Will slowly twisted the door knob. Thank the Heavens it didn't squeak as he pushed the door open,illuminating the dark room with pale moonlight. He stepped inside slowly like he was heisting a robbery,and shut the door softly making sure it didn't click. His eyes darted around the room,scanning his stairs were at a comfortable distance,and if he could just make it there-
"Will?"
He froze.
"Will,is that you?" A woman stepped out of the kitchen. With her brown hair up in a bun,and a cup of coffee in her hand,she looked like she was working through the night - which she was. Will sighed internally. Of course she would work late night.
"Hey mom."He grinned lazily. His plan to surprise her in the morning was a fail the moment she saw his outline,so it was no use running away or lying now.
The woman let loose a happy laugh before the two of them ran towards each other,and hugged tightly.
"Oh Will!"She exclaimed. "Look how tall you've grown! My,my-I can't even fit my hand around your wrist anymore-"She was overflowing with hugs and kisses at Will. "By the way,did you call anyone over for Christmas? It gets awfully boring here without anyone,but I call my fellow coworkers."
"Mom,"Said Will, restraining himself from laughing."It's March."
"It doesn't matter,Willy."She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Now,lemonade?"
Will nodded as he walked into the kitchen with his mom,and took a seat near the table as Ms Solace got to work. As she reached to the fridge,Will's eyes wandered to the blueprint she had set out on the table. It suspiciously looked like a wedding plan.
"Hey ma,"Will called."What's this?"
She turned for a moment before giggling. "Willy,I'm yet to tell you good things."
Will's eyes widened. "You're kidding."
His eyes scanned his mother,finally settling on a bright sparkly ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. "You found a guy,dated him,and then got engaged in two years?!"
"Four," She corrected. "You were gone for four years,Will."
Guilt stabbed Will as he met his mother's soft eyes. "I...Uh..."
She slid a glass of cold lemonade towards him and one for herself,and rescued a white pencil which was threatening to fall off the table. Then she continued sketching the blueprint. Will had suddenly lost his love for the lemonade. But for nostalgia's sake,he sipped it and felt the coldness electrifying his teeth. He cursed softly in Greek and pulled the glass away from his mouth.
His mother's eyes darted towards him,concerned. She sighed and muttered something like," Sensitive teeth run in the family."
Will placed the glass on the table,watching the water roll down the side of the glass,and drop to the teak wood table.
"So," He started. "Who is this lucky guy?"
"Introductions tomorrow. He's coming for lunch." His mom's chirpy voice had vanished,replaced by short sentences.
"And what about moth- Naomi?" Will shuddered at the thought of his birth mother.
"Passed away last year. Finally," The woman sighed. "An end to her misery. May she get peace." (A/N:There,I've hit 555 words. I don't know why that strangely excites me)
As much as Will hated his biological mother,the thought of her dying alone made him feel bad.
"Oh." He felt like he was swallowing metal. "Oh."
"She made me promise that I,Anya Solace,would take care of you like my own son. She told me to tell you,Will,that she loved you so much. And she was so,so sorry-that you didn't deserve it,that bad life. You were her little bundle of joy. And that-"
"No." He choked out. "I don't want to hear it. I don't... I don't know whom you are talking about. I'm Anya Solace's son."
"Will," She reached out to hold his hand. "You can't keep running away and pretending forever. You-"
"No!" Will stood up,breathing hard,pushing away her hand. "You don't tell me. You weren't there."
Anya blinked and swallowed. Then she sighed. She looked down at the blueprint.
The sound of his footsteps left the room.
Will grunted in frustration. He loved Anya -his mom- to the end of the world,and he knew what she told was right,but he...just found it so unfair. Why did he have to be the one to adjust every time?
Just the thought of Naomi Solace and him want to scream into a pillow.
Which is what he did. He hoped he would pass out from suffocation.
A throat clearing snapped him out of it.
"Go away." He moaned.
"Will!"
"No."
"Sunshine,If you want to die,I can gladly do so. Please,let go of that poor pillow."
Will's breath hitched. His face burned as he tore away from the pillow. He almost felt embarrassed to face the other occupant in the room.
"N-Nico."
"Yes,yes,welcome to the land of living to you as well." Then Nico rolled his eyes.
"W-What are you...?"
"Damn it,Solace. You've been gone for nearly a month and you didn't think your best friend would miss you?" Asked Nico,half glaring,but playful.
"Well,I...I had extended parts of my family to meet. Then finally hunted down my mom's new address. I just got here a little while ago." Will explained.
"Yeah,I know."Nico murmured. Will looked at him in surprise. Nico turned scarlet."I mean,like,not...uh,"
Will bobbed his head to one side.
"I wasn't,um,like,stalking or anything!" He stammered as he turned redder. Then he buried his face in his hands. Will laughed.
"Relax,Death Breath. We're cool."
Nico was going to retort to the nickname when knock on the door interrupted them. A voice rang out.
"Will?"
