Non sicuro per i vermi - Italian proverb
"I have a crazy idea," Will said.
At the moment, Nico was glad to have something to hold on to. It was early in the day but he had officially moved into the Apollo cabin. It felt new, but not in a good way. He didn't say anything but just looked at Will.
"Let's go to the beach."
That didn't sound so bad. Nico let himself unwind a little bit. "Sure," he said.
The day was bright and the cicadas sang their summertime song. Camp Half-blood was alive again with new demigods and veteran campers. Nico avoided them mostly, with the exception of Will and a few of his younger siblings.
He wore his bomber jacket despite the raging heat of August.
The trail that led them there was well traveled. Camplife could be rough sometimes and none of the campers were immune. Nico still felt distant, like he could never truly relate. Not even to Will.
He caught himself staring at the horizon. He snapped out of it when Will made a sound behind him.
"Have you ever thought about swimming to the island over there," Will asked, pointing out across the water.
Nico looked in that direction. He had seen the island from this distance a thousand times but today it seemed reachable.
"Check this out." Will started gathering some boards that had been scattered in the glistening white sand.
Nico wasn't falling for it. "Right. They just happened to be here."
"Sure they are. It's not contrived at all. People leave stuff on the beach all the time. Or it just washes ashore."
"And it's a coincidence that there is a bucket of nails and enough rope to tie the ends together."
"Have you tried enjoying the moment?"
Nico rolled his eyes and picked up the rope. He walked over to where Will was.
They were close, maybe more so now than ever before. Nico tried not to notice. He tried not to notice how tall and athletic Will was. The way that the sunlight reflected on his hair; the tan lines and the freckles. He found himself longing for more. Longing to be more.
He held the boards still while Will hammered them together and tied them off. Nico liked the way it felt, being near him, working beside him. Skeletal butterflies didn't get enough credit.
"You're blushing. What's on your mind," Will asked.
"I am not," Nico protested. He looked away quickly. But he could feel his face turning even more red.
"You liiiike me. You want to daaaate me. You think I'm-"
"Shut up, Solace," Nico hissed at him. He looked quickly back the way they came. There was no one there; no more campers to ruin the moment.
The rest of the world fell away when Will leaned into kiss him. For a long moment, Nico didn't know anything but the softness and taste of his lips, the roughness of his calloused hands resting on the back of Nico's head and upper arm, the warmth of his skin and the invisible line that drew them ever closer.
He shivered despite the triple digits. The old fears gathered in the back of his mind, screaming at him to turn back before it was too late.
Instead, Will asked him, "Do you trust me?"
Nico didn't know how to answer so he let the silence do the talking.
The bomber jacket came off, along with both their shirts. They spent the rest of the morning there, even after the tide came in and turned the sand into the shallows. The allure of parts unknown remained.
"How safe is it," Nico asked.
"It's pretty safe, I'd say." Will retrieved his backpack and pulled out two lifejackets, tossing one towards Nico. It landed unceremoniously by his feet.
He picked it back up and tried shaking it. He realized with dismay that he would never be able to get rid of all the sand now. It was bad enough that they were bright orange. He fastened it over his shirt and looked wistfully at his jacket. How much damage could salt water do to leather?
"This feels awkward," he complained, trying to readjust the lifejacket.
Will sighed. "Not this again. Can you just humor me and wear it?"
Nico sat down in the middle of the raft and looked at Will. "What now?"
"That's not what I meant by humoring me."
"This would be better if it was on the water."
"I don't know what gave you that idea."
"There are no waves to get it moving."
"Why didn't I think of that? Can you move off of it so we can push it into the water?"
"Oh."
The raft floated listlessly in two feet of water a few minutes later. The rope had already started unraveling and the boards drifted away from each other.
"I don't think we're going to make it to the island on this Will."
"You don't know that for sure," Will told him, trying to resecure some of the boards but the rope basically disintegrated in his hands. He sighed again and started gathering the materials so they didn't float into Poseidon's realm.
"It was a good effort," Nico admitted. "But that guy has been watching us the whole time." He pointed to the canoe rental kiosk further up the beach. "It's $10 for an hour and $25 for three hours."
"Because it ruins the aesthetic." Will turned out his pockets and found a sodden five dollar bill.
