Chapter 2
Will's POV
It took another three days in the infirmary for Nico to heal properly. It would've only taken a day, but Nico decided to be a tricky patient and didn't do anything Will told him to do, or he did everything Will told him not to do. For example, Will said "You can't play capture the flag tonight." and Nico said "I'm going to do it whether or not you give me permission too." Whatever, if Nico wanted to re-open his wound, why should Will care? He worked his butt off to help that boy, and for what?
"Come on, Will." Sam, Will's younger brother, said, distracting Will from his grumpy daze. "It's time for capture the flag." Will nodded before following his brother to the dining pavilion. Will sat grumpily at his table as his siblings chattered away to the Athena cabin, with whom they had made an alliance, about their plan of attack. Will didn't care. All he ever did was heal or defence, both of which would take a minute to tell him where to go.
After the whole running-in-with-the-flags-for-dramatic-effect-before-running-into-the-forest-to-hide-them was over, Will finally joined his team.
"We have to watch out for Percy," Annabeth told everyone. Will knew that she was loving life at college in Camp Jupiter in New Rome with Percy, but they still came by once a month to play capture the flag, which was nice. "So Leo, you distract him."
"Can do, baby." Leo wiggled his eyebrows at Annabeth, who just glared back. "I mean, I can do that, Annabeth." Will chuckled slightly to himself. Even thought Will didn't find Annabeth scary, he couldn't deny that her death glare made him think twice about crossing her. Not that he would cross her, of course.
"The second is Jason." Annabeth looked at Piper, who nodded with a slight wiggle of eyebrows. "Piper can deal with him. Obviously." Annabeth looked down at the map and back up at everyone else. "The third is Nico." Everyone fell silent. It was usually pretty easy to find the other two. Percy was usually near water and made a noise due to his clumsiness and Jason was usually flying around the perimeter of the area where their flag was and a flying boy wasn't that hard to find, but Nico. To this day no one had ever found Nico during a game of capture the flag. It was sort of unfair considering they played capture the flag at night, when he could easily blend in with the shadows.
"These people are the ones who usually mess up our plans so we need to get them." Annabeth said. Everyone knew about her bet with Percy, so everyone knew she wanted to win. Will didn't actually know what the bet was, but he knew that whipped cream was involved. That was enough information for Will. "I was hoping you could find Nico, Will." Will looked up at Annabeth, confused. She was really pretty with princess blonde hair that was up in a ponytail, golden tanned skin and intense grey eyes that seemed to hold a million plans and secrets. Just looking at her was slightly intimidating.
"Why me?" Will asked. Of course he knew. Sort of.
"You're friends with him." Annabeth said after what seemed like a moment of contemplation. Clearly she was thinking something she wasn't saying. "Do you know what you need to do?"
"Kidnap Nico." Will nodded. "That won't be hard. Its just trying to hold the son of Hades hostage."
"It's like Hades and Persephone." Someone behind Will muttered.
"I can do it." Will grinned evilly as he came up with an ingenious plan.
Finding Nico proved hard. Of course Will knew it was going to be hard. It wouldn't be a game of capture the flag if it wasn't even slightly difficult. He wondered through the forest, humming slightly to himself. It was a perfect night to Will. Not to dark, not to light. Not to cold, but not to warm. Everything seemed to be a happy medium.
Will was on the second verse of Shadows of the day by Linkin Park when something hit him in the back. (A/N:- YES! I got the title in the fic. I am so happy right now. Anyway, enjoy your solangelo and please review!)
"Really, Nico?" Will asked, rubbing his back. "Throwing things at me?" Will turned, but no one was there. Damn his underworld-y powers! Will knew that it was going to take a lot to find the son of Hades.
"Seemed pretty solid." Nico admitted. Will turned to the sound of his voice. "And it looked fun."
"Well it hurt." Will admitted. "Let me guess…" Will made a tutting noise before turning around, grabbing his bow and nocking an arrow. "You are currently hiding in the shadows."
"But of course, my fellow half blood." Nico chuckled, confirming where Will thought he was. Will took a small step forward, pretending to look around for the son of Hades.
"I bet you're up high." Will looked up. He'd be lying if he said he saw Nico, but he knew where he was.
"Maybe…" Was Nico… teasing Will? "What makes you think I'm up high then, Solace?" Will took another step forward. Yep. He definitely knew where Nico was now…
"The angle of which the rock hit me in the back," Will said, taking another step forward.
"Maybe I jumped down from there," Nico said. Will shrugged.
"Maybe you did," Will agreed. "But you didn't." Will could practically hear Nico's confusion.
"How do you know that?" Nico asked, sounding honestly curious.
"Because I have ears." Will aimed his arrow and let it go within 2 seconds. Before Nico could even get a chance to shadow travel an arrow stuck in the tree behind him, missing his head by a centimetre.
"That was smart, Solace." Nico marvelled, jumping down from the tree, completely visible. Will watched his pale face as he walked over to him. His dark hair looked messier than usual, his dark eyes held a mischievous glint and a small smile was plastered onto his face.
"Thank you," Will mock bowed. "Thank you very much." Nico held something out to the son of Apollo. His arrow. Will took it with a thankful smile.
"Technically I'm supposed to go get the flag right now or hold off other people until Jason or Percy get it." Nico admitted. He looked like he didn't want to go.
