism considering laughing was something he rarely found himself doing, but as he found himself recounting tales with Percy and Annabeth, he realised the memories didn’t hold quite as much sting as they usually did. Nico absent-mindedly wondered if that had been partly Will’s influence on him.

“Remember the time I gatecrashed my own funeral?” Percy asked Annabeth. She burst into laughter again.

“I was about to go saying all this nice stuff about him and then he just wanders over like it was no big deal,” Annabeth said.

“Oh, Nico, what about that time you came over to my house on my birthday to tell me to take a swim in the Styx but got distracted by cake,” Percy reminded him.

“What was I thinking?” Nico asked with a laugh, “at least the cake was good.”

“Sally’s blue food is the best,” Annabeth agreed as Percy wrapped an arm around both her and Nico, squeezing them into a group hug. Nico reluctantly complied. He didn’t mind it anywhere near as much as he pretended to.

“I’m gonna miss you a lot, Nico. You’d better visit us in New Rome, too,” Percy said, “don’t pretend you don’t know me this time!”

Nico smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Hopefully this time you won’t be losing your memory,” Annabeth scolded as she gently smacked him on the arm.

“I never forgot you, Wise Girl,” Percy said fondly and Nico averted his eyes, already knowing what was about to happen. He scanned the inside of the Big House as he looked away, peering into the infirmary to see if he could spot Will. Will hadn’t said goodbye yet so Nico hoped he didn’t plan on leaving without doing so.

Percy and Annabeth didn’t kiss for long due to Nico’s presence which he was grateful for. He was also glad to notice that he didn’t feel any twinge of jealousy towards Annabeth at all anymore. Percy was just a normal guy to him now. A friend, even.

“I really am sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you over the years,” Nico apologised. Percy shrugged.

“Don’t sweat it. I’ve caused you trouble, too. Besides, it’s what friends are for,” he grinned, using his knuckle to mess up Nico’s hair as Nico attempted to bat his hand away. Annabeth laughed.

“Look after everyone at Camp for us, Nico,” Annabeth smiled, “I trust you to make sure everything stays orderly.”

“As orderly as Camp Halfblood can get,” Nico pointed out as an appropriately timed fight broke out behind them on the volleyball court between an Ares and an Aphrodite kid.

“Don’t go breaking Will’s heart,” Percy added with a wink. Nico rolled his eyes and flushed red.

“Shut up,” he complained, “I will miss you guys, though. Camp will feel strange without you here.”

Percy and Annabeth smiled so widely at Nico’s admission that he almost regretted it. He regretted it even more when the two engulfed him in another huge hug.

“Goodbye till whenever we next see you, then,” Percy said. Nico nodded.

“Enjoy college,” he greeted. Annabeth smiled.

“Oh, he’s going to love it,” she smirked a little evilly. Nico chuckled and gave them one last wave as the two made their way over to the top of Halfblood Hill where they would undoubtedly be swamped with even more Campers wanting to say goodbye.

Camp really was going to be weird without Percy and Annabeth there. Nico had never really stayed without them there since the time he sent Percy off on the quest his sister died on. All of that felt like aeons ago to him, now.

“It doesn’t seem real, does it?” a familiar voice came from behind Nico. Will had snuck up on him and wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist which he’d usually complain about in such open view of all the camp but it was Will’s last day before he went home for a while and his arms were warm. It wasn’t because Nico actually liked when Will held him like this or anything.

“Percy and Annabeth have just always… been around,” Nico agreed, “I guess I can visit them but it just feels like they’re going away.”

“Jason and Piper are going to New Rome for the year, too, aren’t they?” Will asked. Nico nodded, hoping Will could feel the movement of his head against his chest.

“And you’re gonna be gone. Camp’s going to feel pretty lonely,” Nico pointed out. Will released his arms around Nico and grabbed his shoulders instead, turning him around to face him. His face didn’t look mad but Nico could sense a certain anger behind his eyes.

“That doesn’t give you an excuse to shadow travel off anywhere you like,” Will said, “you’d better still be here when I return each holiday.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “I know, I’ll stay here, I promise. I might go and visit Hazel once or twice but other than that-“

“Good,” Will interrupted him with a sigh of relief, “I think you have some visitors that want to talk to you, though.”

Nico turned around to see where Will was looking. Piper and Jason were stood at the other side of the Big House, observing the scene at a distance. Nico could already tell the two had been spying on them and sent a premature glare in their direction.

“Go on, I’ll wait here,” Will promised with a smirk. Nico nodded at him and made his way over to them.

“So,” Jason started, “this is it for a year.”

“Don’t say that,” Piper accused, “you can still come and visit us. Reyna, Hazel and Frank would want you to visit too.”

“I know,” Nico agreed, “I will do. I hope you both have a good year.”

“I’ll miss you, Nico. Stay safe at camp. We’re only an Iris message away,” Jason reminded him. Nico nodded and felt the beginnings of tears prickling his eyes. He quickly blinked them away but Piper was doing nothing to hide her tears.

“Aww, Neeks,” she sobbed and then threw her arms around him. Nico almost fell back from the impact but slowly embraced Piper back if slightly awkwardly.

“Don’t call me that,” Nico complained but there was no annoyance in his tone. Jason sniffed loudly and Nico glanced over Piper’s shoulder to notice that Jason too was getting teary-eyed. Nico lifted one of his arms and Jason took the invitation, enveloping Nico in a hug too.

As both Piper and Jason were taller than him, he found it difficult to breathe pretty quickly and had to stretch his neck to free his mouth.

“Guys, you’re kind of crushing me,” he spluttered. Jason and Piper released him immediately with apologies rolling off their tongues.

“We will really miss you,” Piper said.

“Yeah,” Jason added, “you’ve changed a lot in just the short space of time we’ve known you. I’m really glad.”

“Well, I think you know who to blame for that,” Nico smirked, throwing a look over his shoulder at where Will, as promised, was still standing.

“Take good care of him,” Piper said with a wink, “have you made up your mind yet?”

Nico took a deep breath in and nodded.

“I know what I need to do,” he said, “and Jason, Will may have helped me but you were the catalyst that set the reaction off. You accepted me when I felt like no one could and I- just- thank you,” Nico managed to stammer out.

