Out Of The Shadows: A Solangelo Fanfiction Chapter 1: Prologue

   Nico walked over to Will Solace, leaving behind a very shocked Percy while Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. He had felt like a weight was lifted off of his chest. After all these years, finally Percy knew.

   “What was that all about?” Will said, arms crossed with a raised eyebrow.

   Nico waved away the question. “Oh, nothing. I was just congratulating Percy and Annabeth on going to New Rome.” Nico didn’t need anybody else knowing his secret. It was already bad enough that Jason, Reyna, and Coach Hedge knew. Plus his dad and multiple other gods. And now he just told Percy and Annabeth, too.

   Nico walked ahead, Will running to catch up. The infirmary reeked of death and despair, dozens of kids lying on beds being tended to by mostly Apollo’s children. There was one girl no older than thirteen with her arm in a cast, and a hastily applied bandaged leg that barely stopped the blood. Nico knew just by looking around the room that several of these campers wouldn’t make it out alive. He kept walking, Will taking his place in front of Nico as he led him to a bed in the far corner of the infirmary, secluded from the other campers.

   “I know you typically don’t like being around people, so I took the liberty to get you a bed away from everyone else.” Will said.

   It was a simple bed you would see in a hospital, with partitions for when the patient wanted privacy. There was a bedside table and equipment, but besides that, it was empty.

   “Thanks, I guess.” Nico stated as he flopped onto the surprisingly comfortable bed.

   “Alright, di Angelo. You’re going to stay for three days, and you better not think about sneaking off on me.” He picked up his clipboard and pen and started writing things down on a sheet of paper. “Okay, I’m going to need you to take your shirt off.”

   Nico stared at him, blush creeping up his face. “Excuse me?”

   Will looked up from his papers. “I said, I need you to take your shirt off. I need to examine you, check for injuries and such.” Even as he said that though, Nico noticed that Will looked a little bit flustered by this as well.

   Nico rolled his eyes, trying not to show his discomfort. “Fine, whatever.” In truth, Nico’s heart was beating a million times per second. He pulled off his shirt, and Will, trying to look professional, began bandaging cuts and using healing ointments on him. Once Will noticed Nico’s werewolf scratches, his face paled.

   “Holy Hades! When did this happen?”

   Nico shrugged. “A week or so ago when I was transporting the Athena Parthenos to Camp with Reyna and Hedge. Before a jump, I was scratched by Lyacoan. It’s fine, though. Reyna bandaged it.”

   Will, trying to compose himself, scowled. “It is clearly not fine! It’s a good thing I’m here, because left untreated not much longer, those scratches would cause serious infections that could lead to death! You seriously need to be more careful, Nico.”

   “It’s not like anyone cares, Will.” Nico replied.

   Will stopped what he was doing to face the younger boy. “Really, death boy? No one cares? What about your sister Hazel? Or Jason? Or Reyna and Hedge? Or me!”

   “Whatever, Solace. And don’t call me death boy!” The son of Hades complained. But why would Will care if anything happened to me? Nico thought to himself.

   After singing a hymn to Apollo to help heal his scratches, Will bandaged Nico’s arm back up. “Any other injuries I should know about?” Will asked as Nico put his shirt back on.

   “I don’t think so. Are you done now?”

   “Yeah, yeah. Go to sleep, and I’ll check on you when you wake up. You have a lot of healing to do, and I have a lot of patients to help.”

   Nico didn’t even complain. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he drifted off.