December 4th
Will was fucked.
Not only did he have to get a gift for someone he didn't know super well, but this person was also Hazel Levesque. Nico di Angelo's, his boyfriend's, sister.
Annabeth and Percy got engaged only a few month ago and some people said it was weird because they were so young. They always said that it didn't matter what age they were because they were soulmates and would choose each other anyway. Will felt the same way about Nico and if he had any hope of getting to marry the Son of Hades, he needed Hazel to like him.
He was sitting in the Infirmary, with no patients to look after, and just thought. He thought about the things Hazel liked, horses, Frank, Nico, her friends, Camp Jupitar. . .yeah that's all he knew.
"Hey, Will," Nico walked through the door across from where Will sat.
"Hi," Will replied, exhausted by thinking.
"Wow," Nico said, walking towards Will and looking him up and down. "You don't look so good."
Will groaned and flopped dramatically onto the coat he was sitting on.
"What's got you all stressed out?" Nico asked. "There aren't any patients."
"It's the fucking Secret Santa!" Will exclaimed.
Nico chucked a bit and laid down next to Will, "Really?"
"I'm a son of the god of Truth," Will stated bluntly.
"Okay, okay," Nico said, giving up.
They sat there for a minute, Will just letting himself relax into Nico's presence, but of course it couldn't stay like that.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Nico asked hesitantly.
Will debated telling him. He could explain his worries about getting Hazel a perfect present, and Nico would tell him he was silly and that Hazel wouldn't care. But, that would involve breaking the rule of not telling people who he had and although Will wasn't a rule freak, he did have strong feelings about game rules. And, he could do things himself. He could get figure out a gift for Hazel. He just had to be in the right place.
"No," Will answered and then sat up. "I'm going to go shopping."
Nico sat up too, "you sure you don't want my help?"
"Nope," Will popped the 'p' and grabbed Nico's hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Well then, be back for dinner," Nico told him and gave him a little kiss.
Will and Nico walked out of the Infirmary, out of the Big House, and into the cold. There they separated with Will going out towards Half-Blood Hill and Nico walking off to the training arena.
Will watched his boyfriend walk off with his Stygian Iron sword and almost laughed. He remembered when he first met him, when he had been frustrated and accidentally cut himself while training when he first came to camp. Back then he was so pure and so. . . child like. Over the last few years he had changed but looking at his retreating figure, he saw a glimpse of that child again.
Looking back at the hill ahead of him, Will sighed. Now it was time to shop on the cold of winter.
***
Will had walked into a small town near camp and started looking through windows. He saw necklaces and earrings. He found dresses and books. He found cafes and antique little shops, but nothing felt right.
"Excuse me," A voice from behind Will called out to him as he stared into the windows of a shoe store.
Will turned around and saw a woman walking towards him. She had light brown skin and hazel eyes, and her hair was black and silky. She wore a magenta, long snow coat that went down almost to her knees and her feet were dressed in black boots. The woman looked in her late twenties or early thirties and she walked liked she was floating.
"Hello," Will greeted as the lady came to about four feet away.
"Why are you out here in this cold?" she asked politely.
"Well, I'm shopping for a friend," Will explained.
"Ah," he woman nodding in understanding. "I might have something to help you."
"You do?" Will couldn't see how a stranger could find something perfect for Hazel but he decided not to underestimate her.
"If you can get something for me, I can give you the perfect gift for your friend."
Will didn't know what to think about that. How could she have the perfect gift for Hazel? He was tempted to refuse but he was running out of ideas himself so, it was worth a shot.
"Alright," Will agreed. "Where is this thing you want?"
"Down the street," the woman said pointing. "Dr. Spike's Perfume. It's called 'Wonderstruck'."
"Okay, how much is it."
"Oh, I can pay for it."
The woman rummaged through her pockets and Will became even more confused. Why couldn't she get the perfume? Maybe there was a creepy guy inside.
She handed Will her purse, she must really trust him, and Will walked off down the street.
A few seconds later, Will arrived at Dr, Spike's Perfume. It was a small building and the color scheme seemed to be purple and red which, in Will's opinion, clashed terribly.
