A/N Longest chapter yet! Also, the last in this story arc (explanation at the bottom).
Thanks for the reviews, so much!
Everyone who reviewed gets bat cookies!
"I don't want to do it, Will!"
Will grabbed the pale boy's hand and started dragging him towards the gathering of people at the edge of the pier. "Well, you're going to!"
Nico yanked his hand away and crossed his arms, trying to avoid Will's eyes. "I just got out of the infirmary this morning! I don't want to do it and you can't make me!"
He shook his head childishly.
"But Nico," Will pleaded, "you're the only one that knows how to manage these ceremonies properly! And if you don't do it," his face darkened, "then Darla gets to stay here until you do."
Flinging his hands up by his head in defeat, Nico grudgingly agreed to come and oversee the funeral.
It was a grand occasion. The whole camp turned up to morn, along with a group of satyrs and dryads. Six campers had died-and one dryad when a faulty automaton exploded by her tree- and three quarters of the party ended up in tears, including the entire Aphrodite cabin and most of the Hecate cabin.
Will did not cry. He did not feel like he had tears left in him- they had all been used up as he waited for Nico.
Nico almost cried. But he was running it, so tried his hardest not to.
Eventually, six rafts were launched into the sea; a shrouded body on each. Cecil from Hermes; Adara from Até; Philipp from Hecate; Gloria from Nike (she wasn't even fighting: she got in the way of a badly thrown spear); Edwin from Pheme; and Christina from Ares; all of them dead due to one petty argument.
Once the rafts were about the length of a swimming pool away, a group of archers from Apollo sent a flurry of arrows towards them. Mid flight, the arrows caught fire; and when the connected with the floating pyres, they exploded into flame in the early morning light. The flame on each raft was a different colour, on regard to the main colour of the victim's cabin.
Though beautiful, it was a strangely eerie sight, and Will was glad to walk away when the rafts finally sank.
XxX
Very few people arrived to say goodbye to Darla. A sphere, about half the size of basketball, floated just behind her- the monitoring device- and a large rucksack, with the broken wheel of Nemisis embroidered upon it, weighed heavily on her back.
Does what she did weigh as heavily on her heart? Will wondered.
He and Nico stood back from the proceedings and watched from a distance. Neither of them wanted to look at her, much less speak to her, and she did not try to catch their eye.
Will did not think that she was sorry.
Darla touched Thalia's tree, then stepped over the border into the mortal world and walked away. She did not look back once.
XxX
The beach was empty of people, most of whom were probably eating at the pavilion.
Will didn't eat.
"Are you alright, Sunshine?"
He glanced at Nico, who was sitting next to him on the white sand. "Hmm?"
"Well, you haven't eaten anything, and you haven't told me to eat either, even though I only came out of a coma 28 hours ago..."
Will smiled. "I'm fine..."
Nico grasped his shoulders and forced him to meet his dark eyes. "Kayla told me. She said you didn't eat or sleep, that you didn't even drink whilst you waited for me."
Will tried to look away, but Nico held him firmly.
"She said that there were times when they worried that you were just going to... give up." His voice dropped towards the end. "Why did she say that, Will?"
Will stopped squirming but still tried to avoid his eyes. His voice was quiet. "I guess... because it's true. If you hadn't made it -I don't know... I guess I just realised how much you meant to me then."
He finally looked up, to find Nico's eyes sympathetic.
"Of course I came back to you, Sunshine. Because... because you mean that much to me."
Will smiled, and looked straight at the Italian.
"You know, this is an open space. Nothing restricting us."
Nico cottoned on at once. "And there are no people here."
"No shadows for you to vanish into."
"No dryads for you to go for instead."
"No doors, so no one will barge in on us."
"Neither of us are bruised or injured at all."
They moved almost simultaneously; Will only slightly behind. Nico cupped Will's chin in one hand.
"No interruptions," he murmured, and brought his face right up close to Will's.
Will tilted his head to the side, and moved his mouth to Nico's, then-
"INCOMIIING!"
They sprang apart, both crimson, and looked around for the source of the disturbance. Both were ready to wreak havoc upon whoever it was that had interrupted their moment.
But there was no-one on the beach. There was no-one in the sea, either. Will thought he saw a movement in the trees, but when he looked closer, there was nothing there either. Then the voice came again.
"UH-OH! LOOK OUT BELOW!"
They both looked up at the sky, just as a second voice, this one female, shouted something back.
"YOU MEAN YOU LOST CONTROL?"
A small speck blunted over head. A small, browny-orangey speck that was getting steadily larger...
"I DID NOT LOOSE CONTROL, SUNSHINE! IT'S JUST A MALFUNCTION!"
Nico glanced at Will in confusion, and Will shook his head. A small knot of campers had emerged from the trees to stare at the metal speck in the sky.
"JUST A MALFUNCTION THAT'S GONNA KILL US!"
