Solangelo One Shots

A Brief and Wonderful Friendship

This was inspired by a piece of fanart that I couldn't find again. It was about what happened to Nico when Bianca went on her quest. Hope you enjoy!

Will's POV

It was always interesting when a new demigod came to camp. It didn't happen that often anymore, the camp only housing about eighty campers in the summer, and about a quarter of that in the winter months. So, when a ten year old boy, about my age, came crashing into camp in Apollo's sun bus with Percy Jackson of all campers, people were going to talk.

"Who's son do you think he is?" whispered Lou Ellen to me, eyeing the kid. He was off to the side, black hair falling in front of his dark brown eyes, large aviator jacket baggy around his tiny frame. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to his surroundings, seemingly immersed in a pile of cards he was holding in his hands, each with its own monster or tiny figure.

"I'm not sure," I mused. "He doesn't fit the profile of any of the major olympians."

"He seems kind of moody, like Clarisse," she said, nodding toward the daughter of Ares, who was chasing an Athena kid around with a hammer. "Maybe he's the son of Ares."

"Maybe, but I doubt it," I murmured, surveying the boy. He had now taken a tiny statue out of his pocket and was playing with it in the grass that had been kept fresh by the Gods in the winter months. Lou Ellen shrugged.

"I guess we'll find out sooner or later," she said. "Do you want to practice your archery?"

"Sure," I decided. I started to walk away but craned my neck back to look at the boy, unable to take my eyes off of him.

He was still there after a few weeks. A big quest had just left, including his sister, who's name was Bianca, and the boy had been left behind. He never came to meals, and I wondered of he was eating enough. It didn't seem like it, if his eating habits were any indication. I knew where he slept now, at least. He had rejected Chiron's offer of sleeping in the Hermes cabin and had even forgone the chance to sleep in the Artemis cabin, where the other hunters had offered him his sister's empty bunk, claiming that he was gay and, therefore, was no threat. He was sleeping in the woods, near Zeus's fist. He never participated in camp activities, and he barely ever left the woods. I wondered what he did all day.

"Why are you saving your sandwich?" My half- sister, Kayla, asked as I slipped my Italian into a plastic ziploc bag.

"You know that kid?" I said. "I think his name is Nico? He never comes to meals, and he's probably starving."

"That kid?" Kayla muttered. "He's kind of weird." I shrugged.

"I think he seems cool." I slid off of the bench, grabbing the plastic bag. "I'll see you during archery practice."

I found him in the woods, cards spread out on the frozen ground and acting out fights with tiny figurines. "Hi," I said. He spun around, cards scattering everywhere and a wild look in his eyes. "You're Nico, right?" I continued. "I'm Will. I noticed you haven't been at meals, so I brought you a sandwich." I showed him the sandwich and he eyed it warily. "Are you hungry?"

"A little bit," he admitted. He took the sandwich, devouring it. "Thanks."

"No problem. Hey, why do you sleep out here?"

"I'm not staying at camp forever," he said. "Once Bianca comes back from her quest we're leaving. It's always just been her and me, and it's going to stay like that."

"You know it's dangerous out there for two lone demigods, right? And she in a Hunter of Artemis."

""I know!" he snapped. "But Bianca and I will be fine. We always have been. And I'm sure she'll pick me over those stupid hunters." I took in his face. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he looked determined.

"Well, maybe we can be friends until you leave?" I suggested. I liked Nico, and it seemed like he needed a friend. Nico hesitated, and I was scared he would say no.

"Yeah," he grinned. "I'd love to."

The first order of our friendship was for Nico to teach me Mythomagic. We stayed up for hours, Nico teaching me which monsters and gods could beat who. He had never had much money, so I was surprised at how many figures and cards he had. He had every card and all the figures except one, he told me. He was still on the hunt for the rare Hades figurine, he said. I told him he would eventually get it.

As the flowers bloomed, so did our friendship. I finally convinced him to live in the Hermes cabin, and I even got him to start coming to meals. I was starting to improve at mythomagic, seeing as we played together in the woods nearly every day. I taught him how to shoot in return for him teaching me mythomagic. Even though he still asked about Bianca's return daily, he was happy.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Nico asked. We were laying on the grass, enjoying one of the first warm days of the season.

"I was thinking we could go swimming," I suggested. "Take advantage of the nice weather?"

"Sure!" Nico grinned, popping up from the ground. "I'll grab some clothes."

Nico didn't have a swimsuit, so he showed up to the lake in a pair of shorts and a black tee shirt. "Nice swimsuit," he smirked. I looked down at my blue swim shorts covered in green turtles.

"Hey, I like them," I said. "Lets go swimming."

We jumped in the water, the green pond grass tickling our bare legs. Nico didn't know how to swim, having never gotten the chance to learn, so we just splashed around at the front of the lake, playing with the sand and splashing each other with the cool water until the warm air was replaced by a cold breeze as the sun began to set. We crawled out of the water, covered in sand. We dried off with the two towels I had brought, attempting to brush off every grain of sand sticking to our wet bodies.

"I think it's going to be warm tomorrow," I shared with Nico. "Do you want to go swimming again?"

"Yeah, of course!" Nico grinned. "Maybe you could teach me how to swim?"

"I'd love to," I said, slinging my towel across my shoulder. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow."

The first hour he was late I brushed it off. Nico liked to sleep in, and it was early in the morning, at least for his standards. I couldn't recall the last time he was willingly awake before ten. However, the second hour I started to wonder where he was. I even checked the Hermes cabin and had found his small space on the floor cleared out. According to Connor and Travis Stoll he had left early in the morning and hadn't been back since. He had taken what few belongings he had, and it was impossible to find a sign that he had ever been there.

After the third hour I had given up on the hope that Nico was coming, so I changed out of my bathing suit and back into my usual outfit of camp half blood shirt and shorts. I wandered around camp, keeping an eye out for Nico, but it was only until the sun was beginning to set when I saw him, running to the woods with a black backpack stuffed with everything he owned inside slung around his shoulder. His eyes were crazy, and tear tracks were running down his pale cheeks.

"Nico?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

"No," he snapped. "I'm not okay. Just leave me alone, okay?"

"What happened?"

"Bianca is dead, okay?" He screamed, fresh tears leaking out of his eyes. "She's dead and she's never coming back and it's all Percy Jackson's fault!"

"Nico," I murmured. "I'm so sorry."

"Shut up, Will! Just shut up!" He looked toward the woods.

"Are you leaving?" I gasped.

"Of course I'm leaving! I hate it here! I never want to see it again!" He started to run again. I tried to follow him but he was fast, and I could barely keep up with him.

"Nico, wait!" I panted but he was already gone. He had disappeared around a bend, hidden by the trees. I searched high and low for him but he seemed to have been swallowed up by the Earth. Feeling my heart break in two, I started walking back to camp.

I hope you liked that! I've been waiting to write it for a really long time, and I think it turned out pretty well.

Nina