AN: Hello, internet! I'm pretty new here, so please heap on as much constructive criticism as you can! (Note the constructive part.) If you enjoy Solangelo, nutty sort-of prophecies, and Apollo, keep reading!
Disclaimer: All characters, settings, and gods belong to Rick Riordan, except for any mentioned OCs. I am not Rick Riordan, and therefore do not own this story. I do, however, get the plot, as it is going to be exceptionally bad-ass.
Will Solace and the Oracle's Cry
Chapter 1
The Oracle Goes Nuts
Will felt useless. The only reason he was in this meeting was because he was the head counsellor of the Apollo cabin. He didn't have any prophetic powers, like the twelve-year-old auger Cathy Naples or his brother Jack Polunn, and he definitely wasn't like Rachel Dare or Ella. Even Tyson was more useful than he, and Tyson was only here was to keep Ella from flying away in fright of Lupa, who kept glaring at Ella.
The meeting Will was in was about trying to restore prophecy to the camps. Ever since the Giant War ended, two months ago, there hadn't been a single prophetic dream, a single vision, or even one of Rachel's special "I am omniscient" paintings that showed an event that really happened. Even Will could feel something missing, like a small piece of his soul ripped out and left to cave in on itself. They had tried praying to Apollo, but every offering turned to ash, without so much as a bread crumb making it to his godly nostrils.
Chiron paced at one end of the table. Since the Romans were too "civilized" to hold an official meeting around a ping-pong table, they held it at the dinner pavilion, where the cleaning harpies sent them dirty looks. At the other end, Lupa prowled, occasionally snapping at an unfortunate harpy that got too close. Clovis snored away at Chiron's end, muttering helpful things like, "the cheese was sour" and "I'm really starting to hate this song". Lou Ellen was holding a bowl of mysterious liquid, staring into it so intensely that she was going cross-eyed. Cathy Naples, a Roman granddaughter of Apollo, and Jack were in deep conversation with Rachel, and occasionally, Ella, about the deep workings of seeing the future. Will had trouble following it.
After almost half an hour of wasting time later, Will had had enough. "Why?" he blurted, cutting over Jack's comment about seeing huge snakes eating the sun.
Everyone stopped. Clovis fell off the table. Lou Ellen spilled some of her liquid, turning her hands sparkly pink and blue. Cathy cut her hand with the Imperial gold dagger she was holding.
"Why what?" Chiron asked. He stopped pacing.
"Why are we," Will glanced up at the sky nervously. He really didn't want to be turned into a tree, and his question might make some god angry. "Why are we even searching for Delphi, anyway? I mean, wouldn't it be better to not have prophecies at all? After all, if the First prophecy hadn't existed, the whole thing might not have even happened."
Cue thunder.
Everyone stared at him like he had lost his head, even Tyson. Of course they were. Saying the Oracle was unimportant, even going as far as blaming it for the Great Wars, was like saying "damn you!" to the gods. He had to ask, though. Because he had seen what the Oracle had done to Luke, and to Nico, and to Lee and Michael and everyone else who had died in the past six years. Will had watched Castor, son of Dionysus, die from poisoned bites, and he had watched a demigod fall 600 floors, from Mount Olympus itself. He had seen demigods he could have saved, if they hadn't been trampled into the forest ground by those wild horned centaurs. Knowing demigod luck, if they brought back the Oracle, they'd be hit with a third war.
Rachel leaned forward. "Will, you know the Oracle doesn't create Fate. The three Fates have a difficult and unpredictable job, and the Oracle simply gives warnings to make sure you are prepared."
Rachel probably would have said more, but at that moment, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head. Green smoke rolled out of her open mouth.
Everyone shouted, and instantly silenced themselves. Rachel plus smoke could only mean the oracle had returned, somehow. But Will could feel something just wrong about the smoke. He glanced at Jack. The fourteen year old boy obviously sensed something wrong, too. He was glaring at the smoke like it had personally offended him, and his mouth was clenched, a sign that he was trying to hide pain.
Then the red smoke showed. Ella whimpered, and only Tyson's big bear hug kept her from escaping. She had her head buried in his arms, though. Will instantly knew that the Oracle was somehow ill. It was unwell, probably from wherever it had been.
"The one you seek is taken!" Rachel shouted. The red smoke somehow obscured the words, and Rachel was clearly trying to shout loud enough to be heard. "...reawakened! Light and Shadow journey to set... The time of darkness nears! ...fate!" The smoke lessened, and the last two lines were heard loud and clear. "Beware Misery, the hero shall fear! The past come to haunt his soul!" Rachel finally collapsed, but instead of getting sucked back into her body like it usually did, the Oracle escaped through the columns of the pavilion. Will caught Rachel before she fell, but nearly froze up as she touched him. Her skin was so cold, almost icy. Her pulse was unnaturally faint and slow, and she didn't seem to be breathing. She was freezing.
