Chapter Two

The sun began to set, and Will was busy with treating the remainder of the patients. Luckily, none of the other demi-gods were in too serious of a situation. A couple of broken ribs, fractures and stitches that were needed, nothing too complicated for Will Solace. He was finished with his last patient when one of his siblings came up to him in a panic.

"Will, its Nico. Come quick." She said, pulling Will along hurriedly.

When Will reached Nico he let out a surprised OH! "This is not good" He told her.

Nico was thrashing about in the bed. Waves of darkness radiated from him. All around him, Will could smell death. The grass was wilted all around Nico. This must be what Coach Hedge was talking about Will thought silently.

He turned around to face his sister and she asked worried "What should we do?"

Will sighed and said calmly, "Leave this to me. I'll deal with Nico. You go help the other patients." Will walked through the darkness, and felt Nico's anguish.

His feelings are so powerful I just hope I can calm him down he thought to himself. When Will reached Nico, he grabbed Nico's hand tightly, and reassured him gently. He sent a small prayer to his father to help Nico, and the darkness around Nico began to die down gradually. Nico stopped thrashing around on the bed, and slept peacefully, with a tight grip on Will's hand. Will let out a sigh of relief and silently thanked Apollo for dissipating the thick darkness around Nico. Will tried to let go of Nico's hand, but Nico started turning in his bed violently. Taking a hint, Will pulled up a chair, and held Nico's hand firmly. "All right, you made your point. I won't leave." Nico looked completely at peace, and Will realized that his name suited him. When he was asleep, he really did look like an angel. He blushed, and began to hum quietly. After a few minutes Will's eyelids began to drop, and soon he fell asleep, with his head on Nico's bed, their hands still intertwined.

Nico awoke with a start. He scanned his surroundings and calmed down once he realized he was in the infirmary. He turned, and saw Will asleep right beside him, and looked puzzled. He noticed that he was holding Will's hand, and he blushed deeply. He tried figure out why Will would hold his hand, and it dawned on him. He turned beet red, and was thankful that Will was still asleep. He tried to reclaim his hand without disturbing Will, but failed.

Will stirred at the movement and woke up. "Nico? You awake?" He asked groggily.

Nico grunted in response.

Will, who became fully aware of his surroundings, got up suddenly. "What happened? Are you okay?" He asked, monitoring Nico's pulse.

"I'm fine." Nico snapped guardedly.

"Really? Not from where I was standing." Will retaliated angrily.

When Nico didn't open up, Will tried another tactic. "You mentioned Reyna's name." He said gently. Nico's gaze turned vulnerable.

"Reyna told me what I did to Bryce…" He started not able to look Will in the eyes. "If you knew, you wouldn't want to be friends." He said sadly.

Will looked surprised, but said "Don't make all those assumptions on your own. Just tell me what happened."

Nico began to spill the entire Bryce becoming a ghost incident, and once it was over he asked Will in a child-like voice "Do you hate me now?"

Will said patiently "If someone was trying to hurt you, or anyone I cared about, I would have done whatever I could to protect them. That's not wrong. And about Octavian, you were right. There was nothing we could do to stop it. So no, I don't hate you." He patted Nico on the back and smiled.

"Hey, I'm starving, let's go get dinner." He said energetically.

Nico nodded, and they went off to The Mess Hall. The two demi-gods ended up eating at the Apollo table despite Nico's protests.

"Aren't we supposed to sit in our own tables?" He hissed.

"No. You're my patient, so we'll sit together at the Apollo table. Doctor's orders." Will said firmly.

Nico relented and thought that it was nice to eat with someone besides Hazel for a change.

After dinner, Will dragged Nico back to bed. "Aren't you going back to your cabin to sleep?" Nico asked nervously.

Will snorted. "Yeah, because last time I left you alone you radiated waves of darkness. I don't know why, but when I came back, you calmed down. Must be an Apollo thing." He shrugged it off. "Anyways, I'll keep you company." He said easily.

He took out a book and began to read. Eventually both the boys fell asleep, and this time Nico slept soundly.