I would like to clarify that I have read "The Son of Sobek" and will soon read "The Staff of Serapis." I meant that I want like an actual series about the two combined. Sorry if there was any confusion!
And here's why I said I would update on Monday, even though I didn't because of school and I caught the stomach bug: Monday was my birthday!
Percy: HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY TAILSDOLL! *throws giant ball of confetti*
Nico: *ducks confetti*
Will: *gets hit in the face by confetti*
Percy: Oops?
It was a pretty good birthday! I got Wizard of Oz plushies, an iTunes gift card, Barnes and Noble gift card, $200 dollars in cash from assorted people, TARDIS earrings and shirt, A CAMP JUPITER SHIRT I ACTUALLY SCREAMED AHHHHH, two John Green books, Cinder, a regular shirt, and a Frozen cup! I also got a drawing from one friend and part of a story from another! It was great!
Also, finally the closet chapter! Credit for this scene goes to the lovely Queen Ore-Sama and the marvelous Agana of the night!
REVIEWS
Guest: I AM HAPPY TO MAKE YOU HAPPY THIS IS A GREAT REVIEW IT IS NOT LONG REVIEW THIS ALL YOU WANT MY DEAR SWVJA;G;VHY[;AGVHA;
Hmm, I haven't noticed that before. I do know that Nico's first name is used for Perico and Jasico. I'll have to look into it. Thanks for pointing it out!
DoomgirlForever: Great to see you again too.
Ana-DaughterofHades: I am getting so many requests for Nico and Will in costumes and trick-or-treating ahah. I'll whip them all up into one big chapter for Halloween! And I need to read Staff of Serapis ahah.
Guest: Nico is surprised because of the Stolls' surprise attack. He will shadow-travel them out, although Will's gonna fuss over him afterwards.
Donakiko: Thanks! Oh man Jason would totally do that. And when Nico finds out he'd just ignore Jason and Jason would panic and everyone would be like "Jason you need to sit down for a bit." Ah yes giant trick or treat party ahah.
SecretPrussianCitizen: Ah yes it does. I like your idea for their costumes, but Sabrina-luna-potter suggested a skeleton and the sun and I'm torn between which one is better.
ThisSentenceIsALie: Oh my goodness thank you! TLO Nico will always be my favorite Nico. I am aggressively channeling him into my writing. And thanks about my Will! I perceived him as the guy who's a great people person but is immensely stubborn and when you forget to take care of yourself he freaks and does it himself while scolding you haha. It's a video game, and cake is awesome.
Ippiki Ookami no Fuyu: I NEED APOLLO AND WILL BONDING TIME NOW HHH *flails* Yes, I will write that chapter!
Kifo Entiegon: Yes, it's the Stolls! Percy would probably try to do it all by himself lol. And I was going to write Leo returning to camp and joining the club in the next chapter, so thanks for that idea!
ItMeGabs: Yes. Yes. All of my yes. I am going to write them as sassy as possible now lol. And your English is great! If you need any help with it, though, let me know!
CheetosPotato: Thanks! Maybe I won't change it after all, then! *ba dum tshh* I have so many of the jokes in this lol.
Mourningsongg: Thanks! Haha, I'm going to. I had an idea for another chapter which I'll probably write for Chapter 14 or so. Yeah, I feel like I mischaracterized Drew a little, although she's gonna be more like her canon self in this chapter. She would totally flirt with Will I need to write that now. I will have to work more on making characters meaner, I suck at writing rude characters.
dauntlessinthetardis: I had to lie down and question my decisions that led up to this moment after reading your review oh my god.
Blackberry Explosion: Yes, I like the idea of a costume service! Not quite sure if I'll go with the costumes you suggested since other people have suggested some as well! Wow, seriously? Never noticed that either. Nico is bae I love him I would date if if he didn't belong with Will haha.
