This is unedited. I repeat. Unedited. I apologize in advance for any mistakes of grammar, punctuation, the spelling of things, names, places I got wrong etc. Hope you enjoy and PLEASE R&R! Tell me what you think of the ending! Theories people! I want theories haha!

Title from the song 'Come on Eileen' by Dexys Midnight Runners!

*Edited* *Sweeps misspelled letters under the rug* Whoops...


Death was always on my agenda. Even from birth, it surrounded me, it was inside me. Death's sweet fingers caressed my life and squeezed at random intervals, destroying my life, one person at a time.

It occurred to me, about three days after Bianca's death, that I could be next. It didn't really scare me at the time- I could maybe join Bianca, see my dad for the first time since losing my memory, and was death really that horrible if my father could just send me back?

About half an hour later, I realized that could never happen because Bianca hadn't come back, yet.

Then it scared me. A ten year old kid, alone, in a weird place that I have never been before. And death could be looming over me, waiting until the next moment.

Six years later, and I've come to peace with that. People die, everybody dies. It happens eventually, to all mortals. Everyone. They all perish, and I only hoped it would happen in a least horrifying but heroic way possible.


"Fuck Will, calm down." I pulled my socks on, in the threshold of my cabin. Will was jumping around, hair bouncing around as he strided along the grass in the front of the cabin.

"Language!"

"You swear too, Will." I pointed out, rolling my eyes. He was way too nervous, for no reason. "What is wrong anyway?"

"Nothing. Chiron is just going to be teaching me some stuff today, and I'm afraid if I stuff up he won't let me heal people, and Nico that's all I can do. That is all I can do."

I frowned, which is more of a furrow of the eyebrows because I don't actually have a facial expression other than anger, sadness or my poker face.

"Will." My voice is icier than I wanted it to be, but never mind that. "Shut the fuck up. You'll be fine. It's okay to stuff up on the practice table, as long as it's not for real, right?"

"Not really..."

"And if you do mess up whatever it is you and Chiron are doing, that just means not to do it until you perfect it, right?"

"I guess but..."

"So shut up, sit down and breathe."

Will frowns slightly, and plonks on the stairs of the porch, resting his feet up and stretching. Like a cat. A hyperactive, blond haired blue eyes cat.

"Gee Nico, you always know what to say." He says, sarcasm lining his words. I make a huffing sound and work on tying my shoelaces again.

It's been about six months since the previous war, and to be honest I am fucking tired of all the drama. I just want to relax, sit back and calm down. To actually stop staring death in the face and missing by a hair width each time.

"Come on. Walk with me to the infirmary."

"You can't walk there yourself?" I stand, grabbing my sword and sheath from next to my door and attach it to my waist. Will lightly punches my shoulder, a goofy grin on his face.

"No." He says simply, grabbing the sleeve of my jacket and pulling me along. We detoured and snuck into the kitchen and grabbed an apple each, before stopping at the infirmary.

I felt a familiar pang, right over my chest, and instantly stopped in my tracks. "Will..."

"What?" He glances over his shoulder and sees emotion number three: no emotion. Aka the Poker Face.

That's when we heard the scream, coming from the general direction of the cabins, and Will and I shot off, apples forgotten and dropped on the floor, Will's special lessons with Chiron at the back of our minds.

We followed the general crowd, and stopped in front the shining Apollo cabin. We pushed through the crowd, and I stopped Will at the open door. "Stop. No one goes in."

"What? No. That was my sister's scream-"

"I said stop. Someone keep him outside." I nodded at a couple of campers who tugged Will back. I made my way inside, and into the bathroom next to the door. There was one of Will's youngest sisters staring wide eyed at something in the bathroom, and I gently touched her shoulder. She let out a soft sound, almost a moan, and I saw tears in her eyes. I looked over her shoulder to see a figure on the floor, all blue and red, throat and mouth as swollen as can be.

I picked up the little girl, who couldn't have been more than 9, and carried her outside. Will immediately detached himself from the campers who had crowded around and ran up to the small blond, checking for injuries.

"S-S-Su-" She stuttered out until she burst into tears. Will looked at me over her head.

"Get someone to get Chiron."

"Nico what's-"

"Tell him I'll meet him at the infirmary."

"Don't shadow travel, Nico. Promise."

