Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1-Will Solace needs a day off.

Will had half a mind to grab Chiron by the front of his shirt and demand he shut down the lava wall this instant.

It had been a normal-scratch that-moderately chaotic day at Camp Half-Blood, with yet another climbing competition, and the Athena and Ares kids had been competing as usual. It wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for Malcolm Pace burning his hands on lava that the wall had spouted far too soon and plummeted from the wall thanks to a harness that was connected far too flimsily, falling to the ground with a loud crack that grated on Will's sensitive ears.

He'd been rushed to the infirmary where Will was now, pouring every ounce of healing magic into him in an attempt to keep him from succumbing to his wounds. Nico was standing to the side, keeping an eye out for Thanatos, and desperate hymns tumbled from Will's lips as he did his best to keep Malcolm stable. He wasn't a squeamish person by any means, but he knew that if he opened his eyes, he wouldn't be able to keep the bile down.

"Will."

Will bit his lip hard, felt warm blood roll down his chin and join Malcolm's on the cot.

"Will, if you keep pushing yourself, you're going to pass out." Nico's voice was worried, but Will couldn't stop. He wasn't losing Malcolm, he just wasn't. Not to an accident this stupid.

Will grit his teeth and lifted his head, turning blue eyes on Nico and pausing his hymns just long enough to grit out, "Get Chiron," Before resuming.

He heard Nico's retreating footsteps, then heard the sound of hard hooves hitting the infirmary floor. Warm hands joined Will on Malcolm, and he heard Chiron muttering something in Greek.

"Στους Αρχαίους..."

Will rose his voice, ignoring the way his hymns trembled from the strain.

"Κοιτάξτε αυτή την ψυχή με συγχώρεση."

Will's knees buckled. He didn't stop singing.

"Στον Κάτω Κόσμο…"

He felt Nico's hand on his shoulder.

"Ας μείνει η ψυχή του εδώ για περισσότερο,"

Malcom's vitals wavered.

"Στις μοίρες... παρακαλώ..."

Will's vision blurred and spotted. His voice wavered.

"Άφησε το κορδόνι του ανέπαφο."

He felt the hesitant feeling of a heartbeat stabalizing, but it was distant, hard to access through the pounding of his head.

"William." Chiron's voice sounded weirdly fuzzy. "He's okay."

"Great..." Will's own voice sounded strange. "That's great."

"William-?"

Everything disappeared.

Chapter Text

2-Daddy Issues Galore

Will didn't have the typical 'demigod dreams'. His dreams were usually non-existent or the result of unprocessed trauma.

Oh, the joys of being Will Solace.

Today, however, when he sat up, he wasn't in the middle of a raging battlefield or standing on a collapsed bridge. Somehow, some way, he was sitting in the middle of the night sky . It was beautiful, but also entirely uncalled for.

"So this is the weird shit everyone has to deal with," Will mumbled, which, considering his situation, wasn't a very lucid statement. "I should try the lottery."

"Hello, William."

Will jumped and glanced over his shoulder, then froze.

Behind him was a tall woman wrapped entirely in starlight, eyes white and wide with knowledge. Her robes were bright and slightly purple, her skin pale-paler than Nico's-but somehow not sickly-looking. Dark hair flowed over her shoulders like a waterfall, and stars seemed to shimmer in the black strands. She had a small smile that reminded him distantly of his mother, and he was hit with a pang of homesickness. How many years had it been since he'd been home?

"I don't expect you to know who I am. My time has came and gone." The starlit lady dipped her head. "My name is Asteria, Titaness of stars."

"Weirdly gendered," Will blurted before he could stop himself, then bit his tongue hard . "Sorry."

"No, you're right." She sighed and smiled a small, amused smile. "Noami raised you well."

Will's face flushed and he looked away. "Well-uh-"

"You have someone under your care." Asteria tilted her head, white eyes widening a fraction. "Someone whose life hangs in the balance. I never understand how you mortals-especially the healers-handle it. Being so out of control." She moved so Will could look at her comfortably without turning his head, then tipped his chin up with two fingers. "It is a thing even the gods fear, young hero. Losing control."

Will dropped his gaze, his head starting to hurt from the intensity in her eyes. "I've been told I'm a control freak sometimes. It's not easy."

"Well spoken." Will's vitalkinesis wasn't reading anything from Asteria, just a stunning rush of light and brightness that pressed at his conscious until his headache worsened. "And that pour soul under your care...Malcolm, is it?"

"Yeah. He's..." Mangled. "He had a bad fall. Chiron had to help me heal him."

Will's gaze darted back to Asteria's in time to catch a grimace. "He's horribly irresponsible, isn't he? Why does that wall have lava anyways?"

Will frowned. "I've been trying to tell him that, but he says there could be lava on quests, so..."

"And why are children running errands for the gods?"

"Exactly!" Will felt himself starting to glow faintly. "We didn't ask them to have us! Why do we have to do things for them when, before Percy, they wouldn't even acknowledge- " Will winced and forced himself to shut up, remembering that the woman before him was a Titaness herself.

Asteria didn't look angry. In fact, she looked strangely pleased. "There it is."

"There-wha-" Will realized he was glowing and winced, forcing himself to dim. "Sorry. When I get excited about things, I-"

"Don't apologize, young hero." Asteria's smile softened. "It's rather endearing."

Will wanted to look down at his hands, but couldn't. "I was healing him just a few moments ago...oh, crap , I must've knocked myself out-listen, uh..." He hesitated, but surely she'd understand. "I have to go, Malcolm's still, like, dying , so-"

"I am a bit of a healer myself," Asteria interrupted him, "And if you need it, I can offer advice."

Will paused for a count of three and then blinked. "I...I don't need to... do anything for it? Like a quest, or-"

"The gods have made your expectations deppresingly low." Asteria sighed as if it pained her. "' Καλώ την Τιτάνη Αστέρια να γιατρέψει αυτές τις πληγές.' Repeat it beside Malcolm's bed and I will help you heal him."

"Oh-!" Will's eyes widened. "Uh, thank you!"

"Of course, William." Asteria smiled another motherly smile. "I believe in you."

Will beamed at her as the edges of the dream began to fade. "Call me Will."

When Will awoke, the first thing he saw was Nico leaning over him.

He was still groggy, and the last few tendrils of his dream-vision?-were still fading, but he smiled a small smile anyways and said, "Hey, di Angelo."

"Will." Nico's smile softened, and then he pulled back and kicked the bed Will was on. "Don't ever scare me like that again ."

"Gods, Nico-I'm fine-" Will sat up, eyes wide. "What happened?"

"You blacked out." Nico frowned. "Chiron said Malcom was stable for now but he doesn't show any signs of being better."

"Let me help." Will slung his legs off the bed, and Nico braced his hands on his knees.

"Will, you just passed out. Take a rest ."

"I just did. Rest time over." Will hummed, then used a bit of force to remove Nico's hands and stand up. "But if you want, you can look over my shoulder and glower at me while I work."

Nico sighed a slightly exasperated sigh. "You know me so well."

Chiron had been right-Malcolm was stable, and Chiron seemed to have fixed his most minor injuries-dislocated shoulder, a few cuts and scrapes-but they seemed a bit insignificant considering he had more than one bone sticking out of him and, if Will's vitalkinesis could be trusted, broken ribs and punctured lungs. Both of them . And a damaged skull. Will couldn't tell if there was brain damage, but either way, it was a miracle the demigod was even stable .

Will put on gloves, grabbed anticeptic, nectar, and a bandage roll, and got to work, setting bones where they needed to be and pouring nectar over them until the bones were firm enough for him to bandage. He knew he'd need surgery, but Nico had been right-he'd passed out once today. Once was enough.

Will took a deep breath and sent one last pulse of healing magic, then hesitated. His dream was still clear in his mind, which was a wonder considering how inconsistent his memory could be. He hesitated, and then, in a tone low enough that only an Apollo kid could hear, muttered, " Καλώ την Τιτάνη Αστέρια να γιατρέψει αυτές τις πληγές."

As he spoke, he felt a cold feeling around his shoulders, and once the last word left his lips, he felt as if hands were holding him, steadying him as he stared at Malcolm. Will placed a hand on Malcolm's wrist and felt his vitals improve slightly.

Thank you, He thought, unsure of whether or not Asteria could actually hear him.

All I did was assist, Her voice drifted back, soft and motherly and a bit like home.

Later that night, Will found new freckles along his shoulders connected by thin, pale lines like constellations. They were lighter than his other ones-slightly paler than his natural tone, actually-but they were a bit pretty.

"Titaness of stars..." He muttered to himself, head tilted slightly. "No, that's...it's stupid."

It's not.

Will froze. "Asteria?"

The freckles-constellations?-started to glow a faint light, more like starlight than that of the sun. Simply a way to keep in contact.

Will nodded and tilted his head. "They're pretty."

As are the stars.

"Goodnight, Asteria." Will smiled.

Goodnight, Will.

Chapter Text

3-Commands.

Like most good things, comfort didn't last forever, and Will found himself in the middle of a battlefield.

He was hunched over Lee, trying desperately to stop the flow of blood and brain matter from flowing out of his concaved skull, but even his panic seemed distant. The stars in the sky seemed closer somehow, their cold light almost sympathetic.

A pale hand joined his and Lee's skull started to heal.

"Asteria?" Will's voice was hoarse, even if it was just a dream.

"It will not happen again," Was her only answer.

Will closed his eyes and nodded.

When Will woke, the first thing he did was check on Malcolm.

The Athena camper was stable again, but he hadn't woken up yet, and Will still needed to do surgery. He propped his hands on his hips and let out a long sigh, staring at the injured camper with a frown. "Any advice?"

"Who are you talking to?"

Will glanced over his shoulder and spotted Nico stepping into the infirmary. "Sorry, weird dream when I passed out. Talked to a Titan."

"Mi scuzzi?"

"Her, uh. Name was Asteria." Will sat down on one of the wooden stools. "She gave me some magic words to say to help heal Malcolm, and...well. They worked."

