A/N: Okay so technically this chapter could have spoilers if you haven't read the first Trials of Apollo book so please proceed with caution. Also, this is a really long chapter. That's all!
Will POV
"He's missing?" I ask in disbelief. Nico nods his head slowly and I feel my stomach drop into my sneakers. "How?"
"We're not too sure." Nico admits. "His bunk was just found empty and no one has seen or heard from him since."
I shake my head in disbelief. "No." I mutter under my breath, feeling panicked. "No, this is Cecil we're talking about. He's the king of messing things up, but he makes up for it by not being stupid. He wouldn't just disappear without a word."
"Will, I'm sorry."
"I just can't catch a break, can I?" I chuckle bitterly. "Are there any search parties looking for him?"
Nico bites his lip softly and shakes him head, almost in embarrassment. "Chiron doesn't think it's a good idea."
"So, we're just supposed to leave him?"
"It's like you said. Cecil is smart, so he wouldn't just up and leave without at least a note or something. We're already short on campers," Nico gestures toward the very empty pavilion. "so if this is something bigger, there's no use in loosing anymore."
"What do you mean by 'something bigger'?"
"Something prophecy related perhaps."
"But my dad-"
"That's exactly the issue." Nico cuts me off. "I thought we might have time before we needed to figure out the whole prophecy thing, but it's obvious none of us can catch a break around here."
"Okay." I say calmly, trying to assess the situation. "Okay, we may be short on campers, but maybe we can find a way to organize some sort of search. One camper can't be that hard to find, right?"
"Actually..." Nico trails off, gaging my attention once more. "It's not just Cecil. Ellis Wakefield went missing this morning as well."
"Are you sure he didn't just wonder off on some sort of solo mission?" I suggest. It's no secret that Ellis looks up to Sherman Yang like he's the best thing since sliced bread. He could've gone out to prove his worth in a 'manly way'.
Nico shrugs his shoulders. "It's possible, but it's sort of strange, isn't it? Cecil goes missing without any goodbye and then a week later Ellis Wakefield is gone?"
"I know what you mean." I nod. "Has Ellis's parent been called?"
"That's the other thing too. Communication isn't working."
I sit up a bit straighter in my seat. "Okay, what about Iris messaging?"
"Phones, computers, Iris messaging, basically any means of communication we had before are gone now."
"Okay, that's really bad." I agree.
"Even Clovis's dreams are being intercepted. Dreams in general have been more or less like normal dreams without any messages or anything demigod-esque about them. Just static a lot of the time."
"We're completely cut off from the rest of the world." I realize out loud.
"The only contact we have with the gods is Monique and who knows how much longer that's going to last." Nico sighs somewhat miserably.
"Has word gotten to the Romans?"
"Not yet." He shakes his head. "I mean, we sent a letter last week but we haven't gotten anything back so it's assumed that it was intercepted somehow. We'd need to send someone over there and Chiron doesn't think that's a good idea."
"'Cause we're low on campers?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
"'Cause we're low on campers." Nico confirms with a nod.
"How about luck regarding Leo?"
"Nothing. No more scroll videos, no word from the Romans, nothing."
"So we're just in the dark until we can figure something out?"
"It appears that way."
"We can't just do nothing." I say seriously. "We can't just wait around for more campers to go missing and consider that another clue."
"Will, there's nothing we can do." Nico shuts me down. "Even so - and I don't mean this in an offensive way - what could you do?"
I feel my posture stiffen and I narrow my eyes a little. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Will, you're a healer." Nico deadpans.
"So?" I respond stubbornly.
"Will, you can't just go marching off in search of campers with no plan and very limited information. It's not going to solve anything."
"So I'll make a plan." I argue. "Plus, I know how to do archery, I can defend myself."
"I know you can," Nico says softly. "but it's still not safe. For you or anyone."
I scoff lightly. "So when the next camper goes missing-"
"This isn't your fight, Solace." Nico says harshly.
"Well, I'm making it my fight." I say confidently.
"I really don't think you're in the right headspace right no-"
"I'm in the perfect headspace." I hiss, feeling anger bubble up within me.
Nico closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. His jaw ticks once before his eyes flutter back open and he leans forward, placing his forearms on the table and intertwining his fingers together. "Will, I am not going to let you run off to kill yourself because you're not feeling your best right now. "
I open my mouth to respond but close it again, not really sure what to say. I know I'm- I was upset. I had every right to be. My mom treated me like I was nothing and pretty much erased my name off the family tree because of who I am, something I can't control. I got my time to process my feelings and be sad, but it doesn't stretch much farther than that.
