asolareclipses

[asolareclipses]

hi!

Your writing is spectacular!!!! I love your current story so much. You have an amazing style as well. hope therer are more chapters to come!!!!

love, lily

Thank you so much! I genuinely feel so amazed whenever people compliment me and it really means so much to me! I’m really glad you like my story and I can promise there are going to be more parts coming soon!

[asolareclipses]

(Previous Part)

“Gods this heat is killing me.”

Will looked back at Jason who was drenched in sweat from the summer sun. “Maybe we should take a quick break.”

“I don’t get how you’re not melting right now,” Jason said as he practically collapsed on the ground.

Will shrugged, “Maybe it’s an Apollo thing. Sun resistance or whatever.”

Jason squinted as he looked up at Will, “Huh.”

Will turned to face the quiet road beside them his face turning somber, “We’re never going to make it there at this pace.”

Jason sighed as he ducked his head in a pointless action to avoid the sun. “I mean we’re halfway there right?”

With a groan of frustration Will turned to Jason, “If only we didn’t breakdown in the middle of nowhere.”

Jason opened his mouth the speak but was interrupted by a loud car horn.

Will watched as a small rusted truck slowly rolled to a stop next to them, the window squeaking as it slid down.

“You boys need a ride?” An old man spoke with a southern twang.

Simultaneously, Will and Jason looked at each other, both with clear skepticism. This had ‘Trap’ written all over it, however they had no other choice.

“Sure,” Will replied with a halfhearted smile, motioning for Jason to follow him.

In no time they were riding smoothly, somewhat, down the empty road in the worn down truck. The inside was no better than the outside either as the seats were clearly old with some tears and stains. Each floorboard was caked with dirt along with scattered pieces of trash or machine parts.

Will scanned each inch of the truck but, apart from its lack of cleanliness, it was perfectly normal. No evil tortue tools or suspicious mythical items. It was exactly what you’d expect from some random southern man. The man himself wasn’t strange either, no third eye or sharp teeth, rather something about him felt oddly familiar.

“So you two off on some adventure?” The man joked as he glanced in the rear view mirror at Jason with a sudden look of melancholy.

“Um we were just,” Will paused trying to come up with something. “On our way to visit our grandparents in Maine.”

Jason glanced skeptically at Will, to which Will read as, ‘In what world are we siblings?’

“Well isn’t that nice,” The man smiled, “Good thing I ran across you two because i’m headed the same way.”

Will thought that ‘coincidence’ should’ve made him nervous but for some reason he felt as if he weren’t in any type of danger.

“How’d you two get stranded?” The man continued the conversation in a relaxed manner.

“The-I mean my car broke down,” Will winced at his own stuttering.

The man shook his head, “Those are some tough roads from manhattan huh?”

Will froze, turning to the man. “I never said where we came from.”

The man’s eyes widened for a split second, “Lucky guess huh?”

Will just stared back, inching closer to the door as if to make a sudden escape.

The man sighed with a frown, “Perhaps i’m not the actor I believed I was. My skills seem to be getting quite rusty.” The southern accent disappeared as he spoke in an eerily familiar tone. “Dressed as an old man. Oh how convincing I am. Yet still I get caught.”

Wills eyes widened as he realized the drivers real identity, “Dad?!”

——

Jason almost got whiplash as he heard what Will said. ‘Dad?’ In no world was this old man Apollo, still there he was, Haikus and all.

“I’m conflicted on whether I should be disappointed in my disguise skills or happy that my child is so quick-witted.” The once old man, now Apollo spoke with a grin.

“Why are you-How are you here?” Will seemed just as shocked as Jason felt.

“I can be anywhere I want of course, and where is better than here?” Apollo words sounded similar to that of riddles. “A good father can give his son a ride once in a while right?”

“Won’t you get in trouble for interfering with, you know, demigod stuff?” Will asked.

“What ‘demigod’ stuff?” Apollo asked his voice pitching a bit higher. “This is just a regular ride with no ulterior motive. At least that’s what i’m going to tell Zeus if he finds out.” He glanced back in the mirror again but as his eyes met Jason’s he quickly looked away with a small frown.

Jason couldn’t help but to remember the last time he’d seen Apollo. He could still feel the coldness of the water, how it felt as he realized his life was about to end.

“So is this your car?” Will’s voice snapped Jason out of his thoughts and back to the current moment.

Apollo shrugged, “Any car can be my car.”

Will raised an eyebrow as his father.

“Okay, I may have borrowed it. But it’s not like anyone will miss this thing, I’ll just replace it with a new one. It’s not like I could’ve used the sun chariot, that would be far too obvious.”

“Right..” Will said, biting back a smile.

“Consider this a favor,” Apollo said his voice suddenly somber. “I know I owe you two far more than just this.” His eyes glanced back at Jason again for only a second.

Will frowned but quickly changed the subject upon sensing the tension, “Do you know what’s going on, if Nico is okay?”

Apollo frowned, “Oh how I wish I could tell you.” His fingers tightened around the wheel, “There is not much I know, just the darkness you all have been so aware of. I can’t predict this outcome and even if I could there would be no speaking it. But you are strong, you are light. Remember that Will.”

Jason could see Will’s face scrunching in confusion but he didn’t say anything, instead he leaned against the window to his side with a distant look in his eyes.

Apollo began to drone on about what he’d been recently doing before he switched over to asking Will as many ‘fatherly’ questions as he possibly could. Jason almost felt left out, he knew his father would never speak to him like that. His father hadn’t even bothered to say anything to him since he came back. Perhaps that was for the best, maybe him acknowledging Jasons existence would mean his end. Or worse, Leo could face consequences too. Jason’s thoughts continued to consume him until he realized that they were slowing down.

Apollo looked at the two passengers hesitantly as the truck rolled to a stop, “This is as far as I can go.”

Will smiled, his eyes without any joy. “Thank you Dad.”

“Anytime Will, I wish I could-” Apollo stopped himself. “Be safe, and bring back Nico.”

“I will,” Will nodded stopping out of the truck.

As Jason turned to exit Apollo suddenly spoke, “Jason.” He paused, “For all that happened, I..I truly am sorry.”

Jason froze for a moment tightly gripping the door handle, he turned to Apollo with a strained smile and shook his head. “Don’t apologize, it was just fate.” He spoke before quickly pushing the door open and stepping out.

Apollo frowned as if he wanted to say something more but decided not to. With a smile and wave he drove off, “Remember who you are Will!” He called out as his voice faded into the wind.

The two of them stood there until the truck was just a spot on the horizon before turning to the rusted sign that read, “Westover Hall 1 Mile Ahead.”

“Well,” Jason turned to Will his voice void of enthusiasm, “We’re here.”

Will bit his lip as he stared at the large school in the distance, “Let’s hope we’re not too late.”

Part Nine?

[asolareclipses]

Imagine my surprise when in the middle of my little sister’s dance recital I suddenly hear Mingi and this little blond boy goes “Fix on” as Ateez starts to play.

A true moment where I forgot that anybody can access kpop. It was a great performance too, Ateez would be proud.

[asolareclipses]

Thank you to @ginnyluna for tagging me for this! And thank you to @your-honor-im-zesty for posting the original!

I figured it would be better to not reblog as it's gotten quite long so i'll link the original post here.

Here’s my thoughts!

My favorite character is 100% Nico, he really means a lot to me as he was the first example of a queer character in literature that I read. I think his character has so many layers and his story is dark yet hopeful. He holds so much pain yet is one of the strongest people, it’s amazing to me.

My favorite villain is Luke. I know that’s such a common answer but there’s so much when it comes to him. His whole storyline is so complex and he’s the perfect example of what the god’s negligence results in. He is such an important character and in the end he tried to be a hero and that’s a trope i’ll always love.

My favorite ship is definitely Solangelo. They are my constant obsession and I love them so much. To me they were the first gay relationship I saw in media and it was and is really important to me. I love thier relationship, the classic sun and star combo. I also love how each of them have their own complex characters that mesh so well with eachother. I also really love Valgrace, not sure when the obsession started but I think they are an iconic ship. Best bros turned lovers? Count me in.

My favorite god is Apollo. Out of every god he showed the most development. He faced his flaws and worked hard to be a better father. He learned such an important lesson that I can only hope he will remember. A close second is Hades because I truly believe he cares deeply about Nico. Despite their rocky start and his lack of a presence, it seems as though he really tried to help Nico. He’s always painted as the villain when he’s no worse than the other gods too.

My favorite book is The Blood of Olympus. It’s the first book in which we get Nico’s pov and so much is revealed. It’s also the beginning of Will and Nico’s relationship so it means a lot to me. I think it’s a great finale and so much action happens, I could read it a bunch of times and still be interested.

I’m not really sure who to tag, so I recommend that anyone who sees this does it too! Don’t be shy and tag me, I’d love to see what you think!

[asolareclipses]

Previous Part

As the large school loomed ominously above him, Nico rethought all of his previous decisions that led him to this point. The building seemed to emanate pure death, but something wasn’t adding up. And the longer Nico stood there motionless, the worse this feeling became.

“So…do we go in or?” Leo said, completely unaware of Nico’s hesitance.

“Yeah…” Nico took a deep breath before pushing open the large castle like doors. He expected to immediately be met with death or something horrifying, instead what lay before him was nothing but empty abandoned halls.

“Wow, this place needs some TLC,” Leo commented as he walked forward, his head swiveling around to take in the large building.

“I guess they abandoned the school.” Nico replied, he couldn’t decide if that was upsetting or not. On one hand, it had been one of the last times he’d really been with Bianca, but on the other it held so much darkness and pain within its walls.

“Any idea where we go from here?” Leo asked, his hands were now blazing with a soft light that illuminated the dark hallways.

Nico paused, trying to determine where the source of his dread was coming from, but it felt all surrounding. “No clue,” He sighed.

“Okay well maybe-“ Suddenly the fire lit in Leo’s hand extinguished into nothing and the room was thrust into darkness.

Nico felt his heart drop, something was here, but unlike that sense of overpowering darkness Nyx emitted, it was something different. Rather than darkness it was more heavy, more emotional.

