How Icarus Fell From the Sun (a Solangelo fanfic)

pride month has summoned me

In the end, it was Nico who won their bet. Will took one look at the sight that was in front of them the morning most campers were heading back to school, grumbled, and handed over three drachmas. And, by the looks of it, they weren't the only ones who had made bets. Percy, Miranda, Nico, Malcom, James and Marcus were only a few of the campers who were handed silver coins.

It was a throwback to a prank the Stolls had pulled two Easters ago, which had fueled Katie's long lasting hatred for the two. Clearly, her hatred had, at some point, dissipated, as the grass roof of her cabin was now covered in Valentine's day chocolates, stuffed bears, and roses that were picked from the cabins porch instead of chocolate easter bunnies and confetti. In the middle, there was a giant, pink, spray painted heart, with a neatly printed K+T in the middle.

"Dude," Jason called from the crowd, his and Piper's luggage- the few things they had been given over the past month- slung over his shoulder. "It's August!"

"And?" Travis was standing with his arm around Katie, who was rolling her eyes and looking thoroughly unimpressed with his stunt. Connor looked the same, but he was smiling for his brother, and there were faint tear tracks on his cheeks. This was the first school year since they had arrived at camp that Connor would be without Travis.

"What do you mean, 'And?' How the hell did you get Valentine's day candies in the middle of the summer? And why are they not melting?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I have my ways."

The campers groaned collectively, and that effectively shut down any remaining excitement about the news. Katie left the crowd to say goodbye to Miranda, who was going to be head counselor while Katie was in school. Annabeth did the same with Malcom, and Nico found himself gravitating towards Jason and Piper, wanting to say goodbye, and good luck.

Jason and Piper, Jasper, as Mitchell had dubbed them, had spent the month formulating a plan to find Leo. They were keeping most of the details quiet, because they wanted to do it on their own, and didn't want anyone to interfere.

"Hey, Nico!" Jason called as he walked towards them. Piper and Mitchell were in a heated discussion with Drew, and Nico decided to leave them to their own devices.

"Hey, Jason. You ready?" The hill was loud, and full of demigods and their luggage, so Nico had to lean towards Jason to hear his response.

"Ready as we can be, I think. The shock of him being alive and everything has pretty much just worn down into being angry at him for not telling us the plan. Piper says she's planning to beat the shit out of him as soon as we find him, but really I think we'll both just cry."

Nico nodded, and smirked, "I'm confident in the fact that she could still beat him sobbing."

Jason laughed, "That, Nico, is exactly what I'm afraid of."

"And, hey, if somehow you can't track him, or he gets to us before you, I'll make sure he gets a significant beating for that fucking stunt he pulled."

"You better swear it, di Angelo."

"On my entire skeleton army." He jokingly held up his right hand.

Jason pointed at him accusingly, saying, "I'll hold you to that," as Piper finally bounded back over, a skip in her step and a smile on her face.

"What's this about a skeleton army?"

"Hey, Pipes! I take it that went well then?" Jason asked after giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, Drew finally let up and admitted that she couldn't run the cabin from Brooklyn."

Nico only nodded, although confused.