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The blackness was gone sooner than Nico expected, to be replaced by an almost blinding whiteness. Nico just had time to think, Hades lied to me!

Then, he heard voices calling his name, and hands on his shoulders, and he realized that the white was cold, and wet, and light. And then he realized that the white was snow, and it was swirling all around him. Looking up, he saw before him the Big House at Camp Half-Blood, looming before him in the snowstorm.

"Nico!" Jason hurtled out of the Big House and skidded to a stop in front of Nico. "Nico, we were so worried about you! Are you all right?"

"Where did you come from?" added Annabeth, who was just behind him. "You just appeared out of nowhere!"

Looking from side to side, Nico saw Will huddled against him, stirring from what appeared to be a deep sleep. On his other side, Frank sprawled in the snow, human once again, and similarly he was stirring. His mouth fell open and he muttered, "Wha – ?"

"We don't have a lot of time!" Nico told Annabeth urgently. "Tell me, what's the date today?"

Confused, Annabeth told him. Nico caught his breath – it was the day after they had left Quebec. Khione's attack on Camp Half-Blood was in less than twenty-four hours.

"Quickly, let's get inside!" Nico urged Annabeth and Jason. "Bring Will and Frank. Call the head counsellors to the Big House, and Iris-message Reyna at Camp Jupiter. We have things to discuss. Urgently."

~~Page Break~~

By the time Nico, Will and Frank finished telling the tale of what had happened in Quebec, the Big House was silent. The head counsellors gaped at them in shock.

"So Khione is launching an attack, here, tomorrow?!" Percy gasped.

"And after that she's set on Olympus?" Clarisse La Rue growled.

Will rolled his eyes. "Yes. What part of world domination do you not understand?"

"Right, then," Annabeth ordered. Nico could practically see her Athena brain whirring into action. "Defensive measures. We should start by fortifying the camp borders. It won't hold off Khione and her Winter Army forever, but it'll hold them off and give us even more time to prepare. Chiron, can you confer with the dryads and nymphs and satyrs? We need those magical borders stronger than ever."

"Absolutely," Chiron agreed. He appeared to have aged fifty years over the course of the conversation.

"Training programmes start in fifteen minutes," Annabeth commanded. "Every cabin needs to have their combat skills refreshed, right now, before Khione arrives. Jason, can you be in charge of that?"

Jason nodded, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Leo, you're in charge of weapon maintenance, rearmament and war machines," the daughter of Athena continued. "Starting with taking inventory. Go."

"Yes, ma'am!" Leo saluted and was out the door in a moment.

"And lastly, for the actual battle, we need a strategy," Annabeth finished. "Clarisse, come here. We have work to do."

Clarisse went to Annabeth's side as amicably as Nico had ever seen her, and the daughters of the two war gods put their heads together to devise a battle strategy.

Frank went to the Iris-message, where Reyna's disembodied head hovered, looking worried. "Can we expect help from Camp Jupiter?" he asked.

Reyna's face took on a determined expression. "Khione has attacked a Roman cohort, and by so doing declared war on us," she declared. "Camp Half-Blood can rest assured that tomorrow, the forces of Rome will stand by them."

Nico chose not to point out that the forces of Rome were situated on the other side of the country from Long Island, and that he doubted they would reach Camp Half-Blood in time to save it.

~~Page Break~~

For the rest of the day, Camp Half-Blood militarized and rearmed. There was never a moment when the training pavilion was empty, as demigods trained and sparred and fought. The woods were teeming with dryad activity, as the nature spirits took up their bows and fortified the camp borders with their magic. Everywhere Nico looked, he saw the signs of war.

Nico kept himself busy. He didn't even go to find Will. He had not told the head counsellors at the Big House about what Hades had said to him about Will – that had been too private. Too personal. Nobody needed to know about that. But he didn't think he could look Will in the eye now.

As the daylight faded and the moon rose, there was none of the usual campfire joviality and music. A grim atmosphere had fallen upon the camp, and as the campers trailed away to bed, earlier than usual, it was with a sense of resignation that the camp, for the third time in far too short a time, was going to war, and might not emerge victorious.

In the Hades cabin, Nico tucked himself into bed, as he had always done. No sooner had he laid his head upon his pillow, however, than he heard the sound of the door creaking open.

Faster than lightning, Nico had his Stygian iron sword in his grasp and pointed towards the door. "Who goes there?" he demanded.

The dark silhouette at the door raised his hands. "It's just me," he protested.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief. "Will?"

