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.

I probably should have mentioned this in the first chapter, but I do not own "Home" by Phillip Phillips either.

Will Solace and the Oracle's Cry

Chapter 2

Goddesses Interfere (and, as usual, screw things up)

Will was feeling pretty good about himself, until he looked up. Above him floated a woman with long braided black hair, with white wings and a laurel wreath. Will didn't know who she was, but he would bet his legs that the woman was a goddess.

The children of Nike, Sam Chance and Tori Foster paled, and Vivian squeaked, "Mom?"

Several campers gasped as they realize just who they were being visited by. She was one of the few minor goddesses equally revered by both the Greeks and the Romans. After all, everyone loves victory.

Will hoped it was a good sign that victory had visited before his quest, but with demigod luck, it was just as likely that she had come to curse them into epic failure.

Nike's facial features were smooth and hard, like she had been carved out of stone. She nodded to her children, then glared about impassively and asked, "Well? Where's the respect?"

The Roman campers almost fell over themselves to kneel to Nike. The Greeks followed with less enthusiasm, reluctantly bowing. Will stepped back so he could bow as well.

"Rise, demigods," she boomed regally.

Chiron and Lupa stepped forward together.

"Lady Nike," Chiron asked. "What brings you here?"

Nike held up a laurel wreath.

"I can only enter this camp when there is a competition that needs a victor." She looked almost wistful as she said, "I do wish I could have arranged a fight to the death, the way they did it in the old days and Hunger Games."

Hazel, Frank, and Percy suddenly looked mildly ill.

"Perhaps luckily for you, I found a much less deadly competition to judge," Nike said.

Nike landed in front of Will, who took another step back. She shimmered for a moment, and her wings sucked into her back with a shirk! sound.

"A singing competition!" she shouted. "Greek verses Roman."

Everyone looked at Vincent, who's eyes widened. He shook his head, as if clearing it. "You don't mean-"

Nike tossed a microphone to Vincent, who caught it with reflexes only a demigod could have.

Vincent's eyes flitted between Nike, Will, and the audience, before he raised the microphone to his lips.

Will quickly realized that Vincent was good at singing. He didn't recognize the song pouring from the other boy, something about shaking 'it' off, but he was rocking the song. He was relaxed and confident, undaunted at all by either stage fright or the goddess standing less than twenty feet away from him.

It was really no contest. Before Vincent even finished, Nike's golden laurel wreath poofed out of her hands and appeared on Vincent's head.

"Well, that wasn't much of a competition," Nike said, sounding rather disappointed. "Yay, Romans. Anyway, back to business. I come on behalf of Zeus with important information about the Oracle. He has chosen quite the unfortunate time to curse Apollo-"

All of Will's siblings gasped, even the Romans. "Wait," Will said. "Cursed?"

Nike turned to him. Her mouth was pressed into a permanent scowl, as if she spent a whole lot of time making tough decisions. "Zeus has decreed that for Apollo's crimes of encouraging his legacy Octavian, aiding in an attempt to return from the dead, and allowing his Oracle to fall into enemy hands, he is to be banished from Olympus and wander the Earth as a mortal for one hundred years."

Shocked silence reigned at this declaration. Will was first shocked, then a sneaky, dark thought crept into his mind: It's time he learned what it's like to be a mortal. He quickly put that thought out of his head.

Percy said, "Wait, if Apollo is wandering around as a mortal, then who's pulling the sun chariot?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No one is, Seaweed Brain, haven't you noticed how dull the sun's become? The Mist is working overtime to cover up the lack of sun chariot. In other parts of the world, there's some serious cloud cover."

"The Mist can do that?"

"It's happened twice before, you know."

"Enough!" Nike said. "This is important," she said and continued, "he has, however, made an...oversight."

Annabeth, standing from her place next to Percy, said, "it's the coming of winter, isn't it?"

Lou Ellen shouted, "This isn't Game of Thrones, Chase!"

The demigods broke into scattered snickers and small arguments.

"Children, calm down," Chiron said, stomping his hind leg. "Lady Nike has more yet to say."

Lupa sniffed and muttered, "How disrespectful. If they were Roman..."