Suddenly the room brightened, a blueish green haze illuminating what looked to be trees, but Nico knew better.

“We need to get out of here right now,” Nico said as he felt his chest tighten.

Before Leo could speak a dark figure appeared, followed by several more of the same shape. “Oh but it is too late young one, we have already come to play.” The figure spoke as its features became clear. While it resembled a fury with sharp talons and wings, Nico knew better. Once before he faced monsters like this, and now it was too late as he and Leo were surrounded.

“What is that?” Leo asked, his hands bursting into flames once more.

“They’re arai,” Nico glanced nervously at Leo’s flames, “Leo if you attack them they’ll-”

Clearly the arai didn’t like what Nico was about to say as one dashed towards Leo and was greeted by a ball of fire. As the monster exploded into dust Leo yelled out, clutching his chest as he fell to the ground.

“Leo!” Nico called out as he rushed to his side.

“Holy hades what was that,” Leo said as he shakily tried to stand, his hair was sticking up as if he had been electrocuted.

“I tried to tell you, when you kill an arai they release a curse that someone or something has sent towards you.”

“A curse? What would’ve-“ Leo cut himself off as his eyes widened. “Oh. Those gods damned Eidolons! I fried them so of course they wanted to fry me too.”

Nico pretended he understood what that meant, before turning back to the arai who seemed to be eyeing them like prey. “We have to run, we can’t fight.” He forced his voice to remain steady.

“Where do we run?” Leo asked.

Nico looked around, they were surrounded by misty trees and the swampy fog. There was nowhere to run. “I don’t…” Panic filled his chest as he realized the lack of options.

“Your only choice is to fight, or you could let us kill you?” The arai spoke in a low gravely voice.

“Yeah right.” Leo snapped, his hands alight once more.

Nico had no real weapon (no the hatchet thing doesn’t count), no place to run, but the fear within him ran deeper than that. He wondered how many curses had been spoke against him, how many old wounds were about to be ripped open. Still, he had no choice. He had to fight.

And so fight he did.

The first arai swooped forward, its talons and wings moving swiftly. It dove downwards, but Nico had anticipated that and quickly rolled out of the way, bringing the hatchet down on the arias feathered back. Immediately Nico was met with a searing pain in his arm. Gashes resembling claws had appeared etched into his skin, similar to the scar that lay beneath them. Lycaon. It was no surprise the werewolf was a sore loser.

Next to Nico Leo gasped at the site of the wound, before promptly dodging an arai attack.

Nico tried to shrug it off, it was a familiar pain, he could manage. He readied the hatchet, ignoring the fact that he now had to fight with both of his arms injured. Another flash of black and Nico ducked, rolling against the ground while narrowly missing the sharp talons brought against him. He tried to go on the defense like Leo, but without fire it was nearly impossible.

The harsh sounds of wings roared behind him and he spun around almost too late, his hatchet swung and all he saw was a rain shower of dust. In that moment something shifted, everything seemed to go quiet as the hatchet dropped to the ground with the hollow echo of metal.

Leo turned, his fire flickering as his eyes widened in pure horror.

When Nico looked down, his hands were nothing but smoke, swirling around in the familiar way he’d seen many times from spirit roaming the underworld. Finally, one of his darkest moments had come back around to face him. The name, that face burned into Nico’s memory forever. Bryce Lawrence.

A guy who deserved nothing but death, yet every time Nico looked back at what he’d done he was consumed with guilt. Now it was his turn, to be erased into nothing.

Leo seemed to panic, the arai now uninterested with Nico. He called out but the words seemed to pass over Nico as if he weren’t really there.

Nico didn’t feel any pain anymore, he felt nothing. He saw Bryce’s face, over and over, until it slowly became his own. Then the sound of a scream pulled him away from being swallowed whole by the memories.

Leo had fallen to the ground again, his arms shaking in pain. The scattered remains of dust revealed he’d been met with another curse.

Nico wanted to cry, his body was worthless in that he couldn’t fight. He could only stand in watch. The sense of helplessness flooded through his veins as another arai rushed towards Leo.

But it never reached him, instead the ground rumbled and each arai was frozen in place. Somehow Nico stepped forward, his feet solid as black smoke curled off of his body.

“This is over.” He said, his form flickering in and out of a spirit like state. The arai began to back away. “You come from darkness right?” His fists clenched as shadows began to surround the arai, “Looks like it’s time to go back.”

A tidal wave of darkness washed over the arai as they screeched, their voices worse than nails against a chalkboard. Slowly they faded into nothingness and the wave washed away, revealing once more the dusty halls of west over.

Nico stood there emotionless for a moment, until a bout of pain racked his body. He felt like he was swimming in the phlegethon, it was as if pure lava were coursing through his veins,

Once again he heard Nyx’s taunting voice whisper to him, “Strike two.”

—

Watching Nico absolutely obliterate the arai was nothing short of impressive, however the immediate consequences were not. Whatever curses the arai bestowed had seemed to dissolve, but still something remained with Nico.

The previous cursed claw marks had only half healed, seeming to fight back against whatever was healing them. Along with that Nico’s other arm still bared the mark of his previous scorpion battle, now it had bled through its fourth round of bandages. His body was refusing to heal itself, and now that he’d used all of his energy to banish the arai, the pain had completely taken over.

The old wooden floor around Nico cracked and steamed as he fell to his knees. The room seemed to darken as the shadows reacted to his pain, swirling in harsh patterns. Leo practically sprinted to Nico side, knowing of how little he could do to help.

“Nico, oh gods. What do I do?” Leo’s voice cracked as he watched Nicos body shudder in pain.

“I’m..” Nico winced, taking a shaky breath, “I’m fine.” He clenched his hands against the ground, his face had gone so pale it reminded Leo of the time he’d first seen him. That memory only made Leo feel worse, he’d never gotten over the guilt he carried from how he had first treated Nico.

“You’re not fine,” Leo choked out as he scoured his brain for something, anything, to he could do to help.

Nico’s breathing only became more unsteady, “Leo, I’m sorry. You should go back to camp.” His voice was quiet and raspy as he spoke, “I shouldn’t have tried to go on my own, you were right. I’m sorry.”

Leo felt tears build up in his eyes, “Shut up. It’s okay and you’re okay.” His hands began to shake as the panic grew from deep within, he couldn’t lose another friend.

Nico opened his mouth to speak but it was as if a switch were flipped, and he suddenly collapsed to the ground. Smoke curling from his arms as he lay there motionless.

Leo froze for a moment, he felt like his heart had stopped beating. “Nico?” His voice echoed through the empty halls. Quickly Leo checked his pulse, receiving the faintest of heartbeats, “Nico. Wake up dude, please.” His voice sounded like a child’s ringing in his ears, scared and alone.

The dark empty halls only seemed to stretch farther and wider as Leo sat there helplessly. Seconds or maybe minutes had passed before a scuffling sound began to fill the silence. Leo shot up, his hands bursting into flames as he stood defensively in front of Nico’s almost lifeless body. Despite their shakiness, the flames burned bright in his hands.

Whatever the sound was it only grew closer, Leo feared the worst. Perhaps the arai had come back, or a worse monster was there to greet him. A cold rush of wind extinguished his flames as a soft haunting voice bounced off the walls around him. “How sad.” The voice spoke, it was the voice of a woman but it sounded empty and full of despair. “How miserable.”

“Who are you?!” Leo yelled out into the darkness, his flames flickering back to life.

“Your misery is charming young one, such sadness and pain. The loss of another friend would break your heart, how wonderful.” The voice seemed to hesitate, “It’s unfortunate to lose this soul though. His misery was so perfect, never have I met a more tortured child.”

Leo wanted to set whatever this thing was on fire, “WHO ARE YOU?!”

“I fear it is not my place to say,” The voice sounded almost happy with their ambiguousness. “I shall leave you to the darkness, there’s not much I can do here after all.” As she spoke the last word the halls went quiet for a moment, then a louder scuffling sound rung out from behind Leo.

He snapped towards the sound, a harsh flame burnt into his palm. He was ready to turn whatever was approaching into ash, when he was met with a familiar face. A guy with short blond hair, and a small scar that lightly grazed his lip.

“Jason?”

Part Eight

[asolareclipses]

(Previous Part)

After passing through the miserable Manhattan traffic, the roads of rural New York began to calm as they began the long journey to Maine.

Beside Will, Jason was twisting a map around, the paper crinkling with each slight movement he made. “You’d think they would’ve made these easier to read.” He grumbled under his breath.

“Well they sort of did,” Will replied, “Google maps offers great convenience, unfortunately there’s no demigod Google or Apple…or any of the other companies.”

Jason blankly stared at Will for a moment, “I’m going to pretend I understood what any of that meant.”

Will held back a laugh, he had forgotten that Jason wasn’t exactly familiar with modern technology. He was like Nico in that way, maybe that’s one of the reasons they got along so well. “It’s phone stuff, i’m not really the expert on it because I was never allowed to have a phone. But my Mom had one, and the other campers keep me up to date with all that other stuff.”

Jason’s eyes widened for a split second, Will could tell it was because of the mention of his Mom. He was probably surprised because Will typically didn’t mention her. “So your Mom, she’s…” Jason’s voice died off.

“She’s alive, if that’s what you wanted to ask. Her name is Naomi Solace, though I doubt you’ve heard of her. She’s a pretty well known country singer, always busy with tours and concerts.” Will seemed to fall into the past as he spoke about his mother. “I used to go on tours with her, they were chaotic but honestly amazing. Staying up until the late hours eating fast food, traveling around the country. It was great.”

Jason seemed hesitant to speak, but he noticed Will’s smile fading. “Did something happen?”

“Well, turns out monsters aren’t great for tours.” Will sighed as he stared out across the endless roads. “As I got older, more and more attacks happened. Eventually my Mom had to send me to camp, she didn’t want to. I still think she regrets it, but there was nothing she could do. Guess that’s just how it is.”

“Do you still keep in contact?” Jason asked cautiously.

