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“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!”
Will probably deserved the rope that knocked him down right after that. In his defense, he couldn’t help it. It was fully necessary, and he deserved the right to say it after the experience he’d just been through.
Nico had been sent on a solo mission. This, in and of itself, was somewhat standard. Solo missions weren’t prophesied, but they were still requirements by the gods and fully necessary to go on. Nico, being who he was, insisted he would be fine on his own and that he would call or shadow travel if he really needed to.
It was some ridiculous request by a minor god he’d never heard of. Geras had lost his favorite cane and asked for Nico to retrieve it. Why he’d chosen the son of Hades, Will had no clue, but Hades had solidified that Nico had to go. Something about professional relationships and PR. Corporate politics sounded like they spawned from somewhere in the Fields of Punishment, and Will was eternally grateful that he’d probably never have to deal with them. He trusted his boyfriend to know his limits, even if he was worried, so he didn’t mind that he was going solo as long as Nico called him everyday.
Nico di Angelo left on a Tuesday afternoon, wearing his new aviator (a gift from Lou Ellen, Hades, and Will that had been charmed to always be the right temperature and stored the contents of his pockets in the shadow realm). He was carrying his sword, water, some drachmas and a mortal credit card, and had kissed and hugged Will goodbye.
Nico had made progress across the country, taking it slowly with only a few jumps a week. He called Will twice every day, telling him what he’d done and reassuring him that he had eaten and drank water. He’d stayed healthy and didn’t fade, paced himself right.
Nico di Angelo disappeared on a Monday morning, and nobody remembered who he was.
Will hadn’t gotten a call from Nico in a full day, and he was starting to freak out a little. Nico had been very clear that he would call Will twice a day no matter what, and he’d missed 3 calls now. It wouldn’t be cause for worry if it weren’t Nico , who’d once called Will in the middle of fighting some monsters because they’d shown up as soon as a message went through.
He got kicked out of the infirmary by Kayla when he’d accidentally been too rough with a patient, distracted enough by his worry that he hadn’t realized he was putting too much pressure on their arm. She’d told him to go collect himself and come back tomorrow with a fresh mind.
Will wandered out to the lake, sitting on the dock and slipping his flip flops off to dip his legs in the water. He swished them back and forth, staring at his reflection until it became blurry from the tears in his eyes.
Where was Nico?
As much as Will trusted his boyfriend, he was terrified. He knew Nico was capable, but that didn’t stop his mind from conjuring up images of him bruised and beaten, cut, captured. Maybe even worse.
“Solace? You alright?”
Will turned around to see Leo at the end of the docks. He sat up a little. Maybe someone from Argo II would understand Will’s fear. “I’m worried about Nico. He hasn’t called me in over a day and the last I heard of him, he was about to venture into a monster den. I’m scared something went wrong.”
Leo sat down next to him. “That sucks, man. Maybe I can help? But who’s Nico?”
Will rolled his eyes. “Haha, Leo, very funny. Not the time.”
Leo frowned. “What are you talking about? I don’t know who this dude is.”
Will turned to face the boy fully, searching his eyes. “Yes you do. Nico, son of Hades? Sailed on the Argo II with the rest of y’all? 5’4”, always grumpy, black hair and almost black eyes, pale as a sheet of paper?”
Leo laughed, though he seemed unnerved. “You’re making a joke, right? I don’t know anyone named Nico, especially not from the Argo II.”
Will grabbed his shoulders, eyes pleading. “No, Leo, you have to understand me. You have to . Think harder. Nico di Angelo, 17 years old. Nico, my boyfriend. ”
Leo didn’t remember Nico. Kayla didn’t remember Nico. Lou Ellen, Cecil, Rachel, Percy, Annabeth, Travis, Connor, Austin didn’t remember Nico. Chiron didn’t remember Nico.
Something was very wrong, and Will wasn’t going to wait around anymore for it to fix itself.
He grabbed the emergency money he’d saved up, wrote a note to his siblings that he tacked on his bedpost, strapped his throwing knives to his waist inside his coat, sprayed an entire can of Axe body spray (this specific brand was so atrocious that it masked the demigod smell) and put his backpack on before sneaking outside of camp and catching a bus that would take him to Indianapolis. The last time he’d called Nico, Nico had been about to head to a small town in Kansas called Chanute. According to Geras, he spent a lot of time there and had last used his favorite cane during a seniors chess match. He had been called for an audience with Hades suddenly, and didn’t remember if he’d taken his cane or not. Nico figured it was worth a shot to see if he could find it there.
