klyonsm2 one summer, in the burning heat of the sun, the ghost king made a decision to follow the beat of his own drum. For years, he had treated himself like a disease, making himself foreign to friendship. One part of him knew that it wasn't what he wanted but the other half shot him down and decided that it was the only way to live. But it wasn't the only way to live. One day, in the heat of the sun, the ghost king decided it was time to stop hiding from everyone. Chapter 1 will be posted soon (this was just a preview)

klyonsm2 Chapter 1: The aftermath Ever since the war ended, there seemed to be a lot more possibilities than ever seemed possible. Now, the Greeks and Romans could be friends. Now, you could visit both camps without fear of being caught and probably killed. Now, the Greeks and Romans both had allies they could rely on in times of need. Now, Greeks and Romans could be friends. Now, Nico could have friends. Since Nico had returned to camp for good, he'd been having mixed emotions. On one side, he was starting to relax and get comfortable with all of these people actually being friendly to him. On the other end, these people made him nervous. What history repeats itself as it often does? What if they only welcome him for so long, until they forget what he did for them, and then shun him again? He was trying to hang on and keep to his promise of staying at camp, but it was hard to break his habit of leaving. Well actually, right now, he couldn't leave if he wanted to, because he was stuck in the damn infirmary. Three days. He was only supposed to spend three days in the infirmary, but it seemed like he had been in here for almost a week. He felt like he was about to go mad. Not necessarily because he was isolated from the majority of the camp, but from the fact that he knew he wasn't free to do as he pleased. He had to stay here and obey the most stubborn demigod he's ever met. It was very different from what Nico was used to, but it wasn't necessarily bad. There was good food and Nico had to admit, the infirmary had pretty good WiFi (which somehow, Chiron didn't know about. Must've been a gift from Hephaestus). Plus, It felt pretty good to be looked after. [i]Also, I get to see the son of Apollo every day.[/i] Nico scolded himself internally for thinking something even remotely close to that. He didn't want this to happen again. Or maybe he did, but he wanted it to be better this time. Either way, he was embarrassed of himself and his face flushed red. Then, once he realised he was blushing, it flushed even redder.

klyonsm2 Chapter 2: the Invitation Though Nico had not actually done much in at least 6 days, he was exhausted. In the morning, Piper and Jason came to talk his ear off everything going on in camp (and bye everything, he meant every last tiny detail). Nico really wanted to listen to what they were saying, but it was just uninteresting to him. An Aphrodite camper threw a fit, a Hermes camper pulled a massive prank, a Hypnos camper drifted off at the worst time. Nico didn't really see how any of this was new. But then, Piper said something that caught Nico's attention. "And also, Reyna sent a letter addressed to you." she held out an envelope with illegible cursive handwriting and a purple SPQR stamp. "Personally, I didn't know people still wrote letters, especially when you can iris message someone. Or text them. You know, if you would get a phone." "Well, excuse me for being a bit old fashioned. Plus, cellphones are dangerous for demigods. You know that." Nico snatched the letter out of Pipers hands and starting ripping apart the envelope. "Read it out loud." Jason said. Nico scoffed. "We'll see about that." Nico finally retrieved the letter from its wrappings and began to read in his head. The letter was only one page but it took forever to read due to reyna's horrible cursive. Why didn't she just type it out? Maybe Reyna was a bit old fashioned too. [I]Dear Nico, I know I just left, but I'd like to extend a formal invite to you, Coach Hedge (and family), Jason, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth to join Camp Jupiter in a feast in the Seven's (plus you, me, and Coach's) Honor. Invite whoever you like, but please limit it to one or two people. Your ride will be there at 10:00 am next Saturday. Also, don't try to shadow travel here. We will send SUVs to come get you guys. That healer friend of yours is right. Last time you tried to shadow travel, you almost died. How is your healer friend anyway? His name is will, right? I don't want to embarrass myself by calling him the wrong name when you bring him to the feast (and I know that you're going to bring him to the feast. I mean, you have to. He's never seen New Rome and might never get a chance to see it again. Just saying.) Anyway, write back ASAP. See you Saturday. P.s. Hazel and Frank say hi. From, your friend, Reyna.