Hi! This is another one-shot (maybe?) I hope you enjoy! Takes place about 4 years after BoO
I don't own the characters (I wish I did though...)
I
He cared for him. Took the broken pieces and painstakingly put him together, gently, lovingly. He made him whole again. Then he deliberately drifted away. Slowly, just enough that he wouldn't notice, so it wouldn't break him all over again. But with every step away, every moment he let someone else take him away, he died a little.
"Will, why do you do that? Why do you let Nico get away from you?" She asked
His eyes were downcast. "I thought you, of all people, would understand. Because I love him."
"But he loves you too."
"With no disrespect, Aphrodite, he doesn't, not anymore. And maybe he never did."
The goddess's eyes followed Will's to where Nico was sparring with other campers. The boy looked healthy, powerful, like a child of the Big Three should be. He laughed openly as he flicked the long dark hair out of his eyes.
"If you tried, he would love you, forever."
Will shook his head. "I'm just a healer. He's a warrior. A great one. A hero. I could never compare."
Aphrodite looked questioningly at him. "There is something else, Will. Isn't there?"
The son of Apollo flushed, berating himself for thinking he could deceive a goddess. "I am destined to die before I turn eighteen. I couldn't put him through that. He's lost enough people."
"Percy thought he would die as well! Hazel defied death. There are so many people who changed their fates because of love."
There was more sadness and acceptance in Will's eyes than a boy of seventeen ought to have. "I am the son of the god of prophecy. I do not make mistakes." He looked at the goddess. "Please, do not hurt him."
She sighs, "I do not do this willingly. But you have my word that Nico di Angelo will never fall in love with you."
II
Nico grimly sheathed his blade and turned to Percy. "Are you ready?" He asked. The elder boy nodded, giving Annabeth one last lingering kiss. The last of Gaea's forces was leading a final attempt and it was time to rid of them once and for all.
"We should've known that Gaea's forces were still lurking. We gave them four years to build up strength." Jason growled.
"Ah, but our numbers aren't tiny either," Percy said, gesturing at the team of one hundred Greek and Roman demigods ready to battle. Nico agreed, and as he turned to lead the group down Half-Blood Hill, he was stopped by a steady hand.
"Hey, be careful out there." Will Solace said, blue eyes filled with concern. Nico smiled at his friend.
"I've gotten a lot better at using my powers, you won't need to worry about that."
"All the same, be careful." Will looked more serious than he usually did. Nico nodded, and as Will pulled his hand away, he felt a pang of… something.
"You too, Solace. I don't want you over exerting yourself in the infirmary. I hope we don't get too many injured."
Will looked like he wanted to say something more, and then shook his head. "Yeah, I hope so too. Although Austin is on par, if not surpassing me, in medical skills." He turned to his cabin. "Gotta go, good luck Death Boy."
"See you, Sunshine." Nico said. As Will jogged back to his siblings. Nico thought about how Will had helped him after the war with Gaea, how he had demanded that Nico eat and get involved with the other campers. Nico always considered Will his saviour. There had been a time when Nico thought that he and Will would be something more, but Will had made it apparent that he was too invested in his work to want their relationship to go past good friends. It had made Nico feel dejected for a while, but Nico always found himself busy with rebuilding the Roman camp and hanging out with new and old friends to be caught up in the same brooding that had turned his sadness over Percy into a ravaging pain. Now, it was simply a crush of the past and Nico felt nothing except friendship towards Will.
Although, he thought wistfully as he watched Will's yellow mop of hair disappear inside his cabin, even now, he wouldn't have said no to Will.
III
"Today's the day, isn't it," Will sighed, leaning against the porch of his cabin. An almost spitting image of him stood across from him, the only difference being the other glowed with a godly power.
"Yes," Apollo said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "It is a heavy burden to be carrying, but you are the strongest of my children. I know you will do me proud."
Will grinned half-heartedly. "Funny that the medic who can't shoot an arrow to save his life would be the strongest." He sighed again, "Is it wrong to say that I'm afraid and I wish it wouldn't happen?"
Apollo shook his head, and pulled Will into a hug, all the unsaid words heavy in the air.
IV
Nico slashed at another monster and watched it disintegrate. He was back to back with Reyna as they took on the most powerful monsters. Jason was attacking from the air and Percy had a hurricane around him as he slashed his way through Gaea's last forces. Hazel was riding Arion and Frank was glowing red as usual, imperious to the spears and claws attacking him.
The battle was difficult, but Nico was thinking that they had the upper hand. Suddenly, Nico felt a dark sense of foreboding coming over him. Reyna must have sensed something as well, because she gave a cry and flung herself at Hazel, causing Arion to shield away. The spot where Hazel and Arion were, and where Reyna now was, was engulfed in Greek fire.
"No!" Nico screamed, his anguish causing the monsters surrounding him to be swallowed by the earth. He ran towards his fallen surrogate sister, heedless of the danger, his only thought being. "I can't lose her."
Hazel and Frank were already kneeling by the Roman Praetor when Nico came. Hazel was crying and Frank held the burnt hand of his partner. Nico knew that Reyna was dying. He hated that he could feel her life force slowly slipping away. "Reyna," he breathed, tears running down his cheeks as he clutched her other hand.
Before Nico could say anything else, someone pushed him roughly aside. He staggered up, knife in hand, but froze when he saw a familiar mop of blonde air leaning over Reyna. Will worked furiously, commanding Frank and Hazel as he cleaned Reyna's wounds and sang songs of healing. Will exhaled harshly, skin ashen, and instructed Frank to lift Reyna up. She had fallen unconscious during this, but Nico could feel that she was no longer in immediate danger to travelling to the Underworld.
