Solis

Chapter XIX

Ron had never felt so nervous before. The Ares campers were really scary, and if he accidentally touched their injured arms or legs, they would get angry and start swearing at him while hissing in pain. Ron did his best to cooperate with them, and he was just relieved that Nico was with him. However, Nico had many questions, similar to Ron's curiosity when he asked about the mortal world. Though, Ron wasn't upset about it; he was actually intrigued and willing to share everything about the camp with Nico in return for information about the outside.

It's also really funny how Nico felt happy whenever the redhead ordered him to get some snow outside and put it in the cooler. They were going to wrap the snow in a towel and use it to apply on the injured arms and legs.

Both of them doesn't really know what they're doing and Ron feels bad for not going to Michael's healing lesson with Will anymore, all because of some stupid reasons.

Once they finished taking care of the Ares kids and making sure they were okay in the infirmary, the two walked slowly out of the Big House. The redhead giggled while Nico gathered snow from the ground and threw it at Ron, who did the same in return.

"To the gods!" Ron exclaimed, tossing snow onto Nico's face, causing him to fall backward onto the ground.

They kept playing like that until they finally made it to the cabins. Ron was starting to feel sleep, and it was getting late as well. "Nico, let's continue playing tomorrow," Ron suggested.

"But why? I still want to show you my collection of mythomagic figurines. You told me you have all of them."

Ron hesitated, “But, Nico—”

“Please? Please?“

The redhead seemed to be thinking about it, with half of his face covered by a large red scarf and narrowed eyes. After a moment, he made up his mind. "Okay! I'll play with you in Cabin Eleven, then."

Nico appeared happier as they both hurried to cabin eleven. Ron felt nostalgic about the Hermes cabin where Luke used to let him play with the kids. However, now he didn't have a reason to go there anymore. The Stolls and the other kids were already asleep, worn out from playing capture-the-flag. So, the two of them quietly went to search through Nico's belongings to find the figurines.

"I still don't know of your name," Nico whispered as he placed all the figurines onto the bed.

"It's Ron," the redhead responded, while counting the figurines.

"Only Ron?" Nico questioned.

The redhead blushed slightly, "Um, yes. Everyone has always referred to me as that, so I've always used that name. It's a shortened form of Ronald."

"Nice. Mine's just Nico, Nico Di Angelo. Do you have a sister?" Nico finally revealed all his figurines but he was missing one. Ron holds the Apollo's figurine, and he nodded in response.

"I have many sisters, but they're not always here, just during the summer. So I end up living alone in our cabin for months. But that's fine, they always send me letters or message me through I.M."

"What's I.M?"

"It's called an Iris Message, similar to video calling—Oh cool you have the cards as well.“

"Yup! Do you wanna play tomorrow?" 

"Okay!" Ron responded with enthusiasm, "So, do you also have many sisters?"

Nico shuffled the cards and placed them on the bed, one by one, while Ron played with the figurines. "I only have one sister," he mentioned, pausing in his actions. "She joined the hunters."

The redhead perked at that, "Really? That's cool. Annabeth told me they can become immortal and they're skilled at archery."

"Yeah," Nico replied, his voice carrying a hint of sadness, "But she's busy with them now—hold on a moment." The other boy looked at him with wide eyes.

"What's up?"

"Did you just mention Annabeth? Is she that girl with a blonde hair?"

Ron paused his play with the figurines. "Yep, she's my friend. Almost like a sister to me as well. How do you know her?"

"Is she Percy's girlfriend? I saw her leap at the manticore, and they both tumbled over the cliff and just disappeared."

Ron let go of the figurines he had been holding and gazed at Nico with a startled expression. Nico called out his name, but the red-haired boy just stared at him, and suddenly tears began flowing from his bright blue eyes, causing Nico to feel nervous as the campers inside the cabin stirred slightly in their peaceful sleep.

Ron let out a loud sob, but Nico quickly placed his hand over his mouth.

"They'll hear us!" Nico whispered urgently, feeling panicked.

