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Ever since he can remember, Will has had an arrow on his right hand that changes directions no matter which way he was going.
He tried to follow it one day, when he was eight years old, but his mom caught him and scolded him, making him promise to never do it again until he was at least fifteen years old
Will kept his promise, he didn't want to upset his mom, after all! But couldn't help his curiosity, so he searched it up online (it was hard to read it with his dyslexia, but he used text-to-speech, which made it easier) — but the only thing that came up was old tales of demigods.
Tales of demigods following the symbols of their godly parents on their wrists, and either being met with their doom or to their happiness.
Will found himself sucked in to those stories — of Achilles and Heracles, of Perseus and Jason — which his mom found amusing but didn't explain why.
He found out why she found it so amusing a year later, when he was attacked by a monster and was taken to a camp by a satyr for people like him, demigods.
At camp, everyone had symbols of their godly parents. Apollo kids either had lyres or bows and arrows; the sole son of Poseidon had a trident; the Hermes kids winged sandals or sometimes tortoises and Athena kids snakes.
Will was claimed by Apollo two days after he arrived at camp, after helping an injured camper.
When he was ten, the arrow started going haywire, almost as if asking him to forget the promise he made and follow the directing it was pointing at -- Will stubbornly refused, much to the amusement of his siblings.
After a while — the symbol usually pointed downwards, as if pointing to the underworld, but Will preferred to ignore it, no matter what the arrow meant, it always made him think of that place, and he wasn't looking forward to finding out what it's like earlier before his death.
During the battle of Manhattan, the arrow started going crazy again, urging him to move to the direction it was pointing at, but Will refused to, the deaths of the people he had known for years and his failure in saving them (failing to save his brother-) laid too heavy on his heart.
His medical book was covered in tears after the battle, and ripped out and rewritten multiple times until it looked like any other page-
(He offered the ripped out pages as a sacrifice to the gods after)
During the war with Gaia, his arrow continued going haywire, as if begging him to finally submit to his desires of what's on the other end of it — he ignored it, as usual. Even when it almost faded out for a week straight.
(It scared him. Wasn't what's on the other side of the arrow supposed to be either his doom or happiness, like the tales he read and were told at campfire sing alongs? So far, it didn't look like the arrow was pointing to his doom.)
When in the middle of war, Will finally met the infamous Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades and the Ghost King face to face — his arrow stopped and glowed — as did the bone that was ingraved on the others slim, pale hand.
Both had shocked looks on their faces, but Will quickly snapped out of it
"We can talk about whatever this was later but first we need to get you healed you reckless idiot"
The other had a confused look on his face — with hints of amusement in them — but glared at him after he snapped out of whatever trance he was in (he was also close to passing out, probably) "I'm not an idiot"
He winced after saying that, and Will raised an unimpressed eyebrow "You are after that stunt you pulled. Do you make it a habit to overuse your powers until you pass out? If so, it's a terrible one"
The other still had an amused look on his (cute) face, but Will ignored it in favor of treating the reckless demigod.
The two got to know each other — and soon became close, spending a lot of time together (Will was a witness to the "You're not my type" moment, the face Percy had was hilarious and he pities people who couldn't see it) and started dating some time after after.
After a while, Nico asked him if he could meet Wills mom, since he had already met Apollo and Will had met his parents.
Will gladly agreed, and when his mom finished her tour he arranged a meeting with her (With Chiron's permission, and not using shadow travel, much to the dismay of Nico)
The moment he opened the door to his house, his mom — Naomi Solace — opened the door with an excited smile on her face, urging them to come in.
They sat down in the living room where his mom had already put some snacks along with coffee and tea on the coffee table
"I wasn't sure which one you like better, Coffee or Tea so just in case I made both. The treats are also homemade, I hope you enjoy them" she said, with a proud look on her face, and Nico smiled in return.
"Thank you Miss Solace, I'm sure your treats are lovely, I hope you don't mind but I also bought some food myself"
Naomi smiled, delighted "What a sweet boy you are! Will why didn't you bring him here sooner? Please, put it on the table"
Nico also smiled, but Will could see the hints of anxiousness in it, so he squeezed Nicos hand to reassure him. Nico squeezed back in return
Judging by the soft smile on his mom's face, it definitely didn't go unnoticed, but Nico either ignored it or didn't notice (probably the former, with how observant the son of Hades is), and they both sat down
Nico pulled out the food he made out o the container — Italian dishes that looked mouthwatering — and Naomi Solace had a delighted look on her face "Will such a sweet boy you're dating! So dearie, other than the stuf I know about you from Will, why don't you tell me a bit yourself?"
The Italian had a shocked — and kind of panicked — look on his face, until he squeezed Wills hand and started the story of how he met Will from his own perspective
("People at camp always did say to "never anger the head medic", I had no idea why until he started calling me a reckless idiot for overusing my powers and being on the verge of passing out"
"People say that??"
"Will" Nico gave him a pointed stare "Have you seen yourself in the infirmary? You're terrifying whenever a reckless camper needs medical attention because of idiocy."
"Is the camper you?"
"Will")
When Nico excused himself to go use the bathroom, his mom stared at him and put her hands on his shoulder "Marry that guy Will. Marry him."
Will just laughed and said "That's the plan mom, that's the plan. Also you might've been able to meet him sooner if you let me follow the arrow"
His mom smiled at him in amusement "I should've, shouldn't I?"