Chapter Text
Giant spiders
Speed 100, poison attack 200, able to scale walls up to 150 ft.
Though fierce independently, they most often attack in hordes. Will use their superior agility to catch prey with quick poisonous strikes before leaving the venom to do the work of finishing it off.
Creepy-ass motherfuckers.
So, giant spiders were a thing. Nico shouldn’t really have been surprised. He’d stumbled through enough web-covered corridors during his time in the labyrinth to assume there was some kind of massive arachnid the ghost of Minos had led him narrowly past. Knowledge that they existed, though, was vastly different than seeing them in the segmented, hairy flesh.
At least a dozen of them were contesting with the Ares and Hermes kids at the perimeter of the cabins, snapping suspicious green pincers at the demigods as they tried to find a way past them further into camp. Another ten or so had already breached containment, scrambling through the shadows and weaving webs across buildings as though attempting to claim the green as their new home (complete with great amenities like a demigod buffet!). The smallest of them were as tall as Nico, the largest were able to climb onto the cabin roofs in only two or three multiple legged strides.
Many of the demigods not in the main barricade were chasing the rogue spiders from cabin to cabin, attempting to keep them from wreaking havoc through the rest of camp, but it was disorganized and haphazard. Even with most of the camp's fighters in the fray, it was clear they were still down some of their most valuable warriors. Understandably, the few of Athena’s children that were in the middle of the commotion were struggling to push past their own paralyzing fear. A quick scan of the cabins as they made it to the bottom of the hill and into camp proper helped Nico identify where he could be most useful. At the same time, Will made a sharp turn away from him toward the Big House.
“Infirmary,” was all the son of Apollo spared breath to say in explanation but Nico understood. He’d done the same calculus as Nico and knew where he was needed the most.
Nico nodded even as a ghost of anxiety attempted to wrap its chill grasp around his gut at the thought of Will running across camp - unarmed and alone.
Will made it 100 ft before a spider leaped from the wall of the Dionysus cabin toward him. Without breaking stride, Will couched to the ground, sliding across the dirt like Joe DiMaggio stealing home base. The first attack successfully evaded; he scrambled to his feet to dodge a snap of pincers aimed for his thigh before booking it across the lawn out of reach. He was fast enough for the spider to shift its attention to scaling the neighboring cabin and searching for its next victim.
At least Nico’s training was proving effective. Nico allowed himself one deep breath to push his anxiety away before focusing on the fight at hand.
Shadows twisted between his fingers as he thought. He needed his sword- which he knew was back in his cabin- waiting as though being swarmed by giant spiders was the least likely turn of events for this evening. (It should have been). Nico made a tentative attempt at searching for it through the shadows but Jason’s words echoed in his head, the technique is of no use to you if you pass out as soon as you use it.
Instead Nico turned to sprint past the far side of the Hecate cabin. If he could just see it.
A heavy thud behind him indicated the monster had followed his redirection and was on his tail. Nico kept running behind the cabins until - there.
As soon as he saw the flickering of the green flames Nico could sense it, the thin blade of darknesses tucked in a corner itching to be put to use. He brought his hand behind himself, into his own shadow, fingers closing around cool Stygian iron a split second before he turned and caught the arachnid in the abdomen, inches away from tackling him from behind.
The monster dissolved into darkness, its essence flowing into the sword. Nico swallowed down a brief wave of dizziness and sighed in relief. One down, at least two dozen to go.
Nico made it to Malcolm’s side a few minutes and another pair of eight legged casualties later. The son of Athena’s complexion made him look more like a resident of Erebus than Cabin 6 and his hands were shaking as he gripped his dagger but he was still trying to help.
Nico slashed his sword at the leg of a spider scrambling toward them, knocking it off balance before he sliced across its neck. As it dissolved he turned to Malcolm, “I won’t let them get close to you. We need to get organized, where do we start?”
The other boy was close to tears as he looked at his new bodyguard. “The Hermes cabin. They’re faster, they should be in pursuit. Long range can support the Ares cabin.”
“If I get you closer, can you direct them?”
Malcolm nodded.
