Chapter 2: Flickers

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The dining pavilion was filled with life. In the last two days, a huge chunk of the Camp Half-Blood demigods had arrived. The once barren pavilion now hummed with chatter. Some of the tables were already dangerously crowded.

Despite the explosion in population, my table was empty as always.

No surprise there. As a child of Hades, I was used to being alone. I accepted it. While the other gods enjoyed the sun and the earth, my father was stuck to the caverns below the earth. In other words, it was only natural for me to be an outcast.

After getting a plate of sweet-smelling BBQ and various vegetables, I headed over to my table. My mind was still swirling with what had happened earlier that day. Will had acted so very strange... but maybe I was being overly dramatic? A few comments and a few small touches didn't meant much. Maybe he had been playing a game? There was a whole slew of American social jokes that I didn't understand. For example, one time Leo patted me on the head and declared, "Goose!" It had seemed nonsensical at the time until someone explained to me that it was a game.

I sat down at my table, let out a frustrated sigh, and started digging into my food.

And then everyone else sat down too. They swarmed around the table so quickly that I didn't notice them until they all started to sit down. Mouth agape, I looked up from my food and found many familiar faces at my table.

Piper, Annabeth, Percy, Lou Ellen, Cecil, Kayla, Jason, and Will. The latter two plopped themselves down on either side of me. Gulping, I tried to ignore how nervous I felt having Will sit so close to me. We're just friends, I told myself like it was some sort of mantra.

Honestly, I'd never seen the Hades table so full. Chiron preferred for every camper to sit with the rest of their cabin, but he didn't speak up as the hoard of demigods joined me.

Jason reached out and ruffled my hair. Growling, I smacked his hand away. "How was the forge today, Nico?" He asked cheerfully.

Really? Were we going to ignore the elephant in the room? Everyone was sitting at the table of the god of Death and all things underworld. I didn't understand why everyone would want to sit here, with me. They didn't sit with me last summer at dinner. For some reason, this didn't seem to be bugging the other demigods at the table; they were chitchatting like everything was normal.

Fine. If they weren't going to address their strange actions, then I wouldn't either. I looked at Jason and mumbled, "Um, good. Hot." I didn't mention how Leo had harassed me about how he thought I looked strangely happy.

"So, like me?" Will joked with a hearty laugh. I blushed.

"Boo!" Kayla snorted as Lou Ellen used her spoon to fling a wad of mashed potatoes at Will. He dodged the potatoes, giggling.

I noticed that Will seemed normal now. While I couldn't put my finger on it, there had been something weird about when him when he had finished bandaging my arm. Whatever it had been, it wasn't there anymore. Will was definitely his silly, care-free (and annoying) self again.

To my left, Jason started telling his side of the table about a new shrine that he was working on. He said something about Annabeth helping, and she chimed in, "He's a picky god, so we're trying to get it just right." Jason started talking again, describing some of the nuances of the shrine, but I wasn't really listening. No, I was too distracted by what was going on at the other side of the table.

Will and Cecil had both shoved carrots into their upper lips and were preforming their best walrus impression. This included both head bobbing and folding their arms into pretend flippers. In my eighty two years on this earth, I had never seen anything like it. It was idiotic, foolish, pointless, churlish...

And really, really funny. I tried biting my bottom lip to stop myself from snickering as I watched them out of the corner of my eye.

It became too much when Will started arf-ing like some sort of psychotic seal. Boisterous laughter bubbled out of me. I didn't like laughing out loud (it always drew too much attention), but I couldn't help was such a dork!

The table grew quiet almost instantly. My laughter died in my throat as everyone turned to stare at me.

What? It wasn't that weird for me to... okay, fine. I didn't usually laugh. But they didn't need to look at me like that! Oh gods, my cheeks felt like they were on fire.

Focusing my dinner, I viciously stabbed at the veggies on my plate. I refused to meet their inquiring gazes. I was not about to admit that I found Will's walrus impression hilarious, especially with Will right there. He'd never let me live it down. Unfortunately, it seemed like some of them interpreted the situations on their own. A few spots down from me, Percy cupped a hand around Annabeth's ear and whispered something to her, while staring at me.

Annabeth chuckled and replied softly, "Yea, I think so too."

Before I could snap at the two of them for gossiping about me, movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention.