I went back inside and picked up the small boy, who couldn't have been more than eight. I wrapped him gently in a spare blanket from inside the bathroom cupboard. I walked outside, and was instantly under the scrutiny of literally the entire camp.

"Nico-"

"Move." I skirted around the teens and walked briskly towards the Big House, finding Katie Gardner and Chiron our front, with Katie rushing him out of his wheel chair and towards the cabins.

"Thanks, Katie. I'll take it from here." Chiron sees the body wrapped in the yellow blanket and ushers me inside.

My reasoning of not letting Will see his dead brother is actually very simple. Death from battle, and murder in a safe environment are two different things. I am almost positive if someone died on the battle field, and Will saw, he would definitely be affected, but in a different way. Seeing your dead brother in your home is horrifying. No other words but horrifying.

The camp 'morgue' is actually in the basement, and off to the left in a special refrigerated room. Chiron led me to a metal table and gently lie down the boy.

"Allergy. He died from allergy. He was probably taking a pill when he died. I'm ashamed to say I think he accidentally took the wrong one." I gently took the blanket away from his puffed out face, and Chiron sighed.

"Call Will. Let him know who it is, and he'll get a shroud ready for the poor boy." I uncomfortably nodded. Before I moved towards the door, I closed his filmy eyes and sent a prayer to my father- may he reach where all heroes go.

I found Will standing outside the infirmary, counting his siblings.

"James and Elijah are missing. Nico are they okay are they...?" He trailed off as I touched his elbow, gently coaxing him away from his gaggle of brothers and sisters.

"It was James, Will. We suspect he had an allergic reaction to some pills he accidentally took. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

Will snapped his arm away from me, his eyes widening in horror. He stepped away from me for a second, and a tear dripped down his tanned chin. I leaned upwards and used my jacket sleeve to wipe it away, but it was replaced by yet another.

"Can I- can I see his body?"

"No. Absolutely not. I'm sorry but no. He's... he's not good looking."

"I don't understand but I know you wouldn't tell me not to look for no reason."

"Come on." I led him towards the porch again, and he sat down in front of his siblings, and extra boy who must have been Elijah was there now. Will quickly straightened up and looked at all his siblings, delivering the news with a straight face, not another tear falling.

A couple hours later, I felt something nagging at me. It was an odd feeling. It was almost dinner, but I made my way towards the Apollo cabin. As I approached, I spotted Austin sitting on the porch swing, a harmonic in his mouth. He was playing a depressed tune, which even made me even sadder than usual.

"What do you want?" He spat, and I rolled my eyes.

"Is Will in?"

"All of us are. You know. Mourning for our loved one. Because they died. You're the expert on death here. You see it every day. I bet you find this funny. "

"I understand you are upset, but would you kindly shut the fuck up. Death happens to everyone, including me. When you lose your one and only fully related sister at the age of 10 and your mum at 6, then you can fucking tell me that I find this funny. But you haven't. So just leave me alone. You have my deepest sympathies, and I've already spoken with my father for him to go to the Isles if he chooses. So sit down, tell me where Will is and shove that harmonica back in your face."

He seemed slightly stunned by that. I think that's the most I've spoken to anyone that isn't Will or Hazel in a long time. Serves him right. I may have been way harsher than I originally intended to, but just because I am the son of Hades, doesn't automatically mean I am happy about death. People need to get that through their thick skulls.

"He's er... in the bathroom. He hasn't gone out since. He won't let anyone in, either."

I pushed open the door, and found the blond haired blue eyed siblings spread out around, a mellow air to them that made me cringe. I have never seen this many Apollo children anything less than chill ever.

"Will?" I asked, my voice soft. Kayla pointed me towards the closed bathroom door and I slipped in quickly. I found him sitting on the floor, back against the cabinet underneath the sink, his foot sitting next to the murder weapon (of sought).

"Hey. Nico. My brother just died. Do you want to know how many that is, so far?" I knew precisely how many that made. And not just in this generation, either. But I let him list names, and when he added James at the end, he seemed to let out a tired sob of some kind.

I crouched next to Will, putting a gentle hand on his bare foot. I brought out a cloth from my pocket, originally used to clean Will's sunglasses because he refused to do it himself, but this will do. I gingerly pick up the closed bottle of pills and checked the side.

"Do you put prescriptions or something on drugs? What was this for?"

"Um yeah. We do. His name, parent and birth date should be stickered on. He took them for a case of insomnia. It's a special concoction Chiron and I made. Take it after breakfast and before bed, and it helps you get to sleep."

