Percy Jackson and The Trapped Souls

1. Time Does Not Heal All Wounds.

When the sun finally broke over the horizon, the sun god himself was close to breaking point. He'd spent much of the night running on adrenaline, panic coursing through his veins like a tsunami and fear flooding into his heart with every beat.

In the aftermath, Apollo had been frozen in place. He'd been incapable of moving even a muscle as Percy's eyes had rolled back into Aether's head and he'd slumped back against the pillows, unconscious once more. He had hoped that it was just a shared hallucination, that everything after leaving Percy's room had just been one big, bizarre fever dream. Silence had reigned long after Percy's voice had spilled from Aether's body, until a cacophony of voices had sounded; each and every one of them demanding that he find answers, answers to impossible questions.

Apollo felt like Atlas once more, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He looked around the Infirmary, relishing in the fact it was quiet for the first time since Aether had been lost back to Hypnos' realm. He'd finally managed to banish the majority of the gods to Chaos' Cabin, sending most of their demigod children with them. It was that passing thought that made him look up from the healing text he was studying in favour of checking on Will, the only one of his children who hadn't left to nap at any point. A soft sigh escaped him when he realised that Will was no longer studying his own text; instead, his eyes were closed and his head was barely propped up.

He stood up and placed the book he'd been studying on his chair, wincing a little as he straightened up. His body was complaining about the fact he'd barely moved for hours, his ribs in particular feeling tight and sore. "Will?" Apollo ignored his aches and pains in favour of crossing the room to where his son was sitting at Nico's bedside. He gently touched his shoulder, feeling awful when Will jerked upright and twisted to look at him with tired eyes.

"I wasn't asleep," Will instantly denied an accusation that Apollo wasn't planning to make.

"I know, kiddo," Apollo smiled softly. "But I think you should be."

"I'm fine," Will shook his head, despite the fact that he was yawning a moment later. "I'm good. I'll be alright for another few hours."

"William," Apollo fixed him with an intense stare. "It's bedtime. They've been out for hours and it's probably going to be hours more until one of them even stirs. Also, if anyone is going to wake first, it'll be the god. We'll have a bit of warning and one of us can come and get you."

"Dad, I'm fine," Will tried to assure him, despite the fact he clearly didn't believe his own words.

"I'll walk you to our Cabin, come on," Apollo gestured for Will to stand, giving him a gentle smile in the hope that it would reassure his son in a way he couldn't reassure himself. "Time for bed."

Will stood, reluctantly untangling his fingers from Nico's. He dropped the medical text onto his abandoned chair and shuffled over to Apollo. He didn't complain when he wrapped an arm around his shoulders, not even when Apollo fussed about which side he wanted Will to walk on.

"I'm walking Will to his Cabin," Apollo informed Artemis, despite the fact she had been steadily ignoring his existence for the last two hours.

She didn't bother to acknowledge his words, Orion looking up from beside her to fix Apollo with a frosty stare. He nodded once before looking back down and pointing to something on the page that Artemis was examining.

Apollo didn't bother to say anything more, simply turning his attention to guiding Will out of the Infirmary.

"I don't think I can face going in there," Will broke the silence between them when they were finally faced with Cabin Seven. "I don't think I can look at any of them and not burst into tears."