"Archers, fire awa—" A blast silenced Will Solace. The boy flew backwards, enveloped in green flames, and crashed to the ground, motionless.
Time froze. Nico's vision tunneled. Nothing else mattered. He had to reach Will.
"NO." He yelled, stumbling towards the blood-streaked mop of blonde hair 20 yards away. After tripping over his feet, the son of Hades regained his balance and ran to the body. His mind pulsed in rhythm with his heart. No. No. No. No.
Not again.
Falling to his knees, Nico grabbed Will's pale, broken figure. The boy's life aura, usually as bright as a sparkler, was dim and fading.
"No," whispered Nico, brushing the hair on the healer's forehead. The son of Apollo gasped and his eyes flew open as cold fingers grazed his skin. He focused on the ghost king's face.
"Nico…" Will coughed, spattering blood. The dark liquid shone against the son of Hades' colorless skin.
A lump in his throat, Nico adjusted his grip on Will, steadying himself to pick the boy up. "Okay, hang on, I'll get you to Chiron and the satyrs, they can heal you they have ambrosia and nectar and Coach Hedge has Gatorade—"
"Nico, you can't move me. It'll make my injuries worse." Will rasped. "And c'mon, you can't lift me with those skinny little arms." He smirked as best he can.
A laugh escaped Nico's lips as his eyes filled. "Remember when you tried to force-feed me carbs for a month? You hired the Demeter cabin to pelt me with loaves of bread."
Will smiled painfully at the memory. The look on Nico's face had been priceless. "And when they whacked you in the head with a baguette—"
"That left a bruise!" The ghost king protested. Will tried to chuckle, but the result was a bloody coughing fit. A sickening pang struck Nico's stomach. He loved Will's laugh, how his eyes crinkled, how his whole face shone with glee. It was one of the few things that made him smile. But now that joyful sound would never be heard again.
As Will continued to hack up blood, Nico panicked. "What do I do?" he asked, eyes wide.
The blonde stopped coughing and closed his eyes in a grimace. "You can't do anything. My ribs are shattered, and I think they've pierced my lungs… There are other fractures but those are the ones…"
There was an awful pause. The air seemed drained of oxygen.
"That are killing you." Nico finished, voice cracking. "I-I can feel you slipping." In a sudden rush of anguish and desperation, the son of Hades clutched the dying boy tight. Tears flew down his cheeks, washing the blood from his skeletal face.
"Will, you've got to stay, I can't lose you." His voice was as fragile as thin ice. "I couldn't live, Will, please." Sobs shook Nico's chest. His nose ran and his shoulders trembled, his whole body an avalanche of emotion.
Will stared straight into Nico's eyes, clear blue into dusty black. "Nico, listen to me." When the son of Hades averted his gaze, the healer seized his cold, bony hand and squeezed. "Listen." Nico forced himself to look into the boy's eyes.
"You are the strongest person I know." Will continued. "I believe in you, and you will survive without me. If you ever feel yourself giving up, remember me. Think of me slapping your shaggy head, calling you dense. You keep going, understand? No matter what happens."
The boy gasped, having poured all his energy and determination into those words. As his vision clouded, he clung to the ghost king's slender fingers as a lifeline.
"Stay out of the shadows, Nico." Will murmured, then fell silent. His sky-blue eyes filled with clouds, and the sparkler that was his soul fizzed out.
The sense of death overwhelmed Nico, stifling his tears. His breath stopped. His brain numbed. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Then the nothingness gave way to screaming. Anger. Despair. Desolation. Everything came bursting out of Nico's body in a flood of pain, twisting into one terrible cry. The air froze and turned black; cracks splintered the earth, spitting hellish fire. The entire camp shook with the fury of the Underworld, unleashed by its tormented son.
When the scream had emptied his soul, the son of Hades crumbled. He collapsed onto Will's body, shaking and sobbing, faded from the world. People had gathered around him and tried to pull him away, but they could not. Their hands passed right through him, as if he was a ghost. His essence flickered and wavered, undecided between reality and shadow. With every racking sob, his form dissolved bit by bit.
All that mattered was gone. That boy, the sole thing Nico cared about, was no more. Will Solace was dead, so life was no longer worth living. The son of Hades lay there, diminishing, wishing to join the boy in his father's realm. It is better to die with a loved one than live in the void of isolation.
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