Guest (who reviewed chapter 2 asking about Leo): I FORGOT TO RESPOND I AM SO SORRY LEO IS NEXT CHAPTER I PROMISE
Winkylovesdobby: Winky/Dobby forever yo. Oh goodness yes aggressive concerned Will he would be shoving a thermometer down Nico's throat haha.
Sabrina-luna-potter: OH MY GOD WHERE IS THAT MUST SEE IT NOW BRB
Maya-chan2007: Thank you so much! Oh my god I actually need that know why are you making me want things you guys. Are you suggesting I add Carter because if so I ACCEPT THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE *dumps ice water on head* I hope not to disappoint!
Yami no Tsuki: Thanks! Wait, she's Japanese? I read somewhere that she was Korean...ugh, I have to change that now. But thanks for pointing it out! And thanks again!
Angela: When I saw your last request I had to sit down and laugh because it is so ridiculously canon. I am definitely going to use your ideas, so expect them soon!
Disclaimer: October 20th is my birthday, and Rick Riordan's birthday is NOT October 20th.
Leo: How do we know?
Me: Says so on his Wikipedia page.
Leo: He could be LYYIIIIIIING...
Me: You are such a conspiracy theory lover, aren't you.
Leo: You know I am, baby.
Me: You have a girlfriend.
Leo: Uh...
Calypso: *fuming*
Leo: BYE! *runs off screaming while Calypso chases him*
Chapter 4: Coming Out of the Closet
"Yes!"
Connor Stoll high-fived his twin brother, Travis. They had done it! They had finally locked Nico di Angelo and Will Solace in a closet! Finally, all the tension would clear. Plus, when they did get together in the closet, the truce would be off, and the twins could finally go back to pranking the assorted cabins.
"Aw, sweet!" Travis laughed. "We should've done this sooner, bro! Man, I've been itching to get my pranking game back on!"
"All too true, brother of mine, all too true. How much do you think the other cabins will thank us?"
"Jason will be bowing before us, kissing our feet, while Annabeth grudgingly admits that we beat her and Jason to getting them together. After all, they did start the fan club, so they'd probably want to be known as the people who got Solangelo together."
Connor snorted. "'Probably' doesn't even begin to cut it. I've heard Piper lamenting about Jason's captivity on his OTP. They've gotten so wrapped into it—"
"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"
Connor and Travis both jumped about five thousand feet in the air, which in reality was only about two feet. Travis sprinted forward about three yards out of shock, then realized what he had done and backtracked to go back to his original position next to Connor.
Gulping, they both turn around to face a very close to literally steaming Drew Tanaka marching towards them.
"YOU IDIOTS! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING! WE HAD A PERFECTLY NICE DINNER SET OUT FOR THEM, AND WHAT DID YOU DO?! SHUT THEM IN A CLOSET! SERIOUSLY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW RIDICULOUS THAT IS?! NO WONDER NEITHER OF YOU HAVE DATED ANYONE YET! YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF ROMANCE!"
"I'm scared," Travis whispered.
"We should run," agreed Connor.
Drew continued yelling, switching to Ancient Greek, then to an extremely heated Japanese. Connor was actually glad that he couldn't translate what she was saying. The threats in Ancient Greek were bad enough. Especially that one insult about his mom. That was uncalled for.
"Hey, c'mon, Drew! We were just trying to help out, y'know?" Travis raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"HELP MY FOOT! DID JASON AND ANNABETH EVEN SAY YOU COULD DO THIS?! BECAUSE I MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT!"
"We're the Stolls! The rules don't apply to us!" Connor proclaimed, puffing out his chest.
"Plus, um, we're not really members. That's Chris." Travis admitted, scratching the back of his neck.
"Also, is there an active rule stating that we can't shove Will and Nico in a closet—"
"—Because I don't think that there is one!"
"We can hear you, y'know," came a muffled voice from the supply cabinet.
"We know!" The twins cried cheerily.
