Chapter Text
Days passed like how leaves fall down one after another when it's autumn. With hammering heart, Will faced the desk calendar placed on top of his bedside table, and stared at it in disbelief.
Four days has passed. This means Nico only has twenty days left. And without looking at the son of Hades, he would have known about it anyway especially with how powerful and bright his father was becoming day after day while Nico, sometimes, couldn't even decipher his surroundings from dizziness.
It didn't help that there was Capture the Flag game (and it wasn't even Friday) the day before so instead of Will, Mikhail accompanied Nico the whole day yesterday instead while he tended the injured campers. He didn't like the fact that the other son of Apollo could actually substitute his place beside the son of Hades. And from the way he looked at it, it was as if Nico was even completely fine with that.
Feeling even more miserable than he did last night, he quickly grabbed his belly bag that contained a first aid kit and a walkie-talkie in case there was an emergency and they couldn't move the victim in the infirmary quickly.
He prayed that he would never ever use it, and fail in the end.
His mind drifted to Nico, and he shook his head to push away the thought.
"Will, it's only five thirty, where are you going?" Austin asked right after coming back from taking a bath.
Will grinned. "I want to take a little run around Camp to feel refreshed. Evan will be in charge of the front desk in the infirmary. Haley will be in charge of the training in the archery fields later. Jun will be in charge in the inventory of medical supplies. I'll be back later to assemble the Cabin for breakfast. Call me if anything happens."
Kayla peeped down from the upper bunk of their beds. "How about you, Will? What are you going to do today?"
He smiled sheepishly, and then answered, "I got to make it up to Nico."
Greg, a year younger cabinmate of his, raised an eyebrow while he put on a new shirt. "Dude, not because you two are officially dating now, it means you got to be beside each other all the time. How are you going to survive without each other once you need to part for, you know, quests or school or whatever?" Before he could reply, the other continued, "Di Angelo is a tough guy. I'm sure he's capable of handling himself alone as much as you do. You don't need to play the nice housewife or boyfriend, Will."
He sat on his bed, and sighed. "If we have the whole lifetime together, I wouldn't be this desperate to be with him everytime. But we don't have eternity unlike most others."
Austin frowned. "What do you mean?"
Mikhail entered the Cabin, hair wet and shirtless. "Having unpredictable lives is a lot better than knowing that your days are numbered."
He raised his eyes, and glared at his half brother.
"Numbered days? You mean the rumor about Nico sacrificing himself for Dad is actually true? It's true that his days are counted before Thanatos takes him?" Greg spouted.
Almost everyone glared at him.
Will stood up, and crossed his arms. His usually bright smile was nowhere to be seen. "I believe I haven't mentioned anything about this yet."
Hugo rubbed his arm,and offered to reply, "Travis and Connor accidentally heard about it when Percy and Jason were talking about it inside Zeus' Cabin."
He huffed in annoyance before placing his hands on his hips in a stern way. "This is an order as your Cabin Counselor, you shall not speak about this to anyone. Do not treat Nico as if he's fragile. Do not look at him with pity. Greet and talk with him the way you always have. Do not add to his insecurities."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
"Good. I'll take my morning run now. Be good," He said and went out of their cabin.
As usual, no one was outside yet.
He was just five meters away from the door when Mikhail called out, "Solace."
He turned his head to regard the other. "Yeah?"
"After lunch, I wanna talk with you."
He raised an eyebrow with the unexpected and odd request. "About what?"
The other son of Apollo put his hands inside his pants' pockets, and grumbled, "I wanna confront you and duel against you at the same time."
He pursed his lips in irritation. "Are you still not done trying to steal Nico away from me? Sure, I gave you a chance to enjoy a day with him yesterday but there was a valid reason behind it. I am not going to let you take him away."
"We'll see about that later, William Solace," Mikhial challenged and re-entered their Cabin.
Cursing, he rapidly sprinted off towards the lake.
After almost half an hour of running around the Camp to have an exercise, he was surprised to see Nico sitting under a tree beside his Cabin. "Death Boy!"
Nico greeted him back with a glare. "Shut up, you ball of sunshine."
He laughed, and sat beside the son of Hades. "You're up early."
"I slept early, that's why," The other replied, and then took a deep breath.
Will glanced sideways, and gulped down the sob threatening to spill upon seeing Nico's white pale skin, and sunken eyes. "Damn it!" He screamed.
Nico looked up at him in shock. "Will?"
He sulked, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He grunted, "I hate the fact I wasted yesterday inside the infirmary when you needed me."