"So you were asking if she had an advice." Nico guessed. "Did you do anything, or-?"

"No. I think she's one of the good ones." Will smiled, then remembered the constellation freckles. What would Nico think? "Oh! I should-"

ησυχία .

Will's mouth snapped shut. What?

"You should...?" Nico made a gesture for Will to continue.

κάντε το χειρουργείο.

"I should start prepping for surgery." Will nodded towards Malcolm. "He's gonna need it."

What was that for? Will was trying to decipher what Asteria had said, but he couldn't remember the exact words. Gods-damned ADHD.

Some things must stay secret, young Hero.

"You okay?" Nico frowned.

"Yeah. Just..." Will hesitated. He'd talk to Asteria about it later. "Lifesaving surgery and all. Very stressful."

"Do you need space?" Nico tilted his head.

Ναί.

"Yeah." Will dropped his gaze. "Yknow how I get when I'm prepping."

Nico walked over and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll do great, tesoro. Don't let me get in your way."

He walked off, and the infirmary seemed a little bit colder.

The surgery was going well until Will got to checking for (and possibly trying to mitigate) brain damage.

The injury was too familiar, Will's hands shaking as his mind conjured images of Lee, his head caved in after the giant-

εστία .

Will blinked and tried to focus on the demigod in front of him, but he couldn't do surgery with shaky hands.

ηρεμία .

A slow, cold feeling enveloped him, panic sputtering and dying in his chest. The shaking in his hands died down to tremors.

σταθερός .

Will's hands stilled. He stared at them in empty fascination, then remembered his patient.

The surgery went well.

What did you do? Will wondered, once Malcolm was stitched up and slightly further from the brink of death.

ξεχνώ.

Will blinked and shrugged it off, going to tell Nico the good news.

Cabin Thirteen was always dark and rarely broken into by roudy campers, so it was a great place for Will and Nico to lounge on the small couch and exchange soft kisses.

"Tesoro..." Nico kissed Will, his voice faint, "I'm worried."

"Why?" Will smiled a small smile and kissed him back. "We had a great day, Neeks."

"Do you remember what I told you? About Minos?"

Will paused. "...Mhm."

"The Titaness. Asteria. Do you wonder if she's..."

Όχι . Will's shoulders started to sting. εστία.

"I think you have trust issues that we can work on another day." Will kissed him. The stinging faded.

What did you say?

ξεχνώ.

Of course.

Will found more constellations going down to his elbows.

"Huh." He scanned a section wrapped around his arm like a ring. Almost like shackl-

ΜΗΝ ΕΚΦΡΑΖΕΙΣ ΤΕΤΟΙΕΣ ΑΝΟΗΣΕΙΣ ΦΟΥΚΑΡΑΣ . Cold fire lit along Will's shoulders and arms, and he let out a cry of pain, clutching his head as a headache threatened to overwhelm him. i'm sorry i'm sorry i'msorryi'msorrywhatamiapologizingfor

απολογούμαι.

Will gagged, words spilling from him before he could process what they were or where they came from or what they meant. "λυπάμαι, κυρία των σταρ. ."

The pain faded, and Will let out a low, shaky breath.

i thought. you were my friend.

I still am. ξεχνώ.

Will went to sleep.

Chapter Text

4-goodnight.

Will felt well-rested when he woke, though something felt off. He couldn't quite place what, but when he thought about it too hard, he felt a slight burning sensation where the constellation freckles sat on his arms, so he just went about his day.

He checked on Malcolm again, happy to find that he wasn't on Thanatos' doorstep, but he still needed a nudge.

Will extended a hand and tried to reach for a hymn.

θεραπεύω .

"Of course," Will muttered under his breath. A cold sensation flowed along his arms and silky tendrils of starlight drifted from where the constellations were now peaking out from beneath his Camp Half-Blood shirt. Will felt Malcolm stabalize a bit more.

He felt...cold.

Will always ran hot, often bordering on feverish, so it was strange.

αλλά όχι άσχημα.

Maybe it was an improvement. Will shrugged and turned to the infirmary, deciding to organize the supplies again.

μαριονέτα .

The constellations seemed to somehow get colder.

will didn't mind.

----

"Will."

Will glanced over his shoulder and beamed at Nico, then blinked when he got a palm slapped to his forehead.

"You're cold." Nico frowned.

περίεργος.

"I'm fine, Nico." Will tried to ignore Asteria's -no, his irritation.

"Do I need to get Piper?" Nico crossed his arms, concern in his gaze.

η γοητεία.

"No." Will frowned. "Listen, Neeks-"

"What are-" Nico's gaze rested on the constellation freckles just barely visible on Will's arms. "Was that her?"

Will blinked and looked at them. They were glowing-somehow, he hadn't noticed. "Well. Sort of."

"Minos." Nico said at once.

"Neeks." Will sighed. "Asteria is not my Minos. She's helping me heal Malcolm, that's all."

"Then swear it." Nico scowled. "Swear it on the river Styx."

Will would've, but thin lines of ice were running up his arms and his hand spasmed from the pain. "Neeks."

Nico's gaze darkened and he turned around.

"Nico-"

Nico left the infirmary.

ξεχνώ.

Will went back to organizing.

----

"William?"

Will lifted his head, a bit startled by Chiron's voice. It'd been unusually silent in the infirmary up until then.

"These two campers have something to say to you." Chiron's expression was tumultuous, angrier than Will had ever seen it.

Ellis Wakefield and Jake Mason stepped out from behind him, both looking nervous. Jake took a deep breath, but Ellis cut him off before he could begin. "We rigged the lava wall."

Will stared at them for a few moments. At first, he was confused, but the confusion was rapidly giving way to fury. "What?"

"I wanted to win." Ellis shuffled his feet. "I asked Mason to rig the climbing wall. I didn't think he'd do...well. That ."

"I thought someone would be able to catch him!" Jake cried indignantly. "I was working on a mechanism to do that, but I ran out of time and-"

"Stop." Will kept his voice quiet and a bit level, trying to stay calm. "You realized Malcolm almost died because of you, right?"

μανία.

Will's anger grew as Jake and Ellis looked away, shrugging. "We didn't...we didn't mean to, and-"

"But it happened." Will balled his fists, nails digging into his palms. "Malcolm was literally on death's doorstep. Because you wanted to win a race."

Plague.

What? Will's frown deeped a bit. Them? I'm not-I won't use plague powers on campers.

Not even the ones who hurt Malcolm? Almost killed him? They were reckless. They deserve punishment.

Will hesitated. Chiron will punish them.

With a week of no dessert?

Will tried to ignore her and calm himself down. "That was extremely irrisponsible and so, so stupid-I can't even put into words-"

Plague.

He bit his lip, trying to keep the growing supernova within him to himself. He could deal with it later. He could talk to Nico-

Does he even trust you anymore?

Stop it. Stop talking. Will glanced back over at Malcolm, remembered the state he was left in after the fall, and took a long, deep breath, turning his glare back to Ellis and Jake.

"We're sorry." Jake looked like he was on the edge of tears.

"You should be." Cold lines of fire started to make their way along Will's arms, and the only thing that kept him standing was rage and the presence of others.

Plague.

Will ignored her, even when the pain worsened.

"Will-?" Ellis frowned. "Are...Are you okay-?"

Will opened his mouth to answer.

ξεμπερδεύω.

His thoughts scattered, too far apart for him to make sense of them, and then slowly pulled back together, centered around one word.

μαριονέτα.

puppet.

PLAGUE.

"No." Starlight tendrils flowed from the constellations along his arms, cold enough to burn, and his hands glowed hot like a fever, ribbons of Apollo's power spiraling far out of his control. "No, I am not okay. That was-that was so fucking stupid -Malcolm almost DIED-you should be ashamed of yourselves--"

His vision was blurring, a headache pressing at his temples as cold fire bit into him.

stop.

what are you doing?

Asteria, listen to me.

ησυχία.

Will felt his knees buckle, exhaustion hitting him like a tidal wave, and felt someone catch him. "Will?"

"Chiron." Will's voice was hoarse. "I-I need help-"

Stars danced in his vision and everything vanished.

----

When Will woke, he was in one of the private rooms in the infirmary, dying sunlight filtering in through a window. It helped him clear his thoughts, and he took a deep breath, then went through the effort of disentangling his thoughts with Asteria's.

What did you do?

It was silent for a few moments-then, I punished them.

I didn't want to do that. It wasn't right for you to do that.

I'm sorry.

Will closed his eyes and tried to believe her.

He couldn't.

You didn't listen to me at all, you just shut me down. You said you understood. You said even the gods were afraid of losing control.

I am not a god.

Will let out a long sigh. He wasn't sure what to say to her.

It will be best if you go back to sleep, William.

He debated reminding her to call him Will.

You're not my friend, are you?

Of course I am.

Will sighed again and tried to sleep.

No Goodnight? Asteria's voice sounded almost hurt.

...

goodnight, Asteria.

There was no response.

Chapter Text

5-Nico di Angelo stages an intervention (ft. Piper Mclean)

When Will woke, he felt colder. The constellation freckles had reached his wrists and split into thin lines tracing the lumbricals in his hands and ending in little star symbols over his knuckles. He traced them for a long time, running his fingers over the marks in some combination of reverance and resignation.

It'd been about thirty minutes since he'd woken up when there was a knock on the door, and Will looked up to see Nico come in, a slightly confused Piper in tow.

"How did you-" Will blinked, staring at the pair blankly.

"We," Nico's dark eyes were fierce, enough to stir a lonely spark of warmth within Will, "Are all going to have a talk ."

He cleared his throat and turned to Piper. "Hi, Piper. Will's been speaking to a certain Titaness lately, Asteria of-well. The stars."

"Um." Piper's eyebrows creased. "I'll save my questions for after."

Nico pivoted to look at Will again. "He's being Minos'd."

"I am not being Minos'd." Will sighed, though he was sure he was.

"He's being Minos'd." Nico turned back to Piper.

I'm not being Minos'd, am I?

