"Will!" Chiara bursts into the infirmary, half dragging an unconscious Apollo with her. Will stands up in alarm, his blue eyes wide.
"Chiara? Apollo?!" He exclaims, and helps Chiara lay Apollo down on a bed, his hands flitting over his father anxiously. "I didn't think tha' he would be back so soon… Was Meg with him at all?" Chiara shakes her head, her dark green eyes flashing.
"No, he just… appeared right in front of me." She says, her eyebrows furrowing. "No one was with him. It was… weird. He's been muttering about someone named Hyacinthus too." Will blinks in surprise. Of course he knows the story, but he's surprised just the same. "You should probably get to your healing." She presses gently, and Will shakes his head to get himself out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks for bringin' him in." He says with a warm smile, and his attention is caught when the temperature drops just a bit. "Neeks!" Chiara turns her head with a sniff.
"My cue to leave. See ya Will… di Angelo." She leaves, her shoulder pushing past Nico.
"Benvenuti." Nico says back, and makes a face at her back. Will just rolls his eyes with a laugh. "Is he okay?" Nico asks, looking down at Apollo, who is still, his head lolling to the side in a way that shows that he is most definitely not asleep.
Will takes Apollo's wrist in his hand, searching his vitals. He furrows his brow. "He has a concussion. I can try 'n' heal him up, but I'm not sure how well my healing powers will work on him since he's human." Will frowns, but starts singing under his breath anyway, holding Apollo's wrist in his hand so he can constantly monitor his vitals. He sighs, his shoulders slumping just a bit as the healing seems to take, even if it's minute. "Well, it's doing a little bit." He says after a while, chewing on the inside of his lip. "Not much that we can do now but wait for him to wake up."
Nico leans back on one of the free beds, his arms crossed over his chest. His dark eyes scan Will in a way that makes him want to squirm in discomfort. It's a reminder that Nico has always been much too good at reading him like an open book. "You can't go out there, you know that right?" He says, and Will shoots him a look, blue eyes narrowing.
"I didn't—" Nico snorts, a frown tugging down his lips.
"I know you. And I know that Chiron would say no too." He says, and Will makes a face at him.
"Mister di Angelo is right." Will and Nico both turn at the sound of Chiron's voice as he enters the infirmary, a concerned look in his dark eyes. "You cannot go out into the woods, no matter what is going on. We cannot lose you or Nico as well, William." Will goes to protest, but Nico's hand holds him in place.
"Will, let's just wait for Apollo to wake up and then we can figure out what is going on, okay?" He says, looking over at the unconscious figure in the bed. "You can't rush into things headfirst, that's my job." He shoots Will a crooked smile, and Will huffs, shaking his head.
He hates this.
A few hours later, as the midday sun is starting to filter through the infirmary, Apollo stirs, his blue eyes fluttering open, unfocused and not completely aware. He mutters something, and Will leans in closer, only for Apollo to sit up suddenly, a panicked expression on his face.
"Hyacinthus!" He says loudly, and grasps onto a pot that Will hadn't seen there before, hugging it to his body. He starts muttering under his breath, and Nico leans into closer to Will, dark eyes concerned.
"He's talking to the flowers… is this normal?" He asks, and Will shoots him a look.
"Apollo." He says, facing his dad and holding onto his shoulder lightly. "You had a concussion. I healed you, but—"
"These hyacinths… have they always been here?" Apollo demands, blue eyes wild as he holds up the pot. Will sighs, shaking his head.
"Honestly, I have no idea where they came from. We don' even have any on the grounds." He takes the pot from Apollo and puts it back on the side table near the window, the violet blooms soaking up the mid morning sun. "We need to worry 'bout you at the moment."
He feels Nico approach behind him, and feels the cool touch of his boyfriend's hand through his shirt on his shoulder. "Apollo, we were worried. Will especially." Will can feel the thrum of anxiety starting to spike in his stomach, and he chews on the inside of his lip, willing his hands to not start shaking and for him to not glow.
"Meg is in trouble." Apollo says, and Will shares a look with Nico. That much was obvious when she didn't return with him, but hearing him say that brings a whole other level of anxiety to Will's thoughts. "How long was I out?"