[/I] After deciphering Reyna's hand writing, Nico read Jason and Piper the first paragraph but nothing more. "Wow, that's really cool!" Piper exclaimed once he was done. "I would go spread the word to the others but I'm not allowed to get up unless I have to go to the bathroom. I'm on bed rest. Doctor's orders." "That's okay. Pipes and I will go show them." Jason said, casually reaching for the letter. "No!" Nico raised his voice a bit too loud. "I mean, yeah go tell them, but you don't need the letter to do that. I think I'm going to hold onto the letter." Nico squeaked trying to regain the causality of the conversation moment ago. Jason and Piper looked a Little freaked out at first, but quickly returning to the flow of conversation. More talk of tantrums, pranks, and Pegasus accidents. Nico again tried to stay focused, but his attention kept drifting off toward the words of Reyna's letter. After a while, Jason and Piper decided it was time to go and tell Percy, Annabeth, and Coach about the feast. "We'll try to drop by later, probably after dinner." Jason said. Then he pointed toward the small TV mounted on the wall across from Nico's bed. "Have fun watching Olympus's next top Nereid." "Ha. Ha." Nico said blandly. "There's only one channel, which is Hephaestus TV, so it's literally the only thing there is to watch." Jason and Piper exited the room. Nico laid back down in a hopeless attempt to try and fall asleep. Somewhere down the hall, he heard Piper say "oh, hey Will. We just visited him. He's doing fine. But I think he might have something he wants to ask you." Oh gods, Piper, why? "Oh, okay. I was just about to bring him lunch anyway." Will stated. A few seconds later he heard footsteps (and faint giggling, which could have came from no one but Piper). He felt almost all the blood in his body rush to his cheeks and he hurriedly tried to stuff his face in a pillow, hoping Will wouldn't see. The door opened a crack and Will poked his head inside. "I know you're not asleep, you know. Piper and Jason were just leaving from Visiting you." Will opened the door wider and brought in a plastic tray with Nico's lunch on it. Peanut butter and jelly, yogurt, string cheese, an apple, and a glass of water. Will set the lunch on Nico's bedside table as Nico unburied himself from his pillow and stared at his lunch. Gods, that was a lot of food, at least for Nico. "I have to eat all of that?" Nico asked. "Yes, If you want to leave." Nico was caught off guard. "What?" Nico was somewhat confused and alarmed. "Once you eat all of that, I'll dismiss you from the infirmary." Nico had mixed feelings. On hand, he want to be free to do as he wanted again, but at the same time.....Nico wasn't quite sure what the other feeling was. Disappointment, maybe? He wanted to say that he didn't know why he was disappointed, but he knew exactly why. He enjoyed being cared for for the first time in a very long time. Nico scoffed at himself. He was being absolutely foolish. He needed to get out of here. All the reality shows on Hephaestus TV were driving him mad. He picked up the tray and very very slowly, began to eat. Will pointed at the Letter and asked "Whats this?" "Its a letter from Reyna." "Can I read it?" "No." Nico swallowed hard. "But I can tell you what it says." "Okay, then what does it say?" Will said, sitting on the end of Nico's bed, criss-cross-applesauce, waiting for Nico to begin. Nico read the first paragraph to will, leaving out the part where Reyna told him to bring a guest. It's not that Nico didn't want Will to come. He really did, but he was going to ask him on his own time. He had a week before the feast. That was more than enough time to ask his [i]friend[/I] to [i]casually[/I] hang out in New Rome with him. Who was he kidding? Because he certainly wasn't kidding himself. "That's cool. I've heard New Rome is amazing. Now, if you want to leave, you need to eat your lunch." Will said sternly, handing Nico his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Fine." Nico said a bit too bitter. Nico ate slowly, partly because it was a lot of food, partly because he wasn't sure he wanted to leave. He suddenly felt incredibly guilty. Here he was, taking up Will's time that Will could be using to treating another patient because he didn't want to leave. "I'll be back in a few minutes to check on you. I have paperwork to fill out. uuuuuggggghh. That's one of the few things I hate about being a healer. All this paperwork." Will groaned. Nico couldn't help but smile a little bit. Gods, this dork. "I'll be here." Nico said, finishing up his peanut butter and jelly. Nico watched the tall, blonde healer stride out of the room. He looked down at his hands, where he had been subconsciously twisting his silver skull ring. He used to do that when he had a crush on Percy. Nico had mixed feelings again. On one side, Nico was furious with himself. Why should Nico deserve someone like Will? On the other hand, why shouldn't he deserve Will? He had been through Tartarus [i]alone[/i]. He had fought off entire armies by himself. He had saved the world at least twice. He had lived with Demeter. He deserved something good in his life for once.

