Will hummed cheerfully to himself as he put the last of his things in his bag. He was excited to go back home. Camp had been fun, and he liked having siblings and a dad, even if it sounded like Apollo was pretty distant with his kids.

Will had also had a lot of fun with his new friend. It was because of his new friends that he felt at least a little sad about leaving. He would miss being able to play with his friends every day, but he could always see them next summer.

Will wasn't going to leave without saying goodbye though, especially not Nico. He had an end of summer present for his friend, and he wasn't going to leave until after he'd given it to him. First though, he had to get the gift.

Will left the Apollo cabin and made his way to the forges. He had asked Beckendorf to make something for him. The teenager had been reluctant to help, as Will's request wasn't the kind of thing that Beckendorf normally made, but he'd quickly caved.

Will had been told that the gift was ready, but he hadn't had the chance to go get it. His siblings were always running around doing different camp activities. Now though they were busy packing, and since Will was already ready to go he could stop by the forges and get the gift.

The forges were unnervingly empty. It seemed that Will's siblings weren't the only ones packing up last minute. Though the forges looked empty at first glance Will was relieved to see Beckendorf in the back. Selena was at his side, chatting pleasantly with him. Beckendorf looked more calm and content than Will had ever seen from him.

"Beckendorf!" Will pulled himself onto one of the stools set to the side of the forge. They were there for the demonstrations that the Hephaestus kids frequently gave, but it was also a nice place to sit and hang out with people as they worked.

"Hey, kid," Beckendorf gave him a slightly amused look. "I was wondering if you were going to show up at all."

"I wouldn't just forget this." Will said. He had made a promise to Nico, and he planned on following through with it. "Can I see it?"

"Sure." Beckendorf walked away from the sword he was working with and made his way to a wall where he hung up his finished products. He grabbed something and held it in front of Will. "This what you were looking for?"

Will felt his breath get caught in his throat as he saw the necklace. He reached out a hand and accepted it. There was a moon pendant attached to a silver necklace cord. The moon was black with surprisingly small and beautiful silver details. Will pulled his sun necklace out from under his shirt to compare it to the moon. They looked like a matching set, like the black and silver moon had always been connected to the white and gold sun.

"Yeah," Will grinned. "That's exactly what I wanted."

"Charlie," Selena said breathlessly as she looked at the necklace. "You made that? It's beautiful."

"It's a present." Will said.

"Oh, really?" Selena gave Will a small smile. "Who for?"

"Nico." Will said. "He says my sun necklace doesn't suit him because it's too bright, but I think that he's really bright, so I wanted to give him a necklace that shines like he does."

Selena brought a hand to her mouth. "That's adorable and so sweet." She stood up and grabbed Will's hand. "This gift is perfect, but do you know what it needs?" Nico didn't even get the chance to answer before she continued. "The perfect box to put it in, and I think I have just the thing."

"I don't think-" Will began.

"Just go with it, Solace." Beckendorf said almost tiredly, though also fondly. "It's easier to just let her do her thing."

Will sighed and let Selena pull him from the forges and towards the cabins. She led the way into the Aphrodite Cabin. Will had never been there before. His siblings told him to avoid the Aphrodite or Ares cabins because they thought that it was too dangerous for him and he was just going to get himself hurt, but Will didn't see a problem with this place. It looked like any other cabin, except cleaner.

Selena waved at her siblings, but didn't stop to talk to any of them. She was there with a specific goal in mind and she wasn't going to let herself get distracted. Selena went to a bed that must be hers and opened the bedside table drawer. She pulled out a small necklace box. She opened it and pulled a necklace out of it. Selena put the necklace on.

"This should work," Selena eyed the box from different angles. It was dark blue with small stars dotted across it. Selena held a hand out to Will. "Can I see the necklace?" He handed it over. Selena carefully set it in the box. She stared at it for a second before she adjusted the necklace a little. The adjustment was barely noticeable, but Selena seemed much more content with it.

