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Will was beyond excited to be out of camp with Nico. They finally convinced Chiron to let them go out on a scouting mission into the city. Which meant they would speed approximately 10% of their time scouting for what they needed, and the rest of it having a well deserved break with one another.
Well, in reality it wasn't going to run that smoothly. Sending two demigods together out into the wild was practically asking for a monster attack, without even filtering in the fact that Nico was a big 3 kid, even more distinct and delicious by monster standards. They’d be lucky if they got to spend a couple hours outside the barrier with less than three attacks focused towards them.
But they’d be fine. If defeating a few monsters was all it was gonna take for just a few hours by themselves outside of camp, they’d gladly take it. Besides, Nico could more than handle his own in a fight and Will had definitely picked up a few tricks as insisted by Nico “just in case” Nico couldn’t handle the monsters on his own.
In short, they were both 100% prepared to make the most out of their trip, even if it meant fighting the fates themselves to just have a good semi-relaxed time together.
~
Setting out for the big city turned out to be a bit more troubling than they expected. It seemed like they barely even made it past the camp barriers before 10 monsters started their way. Good thing Nico already had his sword unsheathed and Will had already notched an arrow. (Turns out when you compare Nico’s archery skills to Will’s, it paints a whole different picture than comparing Kayla’s to Will’s)
After a decent amount of time was spent dealing with that whole mess, Nico summoned Jules Albert for a quick ride into the city only to get pulled over halfway there. Apparently the mist could conceal how a zombie was their chauffeur but it couldn't give said zombie chauffier a decent looking fake drivers license. Go figure.
To avoid dealing with the schematics of a zombie going to jail, let alone how to get said zombie out of jail, Nico instead sent Jules Albert back to the Underworld with the car. Which, because they just couldn't catch a break today apparently, left Will and Nico at the mercy of a bunch of extremely confused and weirded out policemen. (Turns out the mist isn't the best at providing logical explanations to how an arrestee and their car disappeared into thin air while leaving its passenger behind, because why would it be?)
This led to Nico and Will fleeing from the police and (whaddya know?) getting chased by said police. Now while Will and Nico were both faster running and had more stamina than your average human, they did not have cars like the policemen that were chasing them did. That fact putting them at a severe disadvantage. Ah, the wondrous life of a demigod, so full of severe disadvantages.
In order to dodge the bigger and faster vehicles, they had to evade them, working smarter not harder and all that country. (Will refuses to use a jazz motto. Austin has forever ruined that genre of music for him) This meant they spent at least an hour ducking in alleyways and ditches, half climbing fire escapes and following strangers into random sketchy buildings before they were certain the police had given up.
Somehow during the straight hour of ducking and hiding in every spot they could, they managed to trek further from the city. Great. And because they didn't want to risk getting Jules Albert arrested and repeating that whole process again, they were stuck with walking the distance. Extra great.
Luckily, the walk to the city didn’t take nearly as long as Will thought it would. Unluckily, they ran into their second bout of monsters on the way. They managed to defeat the monsters in an efficient matter, though they gained injuries they didn’t in their first battle outside the barrier. Probably had something to do with them being exhausted from all the events that happened in between that battle and their latest one but Will wasn’t really looking to analyze that at the moment.
So. Here they were, in the city. Finally in the city, the one they fought tooth and nail to be allowed to go to and the one that they went through several annoying setbacks for. Perfect.
“Y’know,” Nico said, as they sat on an outdoor bench, Will tending to the scrape on his forearm, “After all we've fought to get this, this trip is looking quite bland.”
Will paused his wrapping of Nico’s arm to look at him incredulously. “Oh I'm sorry, do you want some more monsters to pop up? With how we’ve been faring so far I don’t think it’ll take much more tempting the fates to get that wish granted.”
Nico huffed and attempted to cross his arms only to have Will’s death grip on his injured arm prevent the motion. He huffed again for added dramatics. “You know that's not what I meant, dumbass.”
