II. Will
Sneaking out of Cabin 7 without waking up his siblings was fairly easy. While their cabin was known for waking with the sun, fall and winter was another story. The cabin's energy levels had a visible (at least to an Apollo camper) shift during the shortening days and they tended to sleep in a little later, a little lazy about rising just like their dad at this time of year. And when an Apollo camper was asleep it was near impossible to wake them up before the sun came up.
This allowed a little leeway for Will to get dressed and sneak out. It took him longer to dress than her should have. He kept dropping things his stomach in knots and the scream from the end of his dream echoing in his mind making him clumsy. When he finally managed to get his clothes on and outside the cabin his siblings were none the wiser, but he could see a familiar lightness begin in the very edge of the sky.
It didn't hold the same comfort that it used to.
The sun rising usually filled Will with a certain amount of warmth and recognition he associated with his father. But ever since the end of the war and the vanishing of the power of prophecy it hadn't felt the same. Sure there was a physical warmth that came with the day, but to him it felt colder, more impersonal. He'd talked to a few of his siblings and they'd had a similar feeling about it.
Their father wasn't in the sunrise anymore. If the screaming Will heard really was his dad than he might not physically be capable of doing it anymore.
Will's fingers twitched with the urge to heal. All he wanted to do was track done his reckless, fickle father and make sure he was alright. And maybe smack the teenage god in the head a little bit for worrying him.
His hands shook slightly as he made his way across the mostly quiet camp. The temporary legion housing was full yet again with their visit this week and Will spotted the flag of the Fifth Cohort hanging over the structure signalling which group was visiting from their sister camp this go round. Normally the site would have made Will smile. He liked the Fifth. They were a group of those who were a little odd and a little different. More importantly, to Will anyway, his favorite (or least favorite depending on the behavior of the day) patient made a point to be in camp during the Fifth's visits.
Will wished he was here. Nico was a lot of things, stubborn and completely incapable of taking care of his own health, but he was reliable when help was needed. Unfortunately, the son of Hades had been called in by his father a few days ago to help track down and escapee. Nico had already been gone longer than expected and during their last Iris message he'd told Will he'd try to be back within the week. Any comfort from Nico wasn't an option right now.
Will took the steps at the Big House entrance two at a time and reached to open the door feeling even more hurried now that he was almost at his destination.
If not for Hazel's quick reflexes he would have found himself face first on the Big House floor.
Will had always liked Hazel. The girl was young, but serious and responsible. They weren't very close, but after she'd realized he was becoming good friends with her brother she made it a point to talk to him whenever they see each other. Will concerned them to be sort of friend by this point and he enjoyed talking to her during their conversations. He'd actually managed to forget that the Fifth Cohort also meant Hazel would be here as the Centurion in charge of this week's exchange.
The girl smiled when she saw his face, but it fell the next second and her golden eyes grew concerned.
"What's wrong?" the younger (older) girl demanded seriously, not releasing her grip on his arm and looking prepared to drag him to Chiron herself or draw the spatha at her side depending on his answer. It was only seeing the look on Hazel's face that made Will realize how terrible he had to look. His hair was out of place from sleeping, the clothes he'd grabbed didn't exactly match with him being more concerned with getting to Chiron than looking presentable, and his hands would not stop shaking.
Will's throat went tight at the thought of explaining what he had seen, but before he could talk. Either to tell Hazel his dream or that he needed to tell Chiron he didn't know which. He heard the familiar sound of hooves heading towards them and for the first time since he woke up he felt some semblance of relief that only grew when Chiron's familiar face appeared in the doorway. His face went through the quick process of confusion to worry much like Hazel's had at Will's appearance.
"Will?" Chiron questioned his old gaze settling on the shaky teen. "What is it?"
Will took a shaky breath.
"I think my dad just sent me a vision."
3-
The explanations had gone pretty quickly after that. Hazel had followed Chiron and Will back inside and Will had quickly recounted his dream for them. He'd fudged the bit about being so close to Nico and explained it away as sitting with his friends rather than his crush. He knew Hazel was a nice girl and all, but he didn't exactly want to talk about what amounted to the "Most Epic Non-Existent Love Affair in History", as Cecil had so cleverly dubbed his crush on Nico, to the boy's sister. He might, just maybe, mentioned it it it was just Chiron. It didn't seem like the most relevant part of the dream anyway.
When he talked about the the dark cloud covering Cabin 7 and camp, his father's scream, the verse he'd heard, and the strange message he received he could feel the tension in the room build. Hazel's hand went to her sword as if seeking comfort from it and Chiron's face grew graver and greyer as Will continued on. By the end Will was tense again, but thankfully his hands had finally stilled. Chiron looked grimly thoughtful and Hazel looked concerned.
"We knew Apollo would be punished. Is this it? Why did it take a year for Zeus to go through with it?" Hazel questioned turning to Chiron respectfully, but searching. "He couldn't have really killed his son could he?"
Will sat frozen going over what Hazel said. Could his dad really be dead?
