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Nico was in love with Will, he already accepted it, but he wasn't going to do anything at all, he knew that being attracted to people of the same gender was okay, but it was strange, he felt strange, plus Will wasn't like him, he didn't want to ruin his only friendship that he got on his own, it was fine that way, thank you very much.
Instead, Nico was picking strawberries for Will, nothing romantic, Will was doing a lot of work that last day, capture the flag was especially violent and Will has been stuck in the infirmary. He hadn't let Nico play, it was barely a month into the war against Gaea, and according to Will, he could still “turn into a puddle of shadows.” According to Nico, he was perfectly fine.
When he filled the basket with all the reddest and sweetest strawberries he could find, Nico headed to the infirmary. In the middle of his path, he heard terrified screams very close to there, too close, Nico immediately thought in Will, fearing that something could have hurt him.
He ran to the source of the screams, there were almost all the campers from all year round, except Apollo's cabin. Nico's heart beat three times as fast, fearing what could have happened to Will, he focused on the monster causing the screams.
It was a damn basilisk, with a small army of snakes covering it. The basilisk was a monster not only Greek, it was also part of Egyptian mythology, and in the folklore of the average age, apparently it also appeared in a series of books and movies, Harry Potter or something like that, he heard it somewhere while traveling alone in the streets of New York.
He left the basket on the floor of the infirmary, several snakes were bothering the patients, he saw some campers, none of Apollo. He drew his Stygian Iron sword, slashing at the snakes.
Billie Ng, a daughter of Demeter, had a slight wound on her arm, she was healed enough to attack the snakes with a celestial bronze dagger, she was trying to free Connor Stoll from a giant emerald snake, he had a deep wound on her shoulder, she kicked the snakes, only annoying them more, addressed her.
"Where are the Apollo kids?" he asked, although he was looking more specifically for Will.
"Locked in cabin 7" he didn't know he was holding his breath until he let out a sigh of relief.
"Why? " Although he was happy that Will was safe, but they were strong, he had seen Kayla Knowles shoot multiple arrows at the same time without missing a single one, Will was an excellent medic and his whistle was terrible, Will didn't think he was a good doctor himself, and warrior, Nico is shure he was.
"You don’t know? The children of Apollo are deathly terrified of snakes" Now outside the infirmary, the Basilisk feared king of snakes, had three poor campers trapped by the waist, probably breaking their ribs.
"That? Why? "The snakes came out from everywhere, coiling around his legs and anchoring him to the ground, Nico shook and jumped, crushed and cut the snakes one by one "Like Athena cabin"
At this rate they looked like cockroaches, for one dead four others came out, many different types of snakes, large and small.
Billie screamed, she was bitten by a small snake, Nico didn't know about snakes, but he was sure that a snake bite was not something he should take lightly, he cursed.
He cut the snake that bit Billie, she fell to her knees, Nico tried to take her inside the wound was swelling at a deadly rate, Chiron was already there hurriedly tending Harley, a new camper from Hephaestus' cabin.
Nico leave Billie in Chiron's care. He left the infirmary, the snakes had already disappeared, and the fight had moved next to the cabins, he ran with a new concern if Will, Apollo's cabin, were scared to death of the snakes, if Billie said it wasn't an exaggeration. Why Will hadn’t told him before? How terrible must it have been for him, them al this.
The cabin was flooded by thousands of snakes, Nico could hear some screams from inside, the basilisk was barely distracted by the demigods, even someone from Aphrodite's cabin tried to make him look at his own reflection, however it was not so stupid and broke the mirrors.
Nico had tried not to use his underworld powers, Will had told him that he could die if he did, and he really didn't want to make his friend angry, he also wanted to live a little longer, but now he had no other option, only the More veterans were still standing, and an oversized snake is trying to choke him.
He opened the ground with his sword, skeletons emerged from the cracks, destroying every snake in sight, at this point, Nico was already becoming one with the shadows, he gathered all the strength he had left to throw the basilisk into the depths of the Hades.
The last thing he remembered was hearing faint murmurs, and everything went black.
…
He woke up with a very strong light directly in his face, he recognized the familiar stretcher and curtains of the infirmary, outside he could hear distant whispers in the infirmary, he covered his eyes with his arm, trying to muffle the blinding light, everything hurt, a familiar feeling when he brought the Athena Parthenos to camp.
Nico heard the thick curtain slowly part, too tired and dazed to do anything more than move his arm, he stood there, waiting for whoever came in, maybe it was Will, to tell him how close Nico came to death.
"Nico" said the most beautiful and melodic voice he had ever heard, safe and alive, he slowly removed his arm from his face, his eyes barely got used to the excess light, he saw Will, his beautiful sky-blue eyes looked at him with concern.
"Will" his voice be hoarse and his throat hurt, he felt terrible, Will sighed, until now he noticed his pronounced dark circles that rivalled his own, he was pale but he looked just as pretty "How are you? I found out about you and the snakes”. he asked.
Will made a sneer, it was clear that Apollo's kids did not like snakes. He sat in a nearby chair, wearing the typical orange T-shirt of Camp Half-Blood, and a white medical gown over it. He looked at his arm specifically in the symbol of medicine, a caduceus with a snake, wait, Asclepios was not the son of Apollo too, why is his symbol a snake?
"Nico, you almost turned into shadows, and the first thing you ask is about me? I told you not to use your powers" Will scolded him, completely avoiding his question, he checked Nico's vital signs, waiting for an answer.
"We were losing, it was the only way, and you didn't answer me" Nico let his worry filter into his voice, something he rarely did, alone with Will and a few other people, he let himself be read that way, Nico got even more worried, noticing how Will trembled in his grip on Nico's wrist, noticed some burns on his hands.