The son of Hades frowned. "I'm not a kid that needs constant attention."
"I'm not treating you as a kid. I'm treating you as my boyfriend. There's a huge difference."
This statement seemed to have caught the Ghost King in surprise. After awhile, he added, "We could have watched movies all day yester--"
Nico sighed, and then brought out a small smile. "Will, it's alright. There's still twenty days."
Will looked back at his boyfriend before smiling back. Despite the other's protest, he brought Nico's head on his chest. "So this is how Hazel Lancaster felt when she knew how long Augustus Waters had. It does hurt like hell."
"And this is how it feels to know how much you're loved despite having counted days."
"It's so early and yet I already want to go to your Cabin,and cuddle with you as we watch movies. I don't want to feel this sadness anymore," He murmured on Nico's silky hair.
When he got no reply, he looked down and found the son of Hades asleep on his chest. He raised a hand, and caressed Nico's hair away from his face. He touched the brunet's cheek, and brought the other even closer.
"May I interrupt?" A familiar voice asked.
He looked up at his father in surprise. "D-Dad," He said. Almost a week has passed since he last spoke to his father, and knowing their father was the reason of Nico's state still made his blood boil a little.
Apollo sat half a meter away on Will's right,and stayed silent for a minute before murmuring, "Do you hate me, Will?"
It was a very unexpected question.
He tried to find the words as an answer, yet found none, so he remained quiet.
"You can say 'yes,' Artemis, herself sighed as an agreement when I asked her this."
He still remained quiet as he rubbed Nico's back as another way of singing lullabies to the brunet.
"I didn't think this is the kind of consequence my rash decision would do. I was merely trying to re-claim what was mine. I was just trying to prove that I was sorry. But this wasn't what I predicted. This is a lot of worse, and I feel like the shittiest father in the whole Universe-- making my favorite son's lover's day numbered," He babbled, and then bowed his head. "I'm sorry."
This wasn't the Apollo Will knew.
This wasn't the Apollo that crashed into camp days ago.
This wasn't the Apollo some used to make fun of before.
This was Will's father beneath that happiness and narcissism.
This was Will's father beneath the horrible haikus and terrible lyrics.
He smiled up at the sun god. "Knowing you care is enough, Dad. Knowing you haven't actually forsaken us is good enough," He murmured.
Apollo nodded,and then forced a wide smile. "You've grown into a great man, William. I'm glad." His gaze drifted to Nico, who unconsciously intertwined his hand with Will. "He's a nice kid. Used to be so energetic and annoying, but he has matured. Even if he was neglected, rejected...he never let go. He continued to support everyone he loves even if it costs his life."
"Aren't you mad?"
"Will, I'm pansexual. No one has the right to judge someone based on their orientation. It doesn't define who a person is. You are who you are whatever gender you prefer," Apollo replied.
Glad with his father's answer, he looked down at Nico proudly, and cuddled the younger man. "Twenty days."
"Twenty days will come by fast, Will, I know. But..." He hesitated, and eyed Will. "You have a plan, don't you?"
His eyes widened. "How...?"
"I am the god of prophecies. Need more proofs?" He grinned, and proclaimed, "Later at breakfast, Jason and Percy will fall into the Stolls' Prank and accidentally throws their forks at Chiron, which is why they will be on kitchen duty later."
He smirked. "I'll hold onto that, Dad. I'll wait for it."
Apollo laughed. "Anyway, I have to call everyone for breakfast soon, I shall bestow my blessing upon Nico di Angelo while I still can and while my father doesn't care."
The god of sun stood up, and placed a hand on top of Nico's head. "I, Apollo, cast my blessing upon you, Nico di Angelo, that you shall not lose your sanity, your health, yourself as more daus are taken away from your life. I pray that you will not be shaken and give up on everything. That you shall see the light-- that wisdom to find a way out of this. I, Apollo, promise to give everything I can to find you a way out of your misery."
With those final words, Apollo winked at Will and disappeared back to the Amphitheater.
Nico sat beside Will right after offering some of his breakfast to his father. "Why didn't you wake me up when I feel asleep on your chest?"
"You looked so cute sleeping," He teased.
A pink tint appeared on the son of Hades' cheeks before he turned away with a 'hmph'. They all turned when they all heard Jason and Percy enter.
"Well, if we count the times Blackjack and Tempest galloped away from each other, we can conclude that those two aren't comfortable with each other's company," Jason said.