"She's dying!" Will shouted. But nobody else seemed to be in any condition to help her. Cathy and Jack were bent double in pain, and Chiron and Lupa were helping them. Clovis, now very awake, was scribbling down the words, and Tyson was chasing after Ella, who was screeching, "Bad! Bad! Yellow fever, black plague, death!" Lou Ellen was pulling out packets of healing potions, ambrosia, and nectar, but those only worked on demigods. Rachel was mortal.
Will concentrated on singing the most powerful healing hymn he knew: The Song of Life. [Ο Λόρδος OH Απόλλωνα ευλογήσει αυτό το ακυβέρνητο ψυχής με τη δεύτερη ζωή. Ο Λόρδος OH Άδη απορρίπτουν αυτή την ψυχή μόνο μια φορά, γι 'αυτό ήρθε η ώρα δεν έχει έρθει ακόμα.] When that only sped her heart rate up a bit, he knew he had to try something he hadn't done since he had almost killed himself healing Percy Jackson when he was eleven. He exhaled and concentrated.
His hands glowed, softly at first, but stronger as he pushed it. He pushed them down on Rachel's chest, concentrating on healing her. He could feel every injury she had, even the blister on her foot. He pushed his life force into her, making her body heal at hyperspeed. After an intense minute, Rachel's vitals returned to normal. Her breathing stabilized, and she began to sleep.
Will sat back on his heels, sweaty and drained. Healing with his life force was dangerous work, especially with Rachel so close to her other demigods stared at Will, wide-eyed. As far as he knew, Will was the only demigod who could heal like that. He generally tried to keep his ability quiet, saving it as a last resort. But even Kayla, the oldest Apollo camper after him and the one with the most diverse list of talents, couldn't heal with her life force. "She's...fine," Will managed to say. "Can I have... some ambrosia?"
Lou Ellen jumped forward, eager to finally be able to help, and pushed an ambrosia cracker into his hand. Nico di Angelo burst in suddenly, sweaty and red in the face. Will found himself a little more breathless. "Who's dying?" he shouted. His eyes darted around, before landing on Will, Lou Ellen, and Rachel. "Will- Rachel! I thought I was too late!"
Lou Ellen looked at him. "Late for what?"
"I could feel someone's life force draining!" Nico said, rushing to Will's side. "What on Olympus happened?"
Will shoved the cracker in his mouth. "The Oracle," he said with his mouth full. He swallowed, savoring the taste of apple pie for a moment. "It somehow came back to Rachel, but it was like..." He trailed off, trying to find a proper description for the strange red mist.
"Like it was fighting itself," supplied Jack. Chiron supported him, so he could sit up.
Clovis nodded, looking like he was trying his hardest to not fall asleep. "I recorded the words," he said. "But I couldn't get them all. There was this red thing, and it was sort of obscured them, but I got this."
He held up the paper proudly.
Cathy didn't move to get up, but she said, "Did that prophecy seem, I don't know, odd to anyone? I mean, besides the obvious."
Will had no clue what she meant, but Lou Ellen nodded. "You're right," she said. "I'm no prophet or auger, but when a prophecy is spoken, I can usually scry it pretty well." She gestured to her bowl with one sparkly hand. "I'm getting nothing, though."
"I think it was some sort of emergency call," Jack said. "Kind of like when Hera possessed Rachel when she was trapped in the Wolf House."
Will stopped following the conversation there. Nico sat down next to Will. "Hey," he greeted.
"Hey." Will relaxed instantly. In the two months since the Giant War ended, he and Nico had become good friends, as well as Lou Ellen and Cecil. He grinned. "So, you ran halfway across camp to see Rachel."
Nico reddened. "Well, she was dying," he said. "Also, I couldn't tell who was dying, just that someone was. I thought... I don't know what I thought, actually. I would have shadow-traveled, but it's harder during the day, and I wanted to actually be able to do something."
For some stupid reason, that made Will inexplicably happy. He shoved the thought in the back of his mind and asked, "What do you think?"
"About the prophecy?" Nico asked. "Honestly, I just hope it won't involve more wars. After all these camps have been through, another war might end us."
Then, Chiron said, "We need to bring this to the demigods. Let's adjourn this meeting and bring this issue up at campfire time. Agreed?"
Lupa nodded. "This matter must be settled by the camps."
As the others left, Will and Nico got up, but Chiron looked at them. "Will, Nico, I have to talk to you."
"Sir?" Will asked politely. He was still feeling a little empty on the inside from the intense healing, and he really wanted to rest.
Chiron sighed. His brown eyes seemed darker. "That line about light and darkness... you know what that means, don't you?"
Will blinked at him, unsure of what the centaur was hinting at, but Nico sighed and nodded.
"I was hoping I was wrong about that," Nico said. "I mean, darkness- I knew that was probably me, but the light part..."
A sinking feeling fell into Will's gut. He really hoped that Chiron and Nico weren't saying what he thought they were.