“Okay, we’ll - AGH.” Nico fell to the ground as another spider leapt onto him from nowhere. It managed to sink its pincers into his arm before Malcolm rammed his celestial bronze dagger through its head. Nico gave it another stab for good measure as he pushed it off himself.
“You okay?” Malcolm eyed Nico’s arm. The wound wasn’t too deep, but it was bleeding pretty badly and the blood soaking into the sleeve of Will’s jacket had an uncomfortable green hue.
“It’s fine. I’ve had worse.” Nico waved off Malcolm’s concern as he stood. It was his non dominant side and they had more important things to worry about. “Styx, this is one of the milder poisons I’ve endured.”
Malcolm blinked in surprise trying to wrap his head around that comment. Nico pushed past the awkwardness and jerked his head toward the others in an indication Malcolm should follow him. “Come on.”
Nico led the way to the edge of the forest, keeping Malcolm safely behind him. He only needed to dispose of another two spiders and get them to roll away from one that pounced on them from above the Tyche cabin before Malcolm was able to relay his orders.
The tide turned from there, once everyone was directed to a role that played to their strengths. Nico ignored the growing numbness in his arm where he had been bitten as he aided Sherman in cutting down the last of monsters scuttling through the trees. When they were sure they’d gotten the last of them, the son of Ares studied the ground around them, “Looks like they came from the north. Probably Zeus’s fist.”
“Didn’t the others confirm that the labyrinth is back open?” Nico asked, leaning on his sword as he peered into the trees.
“Yeah, that was probably their entry point. We’ll need to set up patrols again to keep their numbers down.”
“Should we do a sweep tonight? Make sure we got them all?”
“Maybe, but my cabin’s got it.” Sherman grunted as he glanced at Nico’s dripping forearm. “Go get that taken care of di Angelo. We have healers for a reason.”
Nico let out a frustrated sigh as he turned and trekked up to the big house.
The infirmary was, understandably, very hectic. Austin was cutting away webs tangled around Harley’s leg. Kaleb was tapping bandages across the cuts above Cecil’s eyebrow. Several other demigods were nursing various gashes and bruises waiting to have one of Apollo’s children assess the damage. As expected, Will was focused on the most serious injuries, taking it upon himself to deal with the poison.
Chiara’s shoulder looked like a spider had chomped down and tried to drag her into the forest, punctures morphing into jagged ripped skin. Will was staring at them intensely, muttering a hymn as he placed his hands over the wound, the skin underneath his hands glowing slightly. The greenish hue around the cuts faded as he worked, Chiara settling into the cot more comfortably as the poison was pulled away.
Nico didn’t bother waiting for one of the Apollo kids to come treat him, they had more important things to take care of. Instead he went to the one cabinet he’d memorized the contents of and grabbed a few squares of ambrosia. He knew from experience if he was careful the ambrosia would take care of both the wound and the poison and then he’d save Will the effort. He was testing out drawers looking for some bandages to wrap around the cut when Will appeared at his side.
“Let me look at that.”
Nico shrugged him off, “It’s fine, go take care of your other patients.”
Will scowled. He’d ditched his hat somewhere in the commotion of the fight and a few of his curls were stuck to his forehead with sweat. He looked like he'd used several hours worth of energy in the past 30 minutes but the exhaustion didn’t dull his stubbornness, “It’s poisonous, you need the venom removed.”
“The ambrosia will take care of it.” Nico winced. “I’ll mend the jacket too.”
Will folded his arms across his chest, “I don’t care about the jacket, I care about your health. You’ll need a dangerously high level of ambrosia for it to take care of the poison alone.”
“I told you, I got it.” Nico insisted, “I know how to monitor my ambrosia intake, Will.”
Will’s eyes narrowed, “Really?”
“Yeah, I got a lot of practice after I almost overdosed.”
“Almost?”
Nico waved his non-injured hand causally, “Yeah, I think Minos possessed me for a minute to force me to vomit it out.”
“Minos?” Will tilted his head, “Like King Minos and the Minotaur?”