“And that’s exactly why I asked that, douchebag.” Will parried back in a sickenly sweet tone, finally patting Nico’s arm and standing up only to bend down and kiss Nico on the forehead.
Nico, predictably, blushed and swatted him away while murmuring curses under his breath. Adorable.
Will laughed at the sight before reaching down once more for Nico’s hands. “Cmon, you wanna go do something else than be monster bait? Cause I’m pretty sure there's more to this city than sitting on a bench, though I’ll gladly do more of that if I get to stay with you, sweetheart.”
In hindsight, Will definitely should’ve known Nico would punch him for that one.
“Ass..hole.” Will got out between breaths as he wrapped his hands around his stomach. Was it a bad, horrible, extremely pain filled punch? No. Not even close. Did he get the drama gene from both sides of his family? Hell yes. Being dramatic was quite literally in his blood.
“Oh shush,” Nico muttered as he stood up, acting decidedly unfathomed with how he had just punched his poor loving boyfriend in the sternum. His eyes betrayed his demeanor as they checked Will over for any real injuries.
“Oh, I'm so glad I have a loving boyfriend who cares for me so much to indict suffering on me by his own hand, and on our vacation no le-” Nico cut Will off with a kiss, and well, how was Will supposed to not melt into that? It had been far too long since they were able to kiss in public without getting hollered at by other demigods. Far, far too long.
Eventually they pulled back, smiles glinting on both of their lips.
“Wow, I keep forgetting that's the key to shutting you up. Really need to do that more often.”
Nico totally deserved Will punching him for that. (Besides, Will was even extra generous and healed his booboo with a kiss. Much more than Nico deserved given that comment)
~
After fucking around in the city for a few hours, Will can confirm it was 100% with all the trouble it took to get them there.
Hanging out with Nico never got old, no matter what they did, ranging from crime (okay listen, breaking and entering really shouldn't be that big of a deal-) to mini golf to just sitting together in silence. Nico made every moment they spent together worthwhile a thousand times over.
Even the other two times they got attacked by monsters didn’t diminish any of the awe Will felt at the opportunity to simply be with Nico, out in the real world.
Will couldn’t help but wish that he would get to spend every day with Nico somehow.
~
They finally stumbled out of the movie theater, giddy and happy and overall pleased with their day.
“Hey Death Breath,” Will started, only to break off into a giggling mess when attempted to punch him but missed by a large margin. “Think you have enough ghouly powers to get us to camp past curfew without getting eaten?”
This was apparently the funniest thing Nico had heard all day because he promptly burst into laughter. Will quickly fell into laughter with him and they spent seemingly ages trying to stop. Every time one of them got close to breaking free from their laughter, the other one’s laughter caused them to fall right back into it. At last, when they managed to break free, they simply stared in joy at each other.
“Hey Death Breath?” Nico hummed in answer against Will’s shoulder, long giving up on the effort of holding himself up on his own, resorting to depending on Will to keep them upright. “Do you wa- holy shit!”
Nico tensed at Wills exclamation, already moving to put himself between Will and whatever Will reacted to. When he turned and saw what Will had seen however, he promptly froze in confusion.
Landed across the street from them was a monster unlike anything he’d seen. And that was saying something. Nico was a child of the Underworld. He had seen a lot of monsters in his time. (He also played mythomagic and never saw anything like that, but that was besides the point.) Nothing that ever looked like that. That clearly meant only one thing and Nico really didn’t wanna deal with that at the moment.
“Nico? What the hell is that?” Will’s terrified voice broke through his thoughts. Nico breathed out. This was fine. Totally. He just very much needed to get himself and his boyfriend out of here before they fucked something up or that thing attacked.
“That,” Nico said with as much calmness as he could muster “is so not our pantheon. That thing is very much not our pantheon so I suggest we move the fuck away.”
Will (very rudely, Nico might add) gripped Nico’s arm and prevented him from moving the fuck away. “What do you mean,” Will said, deadly calm. “That that thing is not from our pantheon? Is it roman?”