Jason looked like he was going to cry again and before Nico knew it, he had been enveloped in yet another hug. Feeling left out, Piper joined in again, squeezing the two boys tightly.

“You really need to stop trying to kill me,” Nico gasped for breath, “There’s still plenty of monsters left to do that.”

Piper and Jason laughed as they relented their tight grip.

“Don’t die whilst we’re gone,” Piper instructed. Nico gave her a wry smile.

“I’ll try not to. Make sure Jason doesn’t get himself killed, too,” Nico said.

“I can look after myself!” Jason complained. Piper laughed and Nico gave a snort.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” he said dryly. Jason rolled his eyes and pouted before taking Piper’s hand.

“We’d better go and say our goodbyes to Percy and Annabeth before we take off,” Jason said, “we’ll see you soon, Nico.”

Nico lifted a hand in a half-hearted wave.

“Yeah, I’ll see you.”

And with that, he departed and made his way back up the hill to Will. This was his next goodbye and he knew this one would be the hardest even if he’d only be spending a short time away. Luckily, he had until that evening. Whilst most campers left in the afternoon, Will’s mom worked a day shift at the hospital so could only pick him up later on in the day.

“You okay?” Will asked with a concerned look as Nico approached. Nico wiped away any stray tears that may have been remaining at the corner of his eyes.

“Yeah,” he lied, “just going to miss everyone.”

“Aw, you’re such a softy,” Will teased, hugging Nico from the side, “help me clear up in the infirmary before I leave? It needs to pass inspection.”

“You’re the one inspecting it, you nerd,” Nico complained with an eye roll. His complaints ended when Will pecked his cheek and grabbed his hand, pulling Nico inside the Big House.

As soon as they stepped inside, Will switched straight over into Doctor mode, something Nico was pretty used to by then.

“I need all the thermometers back in the tub on the second shelf up and bring me some latex gloves whilst you’re there- someone’s left medical waste on the table,” Will instructed. Nico nodded and turned around to go to the back before adding,

“Is that a shelf I can actually reach this time?” recalling an incident only a week or so ago.

Will raised his eyebrow in response as he turned around with stethoscopes in his hand.

“I doubt you’d complain much if it wasn’t,” he said pointedly. Nico blushed and muttered a quiet ‘Shut up’ before marching into the back.

Nico was pretty sure Will hadn’t been the last person in here because the boxes were a mess. Will was such a perfectionist when it came to organising the infirmary that Nico knew he’d probably need medical attention himself if he came in and saw the state it had been left in.

With a sigh, Nico shoved the thermometers in the box on the second shelf and started work sorting through the other boxes, attempting to return everything to their correct place.

Nico hadn’t remembered about bringing Will the gloves until a pair of hands tickled his waist and caused him to make an embarrassingly high pitched squeal, dropping the packs of gauze he was holding.

“Sorry,” Will chuckled quietly in Nico’s ear, sending a shiver down Nico’s spine, “what’s taking so long?”

Nico picked up the gauze and stood on his tiptoes to put it back in the box before turning around to face Will.

The son of Apollo was stood closer than Nico had realised and his hands were still hovering over Nico’s waist, ready to pull him even closer. Nico’s heart caught in his throat as he felt his breath catch. Will still had an uncanny knack of taking his breath away. It was very infuriating.

“It- mess- decided to sort it,” Nico said intelligently. If he’d been hoping to disguise from Will how much his sudden presence and closeness had affected him, he was doing a pretty lousy job.

“What?” Will asked, having not understood Nico, not surprisingly. Nico took a breath in and tried to remember how to compose comprehensible sentences as he looked up at Will’s blue eyes.

“Someone messed everything up. I was trying to sort it out again because I know you don’t like it disorganised,” Nico finally managed to say without sounding completely stupid.

Will looked down at Nico with a soft smile on his face. Nico was glad that it seemed he’d actually done the right thing.

“Thank you,” Will said quietly, leaning down so that his nose bumped Nico’s gently. Nico’s breath was taken away once again as Will’s hands tightened around his waist. He wondered if there was such thing as dying from spending too long too close to your boyfriend. Nico at least hoped his father would take pity and resurrect him if that did happen.

After what felt like way too long, Will finally tilted his head and captured Nico’s lips. Letting out a sigh, Nico reached up, wound a hand in Will’s hair and pulled the blond against him hungrily. Will was far too much of a tease and Nico wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

Will didn’t seem to be complaining as Nico kissed him back harder, though, instead letting his hands move from Nico’s waist to his back, one of them slipping underneath Nico’s black t-shirt and tracing the bare skin on his spine. Nico shivered at the touch, despite Will’s hands being as warm as always. Will was permanently warm. Nico suspected it was because he was Apollo’s son but he didn’t really care- he only cared about whether those hands were touching him.

Nico pulled back to take a breath for a second but Will had other ideas, chasing Nico’s mouth with his own and pressing their bodies together again. Nico felt his back touch the shelves behind him and he removed his hands from Will’s hair to place them on the shelves and push the two of them off. He hadn’t just spent all that time organising them for Will to ruin it, no matter what his tongue was doing as it slid into Nico’s mouth and elicited a gasp from him.

“Don’t ruin my tidying,” Nico murmured against Will’s lips.

“Nico, shut up and let me kiss you, I don’t care about the tidying,” Will muttered in response, not giving Nico a chance to respond further as he kissed Nico again, the hot press of his lips making Nico finally give in and decide that the shelves really didn’t matter all that much.

He allowed Will to push him back against them this time as the taller boy’s tongue returned to his mouth. Whilst Nico did like to be the one leading the kiss, drawing small noises out of Will and leaving him a blushing mess, he definitely was not about to complain if Will wanted to push him up against a wall and kiss him senseless.

“Nico,” Will moaned lightly, the sound of his name on Will’s lips causing blood to rush straight to Nico’s cheeks and possibly other places he was trying hard to ignore. Nico just pulled Will’s lips back to his.

The sudden sound of a horn caused Nico and Will to jump apart in shock, Nico’s head hitting against the shelf above him and Will’s nose bumping into his a little harder than anticipated.

“Ow,” Nico said, not entirely sure his mouth was capable of forming any more than a sound at that moment anyway.