Drew put her face in her hands. "Oh, gods of Olympus. The club was supposed to be a secret, and now they know!" She brought her head back up to glare accusingly at them. "And it's all your faults! If you two were children of Aphrodite and I was still head counselor, you would both be wearing the white boots and have trash duty for the rest of Mr. D's service here!" Thunder rumbled.
Connor stepped forward, hands clasped in a half-apologetic, half-lecturing sort of way. "Well, your threats have established how scary you are—"
"—And how glad we are not to be in your cabin!" Travis chimed in, stepping next to Connor in the exact same position.
"But in our defense—"
"—They were going to find out anyways—"
"—So we just hastened the process!" The Stolls chorused, then bowed eerily in sync. Or not so eerily, depending on how well you knew them.
Drew groaned. "You-you two are so-UGH!" She stomped her foot angrily. "I swear to Zeus, Travis, one of these days I'll find a curse that means Katie will never like you back!"
Travis gulped, and his face turned bright red. "W-what?!"
Connor started laughing, until Drew swiveled her glare to face him, and he gulped too. "And if I ever find out who you like, Connor—"
"Whoa, hold on a second there, that's a little too far!" he protested.
"IT MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT!"
"Um, Drew?"
A blonde girl had suddenly appeared behind Drew, causing the arguing trio to stiffen and stifle gasps of surprise. She had slipped in unbeknownst during their heated debate. Connor's heart started to pound a little faster.
The girl was Lacy, from Cabin 10. Drew's half-sister. Connor hadn't spoken to her much, but that didn't stop his heart from forming a small fondness for the younger girl. She just emitted a cheery aura around her, along with the natural radiation of beauty that all children of the goddess of love, be they Roman or Greek, emitted.
Lacy frowned up at Drew. "Drew, the, uh, other members of the cabin wanted to know where Will and Nico went…?"
"Shut up!" Drew snapped at her. Lacy shrunk back, and Connor got a little mad. Of course, if Drew had snapped at anyone like that, Connor would've gotten mad. Even though the war had changed her, like it had to everyone, Drew still retained part of her older personality. He'd heard she was nicer in her cabin now, but that didn't really ring true for outside of it.
"Chill, Drew, she was just asking a question," Connor reprimanded the Japanese teenager.
Drew scowled. "Don't talk to me, Stoll. Both of you!"
"He's right, Drew! Just let the girl go!" Travis piped up, sliding next to Connor and putting an arm across his shoulders. Connor did the same.
Drew narrowed her eyes at him.
Connor fake-whispered, "Travis, I think she needs some encouragement."
"I agree!" Travis fake-whispered back.
Then they started to sing.
"LET HER GOOOOO
LET HER GOOOOO!
CAN'T HOLD HER BACK ANY MOOOOOOORRRE!
LET HER GOOOOO
LET HER GOOOOO-"
"AGH!" Drew threw her hands up into the air. "I give up! Lacy, you deal with these idiots!" And with that, the former head of the Aphrodite cabin turned straight around and marched back in the direction of the mess hall, presumably to bark orders at whichever members of the Aphrodite cabin were there.
When she was out of earshot, Lacy turned back around to beam at the two boys, the smile making her seem even more beautiful, if possible. "Thanks, you guys!"
The happiness radiating from her nearly knocked both boys over, Connor especially. In any case, he only stumbled back one or two steps. "Uh, thanks, Lacy!" he stammered.
Travis gave him a weird look, but said nothing.
"So!" Lacy's smile dimmed down some. "Where are Nico and Will?"
"We shoved them into a supply shed," Travis answered quickly, then coughed.
The smile slid off her face, only to be replaced by a look of shock. "WHAT?!" she squawked.
Connor and Travis winced. "We're so sorry," Connor said.
Lacy rubbed her temples, sighing. "You know what? Let's just let them out." She marched up to the door of the supply shed, fumbled with the latch that locked said door, then flung it open.
The world stood silent for a minute or two, and then Lacy made a weird sound in the back of her throat. "They're gone."
Another moment of silence. Then, "WHAT?!"
