||Nico di Angelo||
"I hope you know how stupid I think you are," Will mumbled as his hands spun expertly around my knee. I hadn't even noticed the large gash spreading across until he demanded where I got it. He had immediately led me to a bed next to Grover and gone to fetch a bandage.
I hissed sharply at the slight pressure he was applying. His eyes immediately shot to me, worry blossoming in his eyes and staying there even when I waved for him to continue. He reluctantly resumed, though I noticed he was being much more gentle this time. "Believe me, I do, from the ten times you've told me in the last five minutes."
"Nonsense," Will scoffed. "It was at least fifteen."
I rolled my eyes, smiling softly at the ceiling. I couldn't see him, but I knew Will was smiling, too. His gaze would travel over my face, just as it always did when I let him see how happy he made me, pause on my lips for a split second, and then he would dutifully go back to his tasks as if nothing had happened.
"You said Percy wasn't the target."
Sighing, I nodded, the grin falling off my lips in a heartbeat as I remembered the ambush earlier in the day. They had been skilled, more so than what I was used to, but nothing I couldn't handle with a little focus. It wasn't them that disturbed me, as I had told Will before this, but their relentlessness in getting to me.
Percy had been occupied with his own batch of the warriors, Hazel had been holding her ground but just barely, both of them unable to notice how much danger I had been in. Tartarus had, much to my annoyance, and had done his best to keep them off of me, but even that hadn't been enough. I had barely knocked them all down.
They should have been after Percy. That's what I didn't understand. He would never call himself one but he was basically a god now. He was invaluable and dangerous with his own power and the power he had stolen from his father during the last battle we had fought together in. So why had the attackers come after me?
There was nothing special about me.
"You're just as valuable as he is," Will said quietly.
I quirked my lips. He knew me too well. Sometimes I hated how easily he could read me, the way no one had been able to since my sister, Bianca, died on her quest to find Artemis. Other times, like this one, I was deeply grateful. I never had to explain myself or how I felt when I was with him because he understood it all, understood me. I had been searching for someone like that for far too long.
It still amazed me when I took a step back from everything and realized I had found what I had been looking for. I had found Will.
"I love you, you know that?" I murmured.
Usually, me saying those words would ease a chuckle from Will's lips. This time, however, his eyes flicked to mine and stared at me, reading everything I was thinking with ease. "I know," he said. "But I'll never get tired of hearing it."
I blushed and Will finally laughed. It was a tender, melodic sound that was worth all the sun rays his father-
"Sorry, am I interrupting?"
Yes, I wanted to retort back, but stopped when I saw Malcolm walking toward us. He glanced around, probably looking for Annabeth, but she, Percy, Jason, and Chiron had all gone outside to discuss some further issues. Normally I would be with them, but Will had insisted to Chiron that my injuries at least get looked at first.
"No," I lied. Will was still staring at me and he hurriedly ducked his head, his own blush creeping up to his sun-kissed cheeks. I wished Malcolm could have waited a few more minutes before approaching us. I considered politely asking him for a minute or two of privacy, but the grave look on his face warned me off. "You alright?"
Malcolm hesitated, his eyes downcast as he fumbled to speak his mind. I raised my eyebrows slightly. It was unlike him to have so much trouble forming the right words. "I found something," he started off slowly. Will paused, his hands hovering over my nearly-bandaged knee as he shifted his posture to give Malcolm his full attention. "I don't know who else to tell."
"Found something?" Will echoed.
"About Void."
Will and I exchanged glances. "That's great news," I said quickly, my heart beginning to pound with anticipation. "What did you find?"
"Grover and Frank mentioned something about the word Void being engraved to the wall they were chained to during their captivity. It seemed odd to me that someone would engrave another's name onto a wall, so I did some research."
"And?" Will prompted.
"It's an organization," Malcolm said. "There are bases all over the world, the closest one to us is in London. It can't be a coincidence, whatever it is has to be connected to the entity itself." I frowned. The entity? was already on the tip of my tongue, but Malcolm was already rushing to explain before I got it out. "Annabeth didn't know about him and I wouldn't expect her to. While she was gone, a lot of the Athena kids threw themselves into research on the entities of the Ancient World. Not gods or Titans but beings much more ancient than them."
"Like Chaos," I said.
Malcolm nodded.
I saw his reasoning. One of a warrior's greatest strengths on the battlefield and off was understanding their enemy. Chaos had dealt quite a lot of damage to us a couple years ago. Malcolm and the others would have done whatever was in their power to make sure that should Chaos ever strike again, we would be ready for it.
"Believe it or not," Malcolm swallowed, "Chaos was meant to create. He was the first being to exist before the formation of Earth, but he was never meant to remain that way. Other beings came into existence - I'm sure you know the story. But the universe demands balance, right? Just like all things do; everything is attracted towards a state of equilibrium. Chaos is like that, too. Where he is meant to create, Void is meant to destroy."
I felt my heart sinking lower and lower into the pit of my stomach with every word he said. He was now explaining how dangerous the situation we were in now, Will nodding along attentively, but I was barely listening. All of us had thought that Chaos was the worst it could get. We hadn't stood a chance against him, even with the Olympians. And now there was someone out there who was worse?
