LIII

WILL

Lightning zapped all around, briefly illuminating the night sky. It was followed by thunder that reverberated throughout the abandoned building, rain poured incessantly along with it. Most people of Manhattan might think that it was just ordinary bad weather but Will Solace knew better. The sudden rainfall was caused by his friends and fellow demigods, Percy Jackson and Jason Grace. Nobody was even aware of the raging battle happening inside a certain building. Others might have been having a normal night but for a few certain people, it was a night they were fighting for their lives as well as a bit of world peace.

Will Solace, who was glowing like a bright sun, climbed two steps at a time towards the third floor of the building. Scaling the first two floors was already hard when dozens of the dead were stopping him from going all the way up. There were brief moments where he wondered how he ended up in this kind of situation when he was just a doctor who was mostly awake at night to heal his patients, and who just wanted to be with the person he truly loved the most. Now, he was like a soldier on duty and as Percy put it, it wasn't on his job description.

He paused on the third floor so he could catch his breath. As expected, another dozen of the dead were waiting for him there.

Will spoke his magic words. "Stay back."

Immediately, almost all the dead souls froze. But few souls were stubborn; annoying, and who seemed to be resisting Will's voice, so some of them continued to attack Will regardless of the command, which Will found problematic.

Hitting the dead felt the same as hitting a human being. Despite being made of seemingly black smoke, their bodies were solid and they had retaliated back as if they were all experts on a battlefield. Will, on the other hand, was definitely not an expert on a battlefield. As his father had stated a while back, he was more on the non-violent side, so Will didn't know how long his limited knowledge on fighting would save him. He wasn't some doctor turned into a comic superhero for gods' sake! He was thankful though, for his light powers. If not for the light he emitted that kept the dead at bay, the dead might have devoured him long before the battle had even started.

He had finally shoved the dead aside when he saw another problem up ahead: the sky bridge connected to the other building.

Fortunately, Jason, Reyna, and Bob reached the same floor, a little bit farther from him. Unlike Will, they were warriors on the field, fighting side by side. Will had no idea how they could see through the dark and still fight when their only source of light was Will's light glow, which didn't reach that far, and the occasional lightning, courtesy of Jason.

"Which way?" Will shouted to no one in particular as his light pulsated, throwing away a row of dead coming his way. He ducked down to avoid another dead from attacking him.

Apollo had told them that Nico was on the rooftop, but the problem was, his father hadn't specifically said on which rooftop because technically the whole building was made of two towers being connected by the sky bridge. Nico might be on the other side of the building for all he knew.

Jason came to his aid, slashing and extinguishing another wave of dead surging towards Will. His sword sparked with lightning.

"I don't know which way to go," Will said when Jason stopped beside him. "There's a sky bridge connecting both buildings so Nico might be there instead of above us."

"Percy, Apollo, and Bianca will be going to the other building. Just continue on your way towards the top. If Nico isn't there, Apollo and the others will be rescuing him on the other side." Jason slashed another dead, sending it to the ground. "Damn, this whole place is so heavily guarded by a spell that I can't even fly. It would be easier if we could just fly towards the rooftop."

"You can fly?" Will asked as he concentrated on his light, and the dead backed off immediately.

"Oh yeah, like a blond superman."

Will was impressed.

"Go on now, doc. I'll hold the dead back for you and we'll follow you immediately after to help out," Jason said.

Will nodded. "Thanks, man," he said before taking off running toward the stairs. He was in the middle of climbing up another set of stairs when his light illuminated something on the floor that made him pause.

Not too far from him, a familiar bracelet was lying on the floor. He picked it up and examined it. It was the braided cord bracelet he had given to Nico when they were on the helipad of JHH. Will looked up at the darkened path ahead. Nico was on the rooftop of this building for sure. He pocketed the bracelet and with a determined look on his face, he continued on his way, his light bursting like a supernova.

Call it adrenaline, luck, or whatever you want to call it, but Will made it to the top of the 5th floor of the building without much of a hassle from the dead. They pretty much backed away when they saw the blinding light coming from Will. He stopped at the foot of the staircase going to the rooftop to catch his breath.

I'm coming, Nico.

Suddenly, he heard a loud BANG come from the rooftop. Will was momentarily frozen to his spot, his heartbeat drumming on his ribcage.

"N-Nico?" Will clenched his fist. No. He couldn't afford to lose Nico again. They had gone through so much trouble just to be together. He loved Nico too much for him to ever allow them to be separated again.

Will continued up the final set of stairs towards Nico.