Will was so stupid . He shouldn’t have let Nico go alone, no matter how skilled he was. No matter how skilled anyone was they could always be caught off guard. Will knew that better than anyone. He treated the consequences of surprises every single day. He needed to find Nico as soon as possible. He stared out the window, willing the bus to go faster, faster, faster, please. He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the cool glass, and let the darkness envelop him in sleep.
Will.
Will.
Will!
Will gasped, opening his eyes. In front of him stood Nico, standing in what looked to be a cage and looking exasperated.
“Nico!” Will ran towards him, grabbing the steel and shaking it to no avail. “What happened?! Where are you?! Are you okay?!”
“Will, calm down.” Nico put his left hand over where Will’s was on the bar. He slipped his other hand through and cupped Will’s cheek. Will leaned into it, feeling his throat close up. “I’m okay. Or at least I am for now. I won’t be if you don’t get me out of here soon.”
“Where is here ? What’s going on? Nobody remembers you except for me, and you didn’t call…” Will put his left hand over Nico’s on his cheek.
“I’m in an abandoned warehouse a few miles south of the small town I told you about. I went to retrieve the cane and I remember seeing it behind one of the retirement homes. I went to grab it and the next thing I know I’m knocked out. I recognized some of the trees outside though - this is where I originally landed before I went into town. I think it’s Cyclopes. Be careful, Will, you can’t take on all of them. I just need you to come get me.”
Will nodded, squeezing Nico’s hand slightly before pulling back. “But how many are there? Where exactly are you? Nico, how much longer do you have?”
“I don’t-” A loud crash echoed and Nico’s cage shook. Will took a step back, only to find nothing behind him as he stumbled off the platform Nico was on.
“WILL!”
“William Solace?”
Will jolted awake, looking around. “Yes?”
“Ticket, please.”
Will got out his paper ticket, watching as the worker scanned it and moved on.
So Nico was near Chanute.
Nobody fucked with Will's boyfriend.
The rest of the commute was somewhat uneventful, barring one point where Will had to pretend he was already 18 instead of 17 and had seemed to forget his own birthday, spiraling into a moment where he'd just ended up staring into nothing as the worker repeated his name at louder volumes.
He’d formed a plan in the time that he’d had during his trips. He would ask the townspeople about any warehouses south of the town, and spend some time in the old age homes to ask about Geras. Something was off about the whole thing - Will had never heard of any monsters that had the capability to mess with memory. He was worried that this whole thing was bigger than the god.
Will searched up multiple old age homes in the area, trying to figure out where he could make his approach. It seemed that one had visiting hours with the residents often, which was likely where Geras had played chess with the others. From there he could try to find out where the warehouse was, and then make his way to Nico.
He walked into the building, making his way up to reception as he ramped up the southern accent and put on his most charming accent. “Howdy! I’m here to visit with the seniors?”
Will walked out a few hours later with directions, a generally unimpressive cane, and 3 new friends. First things first - he needed a ride. He searched for an Uber using his contraband camp phone, wincing slightly at the cost before remembering that he was doing this for the sake of his captive boyfriend. He waited anxiously outside for the car to pull up before getting in quickly and watching as the trees flew by.
He would have to sneak into the building. He’d searched up floor plans for the building and found a layout that he hoped was the right one, then made an educated guess at where Nico was being held based on what he remembered from his dream. He was going to hope that there would be something he could climb on the side of the building.
“Are you sure this is the right place, kid?”
Will looked out at the sun on the horizon, the chipped cinderblock and rusty, exposed pipes of the large building. It looked like something out of a horror movie. His skin crawled at the prospect of going inside and he resisted the urge to tell the driver no, it wasn’t, take him back.
Nico is in there.
“Yes. Thank you so much, sir, I’ll leave a good review. Here.” Will placed a 10 on the center placement in the front before getting out of the car and waving bye.
The second the car drove off, he grabbed a small pouch out of his pocket. He shoved his backpack into it, wrestling the drawstring closed. The second the drawstring was within 2 inches of being closed, it shrunk, seemingly empty again. Will folded it up and put it back in his pocket before turning to the building.