"I hate you!" Ron was about to crued, but Nico pulled him out of the Hermes cabin. That's where the redhead's loud crying began, yet he soon wiped the tears from his eyes and cheeks, now sniffling slightly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm okay," Ron attempted to soothe himself, while Nico looked at him with concern.

"I'm sorry—did I say something—"

"No, it's not your fault. It's okay," Ron sniffled.

"I'm sorry," Nico said sadly, "Did I talk too much?"

The redhead immediately shook his head, "No! It's... it's just that..." Ron fidgeted with his fingers, his face slightly red from crying. "My friends are keeping secrets from me again. I... I hate it when they do that."

"Secrets?" The redhead nodded tiredly. "They keep secrets to keep me safe, but I really hate it... I just wish they'd be honest..." then suddenly Nico gently touched his head.

"Don't worry," Nico reassured him, patting his head. "I'll be your friend, and I'll be honest with you."

The fact that they were of the same height added to the amusement if someone was watching them, but Ron huffed and swatted Nico's arm, eliciting giggles from him. The redhead was just about to tickle Nico in retaliation when they suddenly heard footsteps.

"What's that?" Nico questioned glancing around, but Ron had already drawn his celestial bronze weapon.

Another footstep followed by approaching whispers reached their ears. Before Nico could say anything, the redhead grabbed his arm and they hid in the nearest tree.

A minute went by, and the whispers grew clearer as the people approached closer to their location. Nico let out a gasp.

"Is that my sister?"

"Wha?" Ron looked at the other boy.

"It's my sister!" Nico hissed at him surprised.

"Wha—" Ron exclaimed, but his words were cut short when Nico grabbed his arm and hurriedly pulled him out to trail them 

So the two of them sneaked their way towards the voices and even in the dark they could see two figures—two girls—talking until they reach the Dining Pavilion. Ron and Nico hunkered down behind the Greek colum as they listened to them. 

“Is that your sister, the one we chase before in capture-the-flag?“ Ron asked.

“No, that's Zoe. The other one in the left, her name is Bianca—my sister.“ Nico replied as the two tried to listen without being seen.

"It cannot be cured," Zoe was saying. "Not quickly, at any rate." 

"But how did it happen?" Bianca asked. 

"A foolish prank," Zoe growled. "Those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin. Centaur blood is like acid. Everyone knows that. They sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it." 

"That's terrible!" 

"She will live," Zoe was saying. "But she'll be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go. It's up to me... and thee." 

“No way, another patient?“ Ron whispered.

"But the prophecy," Bianca said. "If Phoebe can't go, we only have four. We'll have to pick another." 

"There is no time," Zoe said. "We must leave at first light. That's immediately. Besides, the prophecy said we would lose one." 

"In the land without rain," Bianca said, "but that can't be here." 

"It might be," Zoe said, though she didn't sound convinced. "The camp has magic borders. Nothing, not even weather, is allowed in without permission. It could be a land without rain." 

"But—" 

"Bianca, hear me." Zoe's voice was strained. "I... I can't explain, but I have a sense that we should not pick someone else. It would be too dangerous. They would meet an end worse than Phoebe's. I don't want Chiron choosing a camper as our fifth companion. And... I don't want to risk another Hunter." 

Bianca was silent. "You should tell Thalia the rest of your dream." 

"No. It would not help." 

"But if your suspicions are correct, about the General—" 

"I have thy word not to talk about that," Zoe said. She sounded really anguished. "We will find out soon enough. Now come. Dawn is breaking."

With the two girls no longer conversing, Nico and Ron quickly shifted behind. Nico was about to follow them, but Ron held him back. Just then, he felt someone appeared behind them.

"Wait—ooof—" The redhead didn't hesitate to land a punch on the person's stomach.

"Percy!" The redhead shrieked, recognizing the boy who was now clutching his stomach. Nico turned around in surprise upon seeing Percy. "Whoa, where did you come from!?" he exclaimed.

Percy let out a slight groan before regaining his composure. "Invisible," he managed to reply.

