Jason liked having his bed to himself but he missed Piper. Her and Annabeth had gone to an expedition in Chicago. Jason looked at his bedside clock. It read eight o'clock. He quickly got up and dressed. He walked into the front room to check up on Will. Will had the file open in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot, Jason couldn't tell if the blood-shotness was from lack of sleep or tears. Jason gently took the file from his hands and closed it.
"Come on buddy, stop looking at that." He said calmly.
"I couldn't sleep and I didn't want to wake you." Will said quietly.
"I don't mind being woken up." He ruffled Will's hair, "did you want something to eat or drink?"
"No, I just want to wollo in my sadness and not think about anything." Will said blankly.
"I've got to go to a meeting with some people about shrines and gods later, you could come if you want. I could take you around New Rome before my meeting."
Will thought for a moment. Being alone and bundled in a billion blankets sounded more comforting but maybe if he went outside in the sun he'd feel better.
"I won't go to the meeting, but I'll let you show me around New Rome."
Jason smiled and went into the kitchen to make some breakfast. He ate it in the kitchen standing up.
"Will, you sure you don't want anything?" He called placing down his bowl.
"Yeah, don't worry about me Jason."
Jason smirked, "You know, thats just going to make me worry even more."
He heard Will groan and fall onto the sofa.
Jason went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash. He brushed his blonde hair down, he grumbled when some pieces of hair still stood up.
"You may be on a Roman soldiers head, but even I don't stand that straight." He said quietly while pushing the pieces down.
After a few minutes Jason gave up, though he swore that it wasn't over.
Jason was only able to spend fifteen minutes with Will before he had to head off to the library. Will had to tell him about ten times that he was fine and he'd be okay on his own.
Being in the sun lifted Wills spirits a tiny bit. Guilt was continuously punching in the stomach. A group of small children ran past him laughing and smiling. It looked like they were playing a game of tag. The children were about the same age as Mary. She'd be okay, Percy was rescuing her and he was a hero and amazing and Will could never live up to that.
Will stopped walking. Was he jealous of Percy? He cursed in ancient greek quietly, he was jealous of Percy. But how couldn't he? Nico had been drooling over Percy for years. Will couldn't compete with Percy, he'd wipe the floor with him in everything.
Percy was brave, talented, the fricking son of Poseidon! Will was some doctor that thought it would be clever to say 'Doctors orders' hoping Nico would find him funny. Nico and him got close but nothing happened between the, just flirting. Then there was the stupid quest and then he was captured. How could Will compete with a guy who had been to tartarus and come back sane? A guy who was one of the seven, a past leader of camp half-blood, who had been offered to become a freaking god, a son of the big three! Will was always messing up, his mother died because of him, Rovina died because of him. Hades wanted his head for messing Nico around. Mary had been captured because he had been a sucky older brother. He bet Percy wasn't a sucky boyfriend or brother or son.
Will felt someone tug at his clothes. A small child around the age of five was looking distressed. She had blonde straw like hair. Her clothes were tattered and dirty. Despite that she had a inner happiness that Will could sense.
"Mister, can you help me find my mum?" She whimpered.
"Yeah, what does she look like?" Will felt himself cheer up, someone needed his help.
"I don't know." she motioned for Will to bend down, "I'm a demi-god." she whispered.
"And your mum is a goddess?" He tried to sound surprised or excited.
The girl nodded, "We have statues of the gods, but i don't think that one of them is my mum."
"Why dont we have a look at the statues together?"
The girl smiled widely, "Yhay! Thank you."
The statues were on the border of New Rome close to the Aqueduct. The statues were made of marble and were four feet tall. Will found it amusing that he was taller than the statues.
"So mister, who do you think my mum is?"
Will looked at the statues and then to the girl. The only gods he'd met was his dad and Hades. He bet this girl would have wanted Percy helping her, he had met all of the gods and was respected by most of them. She was also Romen and he was Greek.
"Do you have any powers?"
"Ummm..." The girl thought for a long time, "no, but when I see the sun rise I feel like I'm at home. I feel powerful and loved. Oh, does this count as a power?"
She held out the palm of her hand and a bright light sprouted. It wasn't warm like the sun would be. It looked as if it was bowing to Will, as if it respected him.
"Yeah...it does." Will said slowly trying to work out what the light meant, "what did you say your name was?"
"I don't think I did. My name's Dawn."
"I've got an idea on who your mum could be, I'm not that good with the names though."
"What's your idea!"