Nico scoffed, despite himself. They really should be moving away right about now, but whatever. Proving his boyfriend's idiocy was definitely more important. “No, dumbass, roman pantheon monsters are practically the same as ours. Does that look like one of ours to you?”
“Well maybe i’m just dumb and am not aware of some roman monsters. If it's not roman or greek what can it be?”
Nico resisted the urge to sigh. “Will. Darling. That is a half leopard half snake beast. It’s neck is twice the length of its body. It half-looks like it's going to kill us with our own minds. What pantheon do you think it's from?”
“Uhhh I don’t know?! I didn’t even know any pantheons outside of greek existed until the war with Gaea? I certainly don’t know where the hell that thing is from.”
Nico muttered something about unknowledgeable demigods under his breath. “It's from the Egyptian pantheon. They have control over Brooklyn from the debates I’ve been present in. So they can very much get over here and deal with that thing like it's supposed to be dealt with while we get to escape.”
Nico tried once more to move Will but he seemed to be rooted to the spot. Nico could almost hear the concerned thoughts developing in Will’s brain.
“But Nico!” There it was. Time for Nico to get lectured on protecting others. If Nico didn’t like Will and everything about him so much, he would find this far speech more stab worthy. “We’re at least somewhat prepared for that thing! Everyone else around is clearly not. And how long till the Egyptian demigods realize a monster is down here and can deal with it? If we can see it, others might be able to as well. We can't just leave!”
Nico inwardly sighed. Again. Guess they weren’t leaving. Time to get eaten. At least they had a good run and a great time before they went. He hoped Hazel picked out the right flowers for him to be burned with. “Firstly, there's no egyptian demigods. They’re magicians. They don’t strictly have to be related to the pantheon for them to be in the mythology world, kinda like Rachel. Secondly, Egyptian monsters don’t have the same respawn process as ours do and they don’t exist in as many numbers. I’m almost certain some of them are on their way to take care of this right now, which means we 100% can leave.” Nico already knew they weren’t gonna leave.
“We're not leaving!” Called it. “I mean, it’s hot that you have all that knowledge off the top of your head sweetheart,” Nico would forever deny the blush that burned throughout his cheeks at that remark. “But the least we can do is wait around for them to show up. Besides, if these monsters don’t hunt off scent because the magicians aren’t demigods like us and don’t have one, we really need to make sure mortals don’t get hurt.”
Curse Nico’s stupid selfless bleeding heart boyfriend that was too good with compliments and had too much kindness for his own good. (Well, when it came to certain situations. Nico has definitely seen Will threaten some people and has to say that it definitely wasn’t something to laugh at.)
Nico huffed but ultimately smiled and leaned back into his boyfriend, his eyes never leaving the weird snake thing that had yet to advance on them. Who knew how long that would last. “Fine, fine. We stay. You get to explain to Chiron why we’re late though.”
Will laughed, all self-righteousness defense melting away with the knowledge that Nico supported his decision. “Oh, gladly. I already have several pre-made arguments, all I need is an excuse to yell in his face.”
They stood there in silence, both of their eyes trained on the creature across from them and the civilians that happened to wander anywhere close. There seemed to be an unseen force field around the monster, mortals unconsciously avoiding it. But neither Nico or Will wanted to let their guard down and risk a life.
Will was the one that spotted it first. “Look! Up there! It’s another weird monster thingy!”
Nico followed Will’s pointed finger and indeed found another weird monster thingy, though this monster was definitely different than the one in front of them. For one, it seemed to have two kids strapped to it’s back. The kids seemed calm and in control, so Nico could only assume it was like a pegasus situation, just for their pantheon. For another, the creature seemed to be part bird and part lion, a far cry from the snake-like creature in front of them. Nico could almost bet on the kids being magicians. Seems like Will and him could finally catch a break and get back to camp.
Nico was just about to turn to Will and suggest a quick jump back when he realized thing #1 was definitely not where it was before. No, thing #1 was definitely advancing towards them. So much for luck being on their side for once.
“Will,” Nico hissed. Will tensed beside him and that was all the confirmation Nico needed.