"You're a hypocrite" he said with false annoyance, he could never truly get angry with Will. "You went too far too." Nico took Will's right hand, it was full of bandages and burns, and how much ambrosia and nectar were in his system, Nico let released his wrist quickly, that might look too romantic.
"There were many injured, and my brothers are terrified by the snake bites" and you aren't? Nico wanted to ask, but he was no one to judge, he hid his true feelings all the time "Adam Chiron and me are the only ones attending, my brother Austin was bitten, he almost died "
Austin was a good healer, although not as good as Will, and his powers did not consist of healing, but he used to hang around the infirmary a lot, Kayla, Will's younger sister, was also skilled, but like Will she was not as good. With the bow, Kayla wasn't as good with medicine.
"How long was I gone? " Nico asked.
"More than a day " his reproachful look returned, he took a glass of water from the car table next to the bed and helped him get up and put the glass between his lips, he swallowed too quickly, he was very thirsty.
"Careful," Will said, trying to get him to drink more calmly. When he finished, Will left the empty glass on the table and stood up. Nico didn't want him to leave, but he had other patients, probably in a worse state than him.
Nico tried to get up, lying down makes him feel weak, especially in front of Will, he is so brave and strong, not like Nico. Will left the chart he was holding on the table, Nico knew it was his medical file, where he wrote down all the injuries and important damages that a doctor would need from him.
Nico was fine, when he got up he barely felt any pain, and he wasn't covered in shadows, he didn't need all the care that Will was giving him, there were many more injured people.
"You haven't recovered yet, Nico," Will scolded him, he took a large pillow and put it under his back, he was comfortable.
—You must rest, at least another two days— Nico frowned, he did not want to be trapped in the infirmary once again, like those infamous three days after the battle against Mother Earth. He would never accept that those were the best three days. Of the last few years, he didn't want to be stuck with Will, with his damn beautiful smile, and blue eyes where he always drowned.
"I'm fine," he snapped, looking for his sword, it was leaning against a corner, still with traces of snake blood.
"No, you're not, now rest on the doctor's orders," said Will, Nico could no longer refuse, Apollo's son put on that smile, which seemed to make the room shine, he knew that Nico couldn't refuse that.
"Shut up Solace," Nico said, Will's smile widened.
"I'm coming," he said, drawing the magic curtains of the infirmary, they did not let in the noise from outside, with the aim of letting the patients rest, but from outside you could hear everything, in case something happened to the patient.
It was worse outside than he imagined, there weren't many healers, Chiron, Will, and another unclaimed demigod. Normally, since Percy imposed the policy of "paying child support" among the gods, the demigods used to be claimed within three days, but he was already going almost a week, some believed he was from Apollo, except Chiron, He said that no son of Apollo had taken more than a day to be claimed, but there had been no sign of him in months.
Of the stretchers that he could see, all of them were occupied, and he could hear someone screaming.
—Some snake bites can be very painful, and deadly, no one has died thanks to the ambrosia and nectar, but we have not been able to get the antidote for some bites, we need poison from the snake, but it seems that you scared them all— He said Will, with an expression that Nico can’t understand.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, the suffering of all of them was his fault, without snakes there was no poison, and without poison there was no antidote, they were going to die, and it was his fault.
-why do you apologize? What you did was incredible, you defeated the king of snakes, they almost managed to enter our cabin, thanks Nico— Nico felt the heat on his cheeks, he was sure he had a stupid smile on his face, Will, for some reason, was blushing too , he left before Nico could say anything.
Nico didn't know how much time had passed, he couldn't hear much from outside the magic curtains, and no one had come until now.
A boy entered, unfortunately it was not Will, queen blue eyes and long brown hair, he greeted him kindly.
—I'm Adam Left, they haven't claimed me yet, right? Nico?—He nodded in confirmation—Will wanted to come, but he didn't have time, eat.
He handed her a tray, he had a light lunch, he wasn't going to eat it all, but he thanked her anyway.
A few more hours passed, Nico wanted to look for Will, but he would be very busy, Nico didn't want to bother.
Finally he entered, when the sun was already shining on a beautiful sunset. Will looked even more tired than before, he noticed a lot of bandages on his hands, but he was smiling, he didn't know if she was genuine.
Happiness, or the smile that Nico knew he was faking, Will sat in the chair from before.
-How are you? —Will asked.
"I'm fine." If Will noticed the half-eaten plate on the opposite table, he didn't say anything, his smile was still there. -How are you?
"I'm fine. It wasn't an easy couple of days, but I'm fine." Nico raised an eyebrow.
- We already found the antidotes, and Adam was claimed, he is the son of Asclepius, the snakes listen to him - Nico nodded, it made sense, Asclepius was the god of medicine, and his symbol was a caduceus with a snake.
"Will," Nico said, catching the blonde's attention, lost in thought.
"Yes?" he asked, returning to reality.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were afraid of snakes?" Nico didn't mean to sound upset, but he saw Will distressed and tired. Never tending to any wound had affected him so much. Nico couldn't feel anyone very close to him. death, and that was one of his powers that he did not lose due to fatigue.
"It's not important, Adam and Chiron are healing the wounds and everything will be fine." Nico noticed how his leg moved nervously, or how he played with the bandages on his hands.
Will was worried and nervous, that was obvious, but Nico didn't understand why, and he wanted to help his friend.
"Rest," Nico asked, Will was startled, it was something strange to hear coming from Nico. "Everything will be fine, now you can rest." Will opened his eyes surprised, Will said those same words to Nico a month ago, he didn't know the shock. What it was like for him to hear those words, no one had told Nico that resting was okay, that everything was over, Now it was Nico's turn to say this to Will.
-Thank you-