The morning light revealed the scale of the damage done.
Nico let out his breath, looking up and up into the eyes of the Athena Parthenos. Her power was broken; she was just a statue.
He collapsed against her, feeling just as broken and meaningless. It had been so long since he felt this low that he had almost forgotten it.
"Hey," Will said.
Nico wanted to scream. He wanted to cry and rage and...and...
"He did this," he said, his voice barely audible.
"Nero is behind this," Will tried to say.
"You would defend-"
"No! Look, it's not-"
"It looked like him! And he just-" Nico pressed his palms on the statue, searching for her life force. But all he sensed was the death throes of elephants slaughtered for their ivory and Gaea's agony as the gold was carved from her body. Just like his own, their suffering was now made invalid. "He was supposed to serve me."
"All of us. He was supposed to serve everyone at his table," Will reminded him.
"So what? Am I being selfish? Is that what you're saying?"
"I'm saying that Kayla and Austin are going to need us. Paolo is going to need us. And Harley. And the Victor twins. And-." Will's face turned bright red. "I'm going to need you. But we need to think about them first." Will sighed and Nico realized he had never seen him so tired before. "Besides it really seems like Meg is in serious trouble."
Nico snorted. "She is now. Your dad has to be the most useless, incompetent god I've ever met. I'd be more concerned about the kind of 'help' that he would offer."
"Exactly," Will told him. "Better her than us."
"She's gone," Nico told him, feeling his anger slide into despair. "I can't hear her anymore. It was for nothing."
"Not for nothing. She's still standing. They're not going to know the difference."
"But I know."
"Then you can bring her back. It's like Chiron always says, -"
"Nothing is ever truly gone," they said together.
Nico sat down in the snow and Will slid in beside. "Maybe they'll be okay for a little while," he assured Nico.
"They have Chiron," Nico agreed.
Will put his arm around Nico and leaned on him. "I hate my dad."