Her face literally lit up. Her skin began to glow, it was a slight yellow tinge. The light in her hand grew bigger. It looked like it grew arms. Then the light opened its eyes. It had a grin on its face. It kept growing. It jumped up off her hand and ran up Dawns glowing arm. It sat on its shoulder. It was a cute little light thing.
"Aurora!" It called, it had a high pitched giggles voice, "Aurora!"
"Has this ever happened before?" Will asked.
"No...I think this is a sign." She smiled.
The light crawled down Dawns arm and jumped onto Will. It sat on top of his head.
"Graecus, Apollo." It said.
"You're Greek?" She whispered.
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"Nothing...I just hoped you could stay here, but you'll have to go back to your camp."
Will opened his mouth to say something but he heard the soft voice of Percy calling him. He quickly hugged Dawn and said goodbye. Percy was running up the hill with Mary cradled in his arms. Will ran down the hill, they met halfway. Will took Mary out of Percy's arms. She was muttering and rambling. She looked up at Will dazedly. She was sickly pale.
"Will, too many futures..." She trailed off, "Bianca will...the mermaid says yes, she says no, she's cheating...it all comes down to..." Will felt her heart beat quicken, "she's going to die! Will, you've got to save her! She's my girl...she's meant to be..."
Mary turned into Wills chest and buried her head. Will looked at Percy, he'd sat down on the grassy hill.
"Percy." Wills voice wavered, "t-thank you."
Percy threw back his head and laughed, "walk in the park."
"Humm, I bet." Will muttered under his breath.
He then carefully sat down next to Percy. Percy smiled warmly at Will.
"What happened?" Will asked.
"Mary was being held in this cell just off the coast, guarded by silly mermaids. When I found her she was sitting on this bed with her eyes closed. She didn't open her eyes or respond when i told her I was there, more guards were coming so I picked her up and left."
"Wait, you did what!"
Will pulled Mary off of him and lay her on the grass. He checked for her pulse, it was small but there. He checked her head, her temperature was normal. Her eyes were unfocused and her pupils were huge.
"Do you have any water on you?" Will asked without taking his eyes off of Mary.
"Dude." Percy said.
Will rolled his eyes, "normal water, drinking water!"
Percy pat himself down, "uh no, you want me to get some?"
"Yes please."
Percy stood up and ran down the hill to the town.
"Will." Mary whispered.
"Yeah, what is it princess?"
"Don't," she grit her teeth in pain, "don't hate Percy."
"Okay princess. You'll be okay."
Mary laughed, "we'll see."
Mary groaned and curled up to Will. Will stroked her hair. Will spoke to her softly to remind her that what she was seeing wasn't set and it'd be alright. Will heard the happy high pitched voice of the light behind him. Dawn crouched next to Mary. The light jumped into Mary and hugged her arm.
"What happened?" Dawn asked.
"Mary was meditating and was disturbed. She's overwhelmed by all of the futures." Will said quietly.
"Why is she groaning?"
"It hurts."
"Oh," Dawn said.
Percy ran back up the hill. He handed water and nectar to Will.
"Sorry I took so long." Percy panted.
"Did...did you stop for ice cream?" Mary wheased.
Percy was surprised by the question, "no, I didn't even think about ice cream."
Mary smiled weakly, "good. We'll be okay."
Mary arched her back and screamed. The light turned blue and jumped back into Dawn. Will lifted Mary's head and poured water into her mouth. She stopped screaming. Mary's pupils slowly shrank. Her pulse began to grow stronger. She groaned and closed her eyes slowly. Will told the others that she was asleep.
Will turned his attention to Dawn. Her light was snarling at Percy.
"Graecus, Graecus!" It squeaked.
Percy laughed, he'd heard the word so many times it no longer bothered him. He looked at the light trying to work out what it was. Will put out his hand and the light walked up his arm and flopped on top of his head. It glowed brighter on his head.
"It likes you...but not me." Percy said slowly.
"You'd probably extinguish it."
"Sol! Apollo sol!" It murmured.
Percy turned to Dawn and fully looked at her. He recognised her straw like, ragged hair and her dark blue eyes.
"Have I seen you before?" He asked.
"Probably, it's not like I've got anywhere to go." She replied.
"You don't live with your mortal parent?" Will asked.
"No...i've always been alone. Most people ignore me like I'm a faurn...but I don't care."
Percy and Will happened to look at each other. They both shared a look of sadness for the girl. They both knew what it was like to have a missing parent. But Percy's mother actually loved him, he got a happy family. Will broke the eye contact. He picked Mary up and started to walk down the hill. Dawn and Percy followed him. Dawn ran up and grabbed Wills hand.