“I guess it’s time for dinner,” Will said breathlessly, “I can’t believe I didn’t manage to clean the infirmary.”

Nico rolled his eyes at Will’s pout.

“Don’t blame me, I was trying to help. Besides, you’re the inspector so it doesn’t matter,” he shrugged. Will scoffed.

“It’s basic patient hygiene, di Angelo,” he said, sounding scandalised, “and don’t feign innocence, you were being too distracting.”

“I was literally just tidying a cupboard,” Nico pointed out.

“Exactly,” Will teased, draping an arm over Nico’s shoulder as they made their way out of the Big House and to the mess hall, “distracting.”

Nico blushed and rolled his eyes.

“Catch me after dinner- I don’t want to leave without saying goodbye,” Will ordered. Nico nodded in agreement.

“Me neither,” he said. Will gave his shoulder one last squeeze before releasing Nico and going over to the Apollo cabin, now consisting of only Kayla, Austin and Will.

Nico sat himself down at the Big Three table that was feeling even more vacant. Percy and Jason had both left, leaving Nico alone. He hated sitting alone to eat. He never would have admitted it to Percy and Jason but it did really help having them there when they’d first suggested the idea.

When Nico sat alone to eat, it brought back memories. Memories of buying Happy Meals in desperate attempts to speak to his sister. Memories of sitting trapped in a jar, surviving only off pomegranate seeds and thinking that no one was coming to save him- he would die alone.

They weren’t exactly memories Nico wanted to dwell on, especially now that his life was looking up for once, but the scars ran deep and no amount of happiness would ever truly dispel the nightmares and feelings of hopelessness that occasionally threatened to overcome Nico.

Absent-mindedly, Nico wondered if it would be at all possible for him to convince Chiron that he needed to sit with other people to stop his powers from playing up. Maybe Chiron would let him sit with Will if the son of Apollo played his ‘I’m a doctor’ card.

For a second, Nico was tempted to raise skeletons right there and then but thought better of it. Will would be leaving Camp in about an hour, anyway.

Distracted from his own memory with thoughts of Will, Nico happily bit into his pepperoni pizza.

Despite Will’s promise that he would say goodbye to Nico before he left, Nico spotted the son of Apollo leaving his cabin with a packed bag and heading in the direction of Halfblood Hill- not in the direction of the Hades cabin.

Luckily, Nico had been paying attention so muttering to himself in aggravation, Nico shrugged on his aviator jacket to guard against the cool evening breeze and stormed out of his cabin, not caring that the door slammed shut behind him.

Due to Will’s naturally larger strides (curse his long legs), Nico had to jog to catch up and finally reached him just as he arrived at the top of the hill.

“Going somewhere?” Nico asked pointedly. Will jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Ah, Nico!” he gasped, “uh, sorry, I was going to come and say goodbye but, well-“ Will broke off with a shrug and Nico raised an eyebrow at him. With a glance down the hill, he spotted a woman with curly brown hair, blue eyes as clear as Will’s. Her face was smattered with freckles and she wore a smile Nico would recognise anywhere. She was Naomi Solace- unmistakably Will’s mother.

“Oh,” Nico muttered, drawing his attention back to Will. He’d felt a hint of panic rise up inside him at the sight of Naomi accompanied with the disappointment that Will hadn’t intended to say goodbye to him. Nico was going to be spending a weekend with just her and Will way sooner than he was prepared for.

A thought suddenly hit Nico as to why Will hadn’t been going to say goodbye and it was completely and utterly Nico’s fault.

“Oh!” Nico repeated in realisation as he grabbed Will’s arms, “Will, I forgot to tell you- I made up my mind. I want to visit you at the weekend. I mean, if the offer still stands.”

Will’s eyes lit up immediately.

“Why didn’t you just say so, you idiot?” he asked and before Nico could even respond, Will dropped his bags and picked Nico up, spinning him round. Nico had to try hard not to shriek in shock as he grabbed Will’s shoulders to steady himself.

Still laughing, Will placed him back on the ground and hugged him.

“Of course the offer still stands,” Will promised, “do you want to meet my mom now? She’s heard a lot about you through Iris messages.”

Nico didn’t even think before he answered.

“Yeah, sure!” completely forgetting to panic. Will grinned and grabbed Nico’s hand, picking up his bags again and pulling Nico down the hill with him. They were through the magical Mist barrier before Nico knew it and he was faced with the most daunting task of his entire life. Talking to Will’s mother.

“Will!” Naomi Solace squealed as soon as the two demigods stumbled past the magical barrier. Nico didn’t even complain when Will released his hand so he could engulf his mother in a huge hug.

He was easily taller than her, resting his head on top of her’s as he hugged her. Nico guessed she was about the same height as he was.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she said, “you haven’t been overworking yourself, I hope. If you have a single blister on your hand from over-healing then I swear-“

Whatever Naomi Solace had intended to say next was forgotten as she pulled her son in for another hug. Nico couldn’t help but smile slightly as he observed the scene, despite the panic still rising inside him. At least Will would be in good hands away from camp; Nico doubted he needed to worry too much about Will overexerting himself.

Still, if there was a monster-

Nico shook the thought out of his head quickly. Will had always been fine in previous years. He was going to be fine now. His scent wasn’t as strong as Nico, Percy or Jason’s anyway- he wasn’t a son of the Big Three.

“Mom,” Will whined in complaint, pushing her away, “I’m fine, honestly.”

Despite his complaints, Nico knew how much Will had actually missed his mother. He never shut up about it.

Just then, Naomi happened to look up over Will’s shoulder and her eyes connected with Nico’s. He felt his heart rate immediately pick up in fear. She was going to hate him already.

“Will, I think there’s someone you might be forgetting to introduce me to,” Naomi said, raising an eyebrow at her son expectantly in a way Will so often did to Nico whenever he forgot to look after a wound or help out in the hospital. Nico was already starting to realise exactly why Apollo had been so taken with her. She had a lot of similarities to her son.

“Oh!” Will seemed to realise as his eyes shone. He grinned and walked over to Nico again, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards his mother. Nico allowed himself to be pulled and stood there in shock. “Mom, this is Nico.”

“So you’re the guy Will won’t shut up about when he Iris messages me,” Naomi Solace said with a sly smile. Nico felt his cheeks heat up. He was supposed to say something now.

