Disclaimer: All rights to Rick Riordan. I own nothing, but the plot.

Themes of self-harm, anxiety, and depression are expressed within this story. TRIGGER WARNING! Please do NOT read if these themes upset you. TRIGGER WARNING!

Criticism is appreciated, but please no hate. Please review and leave me suggestions! Enjoy!

Nico's POV:

After addressing the disappearance of Miranda Gardiner—"As a precautionary measure, please stay away from the woods until we know more"—Chiron called forward the young son of Hephaestus to explain how the three-legged death race would work.

Nico was honestly questioning how Harley had convinced Chiron to let him create such an insane obstacle course; Harley's ADHD made Nico's look non-existent.

Chiron raised his hand for silence as Harley mentioned death. "Now, I know there were problems last time," he said, "but fortunately our healers in the Apollo cabin were able to reattach Paolo's arms."

At a table in the back, a muscular teen boy rose and began ranting in Portuguese. He wore a white tank top over his dark chest, and Nico could see faint white scars around the tops of his biceps. Cursing rapidly, he pointed at Harley, the Apollo cabin, and pretty much everyone else. Nico remembered Will mentioning having to reattach Paolo's limbs and how difficult the son of Hebe had been.

"Ah, thank you, Paolo," Chiron said, clearly baffled. "I'm glad you are feeling better."

Austin leaned toward Apollo and started whispering.

"Paolo seems agitated," Apollo noted.

Will shrugged. "He's lucky he's a fast healer—son of Hebe, goddess of youth, and all that."

"You're staring," Nico noted, watching his boyfriend take in the attractive son of Hebe.

"I am not," Will said. "I am merely assessing how well Paolo's arms are functioning after surgery."

"Hmph."

Paolo finally sat down. Nico tuned out Chiron as he talked about the risks and the rules. "Are you competing, Will?"

Will nodded as Malcolm asked a question.

"Chiron, just going to throw this out there…. We've had three campers disappear. Is it really wise to be running a dangerous obstacle course?"

Chiron gave him a pained smile. "An excellent question, Malcolm, but this course will not take you into the woods, which we believe is the most hazardous area. The satyrs, dryads, and I will continue to investigate the disappearances. We will not rest until our missing campers are found. In the meantime, however, this three-legged race can foster important team-building skills. It also expands our understanding of the Labyrinth."

Nico's eyes widened. "The what?"

Will looked at Nico. "I'm sure I told you about that. The course goes through the Labyrinth."

Nico felt a small spark of fear go through him. He had spent months in that maze, lost and hopeless. He had trained with Minos down there; it was where he first got a handle on his powers. But it was also a place of fear, shame, and loneliness.

"Oh. When did that happen? I mean, when did it reopen?"

"During the war with Gaea," Austin said, "We've been trying to map it ever since."

"Mapping it?" Nico whispered to Will. "What have I been missing?"

Will shrugged. "You don't always participate in camp activities. In fact, I'm pretty sure it has been months since you actually attended a class."

"I have been doing other stuff." Nico defended.

"I know. But you can be surprised when you miss the going-on's of Camp."

"Oh, that's hugely reassuring. So of course, you decided to do three-legged races through it." Apollo said.

Will coughed. "The other thing, Dad…Nobody wants to disappoint Harley."

"Also keep in mind," Chiron was saying, "that none of the unfortunate disappearances has been linked to the Labyrinth. Remain with your partner and you should be safe…at least, as safe as one can be in a three-legged death race."

"Yeah," Harley said. "Nobody has even died yet."

He sounded disappointed as if he wanted us to try harder.

"In the face of a crisis," Chiron said, "it's important to stick to our regular activities. We must stay alert and in top condition. Our missing campers would expect no less from us. Now, as to the teams for the race, you will be allowed to choose your partner—"

Nico looked to Will. "Will be my partner?"

Will nodded. "Of course. I usually team up with Cecil—" he trailed off.

Nico gave him a reassuring smile and put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I will be your buddy. We will get through this; together."

