Disclaimer: I don't own anything this is Uncle Rick's world.
Through The Eyes of Solace
Chapter 5
When Will finally got to sleep, he slept fitfully. Nightmares of the battle plagued his dreams, he dreamed of Michael falling to his death in the East River, and he dreamed of Kronos with Luke's face. He didn't sleep as long as he probably should have but after waking from a nightmare he struggled to fall back asleep so he got up. He went first to check on the supplies that Travis had brought back from the drugstore. He was pleased to see that the son of Hermes had came through and brought tons of medical supplies. Will spent some time organizing it, the tedious task was helpful in settling his mind.
The next thing Will did was check on the injured. Annabeth Chase's poisoned should wound was much better and she seemed to be on the mend for the better. Others were not as lucky and as many times as Will wanted to cry like a child, he held it together. It was the doctor in him, the healer in him, and he absolutely hated seeing his efforts going to waste. He hated seeing death even though as a half blood death was an everyday occurrence. He knew also that it was only going to get worse.
After Will checked on the injured and did as much as he could, he went to see how his siblings were doing. Some were resting, some were eating, and some were stocking up on supplies. He was grateful to see that his brothers and sisters did as he asked and were taking care of themselves before the next battle. It was what Michael would've wanted for them to do. Will felt keenly the weight of his new responsibilities and he was not going to let Michael down.
Not long after Will made his rounds, Thalia Grace found him. He had never spoken to the daughter of Zeus and Hunter of Artemis before but he'd heard of her story. How she once was the tree on Half Blood Hill and the Golden Fleece had brought her back to life. She being Zeus' daughter was technically Will's aunt which was all sorts of weird.
"You are the counselor of Apollo's cabin, right?" she asked.
"I am," Will said surprised she even knew who he was. "How did you know?"
"You are obviously Apollo's kid since you look just like him," Thalia said rolling her eyes.
"I do?" Will said curiously. He had been told that before by his mother, but he was more interested in the fact that Thalia knew what Apollo looked like. "You met him?"
"Yeah, once," Thalia said as though the experience wasn't totally pleasant. But then she got to the point. "I'm assembling all the head counselors, and we are meeting Percy and Annabeth. The fight is coming to us."
Not long after Will and the other head counselors were with Thalia waiting for Percy and Annabeth at the Reservoir. Before leaving the Plaza Hotel he spoke to his siblings and they were ready for battle once more, ready to protect the Lincoln Tunnel from Kronos' army. Will look at his fellow counselors and felt like it was wrong he was here. Michael should be here, he was a soldier and Will was a healer. Will didn't want to be on the front lines but here he was. He had a few arrows in his quiver and a celestial bronze dagger but that would only go so far against the type of army Kronos was bringing.
Soon Percy and Annabeth joined them and Will walked up behind Thalia to hear her speaking.
"One of my scouts just reported they've crossed the Harlem River. There was no way to hold them back. The army…," Thalia broke off shrugging. "Its huge."
They were the only line of protection for Olympus and the odds were not great. Will wished he had asked Chiron to call his Mom before they left Camp Half Blood. He was afraid he would never see her again and that would break her heart. He wondered how his Dad Apollo was doing; Will knew he and the other Olympians were facing off against Typhon at this very moment. Did Apollo know or even care that some of his children had died tonight? Did he know that it was extremely likely that more would die tonight? Will couldn't dwell on that thought; he had to stay focused on the battle at hand.
"Never fear! We'll show those Titans!" said an old satyr and the words snapped Will out of his stupor. Percy had a mixture of expressions pass over his face and finally he managed to respond. "Um…yeah. Well Grover you won't be alone. Annabeth and the Athena cabin will make their stand here. And me and…Thalia?"
Thalia patted Percy on the shoulder. "Say no more. The Hunters are ready."
Then Percy looked at Will and the other counselors. "That leaves the rest of you with a job just as important." Percy said. "You have to guard the other entrances to Manhattan. You know how tricky Kronos is."
Will definitely knew that. Michael would still be here if it wasn't from the Titan's tricks and his spy whoever he was.
