A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry for the delay. I'd like to start out by thanking everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, and just read this story. You guys have no idea how much it means to me and how it makes my day. I have a few things to announce before you start reading the chapter. First, to the user who said they thought I described Monique's anxiety well, thank you! I myself suffer from an anxiety disorder, so it was nice to hear that other people think it was relatable, even if it may or may not be to the same extent. Second of all, I have a poll posted on my profile. Check that out if you get the chance! Lastly, I'd like to know what kind of story you'd like to hear next. I have lots of ideas, but I want to know what you guys would like to hear so that I can take that into consideration. So leave a review or PM me with any thoughts.

This chapter has a lot of foreshadowing that you will understand if you read The Solace of the Sea. It is not completely necessary, but it will help you understand future chapters.

Enjoy!

Will had stayed up late reading medical texts in the infirmary. He was so frustrated, so full of guilt, and so… scared. Whatever it was that had killed Alec had come back. All of them- all of them- hadn't let him use his powers to heal them. It made Will think that the monster killing them somehow convinced them that they wanted to accept death. Maybe it was the poison. He didn't know, and it was killing him. Well, not him yet, but it was killing campers.

The attacks had become much more frequent. Will had lost four siblings to the beast. First Alec. Then sweet, gentle Camille. After her was Fae. They couldn't believe the anxious demigod had even gone off alone to fight a dangerous monster. But she did, and now she was dead. Edmund had also died at the creature's hands. When Clarisse LaRue and Cyrus found him, he was already dead, his hand still entwined with his girlfriend's, Bethany Lomeli. His body was mangled, and there were puncture wounds on his neck, which had not been on any of the others'. But Will was still sure it was the same monster because the wounds inflicted still were made with cruel precision.

The whole camp was on edge. Everyone jumped at the slightest sound, and Chiron even proposed the idea of a buddy system after a certain time of the day. But when people started getting attacked even when they were in pairs, the problem became much more complicated.

The thing that bothered Will the most, though, was the comment about the golden apples. He and Lee had mentioned it to Chiron after Alec's death, but the centaur seemed hesitant to act on it, or even tell them what it could mean. Honestly, it made Will a little angry. His brother had died, and Chiron wouldn't even tell them what some of his last words meant. It was obvious they had been important to Alec. And if they were important to him, then they were important to Will. But he couldn't do anything.

He was searching through the textbooks and some ancient scripts they had in the infirmary, hoping against hope that he would come across something that would help. Was there a poison that allowed the administrator to plant thoughts in the person's brain? Or that made them want to die? If the answers to that were anywhere, they were in these textbooks.

Will really liked reading medical texts. His dyslexia never acted up when he was reading them, especially if they were in Ancient Greek. But today was different. He was worried and confused, and reading about ancient medical procedures did nothing to make him feel better today.

And then there was his mother.

She and Will had started arguing over letters. That man who was in their home when Will had called her was now her boyfriend. Will could tell that his mother was often drunk. Half of the letters she wrote him didn't even make sense. He had told her that he wanted her to lay off the alcohol over another video chat about a month ago. She threw a fit. He was only trying to look out for her, because the amount of alcohol she was obviously consuming was not healthy, and it wouldn't do her any good career wise either. But she had become addicted. Bottles were scattered everywhere in the room behind her, and at the mention of just easing off the drinking, not even stopping, she started screaming at him, cursing at him, and even started sobbing. His mother was a mess and needed help, but when Will told Lee about her, Lee had refused to let him go. He argued with Will about it for a long time. Michael had eventually joined Lee's side, agreeing that it was already dangerous enough inside of camp- outside would be three times worse. Lee also didn't want him left alone with a drunk parent. But it killed Will to leave his mother alone in her time of need, even though he now understood how little of a mom she had been. He had yelled at Lee and Michael. He grimaced as he remembered the incident:

The rest of their cabin were at the climbing wall. Will had just returned to the Apollo Cabin after the video chat with his mother. He knew those bottles were controlling her, and he knew he needed to do something. He decided to ask Lee to help him get back to Tennessee. His mother was basically sick, and she needed him to heal her.

When he opened the door to the cabin, Lee and Michael were standing together in the middle of the room, probably grieving the recent loss of Edmund. Will felt guilty for interrupting, but they had already seen him.

Smiling sadly, Lee turned to Will. "What's up, Will? How'd the video call go?"

Will ignored the question. "I need to go back to Tennessee." he stated firmly.

