Kole's POV

After dinner, Chiron banged his hoof, and all the platters and dishes disappeared, replaced by armor and weapons. "You all know the rules! No killing or maiming, I'm the medic. The teams are currently led by Hermes and Athena! Magic items are allowed." Chiron shouted. The pavilion erupted with cheers as everyone rushed to get their armor on. Kole grinned and joined her brethren, arming herself with deadly weapons.

She managed to mask her pain as they all got in position in the woods, but once she was alone in the clearing guarding the flag, she groaned an kicked a rock. She heard the noise of battle in the distance as she set up a perimeter of flash bangs, Slip Slime, and banana nets.

Of course, the first person to go for her flag was Nico. Kole turned invisible as soon as she spotted him. He tripped over a flash bang, came up coughing, then face planted in a puddle of Slip Slime.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that-" Nico started.

"I was here?" Kole appeared right behind him, finishing his sentence and scaring the Hades out of him.

"OMYGODSWHEREDIDYOUCOMEFROM?!" Nico jumped a foot in the air. Kole almost fell over laughing. A few other kids came through her defense line, but they all got caught in her banana nets.

"You ain't getting that flag, Death Boy." Kole put her hands on her hips.

"Wanna bet?" Nico drew his black sword. Kole whipped out her keychain and put it in sword mode. He gave an experimental lunge. She parried and whapped him in the side with the flat of her blade, trying to hide her wince. Kole went on the offensive, and Nico could barely avoid getting sliced to pieces. Eventually he got used to her style, and they sparred as equals.

The game ended, but still Nico and Kole fought. Sweat broke out on their foreheads as the sound of clashing blades rang through the clearing. The color left Kole's face and she started trembling with effort. Pain shot through her body as she twisted to avoid Nico's other campers gathered around, watching silently. Kole saw money change hands out of the corner of her eye. Bets on who would win, no doubt.

"Kole you should not be out of bed, let alone sparring!" Chiron scolded.

"Little busy!" she responded, blocking Nico's blade and pushing him back. She feigned to the right, then smacked his leg with the tip of her sword. She parried his strike, but the next blow landed right over her snake bite. She gasped and dropped her sword, clutching her side. "Dang it!" she stumbled forward, trying to regain her balance. The campers were silent. Nico sheathed his sword and caught her before she face planted. "Why does this keep happening? It's embarrassing!" Kole complained.

"Because you're an idiot, that's why. You just can't listen to Chiron, can you." Nico shook his head.

"It's kind of inconvenient. It's no fun to lay on a couch all day." Kole sighed.

"Ya but it's also no fun to have to catch you every five seconds." Nico rolled his eyes.

"And it's also no fun to have to be so close to you. Uhg. Why can't someone else catch me?" Kole asked. A pained look appeared in Nico eyes for a moment, but it disappeared so fast she must've imagined it. Nico didn't even have a chance to say anything before she blacked out. Again.

Nico's POV

The whole next day, Kole was unconscious. Nico kept finding himself thinking of her, then wondering why. Her words the night before ran through his head all day. 'And it's also no fun to have to be so close to you. Why can't someone else catch me?' It bothered him that her comment had stung so much, because he was determined not to like her. He shouldn't care her, after all her pranks.

Nico pretty much just wandered around all day, doing whatever monster fighting classes were happening, anything to take his mind off Kole. He refused to think about her.

"Hey Death Breath! You know where our sister is? Drew thinks you like her."

Connor and Travis.

Nico took a deep breath and turned around slowly. "No, I don't know where she is. And no, I do not like her."

"Suuuure. Death Breath likes Kole!" Travis shouted. Nico thrust up his hand, and the earth rumbled as bones buried deep underground shook.

"You will not say that to anyone! No one at all." Nico said, glaring at them intensely, his dark eyes flashing threateningly.

"Okay, okay! We promise!" they shuddered, remembering what Nico did last time they made him mad.

After dinner that night, Nico couldn't stand it anymore. He went to the Big House after he ate and knocked on the door.

He stood on the porch for a minute before the door was opened by Chiron.

"How's K-" Nico started. His voice faded when he saw Chiron's expression.

"You should come in." Chiron said, his face blank. Nico's heart clenched in anxiety. Chiron opened the door wider so Nico could come in. "She hasn't woken up since last night. She's running a high fever, and I don't want to risk giving her any more nectar or ambrosia. I gave her another dose of the antidote for the snake poison, but it hasn't made much difference. I don't know what else I can do for her."

Nico walked into the room she was in. No smile played across her face, and her normally rosy cheeks were pale. He was worried, then mad at himself for being so worried. Then he just gave up. He couldn't hide his feelings, he'd learned that the hard way, so he might as well embrace them. He liked Kole. He was worried about her.

Chiron left Nico sitting by the couch Kole was lying on. After he was gone, Nico started muttering to Kole, even though he knew she was unconscious.

"You know, as much as I hate to admit it, I kinda like you." He couldn't stop the blush that spread across his cheeks. "Or at least, I don't want you to die. I haven't decided yet."

He sat there almost the whole night, and after midnight, he fell asleep on the floor next to her couch.

The next morning, Nico woke up with his back against Kole's couch. For once, he didn't have any bad dreams. He sat up and glanced over at Kole, hoping she'd be awake, but she was still unconscious, pale and shaking. Nico sighed and leaned against the couch.

Chiron walked in a few minutes after Nico woke up, medicine pouch in tow.

"Were you here all night?" Chiron said, the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. Nico blushed and just left the room.

Kole's POV

Kole could normally handle pain. She'd broken her leg, her ribs, even been stabbed in the gut. But poison? That was a whole new level of ow. She'd never actually gone unconscious before, but after her spar with Nico, all her energy left and a wave exhaustion and pain had totally knocked her out.

Her mind wondered through dreams, each one worst than the last. She relived practically her whole past, and all she wanted was to wake up. Then the dreams started getting dimmer and dimmer, until they disappeared. And all she could feel was the pain.