“Yeah,” Will nodded, “I send letters, and Iris messages. Sometimes I even visit, though she’s pretty busy so I never stay long. She would probably let me stay forever if she could, but I wouldn’t burden her like that.”

Jason opened his mouth to speak but he hesitated, unable to find the right thing to say. After a moment he finally spoke, “She sounds nice.”

Will smiled, “Oh yeah, she’s amazing.” He meant it completely, his Mom was truly one of the best people he’d ever known. “But enough about my Mom, what do you think this ‘dark presence’ or whatever it is we are facing?”

Jason frowned, his mind delving into thought, “I’m not sure. What dark creature or thing would be out to get Nico?”

Will paused, a revelation hitting him so hard he almost drove them off the road. “Oh my Gods…how did I not realize sooner?”

“What?” Jason said, his hand was now tightly latched onto the door from Wills lapse in good driving.

“It’s Nyx,” he said the name like it was poison in his mouth. “It has to be. She’s probably still pissed that he embarrassed her.”

“Nyx?” Jason asked, his voice almost incredulous.

“Yeah, we fought her back in tartarus. Guess she’s still holding a grudge.” Will shook his head with an unpleasant look displayed on his face.

“So Nico left to what? Go fight a goddess on his own?”

Will sighed in pure frustration, “Yep. It’s a classic Nico move, I mean he would’ve gone to tartarus alone, again, if I hadn’t forced him to take me.”

“I guess in that way he hasn’t changed, still trying to face things alone.” Jason frowned.

“Right.” Will’s face was now unreadable even to himself, “At least he’s not alone, he took your boyfriend with him remember?”

Jason almost choked, “Boyfriend?!”

Will failed to hold back his laughter, “I guess it’s not official yet?”

“We’re not-he’s not-“ Jason stumbled over his words before giving up at forming a coherent sentence.

“Okay, okay. I won’t push any further, just know, it’s pretty obvious.” Will smirked as Jason tried to regain his composure.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Jason finally spoke with a false look of confidence. “Me and Leo are just-“ He was cut off by a sudden thump against the roof of the car.

Will glanced up in shock, “What was that?”

“I don’t-“ Jason began, but before he could finish there was another thump and sharp claws pierced through the roof.

Will grit his teeth looking ahead, “Hold tight Jason, the rides about to get bumpy.”

—

Bumpy was an understatement. The second Will swerved off the main road, the normal car ride transformed into a death trip. Each turn was so sharp Jason had to cling to whatever he could just so he wouldn’t be thrown across the car. He was convinced that any second now they’d go barreling into a tree. Yet, Will somehow maintained control, his driving was insane but also impressive.

In a particularly harsh turn, whatever had latched onto the car had gone flying off and when Jason turned to see he got a clear view of their attacker—well attackers. Rapidly approaching behind them was a small group of harpies, hellbent on turning them into bird food.

“Uh Will? You might want to speed up,” Jason said as he gripped his sword. There wasn’t much use for it in the small space but it was a good plan b.

“On it.” Will said, as his knuckles latched around the wheel turned white, they began to pick up speed making any movement of the car even more jarring.

Jason kept his eyes on the harpies which were still hot on their trail, “How do we lose these guys?”

“No clue,” Will spoke through clenched teeth. “Maybe you could blow them away?”

Jason perked up, for a moment he’d forgotten about the whole wind powers thing. “Good idea.” He spoke quickly before focusing on the wind beneath the harpies wings. With a slight twist they spiraled away, losing control of the air around them.

Will seemed to relax for a moment, but that was cut short by the cars suddenly sputtering to a slow stop. The extra speed and turbulence appeared to be too much for the old camp be vehicle. “Aw hades!” The look on Will’s face was of pure and utter frustration.

As soon as the car wasn’t moving, Will slung open his door storming over to the hood of the car. With a frown he threw it open and was promptly engulfed in smoke. Jason hurriedly rushed over to him, urging the winds to dispel the clouds of smoke.

As the smoke dissipated it revealed Will who stood there coughing and muttering a range of curses—some Jason had never heard before but he was sure they weren’t positive. “Of course this happens!” Will threw his hands up in defeat.

Jason winced, not sure how to comfort him.

“The one time I go out on an important quest, everything goes wrong!” Will spoke, his anger seemed more directed at himself than the circumstances.

“Every quest has setbacks,” Jason tried his best to sound optimistic.

“Maybe, but we left camp hours ago and we’re already stranded on the side of the road. Who knows what Nico and Leo are doing, and if we’re too late.” Will rambled on as he began to pace alongside the car.

“Will, things happen, I don’t see how this could be your fault.” Jason continued with his reasoning, but it was as if Will had heard nothing.

“What a great idea to send a medic on some important quest, like I could actually be a hero.” Will spoke directly to himself almost unaware of Jason’s presence.

“Will stop.” Jason took cautious hold of Will’s shoulders, a firm look on his face.

Realization passed across Will’s expression as he now understood how he’d been acting. “Sorry..” His voice was almost too quiet to hear.

“This is only a temporary setback, we’ll find away to get to them in time.” Jason spoke with every ounce of reassurance he could gather.

Will looked away, now focused on the dirt beneath his shoes. “Right, you’re right.”

Jason watched as Will seemed to shrink in on himself, embarrassed for showing a slight piece of his troubles. He felt a sense of similarity between himself and Will, he knew all too well the pain of hiding your true feelings.

It was the first time he saw Will not as this bubbly guy who was happy to do whatever whenever, but as someone who faced the same harsh world that met every demigod. Will knew loss, he knew more than he’d ever tell. He would never show that side of himself willingly. Instead, he let himself be portrayed as a calm reliable person with no struggles despite his constant turmoil. It didn’t feel fair.

At that moment Jason knew Will was a true hero, whether he believed it or not. He just had no idea how to prove it to him. What he did know, was that they had to succeed. Not just for Leo and Nico, but for everyone else, including themselves.

Part Seven

[asolareclipses]

First of all your fic is a delight and every time you post another chapter I’m overjoyed I need you to know that

Second of all I’d never considered Solangelo/Valgrace interactions before reading that fic but now I’m stuck on the mental image of them being in a dark cave or something for a quest and Will starts glowing and Leo goes “Hey, I can do that too” lets go of Jason’s hand and promptly lights himself on fire

Thank you so so much, genuinely I really appreciate you!!! I’m so glad you enjoy my fic and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Honestly, I hadn’t considered them interacting either until I started writing this. Originally I hadn’t even put Jason in the story, but I wanted Will to have his own separate plot line while Leo and Nico went off to cause trouble. It was important to me that Will could be seen as more of his own character, but him going after them alone didn’t feel right. That’s when I realized it would be perfect to add Jason, that way Leo has his own plot as well and Will can have his own adventure while interacting with another person that’s not Nico (I love solangelo but i’m trying to push the “Will is more than Nico’s bf” agenda). Not sure if that makes sense but it’s how the pieces fell into place in my brain.

I absolutely love that idea though, seriously that is something I would love to incorporate into the story if you’d like that. I too thought about the similarity in the ways of Wills brightness and Leo’s fire, but this concept is amazing and is going to be stuck on my mind 24/7. Especially the image of Leo just randomly combusting into flames, it’s so good.

[asolareclipses]

(Previous Part)

Taking a bus halfway across Maine was not on Nicos bucket list. Yet, there he was in a stuffy bus that looked, and smelled, like it had been made back in the 20’s—which Nico would know, he was there. Next to him Leo sat anything but still, his fingers drumming against the arm rests and occasionally grabbing things from his tool belt to tinker with. Sometimes he looked like a toddler hyped up on too much sugar. His constant movement comforted Nico though, it was a reminder that he wasn’t alone.

Of course he was still mad at Leo for ruining his genius plan to face a goddess alone, or at least he was trying to convince himself he was mad.

“Dude, this bus needs so much work.” Leo said, as he held up his freshly made penguin that consisted of various screws. “I’m not sure how they got it to last this long, it’s like beyond messed up.”

“Probably why the tickets were so cheap,” Nico replied as he watched the screw penguin’s head bobble around.

“I give it about an hour before it breaks down,” Leo suddenly paused, titling his head as if he were hearing something. “Scratch that she’s going down now.”

As soon as he said that the bus sputtered, losing speed as the driver pulled over to the side of the road.

“Sorry everyone, we seem to be having some problems.” The bus driver grumpily announced, he acted as if this were a regular occasion.

“It’s my time to shine,” Leo grinned as he stood up from the seat. “Don’t worry mortals, Leo’s got this all under control.”

“Please ignore him,” Nico gave the few confused passengers a smile as he pushed Leo towards the door. “You can just call people mortals.”

“Oops,” Leo shrugged as he hopped down from the last bus step onto the pavement. “Anyways let’s see what’s up with this bad boy.”

Nico rolled his eyes as Leo popped open the hood of the bus to reveal the engine. The driver appeared shocked, as Leo shouldn’t have been able to just open it without releasing the latch.

“Hey kid, what do you think you’re doing?” The driver called out as he slowly made his way out of the bus.

“Just fixing up some stuff, don’t mind me.” Leo didn’t even look up as he pulled some tools out of his belt.

Nico was about to try and mediate the situation when he realized something was wrong. Back in the bus he hadn’t noticed it due to the overpowering musk of age, but the driver was most definitely a monster.

By the change of expression on the drivers face, Nico saw that he too realized they weren’t just regular mortals. Leo was, of course, oblivious to this.

“Looks like I have a rat problem,” The bus driver snarled in their direction.

“Nope, not rats, just a really rusted battery.” Leo offhandedly replied.

“Leo, he’s not talking about the bus.” Nico nudged him, as the mist around the driver began to evaporate, morphing his two eyes into one.

“Then what is he-holy smokes!” Leo dropped his wrench in surprise as he saw the undercover cyclopes be revealed.

“Should’ve known you demigods would’ve snuck in here sooner or later,” The driver clenched his bulky fists as if preparing himself to attack.

Nico scanned the area for any makeshift weapon, he was really regretting leaving his sword behind.