"There you go." Selena closed the box and held it out to Will, who happily took it. "I'm sure your little friend will love it."

Will beamed. He'd been happy without the box, but this made it feel a lot more special. "Thank you!" Will took the small box and left the Aphrodite cabin, ignoring the confused look they were all giving him.

Will didn't bother going to the Hermes cabin. He knew that Nico only spent time there when absolutely necessary. If he had to take a guess he knew he would probably find Nico with Percy, probably in the sword-fighting arena.

Will made his way to the arena. He found Percy talking to Bianca, but his friend wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Where's Nico?" Will asked. Bianca stiffened and shook her head. She pulled her hat down over her eyes. It looked like she was crying. She muttered something that Will couldn't hear, but Percy got the gist of. The older boy said something to Bianca before turning to Will.

"Nico and Bianca got in a bit of a fight," Percy said. "He ran off."

If the fight had been bad, which it probably had to be if Bianca was this upset, then Nico was probably really overwhelmed. Will had seen his friend run off to be somewhere a little quieter, somewhere he could have some privacy. But he also knew that Nico didn't like to be alone, especially when he was upset.

"Where is he?" Will asked.

"We don't know." Percy admitted. "We thought we'd give him a little space to calm down."

Will would understand if Nico wanted to be alone, but he wasn't going to take Percy's word for it. The only person he was going to believe was Nico himself. Will needed to find him.

He tightened his grip on the necklace box in his hands. He ran out of the arena as he tried to think of where to begin his search. Will knew where he would go if he needed some space. He didn't know if it was where Nico would go, but it was the best plan he had. So Will made his way to the amphitheater.

He knew that it probably wouldn't be where he would find Nico. The amphitheater wasn't even Will's first choice of where he would go if he needed space, but it just felt right. His instincts told him to go to the amphitheater, and that was where he was going.

Will had never been to the amphitheater in the middle of the day. It looked weird abandoned, like walking into a ghost town. Will felt a shiver go down his spine. He felt like he was walking somewhere that he wasn't supposed to, and the gods were going to strike him down. He didn't know why he felt so unnerved here. It was just a normal amphitheater...with a creepy looking shadow in the corner that looked a lot bigger and darker than it really should be. Will couldn't even see anything in the amphitheater that could cast that kind of a shadow.

Will wrapped his fingers around the sun necklace as he approached the shade. He thought he saw a figure crouched in the corner, but sometimes it looked like it wasn't there at all. It wasn't until Will got closer could he say for sure that somebody was there, and he had a feeling he knew who it was.

"Nico?" Will approached his friend. Nico growled and drew back and almost seemed to sink into the shadows. If Will wasn't looking right at him he might have not noticed him there at all. "Are you okay?"

Nico shook his head. Will grimaced sympathetically and knelt next to his friend. "What happened?"

"She's leaving me." Nico muttered. "I'm going to be alone."

"Who, Bianca?" Will asked. Nico nodded. "Where's she going?"

"School," Nico said. He sounded absolutely miserable. "She said I need to stay at camp."

"What, year round?" Will asked. Nico nodded again. "That could be fun."

"Not by myself." Nico said. "I won't have anybody. Bianca's leaving, Percy's going home, you…" Nico whined and buried his head in his legs. The shadows around them seemed to get darker. "You're leaving too. Everybody's abandoning me."

Will felt his chest tighten. "I'm not abandoning you." He clenched his hand around the necklace box. He didn't know whether now was the right time to give it to him. "I'm going to be writing to you every week."

Nico was still for a long moment before he lifted his gaze just enough to look at him. "You are?"

"Of course," Will said. "We're friends."

"But you'll be around other kids your age," Nico said almost shyly. "You don't have to be my friend anymore."

Will frowned. "Who says I'm your friend because I have to be? I like being your friend."

"Y-you do?" Nico frowned. He looked confused, and it hurt a bit. Why did Nico think that his friendship was a burden? Will thought that Nico was great, and he was determined to convince Nico of that.