*Where did Will and Nico go? Stay tuned after this linebreak.*
Will sat up, groaning. He couldn't see a thing in the darkness. Something slid off of him, and made a moaning noise.
Nico.
"Oh, jeez!" Will muttered a few unflattering words in Ancient Greek. "I'm gonna kill whoever shoved us in here!"
"Don't bother, I've already decided to," a disembodied voice said from the darkness. Will jumped.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he gasped. "It's so dark in here, I can't see a thing!"
"Me either. Hang on, where are you…?"
Will started moving his hand around on the ground, and a similar scuffling sound confirmed Nico was doing the same. A few moments later, their hands met, and a jolt ran up Will's arm.
It was a familiar jolt. He'd felt it the first time he had taken Nico's hand, up on Half-Blood Hill before the war had come to its climax. He had taken it other times since then, and each time that same jolt had happened. And each time, he was curious as to why.
It wasn't that Will was as straight as a straight angle, of course. He knew that he liked boys. He'd found himself gaining a few crushes during his time at Camp Half-Blood, all males. His cabin had been quite accepting of this fact, obviously. After all, their father himself had had romances with other men during the times of Ancient Greece, and they wouldn't have been surprised if he still was now. Even though it was weird to say it. Hey, my dad has flings with mortal men, like he did with my mom! Nobody liked going into their parent's love lives, both mortals and immortals.
No, it was because Will wasn't quite sure on his feelings for Nico, although he knew that they had definitely started as platonic. He hadn't really talked to the kid until after the Battle of Manhattan, even though he had seen him a few times before. He'd wanted to talk to him earlier, but after seeing the kid push everyone away, he decided not to. In fact, that first real talk hadn't even been a talk, it was mostly Will checking up on him after the battle, like all the other Apollo kids were doing to the other campers. After talking to the kid, he wanted to try to become friends with him again. He seemed like a nice enough guy when he wasn't trying to stare you down into the earth, and the subterranean world of his father's realm beneath it, maybe even below it into Tartarus if he hated you enough.
But after Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase had finally gotten together-which had taken, what five years? Gods, Will was old-Nico came around Camp Half-Blood even less, if that was possible. And then when Percy disappeared, Nico all but disappeared right along with him. Will wasn't too worried, of course. He knew fully well that Nico could take care of himself. But he couldn't help but worry, since he still wanted to be his friend.
And even now, almost two months after the Giant War has ended and everyone was pretty much okay, Will was still surprised that he was Nico's friend. Why wouldn't he be? He'd kinda forced himself onto the kid. And Will and Nico were also two very different people. For starters, their parents were polar opposites: God of the sun and god of the dead. And there was also their appearances. Nico's wavy black hair was a stark contrast to Will's sunny blonde curls, and even though his skin was beginning to retain its original olive coloring, Nico was still pretty pale compared to Will's dark skin. And their personalities, obviously. Nico was the king of doom and gloom and sulked around all the time when he was awake. Meanwhile, Will was quite easygoing when he was relaxed and not in a foul mood, and had a general reputation as a bit of a social butterfly. Anyone who didn't know the two would look at them and question why they even knew each other in the first place.
But when Will had dragged him into the infirmary for three days, their friendship had begun. It had mostly been Nico grumbling and Will stopping him from escaping every five seconds, but when Will wasn't performing impromptu surgery or stitching another wound, he was by di Angelo's bedside. Nico started talking to him out of sheer boredom on the evening of the first day, and that was when the two had really hit it together. After that, the two were generally seen together, although Nico preferred to hang out with his other friends when he wasn't with Will. Will understood, of course. They've known Nico longer than he had, so it wouldn't be right for him to get jealous that Nico had known other people longer than Will had. And besides, Will seemed to be the only other person that Nico would hang out with, anyways.
But the jolting was making Will think more about his feelings for the son of Hades. Did he want to be Nico's friend at least? Yes, he did. Did he want to be more than a friend?
That was where Will was unsure.
