After the "father-son talk" in the Underworld, Nico was surprised to see a girl whom he didn't recognise walking towards Will.
"Will, please, eat something," the girl said. Nico slipped behind a tree to have a clearer vision of them both.
"No. I'm waiting for Nico," Will replied, a finite tone in his voice.
"Will," the girl said in a stern voice.
"Jayne," Will said, mimicking the girl's tone. So her name is Jayne, huh, Nico thought. Jayne waved her hands and fallen leaves formed a chair for her right next to Will. She was a child of Demeter, but a far more powerful one than Nico had seen.
"Will, I'll keep watch for you. Go on, you're getting all skinny," Jayne said, taking Will's hands into hers. Will looked into Jayne's eyes and it took all of his power not to pounce out and growl like a wolf. Will smiled at Jayne and sighed, getting up to stretch.
"Isn't dinner over?" Will questioned.
"Kayla kept some food for you," Jayne replied. Will thanked her and walked off to eat. Nico glared at Jayne threateningly.
He had to get rid of her. By any means.
The next morning, Nico yawned. He had stayed behind the tree the whole night. Thankfully, there were bushes near the tree that Nico could sleep behind. The whole night, Will camped out with Jayne and before he slept, even saw Jayne leaning on Will's shoulder! Then, he decided to make his appearance. He was covered in soil and dirt from sleeping on the ground. His clothes were tattered from all the twigs that got caught on the fabric while "scouting" Jayne and Will. As he walked through the barrier, Will was walking by and turned immediately.
"Nico!" he yelled, running up to Nico and kissing him ferociously. Will cupped Nico's face in his hands and a minute or so passed when Will released Nico and hugged him.
"Hi," Nico smiled, unsure what to say. He couldn't be happier when he realised Will still loved him. Then, Jayne walked over and stood next to Will, looking at Nico distastefully. What infuriated Nico was that Will wrapped one arm around Jayne.
"So, you're the guy Will's been waiting all day for?" Jayne asked, faking a smile. She sounded falsely sweet. She sounded like she meant to say, "So, Will's been waiting for trash this whole time?" However, Will didn't seem to notice.
"Yes, I'm Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. You?" Nico replied, even though he already knew. He tried to seem nice and amiable but he honestly thought he was failing miserably.
"Jayne Everglades. I'm from the Demeter cabin," answered Jayne smugly. Obviously, she thought the Lord of the Dead was nowhere as good as the Goddess of Agriculture, also known as the Goddess of Plants. Nico fought the urge to scowl as he remembered Katie Gardner, his friend, was also a daughter of Demeter.
Targeting my hate at the Demeter cabin is just wrong. It's not their fault they got a spoiled brat for a sibling. I guess I'll just focus all my hate on the source of this problem: Jayne Everglades, Nico thought.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Jayne, but I'll be going now. Hope you like the place," said Nico. Will followed behind and Jayne was about to argue but knew better. Many people were welcoming Nico and it wouldn't do for them to suspect Jayne was trying to make a move Will, especially since they seemed to regard Nico as a very close friend. Doing that was probably the equivalent of killing Chiron, the activities director.
"Bye then," Jayne said, heading for the archery field with Annabeth, but Nico was long gone.
In the Hades cabin, Hazel was reading a book calmly.
"Talked with Dad, I guess?" she asked, not even looking up.
"Gee, thanks, sis. I fell into a hole that even I thought would kill me and you're reading," Nico said sarcastically. Hazel grinned and put down her book, running up to Nico and wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.
"I thought you died," Hazel said.
"Happy?" she added, untangling her hands off Nico's neck. Will stood at the corner, smiling at the two siblings. Hazel noticed he was there and cleared her throat.
"Well, I should be going now. You guys have your alone time. Nico, clean up," she added, giving the two a knowing look. Nico's pale face turned a shade of vermillion as Hazel took her book and walked out of the cabin.
"So," Nico started, "Who's Jayne?"
"She's a new girl from the Demeter cabin. She's a very powerful one too. She can create things out of plants using a flick of her wrist. She has revival powers too. I've seen her save a dead bush. It's grown blueberries. I think she'd be useful in the Infirmary if she could help people," Will replied. Nico clenched his fists but hid it in the sleeve of his jacket.
"Wow. Seems like you're really close," he muttered.
"Yeah, kind of. She appeared while you were supposedly in the Underworld. We just...click, you know?" Will said.
"Sure. Click. I get it. You guys should be together. It makes more sense than sun and bones," Nico grumbled.
"Nico, I didn't mean-" Will said, stretching his arm out. Nico growled and stormed off. Then, the feeling he dreaded most returned.
His vision went blurry and he stumbled. His head suddenly ached and moving his limbs felt like torture. He knew somewhere in his burning mind that the voice was back.
"So you've given up, huh? Good, good. Will is much better off without you. He likes Jayne better. Jayne isn't short-tempered and she's pretty. Let Jayne be with Will," the voice chuckled. Nico felt a tear running down his cheek.
"No!" he yelled, before dropping to the ground and blacking out.
Author's Note: I'm amazing at ending these. Thank you all so much for the reviews, do review more if you'd like me to continue this! Shoutout to NaoSa for being a constant reader even though I've only made two chapters, but his/her reviews do encourage me to continue writing, so thank you so much NaoSa! Two more reviews for an update!