The Red String Of Fate

Religions of the world have always been connected. Chinese, Egyptian, Roman, Greek. The Red String of Fate is something that has stayed for millennia. Most Olympians can see these strings. No god or goddess has a string. But most mortals do have strings. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, and Persephone could see the strings. The strings can get tangled, knotted, thinner, they can even begin to fray, but they will never break. Some people think it's a cord. Others say a string, and some even think it's a single line. Well, that's the thing. It actually all depends on how strong the relationship is. A relationship of hate, or one where people don't know each other, or at least not very well, it's just a line. Once things start looking brighter, when people become friends, it becomes a string. And when they actually begin a romantic relationship, it becomes a cord. Aphrodite places these strings on people, the moment they're born. Sometimes, it'll be a few years before someone's soulmate is born, so someone might only have a loop until their soulmate is born. When a girl joins the Hunt, their string becomes a loop. The same happens when someone enters the Lotus Hotel. This is the story of a boy who went into the Lotus Hotel with a loop, and came out with a line.

A/N: Enjoy!

Will Solace used to think that Nico's face would be a friendly one in the infirmary. Wrong. Now, him and Nico were practically enemies.

"Look, believe me, I don't like it any more than you do, but Lou Ellen asked me to ask you to get any kind of plant from your stepmothers' garden. She needs it for some potion or something." Will told Nico.

"You do remember that this is the same girl that turned most of the camp into cats and dogs last summer, right? This is why I don't like the Hecate Cabin." Nico retorted.

"Dude, give her a break. It was an accident last year,"

"Yeah, well, I'm not letting her make another 'accident'. Do you have any idea how weird it is to have to feed a bunch of your friends when they're an animal?"

"Yes, I actually do, if you don't remember, I was one of the few people who wasn't turned into an animal."

"Well, I'm not just handing over a magic plant to that insane girl."

"I think you will."

"How about you leave me alone, or you'll see what else I 'will' do, Solace."

Will smirked. "I prefer people with good personalities."

The temperature in the supply closet dropped quickly. "Th-that's not what I meant, and y-you know it! I could kill you with a snap of my fingers!" Nico exclaimed, flustered, and was that hint of pink on his cheeks?

"Well, the plant?"

"Screw you, Solace."

"I geuss that means no." Will said with a sigh, walking out of the closet.

"Well!?" Lou Ellen, Will's best friend of ten years old, asked excitedly.

"He told me to leave or I'd find out what he 'will' do." Will said with a smirk and a joking tone. "I file that under a personal success."

Lou Ellen giggled. "What about the plant?"

"He said he wouldn't give a magic plant to an 'insane girl'."

"Can I kill him?"

"Chiron might get mad, but I don't care. Go ahead."

"Yes!"

"Will! Lou Ellen!" Austin, Will's brother, called.

"Okay! Be there in a sec! Come on, Lou Ellen, we'll be late for our shift!" Will and Lou Ellen ran for the infirmary.

(+)_(+)

"Lou Elleeeeeen." Will said, and Lou Ellen ignored him. "Louuuuuuuuuuuuuu Ellllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen. LOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU ELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT WILL!" Lou Ellen shouted at him.

"I'm booooooooooored!" Will said, sounding like a whiny five-year-old.

"I'm reeeeaaadiiiiiing!"

"What, you mean brushing up on your spells?"

"No! I'm reading about the latest special potions."

"What are you reading?" Will rolled off of the table he was laying upside down on. "'Hecate Cabin Monthly'!?" Will went into a laughing fit, because she probably had created the magazine herself.

"Yes." Lou Ellen said, narrowing her eyes.

"Did you write that yourself!?"

"Yes." Lou Ellen was full on glaring now.

Will got back up and laid down on the table upside down again. Then, they heard the door open to the room, and Chiron walked in. Will rolled over onto the floor and sat up quickly. Lou Ellen threw the magazine to the side and put on her best I-was-totally-working-and-not-reading-a-magazine smile.

"It's fine, Will. You too, Lou Ellen. I was just coming to tell you to go join the sing-along and campfire. After all, it's not the same without our head healer and the head sorceress. Go on, you two. I'll finish here, though it seems there's nothing to do." Chiron said with a smile.

"Thanks!" Lou Ellen said, running out of the room.

"Thanks, Chiron! Wait up Lou Ellen!" Will agreed, dashing out after his friend.

(+)_(+)

Will walked to the campfire/sing-a-long with Lou Ellen about ten yards ahead. When he got there, he saw his cabin upfront leading the sing-a-long, a lot of people not joining in and just talking, and he also saw Nico di Angelo sitting between Percy Jackson and Jason Grace. Percy had an arm around Annabeth Chase, and Jason had an arm around Piper McLean. Apparently, Reyna, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang were visiting Camp Half-Blood. Reyna was sitting next to Frank, discussing praetor stuff, probably, and Hazel was talking to Nico very animatedly. Nico rolled his eyes at something she said.

"Will!" A few Hecate campers who were sitting by the Hermes cabin waved him over. "Did you get the thing!?"