“Um,” Nico started, “it’s nice to meet you. Will talks about you a lot, too.”

“Oh, does he?” Naomi Solace asked, turning to Will.

“Pfft, as if,” Will pretended but his mom just tackled him in another hug.

“You big softie,” she teased, “you do love your old mom after all.”

“Mom, stop, you’re embarrassing me in front of Nico,” Will complained, attempting to flatten his hair again when his mom released him. Nico fought the urge to run his fingers through it. Will’s mother was right there.

“It really is lovely to meet you, though, Nico. I’m really glad Will’s found someone as good to him as you,” Naomi turned to Nico again, still smiling.

“Good to me?” Will huffed. Nico elbowed him.

“Thank you, Miss Solace,” he said, “I do my best to keep him in check.”

“Please, just call me Naomi. Or mom if you want- anything’s fine by me!” Naomi said. Nico thought he would have felt a little bit awkward calling her ‘mom’ but it didn’t seem like she completely hated him so that was a good thing at least. “I don’t know how you manage- he really is a nightmare.”

“Trust me, I know,” Nico smirked, surprised at how easily he was managing to have a conversation. He hadn’t messed up. He could do this.

Will was apparently not as pleased with his achievement.

“Nico! Mom! I didn’t introduce you to each other so you could gang up against me,” he complained.

“You should have expected this, really,” Nico pointed out.

“Honestly, it’s like he doesn’t even know us,” Naomi shook her head in offense.

“Mom!” Will whined.

“Sorry, did you hear something, Nico?” she asked in a sly tone.

“Nothing at all,” Nico agreed with a shake of his head.

“I changed my mind, you’re uninvited this weekend,” Will huffed.

“You agreed to come?” Naomi asked suddenly, turning to Nico excitedly. Nico had never seen anyone look so glad at the news that he was going to be somewhere.

“Oh, um, I-I’d like to if you don’t mind,” Nico stuttered. Naomi grinned.

“Of course I don’t mind! The more the merrier. I’m sure you’ll help me wind up Will, too,” she said.

“I wouldn’t ever pass up the opportunity,” Nico promised. The tenseness of first meeting Naomi Solace was slowly easing away and he felt his shoulders relaxing. He wondered what he’d ever been so worried about. Naomi was lovely and she shone just as brightly as her son. Maybe Will hadn’t received his sunny disposition from his father, after all.

“Right, I’m leaving,” Will huffed, folding his arms stubbornly. Nico nudged him with his hip.

“So I really don’t get a goodbye?” he asked.

“Will, were you really about to leave without even saying goodbye to Nico?” Naomi asked in shock.

“I wasn- no- I just-“ Will stammered.

“Yes,” Nico interjected. Naomi looked at him sternly.

“It’s a good job your boyfriend actually cares about saying goodbye to you, then, isn’t it?” she pointed out. Nico’s cheeks flushed at the words. It felt weird for Will’s own mother to say that. Weird in a not entirely unpleasant way. “Go on, I’ll wait in the car and I promise I won’t look.”

“Mom!” Will protested, “that means you totally will.”

Naomi shrugged her shoulders and took Will’s bag, taking them back to her blue Honda.

“So I’ll see you this weekend,” Nico said after a moment’s silence. Will smiled at him.

“Thank you. I know this isn’t easy for you but you’ve already done such a good job just talking to her. She really likes you,” Will said.

“All I’ve done is insult you,” Nico muttered. Will laughed and put his hand on Nico’s upper arm.

“I know, but you’ve made an effort to find something in common with her and talk about it. You think you’re bad at talking to people but you just did a really good job of it,” he explained. Nico chewed his lower lip as he considered Will’s words. He hadn’t even been thinking about it like that.

“I suppose you’re right,” he conceded, “but I couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t been there.”

“I’ll always be here if you need me,” Will promised in a soft voice, pulling Nico even closer to him.

“Your mom is watching,” Nico reminded Will although he wasn’t really sure he minded, Will’s closeness sending a frenzy of incoherent thoughts scattering around his brain.

“I don’t care,” Will said, his breath dusting over Nico’s lips. Nico didn’t care either as he closed the distance between them, raising himself onto his tiptoes to plant a gentle kiss on Will’s lips.

Will pulled away way sooner than Nico would have liked but it was still enough to leave his head feeling fuzzy and his lips tingling with warmth.

“Goodbye,” Will said.

“Goodbye,” Nico repeated, releasing Will’s top from where he’d grabbed hold of it to kiss him. Will smiled softly as he trailed his hand along Nico’s arm, releasing it, before walking away towards where Naomi Solace was waiting for him in the car. Nico smiled and waved as he watched Will go before turning around and heading back through the magical border and up Halfblood Hill.

He only had to wait until weekend.

#solangelo #percy jackson #pjo #will solace #nico di angelo #willico #solangelo fanfic #my fanfic #fanfic #percy jackson fanfic #hoo #heroes of olympus #myriad of stars

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gloomp3s · 4 years ago

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ok literally no one asked but i was inspired by oliver’s post and i wrote nico’s confession to percy and how i would have liked it to go ^_^

It’s over, that was his first thought once he saw Octavian launch himself to his death. He should be happy, not about Octavian’s death, of course but, about this whole thing being over and done with. Instead, he doesn’t know how to feel.

This whole ordeal gave him time to avoid his feelings, to hide and maybe never show his face in front of Camp Half-Blood ever again instead, here he is. It’s a bit weird, four years ago he lost his sister and now he has a new one, maybe two, because Reyna feels like a big sister to him, what Bianca could have been, he tries not to dwell on it.

He made his way to camp, he had to stay for at least two days, he couldn’t just abandon Hazel. He sighed as he eyed his cabin, he really didn’t want to be here right now. He was almost at his door when he heard his name being called.

“Nico!” he turned around, ready to see Percy or Jason but to his surprise it was actually Travis Stoll, one of Hermes’ kids.

He stayed at the Hermes’ cabin for a while when his sister went on that quest, the Hermes’ kids had welcomed him as if he were one of them. It was the first time he ever felt like he belonged.

“Hi Travis” he replied and turned around to face him, he hadn’t changed much since he last saw him, maybe he was a little bit taller.

