Out Of The Shadows: A Solangelo Fanfiction Chapter 10: Funerals

   Will had to work extra in the infirmary after capture the flag. There were always injuries in capture the flag.

   As he was releasing the last patient that had gotten hurt during the game, there was only Penny left in the infirmary.

   Today was funeral day, honoring all of the children who died in the war against Gaea. There were many casualties. It was now officially two weeks since the final battle against Gaea at camp. The reason funerals hadn’t been held yet was because Chiron wanted to wait in case some of the campers died afterwards, and he was right to do so. Penny was the last serious injury from the war, but she would be out in a couple days, she was doing much better.

   Once he had finished putting things away, Will let himself silently cry. He waited a minute before pulling himself together. He could have prevented some of these deaths if only he could be better.

   Will met up with Lou Ellen and Cecil who were talking quietly amongst themselves. Many people today looked very sad, and they had a right to be.

   “Hey guys, how are you doing?”

   Lou Ellen wiped a tear from her eye. “Okay, I guess. We lost so many people….”

   Will nodded his head sadly. “Yes, we did. At least we didn’t have as many casualties as the second titan war.”

   Cecil looked around Will, like he was looking for someone. “Where’s your dog?”

   Lou Ellen let out a small laugh while Will just looked at him confusedly. “I don’t have a dog, Cecil. What are you talking about?”

   Cecil smirked, but with less enthusiasm than usual. “I meant Nico. He seems to follow you around everywhere.”

   The son of Apollo crossed his arms. “That’s only because I convince him to hang out with me. Gods, he’s so stubborn.”

   “When are you going to ask him out, Will?” Lou Ellen asked.

   Will blushed. “Now is not really the time to be talking about asking someone out.”

   “Oh, sure it is. Nico’s a dark brooding emo son of Hades. He’d probably love to be asked out at a funeral.” Cecil argued.

   “Dude, he probably doesn’t even like guys. He might not even be accepting. He’s not even from this time period.”

   “Back to the question,” Lou Ellen intervened, “Cecil’s right. Where even is he?”

   “Oh, he’s getting everything ready for the funeral. He’s been working on plans for the past couple days.” Will told his friends.

   They stood around talking about some of the campers who had passed away during the fight with Gaea for a while when Nico walked out of his cabin. Will waved his hand around like a crazy person until Nico saw him. He rolled his eyes, walking towards Will.

   “Don’t make a fool of yourself, Solace.”

   “So how did planning go?”

   “It went pretty well, actually. There were a lot of people to plan for, so it took a little while.”

   A couple minutes later Chiron came out of the big house and stomped his feet for attention. The crowd of campers fell silent.

   “Attention, campers. Today we are here to honor the deaths of many campers who died in the war against Gaea to protect our camp. Reyna and I discussed before she left to go back to Camp Jupiter how we would do this. We agreed that we’ll hold a funeral for the Greek demigods, and she’ll hold a funeral for the Roman demigods.”

   Chiron paused to let the information sink in. In all, Chiron named 23 demigods who lost their lives. 23 demigods who will never get to finish school. 23 demigods who won’t go to college. 23 demigods who won’t get married or have a family. 23 demigods who won’t have a future.

   Once all the shrouds were presented, Chiron lit all of the caskets on fire. There was crying and sniffling across the campers. Will looked over at Nico and even he had a sad expression on his face, like he was recalling sad memories.

   Once the funeral ended, it was time to head back to the cabins for bed. It was still solemn across the campers, but people were laughing and playing around again. As Nico was heading back to his cabin, Will caught his arm.

   “Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come to my birthday?”

   Nico looked at him, his eyes wide. It was like he was never invited to a party before.

  “U-uh. When is it?” He stuttered.

   “August 23rd. In 8 days.”

   “Uh, I guess if you really want me, then sure.” Nico said, not meeting Will’s eyes.

   “Nico, look at me.” Will said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Nico looked up. “Of course I want you at my birthday party. You’re my friend, and I enjoy hanging out with you. You don’t have to bring a present or anything, just you being there is a gift.”

   Nico’s face turned red, but he tried to hide it. “How old are you turning?”

   “Fifteen.”

   “I guess I can stop by for a little while. You must really want to be my friend, huh?”

   Will grinned. Of course he did. He wanted to be more than friends.