Will shut the cabin door behind him and flicked on the light switch.

"What're you doing here?" Nico frowned, putting away his sword. "The patrol harpies will eat you alive if they find out."

"I'm here to find out why you've been avoiding me all day."

Nico sputtered, but Will's gaze was firm and unrelenting.

"I – I – ," Nico stammered.

"There's no point in trying to hide it, Nico," Will said. "I know you're hiding something. I want to know what."

In a moment, Will's expression turned to one of horror. "It's not something I've done, is it?" he gasped, holding a hand to his heart.

Nico shook his head at once. "No, no! It's never you," he protested. "It will never be you…" It'll only be me, he thought bitterly.

"Then tell me." Will came and sat by Nico's side. "Tell me what's wrong."

With a sigh, Nico gave in, and recounted the tale of what had happened in Hades' Underworld palace. How Hades had threatened him, how he'd called him and Will unnatural, how the discussion wasn't over…

Will sat in silence by the time he finished. "So?" he finally asked, his voice quiet.

"So…what?"

"Is it over, then?" Will's voice was still quiet, but Nico heard the agony in it. "Am I to stop loving you?"

"Will – "

"Don't, Nico."

"No, I have to!" Nico insisted. "Because you must understand, I'll never give you up. I don't care what my father says."

Will turned back towards him.

"I love you," Nico insisted, and then sucked in his breath. He had never, never said that to anyone, apart from Bianca. He'd almost forgotten what it was to love. He'd given up on the thought of ever finding anybody to love. He was, after all, the son of Hades. The son of bad luck, of death, to be avoided like the plague. Or at least, that was what he'd been taught all his life.

But Will was different. Will had embraced Nico, every part of him, and made him feel wonderful and warm and loved and sexy, as Will had once described him. There was no one in the world Nico cared for more, he realized. And he fiercely loved Will.

Will's lips were suddenly on his, and Nico was kissing him back. Just for a moment, Will drew back briefly, his eyes shining with wonder. "I love you too," he whispered. "I'll never give you up. I'll love you forever."

And then they were kissing again, and sliding sideways, somehow. Nico lay on his back on his own bed, but kissing Will, who hovered above him. There was a fierceness, a passion in their kisses that Nico didn't think he'd ever felt before. Deep within, he felt something stir.

"Will," he moaned against Will's lips. "Oh, Will…"

Will's shirt was suddenly coming off, and Nico felt the hotness of Will's chest against him, feeling the hard, corded muscles of his abdomen and arms. He felt briefly the wonder of how beautiful Will was, how magnificent, and had to draw back for a second, just to admire him.

Will looked at him, the beginnings of a smirk on his face. "Like what you see?"

Nico responded by pinching his nipples hard. Laughing and grimacing, Will leaned in to kiss him again, and they were rolling around once more.

Now it was Nico's shirt that was coming off, and then his pants, and then his boxers, until he lay naked before Will. As Will stepped back to look at him, Nico felt embarrassed and shy in equal parts. He was small, he knew – rippling in muscles, just like any demigod, but skinny, and would never look as Will did.

"I know, I'm not – " he began to say. But Will cut him off, looking bewildered.

"You're beautiful," he whispered against Nico's lips, and his breath tickled Nico's nose. Their lips met again, and this time they did not stop, and Nico forgot what it was to be at war, to be the son of Hades, to be everything or anything but one with Will.

"Will…"

~~Page Break~~

When it was finished, they lay on their sides, panting and covered in sweat. Will spooned Nico from behind, drawing Nico's naked body against his own and planting a kiss on Nico's neck. Nico shivered as he felt Will's bare body on his back.

"I love you," he murmured to Will. "And no matter what happens tomorrow, if we live or die, you must know – I'll always love you."

Will kissed Nico's ear. "And I'll always love you. Till death do us part."

"Not even death, when you're the son of Hades," Nico reminded Will.

Their laughter did interesting things to the way their bodies fitted together.

One of my longer chapters. I couldn't help but notice that a lot of you reviewers have picked up on how homosexuality wasn't actually that uncommon in Ancient Greece. Believe me, it wasn't my intention to be mythologically incorrect, but I'm going to come back to this in later chapters. But thank you all the same and please leave me some reviews!

Also, since I last updated, a historic referendum on same-sex marriage has been held in the Republic of Ireland. As someone from a more conservative part of the world, my heartfelt congratulations go out to the equality-loving people of Ireland and any Irish readers who voted yes!