Will's POV
Arriving back at camp, I immediately dropped Nico off at the infirmary, and restocked my med kit. I took a little nectar before heading off to find Chiron. Just before we had entered her Aunt's house, Annabeth had asked me to do her a favour. She asked me to find Chiron as soon as I got back to camp, to tell him all that we had learned prior to, and during that meeting, and to ask for his advice. I had a feeling that Chiron would contact Annabeth privately if not, and we weren't fully sure of the IM situation around the team. We might be able to convince some of them that it was some sort of holographic message, but considering that we had told them that technology attracts monsters to us, I wasn't too sure they'd fall for it.
Chiron was sitting by the Big House, playing what looked like Solitaire. As I walked up to him he lifted his gaze to meet me, probably surprised that I was back. After all Nico and I had planned to stay at Percy's apartment and travel back in the morning, in an attempt to stop Neeks from passing out. I let out a slight snigger at that - he'd ended up shadow travelling three times in the space of about three hours and passed out twice, which showed how well that plan had gone. I pulled myself out of my thoughts, and continued to walk up to Chiron, sitting in the seat that he gestured me towards.
"What can I do for you Will? I wasn't expecting to see you and Nico again until tomorrow - and speaking of Nico, he is alright I hope?" Chiron's face was full of worry, and I immediately started speaking, not wanting him to worry when everything was mostly alright. "He's in the infirmary, but he's fine; he just shadow travelled too much, and with too many people. He's had some Nectar and some Ambrosia, he should be pretty much back to normal by tomorrow morning."
I could see Chiron looking at my injuries, and that the worry remained clear on his face. "We all ran into some monsters after we met up, Nico accidentally left his phone on, and the signal was just too much. The others needed the ambrosia and Nectar more than I did, so I planned on having some when I got back. None of the injuries are too bad, but I knew I would be able to restock my supplies and medicine when I got back so I prioritised the others' needs."
"But you wouldn't come to talk to me with such a serious expression for a simple monster attack, especially one that you know the cause of. So why are you here?" Chiron knew me too well. I took a deep breath and began to relay today's events.
"Nico and I met Percy and Annabeth at a McDonald's once they finished school. Minutes after they came in they told us about these people that had been tailing them, for the last two days or so. We then realised that Nico's phone had been on by accident for at least twenty minutes, and knew that there might be a monster attack. So we hightailed it out of there, followed by the two people who had tailed Percy and Annabeth to McDonald's." Pausing I took a deep breath, already exhausted from recounting the tale of this afternoon. Chiron gestured for me to continue, only his eyes betraying his curiosity."
"We made it to an alley a few blocks away when we were attacked by several empousai. We were able to defeat them, with limited injuries, but the two people following Percy and Annabeth caught up, and saw the majority of the battle."
Chiron interjected. "But surely they did not see Will?" The emphasis on the word see was intentional, referencing the role of the mist on mortal sight. If only it was that simple.
"I'm afraid that Percy had to remove the mist from both of them temporarily, because one of the empousa was heading straight for them, and seemed to have the man under her powers. The Mist will return to them soon, if it hasn't already, because it is not one of Percy's strengths, nor part of his domain - but I'll come back to that part later." At that Chiron briefly raised his eyebrows, but stayed quiet waiting for me to continue. "The four of us were forced to make our way to Annabeth's Aunt's house, because it was the nearest place with wards up that we could make our way to, because all of us had minor injuries we needed to treat, and we needed to explain to some extent to the two mortals. We decided to split up, and have Nico shadow travel Percy and the two mortals to the house, whilst Annabeth and I took a longer route in order to lose any other monsters. Annabeth and I encounter a few more empousai about ten minutes from her Aunt's house and were able to kill them but were injured to a greater extent. I'm certain that Annabeth's knee was dislocated during the fight, but we were able to put it back into place once the monsters were defeated, and I got a few gashes. That's why I prioritised Nico and Annabeth with Nectar and Ambrosia, because their injuries were the worst. Percy said he had a little Ambrosia left at his apartment, but if I sent Blackjack early in the morning with some supplies that would be best."
I could sense that I had gotten a little off track, focusing on the medical aspect of the events. Mentally I shook myself, and told myself to stick to the story, and cover what Chiron would want - and need - to know. " Once Annabeth and I got to her Aunt's house, and the four of us had bandaged and treated what we could, we had to explain a little of what the mortals had seen. As far as we could tell a team of professionals have found a way to track the signal that monsters give off - and through that found Percy and Annabeth. The two we met were called Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers, but we also spoke to people called Tony and Clint. Those names mean nothing to me but maybe mean something to you?"
Chiron said nothing but I could see a glint of recognition in his eyes. "I've heard of a few of them before. I'll make some calls and see what else I can find out about them. Anyway, is their anything else you want to tell me?"
"Uh- actually there is. We had to tell the people something to explain what they had just seen, but we were suitably vague. I would like to know what we can tell them that's more specific - who our parents are, why we have our powers, why the monsters target us etcetera. They were slightly suspicious, and we said that we'd let them know what else we could tell them. Oh, and Percy and Annabeth asked me to pass on a request that if you wish to contact them that you either text them, or IM them at night. We don't know how easy it would be to pass off an IM as a holographic message of some kind, especially as we told them that we can't really use technology."