"No, the Son of Hades decided it would be better if he was a jerk, insulting your cabin and whatnot." Will internally smirked.

"He did WHAT!?" A boy said, standing up and muttering some curse.

"Yeah, he called your head counselor an 'insane girl'. He really doesn't like your magic, I think he distrusts all of you guys." Will continued.

A small group cursed Nico, but Will understood none of it. Suddenly, four boys and three girls stood up and walked over to the Seven. Will almost burst into laughter when he realized that two girls were sneaking up behind him from the Apollo cabin. The tapped his shoulder, and cursed Nico.

"What did you just do! I'm telling you to shoo!" When Nico realized he'd just rhymed, he looked like he was about to blow fire out of his nostrils. "I don't care how, but reverse this now!" Nico looked ready to kill someone now. "Solace, you did this! Reverse this or I won't miss!"

Will burst into laughter, falling onto the ground, and then he sat upright. Nico still looked like he was about to kill someone, and he was next to where Will was, but standing. Will gulped. Not good. Nico tried tackling him, but Will rolled away. Will scrambled to his feet, and then he charged at Nico, effectively tackling him to the ground. Nico was definitely was going to kill Will now. Nico kicked upwards, and Will fell back off of him. Nico looked smug as he charged at Will, and then he punched Will's chest. Wil stumbled back, but kept going. He tried kicking Nico, but Nico jumped back. Nico then summoned a few skeleton hands to keep Will in place. Nico charged at Will, headbutting him in the chest. Will managed to get a punch or two in before Hazel and Kayla ran in between them.

"WOAH GUYS!" They yelled, and Nico continued glaring at Will, as Will spat out a bit of blood. "Calm down everybody! Let's try to not kill someone." Nico allowed the skeleton hands to recede into the ground, and Will walked back to the Hecate and Hermes cabins.

Nico and Will each had a few bruises, Nico had a scraped elbow, and Will had a cut on his arm.

"Freaking a**hole." Will muttered.

Nico turned around, with murder in his eyes once more. He charged at Will, taking him by surprise, and flipped him over so his face was in the ground, and Nico was holding both arms behind his back, sitting on Will's legs. Will smirked, and then he rolled over, so now he was pinning Nico down. Then, the fire, which was currently red from resent, grew to ten feet in the air. Pink mist curled around the fire, and then a bright pink light blinded everybody temporarily. A red line was connecting people, a red cord connecting Percy and Annabeth, but only a line connecting Clovis to some unknown person. There also happened to be a bright red line connecting Nico to Will and vice versa. The pink light returned, and the red lines/strings/cords vanished. All but one, the one connecting Nico and Will.

"What's that!?" Travis Stoll asked.

Lou Ellen and Piper gasped. Will and Nico looked livid. Cecil walked over with Lou Ellen, and Jason came with Piper. Cecil investigated Will's side, and Jason investigated Nico's. Lou Ellen was muttering spells and their effects under her breath. Piper was trying to determine whether it was knotted, or tangled, or anything. Nope. Lou Ellen looked pale, like she was worried. She then uttered a spell to see if it would work, and it did. A small pair of scissors made of pink mist tried to cut the string. The scissors broke. Cecil grabbed a sharp piece of the metal that had fallen, and tried cutting it like that. Both Will and Nico clutched their wrists in pain and yelled at Cecil to stop.

"What? What happened?"

"I have an idea!" Jason exclaimed. "Nico, your sword please?" Nico grabbed his sword and handed it to Jason.

Jason swung the sword down at the line, and the sword bounced off and up into the air harmlessly. Will and Nico both howled in pain, clutching their wrists like they were trying to stop a wound from bleeding.

"It's a line… Well, that makes sense given your relationship with each other." Piper said.

"But why can we see it?" Lou Ellen asked.

"It must be some sort of magic or something."

"Then that explains the bright pink light. Aphrodite."

"Nope, leave me out of this, I've already had enough experience with this stuff, I'm good, cut the line, destroy it, kill it with fire, I don't care but get rid of it." Nico announced, earning snickers from the Aphrodite cabin.

"Boys, you can't destroy this one!" Drew exclaimed, rushing over. "This," Drew pointed at the line. "Is a magic tool used by Aphrodite to connect soulmates, but for some reason she's putting yours in the physical world. See, this is a soulmate string."

"No! No way! Of all people, my soulmate cannot be HIM!" They said together. "STOP COPYING ME! ARRGH!"

"Oh but can't he?" A voice said, coming from the fire.

Rachel, who was sitting by the Seven and Reyna, stood up. Her eyes glazed over with a pink tint.

"Sun and Shadow are Bound

Travel to the land without Sound

Find the lonely Death

Unify with a single Breath

Face the monster with a fear-striking Hiss

Send your souls back with a single Kiss

Hold on and don't let Go

Or fall to the ones that we don't Know."

She said, but her voice wasn't an oracle-voice, it was actually scarier somehow.

"Aphrodite, I swear on my life that I will PERSONALLY KILL YOU!" Will shouted at the sky.