klyonsm2 Chapter 3: Free to go Will had never been more excited while filling out paperwork. He wasn't excited [i]because[/I] he was filling out paperwork. No, not at all. He was just excited. A feast in New Rome. Wow. Will tried to act casual about it in front of Nico, but he [i]really really[/I] wanted to go. The only things Will had heard of New Rome were from the Romans themselves, so they were probably a bit biased, but that didn't change the fact that Will wanted to see it for himself. He wanted to see New Rome with Nico. Will was practically drooling over the thought of Nico inviting him to New Rome. Will only realized he was daydreaming when one of his brothers came and asked him if he was okay, snapping Will out of his fantasies. "Oh yeah I'm fine. Just...ummm.... filling out paperwork." Will hummed. Will's brother eyed him suspiciously "uh huh. Well, I'm just going to go back to work now." Will looked back down at his paperwork and his mood instantly dampened. Nico's release form. He instantly felt guilty for being upset about letting Nico leave. But he had to. He felt bad about keeping Nico here so long. He feared if he didn't let Nico out soon, Nico would probably hate Will, if he already didn't. Will had to be truthful with himself. He had a crush on Nico Di Angelo. Will wasn't necessarily upset with himself because of it. It was a fact of his life. He had no control over it, so why punish himself for it? And to be even more honest with himself, he really didn't want Nico to leave. He enjoyed seeing Nico everyday and making sure the boy ate properly. He enjoyed taking care of Nico and nagging him about his health. But he knew he had kept Nico locked up in the infirmary long enough. Will wasn't sure if Nico would go out of his way to talk to Will or visit Will after he let him out, but Will was tired of putting it off. Will filled out the paper and hesitantly signed his name at the bottom. He filled out a few other papers for other patients and decided to go see how the other patients were doing. As he passed Conner and Travis, who were frequent patients at the infirmary, they said "Will!! Will!!!" Will looked at the Stolls, one of which had a huge cast on their leg, other having an equally huge cast on their arm, both covered with signatures. "Just the man we'd been looking for!" Travis had a sly grin on his face that scared Will. Even in the hospital, he was up to something. "Hey Will," Conner said sweetly. "Would you mind doing us a favor?" "Yes, I would mind. I'm not getting caught by Chiron doing your dirty work." "How do you know you'll be doing our dirty work?" Travis asked. Will rolled his eyes. "Because almost every time I walk by here, you guys ask me to pull some kind of pranks on someone for you." "But we're just three arms and three legs right now!" Conner cried, waving a finger at the giant white cast on his leg. "Which means you'll have trouble pranking for a while. I don't see how that's a bad thing." Will chimed. "Will, will you at least sign our casts?" Travis put on a puppy dog face that he was somehow convinced would work. "Hmmm....." Will thought aloud. "Maybe, you know, if I didn't already know you were going to use it to forage my signature." Travis and Conner were quiet for a moment, quite a rare occurrence. "Touchè." Conner muttered as Will walked away to check on other patients. He stopped to check on Lou Ellen, who had been carried to the infirmary after she had accidentally used the wrong magic and it back fired. She still had a tail and a few warts left, but the worst of it was gone. "Feeling any better?" Will asked gently, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Shouldn't you be checking a certain someone?" Lou Ellen hummed, wiggling her eyebrows. She then began to do her new favorite Will impression: "oh Nico, you're so handsome and brave." "Lou Ellen, I suggest you stop right there or I'll hire the Stolls to do something horrible." Lou Ellen rolled her eyes. "Suuure you will. So how's he doing?" "Better. Not necessarily good, but better. I still don't think he'll be able to use his underworld-y stuff for a few months. I'm releasing him