Nico's POV

"Everyone, you know the rules. There are six flags hidden inside the woods, each with a number written on it in red. The higher the number, the safer it's hidden. If you get a flag, the number corresponding to it is the number of days your team gets off chores." Cheers erupted from the group. Chiron stared up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Your time starts... now!"

"Come on!" Will told me. "I know where he hid one of them." My teammate grabbed me by my hand, sending shivers up my spine, and pulled me northeast, towards the most dangerous part of the forest. It was darker in this part of the forest, and eyes stared out from the trees looming above us.

"Are you sure there's one in here?" I asked tentatively. "Chiron has always told us to go in here at our own risk." Will gave me a dangerous grin, the one that always made my heart flutter in my chest.

"Exactly. He knew that only the most worthy campers would go in." I laughed.

"Whatever you say," I sighed. I took the lead and pushed back a thorn bush, earning bloody scrapes on the palms of my hands. Something blue caught my eye, and Will and I stared at the flag. We rushed over and turned it over. "What's the number?"

"Twenty!" he grinned. "But we'll have to do something about your hands." I groaned.

"Will, they're fine." He grabbed them and rubbed circles in my palms. He brought them up to his lips and gave them each a small peck.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much," I grinned.

Will's POV

"Now, our only job is to get back..." I said as I surveyed our surroundings.

"Do you recognize any of this?" Nico asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. "Will?" Nico raised an eye.

"W- well," I stammered. "It's not like I don't know where we are. We're in the forest, right?"

"Do you know how to get back to camp?" Nico growled. I racked my brain, trying to remember how we got here, but nothing turned up. All I was able to think about at the time of our search had been finding the flag.

"No, " I said finally, trying to look everywhere but Nico.

"Will!" he exploded. "I can't believe you got us lost! I knew we should never have come in here." He was avoiding my eyes, staring determinedly at the ground that was quickly being covered in shadows cast by the setting sun.

"Lets not freak out, okay?" I sighed, running my hands through my blonde curls. "We can find our way back, no worries. And if worst comes to worst, we can just stay out here for the night. You can sleep under the flag and I'll keep watch."

"No, no, no, no," Nico gasped, walking in circles. "Anything but that."

"Relax, it's not like you have a problem with monsters, or the dark, or creepy forests," I grinned. "That's what you live for, right?" He didn't respond, and the smile fell off my face. "Neeks, is there something you want to tell me?" He muttered something under his breath. "Come on. Just tell me."

"Fine, I'm scared of the dark. Happy?" he spat.

"What? But you're the son of Hades! You were practically born to darkness."

"I- I guess I spend so much time shadow traveling, I'm afraid I'll melt into them forever." I engulfed him in a huge bear hug. He tried to wriggle free, but my grip was strong, and eventually he gave in.

"Don't worry, Death Boy. I'll get us out of here faster than you can say 'Nico's scared of the dark'.

"Shut up, Sunshine Boy."

Nico's POV

I wasn't sure exactly how long we'd been walking, but it felt longer than eternity in the Fields of Punishment. Eyes stared out at us from the trees looming overhead, and my only sources of comfort was the familiar feeling of the blue flag clutched tightly in my clammy hand and Will's arm wrapped tightly around my shoulder, promising to never let go. I couldn't see anything outside of a five foot radius. Past that, the darkness claimed the land. Suddenly, Will stopped. I paused along with him, melting into his side, as if trying to merge our bodies into one. (A/n: that was not meant to be sexual, sorry if it creeped you out in any way, shape or form. I couldn't think of any other way to say it. Carry on!)

"W- what's wrong?" I stammered. I was trying to sound brave, but my voice barely came out above a whisper. I heard Will groan beside me.

"I think we should stop for the night," he told me. "We have no way of seeing our surroundings, and for all we know we're going in the wrong direction. We should crash here for the night. I'll keep watch, if you want." I shifted uncomfortably.

"Will, I don't know. I want to get back to camp as quickly as possible."

"Come on, Death Boy, get some rest. You look like you could use it. You can even use the flag to stay warm." I glanced down at the blue flag in my hand. It was made out of thick, warm, fabric, like the kind that comforters were made of. Will had chosen the stopping point to be a level ground covered in soft, green moss. I glanced up at Will, who had his arms crossed over his chest. I doubted he would even let me leave. He weighed at least fifty pounds more than me, so it would be no problem for him to force me to the ground and not let me up until the sun poked up above the trees. And even though I didn't want to admit it, I was just a little bit tired. It had been a long day, and I could feel my heavy eyelids begin to droop as soon as Will mentioned the word sleep.

"Fine," I muttered. I laid down on the mossy ground and curled up in a ball, allowing Will to drape the flag over me. The warmth of the fabric engulfed me and within moments, I was asleep.

Will's POV

I listened the howls of the monsters in the distance and felt the cool air on my face. Autumn was coming early, so even the summer campers hadn't quite escaped the need to wear sweaters to bed and mittens to sword practice so the cold metal didn't hurt your hands. I glanced down at Nico, who was sleeping peacefully on the ground, underneath our hard- earned flag. The flag was so big, and Nico was so small. He didn't need all of that space, did he? The wind blew through my thin clothes, and a shiver passed through my body. It had been a warmer day than most, and I didn't think that I would be staying out all night. So, I crawled underneath the flag and wrapped my arms around Nico. He turned over to face me and curled into my side.