"He'll hope to distract us with this big army and sneak another force in somewhere else. It's up to you to make sure that doesn't happen. Has each cabin chosen a bridge or tunnel?" Percy finished, looking at them.
Will nodded, as did the other counselors.
"Then let's do it," Percy said. "Good hunting everybody!"
Not long after Will was standing at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. He had his bow in his hands and wished again that he had more of a skill with archery. His siblings looked worried and scared but they all put on brave faces. Will did too especially because he was now head counselor and had to lead the rest of his cabin through this war. He heard noises coming down the tunnel. Kronos's army was approaching.
The ensuing battle was horrible. It seemed that whenever they shot down one enemy, two more would pop up. Will didn't love that they had to keep retreating towards the Empire State building but that's what they had to do. He wouldn't risk his siblings again in hand to hand combat, they had lost enough brothers and sisters today, so instead they backed up and tried to pick off monsters as they went. At one point during the battle Will saw a giant pig flying overhead with a black Pegasus flying beside it. He looked away and knew he had to focus on the battle at hand.
Then all of a sudden he noticed a hellhound was about to pounce on Austin, and Austin wasn't even looking. He stood quite a ways from where Will was standing and Will knew he didn't have the best shot and even if he did then he knew his skill wasn't as great as Kayla's or the rest of his siblings.
"Austin!" Will shouted, but his brother didn't hear him. Then Will put two fingers in his mouth to whistle at him and blew the most high pitched sound ever. Thankfully it got Austin's attention and he shot the hellhound who was howling at the high pitched sound.
"What was that?" Austin said in amazement.
"I have no idea," Will admitted.
Will never had heard of a child of Apollo with the skill to whistle at such a high pitched frequency that it could be used in battle, but he was grateful. At least this newly discovered talent of his was more useful than his random glowing ability. He had never spoken to his siblings about that because it was slightly embarrassing. Still he had always thought that he never got any of Apollo's skill with music, but apparently that wasn't completely true. Thank you, Apollo he thought and then he refocused on the battle.
Before Will knew it he and his siblings and retreated all the way back to the Empire State Building and it was definitely not looking good. There were barely a few dozen demigods, nature spirits, and Hunters versus Kronos' seemingly endless army. And then Will saw Kronos riding towards them slowly on a golden chariot. This had to be the end, Will thought. There was no way they could win this.
And then he heard the sound of a horn First one and then several others and the sound drew closer and louder and at the last moment Will realized it was a Centaur army. The new army was a tad unconventional and wild but they invigorated everyone to push back their attackers. Will stayed behind at the Empire State Building and tended the wounded. There were so many. Will had to triage them and treat the more grievously injured first but it was so heartbreaking because in some cases there was nothing he could do to ease their passing, and not even ambrosia and nectar would help.
Before he knew it the rest of the Campers came back, they had pushed back Kronos' army for now. The arrival of the Party Ponies had been their salvation for the moment. Will went with some of the injured into the lobby of the building and did what he could do with his limited medical supplies. He was grateful for the supplies the Stoll brother retrieved but it was going quickly. As was his supply of ambrosia and nectar.
Soon he noticed those who were still battle ready left again, obviously there was another skirmish. Will just hoped he would be able tend to all the wounded. Time seemed to pass quickly and the wounded multiplied. Will found himself taking small quantities of ambrosia and nectar just so he wouldn't pass out from exhaustion. Then the enemy was at the door and he grabbed his bow and rushed out. Will didn't see the giant but it grabbed Will and threw him before he even had a chance to fire his arrow.
Will landed hard and hit his head on the concrete. His vision had black spots and then before he knew it unconsciousness flooded him. When he woke again, Jake Mason was pulling him to the side of the building.
"What happened?" Will asked, sitting up.
"You hit your head I think," Jake said, handing Will some ambrosia.
"I'm supposed to be the doctor here," Will joked, but popped the square in his mouth.