"WE'LL BE FINE! WE'LL JUST-"
Will was just thinking that being crushed by a giant metal dragon falling from the sky was a pretty rubbish way to die, especially after all that he and Nico had just been through, when a cage of bones snappily assembled itself around him. He glanced gratefully at the other boy as the cage kept one of the dragon's forelegs from crushing them both.
Two pairs of feet jumped off the monster, and their discussion continued. They seemed unaware that anyone had been squashed.
"See! I said we'd be fine!"
"Oh, you're impossible!"
"That's why you love me. It's what I do best, after a-"
"LEEOOOOO!"
A third pair of feet leapt at the first one, then hovered a few inches off the ground.
"Leo Valdez, how could you do that to us? We thought you were dead!" Piper's voice was clearly audible through the chunks of metal surrounding them.
The feet hit the floor again, and there was a slapping noise.
"Ow, Pipes!"
The second voice chuckled, and Piper asked, "And who is the unlucky lady that had to crash land with him?"
"Me? Oh! I'm Calypso- I'm his girlfriend."
Then Leo and Calypso were swamped with people.
Will chuckled and glanced over at Nico, who looked just as amused. Then a subtle crack made him look up. One of the bones keeping them from being crushed had a large fracture running through it- a fracture that was getting slowly larger.
"We gotta- Nico, can you shadow travel us out of here?"
Nico thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Too little energy. Sorry."
Will snorted. "Right. Neither of us is ever skipping lunch again."
The exited babbling drifting through the gaps in the metal came to a temporary lull, and Will took this as an opportunity.
"Guys?! A little help here?"
A small pause- then the talking started again.
Will glanced at Nico. He felt the other boy draw breath into his lungs, and realised that he was sitting in his lap.
When had that happened?
There wasn't room to move away. They shouted together this time.
"Hey! HELP US!"
There was a sudden silence, the someone gasped.
"Oh! Will and Nico are still under there!" Annabeth sounded half amused and half shocked. "Leo..." another slapping sound.
"Ow! Yes?"
"That was for scaring us. Now, can you move that lump of metal before it squashes them?"
"One, don't be rude to Festus. Two, how close together were they that we squashed them both? And three, sure."
The first pair of feet walked back towards the dragon, and there was the squeaking of gears and the clicking of bolts. A shudder ran through the metal, causing the broken bone to splinter and buckle-
Then the dragon moved and collapsed three metres to their left. The cage returned to dust.
They were met with Leo's grinning face. He looked over the two of them, Will still in Nico's lap, and raised an eyebrow.
Will felt the blood rush back to his face and stood up quickly, then put out a hand to pull Nico up.
Leo smirked, a playful smile on his face. "I'd ask what you were doing, but..."
A lightly tanned girl with amber hair slapped his arm, though gently. "Leave them alone, Leo. I'm hungry... we've been flying for twelve hours since we left Africa," the word sounded unfamiliar on her tongue. "Where we also crashed, by the way," this was for the crowd's benefit, "and all I've had to eat was half a slice of 'chocolate cake'..."
Leo blushed, then grabbed her arm and started walking in the direction of the pavilion. "I'm sorry, Sunshine. Let's get some food..."
Most of the other campers followed them, leaving Will bad Nico with the perfect distraction in which to slip off into the woods.
"Now, do you think anything will happen if we try to kiss again?" Will smiled.
Nico pretended to consider it. "Well, there's always the possibility of the forest catching fire. Or else the gods themselves will choose this moment to pay a visit..."
They both chuckled, and Will bent his head slightly. Nico tilted his upwards, and their lips met.
Neither boy vanished, neither turned into a dryad. The forest did not catch fire. The gods did not descend.
Yes, thought Will, this is where I want to be.
XxX
As their kiss deepened, Annabeth held out her hand to Clarisse, the only two who had stayed behind (Annabeth had told Percy that he owed Calypso an apology, so he had gone to give her one), who grudgingly handed over three gold drachma.
"I'm never betting against you again, Wise Girl," she grumbled.
Annabeth smiled. "You just didn't watch carefully enough. This has been coming for a long time."
Clarisse grinned too, and both girls wandered back to the rest of the crowd.
XxX
Will broke off the kiss and grinned down at his boyfriend (he'd waited so long to say that). Nico looked a little worried, and bit his lip, so Will spoke up.
"No, Nico. It's plain as anyone can see..."
Nico grinned too, and finished for him.
"We're simply meant to be."
A/N Okay, so sue me. I quoted The Nightmare Before Christmas. Hey, it's one of my favourites, and if you haven't seen it then you should. Anyway.
The whole arrow to the chest, then thinks they're dead thing comes from a series called the Belgariad by David Eddings...
I want to know your opinions: I have more ideas for this, do should I keep going on this story, or create a sequel? I prefer the first option, but you might not...
I've been planning the beach scene for quite a while...that's why the chapter is so long.
I'm gonna try to change the name, too.
Please review me, guys! Thanks so much!
And here is the kiss you wanted, Silver Huntress Of Artemis. This is why I wouldn't let them kiss before.
Bye for now!
~Fi