“How has our little brother been doing?” Out of nowhere Connor was now next to his brother, smiling at him.

“Um, fine” he replied, because he was not used to people coming up and talking to him.

“You know,” Connor spoke “We thought after the war you’d stay but that wasn’t the case at all. Travis and I are still waiting for those poker classes”

Travis laughed and put an arm around his younger brother “Right, right. You beat our ass at poker, and you were only ten! You need to teach us your ways” They both smiled at him, waiting for an answer. He wasn’t sure on what to answer so he didn’t.

“Come on Nico” Connor pushed it and he felt himself get angry.

“Why would I stay here? No one acknowledges me, most campers are afraid of me and- “

“Woah, woah. Easy there lil bro” Travis interrupted him “Scared of you? Geez, most of us at the Hermes’ cabin have wanted to see you for a long time. When you came back you didn’t even greet us, we thought you forgot about us” Forget about them?

“Wait, this doesn’t make sense. Every time I came back everyone would just stay away from me”

“Well to be fair most of the times you came to visit the only campers are the Hermes’ cabin were Travis and I” Nico finally made eye contact with Connor “Not everyone is an all year rounder, you know”

“Oh” it hit him; people probably didn’t talk to him because he looked like he didn’t want to talk to anyone. He remembered how the Stoll brothers indulged him in playing mythomagic that one time and how they gave him a tour of the camp and taught him a few of their pranks. Maybe it was him who didn’t want to get close to anyone, he finally understood. He had to make an effort too, it couldn’t be one sided, he needed to stop viewing himself on how he thought people saw him, he was more than just Hades’ kid.

“So,” Connor spoke “Are we learning poker from our genius goth little brother?”

Nico felt himself smiling, maybe he could indulge them a little bit. “Maybe”

He spent the next two days at the Hermes’ cabin, he would have given Hazel a tour, but she was too busy roaming around camp with Piper and Reyna to pay any attention to him, he was okay with that. He taught the Stoll brothers all the poker knowledge he had learned from the Lotus Casino, which was a lot, spending around sixty years in a casino does that to you. They also made him play mythomagic and gave him a deck of cards so he could play with them whenever he wanted.

For the first time in a long time Nico felt happy. Reyna had spread the word that he had helped bring the Athena Parthenos to camp so now campers would say hi to him and hi-five him, which was a lot to get used to, but he realized he didn’t mind.

Hazel left that day in the afternoon, with Reyna and Frank. He said his goodbyes and promised to visit.

It was dawn and he didn’t sleep one bit; it didn’t bother him since he was used to it. He felt a knock on his door and got up to see who could possibly be, it was Jason.

“I came to check on you” was the first thing he said.

“I’m doing fine, thank you very much”

“That’s good”

“Do you regret now leaving with Reyna?” he asked

“Hm, maybe. I’ll be going back and forth between camps so I’m not too worried” Jason didn’t look too sure of his decision but he decided not to comment on it “What about you, it’s been three days and you are still here”

“Yeah, I’m staying”

Jason blinked, clearly surprised “What?”

“At Camp Half-Blood. The Hades cabin needs a head counsellor. Have you seen the decor? It’s disgusting. I’ll have to renovate. And someone needs to do the burial rites properly, since demigods insist on dying heroically”

“Dude, I’m pretty sure you chose the decor”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Jason laughed, and Nico thought it was going to be okay.

“Not to ruin the mood or anything but, are you going to tell him?”

“Uh?”

“Percy” He replied, “He’s leaving with Annabeth tomorrow”

He panicked, he felt his dinner on the back of his throat, he couldn’t breathe. Being with Travis and Connor had given him time to not think about Percy and now he had to.

He didn’t show up for breakfast and the Stoll brothers immediately sensed something was wrong, they visited him at his cabin. At first he didn’t want to open, he didn’t want to let anyone know how he was feeling but he gave in, knowing they would pester him until he opened the door. He tried to put on his best face but, Connor noticed something was wrong.

“Neeks, what’s wrong?”

How could he tell him? Hey, I’ve had a crush on this boy for four years and he’s leaving tomorrow, and I feel like I have to tell him, or I won’t have any closure.

“Travis bring some water Nico is clearly panicking”

He felt Connor pat him on the back, trying to calm him down, he can’t handle it.

He was being so sweet, and he felt like he didn’t deserve it, he liked a boy for fucks sake, how gross was that. He felt himself start tearing up.

“Hey Neeks, are you alright? What’s bothering you?”

“I like Percy” He didn’t process what he said until Connor stopped patting his back, he regretted it immediately.

“You do?” Connor asked “I mean he is really handsome and has saved the camp multiple times from being destroyed and he’s funny and” Connor realized what he was doing and stopped “I mean, it’s cool dude. I feel like everyone has had a crush on Percy at some point”

“What?”

“Yeah, I mean I had a crush on Percy for like two months”

Nico felt himself calm down a bit, at least Connor didn’t hate him or think he was disgusting for liking a boy.

“You did?” Connor laughed and looked at Nico

“Yeah,” he answered “is that why you’re panicking? Because you realized you like him?”

“No, I’ve known for a while” he felt himself blush, he had kept his crush on Percy a secret for a long time.

“Then what?”

“I feel like I have to tell him”

“Is that what you want?” For the first time since he met Connor, he saw him with a serious look on his face.

He wondered if it’s really what he wanted.

“I don’t know”

After his conversation with the Stolls he left for Camp Jupiter, he felt the urge to talk to his sister, he needed to tell her before he even wondered about telling Percy.

He arrived at night; he had sent an Iris Message to Hazel before visiting so that she wouldn’t be surprised.

“Nico!” she immediately hugged him.

“Hazel”

“It’s only been a day, what brings you here?”

“I have something important to tell you,” he spoke “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

And then he told her, everything, Hazel was the person he knew he would trust the most, so he didn’t hold back. He told her how disgusting he had felt when he realized his feelings weren’t platonic, how many times he had cried thinking people would find him disgusting and she just listened, she didn’t say anything until he was done talking.

“Do you plan on telling him?”

“I think so, he’s leaving tomorrow”

“You don’t have to, you know”

“I feel like I won’t be able to move on if I don’t” He looked at the sky, it was hard, he was scared.