I do not understand. Asteria's voice was uncertain, almost like it had been in that first vision. Will felt compelled to explain.

After Nico's sister died, a ghost named Minos tried to manipulate him to further his own goals. He thinks that's what you're doing to me. i.e, Minos'd.

And what goals does he think I have?

"Why would she even do that?" Will asked, because she had a point. "Why would a Titaness Minos me when she could do things herself? Or send me on a quest?"

Nico glowered at him. "Ask Jake and Ellis that."

"Right, what happened to Jake and Ellis?" Piper looked lost.

"Jake somehow managed to get hypothermia and Ellis has heat stroke." Nico crossed his arms. "Chiron said Will got mad and did some freaky plague powers."

"How do you know that wasn't me?" Will fired back, even though it hadn't ben. "You've seen me use my plague powers before. I did it against Nyx!"

"Giving Nyx Hay Fever is not the same as giving two campers very serious illnesses. The worst you've done since Nyx is give Percy a cold when he visits." Nico narrowed his eyes.

"They almost killed Malcolm." Will muttered, but the justification seemed to come from somewhere outside him, and his words escaped without him processing what they were. "They rigged the lava wall so that he'd fall. They deserve everything that came to them."

There was a long silence before Nico turned back to Piper. "And that's the problem."

"What? I'm angry. Am I not allowed to be angry at them for doing something so incredibly stupid -"

"Will, stop talking for a second." Piper interrupted, and a fuzzy feeling enveloped Will. He stopped talking.

"Okay, uh..." Piper looked thoughtful for a moment, then raised her chin. "When did you first, uh...encounter Asteria?"

"When I passed out trying to heal Malcolm." The words flowed from Will easily-he wanted to tell her. "She came to me in a vision and offered to help. Gave me some Greek words to use and when I said them, Malcolm stabalized."

She's charmspeaking you. Asteria practically spat. Ignore her.

But I want to tell her.

No, you don't.

"What were the words?"

Will felt the phrase push itself to the forefront of his mind, but Asteria's words lingered with him. "I...I don't remember. Are you charmspeaking me?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry, but I'm a little scared of what you just said, so I think we're even." Piper took a step closer. "What did she tell you to say?"

"Καλώ την Τιτάνη Αστέρια να γιατρέψει αυτές τις πληγές."

"And what does that mean?"

"Um."

Piper pursed her lips and her gaze hardened. "Asteria. What does that mean?"

A cold feeling washed over Will and everything blurred for a moment, pinpricks of pain dotting along his arms. "I call upon the Titaness Asteria to heal these wounds." The words were his, but weren't his, and his thoughts phased in and out for a long few moments before everything cleared.

"What the fuck?" Nico stood a bit straighter, dark eyes alight with fury.

"Ow." Will frowned and blinked rapidly. "What just happened?"

Piper bit her lip. "I think...you just got possessed."

"huh."

"Sorry." Piper winced. "I figured if she was there and I confronted her directly, she wouldn't be able to resist since she's talking through you. And I was right."

"Hey, uh, Piper, I think we're skipping over a really important part here, ha-SHE JUST POSSESSED WILL. Che cazzo?!"

"Um." Will's eyebrows creased. Nico swearing in Italian was never a good sign. "Let's try and stay calm -"

"Calm? Calm?! Ti ha appena POSSEDUTO, Will, NON riuscirò a mantenere la calma."

"You're fucked." Piper nodded.

" Tesoro, why didn't you tell me?" Nico frowned.

"I-I...I didn't think she'd..." Will hesitated. "She hasn't done that before, I...not that I know of..."

"Apologies to both of you, but-" Piper lifted her chin and started charmspeaking again, "Asteria, have you done that before?"

"Not to such a scale." Will felt a burst of rage run through him, stronger than any emotion he'd felt, and dug his thumbs into his temples at the beginnings of a headache. "ow."

"Sorry." Piper sighed. "Really, Will. This sucks, but...you might have to be our walkie-talkie for a while."

"Absolutely not." Will muttered, though, now that he'd felt it at a larger scale, the world around him got a bit blurrier and the words felt strangely disconnected from him. Part of him wondered if they were Asteria's, too.

"Piper." Nico's voice held warning.

"I know, Nico, but this is the only thing I can think of to help Will and separate him from Asteria. And Will, I know your whole consent is key thing, but you are also possessed so I'm taking your denial as a way of saying 'please help me' and also 'she won't let me talk'."

"Pretty accurate, yeah." Will spoke without thinking, then winced as pain raced up his arms. "Ow."

Piper must've seen an opportunity and pounced. "Asteria, why could he say that now but not before?"

"I prevent his responses by pushing back on his thoughts. That was his knee-jerk reaction. ΓΑΜΩ."

Piper grinned. "So you are Minos-ing him?"

"I despise you and that term."

"Sorry. Too broad. Manipulating, then. Are you manipulating him?

"Yes." Even in a disoriented state, Will could feel cold pressure building along his arms. "Uh, Piper-"

"Got it. Neither of you should attack me." Piper took a step back, eyeing the glowing constellations on Will's arms and hands.

Will-Asteria? It was hard to tell-glowered.

"Asteria, what're those?" Piper nodded towards the symbols.

"Constellations."

"Should've expected that. Why are they there?"

"A symbol of control." He-she- ow- cut herself-himself?-off abruptly as if there had been more.

"And?" Piper narrowed her eyes, putting more effort into the charmspeak.

"A way to elicit pain."

"A way to what ?" Nico's voice was low, dangerous.

Asteria tilted Will's head, eyes wide and taunting. "Elicit pain. Enforce rules. Enact punishment-"

"Shut up!" Nico shot forward, grabbing Will by his shirt. "Shut the fuck up, that's my fucking boyfriend, sei uno STRONZO -"

"NICO GET AWAY." Piper yelled, voice shivering with the force of her charmspeak, and Nico stumbled back as if pushed. The pressure built in Will's mind and everything got fuzzier and fuzzier, tendrils of starlight bursting from his constellations like falling meteorites before fizzling out from the distance. It wasn't hard to tell where they were aimed.

"You never said I couldn't hurt him." Asteria blinked innocently.

Piper glowered. "Don't. Hurt him."

"You're no fun."

"Why are you Minos'ing Will?"

She didn't want to answer the question, even moreso because of the phrasing, but alas, this mortal was unable to resist charmspeak, so the words left her anyway. "Restoring justice and returning to power."

"How?"

"I am the one who truly saved Malcolm-Athena is in debt to me. Apollo would never allow me to hurt his child. I will apply my justice to the mortals at Camp Half-Blood-and Zeus has always enjoyed justice. Artemis is one of my earliest allies, and the rest of the Olympians will be in my favor so long as I've spared one of their children. I will be restored to power."

Piper bit her lip. "What do you mean by spare?"

"Spare them from justice."

"The illnesses." Nico's eyes widened. "What happened to Jake and Ellis-that was you." His eyes narrowed. " Cagna dagli occhi stellati."

"Why Will?" Piper crossed her arms, but Asteria could see how they were balled.

"Aside from the fact that he thrives on validation and needed divine help, so it was convenient? He's Apollo's first plague child in decades." She spat out the name Apollo like a curse.

"You don't like Apollo," Nico guessed. "Really commited to the sun-and-star bit, huh?"

Asteria glared at him.

"No, I'm curious, too." Piper hummed. "Why don't you like Apollo?"

"He left me for a mortal."

Both of them were silent.

"I'd leave, too." Nico shrugged.

"Nico." Piper rose her eyebrows at him. "Be nice."

"No, do continue taunting me. I will remember it when I join the Olympians."

Piper rolled her eyes. "We haven't gotten a Will response in a while. Is he still in there?"

"Somewhat."

Nico's gaze hardened. "What do you mean, somewhat?"

Asteria smiled.

"Asteria, what do you mean by 'somewhat'?" Piper sighed.

"His consciousness is...suppressed, for lack of a better term. The lines between his thoughts and mine are blurred at the moment. So yes, he is here, but only as an objective observer. He'll be fine afterwards."

Nico made a grumbling sound low in his throat. "He better be."

Piper glanced over at him, then shgurgged and looked back at Asteria. "What will it take for you to fuck off?"

Asteria narrowed her eyes. "Two young mortals are not going to divert my mission."

"Really?" Piper narrowed her eyes and, with what was a surprising amount of charmspeak, even for a child of Aphrodite, said, "Leave. Will. Alone."

"Very well." Everything sharpened and refocused with painful rapidity, and Will clutched his head and leaned back in the bed, rolling onto his side so he could curl in on himself.

" Tesoro ." Nico was there in an instant, dark hair and soft touches pulling him into a hug. “You’re alright?”

“Ow.” Will whispered. He closed his eyes. “Give me a second or two. I think I need to remember who I am.”

Nico huffed out an irritated-sounding breath and pulled Will closer to her. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry we did that, tesoro .”

“I understand-answers and all-just…ow…”

He heard Piper sigh. “That was too easy.”

Nico made a sound like he wanted to disagree, then locked eyes with Will.

“She’s still there.” Will confirmed. “Just…quieter. And pissed.”

Nico said something in Italian that sounded like a swear.

“We need a quest.” Piper muttered, seemingly to herself.

“What?” Nico snapped. “Absolutely not. You know how messy quests are.”

“But if the gods are involved…” Piper tilted her head. “We need all the help we can get.”

Nico sighed. “Does this mean we need to call-“

He was cut off by a loud noise outside.

“Is that who I think it is?” Will asked once his sense of self was mostly restored.

“If you think it’s Rachel Elizabeth Dare…” Piper tilted her head and shrugged.

The door opened, and all three of them turned to look at the redhead who entered.

“Do one of you need a prophecy?”

Chapter Text

6-Rachel delivers a prophecy (again)

“Prophecies are not getting any easier to decipher,” Nico muttered, staring up at the words Rachel’s private plane had formed in the clouds.

‘The end of Stars of Doom, you seek,

The son of Apollo must roam,

A three-pronged venture to highest peak,

To the Lady of Stars’ home.