Will suddenly lost his smile and looked guilty. Nico patted him on his shoulder,gave an encouraging smile and vanished into the shadows.
"Come in."
The door opened slowly,and Anya's face came into view. She smiled through a yawn.
"Hey."She said softly."Were you talking to someone?"
"No,"Will lied."Just...to myself."
Anya raised an eyebrow like she'd been expecting the lie. She smiled nonetheless and sat on the bed next to Will. Will immediately hugged her.
"I'm sorry,mom."He said."For...everything. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just so tired of adjusting and letting go all the time. I don't want to think about Naomi. Please."
Anya pulled back and kissed Will's forehead softly. "We don't have to. It was wrong of me to talk about Naomi. I was just trying to finish that topic once and for all,Will,so we don't have to think about the past anymore. But I realised I was digging up all that was past. I'm sorry too,Willy."
It took a few seconds for Will to start grinning goofily.
"Ah,"She said."There's the Will I know. The son of a God."
"I prefer Son of Anya Solace when I'm with you,mom." Will said.
"Oh,you know how to melt a mother's heart,don't you?"Anya laughed."Anyway. I'm going to stay up tonight and finish that blueprint- if you're tired,you can sleep. Or,stay up with me."
"Mom,that's injurious to health!" Will exclaimed. "We're both heading to bed right away!"
Anya pretended to be afraid."Oh Gods! The Son of the God of healing has spoken,and if I don't listen,he's going to annoy me to death! Save me!"
Will laughed jovially.
Will woke up to the smell of chocolate waffles. He would've laid there,but his stomach howled in protest immediately.
It was 6:30,far beyond his usual wake-up time. Children of Apollo were usually drowsy and and un-energetic till they felt the morning sun on them,one of the reasons why they woke up early and stretched when the first rays of sun peeked in through the parted clouds. Strangely,today Will felt like he was a regular 16 year old mortal boy feeling lazy to wake up.
He trudged over to the bathroom and slammed the door,cursing loudly in Greek for no reason at all.
"Willy! Good morning,"Anya kissed the top of his blonde mop of hair when he crawled into the kitchen. Then she placed a plate of waffles in front of him."And here's breakfaaaaaast!"
"Sun,"Will groaned."No sun."
He fell face first on the table as Anya laughed and drew the curtains. Sunshine flooded the room for merely seconds till Will sat up,grinning,like a rebooted robot. "Thanks!"
Then he slammed his fork into the waffle and started eating.
"So tell me how the year went for you,"Anya said,sitting opposite to him,devouring her own plate of blueberry-'n'-whipped cream waffles."Anything interesting?"
"Eh,nothing much. Same old councillor,same old infirmary. Battled a lot of new monsters. And guess what,"Will said,stuffing his fork into his mouth. "We battled the Earth mother,Gaia."
"Ooh. Like,the entire Earth,basically?" Anya asked. Will nodded. "Nice."
"And then Hera,she took Percy for months without a warning. Poor Annabeth. Seems he was in a Roman Camp."
"Ouch. Greek in a Roman Camp?"
"Yeah. In the end,Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus,came out alive,and the two Camps gave up enmity. Then we battled ol' dirt face,and won." Will dove in for another squeeze of chocolate syrup. Then he looked a little down. "...We lost a lot of campers,mom."
Anya sighed. "The best ones always leave soon. I hope they make it to the Isles of Blest."
Will sighed. "Yeah,me too."
"Who oversaw the burial? There were so many people,right?"
"No mom. Hades had two children: Bianca and Nico Di Angelo. Bianca died,so Nico's the only living Hades child." Will explained. "But besides the Big Three,all other Cabins have plenty of kids. I even met a lot of new-to-Camp demigods lately,"
Anya wiggled her eyebrows. "Any I should know about?"
Blush crept to Will's cheeks. "Mom."
"Seriously William. A boy of your looks and I haven't been hearing about any girl yet. Or is it a boy? I heard Apollo was bisexual,"She ranted. Will nodded,rolling his eyes.
"Sometimes I wonder if you're Aphrodite's handmaiden,"Will deadpanned.
"Let me rephrase my question,Will:Anyone I should know about?" She leaned over and looked him in the eye. Will sighed.
"Yes."
He could swear his mom would've squealed and screamed if she was trying to look uncivilised. "Who?"
"Ni-"Will stopped. If Nico was overhearing this through the shadows,his pride would go sailing on a ship. He reached to Anya's ear and whispered,"Nico. Nico Di Angelo,Son of Hades."
Anya squealed loudly. "Bring him home for Christmas. Maybe for dinner. Tonight? I want to see him. Is he American? I think he's Ita-"
"SHHHHH!" Will slapped his hand against her mouth and whispered,"He sees stuff through the shadows. He could be hearing us right now."
Afternoon went by in a breeze. Anya's fiance sadly had a last minute job to do and didn't turn up for lunch,so Will had his mother to himself the whole day. They had designed her wedding gown and the decor together. He even agreed to wear a tuxedo.