“I think, you have to do whatever feels right for you, Nico”

He decided, he was going to tell Percy about his feelings. Hazel offered to come with him, and he accepted, he needed the moral support.

When he arrived at camp the Stoll brothers immediately found him and asked what he was going to do, he told them he was going to tell Percy, and they hugged him and promised to be there for him.

The next day he woke up and almost threw up because of the nerves, Hazel was next to him the whole time, telling him everything was going to be alright, he believed her.

Travis and Connor sat with him at breakfast even though it wasn’t allowed and tried to cheer him up, then, the time came.

He stood up and went to look for Percy.

“Percy, um, could I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure” He stood up from his place and followed him “What’s up?” He asked, looking at Hazel, Travis and Connor who were behind him.

“I like you”

There, he said it. He finally admitted his feelings to the person who they were for. He saw the shock on Percy’s face and almost laughed, he looked cute. He didn’t have to hide it anymore.

“W-what?”

Nico felt his cheeks grow red, “I like you” He repeated himself “I have liked you for a very long time and I thought I needed to tell you before you left”

“That’s uh”

“I don’t need an answer, Percy. I just wanted to tell you” He reassured him “No hard feelings”

“Yeah” Percy smiled “Thanks for telling me, Nico”

Acceptance wasn’t easy, he still had a long way to go, but he already took the first step.

#nico di angelo #pjo #*mine #writing

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magic713m · 6 years ago

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Between the Sky and a Hard Place Ch. 5

The questers rode the boar from the mountains and across the desert. When the boar stopped for a drink, they all agreed it was the ideal time to lose their ride and left the swine to eat and drink before it ran back east.

They came upon a ghost town with a huge junkyard in their path. They all decided to rest for the night before trying to venture the junkyard. As they were setting up, Nico saw Grover looking saddened again.

"What's wrong? I know you liked the boar, but we had to leave it."

"It's not that; all animals should be free," Grover said, "It's just that fight... The demigods...Thalia said they tried to kill us."

"Yeah," Nico said, remembering the fight.

"Annabeth told me that when she was travelling with Percy, he said he was protecting demigods, and even training them. And now they tried to kill us," Grover cried, "Do you think he told them to?"

"Look, Grover, I don't know this Percy very well," Nico admitted, "He saved my life, but he's working with the bad guys." Nico could see he wasn't making things better for the poor satyr, and remembered something.

"However," Nico said, "those guys we fought, they seemed to be arguing. When the big kid told the others to kill us, and one of them said they were disobeying orders. I don't know if that helps, but maybe…"

Grover's lifted his head and turn to look at Nico, "You think Percy doesn't know?"

"I'm not sure," Nico answered, "Um, Grover, what is Percy like?"

"Well, he was a great friend," Grover said, thinking back to his days as protector and travelling companion to the son of Poseidon. very brave and courageous."

"I saw that when he saved us."

"He was also very loyal to those he called his friends."

"Until he betrayed you guys, right?"

"Yeah. I guess after his first quest, he was very hurt. But he and I shared an empathetic connection."

"A what?"

"We could feel each other's emotions and sometimes even see what is happening with the other."

"Cool, can you still do that? Maybe figure out what is happening at the enemy's base?"

"No, after our quest, I could not connect to him like that. I could still sometimes feel him if he is especially angry, or sad, or happy. But our connection isn't that strong anymore. I do know that he still cares for us. That's why I can't believe he would try to kill us."

"Well, I hope you're right."

"So do I. By the way, that was some quick thinking, trapping the boar. How did you know you could do that?"

"I didn't. I remembered back at the museum how I called on a weapon from the floor, and thought maybe I have Earth powers. I figure what could I lose. We were almost trampled anyway so I imagined I was playing Mythomagic, and pulled a geomancy card and used it to trap the pig."

"Interesting. Maybe you might be a child of some minor Earth god, or maybe even Demeter, since technically plants and such come from the Earth."

"Really? You think so?" Nico asked, a little eager.

"It's certainly possible," Grover answered.

After the campsite was set up, the group discussed various things. Grover said he was confident the wild boar was sent by the lost god, Pan, who many satyrs had been searching for. They talked about theories as to why Bianca was able to kill a skeleton, but nothing conclusive was discovered.

And as they discussed where to head next, Zoe mentioned Las Vegas, but Nico and Bianca had disagreed with that strategy. They explained how they have some recollection of staying there and Grover was the first to realize that the Di Angelos were victims of the Lotus Hotel and Casino, a place where time stood still as one remained distracted by the games and attractions. And it soon became apparent that Nico and Bianca had spent the last seventy years trapped there before someone pulled them out of the hotel.

They had no idea who helped them or why they didn't remember much of their life before. So with no answers, the group decided to call it a night and rest before venturing into the junkyard.

At dawn, they began to move through the scrapheap. It took only moments to realize that this was no ordinary landfill. Sure, there were the usual junk, like broken refrigerators and discarded bicycles, wrecked cars, various clothes and such. But there were also broken chariots, disposed Greek armor, shields and swords. Bianca even got a hold of a Hunter's bow, which shrank and turned into a hair clip. Zoe immediately ordered Bianca to put it back. They were in the junkyard of the Gods, where everything was possibly defective.

They continued to move closer and closer to the end of the junkyard, to the highway. They just needed to pass what looked like a pair of giant metal feet, hanging out of one of the huge piles of trash. As they worked their way around, a broken-down car rolled down the pile, forcing the companions to jump out of the way to avoid getting run over.

"Found you," James said, with a sneer at the top of the pile. His companions appeared from other areas of the site, ready to attack. The campers armed themselves and charged at the traitors.

Grover held back, summoning vines to help, but the child of Demeter, Samson, was able to turn the vines back on him and entangle the poor satyr. It was four against four, with James viciously attacking Nico. Like before, Nico was able to handle himself quite well. During the fight, the two were driven up one of the largest piles of garbage. James gave Nico a powerful kick, pushing him down the hill, towards the highway. Nico had some superficial cuts on his body from rolling over various objects. He looked up and saw James smile almost triumphantly, when suddenly, there was a crunching sound of a thousand compactors crunching metal. Everyone stopped fighting, turning to see the huge mountain of trash begin to move. James soon tried to run off the pile before he too fell as the pile began to rise. All the trash began to fall off, with the group having to jump out of the way as not to get buried. Nico ran to rejoin his friends.

