Wpov

He led me to a bunch of games. They weren't in the best of shape, but they looked fun.

He patiently taught me how to play each one, and then we played eachother. Most of the time he won, but it was fun anyway.

When we finished Nico said, "Come on. After the festival, there's always a meeting in the woods."

"Okay."

He led me to the woods, which I thought was insanely cute. He seemed so excited to go everywhere and it was amazing to see him so happy. We were the first people in the forest exept for one neko, who was sitting on the ground, her tail swishing happily around behind her.

Nico's eyes flashed with recognition, "Clarisse?"

The girl jumped up at her name and swiveled around to see us. "Nico?" She asked quietly, not looking us either of us in the eye.

Nico ran up and gave her a hug. "Clarisse! This is Will Solace."

"The king?"

"Yeah."

"Did he force you to go with him?" She asked.

"No, he's nice."

"Why are you with him? She growled.

"I-I'm dating him."

She looked at him in surprise, then glared back at me. "If you hurt him..." she snarled.

"He's not going to." Nico reassured.

They talked for a while and soon there was a crowd around us. They were all looking at a spot in the middle, where a neko was standing on a chair.

Nico and I pushed to the front.

"Today we have celebrated." The neko said, "But today we must also grieve. More nekos died in the castle the past year than any other year, due to King Apollo."

A few nekos booed and others shouted or got teary-eyed.

"If you were family of one of the dead, step out of the crowd when you hear your loved one's name."

He started rambling off names and I felt guilty.

All of these nekos died in the castle because of my dad.

I couldn't stop thinking of ways I could've helped.

"...And one that her brother just came back from the castle: Bianca Di Angelo."

I looked down at Nico and saw he had tears running down his face and was paler than usual.

"I've gotta go up there." He whispered.

"I'll be waiting for you." I whispered back. He pushed his way up to the crowd.

The person kept talking, but I honestly wasn't paying attention.

Nico is devastated.

It's your fault, you could've saved her.

I never even saw her!

If you would've set them free earlier, she would've survived.

I didn't know she would die!

The person was going through the line asking how the rest of their loved ones were doing, to keep count and make sure they didn't leave any out.

They were almost to Nico...

Now. It's Nico's turn.

"How is your family?"

"My mother is dead."

The crowd gasped.

"My father, Hazel, and boyfriend are fine."

"Boyfriend?"

"Will Solace."

"The king?!"

Nico nodded.

The person stepped away from Nico, "Do you realize he was the one who killed all these innocent nekos?"

"Apollo did that! Will is innocent."

"Traitor!" Someone from the crowd shouted. More tears fell down Nico's face.

"I'm not! He set the nekos from the castle free!"

"Then how come some are dead?!"

"He just- he just didn't do it quick enough."

"He could've saved your sister, Nico! But he didn't."

"He didn't even know about my sister! He didn't even know we were taken from our homes! He thought we were born there!"

"He was ignorant!"

"He didn't know! No one told him!"

I pushed my way to the front and ran up to Nico. He was shaking with rage.

"The king!" Someone screamed. Then everyone got quiet. I ignored them. Nico still had tears running down his face, so I hugged him. I felt his arms wrap around me, too.

"It's okay, Nico." I whispered. "They just don't understand. It's okay."

Then I heard a different person, a person that I recognized, shout, "He hates us! Kill him and the traitor!"

I pulled away from the hug and stepped in front of Nico, protecting him from the mob of angry nekos, led by Octavian.

"Will, get out of the way!" Nico screamed, trying to get in front of me.

"I'm going to protect you, Nico!"

"No!"

He struggled, but I was much bigger than him so it was easy for me to stand in front of him.

But then he stopped. He stopped struggling and pushing.

So my guard was down. I didn't expect him to run around me.

"Nico, wait!"

Now he was in front of me, his arms out.

The crowd was growing bolder with every word Octavian yelled, and he yelled a lot.

"He's using the neko as a shield!" Octavian said.

"No! Nico, get out of the way!"

"No!"

Finally I came to my senses.

We were both going to be killed. It didn't matter if who was in front.

I took his wrist and ran, pulling him behind me.

"They're getting away!" I heard Octavian shout.

Where did Octavian get a torch?  I wondered.

I had no idea. He hadn't had one a minute ago.

I decided there were more important things to focus on. Apparently Nico hadn't.

"Octavian has a torch! Where'd he even get that?!" He yelped. I glanced back at him, and in the process I almost ran into a tree. At least I knew he was okay.

I couldn't answer; I was out of breath. I kept running though.

Soon there was silence.

No yelling or crackling of fire or the rumbling footsteps.

It was only the breathing of Nico and I that told me I wasn't deaf.

"They're gone." I said.

"Yeah."

We caught our breath and headed in the direction Nico said he thoug the castle was in.

We walked for at least two hours until finally he said, "That's it. We're lost."

Turns out the castle had been the opposite direction.

And it gets worse.

It was getting dark out now (Nico says eight o'clock) and we hadn't eaten dinner.

I jumped at every sound I heard, which was mainly the crunching of leaves under my feet, but still.

Nico was tense, too. He didn't say a thing and his ears were perked up, straining to hear something.

Eventually we stopped. It was getting too late to continue.

"Will, I'm scared." Nico whispered.

"Me too. But we'll get through this. I promise."

I felt him take my hand, and suddenly everything felt perfect, even though we were lost in the woods at ten o'clock at night, with odd noises every once in a while.

Yeah, it was perfect holding his hand there.

"I'm tired."

"That's okay. Go to sleep."

He laid down, making a bed of leaves, and fell asleep almost immediately.

"Goodnight," I kissed his forehead, "I love you."

I sat there all night, unable to get to sleep. I had the urge to go do something productive, but I decided Nico wouldn't want me to leave.

I sighed. Then I heard a crunch in the leaves next to us and I jumped up.

"Who's there?!" I shouted.