"I've got it," Nico said. He turned and headed to the kiosk.
"What do you think," Will asked him about halfway across.
I'm not drowning anymore. But Nico didn't say it out loud. Instead, he ran his hand across the surface of the water and tried getting a sense of how deep it was.
The spirit of the bay was angry with the mortals surrounding it. It was angry with Percy for not solving it's problems. The tide was shifting.
The waters receded only to rise again as waterspouts danced in the distance. They seemed harmless enough for the moment. The canoe sank into the mud which quickly dried to clay in the blistering heat.
Out to sea, however, the sky turned black and the waves rose to the sky and crashed against each other in a wild frenzy. The echoes of wind spirits shrieking with delight and anguish reached a fever pitch. Nico instinctively covered his ears.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Will's panicked voice brought Nico back to reality.
The canoe bobbed lazily on the water with neither of them to guide it's path.
Olympus will crumble. You have my word, Kronos promised. Nico sensed an equal measure of sorrow and amusement from the titan, as well as an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.
"Let me help," Will said just as Nico was shouting, "No!"
"You don't want my help," Will asked, looking concerned. Kronos seemed to pose the same question.
Kronos showed him the image of an hourglass with only a few grains of sand stuck to the sides. They killed your mother and your sister. Your father won't even speak to you because of them. Why do you continue to prop them up?
Nico imagined himself picking up the hourglass and examining it. The fine sand had shaken loose from the walls and pooled in one area.
He had no idea what had happened when Percy and Annabeth had defeated Luke, only that they came back without him.
Will leaned forward and took his hand, cutting through the nightmare vision. Chaos retreated and Nico was aware of himself again. "Where are we and what are we doing," Will asked.
Nico looked at his shoes in the bottom of the canoe, at the trees along the coastline, the unattainable horizon. "Thank you," he said quietly. Will nodded and they finished the rest of the trip together.
"I have to tell you something," Nico told him, as they dragged the canoe up the shore. "During the war with Kronos, Luke kept sending mercenaries to capture me."
"You got away. That's all that matters."
"They were mortals, mostly. Men. Soldier types. I was smaller than them but it didn't matter."
"I know what mercenaries are. Human monsters. Survival, Nico. Luke brought war to us."
"Was it survival, though," Nico questioned him. He made sure they had eye contact. "I killed one of them. I watched the life leave his eyes."
Will started to say something but Nico cut him off again. "There was another one, once. I was practicing shadow travel and I cut his hamstrings so he couldn't run. But they were mortals and Luke wouldn't stop. I wanted to send him a message.
It didn't help. I cut the next one into pieces and left them on the deck of the Princess Andromeda. The only one after that just delivered a letter from Luke. He said he was only trying to make me stronger and that everything would make sense if I took Percy to his mother's house, Luke's mom, I mean. Not Sally Jackson."
Nico felt gutted when Will said, "That's horrible." And then even worse when he added, "I'm so sorry that happened to you. But even war doesn't excuse some things."
"What happened to survival? Huh Will? You got nothing to say about it now? Oh but I forgot... I'm gay so that makes everything alright somehow."
"Luke did some pretty reprehensible things to a lot of people. He stabbed Annabeth and they took me to heal her. As soon as I started, Kronos spoke to me. I was scared and confused. What did he have to do with me? Weren't we fighting the war against him? Where does Annabeth fit into this? But he said if I could find you and help you then it would be enough and I would eventually understand." Will sighed and kicked some loose rocks. "I still don't see how this is part of his great evil scheme. Maybe he's right and Luke was just out of control. What did he promise you?"
"He didn't," Nico admitted. He thought about the empty hourglass and imagined smashing it to pieces. "Can we go back to camp now?"
"I was thinking about staying here tonight."
"There's no fraternization among campers."
"The rules only apply to normal couples." Will cut off Nico's argument. "Clarisse LaRue and Chris Rodriguez built this place before they left for Arizona. Redefine normal and what is not. Piper and Jason. Leo and Calypso. The two of us."
Will looked conflicted. "It's not safe for me at camp anymore," he told Nico. "Because of Dionysus. I'm leaving in the morning for my mom's beach house. She even cancelled part of her tour because of me.
We bought a second ticket, just in case. Do you want to come with me?"
Nico didn't hesitate for once. "Yes."