I checked the bottle. There was the hand written sticker on it, in Will's messy but legible handwriting.

"Okay. Can you give me a list of things he is allergic to?"

"Literally just peanuts- anaphylaxis. He puffs up about a couple seconds after swallowing."

"Okay. I'm going to run this over to the Athena cabin. Don't touch anything in here, alright?"

"Okay. Why, Nico? What are you doing?" I shrugged slightly.

"I don't know. Something seems... off. Fishy. I don't know. I'll be right back, alright?" I gently touched his head and rushed off.

When I reached the Athena cabin, Malcolm was sitting on the porch, criss-cross apple sauce on the wood.

"Malcolm. I need a favour?"

"Yeah. Sure?" He sighed. The camp had a very mellow and shady aura to it, and knew that it would stay like that for a long time.

"Do you have something that can pull finger prints or something off of things?"

"I guess. I could do it for you. But I wouldn't have anything to compare them to or something."

"That's alright. Can we use Chiron's computer to... upload... it and be able to match it?" Will had started teaching me 21st Century lingo, and all about technology. It's all confusing but I think I'm starting to get it.

"I can download something that can do that. Sure. Why?"

"It's an assignment Annabeth sent me. Can you just teach me how to do the finger prints and then download the thing whenever you have spare time?"

"Sure. I'll download it now. I have nothing better to do. I'll teach you the finger print thing after dinner if you want?"

"Thanks."

Rule number one? Trust no one. (To be honest... except for Will...)

I spent the rest of the day in the bathroom with Will, sitting side by side as Will mumbled depressing things and occasionally thwacked his head on my shoulder.

After Malcolm taught me the basics of finger print lifting (it was difficult but if I was careful I'd be okay) I sat in my room with the half empty bottle of pills on my desk and a pair of stolen plastic gloves from the infirmary, as well as a small kit Malcolm gave me.

Will had come in about an hour after dinner, claiming he couldn't sleep in the cabin tonight, and Chiron is allowing the Apollo campers to sleep in the infirmary tonight, not wanting to be so near the death site. Will had asked if he could spend the night here and Chiron agreed but only if I did. Of course I did. Pass up the opportunity for my best friend and (admittedly crush) to stay in my cabin for a while? No way!

"What are you doing, Nico?" Will asked tiredly, camp fire gone with the sun. He was sprawled out on my bed, hands propping up his head.

"If I tell you, you have to swear not to tell anyone."

"I swear on the Styx. You can trust me."

"I don't think James's death was accidental." Will's sleepy blue eyes grow wide and he gapes at me, shaking his head.

"Nuh-huh. No way. Who would do that to James? Everyone loved James." He choked a little on the past tense, and his gaze swept to the floor.

"Well. I'll figure it out, okay?"

"Okay." He rolls on his back and stares at the ceiling.

I work silently, doing a messy but passable job on the finger prints. I find three different prints on the container. I only know they are different because from just looking at them, I can see one is arched, and the other swirly and the third completely different too.

I finish at about 11 o'clock at night, and find Will had fallen asleep on my bed by accident, watching me work. I gently tuck my blanket under his chin and brush back some of his hair.

I don't find anything that suggests James was murdered, and I take his finger prints just in case. A couple days later we burn him with the shroud the Apollo cabin made. Will had a stony face the whole way through and didn't say anything, even when his siblings were crying and begging me to 'bring him back'. I suspect if he showed any emotion he would break down in front of everyone. And he didn't want to do that, because he believes himself the leader of his cabin.

I scan the camp, and looked at every face. I see Jason and Piper in the back, looking at Will with a strange expression. Sympathy? Probably. I scanned the crowd and found mainly sad or shocked faces. My eyes scanned over a girl, who was a camper who came in about six months after the Giant War. She was claimed as a daughter of Demeter. She is a tiny bit on the large side, and her face was stonier than Will's. I felt I knew her from somewhere but didn't dwell on it.

I'm so used to be in the shadows of things, it's become second nature to scan the crowd for something odd or out of place. It's been a massive help over the years, if I'm being completely honest.

On the way to lunch, Will was talking in low voices with a girl from Aphrodite. I think her name is Drew... or something? She was, apparently, a super close friend of Will's when he first came to camp. I saw that girl from before, walking behind Will. She had a smile on her face, which was odd but I heard some people's coping mechanisms is to smile or laugh so I didn't think much of it.