“The very one.” Nico shoved a bite of ambrosia into his mouth before Will could stop him. It tasted like chocolate chip cookies with nutmeg. “Or his spirit anyway.”
“Wasn’t he incredibly cruel when he was alive? What were you doing with his spirit?”
“I didn’t have many options for companionship back then… after Bianca.” Nico muttered, his shoulders creeping up defensively. He scowled at the memory of how desperate his younger self had been. “Minos said he could help me get my sister back, I didn’t know any better.”
“Shit.” Will ran his hand through his hair the way he did when inspecting a particularly serious injury. “Just when I thought I was getting a handle on things, you drop something new. I- I can’t imagine… ”
Nico was suddenly anxious for a change of subject, “So uh, I’ll be fine with just this and you can save your energy for Laurel and the others.” He pocketed his extra squares of ambrosia and snatched a roll of bandages out of the drawer next to him, “I’m going to see if Sherman needs any help.”
The son of Ares didn’t need any help, Nico knew, but he didn’t have to admit that to Will.
Back at his cabin, Nico hissed as he slowly pulled the jacket off his shoulders, careful to do what he could to make sure the wound stayed clean. He chewed on another bite of ambrosia as he picked fibers out of it and rinsed away the blood. Already, he could feel the tell-tale heat in his gut that told him the ambrosia was working, but any more would be pushing it. He wrapped his arm in the bandage- a bit clumsily one handed- and set about scrubbing the sleeve of Will’s jacket.
Nico sighed as he ran cold water in the bathroom sink. He shouldn’t have run away from Will like that. He’d just spoken before he’d fully recognized what he was getting into and the way Will’s eyes had crinkled in sympathy when he’d mentioned Bianca had hit him harder than he’d expected.
In all honesty, Nico wasn’t sure how much he was comfortable sharing with the son of Apollo. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Will, but there was a lot the others didn’t know about what Nico had been through. Will had never made a big deal out of what Nico had done to get the Athena Parthenos back to camp- he didn’t know why Nico had been as close as he had to fading entirely when Will had found him. They just didn’t talk about it beyond checking that he wasn’t being an idiot and trying to push himself too far too soon. And though Nico was sure he wanted to, Will never asked him about Tartarus. Will very carefully respected Nico’s right to privacy.
Yet every time Nico mentioned something about his past that took someone by surprise, he was forced to recognize how different his life had been even from the other demigods. No one really understood what he had been though, and he was afraid if they ever did he’d lose what bit of normalcy he was carving out here at camp. He wasn’t known as the disgusting kid that raised the dead anymore but being reduced to the traumatized kid who had been manipulated by an evil ghost would be worse than that. He was past that and didn’t need their sympathy.
Nico finished wringing out the denim- the last bit of water finally running clear- and hung it up to dry overnight before crawling into bed. It hadn’t had the ideal ending, but it had still been a good night. He tried to focus on that as the excess ambrosia in his system blanketed him in a drowsy warmth and he fell asleep to the memory of eucalyptus and bergamot.
Nico slept off the high dose of ambrosia well past noon. He missed the morning counselor meeting to get the latest update on the search for Leo, but figured Jason would catch him up if there was anything important. Instead he dragged himself out of his cabin sometime around 2pm and wandered into camp proper.
He started with grabbing some thread from the arts and craft pavilion, figuring he might as well make an attempt to sew up the gash before returning Will’s jacket, even if he was sure the medic had ten times more practice sewing than Nico did. When that was finished he decided to pass by the Apollo cabin before retreating back to his own to make an attempt at the geometry assignments Chiron had set for Monday. School work didn’t slow down for anything short of a war in the Big House school room.
It was more than likely the three children of Apollo would be elsewhere, making more productive uses of their Saturday than Nico but he figured if that was the case, he could just leave it on Will’s bed for him to find later. That might even be preferable after the way he’d bolted in the face of vulnerability the night before. Nico slowed halfway up the steps when he noticed the door was a jar, soft voices coming from inside.
“You’re sure it’s not too late?” Kaleb’s voice asked with a slight tremor of anxiety.