The snake-tongued daughter,

The Ghost King,

And the victim of her ploys,

To the heavens,

The Son must sing,

Lest his freedom be destroyed.’

“I’m gonna guess,” Rachel glanced over at Will, who was leaning his weight on Nico, “That that’s you.”

Nico heard Will let out a gusty sigh that hurt his heart to hear. "Unfortunately."

"Well." Piper put her hands on her hips. "We have our quest."

"Maybe I should call my dad." Will muttered. "He's the god of prophecy and stuff. He can probably help. Probably."

"It's hard to keep track of all of Apollo's domains." Nico sighed. "Do any of the kids in the Apollo Cabin have prophecy powers?"

"Yep. All of us. It's called having a really bad feeling, and it's what I'm getting right now."

Nico sighed and leaned up, kissing Will's jaw. He tried not to flinch at how cold Will was. "Don't worry. We'll fix this."

"Uh oh. Fix what? What's going on this time?" Rachel frowned.

"Will's possessed." Piper explained.

"By a Titaness." Nico grumbled, fist closing and reopening on nothing. He longed to summon his sword and attack something.

"Average day at Camp Half-Blood." Rachel nodded. "It is about lunchtime, maybe you could offer Apollo something at the fire?"

"Good idea." Will slowly eased off Nico, who put an arm around him to steady him, and then started walking towards the dining pavilion. Even after what'd happened, he seemed to glow in the sunlight, and it was a bit easier to ignore the pale constellations spiderwebbing up his arms.

"Guessing those aren't new tattoos." Rachel sighed.

"Unfortunately not." Nico sighed and started after Will.

About an hour after lunch, Piper, Nico, and Will had been taking a breather in Cabin Thirteen, only to be interrupted by a bright, blinding flash of golden light.

Nico opened his eyes and saw none other than Lester Papadopaulos, AKA the form Apollo took whenever he came to Camp.

"Will. You called?" Apollo glanced over at Will, then jumped. "Holy Zeus, what are those?"

Nico watched Will sigh. "How familiar is the name Asteria?"

"That bitch ." Apollo was literally glowing, bright enough that Nico had to focus on the ground below him to avoid eye damage, pacing the length of Cabin Thirteen. "I should've expected she'd hold a grudge. She absolutely would. And she told you I left her for a dryad ? That was after she convinced my sister to start the whole solar eclipse thing! She was angry because I gave her the North Star and she didn't think it was bright enough , and now she's going after my fucking son- διάβολε όλα ..."

Nico was in full agreement and would've joined in if it weren't for Piper clearing her throat. "We've been issued a quest and wanted to know if you could help in some way."

"Of course!" Apollo stopped pacing. "What do you need? Where are you going?"

"Um...highest peak, something or other? Memory isn't the greatest right now, sorry." Will rubbed his temples.

"Everest." Apollo blurted. "Isn't it the tallest mountain?"

"Highest point. The tallest mountain is underwater." Will corrected.

"Really?" Apollo's eyes widened. "What's the name?"

"I can't really remember, starts with a K I think-"

"Guys." Piper sighed. "Bigger problems here."

"Like the fact that Mount Everest is in China." Nico frowned. "I thought the Greek gods were all a part of Western culture?"

"Not all of us." Apollo sighed. "She disappeared after I left her. She probably went there so she wouldn't have to deal with my children."

"You do have a lot of kids." Will nodded.

"I have favorites." Apollo smiled at him.

"Guys." Piper rubbed her temples.

"Sorry. I could get you guys transportation to China, but you'd have to travel during the day." Apollo tilted his head.

"That's fine." Nico nodded. "But there are bigger issues."

"Like Will being possessed." Piper added.

"Right." Apollo's eyebrows creased, and then he looked up. "I have an idea."

"How scared should we be?" Will tilted his head.

Apollo, instead of responding, reached out and held the band around Will's neck, marked with seven beads for seven summers. A golden bead appeared between his fingers, and Nico watched with awe as the pale constellations darkened to the shade of Will's other freckles. Apollo pulled back. "Tadaa!"

"Oh." Will blinked. "That's...thank...you...?"

Apollo chuckled at his confusion. "It'll only work during the day, but...I've basically overrode Asteria's power and replaced it with my own. So not only will she not be able to access you, but you'll be able to communicate with me! ...Only when the sun's up, though. Sorry."

"No, no-that's amazing." Will's eyes widened. "Thanks!"

"Grazie." Nico added.

"Of course! Tell me if you need anything else. I should probably put more energy into the form driving my sun chariot. Bye!" Apollo snapped and, with a burst of light, disappeared.

Having Apollo in Will's head was siginificantly different to having Asteria there.

For one, his warmth was rapidly returning, and any time he reached to check that his dad was still there, he got a rush of pride and a bit of hidden worry, his emotions more human that Asteria's had been-likely from his time as a mortal when the Triumverate had been disrupting Oracles.

"Okay." Piper had dragged a chalkboard from the Athena cabin and was drawing on it with pink chalk. "So we're here. Camp Half-Blood." She drew a CHB that might've passed as a CBB. Demigod dyslexia. "And we need to be here. Mount Everest." She drew a quick Nt Eust that Will thought looked more like she was trying to tell someone to avoid going East.

"Gods, your handwriting is worse than Will's." Nico sighed, and Will huffed. "You wound me."

"Whatever." Piper crossed her arms. "So we need to get to the mountain. And when we're there, Will has to...uh..."

"Sing to the heavens." Nico nodded. "So...the sky, I guess."

"Seems pretty simple." Will blinked.

"They always do." Nico sighed. "So when will we leave?"

"Malcolm still hasn't woken up yet." Will frowned. "And Jake and Ellis are sick."

"Chiron's a healer." Piper reminded him.

"And you could ask Apollo to help you the way Asteria was before." Nico pointed out.

"Oh. Uh." Hey, dad.

Hi!

Can you help me heal some campers so we can get started on the quest?

Leave it to me.

Right. Thanks.

"Okay. Um." Will pursed his lips. "We could leave in two days? That should give me enough time to talk with Chiron and say bye to my siblings and clean things up at the infirmary and pack supplies and-"

"We get it, you like to plan." Nico ruffled his hair. "Never change, tesoro."

Will beamed.

"Two days works." Piper nodded. "How about, uh...at 6 in the morning in two days, we meet on Half-Blood Hill? That way I can tell my dad I'm going and say bye to Shel." A light dusting of pink covered her cheeks.

"Sure." Nico nodded. "I can tell Hades and go check in on Hazel."

"Alright." Will nodded and slid off the bed. "I'm going to go start on the infirmary. See you in two days, Piper."

"Stay safe. That's a command." Piper nodded.

Will smiled and turned out, tentative hope blooming in his chest.

Chapter Text

7-If a tree falls and nobody's around to hear it,

will hazel kill nico for going on another quest?

"Nico."

"Here we go." Nico rolled his eyes.

"Don't 'Here we go' me! I thought we both agreed on this!" Hazel frowned. "No. More. Quests!"

The two were on one of the hills in New Rome, near the Salus temple. It'd been built more recently after Jason's death, and seeing it made Nico's heart ache.

“Hazel, I have to go.” Nico turned dark eyes to his sister. “It’s for Will.”

“Can’t Will find someone else to go on his quest with him?” Hazel’s hands were shaking. “Nico, you almost died. We’ve lost so much, and you’re going on another one?”

“First of all,” Nico tried to keep his voice from being steely, because he knew she was only saying it because she was scared, “Will went with me on a quest to Tartarus. Mount Everest doesn’t seem that bad in comparison.”

“mount what.” Hazel’s eyes darkened.

“And.” Nico cut her off before she could continue that line of questioning, “I was specifically mentioned.”

Hazel let out a long sigh. “And what was the prophecy this time?”

“The end of Stars of Doom, you seek/the son of Apollo must roam, a three-pronged venture to highest peak/to the Lady of Stars’ home. The snake-tongued daughter, The Ghost King/And the victim of her ploys, to the heavens, the Son must sing/lest lhis freedom be destroyed."

Hazel was silent for a long few moments, then took a deep breath.

"What the fuck is going on with Will?"

Nico ended up having to explain for a second time when Frank flew up in the form of an eagle and changed back, and by the end of it the two were staring at him with wide-eyed concern.

"So you're going to Mount Everest to confront the Titaness of the stars, who happens to be Apollo's bitter ex, so she'll stop possessing Will in an attempt to get back at Apollo and join the Olympians." Frank checked.

"Just about." Nico nodded.

Frank ran his hands over his face. "Average Tuesday at Camp Half-Blood, I guess."

"Now you're getting it."

"Nico..." Hazel frowned. "I really don't want you to do this. I don't want any of you to do this, but...if you have to...please stay safe. Don't take unneccesary risks."

"Contrary to popular belief, I do enjoy living." Nico nodded. "Just trust me, Hazel. I'll visit you after this whole quest thing is safe."

"I'm assuming the questmates are you, Will, and..." Frank narrowed his eyes in concentration. "...Um..."

"Piper." Nico nodded. "It makes sense, she was the only one who could get answers out of Asteria with charmspeak."

"That makes me feel a little better." Hazel admitted. "Mostly experienced questers."

"I think Will being through Tartarus with me counts towards quest experience." Nico reminded her.

"Have you told dad yet?"

"If you mean Hades, no. If you meant Pluto? Also no."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "IM me when you get the chance. Gods, I can't believe we spent so long without it."

"You Greeks have some things right." Frank agreed.

"What we lack in life expectancy, we make up for in spirit." Nico agreed. He dipped his head. "See you, sorella."

"See you." Hazel smiled.

Nico turned and shadow traveled away.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Are normal dreams too much to ask for?

Oh wait.

They're demigods.

Piper couldn't say that she didn't expect to see Will at 2AM in the Aphrodite Cabin.

The fact that she was one of the questmates, coupled with Asteria's control being resumed once the sun went down made Piper suspect that she might be in danger.

The fact that Will had scared the curfew harpies off before did not help.