Chiron nodded absentmindedly, twirling a card in his right hand. "I'll make an announcement in the morning to all the campers, and I'll be sure to let the Gods know when I ask them what information can be shared with mortals. Thank you Will. Now please go treat your own injuries before you do anything else tonight." Standing I nodded, having understood Chiron's clear cue for me to leave. "I'm going to be in the infirmary for the rest of the day, if those mortals contact camp, or if theirs a problem could you let me know please? Thank you."
I began the short walk back to the infirmary. Hoping that Nico hadn't woken up whilst I was talking to Chiron I upped my pace. Nico was not the easiest of patients, and if awake would be badgering everyone around him to let him go.
Thankfully as I walked back into the infirmary I was greeted by a peaceful silence. Poking my head into Nico's room I saw him still lying unconscious, but his skin a far more healthy colour. I probably had a maximum of half an hour before he would wake, so now was the perfect opportunity to restock my medical bag, and check on any other patients. Stopping off at the medicine cabinet I pulled out two ziplock bags of Ambrosia - one to send to Percy, and one for my personal med kit. I also grabbed two canteens of Nectar, sipping a little from one of them. My injuries were not too severe so after a few mouthfuls of Nectar I screwed the lid back on, stuffing the canteen and one of the bags of ambrosia into my rucksack. The warmth spreading through my veins assured me that my wounds would be healed soon, and a quick glance in the nearest window confirmed that. I could see that my reflection was sporting a slight cut on its cheek, but even as I watched, it began to close up.
I would really like a shower at this moment, but I had a limited time before Nico would be awakening, and a few patients to check on. Before we had left this morning a daughter of Hectate had been burnt quite badly whilst climbing the lava wall. With the Ambrosia we'd given her I doubted that she would need much more medical care, but as head of the infirmary no one could be released without my approval, or Chiron's. Other than Louisa I also had a son of Athena who had accidentally been hit by an arrow during a training session, and a daughter of Hecate who had broken their arm during a particularly difficult sparring session.
I looked in on Louisa first. As expected she was sitting cross legged on the bed reading, with the only sign of the burns being the slight shine of her newly grown skin across her face and arms. "Louisa, how are you feeling now?" At my voice she looked up, confusion displayed clearly across her face. "I'm feeling fine Will, thanks, but I thought I wasn't going to be seeing you till tomorrow. Everything okay?" I nodded, not entirely sure what to say to explain my early return. "Chiron will be explaining why Nico and I are back so soon tonight at the campfire, as well as a few other things. And speaking of the campfire you are cleared to go, though I'd like you to get some Nectar before you go. Come find me in about an hour, I have a few other patients to tend to before Nico wakes up and wants to leave."
Louisa smirked at me, knowing full well that Nico was not going to like waking up here. It was the main thing that we argued about; him getting some much needed medical care , and rest, every now and then. "Good luck with that Will."
Looking in on both Marcus, the son of Athena, and Holly, the daughter of Hecate was remarkably uneventful. Both were sleeping, and after checking and re-bandaging their wounds, I left their rooms. Neither were fully healed yet, and neither could risk taking much more godly medicine today. Having not expected to return till late tomorrow I had given them their daily limit before I had left, meaning that I was limited to mortal medicine. Contrary to most campers beliefs we did not rely wholly on godly medicines and healing. All campers were made to learn basic mortal first aid, and campers who served as doctors studied mortal medicine extensively. Short of casting Holly's arm there was little I could do but check the splint was still functional and leave some ibuprofen on her nightstand. However with Marcus I was able to do slightly more - namely apply an antiseptic paste around the wound, and leave some more painkillers on his nightstand.
Returning to Nico's room I felt the exhaustion of today's events catch up to me, and I barely made it to the chair by Nico's bed before my legs gave out. Stifling a yawn I swung my legs up on to the side of Nico's bed. Nico was no stranger to the infirmary, and I was no stranger to sleeping by his bedside - to the point that I had strategically left some blankets in this room from the last time we'd been here. Reaching down I pulled a blanket over me, letting myself slump down in my chair, my head lolling onto my chest. Mere minuted later I too drifted into sleep, exhausted from the unexpected events of today.
Bit of a shorter chapter - I did initially plan to continue this further, but felt like this was a good point to leave it. I hope you enjoyed a rare Will POV as much as I enjoyed challenging myself to write it. Next chapter will probably be a solo Avengers chapter, but how do you feel about a joint avengers and demigod chapter after that?
(Edit: this was my last finished pre-written chapter, so this is where uploads may get a bit sporadic. I'll post a message every time I publish a chapter/know of a set time I'll be publishing one so you can check my profile for updates! I have a week without any work shifts so hopefully I'll be able to bang out a good few chapters and stock up. Anyway hope you enjoy this I'll be online for a little bit if you want to leave comments and I'll reply!)
Finished (21/07/2018)