Warning! This story includes graphic depictions of violence and turmoil for its characters (and occasional tackle-hugs from giant weasels).

One: Will

A Stroll in the Dark

Will had only shadow traveled with Nico a few times. Although he didn't like to dwell on it, he used to be afraid of the dark like the rest of his siblings, but, he always knew Nico would take care of him in the shadows. Despite Nico's insecurities, Will knew Nico was strong and courageous, even if he did need the occasional reminder to floss his teeth.

Now, Will needed to do more for Nico than a quick dental exam. Hades' words echoed over the scream of air around him, You can bring Nico back from the shadows and stop Melinoe.

Unfortunately, Hades wasn't big into How To guides, something Will had been trying to change.

When Will saw Melinoe, the Greek Goddess of Ghosts, suspend Nico in a shadow state—Nico's mouth quivering with a scream, his limbs writhing as her ghouls phased through Nico's torso like it was no more than a sewer gate to crawl out of the Underworld, Nico's skin dimming in and out of the darkness—Will took the only course available.

His sister, Kally, had nodded to Will and said, "I'll sustain you two! Go!" and Will ran towards the son of Hades. He went to shadow travel.

In the past, Will had compared shadow traveling to riding in the sun chariot at full speed without a windshield. Percy had once described it as "going so fast that it feels like your face is peeling off." This was different.

Normally, Mrs. O'Leary sprinted through the shadow realm or Nico would take Will's hand and pull Will full speed—often forgetting that Will was faster and liked to tease him about it.

Now, everything slowed down. No map. No guide. No objective exterior to Nico.

One moment, he was running at Nico. The next, everything muddled to black. He could no longer see the undead army charging Camp Half-Blood with Reyna leading a dismally small dispatch of Romans to defend its fallen borders. He could no longer see Melinoe laughing beside Phobetor, the ghastly God of Nightmares with a terrible taste in bowties.

Will tried to stumble to a stop, but it felt like he'd wadded into an icy maelstrom. There was black tar everywhere, swirling thickly around him, like the shadows wanted to maul him. From his previous travels, what he'd mistaken as a blast of cold air was really their fingers desperately clawing at him. What he'd mistaken for the whistle of speed was their screams. Thousands of screams.

This is what he feared entering the dark would be like when he was a child: smothering, eternal, inescapable, cold.

Was this really what Nico went through every time?

A mounting sense of panic twisted Will's insides. He'd never find Nico here—in this vast expanse of nothingness and torrid shadows, with no sense of direction other than—

Warmth gently tingled his back.

Will exhaled.

When he turned around, he could see a dim shaft of light piercing through the blackness. He remembered when Hades had cracked the ceiling of the Underworld, to give Persephone a ray of sunshine for her garden, killing hundreds of people for a few moments of her smile. He remembered Hades asking Will if he'd do the same for Nico. Will had hesitated.

Will had no idea why there was a ray of familiar sunshine cascading through this darkness. Dawn shouldn't hit Camp Half-Blood for another ten minutes. While Will really didn't want that sunshine to come from the death of hundreds—as he had no control over it—he would be sure to write a haiku for them if that was the sacrifice.

With the sunshine acting as some directional orientation, Will could take a calming breath.

He was undead now. He focused on everything Nico had taught him over the lazy months of summer—what Will could remember from when he'd been plotting over how to get the son of Hades to open up to him. From what he could recall, Will should be able to become one of these shadows to move around and turn back into a typical ghost after existing in shadow form. Shadow travel should be safe for him.

Will stepped forward, the world feeling less like a maelstrom and more like a lake of pudding.

Over summer, he had struggled to remind Nico that he was always there to listen if Nico ever wanted to talk about Tartarus, or being captured by Giants.

But, looking at all of this that Nico handled so casually, Nico deserved so much more than a smilie band-aid or a happy sticker that Will swiped for him from the infirmary.

As the pounding of Will's heart quieted, and he stepped directly away from the light, he discerned the faintest echo of a sob over the shrieks of the shadows.

Nico was crying in front of him.

The shadows seemed to weave into the flickering form of his Death Boy. Unlike outside, where Nico was suspended upright by Melinoe's powers, here, Nico knelt by the dim figure of a gravestone. No—he didn't kneel by it. He was half-way melded into it. His hazy silhouette—the crazed, black hair, those hollow eyes—intermeshed with the shadows around them.

Will could barely make out his features.

The part most in focus was the gravestone's etching, recording the names and dates of three people: Maria di Angelo, Bianca di Angelo, and Will Solace.

Will opened his mouth to shout for Nico, but choked.