“Hey buddy,” Leo raised his hands in attempt to reason, “I’ll fix your bus for free, how about you don’t kill us?”

“Killing you is much better than driving this piece of junk,” His eye was focused on Nico as he spoke. “Especially you, you reek of the underworld.”

“And you reek of spoiled eggs,” Nico snapped back, “at least I have an excuse, what’s yours?”

The cyclopes didn’t like that, which was made apparent by him grabbing a chunk of dirt and lobbing it towards them.

“Hit the deck!” Leo called, which didn’t really apply to them as there was no ‘deck’ but Nico didn’t point that out. Instead, he dropped to the floor as the piece of earth sailed past their heads.

“Leo, does your tool belt supply weapons?” Nico asked while the cyclopes reloaded on dirt.

Leo rummaged for a moment before pulling out a weird hatchet-hammer tool, which later Nico found out was a drywall hammer. “How’s this?”

“Good enough,” Nico said as he grabbed the hammer thing.

Another mound of dirt flew towards them but it was blasted to dust when Leo shot a ball of fire towards it. “Take that dirt boy!” He screamed.

Using Leo as a distraction Nico bolted off to the side, running around the bus so that he ended up behind the cyclopes. Unfortunately the cyclopes seemed to have predicted this as he quickly spun around, his arm slamming into Nico resulting in him being thrown into the side of the bus.

Before the cyclopes could do anymore damage Leo screamed, “Take this dirt face!” Then a wrench bounced off the back of the cyclopes’s head.

A flash of rage appeared on the cyclopes’s face as he turned towards Leo, grabbing an extra large chunk of dirt. “Oh you’re going to regret that.”

“I am?” Leo asked with a grin.

The cyclopes had forgotten about Nico leaving him the perfect opportunity, “I will crush you-” The cyclopes stopped mid sentence as Nico stabbed the hatchet into his back. Then with a look of shock, he erupted into dust.

“Nice!” Leo called out.

“Yeah..” Nico winced as he looked down at his arm, the bandages had been soaked through with blood after the hard hit he took.

“Dude, ouch.” Leo’s smile dropped as his eyes moved over the once white gauze.

“It’s fine,” Nico sighed looking back towards the bus, “more importantly. What are we going to do now?”

Leo seemed to realize they were now faced with a bus full of angry commuters, with no bus driver, and still had about 150 miles to go. “Right, looks like we’re taking a ride on the Leo express!”

—

Leo knew how to drive, mostly.

While he’d never taken the time to get an official license, he knew machines better than anyone. A bus was certainly easier to handle than a giant flying ship.

Fixing the engine was also a piece of cake.

The difficult part was the passengers, turns out they weren’t thrilled by the sudden staff change.

“There’s no way we can just let a 15 year old drive!”

“Hey!” Leo snapped at the lady who looked like she was about to demand to speak to his supervisor. “I’ll have you know i’m 18!”

“Do you even have a license?”

“Now now, everyone calm down. Listen, i’m a trained professional.” Leo shrugged with his palms up, “I mean, do you want to stay on the side of the road forever?”

The bus went quiet with defeat.

“Right, well then sit down, get comfortable, because the Leo train is leaving the station!” Leo didn’t get the cheers and applause he expected from that statement, just a few groans and unpleasant mutters.

Soon, the bus was driving smoothly across the roads and Leo barely had to pay attention as he’d fixed up a temporary autopilot gadget. Beside him, Nico winced as he removed the bandages from his scratches. Somehow the wound looked worse.

“Dude, that looks really bad,” Leo frowned as he pulled out more bandages from his tool belt.

“It’s fine,” Nico mumbled, not even looking up at Leo.

“Yeah you keep saying that but I’ve yet to start believing it.”

Nico wrapped the bandages carefully around his arm, gritting his teeth as he tried to hide the pain. “It’s just a scratch, i’ve seen worse.”

That didn’t comfort Leo, in fact in made him feel worse. Of course, it’s only expected that a demigod face some pretty rough injuries here and there—Leo himself had seen quite a few. But Nico’s insistence on ignoring his pain made Leo worried that if it were to be serious, he’d never know.

Despite that, he knew arguing would just make Nico more annoyed, so he tried to liven up the atmosphere. “You know, if we were in an episode of the Magic School Bus right now you’d be Arnold.”

“What the Hades is the Magic School Bus?” Nico looked at Leo as if he were crazy.

Leo threw his head back in exasperation, “You’ve got to be joking! You don’t know the Frizz?”

“The what?”

“That’s it, i’m making a list of all the things you need to watch when we get back to camp.”

“Whatever,” Nico rolled his eyes, “as long as you don’t put Twilight on there i’m happy.”

“Hold up, Twilight?” Leo tried and failed to hold back a smile.

“Yeah, Will told me it was iconic, or whatever.” Nico paused as if remembering something unpleasant, “If iconic means torturous, then it surely was.”

Leo burst into laughter at the thought of Nico actually watching Twilight, “Dont worry, we will not be watching any vampire shows.”

The rest of the ride was spent with Leo determining what things Nico had and hadn’t watched. Turns out Will had caught him up on quite a lot, but Leo still developed a lengthy list of things he would bless Nico with. In a way Nico’s unawareness of modern culture reminded him of Jason, due to his upbringing by wolves he was a bit out of the loop when it came to many popular things. Leo figured he’d do a “modern culture” class at camp, maybe invite Hazel. The idea made him smile, it was something to look forward to.

Eventually, they made it to the bus station, where he and Nico quickly snuck away to avoid suspicion. To their luck no one at the station had realized what happened until they were long gone.

Not to their luck, they still had a five mile walk ahead of them.

They spent a large part of the walk in silence, as it was hard to focus on anything other than the heat. Eventually, Leo got bored and tried to think about anything else, his mind wandering back to their previous conversation.

“I’m really wishing I had a magic school bus right about now,” Leo whined as he trudged forward. The warm air was now unpleasant as the sun beamed down upon him.

“And i’m really wishing I left you back at camp.”

“Hey!” Leo glared at Nico who bit back a smile, “You’re lucky! I blessed you with my company.”

Nico scoffed, “Right, blessed, that’s the word I was looking for.”

“Why does this place have to be out in the middle of nowhere?” Leo asked as he peered into the distance in hopes of seeing the outline of the school.

“Guess they didn’t want any kids running off,” Nico shrugged. “Honestly I don’t remember much about it, I was only there for like a year?” He seemed to think about it for a moment before giving up.

“That was after the casino?” Leo asked, he decided to take this as a chance to ask more about Nico’s past. It was the one topic Nico avoided, or maybe Leo was the one who avoided it, after all he knew how much old memories could hurt.

“Yeah, time felt so messed up back then. I mean it was like seventy years? But then suddenly i’m in the 20th century at some school in a state i’d never heard of before.” Nico sighed, “Not sure how I wasn’t more confused, it just felt normal, or whatever I thought normal was.”

Leo nodded, he was afraid to speak, careful to not scare Nico away.

“You don’t have to be so on edge,” Nico turned to look at him, almost as if he’d read his mind.

“I’m not...” Leo paused, “It’s just you’ve never talked in depth about this stuff with me before.”

“Yeah, I hadn’t talked about it with anyone until Will. But Mr. D says ‘talking is good,’ so might as well take his advice for once.”

The idea of Mr. D being a therapist threw Leo for a loop but he didn’t say anything about it, “Yeah, I guess I never really told anyone about all my stuff until Jason.”

Nico suddenly smirked, “You too seem pretty close.”

Leo’s face flushed red as he avoided Nico’s eyes, “What? No-I mean, of course we’re close, we’re best friends. Totally platonic best friends.”

“Right, and I totally believe you.” Nico rolled his eyes with a grin. There was a peaceful silence for a split second before Nico’s smile faded. Now, in the distance the outline of a large school could be seen.

Nico sighed, a hesitant look flashing across his face before he spoke, “We’re here. Welcome to Westover.”

Part Six

[asolareclipses]

Hear me out. Jason Grace would NOT understand meme culture or gen z jokes. Like. At all. This man is a dorky dad in a child's body.

Jason would just do a cool backflip or sumn and Piper would go "oh my gosh slayyy" and he'd get all serious and alert, draws his gladius and goes "Where's the monster I need to slay Piper? Where is it????"

Leo would call him a pookie bear, and Jason would be like "??? Frank's the bear" and "What is a pookie, it is a very peculiar sounding word" with the most adorable clueless puppy face ever.

Piper and Leo would be in TEARS.

Bc. Jason grace, the Son of Jupiter. Child of rome. Toppler of the black throne. Praetor of the twelfth legion. Slayer of krios. The golden celebrity of camp jupiter. Cold intimidating feral boy who most ppl even fear standing next to. Doesn't know what a pookie bear is.

Also, Jason would HATE HATE HATE the "womp womp" jokes (which Leo makes ALOT lmao) it's legit like the Bane of his existence.

Bc he doesn't get it? Like when Annabeth gives them all a very serious Architectural nerdy explanation about the exteriors of the new rome shrines, Leo would just go "womp womp" like so out of the blue.

Annabeth would be fucking furious, and Jason would be like super annoyed aswell bc. dude. What was the point of interrupting such a great nerdy yapping session, like, I was enjoying that. You killed the vibe.

(We all know it's canon that Jason and annabeth love yapping and geeking out in cursive together, so they BOTH hate the womp womp jokes with a burning passion BC IM TRYNA TALK HERE)

[asolareclipses]

So I wrote this poem in my writing class, and I, obviously, wrote about Solangelo. I’m not really good with poetry so it’s probably not great, it’s in the format of a Sestina (it’s what the professor wanted) so I hope it makes sense. It’s pretty much my first actual attempt at writing a poem, so don’t judge too much. Anyways it’s in Nico’s POV and I haven’t decided what to name it.

Hair that shines the color of gold,

matched with watercolor eyes so blue.

He is to me the sun,

that dispells the depths of my shadows.

No longer am I lost in a world so alone.

For where I go he follows, now I know love.