One of the rogue demigods wasn't so fortunate, as they were buried under an avalanche of garbage. Nico got a better look, seeing it wasn't the junk itself moving but something beneath it. The structure resembling legs were actual legs and they were connected to something. A skyscraper sized machination that looked like a giant metal human robot.

"Talos," Zoe gasped.

"James, we need to go," one of the demigods shouted.

The Talos turned its sights on James, who was standing alone, looking nervous, but defiant. The Talos took out its sword and began moving towards him. James dodged the sword, and tried to cut the thing in the back of the "foot" with no effect.

The questers stood back and tried to clear a path out. James' companions tried to help him, but they were easily swiped away with a swing of the giant arm. The last Nico saw of James was him vanishing beneath the heel of the giant, as it turned its attention to the questers.

The group split apart and tried to get some distance of it, running in different directions. Nico felt someone roughly pull him up and he was looking at a very angry Thalia.

"You took something."

It was not a question.

"I just grabbed one thing. Nothing that could do real harm. I was curious, but I swear I was going to leave it behind before leaving," he pleaded.

"What is it?"

Nico reached into his pocket and pulled out a small Mythomagic statue.

"It's a rare one. The only one I never got. I just wanted to see. I wasn't going to take it, but we got into a fight and…"

"Nico," Thalia said in frustration. Before she could continue, the Talos approached them. As Grover tried to restrain it with vines, Nico saw an entrance, beneath the foot of the machine.

"Look," he said, pointing to the entrance.

"Okay, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that if I can get in there, I might be able to destroy this thing from inside."

"Woah, you?" Thalia asked in disbelief, pulling him back before he could charge in.

"Look, this is all my fault, I know that. So please let me fix it."

"No way. You're still too new. I have to do this."

"No way," Nico complained, "I have to. It's only fair."

"Our life is never fair," Thalia said, standing up, grasping her spear.

The Talos was right on top of them, when it raised its foot, revealing the passage. Nico did not see Thalia, as he made a run for it. He ran until he was stopped by his sister.

"She's inside," he heard Zoe shout. Nico did not know what was happening, but he turned around and saw sparks begin to shoot out up the Talos' leg.

It continued to move, and the group ran out towards the highway. The Talos tried to pursue them, but its movements became more erratic. Finally, it stopped, starting to vibrate as electricity started shooting from its head. It dropped the sword and finally the head exploded, with the rest of the body falling to pieces.

Nico fell to his knees, with his eyes widened. He knew no one could've survived that mess. And he had this feeling in his gut that he just knew, without a doubt, Thalia was gone. The whole world felt unreal as he tried to think his next thought.

After several minutes, he felt Bianca touch his shoulder.

"Nico…"

"She's gone," he said, "She died…because of me."

"Nico, that's not-"

"It's true. This is all my fault," he said, then reaching into his pocket, finding the Mythomagic statue of Hades, "Me and my stupid game!" he screamed, throwing the statue away with all his might.

"She knew her risks," Zoe said, "She accepted the quest, knowing she might not come back. She will always be remembered."

"Screw her memory," he shouted, "She didn't have to die."

Zoe marched over and grabbed him roughly, "You are right, she didn't. It could have been any one of us. But she made her choice. We still have a mission, and the best way you can honor her memory is to live on, and finish this quest."

Grover came over to attend to some of Nico's injuries as Bianca and Zoe mended their own.

"Nico, I am sorry," Grover said. Nico just stared blankly for a few moments as Grover helped him up.

"I get it now," Nico said lightly, to no one in particular, "Not a game."

Percy's empathy link with Grover might have been dulled since he joined the titans, but it wasn't totally gone, and he could sometimes still feel the satyrs emotions. Like when Grover was scared in battle, or thrilled when he believed he felt Pan. But the most recent surge from the link was one Percy felt in full force. It was the same terrible sense of shock and loss that he had felt when he thought his mother was killed by the Minotaur, and he was certain that something awful had happened to the questers.

It wasn't much longer until, finishing his daily ride with Blackjack, he got a call on his cell. True, modern communication devices attracted monsters, but when one already works with monsters, the point is somewhat moot. And since Iris Messages involve invoking a god's favor to communicate, there was a risk that other gods might bug the line.

Percy flipped open the phone, "Yeah?"

"Percy, sir, it's me, Samson," the voice on the other end said.

"Hey Samson. What's happening?" Percy asked. He waited for about a minute, hearing nothing but dead air, "Samson, what's going on?"

"They're…gone, sir," Samson said, sounding nervous, "I…the others…they're dead."

"Woah, wait," Percy said, trying to find the next thought, "Who's gone, Samson?"

"My team. They're all dead, sir" Samson answered in his weak voice.

"Enough with the 'sir'! What, the Hades happened?" Percy said, ignoring the fact he said a god's name.

Samson began explaining how they tracked the questers down and how they attacked the demigods at the ski village.

"I told James, specifically, not to hurt them. What was he thinking?"

"Sir, I should tell you that James was a very ambitious person. Always trying to prove himself."

"And he thought killing them would make me proud?"

"Not you…Kronos…or Atlas. James thought he'd impress them by delivering the child of Zeus to them."

Percy thought about his decision when he put James in charge. It was true that James was ambitious. He worked hard to better himself and took to training faster than most other demigods. It was why Percy had put him in charge. He thought it would be a good chance for James to prove himself as a leader. But Percy never thought James would try to go over his head and help the titans. He really did not think James would kill for a chance to advance.

"Okay, so you guys tried to kill them. Then what?"

Samson continued his story. James was determined to take down Nico for humiliating him when Nico struck him at the Smithsonian. The demigods got away on a giant boar, and Samson performed a guiding spell to track them down to a junkyard. He mentioned the fight and then the giant robot that attacked them.

"I was able to survive, but the others were not so lucky."

"I'm sorry Samson. I should've been there. Maybe I could've done something about it."

"Sir," Samson said, "There was something else. I saw pieces of the machine scattered outside the junkyard. But I also found another body. It was the girl we tried to capture. Thalia."