Persphone's instructions. He'd almost forgotten her warning—You can't talk to him. You can't acknowledge him. If you fail to ignore him, you've damned you both.

At the sound of Will's choke, Nico's fading outline glanced up. "Will?" Nico asked. Even his voice sounded detached, like an old recording.

Will turned away. He clenched his fists, trembling.

"Will?!" Nico repeated, his voice more desperate.

The pain in Nico's voice made Will bite his lip. Will wanted to reassure Nico, to hug him, to tell him that he wouldn't leave, that he'd somehow find a way to undo his death and the current threat to the camp. But he had to get Nico out of the shadows first. How was Will supposed to lead Nico out of this if he couldn't talk to him?

You need to have faith that your love will be enough to bring him back and defeat his despair.

Will took a step towards the dim ray of light.

"Stop—please!" Nico sobbed, "Y—you're the only one left th—that has time to care about me—"

The screams of shadows withered to nothing compared to Nico's quivering voice. Will wasn't sure if it was because the son of Hades had command over shadows, or because the terror in Nico's voice sounded worse than anything the other shadows could produce.

Like the sound was amplified for twisted assurance, Will could hear Nico stumble once after him. He tried not to envision it: Nico half crawling from that tombstone. "You're the only one that hasn't l-left me. N-no one else has time for me. I know they're all good intentioned. B-but Reyna's a praetor. Gleeson has a kid. Percy's getting ready for college. You're—you're—you're d—"

Will was hoping Nico would run after him.

He froze in horror when something dropped behind him. No more footsteps. Nico must have collapsed.

Will closed his eyes, grinding his teeth to keep himself quiet. His body trembled to turn around and run to Nico, to assure him everything would be alright. But, he couldn't do that. If he turned around, everything wouldn't be alright.

They could do this. They had to be able to do this. He wasn't about to let Nico disappear into shadows. He wasn't going to let Melinoe use Nico's body as a conduit for an undead army to destroy Camp Half-Blood. The original hero who tried to return someone from eternal darkness, Orpheus, had failed his quest. Orpheus had doubted his and Eurydice's love and violated the conditions of the quest by looking back. But Will wasn't Orpheus. And Nico wasn't a wood nymph or a daughter of Apollo…. Fortunate since that would be very weird. [footnote 1]

Will visualized the first time Nico had kissed him: running late for archery class, Will scolding Nico for not getting enough sleep the night before, Nico leaning up and surprising Will before rushing toward the archery range. For the rest of the day, Will couldn't stop singing. Nico kept complaining it was embarrassing, especially since campers kept high-fiving them and giving them congratulatory gifts. But Will loved Nico's blushes and the way he pretend to be angry and Will had to express—

"Every time you kiss me it's like sunshine and whiskey," Will sang aloud to himself.

The shadows seemed to silence their wails.

Will remembered how Nico's blush extended all the way to his ears when Nico parceled out the words the first time.

"Alright, you hit me like fire, shot me like a bullet.

Burned me up and down, no way to cool it—"

Nico's sobs stopped.

Will couldn't hear Nico get up, nor could he hear Nico's footsteps. But Will continued towards the dim ray of light piercing through the blackness. He felt like Persephone was testing him with the silence. Yet, somehow, Will felt calm. He knew they could make it through the darkness—their love would be enough.

Come on Death Boy, he thought as he continued to sing. Let's get you some sunshine.

Will stepped forward, leading Nico toward the illusion of safety: a camp under siege by two gods with no plan of what to do when they got there.

Author's note:

For those of you who might be new: Welcome! This is the fourth and final book of the Traitors of Olympus series. If you enjoy being flummoxed, not knowing what's going on, and to further empower Eris (our beautiful goddess of chaos and strife) then please continue to read without catching up on the others books in the series. Be sure to throw your computer/tablet/phone/printed out copy (*author fans self at the idea of printed-off copies*) across the room as hard as you can each time you read a name you're unfamiliar with or find a plot point that confuses you. Eris will assuredly flutter down and give you little Discordian welcome stickers and appreciate your contribution to her cause. Otherwise, if you liked my writing and like to keep order in the world, feel free to check out the rest of the series before you read this one.

To those of you returning: Thank you for coming back to put up with this series' nonsense! It has been a rough past six months, and your comments and support have really helped pull me through. You guys are awesome!

I hope you guys enjoyed and are ready for next week's chapter: Kalypso—I Run to the Dumbest Spot Possible.

Footnote:1

Pax: *pouts* Must be nice not to have creepy siblings.

Eris:*pats his back* Welcome to godhood, my son!