Against My Will

5 | Dumb Confrontation

Will froze. He didn't know what to do. Storm over there and confront them? Run away? Pretend like nothing ever happened? Who knows? Maybe it was all just a big misunderstanding. No - they were holding hands and looking at each other the same way Nico and Will would look at each other. There was no way to misunderstand that. They were... in love.

Will clenched his fists, inhaled deeply, then stormed over to where Nico and Percy stood, staring at each other lovingly. It made him sick to his stomach.

Nico lazily looked over at Will as if it was hard to even give him the time of day. "Ah, Will," His voice was surprisingly smooth and confident, "Nice of you to join us."

"Nice of you-" Will groaned, staring daggers through Nico, "Nico! What are you doing?! And Percy - your fatal flaw is fricking loyalty! Annabeth exists, you know that, right? You love her!"

Percy just frowned. "I... I don't know any Annabeths," He narrowed his eyes, "Frankly, I don't know you either. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't act like a jerk to my boyfriend."

A malicious smirk spread across Nico's face. He turned back to face Percy. "Babe, head back to my cabin, I'll meet you there later. I need to have a little talk with the-" Nico turned back around to face Will, eyes sparkling evilly, "-Jerk."

"Yes, love," Percy said, before hurrying off towards the cabins.

"Nico," Will said breathlessly, "What... What happened to you? You're not yourself. Aphrodite did this to you, didn't she?"

"Please," Nico scoffed, "The only thing she did was open my eyes to the possibilities. Yes, I'm in debt to her, but I did this all on my own."

"Oh yeah?" Will said doubtfully. "Well these so-called 'possibilities' are evil, and you're starting to seem like it too!"

"You think I care about how you perceive me?" Nico said with a disgusted look on his face. "It's not like you'll even have a bad opinion for long. How did you break out of my spell anyways, tricky boy?"

"I..." Will looked down, "Am not sure. You know what? I, um, I need to get going." Before he even finished his sentence, Will had turned around, ready to take off, but Nico was quicker.

"Will, stop," Nico said. He let out a cold laugh, sending shivers down Will's spine. "You didn't actually think I would let my idiot ex runoff and ruin all my plans, did you? I still need to have a chat with the love goddess why you would even be able to do that in the first place! Now stay still."           

Will tried to move, but his body betrayed him, staying completely still and facing Nico, unable to look away from his deadly, obsidian eyes. He had never looked so dangerous, so full of rage and malice.

"I'm not even going to risk you getting loose again. Go to Chiron and tell him that Master Nico told him to lock you up. I've already transformed the old pony, he's my eternal servant. You'll be locked up there and punished until I have the dungeons built. We'll see how willing you are to argue with me then," Nico snapped.

The charm settled in and Will blinked, his entire body relaxing as he turned around and began to head for the Big House. Nico rolled his eyes at the pettiness of the situation. How stupid was Will? Did he really think that situation would play out well?

Aphrodite, Nico thought, knowing the love goddess could hear absolutely everything, How did Will break out the spell?

It took a few moments, but Aphrodite finally responded. Nico heard her voice sigh, before saying, Because, dear Nico, I'm afraid you're using love magic. And Will's love for you is so strong, it's shining through that. Love conquers all. And while that may seem bad, I am love. I can fix this.

Okay? But what about Percy? He loves - or used to love - Annabeth. Why isn't that 'shining through?' Nico thought.

I may have used a tad too much love magic on him, Aphrodite laughed, Trust me sweetie, he isn't breaking out of that spell. He will always belong to you.

That makes no sense, Nico thought.

Neither does love, Aphrodite giggled.