"Yeah," Will adjusted himself so he was sitting instead of kneeling. "You remember when I had you wear my necklace, and you said it didn't suit you because it was too bright?"

Nico hunched his shoulders and seemed to be trying to make himself as small as possible. "I'm not a bright person. I'm not happy, or cheerful, or somebody that people like to be around."

"That's not true." Will disagreed. "I've seen you really happy. What about that time we played Mythomagic? Or when you did that sword move that Percy was showing you?"

Nico scoffed. "That's not happy, that's obsessed. Bianca says that people don't like when I talk about things they don't care about."

"Well, I like it." Will said. "You get so excited, and your excitement is contagious. Seeing you smile makes me smile. I can't get enough of it."

Nico's face went red and he buried his face back in his legs to hide it. "Really?"

"Really." Will said. "You're so smart and fun. You don't see it, but I think you shine a lot." Will nudged Nico's leg until he looked at him. He held the necklace box out to him. "I got this for you."

Nico frowned in confusion and slowly accepted the box. He opened it and stared in awe at the necklace. "The moon?"

"It's not as bright as the sun, but it's still bright and pretty." Will took the necklace and slipped the cord over Nico's head. It looked better than Will had hoped. "I thought you'd like it."

Nico stared at the necklace for a long moment. "I-I do." Nico brushed his fingers over the designs on the moon. "It's pretty."

"It suits you." Will said. "Don't you think?"

Nico gave a very small smile. "Y-yeah, I think so."

Will let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried that he would have had to fight with Nico about deserving a pretty necklace.

"I'm sorry I have to leave." Will said quietly. He was excited to go home, yes, but he hated that he was doing anything to hurt his friend. "Maybe I can convince my mom to let me come to New York for Christmas or Spring break, and you can show me just how much better you are at sword fighting."

"I can already kick your butt." Nico smirked weakly. Will laughed.

"I think everybody at camp can kick my butt." Will was a healer, not a fighter. Nico didn't laugh, but his small smile brightened, so Will counted it as a win.

"And you won't forget to write letters?" Nico asked.

"Never." Will promised. "In fact, if I can't figure out how to mail letters to you I'll hunt down Hermes himself and make him deliver them to you personally."

Nico snorted, and there was that laugh that Will had been looking for. "You're so weird."

"It's why we work so well together." Will said. He held a hand out to Nico, and his friend slowly accepted it. Suddenly the shadows they were sitting in didn't seem as dark, or maybe they just weren't as scary.

Nico smiled, a rare, genuine smile that Will was starting to think he would do anything for. The other boy took his hand and Will pulled him out of the shade and into the sunlight.

"I get that you're upset about Bianca, but if she's leaving soon you should probably say goodbye to her." Will said. "I know you're mad now, but don't let that make you do something that you're going to regret."

Nico sighed and gave his hand a squeeze. "I don't want to, but you're right." Nico grimaced and leaned close to him. "Will you stay with me?"

"As long as I can." Will agreed. He walked with Nico out of the amphitheater and back towards the arena. As they got closer he could feel Nico's hand shake. He was nervous, but he didn't stop. Nico was determined to do this, and Will admired his bravery.

When they got to the arena they saw Percy and Bianca sparring with each other. Bianca looked like she couldn't decide whether she was angry or upset. They didn't notice them at first, but when Bianca saw her brother out of the corner of her eye she stopped so quickly that Percy barely moved his swing in time to avoid hurting her.

"Nico." Bianca said breathlessly. The boy flinched and almost drew back behind Will. Nico ducked his head and let his hair, which was just long enough to tickle his eyelashes, fall in his face. Bianca tried to hug Nico, but he flinched back and pulled away. Bianca, who wasn't a hugger in the first place, didn't seem bothered that Nico was shying away from her.

"Are you okay?" Bianca asked. "I was so worried when you ran off."

"I'm fine." Nico said quietly. His face scrunched up in frustration. "Actually, no, I'm not, but...but I think I will be."