Will, with the carrots still shoved in his lips, placed his face a few inches from mine. He hovered there, his face emotionless. He was clearly trying to get a rise out of me. But no, I was not about to give him that satisfaction. So I struggled to maintain a straight face as I continued to eat like nothing was abnormal. But Will didn't give up. He stayed where he was, staring intently at me with his stupid carrot teeth.

Everyone at the table was snickering.

Maybe a tiny bit of churlish behavior wouldn't kill me, I decided. So I scooped up some mashed potatoes with my spoon, turned, and smeared them onto Will's nose. When everyone started laughing, including Will, I allowed myself a small smile.

Having everyone at my table wasn't so bad.

The next day was Friday. Even at breakfast, the dining pavilion was abuzz with discussions about that night's Capture the Flag. While I was scooping eggs into my mouth, Percy and Jason surrounded me at my table and made sure (read: threatened) that I would be joining their side for Capture the Flag.

"Yea, fine." Reluctantly, I agreed. I never particularly looked forward to Capture the Flag. While Jason and Percy could use their big three gifts to their advantage, Chiron had explicitly asked me not to summon any skeletons during the games. He had mentioned something about the skeletons scaring the younger campers. Besides that, my shadow-travel had been decided by the other camp counselors to be a hundred and ten percent unfair (as I could just shadow-travel straight to the flag and then back across the river), so that was out too.

The day seemed to pass quickly. I headed to the forge and worked quietly for a few hours. Leo was too busy helping some of the younger campers with their tinkering to talk much with me.

The infirmary was my next stop. Will seemed normal today too, which was good. We bantered back and forth as he wrapped up my arms again. Apparently, my arms were healing at a fast pace. Or at least, that's what he said; I couldn't tell with all the gross salve covering them.

He asked me if I was going to start helping him in the infirmary like last summer. I gave him a noncommittal shrug for an answer. There were fences to be made, after all. And… well, maybe I wasn't sure about spending too much time with him right away. I needed some time to build up a resistance against Will again.

My bandages re-wrapped, I headed out of the infirmary. As I left, Will shouted, "See you at dinner!"

At dinner, I found myself surrounded by the same crowd as before. How on Tartarus did my table turn into the communal table? I feared to ask. Today, they were all relatively rambunctious, what with the game starting in an hour. Will and Jason kept exchanging playful threats over my head.

"Solace, your arrows won't do you any good when I control the air." Jason pointed out

"That's if you notice them before they hit ya, Grace!" Replied Will with a laugh.

While they argued, I twirled up spaghetti on my fork and nibbled at the pasta. I always liked spaghetti; it reminded me of my mother's cooking. The camp's spaghetti was never as good as hers, but I doubted anything would ever be.

Jason continued gloating, "Right now, we have all of the Big Three demigods on our team. Do you really think you have a chance against me, Percy, and Nico?" Even though it was unnecessary, Jason plopped his hand down on my head. I whacked it away, annoyed.

Will laughed. "Well, I can't say I've ever sparred with any of you before." He gave me a small nudge. "Maybe I'll finally get the opportunity, eh?"

I snorted at the idea. Will was a healer, not a fighter. "You wouldn't last more than two seconds." I told Will dryly, before slurping up some more spaghetti.

Clamping a hand over his heart, Will groaned in pretend pain. "Your lack of faith hurts me deeply."

My cheeks felt warm as I gave his shoulder a quick punch. "Dork." I huffed at him.

Annabeth insisted that the Blue team leave dinner early so that we could get ready. Armor, weapons, and spells were prepared. My team gathered up and Annabeth started relaying information and strategy. I was instructed to go the long way around and try and sneak up on their flag while Jason and Percy tried for a direct approach. Annabeth made some sort of weird metaphor about me being the seeker and everyone else chasers (at least, I think that's what she said?) that went right over my head. For some reason, everyone else nodded like they perfectly understood.

The game started and I entered the forest. The only good thing about Capture the Flag was that it was played at night, which was one of my favorite times of the day. I moved swiftly, crossing into the opposing team's territory in a matter of minutes. Every so often, I heard commotion from other demigods, but I always avoided them. It was almost too easy. The flag had to be around here somewhere.