Chiron struck his hoof against the floor. "All right, everyone, settle down! The race will be tomorrow afternoon. Thank you, Harley, for your hard work on the…um, various lethal surprises in store. This brings us to our other news," Chiron said. "As you may have heard, two special newcomers joined us today. First, please welcome the god Apollo!"

The entire camp turned to look at the god. Nico stopped himself from hiding; he wasn't used to having so many eyes on him, even though the camp was pretty empty. He hadn't had attention on him since the trial. Anxiety overtook him. Apollo's arrival was unearthing some difficult memories for Nico. He eventually tuned back in.

"Thank you, Sherman," Chiron continued. "It's good to know you won't be giving the god of archery a swirly. As for the rest of you, we will keep you posted on our guest's situation. I'm sending two of our finest satyrs, Millard and Herbert"—he gestured to the satyrs on his left— "to hand-deliver a message to Rachel Dare in New York. With any luck, she will be able to join us soon and help determine how we can best assist Apollo."

At a nearby table, a girl muttered to herself in Italian: The blind leading the blind.

"Who is she?" Nico asked, picking up on her Italian.

"Chiara Benvenuti, child of Tyche." Will answered.

"When did she come to Camp?" Nico questioned.

"Sometime in November, I think. I was here for Thanksgiving and she came in. You were asleep when she arrived."

Nico shrugged. "I should probably start paying more attention."

"Agreed."

"Finally," Chiron said, "We welcome a new demigod to camp—Meg McCaffrey!"

She wiped her mouth and stood.

Next to her, Alice, daughter of Hermes, said, "Stand up, Meg." Julia Feingold laughed.

At the Ares table, Sherman Yang rose. "Now this one—this one deserves a special welcome. What do you think, Connor?"

Connor reached into his backpack. "I think maybe the canoe lake."

Sherman Yang strode toward Meg. Connor Stoll pulled out a golden net and threw it over her head. Meg yelped and tried to squirm free. Nico watched with interest, remembering when he had gotten dunked in the toilet as a camper. He had laughed it off but had avoided the Ares cabin for weeks after. He hadn't been powerful enough to fight them off, but because he was young and hadn't caused any problems, as Percy had when he arrived at Camp, they had let him off easy. Percy's toilet explosion was legendary in Camp Half-Blood's history.

A guttural howl interrupted the proceedings. From the top of the colonnade, a blur of chubby flesh, leafy wings, and linen diaper hurtled downward and landed on Sherman's back, knocking him face-first into the stone floor. Nico drew his sword, ready to fight whatever monster had invaded the camp. It had been a while since he had been in battle, only really dealing with spirits with his father, so he felt a little nervous, but he held himself steady.

"Get it off!" Connor wailed, thrashing blindly around the pavilion, as what looked like a Mandrake from Harry Potter attacked him. "Get it off!"

"C'è un karpos!" yelled the Italian girl.

"Kill it!" said Alice Miyazawa.

Kayla notched an arrow.

"Peaches, get off him!" Meg screamed.

She untangled herself from the net. The karpos hopped off Connor's neck. He landed at Meg's feet, baring his fangs.

"Meg, get out of the way," Nico said, "That thing is dangerous."

"No!" Meg's voice was shrill. "Don't kill him!"

Sherman Yang rolled over, groaning. Blood was running down his face. Nico heard Will intake a breath, heading over to the son of Ares as multiple things happened at once: Julia charged. Kayla shot her arrow. Meg thrust out her hands and faint gold light flashed between her fingers. Suddenly, she was holding two swords, made from Imperial gold. Nico stopped himself from moving forward, shocked at seeing the Roman weapons. Both her blades whirled. Meg simultaneously sliced Kayla's arrow out of the air and disarmed Julia, sending her dagger skittering across the floor.

"What the Hades?" Connor demanded. His hair had been pulled out in chunks, so he looked like an abused doll. "Who is this kid?"

Meg fended off the confused and enraged demigods with her two swords. Nico started pulling demigods back, realizing that Meg was defending the karpos. Nico also stepped back as a shining light appeared over Meg's head. It was a golden sickle with a few sheaves of wheat.