Jake smiled faintly, but the look on his face was that of abject horror. Will followed his look and gasped. Kronos was back, and there was an army surrounding them. Kronos with Luke Castellan's face and his army were facing off against Percy Jackson, the other few who were still on their feet.
Suddenly Will heard the unmistakable sound of a hellhound and it sent a trickle of fear through him but it was unnecessary because the hellhound was Percy's pet Mrs. O'Leary and there was someone riding her. A figure wearing a black skull helmet and black armor.
Is that Nico Di Angelo? Will wondered. He had seen the son of Hades a couple of times at camp and heard story that he was the one who put the crack in the floor in the dining pavilion. Most of the other campers were scared by him, and didn't want anything to do with a kid whose Dad ran the Underworld.
"Got your message. Is it too late to join the party?" Nico asked, coming forward on his hellhound.
"Son of Hades," Kronos said obviously annoyed at being interrupted. "Do you love death so much you wish to experience it?"
"Your death," Nico said. "Would be great for me."
Will smiled, the guy definitely had courage that was for sure. He wasn't sure he would have said the same things to Kronos, but he admired Nico for doing it. Though maybe courage wasn't the right thing, Nico had a very small chance of making it out of this encounter alive. He missed what Kronos said in response but then he saw Nico draw his Stygian iron sword.
"I don't agree," Nico said and the ground started to shake. Cracks appeared everywhere and then suddenly skeletons starting to rise from the cracks. Will was thankful Nico was on their side.
"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Kronos shouted at his warriors. "The dead are no match for us"
Will stood up again as his head wasn't spinning anymore but he was in awe of the tremendous amount of undead soldiers forming ranks. Will knew the children of the Big Three Gods were powerful, he had seen Percy Jackson in action after all, but Nico's power was awe inspiring. He watched as Hades, Persephone, and Demeter arrived in a chariot and was thankful to see that the God of the Dead was on their side.
Will watched the confrontation between the Titan and God and he wanted to move, to check on his patients but he couldn't move his legs. Then he saw a barrier go up cutting them off from the main skeletal army and the mortal city. A mortal city that was no awake and in total chaos. Then the fighting began again, he shot his arrows until his quiver was completely empty. Then he focused again on the injured and dying.
It was clear once the battle was over. The Titan army fled as quickly as they had arrived. Will wasn't sure what happened exactly but he knew something major did. Later as he was setting one of the satyr's broken arms, he saw Percy Jackson walk through with Annabeth Chase. They looked sad, like they had been through hell but they also looked relieved. Whispers started to spread soon after they left and Will heard that Kronos was defeated. Apparently Luke had gained control long enough to kill himself and take Kronos with him.
Later back at camp Will kept busy tending the injured and he heard another piece of news. A mortal girl had entered the camp and became the new Oracle of Delphi. He also heard that Apollo had been to camp during the process. It would be interesting to have an Oracle that wasn't a mummy living in the attic of the Big House.
Will found it hard initially to lead as head counselor of Apollo's cabin after the loss of four of their siblings. He had been closest to Michael Yew and Will found the thought of taking his place somewhat uncomfortable knowing his predecessor was gone. It would take a long time for he and his siblings to finally recover and move on.
The night after they burned the burial shrouds Will was alone in cabin 7, watering the yellow daisies that were from Apollo's birthplace of Delos. Suddenly there was a bright flame that appeared over the center of the cabin and faded quickly and as it did a letter dropped from out of nowhere. Will lunged and caught it. On it were three lines of text.
My children are cool
I never doubted you all
Apollo is best
Is that a haiku? Will wondered and then he had to laugh out loud. Apollo sure had an interesting way of thanking his children but then he definitely wasn't surprised at this point. Still it was nice to know Apollo was thinking of them.
Will looked back at the golden daisies and towards the setting sun and smiled. "Thanks, Dad."
AN: Well there you have it, the rest of The Last Olympian from Will's POV. That was challenging to write at times but once I got inspired I couldn't stop. This is easily the longest chapter so far. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/read this story. I'm truly grateful you are enjoying this as much as I've had writing it. Next chapter will be the time between and leading up to The Lost Hero.
