Wil reached the door first, no surprise, and kindly opened it for his lady friend. She smiled kindly and graciously stepped into the cabin. The first thing Nanako found out about the cabin was that it was freezing. The air around her was so cold that she could see her breath. The walls were carved with images of a stranger bird with large, colorful, hind feathers. In the center of the room was a statue of what was presumed to be Hera and a fire pit at the foot of it. She also saw that no beds were present in the cabin, but someone had already set up their sleeping bags along each side of the fire pit. Then Wil instantly bolted passed her and practically dove onto a particular bag by his side of the pit. He opened the bag and started pulling scroll after scroll from it. It seemed like an endless supply, but he finally pulled out the last one and sighed thankfully.
"What was that all about?" Nanako chuckled.
"I didn't want to lose my research," Wil told her.
"What research?"
"I've been reading into some more Space-Time Ninjutsu," Wil explained. "And I think I found a way to improve the Flying Thunder God technique."
"But wasn't it already perfected by the Fourth Hokage? And you duplicated it exactly, what else could you add to its power?" Nanako was confused at his little obsession. Though, it wasn't that little, it consumed his whole life for three months one time. She remembered that he refused to train or even eat; Wil just locked himself up in his room and never came out. At one point, Nanako put a special barrier on the door to his room so no one could disturb him. When he finally emerged from his fortress of solitude, he was paler than a ghost and as thin as a toothpick, but with the energy of a crazed wolf pack.
"Not quite. I think if the Fourth would have lived a little longer, he would have discovered so many more things than I ever could. He would have discovered more about the Rasengan as well as the FTG technique. They are both a work in progress," Wil packed up the scrolls carefully and put the bag out of sight. "But that is not the topic we are to discuss now. What we should discuss is what we've learned."
"Sure, but first, can we get a fire going or something? It's freezing in here," Nanako shivered.
"Of course," Wil smiled. In no time they had a fire going with a little stash of firewood they found in the back of the cabin. Wil and Nanako sat across from each other with the fire between them. The sun had gone down completely now, and the demigods were massing in the giant fire pit in the middle of the Cabins for what Wil guessed was a regular camp thing. He didn't care though, they were on a mission and they had to take it seriously.
"Okay, so what do we know about this place?" Wil asked the first question.
"Well, Camp Half-Blood is a special training camp for demigods to train and be safe from monsters," Nanako answered.
"Good, now let's focus on the demigods themselves, what are they?" Wil continued.
"Demigods are offspring of one mortal parent and one godly parent," Nanako explained.
"They can also possess inhuman powers as well, like enhanced battle combat skills, smarter than normal, and – "
"And can control water," Nanako interrupted, hinting about that confusing little conversation Wil and Chiron had about that.
Wil raised an eyebrow. "Yes, and that. Remind me, I have to tell you something about that later. Anyways, from what I've gathered, this world has a long history."
Nanako dropped the situation for now and continued on. "Yeah, apparently our target Gaea or whatever, gave birth to these things called Titans and Gods; but I've only heard things about the Gods."
"Could the Titans not exist anymore?" Wil asked.
"I don't think so," Wil raised an eyebrow again. He was testing Nanako to see how much information she could gather.
"Really? Explain then, please," Wil smiled.
"Well, think about it, super powerful offsprings like that couldn't just disappear. I bet there was a war between the Gods and the Titans," Nanako conjectured.
"Very interesting," Wil was thinking. "I sense that the Titans are still around, but have been conquered and imprisoned."
"And now the Gods rule over the world," Nanako summed up.
"For now. Their reign is being threatened by an old evil," Wil reminded her. "Gaea the Celestial, by the demigod's and Chiron's viewpoint, is not one to be trifled with. If she's anything like the Ten Tails, she's going to possess unworldly abilities."
"Yeah, let's deal with her when the time comes. I really don't want to think about her," Nanako cautioned.
"Good point," Wil stretched and yawned. "What time is it?"