"I know you don't want me to leave, but I promise I think this is the best for both of us." Bianca said. "You're going to thrive at camp. And I promise, I'm not completely leaving you. Me and Percy were talking to Luke, and he thinks it's really important that we keep training, so we're probably going to be coming back to camp every weekend."

Nico blinked and took a long moment to register what Bianca had said. Finally he relaxed and loosened his grip on Will's hand. "You'll visit?"

"Of course I will." Bianca said. "Somebody has to keep you out of trouble."

Nico's expression darkened. He looked like he wanted to cross his arms, but he was still holding Will's hand, so he brought his free hand to grab onto his necklace instead. "I don't need to be taken care of."

Bianca flinched slightly. "I-I know." She said, though even to Will, who didn't know her that well, it didn't sound like she really meant it. "Just...if something happens and you do need me, just send me an Iris message. If I'm at school, send one to Luke. He'll figure out how to get it to me."

Nico looked at the ground. He was getting upset again, but he was trying to put on a brave face. Will gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Okay." Nico said quietly.

Bianca relaxed. "You'll be okay." Nico didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue with her. He just shrugged and shrunk back slightly. "You're a lot stronger than you think you are."

"She's right." Will said. Nico smiled slightly and rolled the moon pendant around his fingers. "You remember what I told you?"

"...That I'm awesome?" Nico asked almost shyly.

"The best." Will grinned. He saw Percy and Bianca give each other an odd look that he didn't understand, but he didn't really care about what it meant. "Do you know what would make you even more of the best?"

"By definition, isn't it impossible to be better than the best?" Percy muttered. Bianca shot him a sharp glare and he shut his mouth. Will ignored them.

"You can write me back." Will said. "School's really not very exciting. Your letters will shake things up."

"I'm not as good with words as you are." Nico muttered. "But I guess I can try."

"It will be great." Will grinned. He was already looking forward to hearing from Nico, and he hadn't even left yet. "I don't need to leave yet. Do you think we can play some Mythomagic? I think I can beat you this time."

Nico laughed. "You wish. You'll probably be able to beat Percy though."

"Hey." Percy frowned. Nico and Will just laughed at him. Even Bianca chuckled. "Oh, you brats are going down."

"Those 'brats' are going to annihilate you." Bianca grinned. "I can't wait to see it."

"Let's go." Nico said. He gave Will's hand a small pull. "We can play a game before we leave."

"You're on." Percy smirked. He looked at Bianca. "You coming?"

"I'm going to regret this." Bianca sighed, but she did indeed follow them. "I'll warn you, I used to be the only person that Nico could play this game with. I've played it far more than I would ever want to, and I'm pretty good."

"In that case, why don't we team up against the kids?" Percy asked. "The teams should be a little even, right?"

"Not even a little." Bianca smiled. "All of us could team up against Nico and he'd still beat us with both hands tied behind his back."

"I want to play with teams." Nico said. "I've never played it like that before."

Bianca sighed, though Will could hear the fondness in her voice. "Alright, fine, we'll tag team, but only so I can put the blame on you when we lose."

"Fair enough." Percy chuckled. They followed Nico back to the Hermes cabin. Will couldn't stop smiling as they walked, as Nico was still holding onto his hand and necklace. Nico seemed okay now, but Will knew that as soon as he, Percy, and Bianca left he would freak out and shut down again.

He would have a hard time adjusting, but Will was sure his friend would be okay. Nico was a tough kid, and Will wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being one of the strongest demigods at camp, even if he hadn't shown any obvious powers these past few weeks.

Who knows, maybe while at camp Nico would be able to find what powers he had inherited from his godly parent. Will had no idea who his friend's dad was. However he was, no matter how strong or minor a god he was, Will was sure that Nico's powers were going to be extraordinary, just like everything else about him.

A/N: This is the end of this particular story. I'll be exploring more with this series more, but I'm going to be taking just a bit of a break from the series. I want to focus on some other stories of mine. I'll be back though. I have way too much planned to just leave it here.