Will yanked the rooftop door open. The rain seemed to stop a while back as a gust of wind greeted him.

Ahead of Will, Bryce and Nico were standing in a face-off, both drenched from the rain. Everything around them was a wreck. An emergency lamp was lying on its side, though it still seemed to be working, and there was a broken chair nearby. Wooden boards and steel pipe poles were all broken apart, littering the wet concrete floor.

Nico was holding his Stygian Iron Sword while Bryce was holding a long steel pipe. Behind Nico was a long ivory staff lying on the floor, which Nico had been seemingly protecting from the latter. For a moment, both of them were stunned to see another presence on the rooftop.

Nico was the first to recover. Will winced at the sight of Nico's bloodied and bruised face and one of his eyes was swelling. A sudden rush of anger coursed through the doctor.

Nonetheless, Nico grinned at him through the pain. "Hey, sunshine. It's nice of you to join the party."

Bryce growled as he spat the blood formed on his mouth. His face was the same as Nico's, bruised and bloodied. There was a cut on Bryce's left cheek; blood also trickled down from the cut. Bryce's shirt was torn at the chest, showing another slashed wound. Though Bryce seemed to not care about the injury as he continued to glare at Will. "Great, another one to kill."

"Nuh-uh." Nico slashed the air with his sword, a menacing growl escaping his throat. "So help me, gods, if you touch him. . ."

Bryce smirked maliciously and stared at Will. "Oh, someone special, eh?"

Nico's eyes narrowed at him as his mouth formed a thin line. "Don't you dare."

At that moment, Bryce knew what would hurt Nico the most. Bryce charged at Will, and Nico's eyes widened.

But Will was prepared as his light pulsated with life. "Python, stop."

Immediately, Bryce froze on the spot, his eyes wide.

Will stepped forward, tendrils of light curling around him as if trying to reach Bryce. Bryce, meanwhile, was trembling to fight Will's power.

"W-What is this?" Bryce questioned, his eyes narrowed at Will.

"Despite being dead, you still want to be with the living, and that's why I have power over you," Will said, inching towards Nico. "Now, I am commanding you to let Bryce's body go."

"No!" Bryce growled, black smoke emanating from his body. He made a big effort to step towards them.

Will frowned. "He's a tough one."

Nico snorted beside him, his sword still held in a defensive position, ready for anything. "Obviously."

Will decided to change tactics. He spoke "Agatha Lawrence,"

Bryce became still again.

"I'm speaking to the real Bryce Lawrence now," Will said. "I know you're still in there; your soul is trapped in there somewhere. I know you want to be with your sister badly because you love her so much. . ."

Bryce blinked. For a moment, his eyes seemed to shift. It wasn't angry or animalistic.

"Help," Bryce croaked, but a sudden growl escaped him as he clutched his head. "No! You are gone!" Tendrils of black smoke curled around his body. his voice changed into the pleading one as before. "Too late! Kill me-no!" He staggered backward.

Will and Nico looked at each other, not knowing what to make of it.

Will returned his attention to Bryce. He stepped towards him and exhaled. "Python, let him go."

"No! THIS IS MY BODY NOW!" Python roared at Wil. PYthon tried to steady himself on his two feet.

"No, it's not." Will's voice was determined but calm. "You are dead, Python. Accept it. Bryce, fight Python inside you, please, for your sister." Will took another step towards him, his hand outstretched to him. Light curled around his hand; it was like a vine trying to reach out to the sun but the sun wasn't a sun, it was Bryce.

Bryce stared at Will with glassy and unfocused eyes. He shook his head. "He'll kill all of us so stop me now before it's too late. Tell Agatha I love her and I'm so sorry."

"No," Will murmured, stepping forward once again, his arm still outstretched to Bryce. "Bryce-"

Bryce closed his eyes and went still for a moment.

"W-Will," Nico called out uncertainly.

"No, Bryce." Will walked towards Bryce.

Bryce's eyes snapped open. But they weren't his eyes, they were Python's. Hunger for bloodlust swirled in his eyes.

Python only stared at Will. "Die."

With the pipe pole in hand, Python charged at Will who was rooted to his spot.

Nico leaped in action, shoving Will out of the way. The blond staggered sideways, hitting the disarray stacks of wooden boards and poles beside him. Nico intercepted the pole with his sword. With all his strength, he drove Python towards the corner of the rooftop.

"Will, the scepter! Crush the orb now!"