It shouldn't, it doesn't, and it won't.
So for Nico to think it does and that I would do something as drastic as to... I don't even want to think about. It's not something I would do and it's something I've never really given much thought to in the past, so it shouldn't be an option to Nico or anyone else. I know who I am and what I can handle.
"While that may not be your primary agenda," Nico continues. "it could be somewhere in your subconscious. I think you should maybe take some more days off from the infirmary, Will."
"But- but I'm better." I insist.
"No, Will. Weather you're aware of it or not, you're far from okay right now."
"Nico-"
"You promised me you would let me know if something was bothering you." Nico reminds me.
"I know, and I'm staying true to that promise. I genuinely think I'm better!" I exclaim. Nico bites his lip a little and shakes his head.
"I don't want to argue with you."
"This isn't an argument."
"Okay." Nico puts his hands up in surrender and leans back. "Okay. Let's say hypothetically you weren't okay. What would you do?"
I stay silent for a few moments and think over my past experiences. Most times when I've been upset, I just power through it, assuming there's not really anyone there to help me and if there is, who's to say they actually can?
When my older brother Lee died during the battle of the Labyrinth, I was thirteen and that was the first death I'd ever experienced at camp. It was sort of my reminder that we were half-bloods and very little things are just happy-go-lucky. He was the cabin leader and for good reason. Lee was equally good at shooting arrows, singing, and working in the infirmary. If Apollo were to have one perfect child, it was Lee.
When that giant smashed him on the head during the battle, I watched from afar, just clutching the first aid kit to my chest. Lee's body had crumpled to the ground and I felt my heart stop but I told myself not to worry, that Lee was going to get right back up and shoot the giant in the eye for revenge or something cool like that.
But Lee never got up.
I rushed over to his body and tried to help him, to use the tricks that he'd taught me, but nothing worked. He was probably gone by the time I'd gotten to him.
I spent the next few days crying my eyes out and no one in the cabin knew what to do. Lee had been our backbone and now that was gone. We all knew Michael would be the new counselor, but we could all tell he didn't want to be. Nevertheless, he found his courage and became our new leader.
After the burials, I told myself to stop being sad, to pick myself up and find my courage like Michael had done. I had to be strong in case something like this happened again considering I would be the next counselor and that was a scary thought. So I picked myself up and moved on, muscling through the pain.
I went through the same process when Michael died during the Second Olympian War. Except that time, I had to pick myself up quicker, to be okay immediately because all of the sudden, I was the backbone to everyone else and gods, I didn't want to be. It meant I'd have to erase the grief process entirely and be there for everyone else. I had to abandon myself and help others to not do the same. I had to take initiative and be responsible and I was only fourteen.
But I've gotten used to it by now and it's a process that I'm willing to keep, so long as I can keep everyone else safe. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made and if I have to be that sacrifice, then so be it.
"I would get over myself." I say to Nico after a long time, but I hadn't meant for it to come out so harshly. Nico nods his head thoughtfully.
"You're setting up double standards in your head."
"What?"
"When other people grieve, you probably think that's okay. They should be allowed to express their feelings."
"Right." I say skeptically.
"But when it comes to yourself, it's different."
"I don't mean to."
"It doesn't matter." Nico shakes his head a little. "You have to stop."
"Nico-"
"Will." Nico gives me a pointed look and I sigh.
"You want to help me, don't you." I say but it's less of a question and more of a statement.
"I will." Nico says simply. "I love you and I'm going to help you."
"Oh." I say softly, feeling my face heat up.
"Oh?"
"Oh." I confirm.
"What does 'oh' mean?"
"It's stupid." I shrug and drop my gaze to the table. "Forget it."
"No." Nico says, furrowing his eyebrows. "It's not stupid. Tell me." I look up at Nico and try to plead him with my eyes to drop the subject but he seems adamant on making me say it. "Please?"
I sigh and finally give. "I don't know, I guess I just sort of... I had this idea that I... I loved you more than you loved me. See? It's stupid."
Nico quiets at my words and leans back a bit on the bench. "Oh."
"Oh?"
"Oh." Nico confirms quietly.
"What does your 'oh' mean?"
Nico shrugs his shoulders and seems to think on weather or not he wants to share his thoughts. "I just didn't know you felt that way."
"It was stupid." I repeat, trying to reassure him. "I know it's not true, I was just being insecure." Nico stays quiet a little longer, not looking me in the eye but rather paying close attention to the table. "It's not true, right?" I ask hesitantly, feelings fear begin to creep around in the bottom of my stomach. Nico looks up at that, his eyes a little wide, and he shakes his head quickly.
"Of course not." He says, blushing a little.