So no, she wasn't surprised when Will stepped into the cabin and locked gazes with her, eyes a misty, washed-out blue a few shades lighter than their natural color.

"I should've expected this." He-Asteria?-hummed ruefully, frowning. "Perhaps I should've aimed for the Ghost King instead..."

"Rude." Piper drew Katoptris, eyes narrowing.

"What are you going to do with that, hero?" The words sounded so wrong in Will's voice, but it wasn't really Will's voice. There was a voice beneath it, like a weird overlay, hard to hear but enough to tell Piper that he wasn't the one speaking. "You wouldn't hurt your friend...would you?"

"According to Nico, Will has a scarily high pain tolerance." Piper stood.

"But it'd be such an inconvenience, to have an injured questmate..." Will's lips formed a slow smile, eyes wide and taunting.

"I..." Piper narrowed her eyes. "Fuck. How are you back, anyways? I told you to buzz off."

"Not for a definite amount of time. And the effects of your charmspeak are negligable once I'm out of this form, so you can't stop me from coming back-you can only make me leave."

"Okay. How about this? Will, fall asleep."

Will's eyes fluttered and Piper darted over to catch him before he collapsed.

She dragged him back to his bed, drew a middle finger on a sticky note, and left.

"Anyone want to explain why I woke up with grass in my hair?" Will mumbled.

Nico glanced over at him. "There is still grass in your hair, tesoro. "

"You tried to kill me last night." Piper nodded as if this were completely normal.

Will buried his face in his hands and groaned. "That's why I'm so tired?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Will. You're heavy." Piper winced.

Will sighed in defeat. "I need to lose weight..."

"Will, I'm 90% all the weight you have is completely natural, considering you don't eat lunch." Nico poked him. " Idiota ."

Will sighed again, resigned to his fate.

Nico pat his back and held back a snicker.

Piper flew back home and said goodbye to her dad and Shel, and was on her way back when the sun went down. She was on the plane, and with the lights dim and the quest up ahead, it was too easy for her to fall asleep and slip into unconsciousness.

"You heroes are quite persistent."

"What?" Piper opened her eyes and looked around, but she was in completely darkness. She sat on a shimmering white chair, Katoptris at her feet.

"Go on, daughter of Aphrodite. Look into your fate."

Piper narrowed her eyes and tried to turn, but she couldn't. "Asteria."

"Wow. You managed to recognize timbre..." The Titaness chuckled. "None of you are ready for the quest at hand, are you? And so hard of hearing, too...I'll say it again. Look into your fate."

Piper's eyes widened as tendrils of starlight wrapped around her hands and forced her to grab Katoptris by the blade. Blood rolled over the Celestial Bronze and Piper stared into it as images appeared in place of her reflection.

She saw an explosion of lights beneath the stars, saw Nico fighting creatures seemingly made of starlight, saw Will drawing his bow before being knocked back by something unknown, saw a tall mountain looming ahead of her, saw snow falling hard enough to white out the sky-

"What do you see?" Asteria's voice was more powerful now. "Tell me what you see."

Piper felt the starlight circle her face.

Wake up, She told herself, unable to tear her gaze from Katoptris.

She opened her mouth to speak.

WAKE UP.

Piper jolted awake almost violently, coughing and sputtering. She took a moment to choke on her own spit before looking at the airplane window.

She'd left it open, and had a clear view of the stars.

Piper grimaced and slid the lid shut.

Cabin Thirteen didn't have many windows, so it must've been dumb luck that Nico's bunk was directly in sight of one.

He was laying there, unable to move while blinding white light blaster through. Any shadows he summoned were blasted away by the light.

"Poor Ghost King." Nico was vaguely aware of a figure beside him. She sounded scarily familiar. "So unprepared for the journey ahead. Why don't you rest instead?"

Another voice came from nearby, a voice bright and young and painful enough to make Nico bite his lip and hold back tears. "Stay with us, Nico! I got the Mythomagic card! The only one you don't have!"

A deeper voice came, one familiar but never as comforting as it was now. "Here, I can protect them. Here, you have a family."

"Just give up the Son."

Nico narrowed his eyes. "Vaffanculo, Astaria."

He woke up in the middle of the light and locked eyes with his window, the blinds open to the stars and sky above.

He pulled the blackout curtains closed and pulled the covers over his head.

Will was on the battlefield.

Lee was in front of him, skull caved in, and the sky seemed to press in on him, cold stars closer than every, even though it really shouldn't have been night.

"Stop," Lee said, but his voice was not his own. His eyes were empty, and constellations spiderwebbed up his limbs. Will jerked away as if burned. "Stop resisting, Son of Apollo. Why life an existance of returning to past mistakes when you can assist a Titaness?"

Will took a step away from Lee-from the body-and then another. "Stop talking. You're not here."

"I am always here." The voice seemed to come from the sky itself. Will looked up and locked eyes with a constellation- Lupus , hissed a voice in his mind that sounded scarily like his , like the voice that told him exactly what was in a medication when he held it and what it'd do. He felt the same constellation burning its way into his arm.

"Your father's bead does not protect you like you think it does, little healer." Asteria appeared in front of him, all starlight and motherly eyes. She cupped his face, leaving cold trails where her thumb rubbed his cheek. "Give up."

"No." Will forced his gaze to harden.

"Stop fighting."

"Go away." Heat built beneath his skin, and she retracted her hands witha grimace as if uncomfortable.

"I'm trying to help you. I helped you before."

Will didn't have to see the grass light up to know he was glowing like a lighthouse. "You're not my friend."

Asteria's gaze darkened. "Very well."

When Will woke he could see Lupus directly outside his window.

Aggression. Predation. Danger.

The quest couldn't come soon enough.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Everything Goes Wrong

Nico found Will in the infirmary, all of the blinds drawn closed while he hid out under an office desk.

"Do I want to know what this is?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"I had a dream." Will ran his hands through his hand. "A-About Asteria, and...I think she can get to me. In my dreams. From the stars."

Nico nodded. "I think she can get to all of us. Are we hiding out here until sunrise?"

"Please." Will nodded. "Should we IM Piper?"

Nico fished a drachma out of his pocket. "Got a humidifier?"

Nico set up the humidifier and directed Will to glow at the perfect angle...there. A rainbow. "O, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show my Piper Mclean."

The rainbow shifted and Piper appeared, looking a bit irritated next to a closed airplane door. "Nightmares?"

"Nightmares." Nico confirmed. "We're hiding out in the infirmary, but we'll be at the Hill at sunrise. How far are you?"

"Landing in five minutes." Piper tried for a smile. "I should be there on time. How's Will?"

"Very bright." Will hummed, still flowing. Piper snickered. "That's great, Will. Any sign of the supposed transportation?"

"I'll ask dad once the sun's up." Will offered. "See you later, Piper."

"Stay safe." Piper nodded.

The image wavered and disappeared as Will stopped glowing.

Once the sun rose, the three met on Half-Blood Hill and were greeted by a golden car that seemed to glow in the sunlight.

"It's solar powered." Will nodded.

"Did your dad tell you that?" Piper asked.

"No, I think I can just tell. Son of Apollo powers." Will rose his eyebrows. "Hm."

"Who's driving?" Nico glanced over at his companions.

"Not Will." Piper said immediately.

"Aw..." Will looked genuinely crestfallen. "I can drive..."

"You're possessed, buddy." Piper reminded him gently.

Will glared at the sky as if facing off with Asteria.

Nico glanced over at Piper and then opened the car door. "I call shotgun."

Piper glared at him. "Fuck you, di Angelo."

"No, thanks, I have a boyfriend."

Will sputtered and Nico stepped into the car.

"Will, I think you have too many things."

Piper's words were punctuated by a slightly more aggressive shove that caused all of Will's freckles, constellation or not, to flicker with sunlight. "Nonsense! Everything in here is medical supplies! I have 100 extra ambrosia squares, 200 spare bottles of nectar, fourty rolls of guaze, ten packs of band-aids-"

"Holy Zeus." Piper stared at him in awe and a bit of horror. "Are you okay?"

"Ha! Absolutely not." He tried to shove the trunk down and all of his freckles lit up again.

"You seem to be having issues." Piper observed. "Do you need help?"

"Completely fine." Will bit his lip and shoved the trunk down hard enough that his entire body lit up for a solid second. "I'm usually pretty good at packing lots of medical supplies in small bags, but trunks..." He glared at the car. "Not so much."

"You can do this," Piper said with only a little bit of charmspeak.

"I can do this." Will nodded, and went back to assaulting the trunk.

Piper sighed and walked over, and with the two of them working together, they managed to close the trunk.

"I pray that we have the same issues coming back," Will muttered a bit darkly.

Piper considered the trunk's contents and, with a moment of consideration, found herself agreeing.

Nico watched Piper hop into the car and shift the gear as if it personally offended her, then grip the wheel like a lifeline and let out a long sigh. "One last quest. Right, where are we heading, exactly?"

"The coast, I guess." Nico frowned. "But if we get there at night..."

"We'll just have to risk it." Piper took a deep breath.

"DC." Will blurted.

"What?"

"Washington D.C has one of the highest light pollution levels in the states." Will leaned forward. "And if we take a longer route, we could still make it during the day. We'll throw her off our trail and she won't be able to see us, even if it's late when we get there-yknow, with the usual monster attacks that two demigods and a child of the Big Three get. From there, we find a way across the ocean, and make a plan."

"Damn." Piper blinked. "Okay. That's a great idea, actually." She took another deep breath and the car eased into motion. "Let's talk about night shifts."

"Am I not allowed to participate?" Nico could practically hear Will sulking.

"You're possessed." Piper reminded him. "By the Titaness we're trying to stop. Me and Nico will take night shifts."

"Just let me do it." Nico rolled his shoulders. "My sleep schedule's wrecked after the whole statue thing and Tartarus together, so I might as well just sleep while you drive and watch Will at night. Plus, I can fight him if I need to."

"Great suggestion: Don't fight me." Will suggested. He was sitting behind Piper, so Nico turned back to him and flashed him his scariest grin. The goof just beamed back.

