A second chance.

28. Promises

Nico

I was shaken roughly awake by a certain blond haired son of Apollo. I groaned and sat up to see that I was still outside. I cursed myself as I realized that I had fallen asleep while thinking about the upcoming battle. 

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Will asked, stretching a hand out to me. I grabbed it and he pulled me to my feet. "Everyone was looking for you! Your dad thought you got captured or something!" 

I yawned and stretched, grimacing as I heard some of the bones in my back crack. "Sorry. I woke up in the middle of the night and went out here to get some fresh air. Then I must've fallen asleep."

Will sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Of course you did. Alright, whatever. Come on, we have to go back and make the final preparations to the war." I bit my lip as I remembered that today was the day we're going to attack Olympus.

"Oh right. The war that decides if Percy continues to rule the world, or if we end his reign." I said, earning a small scoff from Will. He heaved open the trapdoor and climbed down the ladder leading to our underground bunker. 

I followed the son of Apollo down into the hallway before closing the trapdoor. The two of us walked down the corridor to the main room, where everyone was gathered around the table. 

Hades visibly relaxed once he saw me, but he glared at me from across the room. "Nico! What on Earth are you thinking, falling asleep up there out in the open? Anyone could've seen you-" 

"Dad, I'm fine." I said, interrupting him with a small smile. "Yes, sorry, that was foolish of me." 

Hades' eye twitched at how I interrupted him, but he decided to let it slide. "Whatever. Come and join us. We'll be attacking Olympus in around an hour." I huffed before making my way over to stand next to my father. 

Will remained standing next to Apollo, and he gave me a wink as he caught me looking at him. I blushed and focused my attention on Hades, who was currently muttering something under his breath. 

"We're going to get to Olympus using the elevator located at the Empire State Building." Hades said loudly, gaining the attention of the gathered demigods and Gods. "That's about a half and hour walk from where our underground bunker is located. Perseus will know we're coming for him the instant we enter the city." 

"I'm pretty sure he already knows we're going to attack him today." Katie, the daughter of Demeter mused. She was sitting on the floor, running her hand along the blade of a knife. 

Hades sighed heavily and nodded slowly. "Yes, probably. But it's too late to back out. We have to at least try, we've been planning this attack for a long time. You all know what to do, right?" 

I looked around the room as all of the demigods and Gods nodded. Most of them had scared and nervous expressions on their faces, and I couldn't blame them. I was scared too. 

"Okay. Everyone go and get ready. Meet back in this room in half an hour." Hades said, and most of the demigods left the room to put on their armour and grab their weapons. 

I stayed where I was, and so did my father, Will, Clarisse, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, and Atlas. The eight of us took seats around the table once everyone had left. 

"This is it." Apollo said as he snapped his fingers. Bright light engulfed him and the God was now wearing a set of golden armour. He pulled his bow out of thin air and placed it on the table. 

"Everyone get geared up." Athena snapped her fingers as well and grey armour appeared on her body, replacing the casual clothes she was wearing previously. She threw her spear onto the table with her shield.

I watched as Artemis changed into a silver set of armour, putting her hunting knives on the table to join Athena's spear and shield, along with Apollo's bow. Atlas didn't bother to change into armour yet, and my father replaced his cloak with a set of black armour. He also placed his stygian iron sword on the table.

"Why are you all putting your weapons on the table?" Will questioned, eyeing the small pile of godly weapons. "I don't know. Apollo started it, so I guess we all just followed him." Artemis chuckled quietly. 

The Goddess then looked at Will and I, noticing that we haven't started to prepare for the upcoming battle. "You two, go and get whatever you need and come back here as soon as possible." 

"Yeah, okay. Come on Nico." Will grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room, ignoring the soft whistles coming from Apollo and Hades. 

The two of us entered the small armoury, where several other demigods were selecting weapons and putting on armour. Will led me over to the armour racks and released my arm.

"Here." The son of Apollo said, handing me the chestplate first. I smiled as I slipped it on before taking the other pieces of armour that Will handed me. Soon, I was completely outfitted in celestial bronze armour. 

"You look as badass as ever." Will grinned as I started to hand him pieces of armour as well. "Thank you, Sunshine." I laughed as I watched Will complete the armour set by adding the arm gauntlets. 

He rolled his eyes at me before stretching his arms out. "Come here." I practically bolted into his outstretched arms, and smiled happily as Will ensnared me into a tight hug. 

He put his chin on my head and muttered "If we lose or win today, you'll always be by my side, right?" I didn't even hesitate to answer him. "Of course. You didn't even have to ask that." 

Will broke the hug and smiled at me, a smile that showed all his white teeth. "I was just making sure." He bent down slightly to kiss me on the lips, sending a shock down my body. 

Before I could even return the kiss, someone cleared their throat loudly. We quickly broke apart and I turned to see Clarisse standing there, looking slightly amused. "If you two lovebirds are done sucking each other's lips off, they want us back in the main room." 

Will shot a nasty glare at the daughter of Ares as she left the room with a sly grin. "What a bitch." 

I laughed as I grabbed his hand and we both left the armoury. "She's just joking around. Don't overreact." Will stuck his tongue out at me as we entered the main room with all the other demigods. 

Hades looked at us as we stepped inside, and he shouted for everyone to quiet down. Once they did so, my dad gave all of us a stern look. 

"Today's the day that we've been preparing for. The attack on Olympus in an effort to strike Perseus down and save the prisoners he had taken years ago. The day where we win or lose." 

Artemis took over for my dad as he took a break from speaking to take a deep breath. "We're Olympus' last hope. We kill Perseus, we win. Everything will return to normal." The Goddess picked up her knives from the table as she was talking.

"If we lose, then that's it. Perseus will continue to rule, and everything will get progressively worse from there."

Will squeezed my hand tightly and I glanced at him to see the fear and determination evident in his eyes. I exhaled slowly to try and calm my rapidly beating heart.

This was it. If we lose, that's it,

The world would be fucked. 

Word count: 1308

Will Nico win? Or will Percy win.... Again?