Chapter 3

Well Will had been right about people being worried, when they had found their friends they had been a mix of relieved and furious, Nico didn't need a spell to see that clearly.

When they had first seen that Nico had been found, Percy and Jason rushed over and crushed him in a tight hug and then proceeded to yell at him though they let up a bit when they noticed that his clothes had started to change to brown and black and grey.

They had agreed to go to the infirmary for the sake of privacy and to make sure that Nico wasn't pushing himself. Once there Will had Nico go lay down on one of the beds while he explained to the others how he had found Nico upstairs.

"When he jumped into the shadows I hurried here to get the cure that Coach Hedge had told me about but when I realized that I was missing part of it I went up to the store room to find it and that's where I found him."

Nico lay curled up on the bed and breathed steadily after dozing off, lingering effects of his short jump it seemed were still there Will could tell, he had seen Nico's clothes flash light blue before he laid down and not long after that he had been asleep.

"I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a prank or what but I have a feeling I know who the culprits are, and I already assured Nico that it wasn't a curse."

At that Percy and Jason both seemed like a weight had been lifted from them and Piper and Annabeth watched Nico as he slept, every now and then his clothes would change briefly.

…

Annabeth turned back to Will.

"Well I'm sure that he's going to be okay here so I guess we'll just leave you to watch over him for us." she smiled at Will, she had noted how the colors seemed to shift more when Will was talking or closer to Nico so she had a feeling she knew what was happening. "Come on Seaweed Brian, we should let him be for now. Until he's better why don't you guys come help Piper and I with sword training?" she grasped Percy's hand and pulled him towards the door and Piper did the same with Jason, before leaving the room though Piper looked back at Nico and Will in turn and smiled before leaving.

…

A couple of hours later Nico woke up looking more refreshed, Will caught the glimpse of violet before Nico managed to gain control over his emotions and his clothes returned to normal again. Will bit back a smile of amusement before he spoke. "So I take it that you're feeling better now?"

Nico nodded as he stretched after sitting up on the edge of the bed. "I know it was stupid so you don't have to remind me again, but since it was just a small jump it didn't take as much out of me."

Will was glad that Nico understood why he had been upset with him before, at least the son of Hades knew he had messed up, but all in all Will was just so thankful that he was safe. "Well that's good, no need for a continuation of the usual lecture then." he smiled at Nico to let him know that he wasn't upset anymore, just relieved.

Nico returned the smile, a mix of colors showing faintly as he seemed to fight down the effects of the spell, but Will had seen small amounts of light pink, violet, gold and true blue. He still didn't know what all of them meant but he could just tell that they were positive emotions and for that he was glad because it meant that Nico was happy despite how little he let others see, he wasn't devoid of those emotions.

"Now if only we had an idea as to why this whole mess was happening." Nico said.

"Oh I think we can help you with that."

Both Nico and Will turned towards the door to see Lou Ellen and Butch standing in the doorway of the infirmary room, and standing just behind them were some campers from the Iris and Hecate cabins.

Will already having had his suspicions about who was behind this just leaned back against his desk and waited for the explanation.

The younger campers standing back took a few steps forward into the room.

"We're sorry we upset you Nico, we didn't know that would happen or that you might get hurt because of it." The Hecate camper started, she looked to be about twelve or thirteen and the regret was evident on her face as she apologized. "We just thought that we could add some color to your wardrobe because you always wear such dark or dreary colors."

Will covered his mouth to hide a smile because he agreed with them on that.

"We weren't sure how it would work, we just knew that the colors would change, we're really, really sorry Nico." The Iris camper was a boy about ten or so, he also seemed as earnest in his apology as his, accomplish?

Will knew that they hadn't meant any harm by it and he could tell by glancing at Nico that he understood this too.

…

"It's okay, really. I'm still not used to being around a lot of people and don't know any other way to react to things then to fight or run, I over reacted to the situation." Nico said as he glanced over at Will briefly before returning his attention back to the others. "I guess I could add more color to my wardrobe, but nothing hideous." he shuddered thinking back to the tropical shirt he had to wear on his trip back from the ancient lands.

The younger campers seemed to perk up at this. "We can help!"

Will, Lou Ellen and Butch laughed and Nico grinned at their enthusiasm.

"On one condition, you get rid of whatever it is that you did to my stuff." Nico added.

The kids agreed happily, it seemed that after the incident at breakfast those involved in this little plan went to the older campers in their cabins to explain what they had done and together they had found a way to revers it, though all involved would have to face the consequences of their actions still. These two having been the ones to carry the plan through were the ones chosen to come and apologize for all involved.

"And the next time you guys have a problem with my clothes, just come and tell me okay?" Nico said getting up from the bed. He also glanced sidelong at Will for a second including him in this as well.

"Deal." Came three voices in response causing Nico to smirk.

…

It was dinner time now and everything had returned to normal, Nico had his plain old clothes back. The kids had lifted the charm from all of his belongings that had been affected and as a gift of apology they had also given him a couple of woven bracelets with plenty of color for him to wear which he accepted gladly.

Nico now sat at his usual table with his friends who were all happy to see that he was okay and that everything was back to normal.

"So Will said that you guys went to practice sword fighting while I was out, how'd that go?" Nico asked the girls who had joined them at their table.

"It's different than using a knife but I think we're really getting the hang of this." Piper said.

"That's great; I'll have to try sparring with you at some point then." Nico replied.

While they spoke Will came over and placed something in front of Nico before he headed back to his table.

Nico paused and looked down to see a small box on the table in front of him.

After a couple of heartbeats Jason poked Nico in the side to get his attention causing him to jump slightly. "Open it."

Everyone was curious to see what it could be so they all leaned in for a better look.

Just as curious as the others Nico needed no more prodding so he undid the little ribbon and opened the box to reveal a silver bracelet with a sun shaped charm on it and a strange little gem in it.

"Oh look it has a mood stone in it." Piper said as Nico lifted the bracelet out of the box, he looked over at her with a puzzled look on his face.

"I thought those were for rings."

Piper shook her head. "They can be on pretty much any piece of jewelry as long as it has contact with your skin so that it can change color."

Nico looked closer at it as he held it in his hand and watched as it slowly started to change color; he glanced back at the box and saw a small piece of paper that indicated what each color meant.

Violet = Happy

He grinned as he unclasped it and then fastened it around his wrist with his other new accessories.

Nico looked over towards the Apollo table and saw Will looking his way. Nico smiled and raised his wrist high enough to show Will that he was wearing it and that he loved it.

Will smiled brightly in return and lifted his own writs to reveal a glint of silver there.

The end.

Black = Intense, Stressed

Brown = Troubled, Restless

Red = Rage, Anger

Orange = Aggressive, Irritated, Edgy, Sarcastic

Golden Yellow = Hope

Yellow = Confused, Puzzled, Incredulous, Curious

Yellow-Green = Worried

Lime Green = Shocked, Surprised

Emerald Green = Triumph, Hyper, Energetic, Mischievous

Dark Green = Disgusted, Ill, Nauseous

Teal = Alert, Nervous

Ice Blue = Fear, Scared, Panic

Light Blue = Sleepy, Tired

True Blue = Relaxed, Calm

Dark Blue = Bored

Blue-Violet = Serious, Confident, Concentrating

Violet = Happy, Pleased

Light Purple = Excited

Magenta = Embarrassed

Dark Pink = Silly

Light Pink = Flirty, Amused, Playful

White = Hollow, Blank, Void

Grey = Sad, Hopeless, Dejected, Discouraged, Gloomy

Blue-Grey = Sad for someone