Nico lept away from Will and unsheathed his sword in the same motion, drawing thing #1 away from Will. Good, he thought, it’ll give Will time to get his bow out and ready.
But it seemed like the fates were determined to be against them today. Behind thing #1 was another monster just like thing #1 that was seemingly just hidden from their view the entire time.
And thing #2 (technically thing #3 but Nico would much rather the bird thing be labeled thing #3 for his mind’s sake, thank you very much) was very much ready to go after Will. Great. They were semi smart monsters. Just what they needed.
As thing #1 advanced on Nico, he had no choice but to tear his eyes off Will and instead focus on the monster in front of him. Will would have to hold his own, hopefully just until the magicians landed.
Nico tried his best to evade the monster, avoiding striking it with any part of his blade. He wasn’t lying when he labeled the differences between egyptian and greek monsters. He truly was not qualified to deal with this. He didn’t want to take the monster’s soul only to realize that in doing so he majorly fucked with the timeline of the universe or something.
Nico heard grunts and swears behind him and prayed that Will was doing all right. He couldn’t sense any impending death but that didn’t mean Will wasn’t in trouble. He focus doubled on thing #1 in front of him, evading and trying to get the monster to follow him in a way so he could see how Will was faring. It worked, and Nico risked the glance over to Will.
Seems like Nico had little to worry about. The magicians (definitely magicians, both of them had clearly Egyptian clothing and jewelry on, not to mention the longer haired one was holding a staff while the shorter haired one was holding a curved blade that most definitely was not greek or roman style) had joined the fight against thing #2 and seemed to be handling themselves well. Although Nico was a little skeptical of allowing Will’s wellbeing to be trusted in two strangers, he supposed desperate times came for desperate measures. Like when Nico was occupied with dodging thing #1.
Nico had to once again tear his eyes off of Will after far too close of a call. He ignored the commotion coming from where Will and the magicians were and instead tried his best at taunting thing #1. It worked and thing #1’s attention was solely on him. Good.
Or maybe not good. Nico saw a flash of something over by Will that he could only assume had to do with thing #2 based on how mad thing #1 seemed to be over it. Thing #1 doubled its attack power towards Nico and Nico found himself hating the fact that he never thought to bring a non-stygian iron sword with him. A normal sword that couldn’t suck souls out of people sounded really great right about now.
Nico found himself barely avoiding thing #1’s fangs and claws as he took more and more desperate measures to evade them. Just as adrenaline was starting to fade from his brain in a very “death is near” kind of way, a blinding light erupted from thing #1.
Nico shut his eyes and braced his arms over his head, too focused on calming his pounding heart to hear what was going on around him. By the time he deemed it safe to uncover his eyes, thing #1 and thing #2 were both gone from sight. Will was limping towards him, favoring his left leg while the two presumed magicians were standing together looking at the both of them warily.
Nico got up quickly, brushing the dirt and near death experience off (as you do) before heading over to Will while keeping the magicians in his sight.
As soon as Nico reached Will he ducked under his right arm in an attempt to support him, despite their difference in height. Will grinned at the gesture as they slowly made their way closer to the magicians.
The shorter haired magician spoke first, as soon as Nico and Will stopped talking. “Who are you people? What are you doing here? How were you able to see the Serpopards? Why’d you fight them in the first place? Do you-” He was interrupted by the longer haired one elbowing him in the side.
“Carter. Knock it off. One at a time.” Her piercing gaze flickered between them. “Who are you guys?”
“Oh, so you get to ask the same question I did, I see. Thanks Sadie, great teamwork.” Carter muttered. Sadie glared at him, which Carter responded to by sticking his tongue out.
Will and Nico glanced at each other. Definitely siblings.
In an unspoken agreement, Will began to answer their questions. “Well I’m Will and this is my boyfriend Nico. We’re demigods from the greek pantheon if you're familiar with them.” Sadie and Carter shared a look, but when they didn’t interrupt Will continued on. “We were just out enjoying the city when we noticed those things