today." "Oh, really? And what if he tries to use his powers as soon as he gets out?" "Lou Ellen, I don't think he's [I]that[/] much of an idiot. Dense? Yes. Stubborn? Yes. Stupid? Not quite." Lou Ellen laughed a little bit, which quickly turned into a yawn. "You need to get some rest." Will insisted. Lou Ellen yawned again. "No need to tell me twice." Will retreated to his workspace, putting everything away in its correct place. He then took the brave walk down the hallway to Mr. Di angelo's room. Will peeked inside hoping Nico was either asleep or hadn't finished his lunch so Will wouldn't have tell him he could leave. Neither of those were the case. Nico sat up in his bed with the blandest expression on his face, practically glaring at the TV screen. For a misleading moment, Will was scared Nico was glaring at him. "So, you finished your lunch. I guess your free to go. You just need to sign a few things." Will said awkwardly. "Shhhhh this episode is almost over." Nico hissed. Will cranked his neck to see what was on, which was a show called [i]Olympian Idol[/i]. "So, the son of the God of the underworld, who can raise the dead from the ground and command armies of skeletons and has literally lived in Hell, likes reality TV shows." Now, Nico really was glaring at him. "So the son of the God of healing, who is practically a doctor, has just asked to be killed." "Oh please." Will rolled his eyes. "You couldn't kill me right now, even if you wanted to. Which brings us to our next order of business: your powers. Unless you start recovering miraculously fast, I don't think you'll be able to use your powers for at least two or three months." A look of shock took over Nico's face. "Three months?!?!" "Hey, three months isn't that bad. It's better than not being able to use them again at all, which would be a very likely probability if you had kept using your powers." Nico said in silence, in shock, for a moment or two. It was clear Nico had never really regarded not being able to use his powers as something that could actually happen to him. Nico stared at himself, his hands, probably realizing how close he was to never using his powers again. Will finally broke the awkward silence. "You need to gather your things and come with me so you can sign some paperwork." Nico obliged, still silent and gloomy from the bad news Will had dropped on him. Will already missed the new Nico he had come to know the past few days. Happy Nico. Will was afraid that the bad news had ruined whatever chances he had had with this son of Hades. But Will wasn't sorry. Nico deserved to know just how close he came to losing his powers, if not losing his life. Will lead Nico to his workspace, where Will searched his ever so clustered desk for Nico's release form. He finally spotted it half hidden under a bunch of other papers. "Aaah, here we are." Will yanked the file out from underneath the rest (Will had had enough practice to not send the other papers flying). Will pointed at the few unfilled in blanks on the page. "Sign here and here." Nico quietly did as he was told. His cursive was surprisingly very very neat, virtually perfect. Much much better than Will's sloppy scribbles. "Okay." Will said. His voice was unintentionally shaky. "You're free to go." Nico started shuffling for the door. He stopped midway through and poked his head back through. "Hey, Will?" "Yeah?" Will responded. Nico kind of looked down at his feet in a shy way. "I know the Apollo table at mealtime is kind of crowded. You're welcome to come sit with me and Jason, if you want." Will's heart felt like it was about to explode. It was only a simple offer but it held so much potential. "Ill be sure to take you up on that offer." Will tried to keep his voice as smooth as possible. Nico gave Will the slightest smile and said "See you tonight then". Nico took himself and his belongings outside, into the blinding sunlight. Will wanted to sing at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, he was a very bad singer. He could barely keep himself contained. Will sat in his spinning office chair and spun in circles until he got dizzy.

Fangirl521 Wow that's good...