Before him I had feared the word love,

to me it was no treasure, no ruby or gold.

I hid from all I lost, I was best alone.

Until I met an ocean and drowned in its blue.

Thrust out of my home, deep in the shadows,

I began to look up and face the sun.

Never did I think I could know the Sun,

nor did I believe it was him I could love.

When he did not run so far from my shadows,

I realized his heart was truly that of gold.

Now I can imbrace this sky of blue.

Now with him I am no longer alone.

For most of my life I lived so alone,

hiding from the world and its sun.

I feared to let myself fall into the blue.

I feared it could not accept my love.

Still I reached out to touch hands more than gold,

afraid to be consumed once more with shadows.

This life of mine has been completely in shadows.

A solomn existence, fearing to be forever alone.

In those dark halls, I never found gold.

In those dark halls, there was no sun.

A loss all consuming, I couldn’t fathom love.

With an oceans rejection, I despised that blue.

Yet still my true love transformed from his blue,

ridding the darkness of my following shadows.

My life knew pain but now there’s love,

with the truth that im no longer alone.

I walk now with, alongside the sun,

into a world that wishes us gold.

Incomprehensibly accepting and loving its gold.

For who would think a star could love the sun?

These blue eyes and shadows, no longer alone.

[asolareclipses]

Leo’s the type of guy to play basketball with Jason tell him ‘this one’s for you’ then completely miss

[asolareclipses]

(Previous Part)

Will stared at the spot Nico had disappeared from for what felt like centuries. His body was coursing with a tornado of emotions; he felt pure fear that Nico might never come back, followed by a rush of anger so strong it took full control of him.

“Are you proud of yourselves?” His voice was cold as ice as he turned to the group that had gathered, everyone was utterly silent.

“Will we didn’t mean to-“ Dana began to say but he couldn’t stand to hear another word.

“Nico has saved this camp, more times than I can count.” Will’s voice was rough in exasperation. “But that’s not good enough for you is it?”

This time he was met with blank stares and ashamed looks from the ones who had joined in the accusations.

“None of you could ever do even half of what he had to do,” Wills hands trembled, whether it was in rage or despair, he couldn’t determine. “Yet you judge him? Pathetic.” He laced that last word with more anger than he’d ever felt, before storming off back towards the big house. He was vaguely aware of Jason following behind him, and the fact that Chiron had witnessed the whole event. He didn’t acknowledge either of them until he entered the big house, slamming his hands against the table as he muttered a few choice words under his breath.

Jason seemed to hesitate before approaching, “Hey…you okay?”

It took all of Will’s energy to not snap at him, “Yep, totally fine.”

“Would you perhaps like to explain what has your tunic in such a bunch Solace?” Mr D was so surprised by Will’s demeanor that he forgot to mispronounce his name.

“Nico’s gone, he ran off or something. I don’t know,” Will sighed in frustration, raking his hands through his hair.

“Ran off?” A tense look displayed itself across Mr D’s face.

“It seems as though di Angelo has decided to take our disturbances into his own hands.” Chiron said, his voice was calm but was laced with undertones of sadness.

“Now why would he do that?” Mr D spoke again, this time his voice sharper as he dug his nails into the table.

“Because he thinks no one trusts him, like he has something to prove.” Wills anger had dissipated, his voice was now struck with frustration. “I don’t blame him either, they all turned their backs on him, just like that.” It was something Will couldn’t understand, he’d never feared Nico; Nico was a hero, yet it seemed like only a few people could see that.

“After everything he did,” Jason’s eyes looked as if they were reflecting a storm, “I can’t believe that’s how they treated him.”

“I believe Nico knows he still has many people on his side, however some of the others mistrust has led him to take on a burden that should not be solely his.” Chiron had a far away look shown across his face, “Fortunately he is not alone.”

“Not alone?” Mr D seemed to be the only one confused as he had not witnessed the earlier events.

“Right,” Jason frowned, “Leo went with him.”

“Great, out of everyone he could’ve taken with him it had to be Valerie,” Clearly Mr D went out of his way to never say Leo’s name correctly.

“We have to go after them,” Will said as his face shone with a sudden sense of pure determination.

Jason agreed as he turned to look at their directors, it was clear he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Okay,” Chiron agreed, “but Rachel will arrive tomorrow morning. Seek her advice first, she may be able to point you in the right direction.”

Will wanted to argue, the idea of Nico being out there doing Gods knows what was eating him up inside; but he knew he had to wait if he wanted a better chance at finding him. Jason seemed unnerved too, his usual brave facade was falling apart as a more unraveled version of himself made its way to the surface.

After reluctantly agreeing on the plan they left the big house, walking towards the cabins as a heavy silence formed. In front of them, the sun continued to set across the horizon, filtering the colors of summer across the camp. But despite the warmth an abnormal breeze had stirred up, it seemed to dance around Jason like a visual depiction of his nerves.

“We’ll find them,” Will said his voice boasted by a false confidence he was instilling within himself.

“Right.” Jason’s voice agreed yet his face was still plagued with worries.

“You’re scared, I get it. But you know, Nico and Leo are really strong, they can handle themselves.” Will wasn’t sure if he had the right to comfort Jason when he himself was on the brink of collapse, but he knew that one of them had to be strong.

Jason sighed, stopping in his tracks as he looked up at the darkening sky. “Yeah, it’s just last time…” His voice trailed off as storm clouds rumbled across the reflections in his eyes. “I almost never saw him again.”

Will had nearly forgotten all that had happened with them, how Jason had lost Leo just to find out he was alive. But soon after Leo had to lose him too. The two of them had been in a constant cycle of losing and finding each other, always wondering if the pattern could be broken.

“Maybe it’s not the same but I know what it’s like for someone to disappear,” Will took a breath of the warm summer air before continuing, “The first time I met Nico we were both so young, I was thrilled to meet someone my age but then, poof, he was gone. Years later he showed up again, he looked like a completely different person, yet it was still him. I thought he’d stay again, but just like before one day he was just gone. I think i’ve lived every day fearing he would disappear again, now that’s it’s happened…I just need to have hope that i’ll find him. He’ll be okay, both of them will be okay.”

Will left out the part about how he lost his brother, how one second he’d stood on that bridge and the next he was gone. Whatever was left of him had never been found, it was as if he were never there. He left out how the constant loss of his siblings only burned his fear of loss deeper and deeper into his bones.

“You’re right,” Jason’s eyes seemed to clear even if only just for a moment. “They’ll be okay, they have to be.”

“They have to be.” Will repeated, putting all his hope into those words, all his fear and anger. He was going to find Nico, and everything would be okay.

Everything.

—

That night the Zeus cabin had never felt colder.

As Jason tossed and turned the spot next to him only become more hollow and empty. Without Leo’s soft breathing the room was eerily quiet, without his precence it was impossibly cold.

Jason tried to pry his mind from the old memories, yet he was always led back to that fated day, hearing Leo’s lasts words repeated over and over. The pain still felt fresh, the pain of losing him and then losing himself.

Leo had sacrificed everything to get him back, he’d gone through the underworld and back all for him. Jason could still feel the darkness surrounding them as he followed Leo into the light. A journey never meant to be completed, something said to be impossible was accomplished all because of Leo. From then on Jason knew he’d follow Leo anywhere. But now he had no idea where Leo was. It sent him into this constant state of panic, wondering if he was okay, if he was coming back.

He needed Leo to be okay, he needed him to come back. Otherwise, what was the point of everything that had happened?

It was safe to say Jason didn’t sleep that night, because every time he closed his eyes he saw Leo’s face as he said goodbye.

Morning couldn’t have come sooner. Jason now waited anxiously at his cabins table, unable to stomach much breakfast. He kept looking for signs of Rachel, he could tell Will was just as anxious. He seemed to be having a somber conversation with his siblings who all donned dark expressions. The missing member from the table really seemed to stick out, maybe Nico wasn’t someone you’d really think of as “bright” but he had really brought life to the Apollo table.

Jason almost screamed in joy when he’d heard the sound of helicopter blades suddenly approaching, of course leave it to Rachel to have a dramatic entrance. Both he and Will hurried over to where she was landing, wasting not even a second.

She seemed surprised as she stepped out of the helicopter, “Woah woah, looks like somebody’s happy to see me.”

“Rachel,” Will said in a dire tone, “we need your help.”

“Great.” She sighed, grabbing her bags as she waved off the pilot, “Let’s head to the woman cave shall we?”

After explaining the situation to Rachel her attitude seemed to change, “That’s not good. You know, I have been having some strangely dark dreams.”

“Any of them suggest where they could’ve gone? I mean Nico seemed on edge, he must’ve known something..if only i’d just asked.” Wills voice was quiet, almost as if he felt ashamed.

Rachel closed her eyes for a moment, “A light house.”

“What?” Jason and Will gave each other a puzzled look.

“I keep getting the urge to draw a lighthouse, or lighthouses? Also I saw this school, it must’ve been a boarding school.”

“Do you remember the name?” Wills eyes started to dance with a nervous energy.

“West..um..west something, I don’t know.” Rachel frowned as she tried to recall the name.

Will flinched as she spoke, hesitating before finally saying, “Westover?”

“Yeah, that’s it!” Rachel met his eyes, “How did you know that?”

“It was Nico’s last school, he went there for a while before he came to camp.” The memory seemed to bother Will as he explained, “It’s in Maine, which would explain the lighthouses.”

“Right,” Rachel nodded in agreement, “I knew I recognized the area.”

“So we have a place now right? Westover, wherever that is,” Jason said, the fact they now had an actual location to find gave him a spark of hope.

“It’s our best bet,” Will agreed, yet he didn’t look very pleased. “Let’s go talk to Chiron.”

It wasn’t a long talk, they didn’t even receive a formal quest, it was more like a recovery mission. Chiron seemed reluctant to allow them to leave but he knew the two of them were bound to go no matter what.

As Chiron handed them the keys to a camp owned car and some cash he said, “Be careful you two, I expect you to come back as four, alright?”

Will nodded, “We will make it back, all of us.”