He definitely enjoyed Nico's company a lot, a bit more than some people that he knew. Of course, it may be because he was a newer friend, and whenever you get a new friend you want to hang out with them a lot. Maybe it was because he was helping Nico get caught up on the modern times since he missed seventy years of history and pop culture-Three Harry Potter movies to go, four season of Doctor Who left, and he was definitely going to take him to see the first Mockingjay movie, along with all the other campers who were going too-so he had sort of developed a student-teacher relationship with the younger boy.
(A/N: Someone's going to make a dirty joke about that, I just know it.)
Whatever it was, he was definitely enjoying time with the son of Hades' more than he expected himself to.
"Uh, Will? You okay?"
What? Will snapped out of his thoughts. In the background, he heard someone that sounded suspiciously like Drew yelling, switching from English to Ancient Greek. Both boys winced. For the people who usually sat out of Capture the Flag, the Aphrodite kids came up with some great insults. Although it isn't nice to say that about someone's mom, Drew, Will thought.
"Okay, keep your hand still," Will said, and he ran his hand up Nico's arm until he reached his shoulder, then ran it across his shoulder to his neck-Nico let out a shaky breath when he did this, and Will filed that away for later-until finally his hand was on top of his head, wrapped in Nico's oily black hair. "Okay, now I know where you are! Now stand up carefully," Will instructed as he started to rise, and when his hand did too he knew Nico was doing the same.
"Way to make things awkward."
"It's not my fault it's dark!" Outside, the yelling turned into a furious Japanese. Will winced. "Okay, that was a new one."
"You understood that?" Nico's voice was tinged with disbelief.
"Eh, a bit. It's because Dad is so obsessed with haikus, everyone in my cabin knows a bit of Japanese if they aren't Japanese already. And don't ask me to translate, I'm not sure if I want to. I didn't even understand all of it, just a few words here and there."
"Hey, c'mon, Drew! We were just trying to help out, y'know?"
"The Stolls. She's yelling at the Stolls," Will realized.
Nico snorted. "Big surprise."
"HELP MY FOOT! DID JASON AND ANNABETH EVEN SAY YOU COULD DO THIS?! BECAUSE I MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT!"
"What do they have to do with anything?" Nico muttered, then paused. "Oh, great. The OTP thing."
Will groaned. "This is getting out of hand. We need to talk to someone about this."
"More like the entire camp."
"We're the Stolls! The rules don't apply to us!"
"Plus, um, we're not really members. That's Chris."
"Members? Members of what?" Will whispered.
"Also, is there an active rule stating that we can't shove Will and Nico in a closet—"
"—Because I don't think that there is one!"
"We can hear you, y'know," Nico spoke loudly.
"We know!"
"Oh, gods of Olympus. The club was supposed to be a secret, and now they know!"
"Did-did they-" Will spluttered. "Oh my gods, they seriously formed a club about us! Okay, we definitely need to talk to someone about this."
"Yeah." Under his hand, Will felt Nico shudder.
"Hey, you alright?" The blonde's previously annoyance was replaced with concern.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, just cold. It's awfully cool in here."
"Really? Haven't noticed."
"You radiate warmth. You have no idea how warm my head feels because you're resting your hand on it."
"Oh, yeah." Will paused. "Uh, if you're cold, do want me to, uh, stand a little closer to you?" The son of Apollo started to feel his cheeks heat up. Calm down, he told himself. Nico's just a friend. A possibly straight friend, but a friend nonetheless. Wait, why think about his sexuality?
"Sure."
"Eh?"
Nico sighed. "Yes, Will, you can stand closer to me."
"Oh! Sorry. Right. Okay." Will shuffled closer to Nico's voice until he bumped into him. In the dark, he thought he could make out a faint outline of a person. "Better?"
"Much."
The two boys were in silence once again, until Nico asked, "What do you mean by 'your forties are showing?'"
Damn. Will had nearly forgotten about that. "Uh, yeah, about that…There's a lot more marriage equality in the world now."
"Marriage equality?"