"Okay." I say.
"Okay." I reach down to have another bite of my PB&J. "So you... You really believe that you're okay?"
I try not to get upset at the way Nico asks the question, as if I'm some deranged adult that still thinks Santa exists. "I want to." I say simply after swallowing the bite of my sandwich. "So I do."
"Okay." Nico sighs. "I think you might need some normalcy, so going back to the infirmary for a while could actually do you some good."
I feel a smile tug at the corner of my lips. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me." Nico shakes his head. "Not yet at least. I could be wrong."
"I find that to be unlikely. Angels are rarely wrong."
Nico scoffs and rolls his eyes. "You think I'm an angel?"
"Angels are beautiful people, so yes, Nico, I believe you're an angel." Nico smiles up at me and suddenly the thick tension has dissipated and everything feels somewhat normal despite the dire circumstances. "Now please, eat your pizza."
"You're not back in the infirmary yet." Nico mutters quietly.
"Ah, but I still care about you. Oh!" I bring my hand up to my cheek and feel myself grin a little at my own thoughts. "Have you ever seen a movie?"
Nico raises an eyebrow. "I was born in the early 1900s, not 1600s. Of course I've seen a movie, Solace."
"Okay Mr. Sarcasm, what's the first movie you ever saw?"
He takes a moment to think. "It was either Wabbit Twouble or Fantasia." He concludes.
I snort a little. "You saw a movie called Wabbit Twouble?"
"Solace, get to the point."
"Right, sorry." I try to refocus myself and smile once again. "So you've never seen the Star Wars movies, right?"
Nico furrows his eyebrows in suspicion before slowly answering, "Yes, I thought we went over that."
"Okay, here's an idea. How about the two of us watch all of the Star Wars movies together?"
Nico blinks a couple of times. "Why?"
"Because your very sad boyfriend is having trouble mentally and emotionally and could use some comfort movie time with his significant other."
"So you admit you're not feeling okay."
"Not the point." I shake my head, waving off his observation. "Can we please?"
"Electronics and demigods don't mix." Nico points out.
I think for a second, trying to come up with a solution. "Okay, but... Well, alright that's a pretty big boulder."
"Sorry, what?" Nico asks incredulously.
I look up at him in confusion. "What?"
"'A pretty big boulder'?"
"Oh! Yeah, it's like an expression. Like, a boulder in the path?"
"I've literally never heard that expression in my entire life."
"Maybe it's a southern thing." I offer.
"Maybe it's a you thing."
"It doesn't matter," I brush off, trying to get back on track. "The point is, we can figure something out."
"I suppose."
"I just want to share my favorite film series with my favorite person."
"Whatever you want, Will." Nico sighs with a smile and I return it, feeling more confident than I have in a few weeks.
"Okay but seriously, eat your pizza."
Nico rolls his eyes playfully. "Whatever you say, Solace."
***
I spend the next few weeks trying not to worry too much about Cecil and Ellis and their predicament. Instead, I let my mind be consumed by the responsibilities of the infirmary and its low number of patients.
In all the years I've spent at Camp Half-Blood, the number of year rounders has always been high, at least in the twenties or thirties. The high numbers made it so that the rest of the year wasn't as lonely and the amphitheater would still have a good amount of kids for the sing-along.
I thought maybe this year was some kind of exception based on the war and everything, but even though we lost a lot of campers, it just feels extra barren around here.
Kayla, Austin, and I have come up with this system for the infirmary so when I'm not on duty, I have to be practicing archery. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I'd honestly take more hours in the infirmary rather than embarrass myself trying to shoot arrows into a stupid far away target.
"You look miserable." The voice coming from behind startles me, causing me to miss my shot entirely. The arrow veers off to the left and into the woods, causing me to groan in annoyance. "Sorry." I turn to see Nico standing with his hands shoved into the pockets of his skinny jeans. He's wearing this aviator jacket, a lot like his old one, given to him by Monique as an early birthday present.
His reaction was the cutest thing. He carefully peeled back the wrapping paper to reveal this flimsy white box. He glared at Monique suspiciously before taking off the top and audibly gasping at what was inside. Without a second thought, he took the jacket out and slid his arms into the sleeves that were a little to big so they hung just below his fingertips, but he grinned nonetheless.
He actually hugged Monique.
And I don't mean a tiny little hug that lasts two seconds. No, Nico jumped up from the floor of his cabin and threw his arms around Monique's inch shorter figure, almost making her topple over. He thanked her about a million times and she just giggled hysterically, happy that she'd made Nico happy. The moment was so pure and wholesome, I wish I'd taken a picture of it.