“No, it’s not.” Will’s voice assured him. “There are a lot of options actually, depending on what you’re ready for. You can pau -”
The wood under Nico’s foot creaked and Will’s sentence cut off. Nico decided to roll with it, lest they think he was purposefully eavesdropping. He pushed the door all the way open as he said, “You’re just asking for the satyrs to commandeer your bunks, leaving the door open like this.”
Kaleb gave a half hearted laugh. His brother rolled his eyes, “Basil would never.”
“Hedge might.” Nico snorted, “ and you haven’t met the fauns at Camp Jupiter.” He tossed the cleaned up jacket across to Will, “Cleaned it up as best I could, but I can just get you a new one too.”
Will ran his fingers over the black thread Nico had used to stitch over the hole. “No, this is good. Thank you.”
When he looked up, he eyed the bandage on Nico’s arm critically. “You good? Haven’t seen you all day. Must have been pretty bad if you had to sleep it off for so long. ”
“Yeah, got feeling back and everything.” Nico shook out his wrist and wiggled his fingers triumphantly. “Only nearly imploded twice.”
Will scowled. So they weren't doing jokes today… Nico should have figured that. “I’m kidding, Solace. I’m fine.”
“I could have helped.”
“You’ve told me before that poison is a pain to heal, I was making it easier for you.”
Will chewed his lip as though holding back another argument but eventually just sighed. “Next time, just let me do it.”
“If it’s necessary.” Nico allowed.
Awkwardness hung over the three of them. The unusual tension between Nico and Will adding to Kaleb’s uneasiness. Nico was internally sorry he interrupted whatever they had been discussing. From the way Will’s attention had shifted as soon as Nico had entered, it was clear that wasn’t something he was supposed to have heard and he hadn’t quite succeeded in changing the tone like he’d hoped. He searched for something else he could use for a second attempt.
“Hey Kaleb,” Nico called to the younger son of Apollo, “Weren’t you trying to get all the triple stars in Mario Kart last week?”
Kaleb nodded, a small tentative thing.
“Want to see if we can do it on 150cc?”
“Okay.” Kaleb brightened, and Nico’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Yeah!”
“Want in, Will?” Nico asked, because he knew better than to let him stew over Nico’s injury. Just because they disagreed over that, didn’t mean they couldn’t still enjoy each other’s company. Nico took the controller Kaleb offered him and made his way to his ‘spot’.
The eldest son of Apollo blinked, adjusting to the change in topic, “Yeah, sure.”
Will hung his jacket next to the door and plopped himself on the floor in front of Nico. His hand brushed over Nico’s arm briefly as he passed and Nico felt a pulse of warmth as though Will was using his powers to check Nico really was fine. Nico resisted the urge to let out an annoyed groan, “I call Yoshi though.”
“I call Daisy.” Kaleb said, sinking into the bean bag chair.
“Dry Bones.” Nico said to no one’s surprise.
As the tv lit up with the title screen, Nico settled further into his chair in the corner. There were unresolved concerns between them all underneath the routine companionship - Nico’s avoidance of Will’s concern, Will’s insistence to personally treat Nico’s wounds, the strange tension between Kaleb and Will over something Nico shouldn't know about - but they could be handled later, Nico assured himself. Instead, he let the familiar comfort of Saturday afternoon video games help the swirling thoughts fade into the background.
***
Nico was rolling over, half awake when he heard the sound of tapping on his cabin door. At first he thought he’d dreamed it, still in some limbo between sleeping and awake where the only things of substance were apparently heavy wooden doors, but then it came again. This time with a voice that whispered, “Psssssst. Nico. Neeks.”
Maybe I can just ignore it, Nico thought. Roll over, fall back asleep and see what disaster I wake up to in the morning.
More urgent tapping, “ Nico! ”
Nico’s eyes blinked rapidly as his subconscious dragged him further awake - he knew that voice. He tumbled out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he made it to the door.
“Ni- oh, hi.” Will said as he saw Nico peering through the crack. The light from the torches gave his hair a seafoam green hue.