He walked inside the shop and saw that no one was inside. He walked towards a set of shelves and started looking at the names. 'Ocean Blues', 'Christmas Tingle', 'Ooze Berry', etc. Will walked down a whole side and then walked to the other side of the room to read the second side. 'Tears Of Joy', 'Apple cream', and then, finally, 'Wonderstruck'.
Will picked up the last purple bottle and check the price tag. 25$. It seemed cheap but he guessed they were just trying to sell their perfumes so the prices weren't too high.
Will walked up to the counter and saw a bell and dinged it.
"Coming!" came a voice from somewhere behind the counter where Will couldn't see.
A man walked in form a door Will hadn't noticed before. He was tall and buff and had short, grey hair. He walked stiffly and his voice had a bit of an accent. French?
"Just that," he asked when he saw the perfume.
Defiantly French, Will thought.
"Yes," Will said politely.
The man looked at him. He looked him up and down and gave a little sniff. He picked up the bottle and scanned it.
Will readily grabbed his money and held it out to the man. Without a word, the man grabbed his wrist with a steely grip and Will gasped.
"I know what you are," the man growled.
He began to get bigger and yellow-orange hair started to sprout form his skin and a mane grew on his head. His head formed into a lion's head and a tail like a scorpion's sprouted up behind him.
"You smell of a child I once knew," He commented as he pulled Will closer to him.
He looked him right in the eyes and Will could feel a chill run down his spine at the name he said.
"Nico di Angelo."
Will felt a sudden surge of power at the name of his boyfriend. Nico had mentioned how a manticore had attacked him and his sister and that was how they had found out they were demigods. He made himself light up in a flash and the manticore let go of his hand as he tried to cover his eyes.
Will stepped backwards so he could figure out what to do. He saw the manticore blinking confused behind the counter and the perfume he needed sat there too. He saw many different perfume bottles and he saw his celestial bronze dagger tucked into his boot. A plan started to form in his brain.
the manticore was now out of his daze and Will ran up close to him like he was trying to grab the perfume. The manticore roared and swiped at his hand. A line of blood rose where the claw cut skin but Will was too full of adrenaline to really notice.
He rolled out of the way and the manticore pounced at him since he was down. Will, knowing this was going to happen, rolled to his feet and side stepped out of the way and let the beast run into the shelves of bottles. The crashing of bottles echoed through the room, hurting Will's ears a bit. The manticore shook it's head and spotted Will, who was now across the room and pounced a second time. Will dove out of the way and the lion-scorpion crashed into a second wall of perfumes.
Smells and glass filled the room and Will had to use all of his concentration to not step on any broken bottles. The manticore tried to step closer to Will but he roared out in pain as glass crunched into his feet. Will's plan was going perfectly. The glass made his not want to move and the smells were over whelming him. Now for the last part.
The manticore roared and glared at the son of Apollo and was ready to use his last defense. His tai. He lifted it up and shot spikes out at Will as he danced over to the counter. Will heard the spikes flying and jumped up over the counter before they landed in his flesh. He hid on the other side of the counter as the spikes hit into the wall behind him. Now Will just had to hope he's logic was correct.
He started rummaging through drawers, searching for the final ingredient to his victory. The manticore kept roaring and sending spikes over his head as he crouched behind the counter and as he opened a drawer labeled cleaning, he found what he was looking for. He grabbed a bottle of disinfectant and jump out on to the counter top.
The manticore saw him and was about to strike but Will was too fast. He jumped onto the floor and sprayed the disinfectant as the beast's nose. The manticore coward and covered his nose with his paws, shutting all his defenses down as the cleaner stinged his eyes and nose. It was now Will's turn to attack, so he charged the beast with his dagger held high, and brought it down right on it's head.
With a roar, the manticore crumbled to dust.
***
Will walked out of the shop with his, thankfully, unbroken perfume bottle and only a cut on his hand. He walked down the street to where the old lady was standing, Watching him as he walked closer.
"Thank you," she said gratefully as she took her perfume bottle and the money Will still had.
"Of course," Will said with a smile.
"I am thankful for all of your help so now it is time for me to give something to you." The woman took a hand out of her pocket and handed Will a bottle of white paint.
"Give this to your friend," she said. "It will become any color she desires."
Will looked down at the paint bottle. It didn't seem magical or anything. . . wait. Magical. How did the woman have a magical object.
"How. . ." Will looked up but the lady was gone.