Percy nodded. "It still must be because of the trick done for both of us to fight before. We need to get them to be comfortable together or else it'll be a problem once we're in a dangerous situation."
"What ideas do you have?"
"Well, there's..."
Leo whistled from where he sat across them. "They sure sound so serious and professional right now. Sometimes I forget they used to be praetors of Camp Jupiter because of their constant bickering."
Nico smirked. "Even if they act like kids most of the time, those two are leagues of their own. They aren't dumb as others think they are. They actually have great minds that could come up with great ideas yet still find humor in the situation."
Will nodded as he chewed on a lettuce. "They're both amazing yet scary at the same time."
"Percy is actually intelligent beyond measures, he just really love being ... Er, chill most of the time," Annabeth added.
"Same goes to Jason since he decided he's more Greek than Roman," Piper piped in.
The whole dining pavilion erupted in laughter when the two greatest heroes of Olympus didn't see the string both Stolls held few meters away from each other, tripped on it, and accidentally sent their food in the air. The forks slammed into Chiron's...bottom. He flinched, and the raised his eyebrows at the two heroes laughing hysterically at the ground. "Perseus Jackson and Jaso Grace, you shall be on kitchen duty until dinner."
The two heroes gasped, and slumped their faces on the ground, lamenting. "Whhhhyyyyyy...! Why must the Fates hate ussss?!"
Calypso blinked. "Will they be alright?"
"Oh,Calypso, it's a common scene in the Camp," Annabeth and Piper answered in a sigh.
Will looked at his father in mock surprise, and the god winked in return.
Nico stifled his laughter, and resumed eating. "It tasted dull," He whispered. "Will, I'm not--"
Will shoved a forkful of spaghetti inside Nico's mouth to cut the brunet off. "You need to eat."
The son of Hades chewed his food before swallowing, and then he pouted. "You're worse than Reyna."
He laughed, and then raised another forkful. "Say 'ah,' Nico."
Nico opened his mouth on instinct. He regretted it afterwards. Blushibg, he grumbled, "I acted on reflex."
He chuckled, and ruffled Nico's hair. "If you finish my spaghetti, bacon and sunny side up, I'll call McDo delivery for McNuggets."
The son of Hades glared at him before grabbing his plate.
Will laughed heartily, and hugged the Ghost King as their friends laughed around them.
He wished this day wouldn't end.
He looked at Nico as the other seemed to become even more engrossed to the movie. He knee it was right that he chose to watch: 'Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' with Nico before lunch.
When Nico sneezed, he chuckled, and wrapped a big blanket around their shoulders.
"Thanks," Nico said with a small smile.
He draped an arm around Nico's shoulder and moved the brunet's head to lean against his shoulder. "You alright?" He asked when tge first movie ended and credits rolled in.
The son of Hades nodded. "Sorry, Will," he apologized.
He blinked. "For what?"
"For many things. Like how I'm still as awkward and stiff as a plank. How I'm still new with this that I don't know how to act. How I'm suddenly so dependent to you. How I'm so weak I couldn't even shadow travel us to somewhere and have fun. How I am wasting your time when you could have stayed with your siblings instead. For..." He paused, and whispred, "...slowly dying and leaving you."
He grabbed one of Nico's hands, and traced his finger on his palm. "No, Nico, don't think like that. I'm by your side because I want to; I'm perfectly happy just knowing you're by my side." When Nico just nodded, he muttered, "Are you afraid?"
Nico blinked, and then stared at him. "I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid of leaving you behind."
He smiled. He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on the brunet's forehead tenderly. "I loved you yesterday. I love you still. I'll love you always and forever."
Nico put a hand on Will's chest, and leaned his head on the crook of the blod's neck. "...I love you too, Will."
They looked at each other before Will captured those soft lips of Nico's against his.
With Percy and Jason volunteering to guard Nico, and making him oblivious of their duel, Will walked towards the arena with a sword he personally asked Leo make for him weeks ago in case he really needed to fight.
He heard Nico shouting at Jason and Percy for being too overprotective of him, and not letting the son of Hades swim. He heard yellings of the word: 'Bro, bro, bro, brrrrooooo!' and knew he made the right choice to let Nico's cousins take care of him.
He faced Mikhail who was already pointing his sword at him. "I, Mikhail Walker, challenge you, William Solace to a duel for Nico. The first to surrender shall be redeemed as the loser."
He took a deep breath, thrust his sword towards Mikhail, and smirked. "I accept your challenge and the conditions."
"In three, then."
"One."
"Two..."
"Three!" They growled and lunged at each other.