Chiron smiled, and whether it was true smile or not Jason couldn’t tell; nonetheless it was still reassuring.

“Well Jason,” Will turned to him, dangling the keys off his fingers, “Ready for a road trip?”

(Part Five)

[asolareclipses]

(Previous part)

The room full of eyes burned into to him, and Nico imagined this is what ants felt like under a magnifying glass. Everyone looked at him expectantly, as if he knew everything about darkness. Something’s dark? Yeah just ask Nico he’ll definitely know. That didn’t really bother him though, because he didn’t blame them. If someone were to mention storms he’d look at Jason, probably. What bothered Nico was the fear that lay behind some of their eyes, a traitor was in camp, one hiding in darkness. It was only human to be suspicious.

“…I’m not sure what it is.” Nico said, it was a half truth. He had a hollow feeling that he knew who was behind this chaos, but it was a feeling he wanted to ignore for as long as he could. But the spirits he spoke to that morning had only confirmed his deepest worries.

“Well someone wanted you dead,” Dana said, “unless..”

“Unless?” If eyes could shoot daggers, Wills eyes would be shooting swords.

“Im not insinuating anything, but my mother’s Athena so I was taught to see the bigger picture.” She seemed hesitant as she spoke, “It would be a genius plan.”

Nico’s heart stopped. He felt like his did all those years ago as he watched, behind a dream, his friends debate whether he was worth saving. As accusation of trust which had destroyed him, despite him never speaking of it. He’d hadn’t even told Will, keeping that memory locked away as it slowly ate away at his sanity.

“You can’t be serious,” Will stood up. His voice was cold and harsh as ice, as his fists clenched in a sense of rage.

“No,” Nico stood up, he put his hand on Wills arm. Will had always fought tooth and nail for him, Nico wished he didn’t have to. Every time Wills gentle demeanor turned to that of anger, it made Nico feel an all consuming sense of shame; if only he could be more simple, more easy to handle. “It’s fine, if that’s what you think.” He tried to keep his voice steady, each breath he took brought him back to that table, that ship, that jar.

The room suddenly felt suffocating, the air felt too stale, he felt trapped again.

Will turned to him, his brows knit in utter concern, “Are you okay?”

His words felt muffled beneath the ringing in Nico’s ears, “Y-yeah..I just need a moment.” He didn’t want to, but his body took over as he rushed out of the front door. A second longer in that room had been unimaginable.

As his shoes hit the grass, it withered. He cursed under his breath as he tried to steady his hands.

“You’re not in that stupid jar, pull yourself together,” He muttered leaning against the wall along the side of the big house. Whatever breathing exercises Mr D. had taught him dissipated with his panic. He knew how stupid it was, running away as soon as someone accused him. That was probably the most suspicious thing that someone could do. ‘Oh are you the murderer’ ‘No, bye!’

Still, his stomach felt like as if it had been tied into several knots, corroding him from the inside out with painful moments from the past. He felt like he was there again, watching the two people he was closest to now, debating his life. Nico had never blamed them, he’d never hated them. It was never them who hurt him, it was himself. He hated himself.

Nico would’ve stayed there, drowning in his thoughts forever, if it weren’t for the sudden sounds of clashing that echoed through the camp. It sounded as if something was skittering across the ground, followed by metal scraping against rock. His hand instinctually went to where his sword would be, but unfortunately he’d left it in his cabin. Despite that he still headed towards the strange sound, attempting to be as silent as possible.

When he peeked around the corner he saw Mae, a new camper who had shown up with her younger brother Sam a week ago. They had been claimed as children of Hecate the night they showed up. The two of them reminded Nico of when he and Bianca first came to camp, he couldn’t decide if that was more painful or comforting. Unfortunately the sound wasn’t just Mae sword practicing, as a large shadowy creature stood infront of her. It was similar to a scorpion, but its form flowed with a wobbly consistency.

Mae stood there, sword in hand as she faced the creature. Her hands shook as she trembled in terror, Sam was hiding behind her. Nico could almost picture himself, that day at Westover, cowering behind Bianca as their Vice Principal turned into a monster.

The scorpion thing moved forward to strike and Nico rushed to intercept, it was incredibly stupid as he didn’t have a weapon, but still he charged ahead. Just as it thrust its claw towards Mae, Nico willed all the shadows it was made from against it. The darkness seemed to fight him, barely remaining under his control.

He bided enough time to grab the sister and brother, pushing them out of the way. “Mae, take Sam and run to the big house.” Nico said as he took the sword from her hand. His words were rushed as he could feel the scorpion regaining its control behind him.

“But I can help!” Mae’s eyes were filled with the same bravery Bianca’s had once shown.

“You don’t have to be a hero just yet okay? Just make sure Sam is safe for now,” He didn’t allow Mae to protest and she agreed, grabbing her brother by the arm and running off towards the big house.

Nico almost breathed a sigh of relief until he turned and was face to face (or what he presumed to be its face) with the creature. Up close, its shadows swirled and shifted like each was breathing on its own. Its claw lifted and swung at him, and Nico lifted his sword in an attempt to block the attack, but the sword passed through the creature like it was made of air. The claw kept going unbothered and Nico barely managed to move in time to not get chopped in half, unfortunately the sharp spikes along the claws managed to slice into his arm.

Nico reminded himself to never leave his cabin without his sword again as his arm began to drip with blood.

“What is that?!” The counselors from the big house had all began rushing out towards Nico, along with them, more campers rushed over too.

The scorpion turned towards the others, its void-like claws snapping. Nico knew there was nothing their swords could do to kill it; so in a last ditch effort he slammed his foot against the ground, a large crack spreading and swallowing the creature whole. A second later the crack sealed up, leaving a barren scar along the grass. The satyrs were going to hate him for that.

“Oh my Gods Nico what was that?” Leo had rushed forwards with Jason and Will.

“I don’t know,” Nico said through heavy breaths, the pain from the creatures claws was overpowering as it seemed to seep throughout his whole body.

“Your arm,” Wills face was pale as he gaped at the wound.

“How did that thing get into camp?” Connor asked as he stared at the large gash along the dirt.

“It shouldn’t have been able to get through the boundaries,” Chiara said.

Suddenly a lot of suspicious eyes were on Nico, again.

Will seemed to notice as he snapped towards the small group of campers gathered around them, “You can’t be serious!”

“Will we’re not saying anything it’s just…” Dana seemed reluctant to continue.

“Who else could conjure up something like that?” An Ares camper called out, Sherman quickly turned glaring towards the person who’d spoken.

“Give me one good reason why Nico would do that!” Jason yelled, and as he did the air seemed to turn electric.

The campers went silent, they all seemed to have a thought on their mind yet no one spoke it aloud.

“I get it..” Nico said cutting through the silence, his voice like a knife. “I’ll figure this out myself.”

He stepped backwards into the shadow behind him, the last thing he saw was Will eyes widening as he called out, “Wait Nico!”

Nico didn’t wait, he disappeared into the shadows, but not before Leo could manage to latch onto his arm, following him into the shadows.

As the world faded to black he heard a sharp sickeningly familiar voice in his head, Strike one little demigod.

—

Leo wasn’t sure if following Nico was incredibly smart or incredibly stupid, but with his track record it was probably the latter. His body had reacted before he’d thought about his decision though, and he was quickly pulled into the shadows. As he entered the darkness he was hit by a sense of cold from every direction, it was as if he were surrounded by nothing. He’d forgotten what shadow travel felt like, and he’d forgotten how much it sucked.

He was never more glad to see the sun when they stumbled out of the dark. They were in some park, with a vast assortment of trees spread throughout the grass. The air was warm and fresh, providing a comforting breeze as the sun shined above them.

“Valdez i’m going to-“ Nico began to say something in his usual angry tone before he doubled over onto the ground. The grass around him withered and black smoke seemed to trail off of him.

“Nico are you-“

“Shut up.” Nico cut him off, speaking through gritted teeth. Leo felt guilty, just standing there, but after a moment Nico managed to steady himself.

“Dude are you okay?” Leo asked, unable to convey the pure amount of worry he felt.

“It’s fine.” Nico took a shaky breath, struggling to stand.

Leo wanted to reach out and help him, but he had a feeling it would not of been appreciated. “That didn’t look fine.”

Nico eyes snapped towards him, “Why did you follow me?”

“Because I wasn’t going to let you run away all on your own like an idiot?”

“Who said I was running away?” Nico looked at Leo like he was stupid.

“Huh?”

Nico sighed, wiping the dirt off his hands, “I was going to try and find what’s been causing all of this. If I can find it and stop it then this whole mess will be over.”

Leo gaped at him for a moment, he felt a rush of sadness and then anger, “You thought you could just go out all on your own? By yourself?”

“I don’t want anyone else getting hurt, this is my mess.”

“First of all,” Leo felt himself heating up, literally as the tips of his hair began to smoke. “You can’t just try and solve everything on your own like that, you could get hurt, or maybe worse..secondly, how is this your mess?”

Nico paused, a hesitant look passed over his face. “Because I think I know who’s doing this.” He paused before speaking again as Leo waited for him to continue, “Nyx.”

“Nyx as in Night? Why would Night be specifically attacking you?”

“I guess I hurt her pride back in tartarus,” Nico said. Leo thought about how casually he’d said that, like that fact he’d been there twice was no big deal. “Or..”

“Or?” Leo couldn’t imagine how it could get worse.

“She’s trying to rise. I mean after Gaea rising and the Giants attacking, there must of been a lot of time for her to gather her power. She’s a goddess after all, she might be trying to rise like Kronos did.”

“Great, that’s amazing.” Leo sighed, there it went, getting worse. Unsurprisingly, they couldn’t go more than a year without something very bad happening. “So she’s coming after you first, for what, a grudge?”

“That..or it’s because i’m the only one who can really stop her, if she gets rid of me first she has a better chance of taking down camp.”

“So you go out to try and face her, on your own?” Leo felt his patience running thin, “Isn’t that exactly what she’d want?”