I was on my way through the forest when a nearby noise caught my attention. Freezing, I grabbed the hilt of my sword. Then I heard it again, from behind me. I twisted around, pulling out my sword. But, before I could ready my sword, a hand smacked my sword to the ground.

It was Will Solace. Light from a mostly full moon illuminated his clean, white shirt and his blond hair.

I gasped and stumbled backwards. How had he gotten so close to me without me noticing? He matched my pace backwards with determined forward steps. My eyes searched the forest, looking for another alternative. Before I could find one, my back hit the trunk of a tree, forcing me to stop. Will didn't stop, though, until his entire body pressed onto mine, pinning me against the tree.

I forgot how to breathe.

There was something off with him, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was because he seemed oddly perfect? His hair didn't looked as ruffled as usual. The way that Will was staring at me was also strange; he looked almost hungry.

"Will..." I gurgled out his name when I finally found my voice.

Why was he doing this? He knew that I was not that okay with physical contact. Well, yes, maybe I had dreamed about being this close to him. But so suddenly, without warning? No, my flight or fight responses were kicking in. Was he trying to prove a point? I thought back to dinner and how I'd told him he wouldn't last two seconds against me. Yes, it must be that.

"You win." I whimpered, trying to ignore how good his warm body felt pressed against me, "It's been more than two seconds. You can get off."

His eyes narrowed with what looked like confusion. "What?"

"What I said at -" His hand reached up and gently dug into my hair. Instead of finishing my sentence with dinner, I ended up making incoherent gurgle-y noises. My heart was pounding so hard that it hurt.

He started leaning his head towards mine.

"What are you doing?" I squeaked, my voice trembling. Part of me realized I could push him off, but I couldn't find the courage (or want) too. I was frozen in place.

"What do you think?" Will chuckled huskily.

My mind went blank as he closed his eyes and his lips got close to mine. But, right before our lips could touch, a cacophony of whoops and screams erupted from the forest nearby. Before I really could register what was happening, Will had backed up. He gave me a charming grin before turning and disappearing into the forest.

Through the trees, I saw several demigods, Jason and Percy included, waving a red flag. They hadn't passed the river yet, but there didn't seem to be much opposition following them.

I slid to the ground, breathing raggedly. A few minutes later, we won the game.

My heart was still pounding when I exited the forest. In the clearing between the camp and the forest, the demigods were clustered. The blue team was gloating; Percy and Jason were tossing the red flag back and forth like it was a football. I quietly glided over to them.

"Who's the best?" Percy yelled.

"We are!" Jason yelled back.

Arms suddenly wrapped around my shoulders and I had to resist the urge to judo-flip my assailant. "Good game, eh?" Will asked me, his voice incredibly nonchalant for how he had acted back in the forest.

Tensing, I mumbled, "Um. Yea." Internally, I was screaming at him. Why are you so calm about this!? You almost kissed me! I don't know how to feel about all this!

He released me and sauntered around to my side. "Too bad we didn't get our showdown!" I blinked in surprise at his words. What was he talking about? We did. He had pinned me against a damned tree! "Maybe next time?" He gave my shoulder a small shove.

I turned to glare at him, baffled and frustrated. That's when I noticed the large, dark red stains on his white shirt. Gasping, I asked him, "Did you get hurt?"

"Huh?" Will glanced down at his shirt. "Oh! No, that's just spaghetti sauce from dinner." He grinned sheepishly at me.

It felt like a wrench had been jammed in the cogs of my brain. Will hadn't had any stains on shirt when I'd run into him in the forest. I must have looked like a fish out of water, with my jaw dropped open.

Will rubbed the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. "Hey, in my defense, Cecil threw spaghetti at me after you guys left. I know how to eat without getting it all over myself." If I hadn't been so freaked out about the whole disappearing-reappearing stain thing, I might have wondered why Will and his friends always seemed to get into food fights at dinner.

Something soft pegged me in the face. The flag. "Sorry Nico!" Jason yelled at me.

All my frustration manifested itself into rage at that small act. Furious about my run-in with Will in the forest (and how could it have been Will if he didn't have stains on his shirt, but then who else could have it had been, and how in the end I wasn't sure of anything), I twisted my foot on the ground and opened a crack below the flag. The flag fell into the hole and tumbled down into the underworld.

Jason, Percy, and Will all stared at me in surprise.

I couldn't explain my rage to them, so I stormed away before they could ask.

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