Lee and Michael both looked taken aback. "Woah, woah, woah," Lee said, placing his hands in front of him, palms out, in a placating gesture. "Rewind. Why do you want to go back to Tennessee? I thought you decided to be a year-round camper."

Will felt slightly impatient. "Well, yeah," he said. "But she needs me now. Lee, she's getting more and more addicted to alcohol. I need to try to ease her off it a little, just so she doesn't reach for it whenever she feels stressed or upset. And I can't do that from here."

Michael looked uneasy. Lee shook his head vehemently. "No," he said. "No, you can't go back. It's not safe at all."

All the worry and stress Will had been feeling started to come to the surface. He started subconsciously wrapping and unwrapping the ace bandage around his wrist. This had become a sign to his siblings that he was nervous, stressed, or upset. It was happening a lot more nowadays than it used to. He heard himself snap at Lee. "I have to go. Demigods do dangerous things all the time; I'll be fine."

Lee seemed to be getting slightly frustrated, too. "This is a different kind of dangerous, Will. You don't understand,"

Will's anger was steadily growing now. Didn't Lee see how important this was? "Then make me understand! Lee, this is my mom. She needs me. She could get really hurt if I don't do something. I can't do anything here. I need to go to Tennessee, and I need you to set things up with Argus."

But Lee was firm in his decision. "No, Will. I'm sorry, but you can't."

Will couldn't believe it. Here was his brother, telling him that he wouldn't let him go help his mother. Will appealed to Michael. "C'mon, Michael. I have to help Mama."

Michael looked unsure. "I can see both of your points," he began slowly. "But I think Lee's right, Will. It just wouldn't be safe."

"I don't care!" Will shouted. "This is important! I-"

"I know!" Lee yelled right back at him. It shocked Will into silence. Lee never raised his voice at anyone, unless he was yelling at everyone to get their attention. "I get that it's important! I want your mom to stop drinking just as much as you do. But you shouldn't be the one to do it. You said so yourself- your mom is almost always drunk these days. If you go home to her, she might hurt you. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. Drunk people aren't in their right minds. She might hurt you, even if she doesn't want to. It won't be safe for you to be alone with her. And her boyfriend, that Dillon guy- you don't know anything about him. Something bad could happen if you stay there. And you don't have anywhere else to go.

"That's not the only thing, either. It's not entirely safe inside of Camp Half-Blood's boundaries these days. It'll be a lot worse if you go outside camp. Frankly, I don't like your chances of survival, Will. I don't want you to get hurt, or worse, killed." Then, quietly, he added. "I won't lose another sibling."

Tears welled up in Will's eyes, and he ran out of the cabin. He went to Zeus' Fist and sat with his back up against it, crying. He stayed there until Cyrus and Brooke came looking for him so they could all go to dinner.

Will didn't speak to Lee for three days after that.

Eventually, though, he forgave his brother. Lee was just trying to keep him safe. The smile on Lee's face when Will walked with him to the infirmary that morning instead of purposefully going ahead of him made Will feel better, too.

Will went back to studying the textbooks in front of him. There had to be something, some kind of clue. But he had nothing to go on, really. The monster had claws, of course. But it was also poisonous. And what the heck did golden apples have to any of this? Poison, claws, apples. Poison, claws, apples.

Will groaned and let his head flop down onto the book he was currently looking through. It was getting kind of late, and he knew he should be heading back to the Apollo Cabin, but he didn't want to return without having gained some new information. It would be a personal failure. He picked up his head and soldiered on, desperation making him slightly impatient and desperate.

"Will?"

Will's head jerked up. Standing in the doorway were Annabeth and Luke. He was so intent on finding an answer, he hadn't noticed them come in. He smiled at the two demigods tiredly. "What's up? I didn't expect anyone to come in so late. Do you need Lee?"

Luke shook his head. "No. We actually came to see how you were doing. You've been holing yourself up in here the past few days,"

Will shrugged. "There have been a lot of people to treat," he murmured darkly.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but you're not going to do them any good if you're not healthy yourself."

He couldn't argue with that logic. Gods, why were Athena kids always right? But just because she was right, didn't mean he would heed her advice. "I want to try to at least get a vague idea of what's been going on. I hate losing so many people to this monster. I've already lost four siblings; I don't need to lose anymore."

Luke's eyes softened. "I know," he muttered. Then, perking up, he said, "Maybe we can help. One of us might think of something that you didn't."

Will pushed a few of the textbooks toward them as they pulled up chairs to sit in. "Alright. I've been looking through these to try to identify the poison, but I'm not making any progress."