"Get her back to camp," Will said, rubbing his eyes. Frank nodded and jogged away. Will struggled to stand. Nico grabbed his arm before Will could fall.
"Solace, what are you doing on the battle field?" snapped Nico.
"Scouting," Will grinned. Nico gave a short laugh, remembering their first official meeting, except this time, it was he who was supporting Will. They lasped into silence and Nico gazed into Will's eyes, remembering again that embarrassing first meeting where Nico had been wearing the ugliest Hawaiian shirt.
Then Will stepped away, almost in panic. "I have other patients to attend to, and you've got monsters to kill."
"Why are you on the front line?" Nico asked again, fear for his friend filling his heart.
"To save people like Reyna," Will replied easily. "I'll be fine di Angelo. Go be a hero." And with that, he was racing away.
Half of Nico wanted to run after him, to drag Will back to the infirmary to be safe, but he saw a giant bring down a club towards a struggling demigod and he barraged back into battle, praying Will would be okay.
V
Will moistened his lips and gave one last burst of song, but the girl still died in his arms, blood pouring from her wound. "No, please Emma," he begged. Katie Gardner gave a keening cry and bent down to kiss her little sister on the forehead.
"It's okay, Will, you did your best." She whispered, closing Emma's eyes. "She'll get Elysium at least." It wasn't okay for Will, but he knew he had others to take care of. He groaned, getting to his feet. "Are you strong enough?" Katie asked in concern, "You should go back to camp."
Will shook his head. "The switch off would take too much time. I'll be fine." He took a swig of nectar and blinked as his stomach grew dangerously warm. He gave Katie a hug and a good luck and ran off to find other fallen demigods.
He was in Will's line of sight as the spear sliced neatly through his ribs. Will flew over to where Clovis was slumped on the ground. Lou Ellen's magic slammed into the dracaena, dissolving it into a hundred lizards and she knelt beside her boyfriend. "Clovis," she wept.
Clovis managed a weak smile. "It's alright Lou, Will is here."
"Yeah, and I'll make sure the judges of the underworld don't have to deal with his sass for a while yet," Will said determinedly as he poured nectar over Clovis's wound. He pulled off his shirt to give Clovis something to bite onto as he yanked the spear out. After confirming that nothing vital was damaged, Will opened his first aid kit for a needle. As Will hurriedly stitched up Clovis's wound he instructed Lou to help Dakota who was currently fighting a hellhound.
"After you kill it, get Dakota to come here to carry Clovis back to camp." She nodded, pecked Clovis on the cheek and ran off. A shadow loomed over Will and he swung around to see a manticore. Sorrow raced through his veins, but relief too. His time on this world was over, but he had managed to prolong the lives of so many others. He couldn't have asked for more.
VI
Nico turned to see the manticore rear up and shoot spikes into a demigod, who threw himself over another one, serving as a human shield. Then, his blood ran cold as he realized who had just sacrificed himself.
"Will!" He screamed. Skeletons crawled free from the Earth to tear the manticore apart as Nico ran all too slowly towards his friend.
He pulled Will off of Clovis, who was watching with a terrified expression. "No, Will." Nico yanked out the spikes embedded in Will's back and turned him over. Will was breathing, but barely. Nico knew in his heart there was nothing he could do.
His friend's clear blue eyes flickered opened, and Will whispered. "Is Clovis okay?"
"Hey man," Clovis was helped into a sitting position by Lou Ellen and Dakota. "You'd better not die on me. I haven't even had a chance to properly thank you with a month of not having the Hermes cabin prank you."
Will chuckled, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. "Sorry Clovis, but hey go easy on the Apollo cabin, okay? Kayla won't be nearly as nice as me."
There were tears in Clovis's eyes as he clasped his friend's shoulder for the last time. "Yeah, anything for you."
Then Will's eyes flickered to Nico. "Di Angelo, it's been my utmost pleasure to have called you friend."
"Will," Nico croaked, "Please don't go. What if…" He swallowed. "What if, I wanted to call you more than friend?"
A smile pulled on the edge of Will's mouth, but then he blinked in horror, gaze sliding past Nico's shoulder. "You promised!" Will accused.
Nico turned to see a beautiful young girl who could have been the girl version of Will standing behind him. She had tears in her luminous blue eyes. "Will, you have my word that I did not interfere."
Sighing in defeat, Will gazed at Nico. "I love you, Death Boy." He raised his hand weakly to brush the hair from Nico's face. "Goodbye, Nico. I'll see you in another life." His hand fell limply to the side and his eyes drifted to the sun, losing their focus slowly. He gave a final wheezy breath and was still.
"No. No. No. No." Nico whispered. He wasn't aware that the battle had silenced, victory going to the demigods. All he knew was that Will Solace, his own personal sun, was gone, taking Nico's heart with him.
SOOOO That wasn't really where I wanted it to go . I just wanted an angsty one-shot about Will putting Nico back together and then staying away from him because he thought Nico was too good for him...but then this happened lol
It'll probably stay a one-shot, unless my lovely readers want it to be more, because I suck at finishing long stories (Plus I have like four other ones to finish right now...) I do have an idea of where it would go, although it wouldn't be longer than a four-shot!
Enough of my rambling! Please review and tell me what you thought :)
