Here's the part two to my last update.
Percy's POV
"Percy, don't worry about Will," Annabeth said, resting a comforting hand on my back. We were at my favorite spot in the camp, a canoe directly above where Annabeth and I had shared our underwater kiss, just months before Hera had taken me. "Jason and Piper have almost left to go look for him and you can't beat yourself up for him going to the underworld. It wasn't your fault." I shook my head, holding my hands miserably in my hands. I could feel guilt rising up in my throat and filling my head, making tears threaten to leak out.
"Annabeth, you don't get it. Before- before Nico died, before the battle, I told Will I'd watch Nico's back." I looked up at her, a single tear tracing its way down my left cheek. "Even though Nico doesn't need to be looked after, I always promise Will at the beginning of every battle. And then I let him die. I was only a few feet away, and I let him die. And then Will stopped eating, stopped coming out of his cabin. I told myself that I'd make him better, and then I let him go. He could be in the underworld by now, or he could have died. No demigod has ever succeeded in bringing someone back from the dead. Not even Orpheus, and you know that."
Annabeth sighed, looking thoughtfully into the early morning sky. It was a bright blue color, and white, puffy clouds drifted aimlessly. The cheerful sun smiled down on us, lighting up the camp. On any other day I would have embraced the perfect weather, going for a swim in the lake or taking Annabeth down to the bottom of the ocean floor and show her everything that was down there. But today, it felt as though the weather was mocking me. Over the course of just over a week, I had lost two of my closest friends.
"If you keep thinking like this, you'll let the guilt get to you. Will did the same thing, and look where that got him."
"Maybe I deserve it. I basically condemned both of them." Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Perseus Jackson, you did nothing of the sort. Nico died in battle. He died a hero's death, which is the wish of any hero. And Will, if he is dead, he died a hero's death as well. Please don't blame yourself. There's already been enough sadness in our lives." She looked into my eyes, her stormy grey ones connecting with my sea green ones.
"Now, Jason and Piper are leaving in less than an hour, to try to save the person you were jsut crying about being dead. Now, do you want to sit here and do nothing?" I wiped away the stray tear that had settled itself in the middle of my cheek.
"I guess it's better than doing nothing," I sighed. I closed my eyes, summoning light waves that pushed Annabeth and I to the shore of the lake. We climbed out, and along with the rest of the camp, made our way to the edge of the camp to wish the two questers good luck.
Jason and Piper were deep in conversation when we arrived. Piper's brown hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail, and they both had backpacks slung over their shoulders.
"...and remember," Chiron was saying. "Look around the city, but do not go into the underworld. You ware not to put yourself in imminent danger. If you don't find him after two days, come back." Chiron paused for a second, a sorrowful look on his face. "We don't need to loose any more campers this week." Jason nodded, determined. "We'll find him, Chiron. Don't worry about that." Chiron clapped them both on the shoulders.
"Well, good luck, you two." The other campers murmured their agreement and slowly dispersed. Soon, it was only me, Annabeth, Jason and Piper.
"Thanks, you two," I said, looking both Piper and Jason in the eye. "I have to know that someone is out there looking for Will. I wanted to go myself, but-" Jason smirked, cutting me off.
"Yeah, something about your emotions getting in the way?" He stepped forward, opening his arms. "But don't worry. All three of us will be back here before you know it." I hugged Jason tightly. I could have sworn I heard jealous grunts from both Piper and Annabeth. I closed my eyes, pretending that everything was okay. When I opened them again, I saw two haggard figures limping up the hill.
"Wha?" I gasped. I broke free of Jason's grasp. I rubbed my eyes, making sure I wasn't imagining things, but the two figures still continued to stagger up the hill. "Nico?" I gasped. "Will?" I sprinted past the border and as I got closer to the two figures, Nico's flyaway black hair and Will's abundant freckles came into sharper focus. Without a warning to either of them, I flung my arms around their shoulders. Nico's leg buckled just a little bit, and I glanced down to see a hastily wrapped bandage with a small but growing circle of red blood in the middle.
"Where have you been?" I gasped.
"Underworld," Will responded at the same time Nico said "dead". A watery chuckle escaped my lips.
"Well, you can tell it to everyone else. I'm sure Chiron will be dying to hear what happened."
I sat, dumbfounded, as Will told his story of how he brought Nico back from the dead. it was a huge feat, one that had never been accomplished by anyone in the history of Ancient Greece. In the back of the crowd, I could see Annabeth furiously scribbling down everything that Will said into a piece of notebook paper with a number two pencil that always seemed to be hanging around the Athena cabin. I was sure that she, as the camp's resident historian, wanted to catch every word of Will's story.
Throughout the telling, I could see Nico's eyes light up with surprise. he obviously knew what happened from the time Will found Nico onward, but the rest of it had been a total surprise. At the end of the story, when Will was almost completely out of breath, I stood up from my spot and slowly walked over to Will.
"How on Earth could you be so, so, stupid?" I asked. I was resisting the urge not to slap the blonde. I was over the moon about Nico being back from the dead, but one wrong move and he would have been dead, his body probably somewhere in the underworld.
"Technically, I was in the underworld, not on Earth," Will smirked. At least he was back to his same, cocky self. "Besides, I got Nico back. Shouldn't you be thanking me for that?"
"Will, we thank you very much for returning to us a beloved camper," Chiron said, standing up to his full height. "But Percy is right; you could have died. Others would have gone on a quest to rescue Nico with you, but please, if there is a next time, do not be so reckless." Will nodded, and Chiron smiled down at him kindly.
"Well, then, now that that is out of the way, I think that both you boys could use some rest." he gestured to Nico's leg, which he was holding straight out in front of him. "And get that stitched up, Nico. We don't need you bleeding out and dying again now, do we?" Nico blushed.
"No, I guess not."
"Ah, come on," Will grinned, nudging Nico's shoulder. "If you did die again, I'd jsut go back and save you. Now come on, I'll stitch you up."
The reunited couple stood up and, leaning heavily on one another, made their way out in to the bright sunshine of the camp.
Will's POV
"Hold still, Death Boy. I've never made a mistake before, and I'm not about to do it now." Nico squirmed, his face scrunched up in pain.
"But it hurts!"
"I would think so," I sighed. "The infirmary chose this time to run out of pain meds. Why, I don't know. Just hold tight, okay?" Nico nodded, and laid still on the small white plastic surgical table I was giving him stitches on. I threaded the needle expertly through his skin one last time, and pulled the would closed, the black thread that Nico himself had chosen forming two lines down his pale skin.
"There you go," I sighed, putting the blood covered needle down on the table. Nico peered down at his leg and gave the stitches a nod of approval.
"Now, don't ever do that again,' I said.
"Do what?"
"Die on me like that! Rescuing you was hard work, I'm not sure I could do it again."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure there won't be a next time," Nico laughed.
"Good," I said. "How does your leg feel?" Nico wiggled it.
"Stiff but operational."
"Good," I said, putting the needle in the garbage can. "I want to do something with you. Your first date back from the dead should be something good." Nico slid off the table. Under any other doctor he would never have been able to stand, but I had used an enchanted needle from the Hecate cabin. A few hours and he would be back to normal.
"I seem to remember someone promising me mcdonalds when we were in the underworld," Nico grinned.
"Do you really think Chiron will let us leave camp this early back?" I asked. Nico shrugged.
"Let's find out." Together, we walked out of the infirmary.
So, there it is! I hope you guys enjoyed this!
Nina