Annabeth opened a particularly old book, and scanned the pages, her brow furrowed in concentration. Luke peered over Will's shoulder, frowning. They studied those books for another hour before Annabeth jerked suddenly and exclaimed, "Here! It says, 'poison from the fangs of the Chimera is lethal. There have been none known to survive it, and there is no cure. Victims appear to welcome death. Because the Chimera is part lion, snake, and goat, puncture marks and claw marks might also be found on the victim.' That has to be it. Everyone who's died didn't want to be healed. Chimera poison was affecting their brains. Most of the victims had claw marks all over their body, and Edmund even had the puncture wounds."

"But how would the poison affect the people without puncture wounds?" Luke asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "I guess the snake part could have let poison from its fangs drip onto the lion's claws, and then the poison entered the wound made by the claws."

Luke frowned thoughtfully. "I guess that makes sense. What else do we know about the Chimera?" They all sat in silence for a minute, thinking. At last, Luke exclaimed, "Well, Typhon is its father, and Echidna is its mother. It has a few siblings, including Ladon and-"

"Wait." Will interrupted. His mind was reeling. "Ladon?"

"Yeah," Luke said. "That's the dragon that guards the Garden of the Hesperides."

Will's heart rate picked up. "The Garden of the Hesperides?" he repeated numbly.

"Yep. Y'know, the one with the golden-"

"The golden apples!" Will shouted.

Annabeth and Luke looked at him like he was crazy. "What's golden apples got to do with the Chimera?" Annabeth asked.

Will rushed to explain. "As Alec was dying, he told me and Lee to tell Chiron 'golden apples.' Lee and I didn't know what it meant, and Chiron wouldn't tell us if he did. But I think he was talking about Ladon. This poison is most likely Chimera poison, and Ladon is the Chimera's kin, so it could be doing this for Ladon; or Ladon could be making it do this to achieve some goal."

"Or," Luke suggested, "Some other mythical power could be employing them both."

Annabeth nodded slowly. "But how would Alec know about the golden apples if he was attacked by the Chimera?"

Luke was quick to answer. "Children of Apollo sometimes have glimpses of the future. Their demigod dreams can be more vivid, and they can receive small premonitions during the day. Of course, this doesn't apply to all of them, but it does happen. I bet that's what happened. Alec had a premonition during the night, and in it he saw golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides. He either head some kind of noise or was acting purely on demigod instinct and went to the camp border. The Chimera attacked him. It's poison started to take its effect, but before he died, he managed to mention the apples. Ladon is behind this." Luke finished. "We have to do something, and quickly."

Everyone in the Apollo Cabin was angry with Chiron. He wouldn't let any one of them go on the quest to steal a golden apple. Lee felt that he should be able to go because he was the head counselor- not to mention that so many of his siblings had been taken from him by the Chimera. Michael argued that everyone needed Lee to stay at Camp Half-Blood to take care of them, and that it would be better if he went. The rest of the children of Apollo chose sides. Will, however, stayed neutral, even though Lee and Michael were each begging him to back them up. Will was just as mad as everyone else in his cabin was. He thought that a child of Apollo should be able to go to the Garden of Hesperides. He, Michael, and Lee had all tried to convince Chiron to let either Michael or Lee go. But Chiron was firm in his decision. He told them that he didn't think any of them were prepared for a quest. And then Hermes had to show up.

Will remembered that night. The whole camp was gathered around the campfire when Hermes appeared in a flash of light. He went to Chiron and ordered Luke to go on a quest to the Garden of Hesperides to retrieve a golden apple, which, when squeezed, could alter the effects of the Chimera poison. Luke was not at the campfire; he had spent the evening practising sword fighting, which was not an uncommon thing for him to do. Will thought it was unfortunate that he missed the opportunity to see his father, but that was life. At least Luke got to go on a quest. That was more than most demigods got.

Brian from the Ares Cabin and Adalaide from the Athena Cabin were chosen to accompany Luke. They accepted the quest and left the campfire quickly to inform Luke of the night's events and to pack so they could leave as soon as possible.

Lee and Michael were both livid. The Apollo Cabin had lost the most people, and everyone wanted to be the one to see justice was served. Instead, seemingly random campers were chosen. Luke, at least, made sense logically. He was experienced and responsible, and his skill with the sword surpassed everyone else's at camp. Sure, Adalaide and Brian had good qualities and would contribute to the quest in a positive way, but they lacked an emotional connection. But what could be done? Will sighed. Everyone wanted a quest these days. Annabeth in particular was desperate to prove herself, but Will doubted very many people would get that chance. Still, lots of people showed up to send the three on their way.