Percy smiled to himself. Will having children around him looked natural. While Percy was more childlike, Will was gentle, stern...fatherly. Percy could sense a change in Will. He didn't know what caused it, Will had become more closed off and blunt.
"Will." Mary whispered.
"What is it, princess?" Will replied softly.
Percy smiled. Will called his sister a princess.
"I feel better."
"That's good, when we get home I bet you'll feel even better."
Mary nodded and curled into Wills chest. She was stealing his warmth.
Dawns light whimpered, she shushed it. It'd returned to Dawns shoulder. It turned blue with sadness.
"Hey guys," Percy called, "do you want to get a drink?"
Dawn squealed with delight. Will just nodded. Percy walked on ahead and lead them to a café. Will grabbed a table that was outside, Percy went inside to get the drinks. Will gently woke Mary up and placed her on a seat next to him. Dawn took the other seat next to him. Mary was looking better. Her eyes had returned to normal and she wasn't so pale. Will handed her the nectar to nibble on.
Percy returned with drinks. He had gotten a blueberry smoothie for himself, a banana smoothie for Will and vanilla smoothies for Mary and Drew.
After they had finished their smoothies they sat in silence. Every so often Will looked at Percy and Dawn looked at Mary. They were both jealous.
Mary raised her glass.
"I'm sorry it took me this long to say...thank you Percy." She smiled thankfully. She rubbed Wills leg, "thank you as well, Will."
Mary stood up, she took Wills and Percy's hand. She hugged them both. She cast her eyes to Dawn, she stretched out her hand and pulled her into the hug. The light turned red, Dawn was blushing.
"Roar!" Someone behind them shouted.
The four of them jumped. The person jumped onto Percy's back. Their fists smashed together. Jason ruffled Wills hair. The hug broke. Percy and Jason stood next to each other, Mary stood in between Will and Percy.
"Dude, I've had the most boring day ever!" Jason groaned, "how was saving this one?"
"Walk in the park." Percy laughed.
Jason spotted Drew. She gasped and her light shrieked, she began to play with her hands.
"It's you!" Jason said.
"I...i please...ah." She stammered.
"What's this about?" Will asked defensively.
"She came up to me in the library and asked if I could help find her mum. I was busy at the time...and under a load of stress and had had about zero sleep. I sorta yelled at her. I'm sorry about that. Did you find out who your mum was?"
Dawn looked like she was about to pass out. Her light answered for her.
"Aurora!" It smiled then bowed quickly to Jason.
"Hum, goddess of dawn. She lights the sky's for Sol."
Dawn fainted. Her light went out. Will caught her before she hit the ground.
"Did I say something?" Jason asked.
"I think you confused her with your God knowledge." Percy joked.
Jason laughed then asked, "you wanna crash at my place?"
"That's like asking if I want to go the beach. Hella yeah!"
The five of them walked to Jason's apartment. Jason and Percy lead. Mary, Will and Dawn walked behind them.
Jason put his key into the door and it opened. Mary suddenly became shy, she hid behind Will.
"What is it, princess?" Will asked bending down to her level.
Percy and Jason looked at each other, "he calls his little sister princess." Jason said.
Will glared at them, "is there anything wrong with that?"
"No, not at all." Percy said.
"If you call her princess, what do you call Nico?" Jason finished.
Will rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Mary. He heard the other go into the apartment.
"There is something in there that's mean." She whispered, "a file."
"Don't worry about that, princess."
"But..."
"Mary, don't worry about it."
Mary nodded and went into the apartment. Percy was looking through every one of Jason's cupboards.
"You've got to have some blue food colouring!" He exclaimed, "ha! Found it!"
Will looked in the kitchen. Percy had a big mixing bowl full of flour, milk, eggs, blue food colouring and a butt load of sugar. That much sugar probably wasn't good for demigods with ADHD.
"Blue pancakes!" He laughed.
Jason was laughing at Percy. He scooped some of the pancake mix and rubbed it all over Percy's face. A fierce look came on to Percy's pancake mix covered face.
"Oh it's on!"
Percy grabbed a handful and threw it at Jason's face. Jason stopped it mid air and threw it back at Percy. It splattered all over Percy's shirt. The sink began to rattle.
"Wait! Dude, no powers! Don't mess up my plumbing! We don't want a repeat of what happened on the Argo II now do we?"
"Probably not." Percy smirked.
Will left the boys when they started throwing more pancake mix. He went into the front room and sat next to Mary, who was laying on her front on the floor. Dawn was asleep on the sofa, every so often kicking or turning.