“Will, what are you-” Nico paused mid sentence for a jaw popping yawn, “ doing banging on my door at two in the morning?”
“I need your help.”
“With what?” Nico leaned one arm against the side of the door, trying to keep himself upright, “And why can’t it wait until I’m conscious?”
Will held up a familiar looking shampoo bottle.
Nico stared at him blankly, “Is that the lice medication?”
“Maybe.”
“You need me to comb your hair for lice, don’t you?”
The color of Will’s cheeks deepened to a rich shade of purple. “Yes…”
“Why didn’t you just ask Austin?” Nico squinted at him. “And why the cover of night?”
Will chewed his lip, “He’s got the other three to handle -”
“I’m sure he’s finished with them by now. It’s freaking two in the morning .”
“ -and I may have insisted that I knew what I was doing and didn’t need to be careful about exposure.” Will mumbled, unconsciously scratching the back of his head. He looked back up to Nico, pleading, “Please, Nico. He’ll never let me live it down if he finds out.”
Nico couldn’t help laughing at Will’s pitiful expression, the action spurring him a little more awake. “Fine. Get in here.”
Fifteen minutes later Will sat in the middle of Nico’s bathroom, hair damp from washing out the shampoo in the sink, a towel he had brought along - good thing too, because Nico wasn’t about to let him contaminate one of his towels- draped around his shoulders . He held his head tilted to the side so Nico could have a better angle as he carefully ran the fine comb through his hair.
“Tell me again why lice are one of the infirmary’s best kept secrets.” Nico said, flicking the comb into the sink to clean it off for another pass.
Will laughed, “Oh, you weren’t here for the great lice catastrophe of ‘87.”
By the fact he said eighty seven Nico figured neither was Will, but he kept that thought to himself as he went back to combing.
“There was a big camp wide sleepover in the amphitheater and it spread through the campers like wildfire. Apparently it got so bad they didn’t see the satyr’s for three weeks.” Will explained, “They were all too concerned with catching it, having it spread through them all, and having itchy behinds for months. Mr. D was pissed off he didn’t have any of his usual ‘attendants’ and started insisting the demigods follow him around with palm fronds and a cooler of diet cokes.”
Nico chuckled as he separated another chunk of Will’s hair. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why the campers can’t know.”
“Lice is also one of the Aphrodite cabin’s biggest fears.” Will said with a shrug.
“Why? It’s not like they’re required to shave their heads to get rid of it.” With what Nico knew of Piper, he figured even the threat of an inconvenient haircut wouldn’t really matter to her.
“It’s irrational,” Will conceded, “But that doesn’t make it any less worth protecting against. Like the Athena cabin and spiders.”
”I dunno, I think I can forgive Malcolm for freezing up when faced with those eight legged monstrosities we dealt with a few days ago. Seems pretty rational to me.”
“You’ve got a point there.” Will reached up to absently itch his scalp but Nico gently pushed his hand away. “I’d probably have done the same thing if it had been Stymphalian birds…” He shuddered slightly, “Bad history. But what about you?”
”Hm?”
“Are there any monsters that stop even the great Nico di Angelo in his tracks?”
”I’ve seen too many things to be afraid of any kind of monster.” Nico said quietly. “Besides, It’s not the monsters you have to worry about.”
Will stilled. ”Oh.”
And there they were again - Will just asking an innocent question and Nico giving him more than he had bargained for. Nico was so used to people shying away from him when he brought up anything dark or moody that he expected Will to do the same- which he figured was for the better. The dark and moody parts of himself weren’t the things Nico wanted Will to know about.
Will though, it seemed, wanted to give Nico a chance to feel differently.
“I’m sorry about earlier. With the Minos thing… and your sister.” Will said softly. “I shouldn’t have asked so many questions, sprung all that on you. It just took me by surprise. We don’t talk much about back then - about the time before.”
Will could have meant a lot of things by that. Before this summer. Before Nico had agreed to stay. Maybe even before Nico had had a place at camp. It didn’t matter which one, Nico understood the meaning all the same.
“We don’t need to.” Nico said.