Three days passed before I heard the soft whispers of death brush over camp again. Will had refused to go back to his cabin, even though most of his siblings had. He still took them to their various chores and when we had breakfast lunch and dinner, but otherwise he didn't even dare step into the cabin.

I was sitting on my bed, my back against the wall and Will's head on my shoulder. I always used to feel uncomfortable at the feel of touch, but ever since becoming friends with Will, I pretty much learnt to suck it up and actually maybe sought of like it. Maybe.

Will and I were reading the same comic book at the same slow pace as any demigod, when I felt it. I thought maybe it was an animal in the forest but the life force was too strong. I looked at Will who was miserably scanning the pages.

"Will. I just remembered I have to speak to Jason about something super important. Stay here okay? Don't want you to get eaten."

"I have a pass from Chiron seeing as I'm head doctor. I'm allowed out in case someone gets injured."

"Stay for me, okay?"

"Whatever. Sure." I stand up and pull my black sneakers on, not bothering to change from my pyjamas and slip on a jacket of mine. Will grabs my wrist just before I can leave and tugs me closer to him.

"Nico?" I can feel myself blushing considerably and curse the light next to the bed. I close my eyes when I feel Will's breath near my ear. I feel him gently (albeit sloppily) press his lips onto my cheek. I blanch a little and rush out with a quick 'see ya soon'. Ohmygods maybe I need to talk to Jason now.

But then I remember the important mission I had appointed myself with and rush into the shadows of my cabin. I felt it coming from the cabin area...

I walked behind the cabins, and felt it, like a pushing at my heart, and I felt my stomach drop. I felt myself feeling a bit odd, and smelt the smell of blood whisk around me.

There was a mangled corpse of a girl lying on the grass, her hair splayed over her face and blood seeping into the long blade of grass. When I approach the body I notice she's in pink lacy pyjamas and has a tooth brush in her hand. There's a knife sticking out of her but I can see at least six stab wounds. I feel in my pocket for a tissue and gently take out the blade- but it's not even a blade! It's garden scissors!

I grab the clip-top bag from my pocket that I had taken from the kitchen and place the weapon into the bag. I drape my jacket over her body and flick her hair off of her face and draw in a quick gasp. It's Will's friend from the other day. Oh no.

I slide my arm underneath her legs and torso and carry her towards the Big House. I knock on the door, and Chiron answers blearily, with a blanket over his horse half. "Nico...? Oh my. You know where to go."

I walk in and place her body in the 'morgue' laying her out neatly. "Did you feel it? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I have the weapon they used." I tossed him the plastic bag and he caught it mid-air, inspecting it.

"I think whoever killed this girl killed James, Chiron."

"Oh. Well I'm not the death expert here, but if you think so."

"But there's absolutely no connection between James and this daughter of Aphrodite! Has anything like this happened before?"

"No. Not really. Not unless you count Luke poisoning Percy. But he didn't die."

"I better go tell Will."

"Oh yes. He was good friends with Drew here. Be gentle. Two deaths in one week. He'll be devastated." Before I left, I saw an odd calculating look on Chiron's face. What's he thinking about?

When I returned, Will was throwing a tennis ball around, occasionally bouncing it on the wall and catching it again.

"Finally Neeks! I thought you were eaten by the harpies! What's wrong?"

I told him quickly, but clearly, not wanting to repeat it, because I wasn't sure I could. Will completely shut down, and actually took a step back, away from me. I tried not to feel like a kicked puppy at that and held my hands out in front of me, as if standing in front of a kitten.

I need to stop with the animal metaphors.

Will collapsed, sitting heavily on the floor and sighing, putting his head in his hands. The figure of a completely devastated boy.

"I'll leave you, so you can-"

"No. Uh. Stay. Please. If you can." I nodded and grabbed some pillows, lying a couple down next to Will then using mine from my bed to lie down. Before I could, Will grabbed my top pillow and exchanged it with his spare ones, hugging mine to his body. I found that odd but didn't comment. Will smacked down on the floor and tugged down a thin blanket from the bed closest to him. He pulled it up to his chin.

"You're not going to let me see her, are you?"

"You wouldn't want to." Will and I were almost nose to nose. I felt his breath mingling with mine. No. I can't think about that when he just heard the news of one of his closest friend's death. I roll onto my back, letting out a breath.