"Y'know…" Will felt his face heat up, but for a different reason than before. Nico was from a time of prejudice towards people, back before the fifties and sixties when people like Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to change what the world thought. It would make sense for him to reject homosexuality, but it still twisted at something inside Will. He felt that if Nico rejected homosexuality, he would be rejecting Will himself. "…When people aren't attracted to the opposite gender, but to their own gender. It's called homosexuality, and more people are being allowed to marry their own gender around the world."
"Really?" Will could've sworn he heard relief in Nico's voice. "Is there anyone like that at camp?"
Will wanted to collapse with relief. Whoever had raised his friend had done it right. But the next part wouldn't be so easy. "Uh, yeah. I am."
"Oh." Nico's voice was weird. Then he said, "I, uh…me too."
A choir of heavenly angels started to sing in Will's mind. "Cool! High five?" Will stuck his other hand out, then realized. "Oh, wait. It's dark."
"Yeah." They paused again. A higher-pitched voice had joined Drew and the Stolls outside, one which Will identified as Lacy. "Hey, I know I'm not really supposed to, but can we just shadow-travel out of here? It's really cold in here, and at this rate they're probably gonna leave us in here."
Will thought about it. On one hand, it had been two months since Nico had shadow-traveled anywhere, so he should be okay for short trips now. And since it was so dark, the son of Hades wouldn't have to exert himself to grab onto the shadows, since he would be surrounded by them. On the other hand, if he faded away doing this, Will would personally travel down into the Underworld, find Nico's spirit, and kill him all over again.
Will sighed. "Alright, fine. But you can't do it again, unless if I say so. And make it a short jump. Like, say, to the Big House."
"Alright." A hand suddenly grasped Will's wrist, startling him and causing him to flush. "But hold on tight."
Suddenly it became even darker, if possible, and Will nearly fell over. Voices were screaming in pain, and countless whispers filled his ears, some even in languages he didn't even understand. He forced himself to stay calm.
And then he was blinking in the light of the lamps in the Ping-Pong room where the counselors met. He gasped, and then he saw that Jason Grace, Piper Mclean, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and the visiting Romans Hazel Levasque, Frank Zhang-oh, Will remembered him from last week and his cabin, all right-and Reyna Whatever-Her-Last-Name-Was were gathered.
Nico and Will stepped away from each other. "Nico? What's going on?" Hazel asked.
"The Stolls locked me and Will in a closet, so we had to shadow-travel out," Nico explained.
"The question is, why are you all in here? And what fan club?" Will looked pointedly at Jason and Annabeth, who gave each other Uh-oh looks.
Before anyone could answer, a moaning noise caused Will to turn around, and see someone he thought he'd never see again.
So yeah, because of the stomach bug I have to miss school today. At least I'm doing something productive, I had to do a thing on what to do to help prevent child abuse before I start work as a YMCA volunteer. Ah, man, that was hard to get through. I've also come up with chapter names for up to chapter 17, and then a few beyond which I haven't been able to place on the timeline event yet. I want to try to wrap this up in December, preferably around Christmas, because someone suggested they get together during a Christmas party and I am a sucker for Christmas-y couple things. Look at "Ten Days of Couples" if you don't believe me! I'll probably cram in some major hours of work this weekend and today, although I'm reluctant to start the next chapter until this is up-and-running and I have at least one review. What can I say? It inspires me! Let's just hope I don't throw up again bleah.
Also, because the nine weeks just ended, I know that school is really going t pick up from now on, so updates will become less frequent. I'll try to write as much as I can today, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to get ahead of the game, so instead of having to stress about writing the next chapter I'll just have to click the file and upload it! But if I do lag behind I'm sorry.
Also you guys should see the file names I save these chapters under they're perfection.
Annabeth: Cake time! *pulls out cookie cake for me*
Everyone: Yay!
Will: That does not look healthy.
Nico: Will I don't think anyone cares.
Will: WELL I DO
Nico: *facepalms*
Deranged Shadow Fangirl