Will had never been in the attic of the Big House, and he had never seen the oracle. From what he had heard, she sounded really creepy. Personally, Will didn't like the idea of a corpse telling you that it was more than likely you'd die and fail, and quite possibly doom many other people when you did. No, he didn't think the questing lifestyle was for him. Besides, manning the infirmary kept him busy enough. It was a rare day that he and Lee didn't have their hands full. But Will wouldn't trade it for the world.

Luke, Brian, and Adalaide walked through the border and into the mortal world. The rest of camp watched them go, silent. A lot was riding on this quest. Was everyone wondering how many people would die before they got back?

Or were they thinking what he himself was thinking: Who of the three would they see again?

"Hey, freak!"

Will tried to ignore the voice, and he began to pick up his pace. He kept his head down and kept the archery range in sight as he hurried towards it. Suddenly, rough hands grabbed him from behind. Spinning him around, his antagonist quickly pulled him into the woods, away from the eyes of anyone who happened to be passing by.

Will looked at the beady eyes of Andrew. Intimidated but also irritated, Will asked curtly, "What do you want, Andrew?"

The demigod sneered. "I want you to get out of Camp Half-Blood, for Zeus' sake. Gods, you're completely useless. I mean, what kind of demigod can't use any type of weapon? It's just pathetic. The only thing you can do remotely well is healing, and you couldn't even save your own siblings. I don't want my siblings' lives to depend on a failure like you, Solace."

Will's world felt like it had come to a standstill. You couldn't even save your own siblings. Those words stung like needles of ice being thrust into his heart. He felt cold and shocked. Of course, that thought had wandered through the son of Apollo's head a few times, but he had been quick to shove it to the darkest corners of his mind because he had done everything he could, and he knew that even Lee and Chiron couldn't always save everyone. But to have someone else voice it, to have someone blame him for the deaths of their friends and family….well, they were probably right. Everyone could be healed, couldn't they? There was a cure to everything, if you looked hard enough.

Will's heart sank at this revelation. He had let down his siblings and every other camper who had died. He hadn't tried hard enough. He was a healer; he should be able to help people. Failing someone meant letting them die. He wouldn't let anyone else die. He had to try harder.

Andrew wasn't finished. "You're not supposed to be here, Solace. Demigods are supposed to fight for their survival- which you can't do. All you are is a burden. People are going to die because they tried to protect a useless, worthless, and undeserving kid with a southern accent. Which, by the way, makes you sound stupid. You're going to kill more people than you could ever save- in fact, almost everyone who's come to you with a serious injury has died! You're the worst demigod who's ever existed!"

Will's eyes were wide, and, to his shame and embarrassment, were slowly filling with tears. Andrew's words made him feel useless, worthless, and undeserving. They made him realize that he should have been feeling this way ever since he came to Camp Half-Blood. Instead, he had wrongly felt accepted and appreciated. Now he could see just how far from the truth he was. Andrew was right. He was a freak. What kind of demigod couldn't use any weapon? What kind of healer lost more people than he saved? Not a good one, that was for sure. Everyone else at camp did amazing things. Even the other kids his age were better than him. When it came down to it, Will's whole existence was….meaningless.

"So, Solace, I suggest you go back to wherever you came from. Maybe the Fates will be kind to you and a monster will kill you while you're there." And with those cruel words, Andrew shoved Will as hard as he could and ran off. Will tripped over a tree root, scratched his calf on a rock, and hit his head hard enough to leave a bruise on the trunk of a tree. Miserable and in pain, he stood up shakily and walked deeper into the woods, seeking isolation.

He didn't know how long he had been walking, and he had been so disoriented that he didn't even know where he was. Sniffling, Will sat down against the sturdy trunk of an oak tree. He sat there, crying, for long time. By the time he stopped, the sun was low on the horizon, just starting to bleed into the red sky. Will didn't move, though, and instead just stared moodily at the ground.

"Y'know, I've never seen a son of Apollo brood before."

Will jerked his head up and saw Kenneth, son of Aphrodite, standing before him. "K-Kenneth?" he stuttered.

Kenneth walked over and sat down on the ground, despite the fact that he had probably just gotten dirt all over his designer grey skinny jeans. "So," the son of Aphrodite began. "Care to tell me what's been eating at you?"