When Will had first come to camp when he was little he'd been a bit reassured by the fact his father was a god. Gods and goddesses in his mind couldn't be hurt or die. They were untouchable. The wars had taught him differently though. They could be touched. They could be hurt. They could even die as much as someone immortal could. That had been a bit of a blow to a bit of security Will had felt in his life, but amongst all the other loses he'd thought it a minor one. Now, after hearing Hazel's words, it felt like the worst betrayal. If Apollo died Will wasn't sure he would ever forgive the god.
Chiron looked almost as old as he had during the war when he spoke. "The last time Apollo angered Zeus this much he was cursed with servitude and that was only thanks to the pleading of Artemis and his mother Leto. Zeus may have taken his time this time around to think things through clearly, but we knew punishment was coming. How much Artemis would have been able to accomplish, especially without her mother around to help her is worrying."
That last part didn't sound quite right. "What do you mean? Leto was a goddess like dad and Aunt Artemis wasn't she?"
Chiron gave a small nod, but their was a clear reluctance in his face now. "It would be more correct to call her a titaness. Obviously, she sided with the gods during the first war, but in recent years she disapproved of how Zeus treated her children. She did not make the same choice during Kronos's second rise."
Will stiffened at the sentence. Perfect, his own grandmother had sided against them in the Titan War. Chiron seemed to sense his thoughts and sighed.
"Leto did not support Kronos, but she wasn't very helpful to the gods either offering support only to her children when they were in immediate danger." Chiron elaborated.
"She was neutral." Hazel piped in, not looking exactly pleased by this statement, but neither was she judgemental.
Chiron nodded.
"And Zeus punished her for it." Will said as he realized where this was going. It left a sour taste in his mouth when he said it.
Chiron nodded again not looking pleased. "That's correct. Before the Giant War, the twins were trying to argue for her release from Tartarus, and her imprisonment may have played at least a partial role in your father's decisions. As far as I know she's still there among our relatives."
Will felt sick at the thought. His grandmother hadn't really done anything to deserve that. True, she hadn't fought on the right side, but she hadn't exactly been opposing anyone. He'd heard very little about Tartarus during the year of friendship with Nico. The boy didn't like to dwell on it and was even more reluctant to talk about it than he was most other things. But Will had heard Nico during the nightmares he'd sometimes had during his infirmary stays. Will had heard about the bare basics of what he'd went through and he'd seen the scars that place had left on Annabeth and Percy. Will couldn't believe his grandmother deserved that. The thought made him freeze once more. Growing even more nauseous.
"Is that what happened to my dad?" Will questioned. "The screaming. Was that him being sent to Tartarus?"
The room was silent and Will could see he wasn't the only one distressed by the thought. He hadn't gotten the impression that Hazel liked Apollo all that much, heck Will wasn't sure he liked his dad all that much, but he was a little relieved to see she didn't look any happier about the idea than he did. She would be even more familiar with what exactly Tartarus truly meant than he was.
The shake of the head Chiron gave at that filled Will with a shaky sort of relief.
"No, I highly doubt your father would have even been able to send you a dream if he was there. While some may have the ability to speak form the pit. Apollo is not one of them. It is likely some other sort of punishment." Chiron decided after a moment of thought. He went still from his pacing and looked directly at Will, making him squirm a bit.
"We likely won't know what exactly has happened until you finish your quest." Chiron told Will, making him stiffen.
"Quest?" Will asked confused.
"Yes, it is not unorthodox to begin one with a dream. Though there will not be a prophecy for obvious reasons. It is clear to me that Apollo has given you a personal quest Will." Chiron turned to look at the calendar that hung in the room. "And one that requires you to leave immediately. You only have five days to get there and half a world to cross."
Will couldn't breath. His insides twisted up at the implications. A quest. His first quest. Will wasn't the hero that got quests. Especially not personal ones from his father. Will was a healer. He was the support of heroes like that. Heroes who were in stories like Achilles and Odysseus. Like Percy and Nico. With the exception of the occasional field trip to Olympus and what was demanded during the wars Will hadn't left camp since he'd arrived crying and confused at six. It had been eight years and the only camper with a longer record was Annabeth Chase, who'd broken hers when she'd left for New Rome with Percy Jackson.
Will's mind instantly went to a quiet house in the shade of an overgrown oleander far from town and close enough to the beach he would wake up to the smell of salt and heat and the soft sound of his mother singing. Will swallowed hard beating that image down.
"I accept." he found himself saying still shocked and more nervous than he'd been during two wars. More nervous than he'd been the day he'd moved into Cabin 7 terrified of the sudden influx of siblings. More nervous than he'd been the turbulent beginning three days of his friendship with Nico di Angelo. More nervous even than when he'd inconceivably been chosen to succeed Michael as Head Counselor and replaced Jackie Jay as Head Medic in the infirmary.
Chiron nodded and began to tell him his options to travel overseas as Hazel stared at him with undeniable concern.