"Do you want our time? Or their time?" Nanako asked sarcastically.
Wil scoffed and lay down on his sleeping bag. "What do you think of those four demigods we met?"
"Who, Piper and them?" Nanako asked, lying down on her own sleeping bag as well.
"Yeah, what are your thoughts on them?" Wil wondered.
"Well, Piper seems nice and very social able; but there's something about the way she talks that sets me on edge," Nanako remembered the persuasion in her voice that almost made her do anything Piper wanted.
"Yeah, I noticed that, too. Other than that, though, she seems harmless," Wil then remembered how pretty she was as well. He joked to himself, thinking that if she had a special demigod power it would be beauty. "What about Leo and Jason?"
"Leo's something else, completely ADHD," Nanako said with a hint of annoyance in her tone. "He's kinda obnoxious and he reeked badly of grease and machinery."
Wil laughed. "He's not that bad. I think he's just trying too hard to prove himself, that's all."
"Well I think he needs to tone it back a bit," Nanako mumbled.
"Jason, though, seems mysterious to me," Wil changed the subject.
"Yeah, me too," Nanako agreed. "Though I could sense a great deal of power in him."
"But yet he stays humble about it," Wil added. "That shows how honorable he is in battle. I think we'll get along just fine."
"Wil? Are you intimidated by him?" Nanako sat up and had a wry smile on her face.
Wil jolted up. "I am not! He's just taller than me, that's all."
Nanako laughed and lay back down. "Whatever floats your boat, shorty."
Wil became flustered. "Are you sure you're not intimidated by Piper? I mean, she's not necessarily ugly."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nanako was up again, her eyes flaring in the light of the fire.
"All I'm trying to say is how do you feel when there is competition?" Wil wasn't getting anywhere in this. He thought it would be funny to suggest Piper's and Nanako's similar beauty, but it only dug him into a large hole.
"Competition?" Nanako was standing up now with fists clenched.
"It was just a joke, Nanako. No need to get angry," Wil was inching away from her as she advanced. The flickering light of the fire cast eerie shadows on Nanako's face making her look even more menacing. "What I'm trying to say is that yes, she's beautiful."
"You're not doing yourself any favors," Nanako grumbled.
"BUT, you are even more. She is second-rate compared to you, and I would much prefer you over Piper any day," Beads of sweat rolled off of Wil's forehead as he waited for Nanako's reaction. There was a flicker of motion from Nanako and Wil closed his eyes, ready for the ensuing pain, but none came. Instead, when he opened his eyes he came face to face with a smiling Nanako. She was down on all fours leaning straight into him. Their eyes were on the same level as Wil's terrified face met Nanako's sly smiling one.
"Next time, just go out and say it," Nanako whispered.
Wil was speechless. He couldn't move his mouth, but thankfully he had help. Nanako then leaned in farther and kissed him. When they finished, Wil found his ability to speak again.
"Don't scare me like that," Nanako just laughed and curled up by him with her head in his lap.
"Don't be such a baby," She said with eyes closed. Silence fell over the two shinobi, as Nanako relaxed in the warmth of Wil's lap and Wil stroking her beautiful hair and comforting her. The only sound came from the crackling of the fire and the miscellaneous songs of the demigods outside. Nanako enjoyed the soothing silence for a little while longer, but her patience soon gave in and slowly sat back up.
"What's wrong?" Wil asked curiously.
"I think I've waited long enough. What was that whole conversation about with Chiron?" Nanako finally asked.
Wil slowly stood up and started pacing the room. He fidgeted with his ring behind his back while he walked back and forth, trying to put the last few weeks' dreams into words. "What I'm about to tell you is a little weird, but from what we've seen now and done, it shouldn't come across as such."
"Just tell me," Nanako was growing impatient.