"Okay..." Piper frowned. "That works, I guess. If we sleep from sunset to sunrise, that's...almost twelve hours. Everything should be fine."

"Can we get snacks on the way?" Will's eyes lit up.

"Maybe." Piper allowed. Will looked at Nico with an expression of pure excitement.

Nico scanned the window and found, with great joy, that there was a cover for sleep. "Hey, Will. Tell your dad I said thanks for the window covers."

"He said you're very welcome and is making weird innuendos about being gentle with me." Will smiled a viscerally uncomfortable smile.

"Sometimes I forget that your dad's really weird." Nico frowned.

"I wish I could."

After about fifteen minutes, Will realized that the trip was going to be incredibly boring while Nico was asleep and leaned his head back against the seat. "This...is a pretty boring quest start."

"I'd rather boring than life-threatening." Piper hummed, and Will had to agree, though the boredom was starting to nag at him.

"Are there any fun games you can play on a three-person quest while one person's asleep and the other is driving?"

"And the third's possessed?" Piper snorted. "Uh...I dunno, you ever played 'we listen, we don't judge'?"

"Oh, Austin and Kayla love that game. They force every new Apollo camper to play it with them. Should I go first?"

"Sure." Piper took a breath. "We listen, we don't judge."

"I feel like everyone's gay/bi awakening was Percy, but mine's was Beckendorf."

"I don't know who that is."

"Child of Hephaestus. He died." Will sighed. "He was also taken."

"Damn." Piper sighed. "A lot of campers die at Camp Half-Blood, huh?"

Will barked a broken laugh. "Wouldn't I know it."

There was a heavy silence for a long moment. Will realized he'd missed his cue. "We listen, we don't judge?"

Piper was quiet for a second. "Back when Enceladus threatened my dad, I was seriously considering letting him kill Jason and Leo."

Will was quiet for a moment. "I get that. My mom's everything to me. Especially not knowing who my dad was. Ma was all I really had." He heard his accept slip and cleared his throat. "Sorry, your thing."

"Was that an accent?" Piper sounded surprised.

Will bit his lip and said, in a full Texan accent, because no child of Apollo does things halfway, "Might'a been."

"Gods, where is that? Texas?"

"Aust'n, yeah." Will cleared his throat. "I grew up there when my mom wasn't on tour."

"Huh. Okay." Piper nodded. "We listen, we don't judge."

"I give Percy a cold every time he hounds Nico about not being his type." Will snickered. "I have no real vandetta against him, it's just funny."

"Plague powers, huh?" Piper hummed. "Aren't you the first in, like, decades?"

"Eh. I think Micheal might've had them."

"Micheal?"

"Dead sibling."

"Holy Zeus." Piper adjusted the mirror. "How many dead siblings do you have?"

"Do you want the honest answer or the one that'll make you feel better?"

"Uh. The one that'll make me feel better?" Will could see Piper frown in the mirror.

"Three, one of which being Octavian." Will smiled.

"And the actual number?"

"Six." He said it in a hard exhale.

Piper bit her lip. "In what time frame?"

"Not counting Octavian? First was a year before the others."

Piper let out a deep breath. "The others all died in one day?"

"Two, but." Will shrugged.

"By the gods. How old were you?" Piper's eyes were wide.

Will looked out the window. "Thirteen."

Piper was silent for a long time. "Gods."

"Yeah." Will sighed.

"That's horrible."

"You get used to it." Will shrugged.

"How are you so calm about this?"

"It's the unprocessed trauma." Will finally looked back at the mirror. Piper's eyes were on the road, but she looked deeply concerned. "So what happened to 'We listen, we don't judge'?"

"How about, 'We listen, Will gets a therapist'?" Piper huffed. "Seriously, dude. You're getting therapy after this."

Will just hummed and looked back out the window. "So. What's on the radio?"

It was only natural that their rest and snack stop ended in disaster.

Nico had been rudely awoken by his bright boyfriend and the even brighter sun flashbanging him through the open door. "Hi, sleeping beauty."

Nico stuck his tongue out and rubbed his eyes. "Are we there? That quickly?"

"Oh, no. We stopped at a gas station because Piper's hands were cramping, my legs had fallen asleep, and we both needed to use the bathroom."

"Right." Nico mumbled, and pulled himself out of the car. "What time is it?"

"'Bout 8:30." Will seesawed his hand. "Come on, let's get snacks."

Will had held Nico by the sleeve-which made Nico think he was a bit overwhelmed, since he did that when he didn't want Nico's vitals flooding him-and led him into the gas station. Nico got himself a coffee for later and a bag of spicy chips to snack on, while Will got sour candy and orange juice, because of course he did.

"Where's Piper?" Nico scanned the isles.

"Still in the bathroom, I think." Will glanced over at the register, then frowned. "Oh. Payment."

"Just wait for Piper. She'll charmspeak them." Nico pointed out.

Will pouted. "But that's wrong and I'd feel bad."

"I can't believe neither of you brought any form of mortal payment." Piper muttered from somewhere behind Nico, and he turned to see her holding a debit card. "200 dollars on this, so nothing too fancy, but..."

"Right." Nico nodded. "Thanks."

When the three left the shop, drinks and snacks in hand, Will froze and the constellations on his hands pulsed a pale purple-white. "Something's here."

Nico eyed his hands warily. "Asteria?"

"Something of her's." Will muttered.

Nico saw Piper draw Katoptris and summoned his own sword. He pushed his gas station bag up his arm and pulled Will's bow and quiver through the shadows of the trunk and into his hand, offering it to Will. The healer hesitated, then took it with a thankful nod.

Nico saw the air shimmer before he saw what was heading for him, but swung his sword blindly and starlight scattered in front of him like glitter. There was a sound like a screech, and then four spindly creatures like wolves leapt down from atop the sun car, made of pure starlight and snarling.

Will slung his quiver over his shoulder, drew three bows, and shot at the wolves, one hitting a leg, the other hitting its neck, and the third going straight through its starry skull. The wolf burst apart.

Piper lunged at one of the wolves, slashing its flank and eliciting a tinny whimper.

Nico took a step toward one of the unnoccupied wolves, lifting his chin and willing the shadows around him to elongate. The wolf lunged at him and he swung, but it vanished before his sword could connect and he felt cold pain shoot through his leg a moment later.

Nico snarled and swung his sword down, effectively cutting the wolf in half, and looked down at his bloodied leg, red staining the cloth.

He heard Piper swear and looked up to see her trying to stab at a wolf with its teeth embedded in her shoulder while keeping another at bay. He took a step toward her, but an arrow pierced the one biting her before he could reach it and she stabbed the last one before it could lunge again.

"Come on." Will said from over Nico's shoulder, and he was pulled into a bridal carry before he could process. "There are more on the way. A lot more."

Will and Nico both sat in the backseat, hastily buckling their seatbelts, and Piper shifted the car into gear and set them off down the road as quickly as she could without wrecking Apollo's car.

Nico watched Will rifle through what he could reach in the trunk before pulling out a square of ambrosia, nectar, and a bandage roll. "Nico, eat this," He handed the ambrosia square to Nico, who nibbled on it dutifully and put his injured leg up on the chair. Will carefully poured nectar on it and observed the healing before bandaging it. "Any tingling?"

"Not yet." Nico was one of the demigods who could have both nectar and ambrosia at once without them contesting, but Will still liked to be cautious.

"Sorry, Piper, I'm going to have to check you properly later. Safe driving and all. But I can.." Nico watched Will gently press his fingers to her shoulder, making her wince, and then watched Will's fingertips glow gold as the wound slowly sealed.

"Thanks." Piper breathed. "What were those?"

"Not sure," Will puffed out a breath, "But there are a lot of them and they're following us."

"Great." Nico muttered, pulling the window cover up. He knew he wouldn't be getting any more sleep, just out of nerves, but it was nice to pretend.

For the next fifteen minutes, the three drove in silence.

The wolves caught up to them about thirty minutes later.

Well, it was more like at least twenty wolves standing in front of the road and glowing at the car until Piper stopped driving.

"Should I run them over?" Piper was gripping the wheel hard enough that her knuckles were paling.

"They'll break the windows." Will muttered, and Piper could hear an almost haunted quality in his voice. "We need to-"

Whatever he'd been meaning to say was cut off as one of the wolves in front of the car disintegrated and reappeared in the car.

"CAZZO!" Nico swung without thinking about it, effectively decapitating the wolf, but more starting forming.

Piper shoved the door open and twisted, grabbing Katoptris. "Go away!"

The wolves did not seem to respond to charmspeak, and one of them lunged for her arm, only barely stopped by her slash of Katoptris.

A bunch of skeletons rose from the ground and began fighting the wolves, but there were still about four hounding Piper, and it was hard to keep them all back at once. Before long, her legs were riddled with bites, and she was leaning against the sun car for support.

Arrows rained down every once in a while, which was helpful, but then Will fell off the roof with a grunt and was dogpiled by the wolves. Piper bit back a scream and, without thinking, swung her leg and kicked one of them away.

She managed to get most of them off Will and support him enough for him to lean against the car, but his shirt was torn and his shoulder and arm were riddled with bites from where he'd tried to protect himself. Piper looked up and saw more wolved approaching. "Any plan?"

Will coughed and let out a shuddering breath. "Um. Plan B: We might be fucked."

Between the skeletons and keeping the wolves off him, Nico's attention was divided. He was on his side of the car with his back pressed against the door, swinging at any wolves that came near. He heard the window shatter behind him and ducked just as a wolf's jaws snapped where his neck had been. He swung upwards and it burst into glitter-like starlight.

"Nico!" Piper's voice came from across the car. "Will's hurt, and we're-FUCK-" He heard one of the wolves whimper and gritted his teeth.

"Cazzo cazzo cazzo cazzo per gli dei, cosa dovrei fare?" Nico bit his teeth. "Please tell me one of you have a plan!"

"All out of plans." Piper called. "Can you summon any more skeletons?"