“I wanted to stop her, before she could hurt anyone else.” Nico looked down, he wouldn’t meet Leo’s eyes anymore, his focus now on the withered grass.

Leo felt a tinge of guilt as his anger dissipated, “You don’t have to do everything by yourself you know that? This Nyx lady, she loves darkness?” Leo’s hands sparked into flames, “Then i’ll show her some real light.”

A hint of a smile creeped onto Nico’s face, “I’m not convincing you to let me do this on my own am I?”

“Nope!” Leo’s flames turned to smoke as he reached into his tool belt, pulling out some bandages. “Now let’s get you all fixed up before we put ourselves in any further danger.”

Nico rolled his eyes, looking at the deep gashes along his arm. Something about the cuts was abnormal, yet Leo couldn’t figure it out. It was yet another moment where he realized that he could fix any machine, but when it came to humans he was seriously lacking. Again, he wished he was a doctor like Will or something, magic healing powers would be great right about now. Even ambrosia would’ve been nice, but of course the most he could give was papery bandages and some screws and bolts.

He did an extremely poor clean up job on the wound before stopping to ask, “Maine is a pretty big state, where to first?”

A dark shadow seemed to pass over Nico’s face as he met Leo’s eyes, “Westover. Me and Bianca’s last school.”

(Part Four)

[asolareclipses]

If anyone knows why a certain post would just randomly not appear in tags please let me know. I know it’s not an account issue as everything else I post appears in tags, just not that one post. I tried deleting every tag and that didn’t work. I also got rid of links, and even checked to see if I used any words against policies. But none of those seemed to be the issue so i’m just not sure, maybe it was just that post?

[asolareclipses]

(Previous part)

Nico awoke in darkness, a complete void of light. 

Except he wasn’t awake, he could feel the dreamlike state of the world around him. It swarmed around him transforming into a nightmare. 

The air was cold and silent. No matter where he turned, his eyes were only met by utter darkness. No shadows, just the deep, empty color of black. Fear began to seep throughout his body, coursing through his veins like a powerful wave. It was all consuming. 

Nico ruled the shadows, but the darkness ruled him. It ruled his fears and desperation. It ruled each and every memory, darkness was apart of him yet it was what scared him the most. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to go in this empty void. He wanted to scream but his voice seemed to betray him. 

He was helpless. 

Then he woke up. Gasping and shaking as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. He was in his cabin, in his bed. Next to him lie a mess of blonde hair tucked underneath his blankets. 

A sense of calm washed over him as he absorbed the image of Will. The light filtering in from the corners of the curtains, highlighting his peaceful face as he slept. He represented light, he represented everything that was good in the world. 

Nico was safe. He knew that now as he calmed his breathing, moving closer to his sleeping boyfriend. He leaned his head against Wills back breathing in the sense of security. Will squirmed, turning over to wrap his arms around Nico with a contented sigh. The warmth from the hug made Nico forget about his dream as he immersed himself in Wills presence. 

“What time is it?” Will mumbled, his voice muffled and groggy. 

“Im not sure,” Nico paused. “Shouldn’t you know Mr sunshine?” 

“Sorry the sun powers are out of commission, it’s too early and my brain is still asleep.” Will spoke as he pulled Nico closer to him, if that was even possible. 

“I think your brain is always asleep,” Nico smiled, earning a small nudge of protest. 

“Not nice,” Will said even though his voice portrayed a smile. 

“Well the N in Nico doesn’t stand for nice.” 

“What does it stand for?”

Nico paused, “Um…naughty?” 

Will giggled, a warm sound that went straight through Nico’s heart. “Like Santa?”

“What’s Santa?” Nico asked titling his head to look up at Will. His blue watercolor eyes sparkled as he looked down at Nico in surprise.

“You don’t know Santa?” Will almost appeared offended. 

“Is that some movie character? Please tell it’s not another Star Wars thing.” 

Will opened his mouth to speak before closing it, he ruffled Nico’s hair. “It’s not, you know what? It’s actually quite unimportant.” 

“Whatever,” Nico rolled his eyes before forcing himself to sit up; it took all his willpower as his body begged to just lay in bed with Will all day. 

Will seemed to follow suite, sitting up before snaking his arms around Nico’s waist, and pressing his face against the back of Nico’s neck. His soft breath sent a chill down Nico’s spine. 

“Enough funny business Solace, you better get back to your cabin before breakfast.” 

“Breakfast is overrated, we should just stay here.” Wills voice was muffled as he talked against Nico’s skin. 

“And get caught breaking the rules again? Nice try but i’m not in the mood for another lecture,” Nico leaned back in an attempt to move Will, but it didn’t seem to affect him. 

“It’s not breaking the rules if you have a doctor’s note,” Will hummed.

“You’re not a doctor.”

“Not literally, but I could be.” 

Nico scoffed, his fingers dancing along Wills soft hands, “Yeah and I could be a mortician.”

Will broke into laughter after a moment, the sound reverberating through Nico’s soul. He took a moment to steady his voice, leaning his head against Nico’s shoulder. “Okay, point proven.” 

“Off you go then,” Nico shrugged off Wills arms, turning so he could nudge him in an attempt to make him stand. 

“Fine..fine,” Will sighed as he dragged himself out of the bed. He pouted, looking back at Nico with impossibly shiny eyes, as he slowly trudged to the door. Nico had to take a mental screenshot so that he’d remember that expression. 

“I’ll see you in less than an hour,” Nico said standing up and placing his hands on the back of Wills shoulders so he could guide him to the door. 

Will turned just as he reached the doorway, slipping his arms around Nico’s waist again. He pressed a warm kiss against Nico’s lips, so warm Nico felt as he were about to melt into a puddle of tenderness. 

He pulled away, leaning back with a smug expression, “Don’t miss me too much.” He winked before he turned and slipped through the door. 

Nico stood there for a moment, his brain seemed to temporarily malfunction. He felt the blush burnt across his face and the presence of the kiss still lingering. “I’m going to kill him,” He muttered with an unbelievably fond smile across his face. 

—

“So…” Nyssa began, “noticed you weren’t in the cabin last night. Would you care to tell us where you were instead?” 

Leo’s faced flushed as he poked at his pancakes with his fork, “Um…I was-well..somewhere.” 

“Right..” Nyssa nodded, unconvinced. “Any specifics about this somewhere?” 

“Y’know here, there,” Leo stuttered as he failed to come up with a decent response. 

“Where is somewhere?” Harley asked, “Is that like a country?” 

“Something like that,” Leo wanted to shrivel up to avoid the stares he was receiving from his siblings. He played it cool, trying to act unsuspicious; until he reached for his cup and missed, knocking it off the table. 

“Really grace-ful,” Nyssa snipped. 

Leo felt like he was going to implode; he’d been sure he wasn’t being that obvious, but Nyssa had seen right through him. He couldn’t think of a response so he just silently stared at his food, ignoring the heat displayed across his face. 

To Leo’s luck Harley brought out one of his newest inventions, causing chaos to break out at the Hephaestus table as the others convinced him not to demonstrate its abilities during breakfast. Clearly they weren’t eager for a repeat of last time. 

Leo took the moment to look over at Jason who sat alone at his table, a pang of guilt rushing over him. He thought the rules were stupid, why should Jason have to sit there and watch as everyone else talked and sat together. Leo felt jealous of Will, debating if he should become a doctor so that he could write his boyfriend a note too. Well, not his boyfriend, more like boy-that-is-a-friend. But whatever. 

Jason turned and met Leo’s eyes, promptly sending Leo into a panic as he quickly turned and pretended to be looking at anything else. He hoped Jason hadn’t realized he’d been staring like a creep. 

Amidst his panic he noticed Chiron and Mr D. in what looked to be a serious conversation. Chiron said something, earning bone chilling look from Mr D. before they both got up silently to leave the pavilion. Normally, the campers weren’t unsupervised at meals, so the discussion must have been really important. And Leo had a bad feeling he knew what it was about.  

As he watched the silhouettes of the two directors fade while they headed to the big house; Leo decided this was his chance, silently slipping away from his cabins table. 

He casually sat infront of Jason as if he’d always sat there; instead of focusing on the potential trouble he could get in, he reminded himself he was a born troublemaker. If there were rules, he could break them. 

“What’s a handsome man like you doing here all by your lonesome,” Leo said, mimicking the voice of one of those old tv characters from the shows his mom used to occasionally watch. They were nowhere near as entertaining as telenovelas, but they had their moments.

Jason probably didn’t understand what he was referencing but he was used to Leo’s antics, “Better question is why are you here. I don’t remember you being a child of Zeus.” 

Leo placed his hands on the table, donning a serious expression. “Jason..I have something to tell you..I am your long lost brother.” 

Jason tried to look unimpressed but Leo could see he was biting back a smile, “Right, and pigs can fly.” 

“Actually, they can! Ever heard Percy’s flying pig story, it’s great.” 

Jason raised one of his eyebrows, his cute look of confusion always sent Leo spiraling. “Huh, never heard that one.” 

“Well, flying pigs aren’t important right now.” Leo said, “Something’s up with Mr D. and Chiron.” 

Jason frowned, as if not eager to change the topic. Leo couldn’t blame him, he would much rather ignore it if that would make it go away. “Right, they seem uneasy, that’s not good.” 

Leo nodded, his hands unconsciously tapping against the table. He’d tapped a few lines of morse code before realizing, then quickly redirected himself to fiddle with some screws from his tool belt. “We should talk to Clovis A-S-A-P.” 

A breeze flew past, rushing through the curls of Leo’s hair, sending a chill down his spine. He looked to see if Jason noticed but his eyes were clouded in worry as he remained far away in thought. 

“Jace,” Leo’s voice stuck on the nickname. He wasn’t sure when he’d started using it, but something about it just felt right. “Don’t get too worried just yet, okay?” He smiled, giving his best attempt at being reassuring, yet he could see through himself. 

Jason met his eyes, the striking blue storm swirling amidst them seemed to part for a moment. His lips twitched, curving slightly into a small and Leo felt the world turn upside down. Here he was sitting across from the most gorgeous person on the planet and he somehow had to keep his cool? Yeah, all was not well in Leo world. 