A boy in the crowd gasped. "She's a communist!"

Nico stopped himself from snorting as Billie said: "No, Damien, that's my mom's symbol." Her face went slack as the truth sank in. "Uh, which means…it's her mom's symbol."

"My friend is no longer unclaimed," Apollo announced.

Nico knelt down.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Apollo said. "please give it up for Meg McCaffrey, daughter of Demeter."

Will's POV:

After the awe of Meg's claim had subsided, he headed over to Sherman. He knelt down, looking at his head.

"You feel okay, Yang?"

Sherman nodded and then instantly regretted it. "Yeah. Ow."

Will examined the wound, lightly probing around the incision. The wound was mostly superficial, but he needed stitches. Will grabbed a cloth napkin from one of the tables. He gave it to Sherman.

"Hold this to the wound while we go to the Infirmary."

Sherman took the napkin and held it to his head. Will grabbed his arm and started to lead him to the infirmary. He tried to gain eye contact with Nico, but the son of Hades had disappeared into the shadows. He saw Kayla and Austin helping up Connor, following Will and Sherman to the Infirmary. Will opened the Big House and then the door to the Infirmary. He led Sherman over to one of the beds. He grabbed some rubbing alcohol, as well as a needle and thread. He stood in front of the son of Ares.

"You can take that napkin off now."

Sherman removed the cloth, blood caking onto the cloth as well as on his forehead. Will removed the cap from the alcohol and poured some on a clean cloth.

"This is going to sting." He warned.

He put the alcohol on the wound. Sherman flinched back, but Will continued pressing the cloth to his forehead. He disinfected the wound and cleaned up the dried blood. He vaguely heard Kayla, Austin, and Connor enter the infirmary. Connor was complaining about something, so Will tuned it out. He focused back on the task at hand. He turned to one of the cabinets and grabbed a numbing agent. He spread this across the torn skin on Sherman's forehead. He then took his needle and thread and quickly stitched seven stitches into the son of Ares' forehead. Sherman winced a couple of times but did not make any sounds of distress.

After about ten minutes, Will looked at his handiwork. It wasn't his best stitch job, but it got the job done. "You are probably going to have a scar."

Sherman shrugged. "I don't really mind that much. Scars are badges of honor."

"Especially when attacked by demon babies of wheat," Connor grumbled from his bed.

Not all the scars should be honored Will thought, absentmindedly rubbing at his wrist. He had not put the blade to his skin for a while. He had felt no need to; he didn't do it often, only doing it to punish himself for failing to save a life or ruining something.

"You are good to go," Will said absently, dismissing the son of Ares.

He walked past Kayla, Austin, and Connor to exit the Infirmary. They called after him, but he ignored them, mind racing. He opened the door to the cold winter air. He headed straight to the Apollo cabin. When he arrived, he sat on the stairs, giving himself time to think.

He remembered back to the Battle of the Labyrinth, when his older brother, Lee, had been killed. Will, one of the strongest healers of the cabin even then, had failed to save him. Too many other lives had been lost. Will, who had been around thirteen at the time, barely knew what he had been doing. The guilt of failure had overwhelmed Will. He had torn into his skin badly that night.

Fast forward to the Battle of Olympus. So much bloodshed, so many lives lost. Will lost more lives than he saved. He had been enlisted to save Annabeth's life. And he had almost lost her. He had visions of his own hands, stained with the blood of the demigods he had lost, for weeks. The scars lining his arms had multiplied tenfold.

The battle had also bestowed upon Will a great responsibility: Michael Yew, the head counselor, and Will's older brother, had gone missing, and later reported to be dead by none other than Nico di Angelo himself. Will felt the weight of the world fall onto his shoulders, as he became the new head counselor, the cabin looking up to him and the entire camp expecting aid and healing from the Apollo cabin. Will's strength was healing, but now he was expected to show mastery of his father's other skills: archery, music, poetry, sunshine. He had never mastered archery, his fighting skills far behind his cabin and most of the camp. Will had never been on a quest before, never been in a real battle before, instead usually playing medic.