"There are no more underground, I don't know why." Nico gritted his teeth. Will's hurt.

Nico closed his eyes and reached for the shadows, willing them to encase the wolves and send them somewhere else. Where where where-

Nico took a deep breath and shadow-travelled the wolves to Albania.

Will was wrapping Piper's shoulder with shaky hands while Nico drove, being the least injured of the three.

"Albania?" Piper asked, then winced as Will poured antiseptic into one of her leg wounds. "Why Albania?"

"One of the places we stopped by when me, Reyna, and Gleeson were taking the Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood."

"What happened in Albania?" Will asked, before starting to hum a healing hymn.

"We do NOT talk about what happened in Albania." Nico snapped.

"What time is it?" Piper tried to look over the back of Nico's seat. Will spared a moment to look up. "1:32."

"We can still get there in time." Piper nodded.

"Actually..." Will winced, "Not only do we need time to get proper treatment outside of a not-so-sterile car, Nico just shadow traveled at least thirty wolves to Albania, so he'll need some time to rest. Plus, we need to work out how we get across the ocean."

"A plane?" Piper suggested.

"Big Three kid," Nico reminded her, "Zeus doesn't like me in the sky."

"Then a boat."

"I don't think we should take our chances. Poseidon might not like Nico either." Will frowned.

"Then what? Shadow travel?"

Will grumbled. "It might be the only way, however much I dislike it. But if we do, Nico is resting first. A full 24 hours."

"What?" Nico frowned, and Will saw his grip tighten on the wheel.

"We're not having another Parthenos incident, di Angelo. Doctor's orders."

Nico huffed out an angry sigh. "Fine. 20 hours?"

"Twenty four."

"But-"

"Twen'y four, di Angelo." Texan Will was back.

Nico sighed. "Fine. Twenty-four hours."

Piper shifted her leg once it stopped stinging. "So. We find a hotel and stay the night?"

"Sounds like a plan." Nico nodded.

By the time they found somewhere to rest, Nico looked practically dead on his feet, so Will took it upon himself to scoop him into a bridal carry and bring him in.

Nico mumbled something unintelligable, but Will could guess what it was. You're hurt. I can walk.

"You look like you're about to pass out." Will protested. "Let me carry you."

He glanced over at Piper stepped out of the sun car and winced. "Do I need to carry you, too?"

"You couldn't," Piper said, but eyed him a bit warily.

"You wouldn't believe how many patients I end up having to carry in." Will shifted so he was holding Nico over his shoulder.

"I think I'll be fine." Piper tested her weight on both legs individually, then took a deep breath and strolled into the hotel.

If the lady at the desk found anything strange about three injured 17-year-olds asking for a room, she didn't show it. The room they were given had two king-sized beds, and Will set Nico down on the one furthest from the window. Nico mumbled again, and Will, very fluent in Sleepy Boyfriend, interpretted it as What time is it?

"2:45." Will ruffled his hair and went through the process off tucking him in, then eased his sandals off and flopped onto the bed with him. His wounds had already scarred over-thank you, son of Apollo healing-and a wave of exhaustion crashed over him.

He saw Piper settle on the bed across from them. "More planning tomorrow?"

Nico mumbled something like, After we sleep, and then grabbed Will, pulling him closer and promptly falling asleep. Will smiled a small smile and closed his eyes.

"Goodnight, Piper."

"It's almost 3."

"Good afternoon, Piper."

Will heard Piper snicker. "Good afternoon, Will. Have safe dreams."

Chapter Text

10-Everything Goes Wrong-er

Will ended up being the first to wake up, faint sunlight filtering in through the covered window. It felt like around 6, so he decided to let the others rest for a bit longer, and fixed his gaze on Nico, who was still fast asleep.

Good morning, Dad, Will thought at Apollo.

Good morning! How's your questing?

First near-death experience of the quest yesterday. Will yawned. I wish I could sleep in more often.

But the waking up at sunrise thing was a myth?

Maybe. Will closed his eyes. But I wake up at like, 4 every day anyways, so my body refuses to stay asleep past six.

Do you need a break?

Will sighed. No, I'm fine. Just...wanted someone else to talk to.

His father was silent for a few moments.

Tell me about what you see. It gets pretty boring up in the sun chariot, and I want to envision where you are.

Hm. Will opened his eyes. Nico's asleep in front of me. I really should check his leg again when he wakes up. We're laying on a pretty soft bed. The sheets are white and the walls are beige. There's a table on the other side of the room, and, uh...Piper's on the other bed. I can't see her right now. I should check her legs, too. She got hurt pretty bad.

Are you hurt?

Will rolled his shoulders. A little. But my wounds are almost healed now.

Faster healing. Apollo guessed. I'm nearing my limit on how much I can directly interfere, but...if you need help healing one of them-

I'll ask you. I know. Will closed his eyes again. Thanks, dad. I'm gonna try and get more rest.

Stay safe, Will.

By some miracle-or Hypnos' mercy-Will managed to sleep for another four hours.

Nico ended up being the last to wake up, greeted by Will sitting beside him with a small plate. "The hotel serves free breakfast," He explained. "Me and Piper went down since it's almost eleven and they stop serving at noon."

Nico sat up and stretched. "Thank you, tesoro."

Will smiled and while the three ate, Nico surveyed the room. Piper was sitting in the chair by the desk, and her legs looked like they were wrapped in new bandaging. She looked less tired than she had the day before-and Will did, too. In fact, even Nico felt more well-rested then he had in a while.

"So," Piper hummed once they were all done, "Planning."

"I don't see why I have to be subjected to you two's planning obsession." Nico muttered. "What are we thinking?"

"We drive to, uh..." Piper held up a map that had been on the desk. "Uh. Dyslexia, um...there." She pointed at what was effectively the furthest point out. Nico narrowed his eyes at the name. If he concentrated, he could read it well enough. "St Mary's County."

"And then Nico shadow travels us." Piper nodded.

"I need a specific place in mind, unless you all want to take your chances in the Atlantic." Nico mumbled. "And I can't go straight to Mount Everest. It's too far."

"And I wouldn't let you either way." Will narrowed his eyes.

"Right." Piper's eyebrows creased. "We need somewhere specific."

"Spain?" Will blinked.

"Why Spain?" Nico looked over at him. Will shrugged. "First place that came to mind."

"We don't speak Spanish." Piper reminded him.

"I don't think any of us can speek any of the languages there, save for some Greek, mostly curses." Nico rose his hands. "And Italian," Will rectified. Nico put his hand down.

"Fair." Piper nodded. "So we go to Spain, get somewhere to rest, and stay there for the night?"

Will nodded again. "Nico needs to rest again after the jump anyways."

"I will not become Nyx's hairband if I shadow travel the Atlantic without 24 hours of rest." Nico grumbled.

"You will become Nyx's hairband if you strain yourself any more than you already have." Will frowned. "Thirty wolves, Nico. To Albania."

Nico let out a long sigh. "You worry too much."

"I don't worry enough."

"Whenever you two are finished being violently homosexual, I'd like to go back to planning." Piper suggested.

"Right." Nico felt his face heat up. "So we drive the St Mary's County, shadow travel the Atlantic, and rest in Spain. What about transport?"

There was a moment of silence where Piper and Nico looked at Will.

"My dad says he'll send the sun car with us." Will nodded after a while.

"Right. Grazie, Apollo." Nico dipped his head.

"He says you're welcome."

"So," Nico stretched and got to his feet. "I call shotgun."

"I'm going to strangle you, di Angelo." Piper narrowed her eyes.

"Save that for your girlfriend."

Piper stared at him, looking both wildly confused and mildly offended. "Why did I agree to travel with you?"

"Because you're like an older sister to me and can't stand me being hurt?" Nico batted his eyelashes. "And because Will's possessed."

Will huffed out a sigh. Nico took his wrist and led him out of the room so the three could continue their quest.

Will usually had nothing against harpies. Harpies usually didn't bother him after a quick warning.

These ones seemed different.

There were ten of them, and about four had landed on the car, two peering at Piper and Nico from where they stood on the hood. Pale constellations spiderwebbed over their necks and faces, and their eyes were milky and pale. Will wondered, with a shudder, if that's what he looked like when Asteria possessed him.

"Hello, heroes." The harpies all spoke at once, in the same taunting tone. "I see you've gotten rid of my Lupi. What a shame."

Piper's grip tightened on the wheel, and she rolled down her window to shout, in charmspeak, "Tell us what they are and what they do."

Asteria laughed, seemingly unbothered. "My Lupi. The tormented souls of former heroes, given a new purpose. Their bodies are made of pure starlight, so they can disperse and travel anywhere. There is quite a big cloud headed your way."

"Cazzo." Will saw Nico ball his fists.

"How do we beat them for good?" Piper asked, but her voice wavered.

Both of the harpies froze and locked their eyes on Will. "Why don't you ask him?"

Will felt a rush of information press at his temples and let out a cry, hands darting up to clutch at his head. It was like the way he'd been able to sense their presence before, but worse, more all-consuming. His head felt like someone had taken a hammer to it.

Will heard Nico growl and felt the car lurch forward, throwing the harpies off with screeches as they were released from Asteria's control. The car hurtled down the road, Piper muttering Greek curses under her breath.

"Will, are you alright?" Nico twisted, and Will looked up to meet his gaze.

"There's-there's a lot, and-I know about-I-ow-"

Nico twisted in his seat-Piper muttered something about seatbelt safety-and cupped Will's face. "You're okay. You're going to be okay."

Will let out a shuddering breath and tipped his head forward, lifting his hands to place them over Nico's. "I...thank you."

"What happened?" Piper asked over her shoulder.

"A lot of information." Will mumbled. "I know some things about them. The Lupi, I mean. They hunt in packs, and they're only half-sentient. They mostly listen to Asteria."

"And how do we beat them?" Nico's voice was soft, but Will could hear the urgency beneath his words.

"That's the thing. The more of them there are, the harder it is to beat them. We just have to fight it out."