Mary had something open. She was intensely reading, she didn't look up when Will sat down next to her. Will read over her shoulder. It took him a while to realise that she was reading the file. Will snatched it and closed it.
"Why were you reading that?" Will shouted.
"I wanted to know what happened to you. You never talk about it. I needed to know why you're the way that you are now." Mary said.
"The way that I am now?" Will softened his voice.
"The strings are gone but you are still sad and broken. I was hoping that the file would explain but it didn't."
Will tried to speak but nothing came out. He had been such an idiot grieving over the girl who had tried to kill him. He didn't need to grieve anymore. He felt something shift inside of him.
"Dude, just stop you're going to burn the apartment down!" Jason shouted.
Will laughed. It was a genuine laugh.
"No! Let me do it, Jason!" Percy protested.
Percy's voice floated to Wills ears softly. Will stood up and dropped the file. Mary grabbed it and looked up at Will with her sad blue eyes. Will didn't want to know why she was sad. What did she have to be sad about?
Will walked into the kitchen. He found the boys covered in pancake mix. Percy was flipping a pancake. It smelt burnt but he insisted he knew what he was doing. He slid his browny-blue pancake onto a plate. His green eyes cast upwards and spotted Will. Percy smiled widely. Will shifted nervously.
"Hey, do you want some?" Percy asked.
Will felt his stomach growl.
"I...just a bit...please." Will said without making eye contact.
Jason nudged him, "you okay?"
"I'm f-fine." He mumbled, "Percy...I want to apologise." Will tried to hide his face, "I was jealous of you...I-I'm sorry."
"Wait, you're jealous of me?"
Will blushed, "yes...it's just that you're...oh gods this is going to sound so childish...I mean you're 'Percy Jackson'! Nico liked you and...I can't compete with you."
"Will, I think you're forgetting one very important thing." Percy smiled and pulled Will in for an one armed hug. He ruffled Wills hair, "you are Nico's type."
Will mustered a smile. He felt happiness run through him. It was different from when Apollo used his light to help Will. That was fake happiness, no wonder Will had gotten sad. This happiness was like when Mary played music. That was real, not the product of a god.
"We'll be here for you." Jason said. He poked Wills chest, "when you've got yourself back to normal, you and Nico should come and visit us."
Will laughed, "I think that'll be soon."
"Good!"
Percy flipped another pancake. He cheered in triumph when it landed on the plate. They had run out of batter. Percy made five small pancakes. He poured maple syrup all over them then sprinkled sugar on top. The three of them walked into the front room. Percy placed the plate on the coffee table. Mary scooted over to Will and sat on his lap. Dawn was fast asleep on the sofa, they saved the pancake for her. They ate the pancakes with their hands, they were being careful not to drop syrup on the carpet. They took turns to tell stories, made up or real. Jason and Percy did most of the story telling. Mary kept asking them questions about their quest to Rome, they left something's out and exaggerated others. They tried not to mention Octavian, especially since it seemed Mary had similar powers. After all of the story telling and pancake eating the sun set.
"Mary, can I use a golden dcram?"
Mary dug around in her bag and handed him one, "sure, what's up?"
"I wanted to call Nico...is that okay?"
"Yeah sure, Will." Jason said, "you can use my room for privacy if you want."
Will stood up and smiled, "thanks...for everything."
Will went into the room and left fifteen minutes later. Mary was asleep on the sofa next to Daw. Percy and Jason stopped talked and looked up at Will, he had a huge grin on his face.
"So, you had a good talk with him?" Jason asked.
Will laughed, "yeah, it was a good talk."
"What did you talk about?"
Will laughed again and sat down. He blushed goofly.
"He said that he loved me."
"Has he ever said that before?"
"Only once. But this time, the way he said it." He squirmed with excitement, "sorry, it was just so..."
Jason laughed and stood up, "I know what you mean." He yawned then said, "we're going to hit the hay. Night."
"Night."
Percy ran into Jason's room and jumped on his bed, he got into the bed and snuggled down.
"Dude, get off of my side." Jason moaned.
"But this is my side."
Jason pushed him over slightly too hard and Percy fell off the bed. He got up and scowled.
"Fine, I'll sleep on this side."
Will laughed to himself. How Annabeth and Piper put up with those two dorks Will would never know. Will leant up against the sofa and closed his eyes. He felt light and happy, he was finally back to the way he used to be. He hoped it was from talking to Nico and not the amount of sugar he'd ate.