“Okay.” Will’s head bobbed in a small solemn nod as he chewed his lip. “It’s okay, really. I just - well, you should know that you can. With me. If you ever want to.”
”I don’t ne-“ The first half of the response tumbled out of Nico's mouth as if it was a reflex, but he caught himself and swallowed it down. He was falling back into the pattern of pushing people away, and that was the last thing he wanted to do to Will. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”
A few more minutes passed quietly. Will fidgeted with his fingers in his lap. Nico unclipped the top layer of Will’s hair and started working through the last of the damp curls. The silence was inviting, like an opportunity to test the waters of vulnerability and see how they felt. Nico wasn’t ready to unpack everything, but there was something on his mind he wanted to share.
“It was almost the Solstice, right before Christmas.” Nico said softly, “When she died.”
He swallowed, expecting Will to interrupt with questions or condolences but the other boy just looked up at him through the mirror, listening. No judgements, no expectation, just space for Nico to say- to feel- what he needed to, “I felt it, you know. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, because I didn’t even know I was a child of Hades, but looking back now I know I felt the moment she died.”
”I remember finding you in the forest,” Will said gently, “After you’d been helping with the decorations. You were really upset.”
”Yeah. I panicked. I didn’t know what to do. I just knew that whatever was happening to me was making everyone - myself included - feel awful. They thought I was some kind of freak.”
“Grieving doesn’t make you a freak. It makes you human.”
Nico nodded. He knew that now. Now that he understood the burden he carried being a child of the Underworld. Now that he knew the pain he felt at the loss was reassurance that he’d had something worth losing - worth fighting to keep in the future. “I was so lost without her. She was the one person I knew I could count on for so long. The only person I knew was looking out for me. She was my best friend.”
“I’m sorry she’s not here.”
Nico swallowed. “It’s hard not to think about it when the holidays come up, when it starts to get colder. The snow, the whole atmosphere, they bring back the memories of what that felt like. Of sensing the moment she left, when her soul went to the Underworld. It’s like I relive it every December.”
”I can’t imagine what that must be like.”
Nico’s chest unclenched a fraction. It felt good to have that in the open, to have someone validate how difficult it was. “It was a little better when I had a distraction.” Nico offered. “Camp Jupiter didn’t have the same reminders, and I had Hazel there.”
”Why don’t you go visit for a few weeks?” Will suggested “Camp is really quiet in December, since most kids visit their families for at least a little while. You could do that too.”
The corner of Nico’s mouth twitched as he cleaned off the comb and left it to soak in the sink. He liked that thought, visiting family. “That’s a good idea, thanks.”
Will returned the smile, a small supportive reflection of Nico’s spark of optimism. He tossed the towel over his head and shook out his hair. When he surfaced again his radiant grin was back in full force. “Thanks for the help.”
”You didn’t give me much of a choice,” Nico grumbled. “But you’re welcome, I guess. Next time can it not be in the middle of the night?”
Will smirked at him, “No promises. You might just have to get used to it, because this , di Angelo, has just solidified your spot on the top of the list.”
”What list?”
”The list of people you trust to help you bury a body.” Will said as though that was a completely normal mental list to keep track of. The true crime podcasts he’d shared with Nico the week before- Will said it was how he stayed awake during late night infirmary shifts - might have had something to do with it.
”You should have asked for help with that,” Nico said, crossing his arms over his chest, “That’s a much easier task than scraping bugs from your scalp.”
“Only proving my point, death boy.” Will stuffed the towel and the rest of his supplies into a plastic bag. “I better be near the top of yours. I will only concede the top spot to the other and much sweeter death kid- your sister.”
“Weirdo.” Nico rolled his eyes as he followed Will out of the bathroom, “How are you going to make it back to the Apollo cabin anyways?”
“Same way I got here.” Will said, “I’m gonna run for it. I’ll take the momentary risk of being caught over the relentless pestering I’ll get from Kaleb and Austin if I’m not in my bunk in the morning.”
”Make sure you run fast enough so the harpies don’t catch you.”
Will winked at Nico as he cracked open the cabin’s door. “What are they gonna do? Flap at me?”