"Through the past few weeks, my dreams have been plagued with these visions. It was of this kid, a demigod with an incredible influence over water, going on these crazy adventures. I didn't know what it meant until now, but now that we are on this mission, I can't help but feeling they're connected," Wil kept pacing, rotating his ring on his finger faster and faster the more he thought. "I haven't seen a kid who looked remotely like the one from my dreams, but I did recognize someone: Annabeth."
"Could she be connected to this kid?" Nanako asked. Wil could see through the fire that her eyes were fixed upon it as she thought. She also bit her lower lip whenever she thought hard, which Wil thought was really hot; but now was not the time for such obsessions.
"Probably, I saw her on most of the adventures. She was always helping him with whatever they were doing," Wil finally plopped down by the fire and sighed. "Nanako, this guy was good, and I mean really good. There was this one where he faced down a Titan of an opponent. Even though it was a dream I could feel the kid's power. He is on a completely different level from all the other demigods. The only one of them who could compete with him would be Jason. I just wished I knew his name!"
Wil clasped his head in frustration and collapsed, exasperated. "I hate not knowing things!"
Nanako couldn't help herself from laughing a little. Wil was always cute, but even more so when he was frustrated about these sort of things. "You'll figure it out, you always do."
"It's not just that," Wil sat back up. "I have this…feeling that he's somehow connected to this mission and defeating Gaea."
Nanako slid over to Wil and put her arms around him to comfort him. "You're stressed, I can tell. We have been through a lot today. I think the best thing we could do is sleep, and let the answers come tomorrow."
Wil sighed. "You're probably right."
"I know I am, now go to sleep. We'll figure this all out tomorrow. Piper and I were talking about a full, in depth tour of the camp," Nanako sounded excited, but Wil was more focused on his sleeping bag. He knew it wasn't much of a bed, but right now it looked like the most comfortable thing in the world.
"Sounds fun. I'll see ya in the morning, Nana," He kissed her and climbed into his sleeping bag. As soon as he was all nestled into it, sleep came immediately; but unfortunately so did the visions.
Waiting for the morning didn't go as planned for Wil. As sleep conquered his body, his mind continued to have visions. It was of the same mysterious kid, too. The setting was different this time, and Wil thought it was a little more recent because the kid looked older. He was in the middle of fighting on top of a huge glacier. A swirling vortex of ice cold water had encased the demigod as he was attacked by waves and waves of what looked like ghost-demigods wielding golden weapons. He was holding his own against such an endless enemy as water flung itself at groups of ghost-demigods propelling them backwards and the kid's bronze sword flashing and slashing out at any who came too close. It seemed as if he was doing really well, but the sheer number of the ghost-demigod soon overwhelmed him and drove him back to the glacier's edge. Over the edge was a straight drop to an icy sea far below.
To make things worse, his water vortex shield was waning. Soon, Wil could see a good picture of the kid. Not much had changed from the last time he saw him, except he looked older and the gray streak in his hair was gone. He also had a staff with a golden eagle on top of it in one hand. He looked worried as he knew he was going to be forced off the edge. His water vortex disappeared completely now and he tried more than ever with his bronze sword to keep the ghost-demigod at bay. He swung faster and stronger, but it only prolonged the inevitable.
The kid stepped wrong and was sent plummeting to the ice waters below. In Wil's dream, he felt like he was falling with him. The demigod clenched the golden eagle close as he braced for impact. He hit the water with a huge splash, but Wil was surprisingly above the water. The demigod didn't resurface for several seconds. Then there was a disturbance in the water a couple yards away. Suddenly, the demigod emerged from the waters, holding the eagle high. It seemed that he was controlling the current, making him speed along through the water. He didn't look wet either; there was only straight determination on his face. He sped to a nearby ice chunk and climbed on top of it, exhausted. He managed to stand up and lean on the golden Eagle Staff for support. Before the vision ended, Wil heard a voice echo through his mind; it was Annabeth's. she was screaming out as if she was yelling for someone to help her. One word rang through his head that would haunt Wil throughout the night. "Percy!"