Over the next couple of years, the Prophecy of the Seven being fulfilled, most of the quests had taken place away from camp, allowing Will to become more comfortable in his position, mastering more of the necessary skills. He had gotten somewhat of a handle on music (at least in respect to guitar, not singing) as well as blubbering out some really cheesy poetry. Getting control of the manipulation of sunlight was challenging for all Apollo children. Will could sometimes do it, managing to expel the dark energy from Nico at desperate times, but it was incredibly draining.

In that time of the Seven Prophecy, Will had reconciled with his mother, eventually starting to return home to Texas. He had relatively kept up with his studies in his time away from his mother and school, the camp offering the appropriate general education courses. Eventually, he did return to school, only returning to Camp for summer and winter breaks, as Percy Jackson and so many other campers did. That's when Kayla had stepped in as his right hand, taking over as head counselor when Will was home in Texas.

When the Heroes of Olympus returned to Camp Half-Blood, bringing the Battle of Gaea with them, Will felt more prepared than he had in either of the other two battles of the Camp. He still lost lives and patients, scars still appearing on his skin, but he had also found a distraction in the son of Hades. He had first met Nico when the di Angelo siblings had first come to Camp. The son of Hades was so full of joy. Will felt a close connection with him and an attraction that he couldn't place, not understanding his sexuality just yet. Then, Bianca died, and Nico was never the same. He disappeared from camp.

The Battle of the Labyrinth brought Nico back to Camp, showing off his newfound powers as the offspring of Hades. Will remembered watching as Nico summoned undead warriors, eventually collapsing, clothes smoking. Will wanted to help, but Percy had reached the son of Hades first. When he recovered, he released the soul of Daedalus. The weeks after, Will observed as Nico isolated himself from the rest of the Camp, not participating in any camp activities. The son of Hades left camp again before Will had worked up the courage to go talk to him.

When the Battle for Olympus came around, Nico was one of the first demigods to join the battle. Will had been in awe of the son of Hades and his seemingly infinite powers. Instead of being fearful of Nico's strengths, Will was infatuated by them. It was during that battle that his crush on Nico had solidified. He returned to Camp, building his own cabin, and started to get accepted by the rest of the camp. But unfortunately, he isolated himself again, shutting himself off from the rest of the Camp. He disappeared before Percy went missing.

The next couple of years, Nico showed up occasionally, but never long enough for Will to establish a friendship. Will now knew that this was because of his double duty as an ambassador to Camp Jupiter. He eventually searched for the Doors of Death and was pulled into Tartarus. After the quest, he returned to Camp Half-Blood and helped defeat Gaea.

Now, Nico was here, but he wanted to leave Camp again. Will didn't understand why Nico felt so out of place at Camp. Probably had something to do with Bianca and his journey through Tartarus had also changed the son of Hades drastically. He just wanted to make Nico understand that he had a home.

His thoughts were disturbed by the arrival of Kayla and Austin.

"You okay, Will?" Austin asked. "You left the Infirmary pretty quickly."

Will nodded. He wasn't necessarily happy with his siblings and their harsh words towards Nico, but they were family and Will knew they were just looking to for him.

"Just a lot on my mind. How's Connor?"

"Salty that he lost half his hair, but it will grow back so he will be fine," Kayla explained. "I just put some healing salve on it."

"Good. It could have been a lot worse." Will said, standing up.

"Thankfully Meg appears to have some control over the monster." Austin pointed out.

Will nodded. "It's been a crazy couple of days."

"It really has; let's check on how Apollo is holding up."

They entered the cabin. Apollo was asleep on his cot in the middle of the cabin. His face had a pained expression as if he was hurting.

"Is he okay?" whispered Kayla.

Austin said, "Would you be if you were him?"

"Try to get some sleep, guys," Will advised.

"This is crazy weird," Kayla said. "He looks so…human."

"We'll watch out for him," Austin said. "We're all he's got now."

Kayla drapped a blanket over their father.

Will said, "Sleep well, Apollo."

He crept towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Kayla whispered.

"I need to go check on Nico." Kayla and Austin exchanged a look, but Will was already out of the cabin.