Will squints at the watch on his left wrist, blinking a few times to make the numbers focus through his tired vision. "It's just about noon, so a good few hours. When Meg didn't come with you, I wanted to go into the woods 'n' search, but Chiron and Nico said it wouldn't be a good idea, and I couldn't go against that."
"They are absolutely correct. I cannot allow anyone else to put themselves at risk, most of all you." Apollo starts to try and get off of the bed, stumbling slightly. "I must hurry. Meg has at the latest until tonight." Will furrows his eyebrows, his left hand reaching for his bracelet to fiddle with the sun charm hanging between the beads. It's one of his nervous habits, he knows, but touching Daniel's necklace always helps him feel even the tiniest bit more comfortable.
"Or what happens?" Nico questions, his expression grim. Apollo shakes his head, searching for his jacket before pulling it over his body.
"I have to go." He says, and Will frowns, making eye contact with Nico, who just sighs, a concerned look in his eye.
"Apollo, I don't think that you're back to 100% yet…" Will says, hovering near his father, worried hands reaching out almost to touch him. To help him.
"I will be fine." Apollo retorts, checking the pocket of his jacket. "I have to save Meg."
"Let us help you." Nico steps forward, hands stuffed in the pockets of his bomber jacket. "Tell us where she is and I can shadow travel—"
"No!" Apollo snaps, and Nico blinks, and Will can tell by his expression that his boyfriend is surprised, even if most wouldn't be able to tell. "You need to stay here and protect the camp."
Will feels his heart drop into his stomach. Apollo sounds so sure that something will happen. What is he talking about? "Protect the camp from what?" He says, and it must be clear how anxious he is, because Nico reaches out and tugs him closer.
Apollo's blue eyes flash with something, and he sighs. "I- I don't know, Will. You must tell Chiron that the emperors have returned. Well rather, that they never went away. They have been plotting, planning for centuries on their return. And now it is actualized."
Nico frowns, and Will knows his expression mirrors Nico's. Emperors? "When you mean the emperors…"
"I mean the Roman ones." Apollo says, looking exasperated.
Will feels his hands start to shake, and he breathes out a few times before stepping backwards, towards Nico again. "You're tellin' me the emperors of Rome are still alive? How? The Doors of Death?" He looks at Nico, who looks deep in thought, his bottom lip pulled in by his teeth.
"No." Apollo looks like he is about to be sick, and Will almost steps forward to check if his dad is in need of his powers. "They made themselves gods, with altars and temples and thousands of worshipers." Will frowns. Is that even possible?
"That was just propaganda, though." Nico says after a bit. "They weren't really divine."
Apollo laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Gods are sustained by worship, son of Hades. They continue to exist to this day because of collective memories of a culture. This goes for the Olympians, and the emperors are one and the same. Somehow, the most powerful have sustained life. All these centuries they clung to half of a life, laying in wait to reclaim their powers."
Will shakes his head, and he feels Nico's arm curl around his middle, keeping him grounded, keeping him from spiraling. "There ain't no way. That's impossible."
"And yet it's true." Apollo says, his breathing just as unsteady as Will feels. ""Tell Rachel that the men from Triumvirate Holdings are the former emperors of Rome. They have been plotting against us this entire time, we gods have been blind. BLIND."
Apollo makes his way to the doorframe of the infirmary, looking over at the flowers still sitting cheerily in the windowsill near the bed he had occupied. "The Beast is planning some sort of attack on the camp." He says after a minute, and Will's hands curl into fists. He knows his fingers are glowing, but he doesn't care right now. The temperature has dropped significantly, and he knows Nico is feeling the same way as he is right now. "I don't know how or when, but you need to be prepared, and you need to tell Chiron. I have to go."
"Wait!" Will steps forward, and Nico's arm falls away from his waist to let him move. "Who is the Beast? What are we dealin' with here?"
"The worst of my descendents." That word cuts through Will like a knife in the side. His… descendents? Another sibling from long ago? Someone only distantly related like Octavian was? Will can't even wrap his head around it before Apollo speaks again. "The Christians of old called him The Beast because he burned them alive. Our enemy is Emperor Nero." Will can only gape at the sight of his father's retreating back as he leaves.
"Will. sit down." Nico says, and Will all but collapses on top of one of the empty beds. "You need to breathe. Let me get you something to drink."