"I really dislike archery." I state simply to Nico, dropping my quiver to the ground.
He nods his head with a small smile. "I can tell."
"I was supposed to take the night shift, but Austin just said no and pushed me away." I whine.
Nico rolls his eyes. "Come on." He juts his head vaguely behind him. "Dinner's almost over so let's get what we can, do the campfire, and then 'watch' Star Wars."
I smirk at the air quotes he puts around the word 'watch'. We decided that instead of me stressing over a way to find out how to watch the films, I should just tell him about them line by line. Nico at first thought the idea was ridiculous but immediately shut his mouth as I began to explain in detail the events of the first film with line-by-line dialogue. "Where did we leave off?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
Nico looks up thoughtfully as if trying to remember. "Well, the girl kissed her twin brother-"
I groan and bury my face in my hands. "Must that be the only detail you remember?"
"I remember other details." Nico assures. "I just don't get why we're glossing over the kissing of her brother."
"She didn't know!" I exclaim desperately.
"It's still weird. When they found out, no one said anything about it being gross. It was."
"Maybe they'd prefer to forget about it." I offer.
Nico shakes his head in disagreement. "It would've probably added a bit of comedy if they pointed it out. The whole point of movies is to target and entertain the audience. Why just let go of that opportunity?"
"Nico, it was the 80s." I deadpan tiredly.
"No excuse."
Suddenly, the conch horn rings out across the fields of camp and I smile and walk closer to Nico, putting my arm over his shoulders. "Guess we missed dinner." I point out.
Nico shrugs indifferently. "I had lunch. Campfire?"
I nod my head and Nico begins walking away without me. "I have to put the quiver away!" I call after him.
"Okay!" He yells back.
I roll my eyes and go back to pick up my quiver before running over to put it away in my cabin. Neither Kayla nor Austin are in the cabin when I get there and hang it up on the wall. I assume they're already at the campfire so I begin to head over.
***
The low singing of the campers sounds like a sad murmur that Nico says reminds him of the dead in the Fields of Asphodel. "Depressing." He mutters with a shake of his head.
"Cut them some slack." I nudge his shoulder with mine. "We're missing campers and there weren't that many to begin with." Nico shrugs his shoulders and continues to watch the fire. It's looking a lot better than it had a couple weeks ago when it had been nearly black. Now, it's just a light purple and the fire is about two feet high. "Didn't you tell Jason you would sing at the sing-alongs?"
Nico smiles a little. "I don't think I ever agreed to his propositions. Either way, he's not here to police me about it."
"Well, you could always sing for me." I suggest lightly.
Nico scoffs. "Yeah, right. I already listen to your Star Wars stories about incest."
"Oh my gods." I groan, which causes Kayla to bump my side and send me a little glare. I smile a little sheepishly before turning my attention back to Nico, trying to keep my voice lower so as not to disturb the others. "It's literally not about incest."
"Sure, Solace."
"What if not mentioning it was to leave room for interpretation from the audience?"
"Okay, then that's just ridiculous because then it stirs up conversations like this."
"Nico-"
"No, seriously. They could've at least made it clear in some other setting not in the movie, like at a talkback, in the credits, whatever. The options are endless."
"Can't you just let the movie be a great movie without complaint?" I exclaim, causing a few side looks from the other campers around the fire.
Nico puts his hands up in surrender. "I'm just asking the questions that need to be asked, Will."
"I really don't think the answers to those questions are on a need to know basis."
"Let's agree to disagree."
"Fine." I give in with a sigh.
"You guys are annoyingly cute, you know that?" Kayla whispers beside me and I smile proudly at that.
"We try." I say, giving an over exaggerated bow.
"What was that?" Austin asks from beside Kayla.
"What was what?" Miranda Gardiner asks from across the amphitheater.
"Shh!" Austin hushes everyone down and suddenly Sherman Yang lets go of Miranda Gardiner's hand and stands up, giving a signal for everyone to be quiet.
Suddenly, I hear it.
It's faint, but there's a crunching of tree branches coming from the woods as if someone is stumbling around aimlessly. I turn to look at Nico who's gaze is turned off to the trees. "Cecil?" I whisper to Nico.
"Shh!" Sherman scolds me and I bite down on my tongue. Nico turns toward me and mouths the words, I don't know.
"It's getting closer." Miranda whispers and she takes a stand next to her boyfriend, accidentally dropping her marshmallow stick in the process. Sherman quietly pulls out a small knife that was resting dormant in the sheath on his hip. Kayla stands next to me with her bow and cocks it in the direction of the woods.