Nike sighed. "The daughter of Athena is correct," she said. "With the waning of the sun comes the diminishing of Apollo's powers. Normally, this wouldn't cause a problem, as Apollo can just conserve his powers, but with his banishment, all his spheres of influence are diminished. As a part of Apollo's domain, this affects the Oracle too. And since Delphi's spirit is being held captive by Python, she might not be strong enough to survive. Her spirit is already weakening quickly. Zeus believes that if Delphi is not rescued by the Fall Equinox, the oracle could fade away permanently."

The campfire darkened throughout her speech, until it was a dark bluish-green color. Will's eyes widened. The quest sounded dangerous enough already, without a deadline and as well.

Cecil suddenly stood, causing a chain reaction of tripping demigods. Will shook his head, thinking, Only him. "Wait!" Cecil shouted. "What happened to my dad, Hermes? Shouldn't he be the one to deliver his message?" The other Hermes kids jerked in surprise and worry, as if the thought had just occurred to them.

Nike shifted, looking rather guilty. "Hermes is fine. However, as Zeus's charioteer, I am privy to many of his secrets. He would... rather not announce to all of Olympus his... error."

An awkward silence descended. Thunder rumbled, as if Zeus was warning the campers to keep quiet or else.

"I traced Delphi to North Dakota-"

Dakota, the retired Roman centurion, yelped, "I didn't do it!" A few Greeks gave him odd looks, but most Romans were used to their wildest centurion's antics.

Hazel added, "I thought that Delphi was in Mount Parnassus, in Greece. Apollo told me in Delos that Python had awakened."

Rachel said something about reawakening, Will realized. Isn't Python a huge snake dragon? He remembered learning about it in monster-fighting class.

Annabeth looked glad to finally be talking about something she understood. "When Gaea fell, so did the power that was anchoring monsters to ancient Greece. Those monsters must have been brought here, including Delphi. She must be in White Butte, the mountain that works as today's Mount Parnassus."

"Heh, white bu-" Percy muttered, but he was cut off by Nike.

"-before I felt a sudden spike here earlier," Nike finished. She gave Rachel a small, sideways look.

Chiron asked, "Is there any more you wished to say, Lady Nike?"

"Just one." She turned and said to Will, "It is against my nature to grant victory to one who by nature would have lost. Know that your successes are made by your hand alone. Do not let anyone, especially her, into your head."

Will frowned. "What her-"

Nike began glowing. Will shut his eyes to block out the searing light, and when it disappeared, so did the goddess.

Chiron spoke. "During the meeting today, our Oracle made... a short return."

The campers didn't make as big a clamor as Will figured, although Vincent did whirl around to ask Cathy Naples why she didn't mention it to him.

Chiron explained the situation, reading out the parts that Clovis caught and describing in detail the effect the Oracle had on Rachel, Cathy, and Jack. He finished by saying, "While Delphi's words were unclear, the action we must take is obvious. A quest has been issued, and I believe I know who must go."

Frank stood and asked, "A mixed quest? Greeks and Romans together?"

Cheers rose at the idea, but Lupa said, "No. This is the Greek's oracle that is affected, and as such, Greek demigods will be required."

"In fact, we have already decided on two of the demigods," Chiron said.

Malcolm, a son of Athena, frowned and said, "It's Nico."

All eyes turned to Nico, who shifted uncomfortably, as if he wanted nothing more than to disappear in the shadows. He asked in a surly voice, "How would you know, Malcolm?"

"Light and Shadow journey," he quoted. "Who else fits that? Now we just have to figure out who Light is. But you were saying, Chiron?"

Chiron smiled. "Indeed, Nico di Angelo has been chosen to go on this quest, as well as Will Solace, son of Apollo."

Eyes shifted towards Will. He waved. "Hi."

He could tell what the older kids, the ones who had been there when he healed Percy with his life force, were thinking. Could it be... No way! He almost died last time! That stuff is dangerous.

The younger kids and Romans probably just thought that it was due to his sunny personality.

Chiron said, "We need a volunteer to go on this quest with them!"

Silence reigned. Everyone glanced at each other, like they wanted to volunteer someone else.

"A satyr?" Someone suggested. "Nico, weren't you brought in by Grover Underwood?"

Nico shrugged. "Well, he was the one who found me. But if you want to be technical, the Hunters of Artemis and Apollo were the ones who brought me and..." He fell silent.

