AN: Sorry it's taken so long to update. The school year is coming to the end and I've had a shit ton of work I've been avoiding that I had to get done. And, as usual, please r&r!

The next few days were a blur for Will. He spent most of his time in the infirmary, and he was glad to see that everything was still running smoothly. The infirmary was no more chaotic than it usually was, and overall, he had to admit that things were going pretty well. The only downside was that he was so preoccupied with his infirmary duties that he hardly got to see Nico over the next few days. At most he did a daily check in, which was obviously solely professional purposes, and he would make sure that Nico showed up to meals. Before he knew it, it was time for him and Nico to face the king. Well, mostly Nico. Gods, he was so useless. Nico would be the one raising the actual fucking dead to save the camp, and he, well, he would just stand there and pray to the gods that Nico didn't get killed in the process. He was probably fucking crazy to think that Nico might like him back. Nico was all badass and awesome and he was just some healer.

Will entered the Hades Cabin and found Nico lying down with his eyes closed. He looked so peaceful. Will reluctantly shook the sleeping boy, and Nico stirred. "It's today."

"Shit, today?" He didn't want to be so blunt with Nico since Nico had just woken, but they had to leave as soon as possible.

He ran through the plan in his head. What were they thinking? How were they even going to find this king to begin with? How would they find their way back? He pushed the doubts to the back of his mind, where they would undoubtedly resurface, but for now he just had to focus.

They more or less wordlessly prepared to leave, both preoccupied by their own thoughts.

Will was the one to break the silence. "Ready?"

"To leave, or for… all this?"

"Well, both." He said with a nervous smile.

"I sure hope so." Nico exhaled slowly, and after a few final goodbyes (temporarily, of course) they headed off into the forest.

It felt odd, considering he and Nico had been doing the same thing just a week ago. This time though, they were going in there to face the danger they hoped to avoid on their last visit. After just 5 minutes of walking, they felt the ground vibrating every 10 seconds or so.

The vibrations were getting louder and louder as they walked and Will realized he had started gripping Nico's hand rather tightly. He glanced over at Nico who acted as if he hadn't noticed, and was deliberately not looking at him. Nico didn't let go though, in fact, he was clinging to Will's hand almost as tightly.

It didn't take long for them to see the king. Luckily, he hadn't noticed them yet.

Nico grabbed Will's arm and pulled him behind a rather wide tree. "What's the plan?"

Shit. He should've thought things through better. He'd just have to think on the spot now. Nico trusted him to come up with the plan, and there was no way in hell he would let NIco down, especially not now. "For now we wait. Is there any way you can gather your mini-army quietly?"

"Well, I'm raising the dead out of the ground, so no, I don't think so. Those guys are many things, but stealthy is not one of them. And it'd take quite a few skeletons to drag that guy, so it might take a few minutes."

This was going to be harder than he thought. "Okay, a few minutes. Maybe if we put some distance between us and the king, you'll have enough time to raise the army. We should go in the direction of camp, so you don't have to exert yourself anymore than you need to."

Nico looked reluctant but he nodded. There was no going back now.

They darted from tree to tree, until they had put a fair amount of distance between them and the king. Nico took a deep breath and the ground started to rumble. Will tried his best to ignore the look of pain on Nico's face, and focused on looking out for the king. He heard the footsteps rapidly getting closer. It was too fast. The skeletons had just barely started emerging and he could spot the king in the distance. There was no way Nico would be able to fight him off, not in the state he was in. It was up to Will.

He called out Nico's name a few times and he awoke from a sort of trance. The skeletons went completely limp. "Your sword!"

Nico looked at Will, perplexed, but then at the arriving king and slid the sword towards Will. He had hardly any time to give it any thought before he fell back into the trance.

The sword felt unsteady in his hands. He was a healer, not a fighter. However, he had taken the mandatory sword fighting classes like everyone else at camp. He wasn't the best, but he would manage. Even if he didn't survive, hopefully he could stall long enough for Nico to get the king back to Tartarus. Without a second thought, he charged at the king.

The king saw him and sliced down with his absurdly large sword. He had a sword? Of course he had a fucking sword, he was a king. He barely managed to dive out of the sword's path, a deep indent in the ground where he had just stood. The king kept attempting to slice him, and there were a few very close calls as he very nearly got his arm hacked off. He spared a second to glance back at Nico, but found his vision obstructed by several trees that the king had destroyed in the process. Unfortunately, the king was getting bored of Will and looked back to Nico, the source of the sound. Seeing the army, he ignored Will, advancing to face the much larger threat. If only Will could keep the attention on him. Nico should almost be done now, it would give him just enough time. He charged at the king once more attempting to at least slice his leg, but before he reached the king he felt a shooting pain in his arm. He felt the world around him slipping away, but fought to stay awake. As painful as it was, he knew he had to leave whatever it was that had impaled him in his arm, or he would definitely die of blood loss. For gods' sake, he was fucking dying, what did it matter? Every second was more painful than the last and, at last, he gave in, closing his eyes.