We stay quiet for a while, the only sound is our soft puffs of breath.

"Nico?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you won't..." He trails off with a mumble, and I flick my eyes over to him, only seeing his flash of blond hair from the corner of my eyes.

"What? Speak up Will." He sighs loudly, exasperated.

"Promise me you won't leave me as well." I close my eyes, and let a breath put, reaching silently for his hand.

In the darkness, I feel my hand close around three of his fingers, and I hear him take a sharp breath in. He wraps his long piano fingers with mine, intertwining them.

"It's not particularly on my agenda." I say, not wanting to lie (because no demigod is always safe) but wanting to make him feel at least a bit better.

"Good."


A week passes and not much happens. Chiron seems to be interrogating a handful of campers, but it doesn't look like he has any leads.

Will and I walk to the mess for every food break. He acts like nothing happened around others, but when he's with me, I'm the talkative one. And that's saying something.

After my daily sword practice with the Hermes cabin (the horror). I make my way over to the infirmary to take Will to lunch. When I walk in, I find him sitting behind the infirmary desk, a stack of paperwork next to him.

"Hey? Ready for lunch?"

"Ha! No. Go on without me. I asked Austin to make sure you eat."

"Will!"

"What? What's the difference between him doing it and me?" He smirks and bites the top of his pen extremely sexily.

And that's why there's a difference.

"I'll bring back a plate for you, then."

"Thanks, have fun."

"I'll try not to." I wave to him and he salutes me with his pen.

I sit down on the Hades table, a sandwich landing in front of me. I check it, and it's egg and lettuce. Just what I wanted. I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn to see Jason smiling down at me, his grin a tad crooked from his staples scar. "Hey, how's Will going?"

"Okay, well... as okay as you can be under his circumstances."

"Well, how are you doing?" I was a little taken aback by that, and stared at him for a few seconds. Eventually...

"... Why...?"

"You found two dead bodies because of your Hades-ness. That's kind of scary." I resisted the urge to remind him I have caused deaths more gruesome than allergy. But never to a nine year old. Or to anyone other than a savage dickhead.

Also... Hades-ness...? That's worse than Underworld-ly magic. For the love of my father's underwear, think of something less stupid, people!

"I've seen worse." Is all I say, but Jason sits down next to me, and my beautiful egg sandwich is completely out of my line of vision. Sad.

"Nico. That's not what I asked. Are you okay?"

"I'll be fi-"

"Nico. People have died because they are too proud or too stubborn to admit that they are fine." I glance at my lap before meeting Jason's hard blue gaze.

"I think... I'll be fine when Will is fine." Jason smiles slightly, which is again a little crooked (but I see how Piper finds that endearing... I guess...)

"Do you have a crush on Will?"

"What? No." Liar. Pfft. Big ass liar.

"Well... you're gay. He's bisexual. You guys are incredibly close. I'm sure there's more than just friendship between you guys..."

"Can't two gay guys be friends? Jeez." Why don't you just admit it? I'm sure have the camp are already betting on us.

"Yeah. They can. But not these two gay guys, as you so delicately put it." Jason stood, gently touching my shoulder for a second before walking away.

I turn back to my sandwich. Sooner I eat this, the sooner I can go see Will.

With that thought, I picked up my lovely sandwich and took a bite.

I ate lunch quicker than usual, although that's still pretty slow as I eat next to nothing. I caught Austin's look from across the hall and he raised two fingers to his eyes then pointed them to me. I'm watching you, his eyes said, eat that sandwich or Will {will} hurt me, they begged.

When I pushed my plate away from me, crust and everything finished, I stood and nodded at Jason, who winked. Ugh. A-nnoy-ing.

I passed the Aphrodite table when I felt my entire left leg just completely shut down. It just didn't move. I could still feel my sword sitting on my leg, but it just wouldn't connect to my brain that I wanted to move.

Not a second later, my right leg followed and I just fell forward onto the ground, cracking my nose on the concrete. I heard clopping sounds come from somewhere far away, and they sounded almost urgent, but everything blacked out when I realized that my arms had stopped working too. I blinked groggily, but... then my eye lids practically froze, half lidded, the only thing I could see was feet and hooves in front of me.

Something strange happened after that. My chest and torso stopped moving, like someone was pressing down on me, like I'm, almost, maybe sort of-