Will didn't feel like sharing. He shrugged. "I'm fine," he murmured.

Kenneth raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Sure you are. C'mon, Will. I'm not my sisters. I don't gossip."

Will made the mistake of glancing at Kenneth. His green eyes sparkled in the dappled sunlight coming through the trees. His mahogany hair was stylishly tousled, as though he had just run his hand through it. His eyes gazed at Will softly, and his face was adorned with a small, warm smile. His body was turned fully towards Will, signifying that he was giving all his attention to Will. Kenneth's body language as a whole felt accepting and inviting, and Will found himself telling Kenneth at least a partial truth.

"I guess I just feel like I don't fit in," Will muttered, not meeting Kenneth's gaze. Subconsciously, he was suppressing his southern accent. He didn't realize it, but he was pronouncing his vowels as he had heard everyone else at camp pronounce them.

Kenneth seemed just as oblivious as Will was. "Do you miss Tennessee?" Kenneth asked kindly.

Will scrunched up his nose. "No. My mom and I never really had a great relationship, and the people in the part of Tennessee where I'm from can be really close-minded."

Will didn't notice it, but a pondering look took over Kenneth's features. "So," the son of Aphrodite began, "You feel like no one thinks you're worth anything? Like you're insignificant or a burden?"

Will nodded miserably. "Yeah," he said, dejected.

Again, Will didn't see it, but Kenneth's eyes glinted. Casually, Kenneth asked, "So I guess all you really want is to feel loved, so to speak."

Will tilted his head slightly to look at Kenneth. "I guess. I don't know."

Kenneth held Will's gaze for a moment, and then he stood up abruptly. The brunette offered Will his hand, and Will accepted it. "Let's get back to camp; your brothers are worried about you."

As they walked back to camp, Kenneth glanced at Will over his shoulder, a sideways smirk adorning his features. "For what it's worth, Will, I really like you."

"Will!"

Michael's shout drew the attention of the rest of the Apollo Cabin. Bright grins split each of their faces, and he smiled right back at them, if only slightly less enthusiastic. Michael approached him, looking extremely relieved. "I thought you were going to meet me and Lee at the archery range!" He exclaimed, looking only slightly annoyed. He wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders and inserted himself between Will and Kenneth. Will didn't think anything of it at the time.

Will looked at his brother, an apology on his lips, when Abby ran up to him and tackled him in a hug. "Don't disappear like that again!" His sister scolded him. "We thought that the Chimera had gotten you!"

"I'm sorry, Abby," he said. He quickly formulated a lie. "I was walking in the woods, and I got lost. Kenneth found me," he added.

Lee walked up to the group. "Thanks for helping Will," he said begrudgingly.

Kenneth looked at Lee cooly and smirked. "No problem. He's a special kid." And then the son of Aphrodite walked back toward his own cabin. Again, nothing struck Will as odd at the time.

Brooke ran to them. "Will, you have a letter from your mother," she said.

His already tight smile became even more strained. "Thanks," he said, accepting the envelope. Turning to Lee, he said, "I'm gonna go in the cabin and read it."

"...Okay," Lee relented.

Racing inside, Will tore open the letter and jumped onto his bed. He began to read it. It said:

Dear Will,

I know we argued the last time we communicated. But I'd really appreciate it if you'd our quarrels aside when you read this. Do remember that guy you saw in the background the first time we video chatted? Well, his name is Dillon Goldstein. He's a really fun guy, Will. I think he's awesome. He's been helping me a lot this past year, and I feel better and more alive than I've ever felt before. I want you to come home this Christmas to meet him. I've already contacted Chiron, and I included your plane ticket with this letter. Dillon really wants to get to know you. Oh, and when you come, don't mention your father. See you soon, kid.

Yours,

Naomi Solace

That was it. No I love you, Will or I miss you. Just I want you to come home to meet this new guy who made my life great. Thanks, Mama.

Will looked at the plane ticket. It was dated for next Wednesday. His mother didn't make it seem like he had a real choice in the matter, so he supposed he was going to Tennessee next week. He felt a pain when he thought of the fact that he would be leaving Brooke, Michael, Lee, and Ally. His heart started beating rapidly when he thought of the fact that he would be going outside the border, which was potentially dangerous at the moment. But...his mother had reached out to him to try to get him to come home for Christmas. Will was desperate to rebuild his relationship with his mother. He needed to go to Tennessee this Christmas. Not only for Naomi, but for himself.