Ron's anger flared up as he noticed the cap in Percy's hand. "How dare you—YOU ARE—" The redhead's frustration boiled over, and he stomped his feet in exasperation. "I should've punched you in the face!"

"Listen, I'm sorry—"

"I knew what happened to her!" Ron choked back tears and hastily ran away, leaving Nico alone with Percy.

Nico found him by himself at the dock of Canoe Lake, with his legs drawn close to his body and his face resting on his knees. The redhead became aware of Nico's presence right before the second boy began to approach him.

The dark-haired boy sat next to him, arranging his Mythomagic figurines and cards. Nico placed the Apollo figurine next to Ron, who eventually glanced at it. With a slight smile, the redheaded boy held onto it.

"Are you feeling better now?" Nico questiomed.

"Yup. I'm fine.“

"You always say that! I just saw you crying, you know."

Ron blushed in response, which caused Nico to giggle. "Your face turning red matches your hair. I've never seen such a deep shade of red before, it's pretty cool!"

"It's not cool!"

"It is cool!“

When the redhead calmed down, the two wound up chasing each other, only stopping to quietly approach and observe the baby dragon guarding the fleece. Ron recounted the events and explained the purpose of the fleece to him. The red-haired boy gave him a brief tour as Nico eagerly hopped around in excitement. The red-haired boy couldn't help but mirror Nico's enthusiasm as Ron held his gloved hand as they walked, pointing out various places along the way.

"Mr. Chiron, Mr. Chiron!" Ron shouted towards the old centaur who was in the midst of stretching his bow at the archery targets.

The older centaur appeared somewhat amused by the two boys' enthusiasm, as Ron asked him to teach Nico in archery. However, the other boy kept struggling with holding the arrow in the bow while Ron tried correcting his stances—Nico, it turns out, was not very good at it. So they tried swords, but wooden ones so they wouldn't injure each other. 

But Ron wasn't very good with sword either, so Nico mostly swung it around. 

"I can show you my favorite place, it's near the strawberry field, and I also have some comic books!" Ron exclaimed as they tried to warm themselves beneath the nearest ball with fire flickering from one of the cabins. 

"Comics? Like those stuffs with drawings on it?" Nico asked.

"Yup!" Ron said, nodding. "It's all about Spider-Man."

"Spider…man? Who is he?"

"He's a hero but not like us! A spider bit him, and he gained spiderman-like abilities."

"Cool! I wanna see!“

"You'll like it, follow me!" Ron beamed at him.

🔆

The two spent the day curled in the redhead's cabin's corner; Ron even tried to make milk for him, but Nico complained that it was cold and not sweet. So they both ended up eating some potato chips and cookies instead.

The two fell asleep as soon as their stomachs were satisfied, they didn't heard the conch blew for dinner so it was the Stolls who banged on the cabin's door to get them but the redhead got annoyed, so he flung a coloring pen on them.

The Stolls successfully got a hold of Ron, with Connor hoisting him up like a sack as they headed outside. Nico trailed behind, his face drowsy and his hair disheveled.

The next day were filled with Ron and Nico just  playing around, engaging in snowball fights with the Aphrodite campers who joined in as well. The red-haired boy taught Nico the art of crafting a perfect snowman, only for it to be blasted by the Ares campers and the Hunters doesn't interact that much with them, but there was a day when he was summoned to the infirmary to check about Phoebe's condition. 

There were also nights when Nico had nightmares and Ron would give him cookies while they were both out in the woods. Ron asked him about his nightmare one afternoon, and Nico told him about his sister.

Clarisse also came back from her adventure, whatever it was. The girl's expression was telling them that it was a bad news. The Ares campers assembled around her as they entered their cabin.

Later that day around evening, as Ron wandered towards around the cabins, he noticed something in the sky. He merely caught a glimpse of it, a figure of a girl with a bow or something. But when he checked it again, it had disappeared already, but it made his heart skip a beat.