Everyone knew that Will wasn't brought in by a satyr keeper, and nobody asked.

There were a few more suggestions, and one pair of Stolls nearly skewered by Clarisse when they suggested baby Chuck. Will silently cheered Clarisse on. He might still be disgusted by the baby satyr's presence, but gods damnit, he was the kid's godfather. The fact that he really didn't want to go run around with a baby had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The Six and Reyna all quickly denied when they were asked, saying that they had been through more than enough danger.

The Demeter cabin's botany powers clashed with Nico's necromancy.

The single occupant of the Dionysus cabin, Pollux, was high on Kool-Aid and singing a mournful song with Dakota and a few other Bacchus legionaires.

Everyone in the Hypnos cabin was asleep.

The Hermes kids were all high on some combination of coffee and extra-sugary chocolate, and had to be sent into the woods to let out some steam.

Nobody even wanted to ask the Hephaestus kids, who were still mourning their best leaders ever, Leo Valdez and Charles Beckendorf.

Even the children of Ares declined, saying that they were still recovering and rearming their land mines, after the children of Hermes stole them and put them on various hills, none of which was the actual battle-site. Will had a feeling Clarisse just wanted to watch over Chuck, who had practically become a surrogate member of the Ares cabin.

Will scowled. "Thanks for the support, guys."

Mitchell, son of Aphrodite, of all people sent him a sheepish look. "Look, man, it's not like we-"

"Save it," Will snapped. Today had already been a long day. He didn't want to add jerk heartbreakers to the mix. "Look, if nobody else wants to be on this quest, Nico and I will go alone."

Nico nodded, looking annoyed by the proceedings. "Yeah. Besides, other people cramp my style."

"But-"

"He's right," Rachel said suddenly. "I don't really know for sure, but I think this quest should just be the two of them. I just have a feeling, it would be bad if someone else went."

The demigods glanced at each other. An Oracle's words were never to be dismissed, even if the spirit that gave Rachel her powers was locked in a mountain somewhere.

Percy spoke, his voice tinged with worry. "It's always been three quest members. Just because the prophecy only mentioned two doesn't mean that there isn't a third person."

Annabeth rebuked, "It's not always three members."

"Look how well that turned out," Percy said, uncharacteristically bitter.

Nico paled and turned away.

Will glared at Percy. "We'll be fine, Percy. Get over yourself," he snapped angrily.

Several other campers gave Percy the stink-eye, and he backed down, looking both contrite and insulted.

"My Hephaestus cabin friends repaired the flying chariot," Will continued, trying to get his mind off the sudden spike of dark feelings for the son of Poseiden. "We can use that, because I'm still not allowing Nico to shadow-travel unless it's an emergency."

"Well," Chiron said, "it is settled. A quest of two will go to North Dakota to find and save the spirit of Delphi." The campers cheered. "They will have to rescue it by the Autumn Equinox, lest Delphi fade away permanently. They leave tomorrow morning. Let's allow them to rest up for the start of their new quest."

After one last cheer, the slightly greenish bonfire extinguished, and the campers dispersed to their cabins or temporary shelters.

Will had the strangest dream that night. He supposed it was fitting, that he got the demigod dreams that accompanied all quests of any purpose.

The dream started off as a memory. An eleven year old Will Solace, in his first year at camp, pushed through a crowd of worried campers and nymphs.

On the forest floor lay twelve year old Percy Jackson, curled up with a red sting mark on his hand.

Several Apollo campers, Will's siblings that had already perished or graduated, lowered their heads, knowing he couldn't be saved from the deadly poison in his body.

Then the dream changed. Now Will was watching thirteen year old Nico in awe during the Titan War. He was fighting at his father's side, commanding an army of the dead as he slashed through monsters.

He saw the moment where Nico stumbled over a centaur's leg, and fifteen year old Will caught him and hauled him to his feet.

"You injured?" Will asked.

Nico shook his head, saying, "Thanks," before dashing away.

Suddenly, Will was standing in the infirmary, wearing green scrubs and jeans (totally a look only he could pull off), watching over Nico, sleeping off his intense shadow-travel experience from two months ago. They were the only ones in the infirmary, which wasn't empty two months ago. A voice next to him spoke, making him jump. "You're good for him, Will. I'm so glad I made you my new couple to watch!"

