This one is a continuation of last weeks one shot, per request, and it starts in the middle of the Battle of the Labyrinth.
Will's POV
I sent an arrow flying into the mass of monsters from my perch high in a tree, smiling in grim satisfaction as I heard the sharp scream of an empousa as the arrow cut through her. I looked around at the battle that had bloomed in the forest, awestruck at how quickly the camp had gotten itself together. I couldn't remember the last time there had been a real threat to the camp. The magical borders kept us safe from the threats that awaited us in the outside world, so we had never had a chance to use our skills. But when camp had been invaded the campers had risen to the challenge, changing into their battle gear in the blink of an eye and getting into position before the monsters had flooded out of the labyrinth, initiating one of the only battles that had ever happened on the grounds of the camp. Besides, the battle was good practice for the fight with the titans that we all knew would inevitably come to pass.
As I shot down monster after monster, I couldn't help scanning the mob of demigods and monsters for a familiar head of raven black hair. It had been half a year since I had seen him last, half a year since his sister died and half a year since he had left camp, but every day I still looked for him. It was naive of me, I knew, but somewhere deep inside my heart, I still harbored the hope that one day, Nico Di Angelo would come back to me.
The first time I saw it, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. It had happened before, my mind conjuring up images of him swimming in the lake or playing mythomagic in the strawberry fields. So when I saw a familiar head of raven black hair bobbing through the crowd, cutting down monster after monster with a stygian iron sword that caught the sunlight, I thought nothing of it.
The second time I saw the head of hair, I wasn't as sure that it was only a trick of my mind. As the fight progressed there had been countless injuries, the campers being hopelessly outnumbered. So Annabeth Chase, the head strategist and (hopefully) Percy Jackson's soon to be girlfriend, had dismissed me from the trees and had put me on healing duty instead. Lee Fletcher, the head counselor for the Apollo cabin, had been badly injured by a giant's club, and I was working hard to heal him. So when I thought I saw Nico's dark brown eyes catch my light blue ones, I thought that it was another trick brought on from hard work and grief, but this time I wasn't so sure.
When I heard Tyson, the camp's favorite cyclops yell "Percy, come quick! It's Nico!" I felt my heart fly out of my chest. This was no coincidence, and my glimpses of Nico were no trick of the mind. I was over the moon about Nico being back, of course, but judging by the tone in Tyson's voice, it sounded like Nico was hurt, or worse. I pushed back the flap of the tent, scanning the battlefield for any sign of Nico. He wasn't hard to find. There was a huge mob of people surrounding something or, more accurately, someone laying on the grass. I ran over, barely able to see Nico over the heads of the older campers, but I could see enough.
He was laying face up on the ground, his breaths shallow and his eyes closed. He had always been pale, but now he was white, all the color drained from his face. I watched as Percy Jackson accepted a canteen of nectar and trickled it into Nico's partially open mouth. Nothing happened for a few beats, and I could almost see his life force draining away with each passing second. Then he shot up, coughing and spluttering, and the worry drained out of me. I tried to fight to the front of the crowd, but Percy was pushing the ring of people away, insisting Nico needed space. I hadn't yet hit my growth spurt, and I was carried away by the crowd.
Nico seemed to have disappeared. After the brief glimpse of him after the battle, he seemed to have disappeared, to have melted into the shadows. I searched everywhere for him. I checked the strawberry fields, but I couldn't find him or his vast collection of mythomagic cards. I looked at the lake but he wasn't there, covered in sand and laughing heartily. I was scared that he didn't remember me, and that he had left without saying goodbye. That night, after a long day of looking for Nico, I walked back to my cabin, hanging my head. Nico never stayed anywhere long, and it was most likely that he had already left. So it was a shock when II opened the door to my cabin and Nico was sitting on my bunk, patiently awaiting my return.
He stood up quickly when he saw me, our eyes connecting for the first time in half a year. "Hey," he whispered, his voice low and gravely.
"Hi," I murmured back, unsure of what to say. For a long time, Nico had been my best friend, and I had been his. I was glad to see him, of course, but should I be mad? However, all thoughts of anger escaped my mind when Nico walked up to me and hugged me, bringing back memories of our friendship.
"I missed you," he sighed, breaking away from the hug to stare at me. His eyes were the same dark brown, but there was something inside of them, something that wasn't there before. I wondered what he had been doing all theses months he had been away.
"I missed you, too," I smiled. "And, as I seem to recall, a certain demigod leaving before we got to go swimming one last time." I rummaged around in my drawers and pulled out my green turtle bathing suit and his black one, the bathing suit I had kept around for all this time, just in case Nico decided to show up again. "You in?" Nico grinned and grabbed his bathing suit from my hand.
"Last one to the lake is a rotten egg."
It was late by the time we finished swimming, wet hair plastered to our sunburned foreheads and fingers wrinkled like a prune. We were sitting on the bank of the lake, letting tiny waves wash up onto us as we sat in a comfortable silence. "I can't stay, you know," Nico announced. his words shattered the silence like a rock sailing into a glass window, and I felt all the happiness I had gathered in the past few hours melt away.
"Why?" I gasped. "Aren't you happy?"
"Will, our lives are very different," he began. "You know who your mom is, and you can still visit her during the holidays, if you want to. My mom and my sister are dead, and I wasn't even born in this century. There's so much I don't know, and it will be impossible to find everything out if I stay here at camp, sheltered from the outside world." He must have seen the tear forming in the corner of my right eye, because he took my hands and gave me a small smile.
"Don't worry, though. I'll be back, I promise. I can still visit you. I'll make sure this doesn't turn out like last time." I wanted to cry, plead, scream at him that he was the best friend I had ever had. But I swallowed my feelings and gave him a grim nod.
"If that's what you need to do, than do it," I said, trying to hide my hurt. Nico smiled and stood up, giving me a huge hug.
"I should be leaving soon. I just have to say a few more goodbyes. But I'll be back, I promise." We hugged one last time and then I watched him walk toward the dining pavilion, most likely going to go say goodbye to Percy. I was sad to see him go, of course, but a part of me wasn't worried. I didn't know how long it would be, or when it would happen, but I knew he would be back. I could tell that our story was far from over.
Hi guys! I hope you liked that one. So, I was tagged by I_ship_it24 to do 15 facts about myself, so here goes.
1. I'm pansexual
2. My two main fandoms are PJO and Supernatural
3. My favorite color is blue
4. I used to sell jewelry
5. I have one little sister
6. I really like flaming hot cheetos
7. I want to be an author when I grow up
8. One of my favorite things is reading ghost stories at night when it's raining
9. I LOVE chocolate
10. I like animals
11. I have one dog
13. I'm on a swim team
14. I try to keep my bedroom very neat
15. I prefer pajamas over any other form of clothing
I tag
Enjoy the tags and once again I hope you liked that!
Nina
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Solangelo One Shots
Fanfictionliterally just solangelo one shots (cover by @grasstains)