"I don't think that'll be necessary." Will grinned. Nico shot up one eyebrow in question. Suddenly cheers filled the air. The sound of victory. Will pretended to look down to his 'watch' on his wrist. "Wow. When Annabeth said it would take twenty minutes, she wasn't lying." Nico looked like he couldn't decide whether to burst of frustration or burst out in laughter.
"Well played, Solace." Nico shook his head with a slight chuckle. "But next time I won't spare you. Next time your ass will be somewhere in the shadows where only I can find you."
"Looks like I'll need some archery practice." Will didn't realise they'd reached the dining pavilion until he fell over a table. Damn it, he was an idiot!
"Good job distracting Nico, Will." Annabeth smiled. She winked at Nico, who rolled his eyes in response. Some sort of language that Will didn't understand?
"What did you guys get up to in that dark forest all alone?" Percy asked before Annabeth elbowed him in the stomach. "I mean, good job."
Considering Will was a son of Apollo it was weird when his insomnia kept him up. Usually a child of Apollo would sleep when the sun goes down, and wake up when the sun went up, but Will couldn't sleep that night. After what felt like hours of tossing and turning in his bed (It was actually twenty-three minutes) Will decided to go for a walk to clear his head.
Walking by the Hades cabin at night wouldn't be on everyone's to-do list, but Will always did it when he went for walks. Not to listen in on the son of Hades to ensure he was actually sleeping, but to get to the amphitheatre, where he usually went for his walks.
When he passed Nico's cabin this night, however, he could hear the horrified screaming. Will ran to the door and knocked and knocked and knocked, but Nico didn't answer. Before Will could think of a more effective method, he started charging at the door with his shoulder. It worked, but Will knew he was going to have a bruise there in the morning. Will ran over to Nico and fell to his knees. Nico was thrashing around, screaming in horror. His nails dug into the bed and he was grinding his teeth every now and then. It took Will a few minutes before he knew what to do. The shock of seeing Nico, who was usually so strong having a nightmare was almost enough to break Will's heart.
"Wake up, Nico!" Will shook Nico's shoulders hard, ignoring the throbbing pain in his shoulder. "Please, wake up." Will was pretty close to tears when Nico dashed up, shaking, sweating, panting. "You're okay, Nico. You're okay." Will pulled Nico into his arms and rocked him back and forth slightly. Nico cried into Will, whimpering every now and then.
"W-what are you doing here, Will?" Nico asked after what felt like a short time of cuddling. (It was an hour and a half!)
"I heard you screaming." Will explained. "Was it Tartarus again?" Nico nodded slightly into Will's chest. Will knew about Nico's frequent nightmares about Tartarus. He also knew that there was almost nothing he could do for Nico' trauma, no matter how bad he wanted to help. Will was surprised Nico was even sane after what'd he'd seen…
"It was Bryce Lawrence too." Nico whispered. Bryce Lawrence was a roman demigod that Nico accidentally killed. Nico blamed himself, saying he had no idea how to control everything that was building up in him. Killing Bryce almost made Nico fade into the shadows, it almost killed Nico too…
"None of those things were your fault, Nico." Will promised. "Everything that happened then wasn't."
"Thanks, Solace." Nico said, sounding generally happy, but Will knew Nico didn't believe anything Will had said. Nico laid back down on his bed and looked up at Will. Gods of Olympus, Nico's eyes were beautiful…
"Are you okay?" Will asked. Nico nodded slightly, still meeting Will's eyes. "What do you usually do when you have nightmares?"
"Panic until they're over." Nico muttered. "Bianca used to sing to me when I was younger." Will tried not to look too shocked. Nico rarely every spoke about his sister, but he just had in a casual conversation.
"What did she sing to you?" Will asked.
"Italian lullabies."
"I know a song that is partly in Italian." Will said. "Its called Soldatino."
"I've never heard of it." Nico shrugged. Will look a deep breath, looking into Nico's innocent eyes.
Close your eyes; I know what you see.
The darkness is high, and you're in ten feet deep
But we've survived more terrible monsters than sleep
And you know I will be here to tell you to breath
Tu sei il mio soldatino (You're my little soldier)
La ragione per cui vivo (the reason I live)
Non ti scordar di me (don't forget me)
Io vegliero su di te (I'm watching over you)
Stumbling lost; the last choice of all that you meet
It's the cost of ruling those 'neath your feet
Path you've crossed, and trust you're trying to keep
You're exhausted, listening for a voice that can't speak
Tu sei il mio soldatino (you're my little soldier)
La ragione per cui vivo (the reason I live)
Non ti scordar di me (don't forget me)
Io vegliero su di te (I'm watching over you)
So you run; through shadows you roam
Seams undone by the love you thought you could own
But he's just one of many that you might call home
And maybe someday, the bitter will fade from your bones, fade from your bones. Ohh.
Eri il mio soldatino (you were my little soldier)
Ora un principe oscuro (now, a dark prince)
Ma anche per te, c'e una luce (but even for you, there is a light)
Che ad unaltered vita ti conduce (that leads you to another life)
That's my second chapter done. That song is called Soldatino by Paolo Benet, so I don't own it, but I recommend you check it out because it is beautiful. Sorry if I got the spelling wrong, my Italian isn't completely up to scratch and I wrote this from ear, so, yeah. Anyway, please fave, follow and review if you enjoyed!
Thanks.