Will jumped and turned. Sitting perched on the next cot was the most beautiful woman Will had ever met.

Her features seemed fluid, changing colors and size the more Will looked at her. Her hair turned from straw blond to a shade of brown that made Will want to strangle her, before it quickly turned into a slightly choppy inky black 'do. Her skin went from pale and soft to a healthy olive color. She seemed to shorten, and a simple long sleeved black dress replaced whatever she was wearing before, which Will couldn't recall. She looked- well, she looked a bit like Nico, if he was a female love goddess.

"Aphrodite," Will stuttered.

The goddess smiled winningly at him. "Will Solace."

Will's brain melted. He blurted out, "What are you doing in my dream?"

"Why, I'm getting a check-up, of course."

Will stared at Aphrodite. "You're a goddess," he said bluntly. "Why on Olympus would you need a check-up?"

She laughed, throwing her head back. "Everyone needs a check-up, hon. Even the gods."

Will resisted the urge to do something not very appropriate for a doctor. Instead, he glanced behind him to see Nico shift on his cot. Suddenly he just couldn't wait to get out of that dream.

As if answering a prayer, the dream shifted and changed once more.

He was sitting in a chair in a room filled with the comfiest beds imaginable, with big, fluffy pillows and thick comforters. In the biggest bed, a familiar tousled-haired boy blinked at him.

"Clovis?" Will asked.

"Hello, Will," Clovis said. "What in Hades were you dreaming that was so scary I felt a vibe from you? You're welcome for that, by the way."

Will hesitated, but Clovis was an experienced dream-walker. Perhaps he could explain what those dreams meant. He described the dream, asking what it meant that the love goddess visited him in his dream.

Clovis, while asleep, turned out to be an amazingly good listener. He was also very helpful. "Well, the memories are probably either symbolic, or were sent by some monster to try to unsettle you. And if Aphrodite visited you, that means that she's interested in you."

"I know that," Will said.

"It also means she's going to make your love life... interesting."

Will groaned. He always fell for the wrong guy. If Aphrodite was going to mess around with him, he would probably end up slitting his own throat. "Well, how do I get her to stop?"

Clovis looked at Will, amused. "You-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off, as Will suddenly was pulled into another dream. He was hanging by his ankle as he flew across a strange rocky landscape towards a white flat-topped mountain. He began to struggle, before realizing that if he fell from this height, he'd be splattered on the rock-filled floor below. Could he be hurt in dreams? Will decided not to find out.

When Will reached the mountain, he swooped down to the opening of a cave. That wasn't reassuring, because Greek myths had a bad history with caves.

The thing holding Will let go, and Will braced himself for a roll maneuver the Romans had taught him. It seemed that he didn't need to, though, as he somehow landed upright.

"So," a deep, earth-pounding voice said. "This is the champion they send to fight me."

Will gulped. He felt like Bilbo Baggins wandering the caverns of gold-a mixture of awe and intense fear.

"Um," Will said. His throat felt dry and scratchy, a sensation he wasn't used to. "Are you- I mean, where..."

The menacing voice laughed. It sounded drier and scratchier than his own, as if whoever was speaking had a throat lined with sandpaper or scales. "Why was I worried in the first place? Bah! My true enemy, Apollo, wanders about unwittingly, drawn ever closer to my revenge! His weakened state will allow me to finish him, just as he once finished me! And you, dirty cretin, have no power to stop me!"

On that cheery note, Will woke up just as the Mist-made fake sun rose over Camp Half-Blood.

AlbinoMuskrat: Thanks for being my first reviewer! And don't worry, even if you're currently a Reynico fan (I read your stories) I'll convert you soon enough.

Hotcisawesome: Thanks! Here!

VON: I have no idea what djshsihdhdb means, but thank you too.

rainbowchameleon: I reread the prophesy that I put in the prophesy, and you are right. I meant to write that line about light and shadow, not darkness.

Guest(who should probably think up a more exciting name than guest ;) ): Well, here's more.

xxspiritxx: Yes, indeed he did. I'm actually not a huge Phillip Phillips fan, but the lyrics of Home struck me as the kind of thing Will must have been thinking in that final battle.

Mia Martell: I would like to see where this goes, too!