Butterflies

Chapter 10

AHH! We made it to chapter ten. WOOP WOOP. Moving on. The story is finally set in place and I hope you like this idea! I've wanted to make another quest since I started Sun in the Shadow. And this one will be even longer than the one in that. It will be great. I hope. Love you all! And shout out to stars_and_aces, alicereadsbooks13, and CrazyFangirl322 for all the fantastic comments. And thanks to the rest of you as well! Love ya! Ciao!
                                 ~O~
"I can't believe him," Will murmured a few minutes after Apollo had left. "Hey, but Nico-" he turned, but Nico wasn't next to him anymore. He was over by Chiron, talking profusely and glancing at different people around the room.

Will sighed. Perfect timing, dad. And great way to reveal to the entire camp that I finally got somewhere with that stubborn boy. He glanced at Nico again and his heart did a double take when he realized Nico had been looking at him. The second their eyes clashed, Nico swept his gaze away.

"Aw, is the lover boy being ignored by his new catch?" Clarisse came up behind Will and clapped him on the shoulder. "What a shame."

He rolled his eyes. "Nico isn't my fish and I am no lover boy."

She put an elbow on his shoulder and leaned against it, almost making him collapse. "Oh, sure. Because the boy who has been fantasizing over Nico for the past like, three years isn't at all in love with him." Clarisse turned her head to look at his dry expression and laughed. "Hey man, just stating the facts. You really shouldn't be so honest with me."

Will sighed and shook his head, looking down. "I realize that now." He turned his glance to Clarisse again. "But it did make you trust me."

She smirked and ruffled his hair, pushing his head down a bit and making him duck away.

"Are you going to go get him?" Clarisse asked after a few moments of silence. The pavilion was full of talk now, everyone discussing who the new seven would be.

"Nico?" He furrowed his eyebrows and looked down. "I don't think I can. Honestly. If he was any more confusing they would make him an Einstein riddle."

Clarisse whacked the back of his head and said, "Explain, sunny son. Not all of us here actually spend time with that little shadow freak."

Will frowned, but he was mostly used to Clarisse's lack of filter by now. "Nico just really can't make up his mind on whether he likes me or not, I think." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "He keeps changing his mind."

There was a laugh from beside him and he turned as Clarisse asked, "Then why are you still chasing him, lover boy?"

"You'll understand it this way." He turned to her, but glanced at Nico's form as he spoke. "He is completely and utterly worth the wait."
                                ~O~
"This is your mission, Nico. You'll have to figure out the details of it by yourself."

Nico sighed and gripped the hilt of his sword tighter.

"I just need some help on who I'm supposed to be choosing. The prophecy was specific on seven kids and four of their identities, but I do not know how to proceed, Chiron. No one has ever trusted me to lead a mission." Nico sniffed and tried to raise his chin, but he was biting his cheek.

Chiron up a gentle hand on his shoulder and said, "I understand, Nico. You are no Percy Jackson. People don't see you as the hero of this camp. You scare so many of them because you blend away until a battle where you hold your own and the lives of tens of others. They are scared of your power, Nico."

He mumbled something like, "Very encouraging."

"But," Chiron continued with a smile, "I trust you Nico. And I have seen what you can do. Out of the people of this camp, there are select few I would trust to make the rational decision. Even Jackson can make a few, let's say, irrational decisions to try and save someone. He would endanger the world to save a friend."

"And yet he succeeds on saving both everytime, which is why I think his dumb luck should be the one leading this mission, sir." Nico kept his gaze low. "I don't think you can trust me to make the right decision after I tried to sacrifice a friend to save my sister."

Chiron smiled at him and stepped away. "That is why I trust you, Nico. You have grown much more than the others. You have experiences no one else can claim. That makes you the best person for the job." The centaur turned around and walked back to where Dionysus was waiting impatiently.

"The best for the job," Nico murmured to himself after he had left. "Yeah, right. Because I can only be trusted once a god proclaims me the leader." He turned around and started walking towards one of the few people he did trust to trust him.

Jason was standing and waiting already. "Hey, Nico. This is pretty crazy, isn't it."

He rolled his eyes and sat next to the son of Zeus. "You're telling me." Putting his elbows on his knees and leaning against them, Nico sighed. "I feel like I just got a break and now I'm back into fighting again."

"Aw, come on, Nico." Jason bumped his shoulder. "I know you aren't one to love being on the sidelines or off duty for long periods of time. You would train your arms off before asking for a mission, though."

"You're one stubborn son of Hades and we all love you for it." Piper walked up, wearing her normal attire and hair braided down the side of her neck. She plopped down on the other side of Nico as Jason grinned and he turned his gaze to her. "And I trust you know who the camper of sound is?" She asked expectantly. "I mean, it was right there in the prophecy. You gotta know who it meant."

Nico smirked. "Yeah, I'm thinking maybe it was one of the Ares kids. They sure now how to make noise."

Piper punched him in the arm and blew a raspberry. "Boo. Boooo, Nico. You better bring  me along or I will stow away on the trip."

"Yeah, and I hope you'll bring your best friend too. If you bring my girlfriend you really should bring me," Jason added.

"You don't trust me with your beautiful girlfriend, Jason? Alone?" Nico grinned.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "With you? Of course. There is no one more protective of a girl than her gay friend." He glanced over at Piper and added, "Though, she can handle herself fine, I'm sure."

Piper laughed and crossed her legs. "Darn right, I can."

Nico rubbed his hands together a little nervously. "What about the others? I don't know who to bring."

Jason started counting off his fingers the exact same time Piper did. In unison they said, "Reyna, your boyfriend, Lou Ellen-obviously, probably Cecil, me, and this one next to me."

Nico blushed and lowered his head. "He's not my boyfriend," he murmured.

Piper laughed and replied, "Honey, this trip will make him yours."