Will's felt like this a few times, but he does his best to steady his breathing, looking down at his hands, trying to get them to stop glowing. Nico appears after a bit with a bottle of water, holding it out to Will. He takes it gratefully, slowly drinking it.
Nico's hovering. Will voices as such, and his boyfriend rolls his eyes with a sigh.
"Gods forbid someone help you when you're having an anxiety attack." He teases lightly, and Will feels better enough to stick his tongue out at Nico.
"I can't believe you named your cat after an evil dictator." He says after a second, and Nico snorts out a laugh, which bubbles over until he's laughing almost hysterically.
"Oh gods, my sides hurt." Nico groans, holding his side. "That wasn't intentional, I swear. I told you that Sohee told me about a song about a black cat, since Nero means black in Italian. It's just an… unfortunate coincidence." He says, and Will can't help the giggles that also spill out of his mouth.
"We really need to talk to Chiron and Rachel." He says after a bit, and Nico nods.
"Are you feeling okay to stand up? I know you get really shaky after a panic attack." Nico says, eyeing Will with a careful expression. Will nods, standing up and grabbing his jacket.
"Yeah, yeah, angel, I'm fine. Let's get this over with."
—
"Nico, is this really the time for this?" Will complains, letting his boyfriend tug him through the camp towards the lake.
"There's no need for you AND Anteros to be in the infirmary at the same time, and you're just wallowing in anxiety in your cabin if you're not in the infirmary, so, yes. This is exactly the time." Nico says with finality, a gleam in his dark eyes. Will sighs, running a hand through his golden curls.
"I have a bad feeling righ' now, Neeks." He says after a second, hand on his dagger sheath hanging from his hip. Nico just tugs on Will's free hand, tilting his head to the side.
"Indulge me just this once, please?" He asks, and Will feels his resolve crumble. He heaves out a deep sigh, shaking his head slightly.
"Fine, Neeks. If I get a cold from bein' outside in this weather, it's YOUR fault, though!"
He pretends that he doesn't like the sound of Nico's laughter echoing through the camp.
In hindsight, Will should REALLY listen to his bad feelings. Maybe he does have the gift of prophecy from his dad after all. Or it's just his demigod heritage telling him something is up.
What he NEVER expected to see is a huge statue looming out of the Sound. Before this, the Athena Parthenos was the biggest statue he's ever seen, and now…
"I swear to gods, Nico!" He cries, pushing water out of his face, huffing as he and Nico make their way back to shore. "I TOLD you! I had a bad feeling!"
"Well excuse me for not realizing there would be A GIANT STATUE coming out the WATER!" Nico snaps back, pulling his sword out of the sheath on his hip, the faint purple glow otherworldly against Nico's pale skin.
"This is not the time for you two to be bickering!" Anteros spits as he meets them at the shore, twirling a throwing dagger between his fingers. Sohee is standing by his side with her golden bow in her hand, her dark hair pulled back into a braid. Neither one of them have any armor on, but they look unharmed and relatively unruffled, all things considered, so Will can't be TOO nitpicky.
"I'm gonna go help Chiron!" Sohee says once Will and Nico make it back to shore, her hair flipping over her shoulder as she runs off, her bow gleaming in the sun. Will can see Dylan in the distance, shifting from foot to foot as he waits for Sohee to join him. At least she will be safe with Chiron, Will thinks. He can't help the shake of his hands, but he at least has the forethought to tamper the glowing.
Anteros makes quick work of using that giant blowdryer like thing they have for when campers fall into the lake, and before Will can even blink, their clothes are dry. Anteros just shakes his head, clicking his tongue disapprovingly, but he doesn't say anything after seeing what Will assumes is his most murderous glance.
Suddenly, Nico squints at the sky, nudging Will with his shoulder, his deep black sword clutched in his hand. "Are those… ants?" He asks, and Will tilts his head, following the line of Nico's finger.
He nearly collapses at the sight, relief coursing through his body in a way that he hasn't felt since Kayla woke up all those months ago after getting attacked on a supplies trip.
"Even better." He says, his voice feeling hoarse as he recognizes the figures sitting on the back of the ants currently circling the head of the giant statue. "It's Dad. The other campers are alive."