Chiron nodded gravely. "I do believe that part was referring to the two of you."
Schizt. "This is karma for asking why we needed to be concerned about the Oracle, isn't it."
Will expected Chiron to- well, not laugh, but take it as a joke, but the old centaur simply said, "I would not put it past the Moirae, Will."
That night, the campfire was in full swing. Whenever the Romans visited, Chiron and Lupa temporarily abolished cabin and cohort restrictions during mealtimes and campfires. They said it was to give all the campers a learning experience, but everyone knew it was to let the Seven (now Six) sit together.
Nico dragged Will, Lou Ellen, and Cecil to sit with Reyna, Coach Hedge, Mellie, Chuck and Clarisse. Will wasn't exactly intimidated by Reyna or the Coach, but he gave Chuck, who was punching the air with angry baby fists, a wide berth. He still hadn't forgotten delivering that baby. It still gave him nightmares, even though Chuck was cute and Will was godfather. That was the other shocking (and disturbing) part. Will was a godfather, and Clarisse was the godmother. Ugh.
Lou Ellen was scowling at Hazel. Will didn't quite understand their rivalry, but he suspected it had something to do with Hazel's magic. Hazel seemed to notice Lou Ellen glaring daggers in her back, and turned from her seat with the Seven. She scowled briefly at Lou Ellen, then caught sight of Nico and grinned. She leapt out of her seat and went over to Nico.
"Come on! Sit with us!" She said. Nico hesitated, then let her drag him away. Will had a sudden urge to slap Hazel and take Nico back.
Whoa, there, Will reprimanded himself. Nico is not your patient any more. You can't be so possessive over him, no matter how injury-prone he is.
Somehow, he got the felt that that feeling was about something not doctor-related, though.
Everyone was in a festive mood. This was the first time since the end of the war that the two camps had gotten together, and almost everyone wanted to get to know their new siblings and cousins. Of course, some people, like Quincy Matthews of Ares and Patel Vix from the First Cohort were resolutely refusing to acknowledge or even tolerate the presence of the other demigods, an attitude Will was afraid would be exacerbated by the quest.
After several minutes of relaxing (and avoiding the thought that this might be his last night at Camp Half-Blood), Will was called to the center along with his siblings. This was the one part of campfires that Will didn't much like. Even though, like Kayla, Jack, Austin, Beryl, Layla, Victoria, and little Matty, he had perfect pitch, he wasn't much of a musician. He could sing and play instruments on key, and that was about it. Will always tried to look as confident as he could while hiding behind his ukelele, the only instrument he was more than decent at. However, today he was going to be joined by several Roman children and descendants- legacies- of Apollo, and as the only leader, Will was expected to lead the singing. He just hoped that none of them were as awful as Octavian.
Will managed to get by two cheesy songs-Grandmother Goes to War, and the Armor Song by playing the ukulele. Then Vincent, a Roman from the Fourth Cohort, ruined it.
"Let's let our Greek leader lead a song now!" He said with an competitive grin. "We wouldn't want to delegate him to the ukulele, now would we?"
Will generally wouldn't have been riled up, but something about the Roman kid just set him off. Maybe it was the lingering Greek-Roman rivalry, even though that was supposed to be healed by the Athena Parthenos, or maybe Vincent just reminded him of a certain other descendant of the Sun God.
Will stiffly pushed his ukulele into Kayla's arms, as the fourteen year old girl gave him a concerned look. He told Austin to break out his guitar. Ignoring the question of "Are you sure," Will marched over to Vincent, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Sure."
The campers started to have a competitive edge to them, too. Hermes and Mercury kids were exchanging bets, and Greeks and Romans were grouping up. The only ones who seemed to not be affected were, strangely enough, Vivian E, Tori Foster, and Sam Chance, the three children of Nike.
A little bit of uncertainity leaked into Will's mind. What on earth could he sing? It wasn't as if he was the best musician in the world.
He looked up at the area where his friends were sitting. He could see their faces. Cecil was grinning in a I can't wait to see my friend screw up! kind of way, and Lou Ellen was almost ready to march down and smack Hazel in the face. He didn't see Nico for one panicky moment, before he spotted him squeezed between Hazel and Jason. Nico looked both annoyed and happy at the same time, an expression only he seemed to be capable of.
Will smiled as he thought up the perfect song to sing. He leaned back and told Austin, whose expression had changed from worried to challenging. He looked straight at Nico and sang, ¨Hold on to me as we go, as we roll down this unfamiliar road. Although this wave is stringing us along, Just know youŕe not alone. 'Cause I'm gonna make this place your
Home.¨
Will only looked at Nico as the rest of the Apollo Cabin backed him up with the Ooh-ooh-ooh ooooh part of the song.
¨Settle down, it'll all be clear, Pay no mind to the demons, they fill you with fear. The trouble, it might drag you down, If you're lost you can always be found. Just know you're not alone.
I'm gonna make this place your home.¨