If what Malcolm speculated was true and that the organization named after Void was working alongside him... that meant that Void himself could be after me. As much as I wanted to believe the contrary, I had to look at the facts from a calm and clear-headed perspective. The people who ambushed us earlier were after me, there was no questioning that.
Void wanted me.
But he also wanted Percy, or he wouldn't have gone to great lengths to bring him back to Earth. He wanted me and Percy.
That didn't make any sense, though. There was nothing connecting Percy and me other than the fact that we were very close. Did he want to use me as leverage to get to Percy? Or the other way around? No, there were so many easier options, like Will or Jason or Annabeth - the list went on and on and on.
Belatedly, I realized Malcolm had stopped talking and was looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to say something.
"Are you sure that Void and this organization are related?" I asked.
Malcolm nodded before I had even finished the question. "Positive," he said firmly. "There aren't any coincidences, not in the world people like us live in."
"True that," Will muttered.
"Then if we can figure out the organization's goals, we can get a clue on Void's intentions," I said thoughtfully, an idea forming in my head. "Does that sound right to you?"
Malcolm was narrowing his eyes now, suspicion glinting in his gray eyes. "I would assume so, yes."
"Good."
Will caught on to the plan I was formulating. "You want to infiltrate one of their bases."
"I do."
"Nico, that's too dangerous, not to mention risky. We know they're after you, you're practically placing yourself in their hands. What if they realize who you are?"
"Then I figure out what they want with me. They won't kill me, if they wanted to they would have done so already and they haven't yet. It's the safest option for everyone."
"Oh, so you're thinking of going alone now? This gets worse by the minute. You're not. I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
"No-"
"I should go," Malcolm said sheepishly, his eyes darting between Will and me. Will was now on his feet, his height towering over my sitting form. Of course, it would still be that way if I was standing up as well. "Chiron will probably want to hear this. Do you want me to tell him about your..." Will shot him a scalding look. "... you guys' plan?"
"Sure, Malcolm," Will said pleasantly, forcing a smile. "That would be great. But tell him nothing's decided yet. We still have to work out the details. Particularly the ones regarding who's going to go on this dangerous mission."
I didn't fail to notice that the last two words were directed towards me. I bristled but waited for Malcolm to reach the doors to the infirmary before I opened my mouth.
Will was faster. "Look, I know that you can take care of yourself, Nico. I've told you before and I'll say it again, as many times as it takes to sink in - you are the strongest person I have ever met." I blinked, the rising frustration inside me faltering and the anger directed towards Will vanishing as if it was never there, leaving a deep chasm of emotion, the most prominent of them being confusion. That wasn't what I had expected him to open with. I would have expected him to yell at me, emphasize how stupid I was being, and then make a decision. "But even you have your limits, just like everybody else." Ah, there it was. "If Void catches you, you're done for. You'll die."
A few years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to claim that I didn't care if I lived or died. Not that long ago I had felt that I had nothing to live for. Sure, I cared about demigod lives, I cared about stopping Kronos, but I had convinced myself that no one would miss me if I died, even if I fought alongside them. But Will would. Will would be devastated if I died. For the first time since my sister, I considered what it would be like to lose someone and for someone else to lose me.
"I also know you're the most capable of doing this," Will forced out, the words sharp with bitterness. His internal struggle between what he wanted and what was right was written all over his face. If you get caught, you have the highest chance out of all of us to get out. You're the only one who could possibly do this, I know that. And - gods, I don't want to lose you, ever - but... You won't be able to live with yourself if you do nothing, will you...?"
I didn't have to shake my head in response. Will knew me. All I had to do was look at him to tell him what I thought. He visibly deflated, his teeth biting his bottom lip as he looked to the ceiling, mouthing something in Ancient Greek. I couldn't catch what it was, but I wondered if it was a prayer to his father.
"Then at least let me come with you," Will said at last. "I know, I'm a useless fighter, but I won't be able to live with myself if I did nothing to stop you from leaving."
Tears pricked at my eyes at the heartfelt tone of his voice. I blinked them back angrily, dipping my head so that Will couldn't see my face. My shoes blurred on the ground, their laces crisscrossing more and more with the gathering water that I refused to let go. "We might not make it back," I said softly, struggling with myself to keep my voice steady. I knew how dangerous this was.
But it was either this, or letting Void destroy Earth. Destroy billions of lives, the gods, the very fabric of civilization-
"I'd rather die beside you than live at all."
My head jerked up, my lips parting, tears spilling down my cheeks as I abandoned the effort to keep them in. Will's brow creased at the sight. His gentle, ever steady hand reached up and cupped my cheek, impossibly soft fingertips wiping them away like he had done this a million times before.
The casualty with which he said the words tugged at my chest, trapping all the words I couldn't say within. Will understood regardless, just like he always did, and smiled a little. That I wouldn't want to live in a world without him either.
We kept that in mind as we hurried outside to tell Chiron, who had just finished talking with the others, of our plan. There were no hard feelings between the two of us as we told him that we both had to go - it had to be that way. Chiron was predictably reluctant, but he understood how we felt it was our duty to carry out this task and gave us his blessings.
Tomorrow morning we would leave.
And neither of us knew if we would ever make it back.