klyonsm2 I still haven't finished writing chapter 4 yet, because I've been super busy, even though it's my spring break. Hopefully, ill finish it in the next day or two, so hang tight.

klyonsm2 Chapter 4: the iris message Nico was free from the infirmary at last. As he walked across camp towards his cabin, he looked back at the infirmary. Gods, Nico was sure he was crazy. What kind of person would miss being in the hospital? Apparently, Nico. Nico was almost afraid to leave the infirmary. What if Will, being as busy as he is, didn't have time for Nico anymore? Nico's stomach did a loop thinking about what he had told Will before he left the infirmary. Nico had to admit, something like that, to his crush, was pretty gutsy. Nico had faced hundreds of armies and had been in the deepest pit of Hell, and still, Nico had never been more afraid than that split second before Will answered. And the best part was, Will didn't say no. He didn't look mortified or disgusted by the offer. He actually smiled a little. Nico felt like dancing or screaming at the top of his lungs, but both would send people running away, yelling for help. Nico walked into his gloomy cabin. He stood there for a second, letting his eyes readjust. Then he threw his stuff on the floor and plopped onto his bed. What was he going to do now? He needed something to keep his mind off of Will until dinner or else he would over think it. Just laying here in his cabin definitely wasn't taking his mind off of Will. Nico wanted to sword fight. He had been stuck in the infirmary for 6 days and hadn't touched his sword once during that time, much less practice. But then, Nico decided it wouldn't be a good idea to send Will more patients, which would probably make Will work through dinner. Nico could iris message Hazel or Reyna. Maybe he could talk to Reyna about her invitation. Maybe catch up with his sister. Nico pulled himself up off the bed and began to walk to the camp store. Gods, he hoped he still had a few coins. The air conditioning in the camp store was beyond excessive. Nico felt like he's just stepped into the middle of blizzard. He instantly missed his jacket, which had been pretty much torn to shreds. He hadn't been able to find a replacement yet. Nico shivered uncontrollably and basically waddled around the store. Finally he found what he was looking for. Iris's rainbow in a bottle: open the cap to unleash Iris's nature-friendly rainbow! All organic!! Nico grabbed the plastic bottle off the shelf and walked towards the counter. A daughter of Hermes, who Nico didn't really know the name of, was behind the counter, reading a magazine (a dumb tabloid called Olympus's hottest). Nico was sure she knew he was there, but that didn't make her look up from her magazine. Nico cleared his throat in an attempt to catch her attention, but with no luck. Finally, with a sigh, Nico dug the money out of his pocket, set it on the counter and just walked out with the bottle. He walked back to his cabin, stopping his tracks halfway there. He forgot to tell Jason and Piper he was out of the infirmary. "Oh well" he thought, "they'll figure it out." He shut himself in his cabin and began to dig through his pockets again for a coin. Once he found one, he sent the bottle on the floor in the middle of his cabin and slowly untwisted the lid. A shimmering white mist slow crept out of the bottle, moving up towards the ceiling. In seconds, a glittering rainbow stood just about eye-level with Nico. Nico tossed his golden coin into the mist and said "Show me Hazel Levesque." The mist simmered for a second, slowly fading into a new picture. He saw a lavishly decorated room with SPQR tattooed everywhere in gold. He saw a long table covered in papers upon papers with three people surrounding it, Hazel, Reyna, and Frank. They were in a lively discussion about preparations, most likely for the feast. Frank was the first to notice Nico. Frank had become more accustomed to Nico lately, but it still scared him half to death, just seeing Nico's head floating in