"Will,Will,Will,"Anya jumped."You need to bring a...uh...someone along with you for the wedding and..."
Will got what she was hinting."I'll see. Maybe I'll convince him that it's just for the wedding because my date dumped me in the last moment?"
"Don't lie to him!"
Will laughed."Geez mom,if you're like this now,what happens if we actually start dating?"
"I would adopt him as my second son. Don't stare at me like that. Help me make dinner,shoo!"
Will was staring out of the window. Anya had left for her night walks and Will had excused himself to his room;to give himself a full summary of his day,and he needed some alone time.
He was sitting peacefully till he saw a shadow raise up behind him.
"Hey."He said.
"Hey," The shadow answered back.
"You shadow travelled." Will noted. "What did I tell you not to do?"
"Please,"Nico said. "You didn't tell anything the other day. You're just glad to see me."
"That's true. But you're not shadow travelling anywhere now that you're here. You're staying here," He turned around,a pair of stunning obsidian eyes meeting his own.
"But I-I need to get back to the Camp,"He retorted weakly."I haven't informed anyone."
"We can IM. Besides,"I shot a look at him."It's not like you usually inform anyone before you shadow travel away."
He grinned sheepishly. "You hurt me."
"You shadow travelled both of us to Texas one day when I refused to let you Shadow travel,"Will said.
"Don't mention Texas."Murmured Nico.
Will's cheeks burned when Nico said that; they both had been forced to dance since they had landed there during some public carnival,and by the time they both were in a mood to leave,they had danced,eaten together,held hands and nearly kissed. They had been mere inches away from each other's lips when Nico had been tripped by a dancing couple behind him,so their lips grazed before Nico crashed on top of him.
Will chuckled softly. "That was a fun day."
"I said don't mention Texas!" Nico cheeks had gone garden-gnome-hat red,which for some reason was extremely adorable. "Are you trying to embarrass me away,Solace?!"
"Nah. I just like messing with y-"
"Will you wouldn't believe who I found in the par-" The sentence was cut short,and continued with a gasp."I knew you were talking with someone. Who's this,Will?"
Nico smiled and held out his hand. Will started to object,but Nico had already started."Nico Di Angelo. And you might be?"
Her mouth agape and eyes wide,she slowly shook his hand. "I'm...Anya. Anya Solace. Will's mom."
Nico had barely a second to register what she said before she enveloped him in a hug,and pinched his cheeks."My god! So thin and pale. Have you not been eating? Are you staying here tonight? Have you eaten dinner yet? Will and I are yet to-"
"Mom."Will interrupted."Nico's had dinner,and he's staying over-"
Nico screeched,but then decided against it and kept quiet.
"-He's staying over till I leave for the Camp again."
Nico swiftly turned to look at him,what?!
"What?" Will asked out loud.
"Nothing." Nico murmured.
"Alright,then! I'll bring extra pillows and blankets,Nico. You two," She glanced at Will's don't-say-it face."Can share a bed."
With that,she cleanly chose to walk out the room with a triumphant grin on her face.
Nico turned to look at Will's face. Pink was dusted on his cheeks as he shyly looked at Nico,"The blue blanket's mine,unless you want it?"
Nico shook his head.
Both the boys had walked around idly and an awkward silence had filled the room till Anya had burst in cheerfully.
"Boys~!" She sang. "Here are the pillows,Nico-"She handed him a big black pillow and a small white one,"And the blanket,would you prefer a duvet? We have a black one,"She paused.
"No,Mrs Solace,the blanket's fine. Also,why this obsession with black? I thought Will liked all light colours,"
"Young man,it's Anya to you." She pretended to be angry at Nico. Nico held up his hands in an 'I-Surrender' gesture."Also,Will told me you like dark colours."
"I did?" Will blinked,hoping his mom would pass it off as a joke.
"Of course you did. Now,off to bed,both of you!"
HIYA THERE MY LITTLE POPCORNS!
How ya doing? I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! And surprise,surprise. I was so happy to have gotten 25 freaking reviews for that Athena Cabin story that I have started the next chapter for it! Sadly,my much loved pinata,The Devil's Halo,is not going so awesome. You guys didn't like it? Sorry. :(
Also,I was waiting many months for Loneauthoress's Blood of Elements to continue as I was highly addicted to it(I'm sure many of you here are BoE fans? I heard that story was becoming popular on FF) but when her stories suddenly went POOF,I was starting to suspect something was wrong. I PMed the poor girl's account till she was forced to reply. *_*'
Here was her sad story. A person(let's just keep it anonymous person,but I'm sure most of you know who it is) had accused her of stealing the original content,plagiarism(man,I had to Google the correct spelling of that word!) and reported those stories and threatened her to take them down. I honestly found this unfair and unnecessary. When a few fans of the story tracked down the person and PMed about it,the person rather rudely messaged back a few lines.
*sigh*I was such a big fan of the story. Let's just hope she puts the stories back on one day.
Tasha off~!