Will's POV
I walked back to the Apollo cabin, grinning wider than I ever had before. For some reason, I couldn't stop smiling. Well, the reason was Nico, I thought. I grinned even more at the thought of the son of Hades. Nobody ever calls me "William". I usually despise it when people call me that, but when Nico said it, I didn't mind. I actually liked it. More than I'd be willing to ever tell anybody.
I fell asleep with a grin on my face, looking forward to the next day.
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Nico's POV
For the first time in a long while, I didn't have any nightmares. I woke up to loud knocking on the door to the Hades cabin. I groaned, getting out of my cocoon of warmth, and trudged over to the door. I swung it open and was face to face with Will.
"Nico, breakfast is... Are you still wearing my sweatshirt?" Will asked, a smile tugging at his lips. My face got red as I began to pull off the warm sweatshirt. Will laughed. "You can keep it, Death Boy. C'mon. We don't wanna be late for breakfast. People might ask questions." I must've looked confused, not knowing what questions people would ask, because Will laughed again. "You are truly one of a kind, Neeks," Will said, ruffling my hair. If anyone else had touched me, I would've fought them, but with Will, it didn't seem to bother me so much. I actually smiled. Will saw my smile and gave me a huge grin. "I love it when you smile, Death Boy." Will tilted my chin up, bent down, and gave me a quick peck on the lips, causing blood to rush to my face. "Now, c'mon.We really are going to be late to breakfast."
+++
We walked up at sat down at our usual table where the two couples were already seated. Percy and Piper were seated on the outside with Jason and Annabeth on the inside, sitting next to their respective significant other.
"Nico, Will," Jason said, greeting us. He was silent for a second before smiling and continuing. "Nico, that sweatshirt looks nice on you." I grumbled and wrapped my arms around my midsection, encasing myself in Will's warm sweatshirt. On our side of the table, Will scooted closer to me so that our hips were touching. I flinched and squirmed away, an involuntary blush creeping up my cheeks.
"Aww, Neeks. C'mon, don't be like that. I'm not that scary, am I? Are you embarrassed of me?" Will whispered into my ear.
I just shook my head and stared down at my lap. "I'll tell you later," I muttered back, knowing that if I didn't promise, Will would force it out of me right here, right now. Frowning, Will went back to staring at his plate of food. He acted like he was going to say something, but just then, thankfully, Chiron trotted up to the front. Everybody fell silent as their gazes moved up to watch him.
"We will be playing Capture the Flag this evening. Solidify your teams by lunchtime, which will be when we announce them. As usual, Athena is blue and Ares is red," Chiron said, and walked away.
"Apollo's still with us, right, Will?" Annabeth asked, turning to Will.
"Yeah. And I can go make sure, but I'm almost positive Hermes is with us, too."Will replied, getting up from the table and walking away.
"You also got the Big Three on your side, too," Percy stated.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Piper said, standing up so she could see Percy. Blue can have you and Jason, but we want Nico."
"No way, Piper! Nico's on our team!" Percy replied.
"No! Nico's on red!"
"Hey!I'm not an object to be fought over!" I said, making Percy and Piper fall silent.
"See, Piper. Nico's not gonna let you try and steal him from the blue team," Percy said, matter-of-factly.
"Actually, I'm on Piper's team," I answered with a smirk. I fist-bumped Piper while Percy frowned.
"Is this because I'm not your type, Nico?" Percy asked.
I groaned. "Percy, that was almost a year ago! Give it up already!"
+++
In between breakfast and lunch, I helped Will in the infirmary. There was an uncharacteristically high amount of campers that needed to be treated. I was busy the whole time so there was no time for Will and me to be alone with each other, which I was thankful for because I wouldn't have to tell Will what was wrong. We walked into lunch together and were sitting down for a couple of minutes before Chiron came in.
"Okay," he began. "Now that everyone is here, we will announce the teams. Blue team?" Annabeth stood up from her seat at the table and all eyes turned to her. "Athena, Demeter, Iris, Tyche, Hebe, Apollo, Hermes, Zeus, and Poseidon."
The kids from those particular cabins started cheering and stopped when Chiron raised a hand. "And the red team?"
Piper stood up, not Clarisse, who usually leads the red team. "We have Aphrodite, Hypnos, Nike, Nemesis, Hecate, Hades, Dionysus, Hephaestus, and Ares." The red team cheered.
+++
The time in between lunch and dinner passed uneventfully, as did dinner. After everyone finished eating dinner, Chiron galloped in to announce the beginning of Capture the Flag.
"Demigods! The rules are the same as always. The boundary line is the creek and the entire forest is fair game. Magical items are permitted. No more than two guards defending the flag, which must be prominently displayed. You can disarm prisoners, but they mustn't be gagged nor bound. Do not kill or maim anyone. As always, I will be referee and medic. Get to the forest!"
The tables that we were sitting at magically filled with weapons and armor. Everyone got their equipment and rushed to their team's side of the forest, whooping and hollering. I pulled on my red-plumed helmet when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Good luck out there, Death Boy. I think you'll need it." I spun around quickly, only to be face to face with Will, as I had suspected because of the nickname.
"I highly doubt that, Sunshine," I replied. Will gave me a goofy grin as he sprinted away to catch up to his siblings.
+++
"Okay," Clarisse began. "Aphrodite and Hades will lead a decoy attack on the left side to divert their attention. We'll have Hephaestus and Nemesis run a diversion right up the middle. Ares can go on the right and actually get the banner. Hypnos, Hecate, Dionysus, and Nike can stay back and defend our banner. Make sure only two of you guard it directly. The rest of you can guard indirectly by spreading out on our side of the woods. Are we clear?" Everybody nodded. "Then what are you waiting for? Go take your positions!" Each and every person quickly scrambled off to find their place in the woods.
The conch horn blew, signaling the start of the game.