mid-air. He became horrible pale for a brief moment and then managed to say "umm....guys". He nudged Hazel with his elbow. Hazel looked up for a moment and then when back to her heated discussion with Reyna. After getting a few words out, she looked back in disbelief. "Nico?" She asked. Reyna cranked her head to see what Hazel was talking about. "How long have you been there?" Nico shrugged a little. "Only a few seconds. I just wanted check in, I guess." "Did you get my invitation?" Reyna asked, leaning forward a bit. "Yep. Sure did." He gave her a watered-down glare. Reyna returned him a sly smile. They were having a silent conversation that no one else understood. Reyna, Hazel, and Frank started continuously bragged about the preparations for the feast. Sometimes while telling Nico about the feast, their ideas would conflict and they begin arguing. "We're still getting all the kinks worked out." Hazel apologized. "I can tell." Nico said. "Dont worry, it'll come together." "You're right Nico. The feast with my gold tablecloth will come together." Hazel glared at Reyna. "I think you meant purple tablecloth." They began their bickering again, arguing about tablecloths and colors. Frank sat there awkwardly, trying to find a median between their ideas, but he drowned out by the fighting. Nico sat there and watched their arguing, somewhat entertained. Somehow, their arguing made him feel...happy. He was happy that they accepted him and actually talked to him. He was happy that talked openly around him instead of whispering behind his back, even of it meant bickering. Nico was jarred out of his thoughts, by an intense pounding on the door. Nico froze for a second, terrified. Oh god, what's happening. The pounding on the door continued, and even got louder. The constant hammering was already giving Nico a migraine. It looked like the door was about to give in. Should he answer it? He silently tiptoed toward the pounding. He might've well open it. As long as it gets the awful hammering to stop. He slowly cracked the door open. Before he could even peek around the corner to see who was there, the door slammed open, pushing him aside. Jason walked in, piper following, and pointed at Nico. "You are sooooooooooo grounded." Hazel, Reyna, and Frank fell silent as they watched what was happening through their misty little window into Nico's world. Nico was nothing but confused. "Wha-what?" Jason Grace crossed his arms and started tapping his foot, his glasses sliding about halfway down his nose. "What did you forget to tell us?" "Umm...." Nico swallowed nervously "I'm out of the infirmary by the way. And how can you even ground me? Will already grounded me from my powers. What else is there to ground me from? Plus, you're not even my parent." "Dont you talk back to me, mister" Jason said. "So," piper spoke finally. "Will told us he's joining you and Jason for dinner." Nico felt his face start glowing red, probably still visable even in the darkness of his cabin. "Oooooh, Nico's having dinner with Will?" Reyna teased through the iris message. "Its not even a big deal! It's just dinner! It doesn't mean anything!" Nico lied to himself. He knew better. It meant something, though Nico wasn't sure what it meant. Nico wasn't even sure if Will liked Nico in the slightest. He might of just accepted to be polite. But Nico did know that dinner meant something to him. Whatever." Jason said. "Just know I'm watching you, Di Angelo." Jason and Piper sauntered out the door, slamming it shut behind them. Nico sighed in exasperation. He turned back to the iris message. "Sorry. I didn't really expect that to happen." Frank and Hazel had disappeared, leaving Reyna alone. "Where did Frank and Hazel go?" Nico eyed the iris message suspiciously. "I asked them to step out for a minute because i need to talk to you. I couldn't put it in the letter. I was going to tell you at the feast, but then this opportunity presented itself." Reyna was suddenly very serious. Nico wasn't sure he liked the sound of it. "Okay," Nico said. "Shoot."