Just as Nico is about to get up, I put my hand on his arm to stop him. He turns to me with question in his eyes and I give him a pointed look. I mouth the words to him, No Underworld-y magic. He rolls his eyes and stands up anyway, inching a little closer to the woods. I sigh but follow suit, getting to my feet and wishing I'd just brought my quiver with me to the campfire.
It's too late now, I remind myself. Suddenly, a form is stumbling its way into view and everyone immediately holds their breaths.
A boy around sixteen trips his way out of the woods, almost falling on his face a couple of times. He has dark curly medium length hair and blue eyes. His nose is swollen purple so badly it makes me cringe to think how it could've happened. He's wearing a green polo shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of generic name-brand sneakers.
Even stranger, he's grinning.
A little girl of about twelve stumbles up behind him, trying to catch her breath. She's rather pudgy and has a dark glossy pageboy hairstyle and black cat-eye glasses with rhinestones in the corners. She's wearing a green knee length frock with black leggings and red sneakers.
The older boy suddenly giggles at us and says, "Oh, hi! I'm Apollo!" With that, his eyes roll back into his head and he collapses on the ground.
No one moves for a count of five before the young girl gets a look of anger in her eyes and stamps her foot. "Can someone help him?" She exclaims. I'm immediately brought back to my sense and I rush forward, Kayla following close behind. Kayla hoists the boy up and turns him so that he's on his back and she's cradling his head.
"What happened?" I hear Nico ask behind me.
"I don't know, he just started freaking out back there." The young girl says.
"Who are you?" Austin chimes in and suddenly I can feel everyone's eyes on the situation at hand I wish more than ever that I could be in the infirmary.
"Meg." The girl says simply.
"Is this kid like, your brother or something?" Austin questions.
I look up for long enough just to see the girl - Meg's - face twist into an expression of disgust at the suggestion. "God, no. I found him in an alley and he's sort of my servant now."
"How did you guys get here?" I ask, looking Meg in the eye briefly.
"This guy, Percy-"
"Percy Jackson lead you here?" Nico asks what everyone seems to be thinking as the air once again becomes tense. Meg notices this and seems to shrink away a little.
"Um, yeah." She points to the older boy's unconscious form. "He led us to Percy's apartment and said he'd be able to lead us to Camp Half-Blood. This is that place, right?"
"Yep, this is the place." Austin confirms, sending Meg a warm smile.
"Can someone get Chiron over here?" I call out, hoping for the others to get the message. Nico seems to receive it first and backs away, turning his attention to everyone else.
"Give the kid some room!" He exclaims. I hear shuffling which hopefully means everyone took a hint and backed off. "Sherman, can you get Chiron?"
"Be back in a sec." I hear him say behind me.
"What happened to his nose?" I ask in a disgusted tone. I look up when Meg doesn't answer right away and notice her biting nervously at her cuticles. It makes me sort of sad that we haven't yet shown the poor girl any hospitality. She could be traumatized and here we are throwing questions at her left and right. "Meg?" I ask gently. She brings her attention to me and I offer her a smile. "Do you know what happened to his nose?"
"Oh, yeah." She says in a sort of monotone voice. "He got stomped in an alley."
"Stomped?" I ask.
"Stomped." She confirms with a nod. "I saved him though."
I nod my head, not really understanding the story, but figuring I'll get the main details sooner or later.
"How old are you?" Austin asks from behind me.
"Austin!" I hiss at him. He puts his hands up in surrender and I roll my eyes.
"Twelve." Says Meg.
"What's his name?" Nico asks, suddenly right next to me. He gestures down to the boy before kneeling down beside me and resting a hand on my shoulder.
Meg scrunches her eyebrows for a second in slight confusion before answering,
"Didn't you hear? He said his name was Apollo."
********
And that is the end of this story!
It's insane to think I started writing this when I was in my first year of middle school so it almost feels fitting to finish it up in my first year of high school.
Coming back to revise these chapters was a roller coaster of emotion and probably destroyed me a little inside, but I'm happy with how most of these chapters came out and I hope you are too!
Also for future things involving this story, I'm contemplating making an epilogue but it wouldn't come out for a while. I've been putting it off because I'd been waiting for the last of the Trials of Apollo books to come out and now I'm just rereading from the beginning to get the full story. I just want to make sure neither Nico nor Will dies and if someone (other than you-know-who) does end up dying, I'm going to want to write that in there and 100% put a spoiler alert at the beginning of that.
Though, I do want to know if any of you are going to even want that. Like, I'm probably going to write it regardless but it'd be cool to know that people actually want that, you know?
So please comment if you would like something like that.
Once again, thank you so much for reading this!