Will was partially wet on his side when he hit the concrete floor, but he managed to grasp the stack of boards for support. He shook his head, regaining his senses. Nico had said something to him, something about a scepter and crushing an orb. Will glanced to his side where the said scepter was lying on the floor with its orb glowing bright purple.

Right. Crush it.

Will stood up and was about to go to the scepter when a loud cry stopped him. He looked over to where it came from, finding Nico lying on his side on the floor holding, his bleeding thigh. Bryce was holding a knife in his hand.

"Nico!"

"Don't mind me! Get the scepter!"

Python barrelled towards Will, but Nico somehow vanished and reappeared in front of Bryce, pushing him away from Will.

"Gods of Olympus, Will! Get the scepter!" Nico shouted. He punched Bryce in the face.

Will ran towards the scepter and picked it up. He swung it at the nearest cement post, smashing the glowing purple orb to pieces.

"No!" Bryce bellowed.

Several things happened at once as Will dropped the orb-less scepter. A gust of wind sent him staggering back a few steps, though he, fortunately, didn't fall. Unfortunately, it knocked the breath out of him so he had to rest with his hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath back. There was a sound of an explosion in the air as a purple barrier appeared above them. The barrier crackled with purple sparks then it disappeared. Jason and Reyna finally made it to the rooftop too, bursting through the open door.

Unknown to them, floors below, the remaining dead disappeared in thin air, confusing Percy and the rest of the gang momentarily.

Apollo looked at the window and turned around. "Cover your eyes!" He yelled before vanishing in a burst of light.

Bianca and Bob also disappeared in black smoke a moment later, leaving Percy alone at the bottom of the building.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Bryce went berserk. With his enraged energy, he grabbed Nico and threw him to the side. Nico flew in the air, hitting his back on the nearby wall as he landed. He cried out from the force of the impact. Bryce came thundering towards Will, sending Reyna and Jason into a battle of three as they tried to intercept him. Will saw Nico slipping out of consciousness out of the corner of his eye. Though Nico still managed to look up at Will. Their eyes locked as Will strode towards him.

Reyna and Jason were thrown off as well, both groaning when they hit the floor. Will made a mistake of stopping and turning to look at Python, who was staring back at him with an evil smirk plastered on his lips. Apollo appeared on the rooftop with Bianca and Bob. The sun god nocked an arrow into his bow and aimed it at Python. The two death angels stood on either side of the god in defensive positions.

Sometime in the fight, Python had managed to get the gun from Jason's holster vest and was now aiming it at Will's chest.

Time seemed to slow down as Nico's eyes widened at him.

He knew what was about to happen and so was Will. A single tear slid down Nico's cheek as his eyes switched from the gun to Will.

"No," Nico released a strangled cry. He tried his best to get up but ended up sliding down the floor.

Apollo released the arrow at the same moment that Python pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The golden arrow hit Python directly in the chest and the gun dropped to the ground. There was still a manic gleam in his eyes as his long last revenge was accomplished. He might not be able to kill Nico in the end but Python managed to give Nico a final blow worse than killing him physically. Will was aware of all of this.

Python fell limply to the floor, lifeless.

Will blinked and staggered back, looking down at his chest. His scrub shirt was stained red.

Funny how he was still faintly glowing even though his lifeforce was slowly dying. Would he be able to command his soul to stay in his body? He wanted to live too. He reached up to touch the blood to make sure it was really there and not a figment of his imagination before he dropped to his knees.

Everything around him seemed to be muted as his father ran towards him, a frantic, scared, and angry expression on his face. He seemed to be shouting something.

Will then remembered someone. That someone appeared at his side, catching him as he fell to the floor. He seemed to appear out of thin air, which Will thought was pretty cool in his delirious state. He looked at that someone and faintly smiled at the angel's ever handsome face.

The angel touched Will's cheek. His hand was cool and pleasant. Tears welled up in his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes and streamed down his pale and bruised cheeks. Will's eyesight started to blur and darken.

Can I still look at his face one more time, please?

Will Solace knew by heart that he couldn't cheat death all the time. He avoided death once last year, then twice just earlier when his friend had managed to revive him back to life. He should have known that he couldn't avoid it a third time.

It was funny to think that his life seemed tied to this place; this cursed place that seemed to rob him of his life every time he was here. Finally, this time, it was succeeding.

From a certain rooftop in Manhattan, a beam of light exploded upward towards the sky, cutting through the darkness. It was a ray of gold and onyx black.

Most people would think that it was just ordinary lightning. But unknown to them, the bright and blinding light came from the rage of a god who was losing his son and agony of a death angel who was losing his solace.