klyonsm2 Chapter 5: Dinner with the Ghost King "Something just doesn't seem right out here." Reyna said. "I'm serious. Somethings really really off. It's hard to describe, but I'm feeling very uneasy. I think something bad is going to happen." Oh great. Just as Nico was settling into Camp Half-Blood, just as Nico was starting to enjoy himself, something horrible had to happen. Sometimes, Nico really wished he wasn't a demigod. "Is that why you called the feast? To have an excuse to tell me this in person?" Nico asked. Reyna looked almost guilty. "Yeah, one of the reasons." "Instead of just stopping by here or sending me an iris message or anything like that, you decided transporting a bunch of demigods, including Percy Jackson and Jason Grace, two of the strongest smelling Demigods on Earth, across country would be safer?" Nico was getting angry. He really didn't want to lose his temper, especially not at Reyna (she was, after all, one of his few friends), but there was no light way to put it; this idea was incredible dumb. "I had many reasons to call the feast." Reyna replied with almost emotion. "You don't have to come if don't want to, but it won't be me you disappoint. All Hazel has been talking about is this feast and if you're not there for it, you'll upset her." Nico denied the idea almost instantly. Hazel was stronger than that. "You don't know that." "Yes, I do. I mean I am a girl after all. And so is she. And I know that you also know that I'm right, but you just don't want to admit it." Reyna was not looking very happy at all. Nico crossed his arms. "Look, I only have about five minutes before the iris message expires and I'm pretty sure I don't have another gold drachma, so could we wrap it up?" "Just come to the feast and I'll fill you in on everything I know." Reyna's look of anger was replaced by something else. Nico wasn't sure what. Dismay? Stress? Sincerity? Fear? Nico wasn't sure he'd ever figure it out. "Why can't you just tell me now?" "Because if I tell you now, you're going to try to use your powers and die and I don't think anyone would enjoy that much, especially your healer friend, Will. His name is Will, right?" Nico rolled his eyes. "Yes, his name is Will Solace." Nico heard a horn blow in the distance. Once, twice, three times. Nico had come to learn that that meant dinner. Oh gods. Nico felt his stomach start twisting knots. Anxiety started to build up. Nico just wanted to get dinner over with, not because he hated Will or anything ridiculous like that, simply because he was afraid he was going to terrible embarrass himself. Or that Jason was going to embarrass him. Oh gods. He hadn't even thought of that. Nico was starting to feel sick. Reyna squinted at Nico. "Are you okay?" "I really need to get to dinner. Ill get a hold of you later to interrogate you about what you know, okay?" Reyna's sly smile returned, breaking all seriousness between them. "Okay. Have fun on your date with Will!" "It's not a date!" Nico yelled, swiping his hand through the misty rainbow to dissolve it. The purple and gold image of somewhere at camp Jupiter faded away, leaving Nico's room once again dark. Nico took a few deep breathes to prepare himself (his heart rate was going higher than he ever thought it could). Somewhere he found the courage to step out the door and stride toward the dining pavilion. .................................... Will was already waiting at the dining pavilion When he saw a little black mess of hair heading up the hill. Will was utterly relived. He wasn't very comfortable sitting here with Jason squinting at him, inspecting him from across the table. Will had been playing with his beaded necklace (a nervous habit of his) for what seems like 10 minutes, which probably meant it had only been 2, but whatever. Will was beyond nervous. He was pretty much in full freak mode. What was he going to talk about? Maybe about his day in the infirmary. What if he bored Nico to death? With each new thought, the butterflies in Will's stomach seemed to grow in numbers. It seemed like forever before Nico actually got to the dining pavilion, got a plate, burned some offerings, and sat down. That gave Will plenty of times to think about all the bad things that could happen. Here goes nothing. "Sooooo....." Wil began. "What'd you do after you got out of the imfirmary?" Nico shrugged, "not much, just iris messaged Hazel, Reyna, and Frank. What'd you do?" Will shrugged back. "Stayed in the imfirmary, treated a few emergencies. You know that rock climbing wall is a real hazard. Fun to climb, not so fun when you get lava scorches." Nico smiled a little at Will. Will felt like he could melt into a puddle of happiness at any minute now. Dinner passed by quick. Time flies when you're having fun. The conversation flowed easily, Jason even joining in, telling stories about Nico. Will had never been happier in his entire life. Overall, Will was relieved. He was so scared he was going to mess it up with Nico entirely. Before Will knew it, everyone was off to the campfire for a short sing-a-long to get everyone pumped up for capture the flag. That brought up a new question in Will's mind: Do they go their separate ways now or go to the campfire together? Will Nico even go to the campfire? When Nico said "I guess we better get going to the sing-a-long now" Will's question was answered. They walked down a dark, nearly abandoned path to the campfire (most people had left already). Will's heart rate began to rise again and the butterflies returned for a second attack. Will didn't know what the possibilities of tonight were, but he knew he couldn't wait to find out.

Fangirl521 Omg that was really good :)