"You're still going to protect me, right?" he murmured tiredly.

"Of course, death boy," I whispered into his hair. He gave me a rare smile and fell back into his deep slumber. I watched the sun rise with Nico wrapped soundly in my arms, until I finally fell asleep.

"There you guys are!" a voice woke me up, and my first sight was Nico sitting cross legged in the grass, letting an inchworm crawl up his arm.  My second sight was Percy standing over me, trying not to laugh. "Have you two been out her all night?" he grinned.

"Yeah," I yawned. "We got lost, and we just decided to spend the night out here. At least we got one of the flags." I pushed it off of me, and it fell in a heap at my feet.

"Speaking of the flags, there's something you have to see," he smirked. "Do you remember that bet Jason and I made? About which one of us would find the best flag?" My mind vaguely recalled a memory of Percy rambling on excitedly about what would happen when Jason lost the bet.

"Yeah, I think so," I said. Nico scrambled over.

"Who won? Is it today?"

"Yeah," Percy cackled. "Annabeth and I found the fourteen flag, and Jason and Piper only found the seven one."

"Oh, please, you only won because Annabeth did all the work," Nico said.

"Shut up Zombie Boy and just come and watch this," Percy told us. I gathered up our flag and followed Percy out of the forest.

"Did you hear what the forfeit is?" Nico whispered to me.

"No," I responded. "Only Percy and Jason knew, and they've been refusing to tell anyone for the past week."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Nico laughed.

When we emerged from the forest, Chiron was waiting for us, holding several cameras.

"There you two are," he said. "I see you two found the best flag. Good job."

"Come on, you two. The shows about two start." Percy dragged us over to the shore, where a huge crowd had gathered. Percy brought us to the front of the crowd, yelling "VIPs coming through! Make way!" At the very front of the crowd stood the rest of  Camp Half- Blood's part of the Argo Two. Annabeth, Calypso and Piper stood together whispering something, most likely about how completely idiotic their boyfriends were. An old friend, Thalia Grace, stood next to them with a camera pointed at her now older brother. Leo was completely absorbed in tinkering with a metal box, with wires coming out of it, which were attached to Jason.

Percy had pulled out all the stops on this. Jason wore an old- fashioned superman costume. He was strapped tightly to a board that kept him upright. Wires sprouted off the board, and fireworks were attached to it as well.

"Ready to go, Leo?" Percy asked. Leo gave him a smile, the same one he would use when he was about to do something big.

"I've never been so ready for anything in my life!" His eyes were lit up, and his smile was like something you might find on a mental patient.

"Jason?" Percy called out.

"Just get this over with," Jason spat. Leo handed Percy the metal box.

"You do the honors." There was a big red button in the middle of the box, nothing else. Percy lifted it up high, so that the whole camp could see it. With a great deal of show, much more than necessary, he pushed lightly down on the red button. Jason shot up into the air with more force than a jet, nearly dragging Percy along with him. He bounced  through the water for about a mile and a half, then shot up into the air so that he was almost at the cloud level. We could hear him shouting something, but it was lost in the cheering of the crowd and the deafening sound of roughly five hundred fireworks going off at the same time. They shot up into the air before exploding, spelling out the words Percy is the greatest demigod to ever live. Jason flipped upside down and came hurtling back down to camp. He hit the sand head first and half of his body was buried in sand before the box sputtered out and died. Piper rushed over with a towel and yanked Jason out of the sand. The sand clung to him like barnacles on a whale, and Piper did her best to wipe off all of the sand.

"This is why you never make a bet where Percy and Annabeth are a team," she griped. "You deserve what you got, Sparky." I watched Percy and Leo exchange a fist bump. Piper hauled Jason away so she could yell at him some more, and the camp dispersed in groups of three or four, talking about the spectacle. Percy came up to Nico and I, bouncing merrily on the balls of his feet. He had a dozen polaroid pictures clutched tightly in his hand.

"So, how'd you guys like the show?" he asked.

"It was the greatest thing I've ever seen," Nico and I said simultaneously.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it, but Seaweed Brain here had to go. He's teaching a sword fighting class with Clarisse in ten minutes," Annabeth said, coming over.

"Don't remind me," Percy groaned. Annabeth waved goodbye to us and dragged Percy away to get ready for the class.

"If you're ever stupid enough to take a bet like that, I will never talk to you again," Nico threatened. "I'll get some zombies up here to drag you to the fields of punishment."

"As long as it doesn't involve you using any of your underworld magic, I'm good."

"Go to Hades,' Nico groaned.

"Not sure if I'm ready to meet your father quite yet!" Nico gave me a look that would melt small children, and shook his head.

"You're lucky you're cute, Sunshine Boy."

Hi everyone! I tried to make the ending not as cheesy as it usually is, but I hoped you liked it. Let me know what you think, and also I can do any requests. School's coming up, so I'll probably write them during class, because they usually get super boring.

Nina