Percy's eyes widened. Thalia, a child of the Big Three, the one who the prophecy favored, and a good friend of Luke and…Annabeth. He felt a sickening stir in the pit of his stomach.

"Samson," he struggled, "You should come back. There's nothing else you can do."

"I'm sorry, sir but I can't. We let you down, and I will not give up. I owe you more than that."

"Samson," Percy said.

"I'm continuing the mission. I cast another tracking spell, and they are heading toward the Hoover Dam, so I should catch up to them there. I won't confront them. I'll stay behind like you asked and keep you updated. I'll call you later."

"Sam-" Percy heard a click as the line disconnected and snapped his phone shut, dreading his next conversation, but unable to avoid it.

"You're sure?" Luke asked, his voice unsettlingly calm.

"Yeah, I'm sure"

"How can you be sure it's her," Luke interrupted, "I mean, these demigods are still rather new to this and-"

"I trust Samson."

"Like you trusted James. The one who disobeyed your orders? Samson's word means nothing! It's-"

"Luke," Percy said, firmly, though tried to be gentle, "It's true. I'm sorry."

Luke looked down at the table, filled with maps, plans, and other things…until Luke swiped all of them off the table while screaming. He grabbed some random vase and threw it at a wall, and it shattered on impact.

Percy backed away nervously, as Luke took out Backbiter, and swung aimlessly at some random objects. Until he was crouching down in exhaustion, breathing heavily, leaning on the hilt.

"Luke, I'm so sorry," Percy said as he approached the child of Hermes. He looked at Luke, searching for a reaction, but Luke's eyes seemed so empty.

"I guess the prophecy can't be questioned now," he said in an informative, cold manner, "You will decide the fate of Olympus."

"It's not important-"

"Yes it is, Percy. Fate is firmly in your hands now. You're our hope."

Things were silent until Luke said, "You should try and find out where the campers are now. We have to know more."

"Samson is still following them right now" Percy said.

"Good, tell me if something develops," Luke said, about to leave.

"Wait, what about Annabeth?" Percy said.

"I'll talk to her," Luke said.

"I could tell her-"

"No!" Luke shouted. Luke took a breath and seemed calm, "I should tell her. I owe her that much."

Percy waited patiently, but he just could not stand around any longer. Luke came back only a few minutes after telling Annabeth of Thalia's fate. He did not tell Percy much about his conversation with her; only that he tried to tell her gently, and that upon hearing the news, she demanded he leave her sight. Luke decided to give Annabeth a lot of space, but Percy thought different. He marched down to the dungeon and ordered the demigod guards to let him pass. He reached the cell and knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before opening it.

He peered in and saw Annabeth curled up on the cot.

"Annabeth-"

"Go away Percy," Annabeth answered with no emotion.

"I thought you might want some company right now," he said, stepping inside.

"Get out," she said, in the same tone.

Percy still did not move. He walked up to side and kneeled down to her level.

"You really do have seaweed for brains. I don't want to talk," she said, with a little more aggression.

"You don't have to. But I don't want you to be alone right now."

"Whatever," Annabeth mumbled.

Percy just sat there, trying to keep himself occupied, and thought of something.

"She did seem pretty tough. Thalia, I mean. She kept me on my toes when we fought. But honestly, I would've won in the end. She was so lucky that we were interrupted. I would've wiped the floor with her."

Annabeth sniffed, "Yeah right. I'm sure she just didn't want to upset Grover by killing you, so she held back."

"No way. She might have been Zeus's kid, but she was dumb to try and face me without help."

"She was always so strong, and willing to take risks," Annabeth said, now more solemnly. She went quiet for a moment. "I just…I can't believe I lost her again. I…I have no one, now."

"You have me," Percy answered.

"Great, I have my personal warden," she said sardonically.

"Warden, protector, eye candy… friend. Whatever you want to call it, you've got me."

Percy suddenly heard her cry and quickly moved to her side. Surprisingly, she did not push him away but curled up to him.

"I miss her," she said, "I'll never see her again."

"I'm so sorry. I wish…I just want to help."

"Just stay here for a minute, please."

He held her for several minutes before she thanked him and told him to get out. This time he obeyed.

"Annabeth," he said, turning to look at her, "No matter how this war turns out, I'm still going to be your friend."

He couldn't tell, but he swore he saw a nod from her as he left as the guard closed the door behind him.

"Quite the predicament you put us in," Thorn said, appearing around the corner as Percy turned into the corridor.

"I'm not in the mood," Percy said in a threatening voice.

"Well, I won't be here long," Thorn said, unfazed, "Just wanted to thank you for that display your soldiers gave. Now they're dead and we don't have the daughter of Zeus."

"Thanks for your opinion. I'll be sure treasure it," Percy said in a bitter tone.

"You know you really messed up. Badly. I knew you were going to be trouble, and the General knows it, now."

"So why don't you just kill me? Oh wait, you can't. Because of the prophecy."

"You're right, I can't touch you. But the General was not pleased to hear about the death of the Zeus kid, so I am to tell you to back off."

"And what if I don't?"

"I've given orders to my troops. They are to locate and eliminate the campers and Hunters," he said, "along with anyone who might possibly get in the way, including your precious recruits. So stay out of my way."

"Whatever," Percy said, before charging past Thorn.

Once Percy was out of sight, he pulled out his phone. He searched for Samson's number, but then he had a terrible thought: if Samson was no longer safe from monsters, calling him could only draw more monsters to him. Percy already lost a few members, but he could not lose anyone else on this mission. Even a simple text could draw unwanted attention to him. And, of course, IM was out of the question. He needed to warn Samson to get away, but how?

And Percy remembered he did have another option. Not bothering to pack he ran outside and called out.

"Blackjack!"

Percy heard the beating of wings as the black pegasus landed in front of him.

You called, boss?

"Blackjack, I'm going to need your help getting me to Nevada, and fast. How soon can you get there?"

As fast as you need me to, boss. Where to?

"We're heading to the Hoover Dam."

AN: Yeah, that just happened. I wanted this to be a growing moment for Nico, since he was still seeing the whole demigod thing as some game, so he needed to be brought down to the reality of the situation.

#percy jackson #Nico di Angelo #thalia grace #annabeth chase #dark percy #luke castellan #Grover underwood #bianca di angelo #zoe nightshade #pjo

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