“You’re right,” Jason took a deep breath sitting up taller to feign confidence. “We need to figure this out calmly, no one needs to know that anything is wrong yet.” 

—

Will knew it was over the second he’d heard Austin open his mouth.

“Connor told me that the chariot was sabotaged?” 

Will and Nico stared blankly at each other, somehow shocked that the camp gossip had caught wind of yet another secret. “Uhm, well…” 

“It could’ve been an accident,” Nico cut in, sparing Will from his poor attempt at lying.

“Greek fire is no accident,” Kayla added. She had a scowl on her face which was quite unnerving, even to Will. It was a sign that she was truly mad, clearly the attempt of harm towards Nico was not taken likely. 

“We don’t know,” Will sighed. He’d decided the only course of action now was to be honest. Once a rumor spread through camp there was no stopping it, truly it spread like wildfire. 

“But you’re going to find out, right?” Kayla asked, her hands gripped the table anxiously, turning her knuckles white. 

Will nodded, “We’re going to try at least. Just try to keep this somewhat under wraps. Though, I assume the whole camp knows by now, still it’s best to maintain peace.” 

“Yeah maintain peace that’s easy,” Kayla’s voice was riddled with sarcasm, a disguise to hide her anger and anxiety. 

“Are you okay?” Gracie’s eyes were trained on Nico who’d been awfully quiet. 

Nico almost looked surprised when she asked, as if his false act of calm had been easily seen through. “I’m..I’m okay, yeah.” The hesitance in his voice felt like ropes strangling Wills heart, he could see the worry shadowed in Nico’s dark eyes. 

Gracie nodded, not letting on if she were or weren’t convinced by his words. 

Will sighed, as if his breath could expel all of the fear that had been building inside him. “You guys do damage control on the ‘rumor’ me and Nico will go see if we can figure this out.” 

His siblings nodded, though there wasn’t much they could do, they were determined to try. 

Will held Nico’s hand as they walked to Hypnos cabin, his hand that was delicate and cold, always like ice. His hand that was rough, with many scratches and grooves that almost seemed to tell a story. Will always admired Nico’s calloused palms; unlike his own which he’d taken specific care of, as they were his most important tool. He used his hands to heal, so whatever scratches he’d obtained would heal themselves as he healed others. His story was erased and given to others, he was the healer not the hero. 

That poisoning feeling of jealousy made him ache with guilt, he knew he shouldn’t wish to be the hero, the hero always suffers. But he suffered too. 

Nico leaned against him, dispersing the cloud of thoughts Will had been lost in. “What happens if this is serious, like end of world bad?” His voice was quiet as he looked upon the grass beneath them, keeping his eyes low.

“Then we will save the day per usual,” Will squeezed Nico’s hand, hoping to send some sense of comfort to him. “Whatever happens we’ll be okay.” 

Nico’s eyes were still focused on the ground, his eyes and presence felt so distant yet he was standing right there. 

“Nico,” Will stopped, turning so he stood in front of him. He gently lifted Nico’s chin, so the dark eyes filled with a swirling void of thoughts met his. “I can’t promise that nothing bad will happen because our lives have never been simple; but you can’t keep thinking about the worst case scenario, just be here with me, in this moment. Okay?”  

“Okay,” Nico’s voice was still soft, but he met Wills eyes with a sense of warmth, his dark eyes were beautiful; they didn’t radiate darkness, they reflected light. 

Whatever moment they were having was shattered by Leo’s sing-song voice, “Nico and Will, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.”

Nico’s eyes snapped with a sharpened glare in Leo’s direction, “Valdez you are dead.” 

“Try me, I’ve already died once. What’s one more time,” Leo grinned but behind him, Jason frowned at the joke, clearly he didn’t have great memories surrounding that particular situation. 

“Right, I could kill you out of embarrassment though.” Nico turned to Jason, “Hey Jason, would you like to hear about the time Leo tried to make an automated shower?” 

“What-?”

Leo cut Jason off immediately, “MOVING ON,” he glared at Nico as his face turned a deep shade of red. The ends of his hair slightly steamed, “We should go talk to Clovis, lots of important stuff to do, we can’t dilly dally.” 

“But what about-“

Leo cut Jason off again, “Chop chop, no time to waste!” He harshly turned towards the Hypnos cabin, marching off quickly. 

Jason followed suite attempting to question Leo but he was busy rolling out excuses. 

Will laughed, nudging Nico, “That was evil.” 

Nico smirked, evidently proud of himself. “That’s what the E in di Angelo stands for.” 

—

“…five more minutes..”

“Clovis, we’ve asked you the same question three times already.” 

“Yeah…later..” Clovis’s eyes barely opened to acknowledge them. 

“CLOVIS!” Will yelled, despite his gentle appearance Jason noticed his patience could run thin quickly. 

Clovis’s eyes shot open as he looked at the four demigods that were standing around him expectantly. “What did you say again?” 

“Have you felt anything weird, lately, or sensed anything wrong? Like a darkness?” Jason asked, struggling to find the words as he himself didn’t understand what was going on. 

Clovis paused, he seemed to ponder something for a moment. Jason thought he was falling asleep again until he spoke, “Actually, there has been something..”

The four of them perked up, Jason could feel the tension in the room growing. 

“There’s this whispering, I can’t tell what it’s saying, someone or something could be messing around with dreams, or visions. But every time I try to find the source, i’m met with nothing, just darkness, like a literal wall of darkness.” Clovis seemed unsettled as he explained. 

Jason looked at Nico, hoping he’d know something. Maybe it was a wrong assumption to think he knew everything about darkness, but at this point Jason was grasping at straws. Nico didn’t say anything though, his face was unreadable, he seemed deep in thought, a slight scowl carving its way into his face. 

“How long has this been happening?” Will asked, he was tapping some rhythm unconsciously with his foot. 

“About a week, I didn’t think too much of it, maybe just a bad week for dreams. But if you’ve noticed something too then that can’t be good.” As Clovis spoke, Jason realized that was probably the longest he’d stayed awake during a conversation. 

“Right so big bad darkness that abuses dreams, sounds great.” Leo sighed, he’d made a tiny pegasus from screws and bolts. Jason found it quite adorable, wait, impressive that Leo hadn’t even noticed what he’d made. 

“There’s definitely something going on,” Jason frowned. Of course just when everything had calmed down, there was another thing that was going to try and kill them. 

The initial awareness seemed to be wearing off as Clovis’s eyes began to droop, his head swaying. 

That was until Lou burst into the cabin, “You guys need to get to the big house, now.” 

Great, Jason thought. Here we go again.

When they entered the big house they were met with a swarm of arguing. 

“How do you know it wasn’t an accident?”

“No one would use greek fire as a prank, that could’ve killed them!” 

“Of course you’d know that since you’re the expert of pranks.”

“Is that an accusation?”

“Campers settle down!” Chiron yelled out stomping his hoof against the wooden floor. “We are currently investigating this concern, there is no need to point fingers.”

“Sir, there is a potential traitor in camp and you are asking us to be calm?” Chiara asked. 

Chiron grimaced, “That may not be the case.” 

“Then what else would it be?” Chiara was pretty riled up which wasn’t rare, but it was clear she was serious. 

Chiron sighed, “As I said we are looking into it.”

The room broke out into a mess of arguing again, no one seemed to notice the five (well four now since Clovis found a seat to doze off in) of them now standing by the door. 

Jason stepped forward nervously, “Um guys.” All eyes snapped towards him and his voice caught in his throat. 

Leo noticed the tension and quickly cut in, “Is this where the partys at?” He laughed awkwardly, earning plenty of frowns from those at the table. 

Will glared at Connor, “I assume you’re discussing the chariot incident.” 

“Incident? Will your boyfriend almost died!” Chiara snapped.

“You think I don’t know that?” A dangerous look appeared in Wills eyes and Chiara seemed to quickly regret her words. Whenever Will got angry the room would quiet, it was so unlike him, or unlike what people thought of him. 

The rage in Wills demeanor died when Nico lightly touched his arm, “Sitting here and arguing isn’t going to help, so everyone calm down, and help us figure this out.” His voice was surprisingly calm, Jason wondered how he managed to pull that off. 

“The biggest concern is who did this,” The temporary head counselor from the Athena cabin, Dana spoke. She’d recently stepped up after Malcom left on a trip. “They had to of known what the greek fire would do, and where to put it.” 

Eyes scanned the room, landing on Connor and Travis. “Hey! I told you I wouldn’t do something like that, yeah I like a good prank, but i’ve never even once pranked Nico. I would never try to catch him on fire!” Connor raised his hands in defense and Jason noticed how he didn’t say anything about Leo. 

“I’m all for pranks too,” Travis said, “but I don’t mess with greek fire like that.” 

“He’s right,” Lou added, “I saw them messing with the Ares horses before the race, they wouldn’t have had time to mess with their chariot too. 

“Hey!” Sherman glared at the Stoll brothers who became suddenly interested in the walls as they avoided his eyes. 

“I can’t imagine someone at camp actually doing something like that,” Valentina spoke with a sad expression. 

The table was quiet as everyone seemed to agree, or at least almost everyone. 

“Since, this is now a public discussion,” Mr D. spoke for the first time since they’d entered the room. He looked at Clovis who was now fast asleep before looking at Jason, “What did Clover say?” 

Jason ignored the typical mispronunciation, “He said he’d been feeling a strange darkness. Whatever it was, stopped him from viewing it in his dreams; he described it as a wall of darkness.” Jason spoke carefully, he didn’t want to cause a mass panic, but he was starting to think it was too late for that. 

“A darkness?” Chiara asked. 

Everyone’s eyes turned to Nico, like suddenly a spotlight had been shone on him. 

Jason regretted saying anything. 

(Part three)

[asolareclipses]

Don’t know if anyone saw, but I struggled for an hour to post part two of the chariot racing fic and it did not work. I’ll try again tomorrow!

[asolareclipses]

More Nico and Hades 🖤