When he returned to the cabin, he tried to clean up the messes Nico and him had made; chips and cookie crumbs were scattered, and the comic books were also in different places; he has no idea how that happened. Then suddenly as he was about to take the last comic from one of the bunkbed, there was a knock on the door.

When Ron opened the door, his eyes widened to the girl standing there. "Thalia!?" He shouted, abruptly hugging her.

"You came back, I'm so sorry I didn't come to say goodbye when you went on your quest, I was very upset and and—" Ron choked off a little as Thalia hugged him back too fiercely.

"Thalia?" He squaeked.

Thalia must have been crying as she sniffled, "I'm sorry."

“Oh, oh..." Ron said. 

They did this for a minute before Thalia broke the hug and took Ron's face in her hands, gazing into his blue bright eyes. "I won't be returning to the camp for...a while." 

“Why?“ Ron asked.

"I..." Thalia paused, shutting her eyes briefly before reopening them. "I'm sorry, Ron. I lied about Annabeth."

"I know."

"But she's fine now, with Percy and Grover. And—" Ron could see Thalia struggling, so he gently placed his hands on Thalia's wrists, which were holding his face, and offered a reassuring smile. "Thalia, it's not your fault," he assured her.

"I'm very happy that  you're back and Annabeth is safe. I want both of my favorite friends happy, you know? And where are you going?"

"Then, take care," Ron nodded, "They're so cool, which means you're going to be even more cool.“

Thalia sniffled and let out a small chuckle, "So, you're saying I'm not as cool as them?"

"Nope, because you're cooler than all of them combined," Ron replied with a grin. Thalia hugged him once more, and they suddenly heard coughs coming from behind. It was the hunters.

"Artemis is waiting, we must depart," one of them stated. Thalia let out a sigh and placed her hand on the redheaded boy's shoulder.

"When you're able to leave this camp, I'll treat you to McDonald's or whatever you want," she offered. "I'll ask permission from Artemis, hope she won't decline."

"She's my aunt, she won't say no," Ron joked, though the aunt part was indeed true, and the Hunters were known for their dislike to boys. Thalia grinned at him, then stepped back to rejoin the Hunters, who regarded Ron warily.

"We're heading out now," Thalia stated. Ron waved goodbye as the hunters continued on their way. Ron followed them and at the top of the hill, they were joined by another girl, it must be Artemis, but Ron noticed her gaze briefly fixated on him before they all disappeared. Ron struggled to hold back tears, but his mood lifted when he suddenly caught voices coming from the top of hill.

The next day, Ron was excited to tell Nico that Annabeth had finally returned safe and that he had forgiven Percy. He also wanted to share that Thalia had become a hunter. However, when he knocked on the door of Hermes' cabin to find Nico, the Stolls simply shook their heads—Ron searched around the camp but couldn't find him. He then headed to Percy and Annabeth though they were engaged in a conversation.

"Guys!" Ron called out, his face displaying anxiety. The two looked up to see him. "Do you happen to know where Nico is?"

Annabeth and Percy exchanged a quick look, and Percy was aware that the redheaded boy had formed a friendship with Nico. But they both understood they couldn't reveal much about Nico's situation.

"He, um, decided to leave the camp," Percy replied, narrating the situation to Ron similarly to how they had explained it to Chiron. The redheaded boy's expression shifted from surprise to sadness. Annabeth watched him with concern, wanting to speak up but continually stopping herself.

The red-haired boy bit his lip and nodded, attempting to grasp the situation. "Okay," he replied, sounding concerned. "I hope he's okay."

"Ron—"

"It's fine," the redhead interrupted before turning and walking away, absently scratching his arm. 

The day went by, and Annabeth mentioned her plans to go to San Francisco to him. Ron simply nodded, as he felt he didn't have much say in the matter. After all, it was Annabeth's life, not his. But the blonde girl assured him that she would discuss his situation with Chiron again. Ron, for the third time in their conversations, told him it was fine. But the blonde girl refused.

After bidding her goodbye, Ron headed back to his cabin and settled on the floor, the same spot where he and Nico had spent time together.