Will backed up a few feet before starting to run, sprinting at full speed towards the wall before jumping and grabbing one of the larger exposed pipes. He climbed his way up, grabbing any loose edges, pipes, holes in the wall. He was lucky to be gifted with lizard-like climbing abilities for as long as he could remember, and fully utilized them. He kept it up until he reached a panel on the outside that he knew should take him to the sector of the building that he suspected Nico was in.
He opened the panel and pulled his body inside, twisting so he could see where he would drop down. He looked down before slipping his body through the gap, falling so he’d take the least impact. He tried to be silent, not seeing any guards as he snuck towards the area where Nico was. This seemed a little too easy.
Of course, the second he thought as much, he heard a low voice behind him. “Demigod?”
Well, fuck.
Will turned around, eyes narrowing. “Shush.” He waved his hand at the Cyclops standing in front of him, watching as the monster tried to make a sound to no avail. He waited for him to charge, then ducked to the side as the Cyclops made direct contact with the railing behind him and fell over it. He bolted, running until-
Finally.
Just like in his dream, Nico stood inside of a cage on a large, elevated platform.
The problem was, unlike in his dream, Will was about 30 feet away from Nico, and did not have a key to the cage.
Will frantically waved his arms at Nico, beaming at the brunette once he made eye contact. Nico gave him a small smile back, then tilted his head. Will got the message. What’s the plan?
Will pulled out his small pouch, opening it and ruffling through it until he found the rope he’d brought. It was about 40 feet long and thick enough to hold a person’s weight. He indicated that he would throw it to Nico, who should then drop it to the ground below once Will gave him a signal. Nico nodded, then mouthed something that was either be careful or eat waffle . Will decided to go with the first based on the context. He made to throw the rope, but Nico held a hand up, pointing to himself and then pointing his fingers from his eyes to the ground. Will nodded, waiting for Nico’s signal before tossing the rope through the bars of Nico’s cage. Nico caught it, quickly lowering it to the ground.
Will made his way to the floor below, taking out the Cyclopes in his way without hesitation or mercy. He grabbed the keys off the last one before walking over to where Nico was.
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”
Will probably deserved being completely knocked down by the rope that Nico dropped on his shoulder after. But hey, at least it was worth it. “Ow.”
“Sorry.” For some reason, Nico didn’t sound it. Will shook it off and grabbed the rope grateful for the cloth he’d wrapped around his hands for this part. His arms shook as he neared the end, ready to give up until he thought about who was at the top.
He reached the top and pulled himself up, then ran over to Nico’s cage, getting the keys out and unlocking the door.
Nico barreled into him, burying his face in Will’s neck. “You came.”
Will buried his face in Nico’s hair, squeezing him tightly. “You never called.”
Nico laughed dryly. “Did you at least get the man’s cane?”
Will nodded.
“Then we’re getting out of here.” Nico shoved Will off the platform, still holding his hand and followed him off. Will wasn’t particularly proud of the way he screamed right then.
They emerged in the shade of Peleus’s tree with another person with them. Will had to try not to wince at how pitiful the old man looked.
“My cane?” He sounded as if he was both on the verge of tears and collapsing, his voice raw and ragged.
Ah. This must be Geras, then. Will opened his small pouch, dumping the contents onto the ground. He grabbed the cane from among them, handing it to the god.
“Thank you. I really didn’t like-” His speech dissolved into wet coughs, and Will fought the urge to recoil. “I’ll be going now. I’ve got a backgammon game to get to.” And with that, he left with the lingering smell of baby powder and green tea.
Nico leaned on Will. “I’m exhausted.”
Will kissed his head. “Then let’s rest.”
They made their way to the Hades cabin. Nico collapsed directly onto his bed, and Will took off his shoes, jacket, and pants for him, knowing the boy wouldn’t sleep if Will didn’t.
He went to lay down next to Nico when a yellow sticky note stuck onto the nightstand caught his eye. It seemed incredibly out of place in the dark color cabin, and he picked it up to read.
The camp’s memory of Nico has been restored. I simply wanted to hinder the quest because Geras had forgotten to meet me on a very important date. It’s strange, honestly. Forgot! I don’t understand. Nevertheless, now that his cane has been returned, there’s no more reason to keep this curse running. I appreciate your work and your prayers and sacrifice to me.
- Mnemosyne
Well.
At least Will could sleep in peace now?