Eclipse (Willco Solangelo)

In which Nico likes girls in red hoods

Nico's P.O.V

"Yes, I already told you that."

"You did? I didn't think I asked that question yet..."

"I'm positive, Brett." I replied.

He scrunched up his face, deep in thought. "I bet you haven't answered this one yet! Do you like anybody?"

"I guess so. I mean I generally try to ignore everyone, but I guess I don't mind a few people."

Brett face-palmed. "That's not what I meant!"

"Then what do you mean?" I raised my eyebrow.

"I mean, do you have feelings for-"

"-Hello, Nico!" Jason cut Brett off as he practically bounded into the room. His face morphed into shock when he realized I had a guest. "And who might you be?"

Brett nervously glanced towards the nearest exit that happened to be the window before replying. "I'm Will's brother, Brett."

"Well Brett," Jason spat out his name like it was mouldy, "what business do you have with the Ghost king here?"

"I... Uh... I'm getting to know him?" He ended his statement on a question.

"Are you?" Jason narrowed his eyes as he looked Brett up and down.

"Well, I was. I should really be going now, I think I forgot something in the arena...." Brett said as he stood up and began edging his way to the door.

"You better hurry! Don't want Travis or Connor getting their hands on it first!" Jason called out after him, believing his excuse.

I rolled my eyes before groaning. "You didn't have to freak the poor guy out!"

"Poor guy? I thought you hated interacting with people who aren't in your small circle of friends!"

"Yeah well, he's actually trying to get to know me. I still haven't decided if it's endearing or annoying..." I trailed off, speaking my thoughts out loud.

"How did you two meet?" Jason asked, curious.

I played with my ring as I replied. "Will made me eat at his table and Brett ended up sitting beside me."

"So, then what? Did you engage in conversation, because I find that very unlikely..."

I shot him a glare. "He started the conversation. It was short and pointless, so I figured he wouldn't bother trying again, but now he won't stop! Is that normal when you make friends? Do they actually have to get to know you?"

Jason chuckled. "Yes Nico, getting to know someone is part of making friends. If I'd have known he was only being friendly, I wouldn't have scared him off..."

"Don't worry about it, if he really want to be my friend, he'll be back." I replied as I felt a wave of dizziness overcome me. I put my hand down on the bed to steady myself.

"You okay?" Jason asked, looking concerned.

I waved him off. "Just a bit dizzy, no big deal."

"Should I get Will?"

"I should be fine in a few minutes. Would you mind grabbing me a glass of water?" I asked, trying to get him to leave so I could panic alone.

"Yeah, sure." Jason said as he stood up and headed for the small supply room in the back that had a sink to wash hands with. The second he was out of sight, I began to access myself. I put a hand on my forehead only to find it unusually warm. I began to freak out a little mentally. With each passing second I could feel my energy slipping away. I raised my hand only to find it had started shaking. The more I panicked, the worse I became, but without Will there, I wasn't sure how to calm myself down. Maybe I should have asked Jason to get Will...

"Here's your-" Jason dropped the cup at the sight of my shaking form, the glass shattered upon impact. "I'm getting Will, don't move!" If I had been thinking strait, I would have called out something sarcastic, but unfortunately I was too busy freaking out. I tried taking deep breaths in and out, but it only made me realize how quickly I was breathing. Next I tried closing my eyes, but when I was met with a red landscape, my eyes flew open. My nightmares were always about Tartarus, but they had never plagued me during the day before. This caused me to scare myself even more. I went to grab a piece of ambrosia that Will had left on my little table in case of situations like these, when my hand went right through the table. I pulled my hand close to my chest and noticed that I had become more or less translucent. I felt my breathing pick up even more, and before soon, I was beginning to see dark splotches in my vision. Just when the dark had begun to overcome me, I heard the sound of Will's melodic voice and tried to anchor myself to it. I focused all my energy on Will, and after a few seconds I was able to see him.

"Nico? Can you hear me?" Will called out frantically. I quickly nodded my head, feeling the need to nod continuously until I felt a hand on the top of my head.

"Good. Now let's talk about you. What's your favourite story?" Will asked, keeping his voice calm. The way Will was able to go from panicked to calm in two seconds gave me a little courage that I could calm down too.

"Little red riding hood." I replied through rapid breaths.

"That's an excellent story! Did you know that in some versions, the wolf ends up eating everybody?" Will said, making my breathing slow down a little.

"Really?" I asked, surprised I hadn't heard about that before.

"I don't actually know. I thought you were going to correct me." Will admitted as he began running his fingers through my hair.

"Oh. Although that would be a pretty realistic ending." I replied as I felt my heartbeat slowing down.

Will laughed. "Only you would be able to see it that way."

"Maybe I'm just special." I smiled weakly as he moved his hand lower, to rest on my back before he began running circles into it.

I saw the corners of Will's mouth turn up. "That you are, knight."

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So there's that! Haha

(Fun fact: I'm related to Roald Dahl! My mom once had to eat Christmas dinner while seated next to him. Since my mother's grandparents owned a reindeer farm, they had reindeer for dinner, but Roald Dahl told my mom that she was eating Santa's reindeer, and she freaked out. She was six...)

I had to do an essay on the little red riding hood last year and there really is a version where the wolf eats everyone!

Thoughts on Nico's panic attack?
Thoughts on Brett being intimidated by Jason?
Thoughts on Will's ability to soothe Nico's heart?

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I cannot believe the amount of support this fanfic has been getting! Eclipse now has over 14k reads! That blows my mind! And to make it even better, it has gotten tons of comments! I love it when I get to see what people think of my work! It makes my day when someone notices a little detail that I thought long and hard about putting in! You guys literally give me inspiration to keep going! It may not seem like it, but I read each and every comment that gets posted, and as you guys already know, I love responding to your questions, concerns or even random messages!

There's quite a few regulars who continually comment (you know who you are), and I really want you to know how much I love you guys! Without you, writing wouldn't be as much fun for me. :)
Question: if you had to live in one season for the rest of your life, which season would you choose?

My answer: I think I would choose autumn, just based on the fact that I can wear sweaters, drink pumpkin drinks and read books in a calm setting. Oh, not to mention jumping in the leaves!

Bonus question: if you could be any animal in the world, what would you be?

Another thing you should know by now, is that I am an emoji user. It's gotten to the point where it feels wrong not to end on a happy face so here it is! Until next time! -Tianne :)