"Cazzo." Nico repeated, then kissed Will's temple and pulled away reluctantly, sitting down properly. "Okay. We can do that, right?"

"I still stand by plan A. Run them over." Piper's lip was bleeding.

"Piper, stop biting your lip." Will sighed, fidgeting with his hands. "We're going to have enough injuries already, we can try to avoid those ones."

Piper nodded. "Can you tell how far away they are?"

"Far enough that I can't sense them." Will tried to ignore the implications of him being able to sense Asteria's Lupi. "But we absolutely can't fight them at night. They get stronger near Lupus."

"What?" Nico frowned.

"It's a constellation."

"Right." Piper puffed out a breath. "Okay. We can beat them if we hurry."

"If we can't?" Will looked over at her.

"We pray."

They managed to get just short of the coast when an explosion of starlight threw the sun car off the road. Glass shattered and Piper gripped her seatbelt like a lifeline, waiting until the car rolled onto its side to let go and unbuckle herself. "Out-everybody out-safely-"

She knew her charmspeak could only do so much, but she had to make sure. Once the three were out of the car-Piper with trails down her legs where the glass had caught her skin-they scanned for the Lupi, finding them on a nearby hill.

"O mio dio..." Nico's voice was soft, horrified, as the three stared at the Lupi on the hill. There were at least forty of the wolflike beings, and the one at the very front was large, with white eyes filled with malice.

Will's bow materialized out of shadows, and Piper saw Nico hand it to him out of the corner of her eye. All three of them were trembling.

The large Lupi howled, and they hurtled down the hill, beautiful beings of stardust running down to tear the demigods apart.

Will had been firing three arrows at a time until the Lupi were upon them, but after a certain point, he ended up having to throw it out of the way and fight with his hands instead.

Now, Will was by no means a fighter. His place was in the infirmary, saving lives and staying busy. That being said, Will was still more than capable of wrestling a few wolves.

A familiar fire settled in his chest as he grabbed one of the Lupi that snapped at him, holding its jaws shut and ignoring the pain of another biting down on his wrist. He kicked out at it and two more filled in, snapping at his heels. One lunged and would've torn his throat if he hadn't swung and flown it aside. The more he moved, the harder it was for all of the Lupi around him to get a hold. He could focus on a few at a time, and then-

Will's thought process was cut off when pain flared through his side, and he grabbed an arrow from his quiver and stabbed it into one of the Lupi's eye, through its skull. The starlit wolves were like a sea around him, and eventually, Will's foot was dragged out from beneath him and he fell.

Teeth snapped at his stomach, legs, arms, everything-jaws tried to close on his face, but he managed to hold them away, muscles screaming at the strain. He could hear Nico and Piper struggling nearby, but he couldn't see them, could only see the mass of starlight around him, all over him-it was all he could do to keep their jaws from his throat. He stared helplessly down the Lupi's maw, felt its saliva hit his face and burn, mingling with the blood as it rolled down.

Dad? Will called, but there was no answer. The markings along his arms were paling, though it was only 1:23. Dad-?

He's not here. Asteria's voice was cold, almost delighted. Don't worry, William. I won't kill you. You're far too important. But your friends?

Leave them alone. Light poured off of Will, making the Lupi sem a bit dimmer, but it still wasn't enough. He felt himself get warmer until the hem of his shirt started smoldering, felt rage and exhaustion compile within him. Call them off.

Or what, little hero? Asteria laughed, and then she was gone.

Will's hands shook with rage. His grip on the Lupi's jaws faltered.

He bit back a scream as sharp teeth closed around his throat.

Katoptris was nowhere near long enough to fight this many Lupi at once, and Piper was rapidly becoming swarmed, the Lupi digging sharp teeth into her legs and knees and anything they could get to. She saw Nico fighting nearby, but all she could see in Will's direction was a writhing mass of starlight occasionally broken by a flash of blonde hair or a green flannel shirt. Piper stabbed and slashed, but for every wolf she took down, four more filled in, and at least two of those four landed a bite on her. Their eyes shone with intelligence and bloodlust, and Piper's attempts to charmspeak them failed time and time again.

She felt teeth close on her wrist and tug, and Katoptris was yanked from her grasp, eliciting a scream. The Lupi didn't let go, instead tugging back, tearing at muscles and flesh until Piper's wrist was a mangled mess. She was dragged to her knees, other wolves snapping at her sides and a few near her face, and she realized, with a pang of fear and realization, that if something didn't change soon, they might all die.

There was only so many times Nico could swing his sword at the Lupi before he got overwhelmed.

They didn't bark or snarl, were eerily silent, the only sounds from them the snap of their teeth as they bit Nico, or tried to. Nico's sword was covered in stardust by now, and a layer of it covered the ground, but there were still more, way more than they could handle. For each demigod, there were at least ten Lupi, and Nico was a decent distance from both Piper-who wasn't even standing anymore-and Will-who seemed to have disappeared entirely beneath the mass of Lupi.

Panic built in Nico's chest, slow and cold and steady, and he realized that someone-no, that he needed to do something before one-or all of them-died.

Spain, Nico remembered as one of the Lupi locked its jaws on his elbow. We need to be in Spain.

Nico closed his eyes, reached for the shadows, and pushed.

Chapter Text

11-Two Demigods Nearly Blow Up Some Muggers (ft. British Hermes)

Will woke up in a patch of flowers, bleeding and smoldering faintly with the last memories of his anger. He found, with great joy, that his throat was (mostly) intact and that he was not dead, though he definitely felt like he was. He heard someone else breathing above him and gentle humming, felt something wrapping around his ankle.

"Hrm?" Will's voice was a bit husky, even to him. He turned his gaze up and saw a person.

"Ack!" They flinched backwards. " Estas despierto!"

"Um." Will sat up slowly, wincing at the new pain. " Que?"

"¿Hablas español también?"

Will stared blankly at them. They had wide gray eyes and curky blonde hair similar to his, and were wearing a gray sweater and darker shorts. They had a bandage roll in hand.

"Lo tomo como un...no. Português, então?"

Will blinked slowly. "...English-?"

"English! Yes, okay. Hello!" They beamed. "I'm Dani! You're very hurt. You look like you got bitten by dogs."

"You could say that." Will mumbled, looking around. "Where am I-?"

"Madrid." Dani hummed, sitting back. "Can I keep treating you, or-?"

"Don't worry about it." Will hummed, then looked at his sounds. They were already shallower, and a bit of healing magic would make them scar over.

"Please? Por favor? I'm really good at healing, my Mami says so!" Dani stared at him at him with wide eyes. They looked pretty young.

"How old are you?" Will asked, but offered his arm. Dani beamed and began bandaging it.

"I'm eleven, but I'll be twelve soon."

"Right. Have you seen two other people like me around? One has black hair and an aviator jacket? Italian? Very cute? No? Hm. The other has brown hair and is wearing shorts...she has-" Will hesitated. Maybe telling Dani that Piper had a weapon was not a great idea. "Her hair's in a kinda messy braid right now."

"Nope. Only you. You just appeared here while me and my brother were picking flowers." Dani regarded him with wide eyes. "The shadows came up and then poof! You were there."

"Nico." Will breathed. "Gods, where is he-? I thought..." The idea of being separated made anxiety bloom in the pit of Will's stomach. "Where, uh...where is your brother, anyway?"

"He's getting Mami and Papi." Dani hummed. "What's your name?"

"Will. Will Solace."

"Solace. Like Sol. That means sun."

Will couldn't help but smile a small smile. "How ironic."

Dani's gaze darted to somewhere behind Will. "They're here! Mami, Papi! ¡Él habla inglés!"

Will watched Dani's parents walk down the hill-their mother, with dark hair in a bun and similar gray eyes, and their father with a few gray strands in his brown hair and dark eyes. He saw Dani's mother freeze as soon as she got close enough to see him properly, and heard her mutter under her breath, "Por el Señor, ¿podrá ser?"

Dani's mother walked forward until she was standing above Will and stared at him with wide eyes.

"Apollo?"

When Nico woke up, he was in the middle of an open field. He sat up instantly and looked around, but he couldn't see anyone. Where is-?

"About time." Piper's voice huffed from behind him. Nico looked up to see her covered in healing wounds and cradling a mangled wrist. "Any idea where Will is?"

"He's supposed to be here." Nico looked around again and then got to his feet. "Are you alright?"

"I will be." Piper sighed. "Right now, we need to find Will. It's way in the afternoon now, and if he's by himself by sunset..."

Nico swore. "Right. How...how do we find him?"

The two froze as they heard a loud, lofty laugh echo from above and looked up to see a man with winged boots floating down. "Hermes?" Nico stared.

"Hahahaha! Hello, darlings!" He sounded almost...British? "I hear you need help finding your friend."

"God of travelers." Piper realized. "Do you know where Will is?"

"I do! I'll give you the adress, right now, but..."

Piper and Nico exchanged a glance. "You need us to do something first?" Nico guessed.

"Exactly! You heroes are so smart." Hermes pressed a scroll into Nico's hand and rattled off an adress and some directions. "Simply carry this and, along the way, drop it off by the wooden snake statue. Asclepius and I are having a very important conversation there. But-" Hermes held up a hand, "If the seal is broken by a mortal, it will........explode."

"Explode." Piper said in a flat voice. "Just....get rid of it entirely?"

"Yes! A very big explosion, actually. There are a lot of deadly explody chemicals in there. It's for Asclepius' eyes only."

"Okay..." Nico muttered. "So just...don't open it? That easy?"

"Yes! got to go, but thanks a bunch, darlings!" Hermes laughed again and soared off.

"What?" Will stared at Dani's mother and blinked.

"I-are you not-?" Dani's mother let out a long sigh and shook her head. "Pobre alma, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about."

"No-I-uh-" Will glanced over at Dani, then at their father, who was still approaching. "Why did you think I was, uh...Apollo?"

Dani's mother hesitated. "You'd think I'm crazy."

Will narrowed his eyes slightly. "Maybe I won't."

"Corazón ?" Dani's father stepped up beside their mother, looking concerned. "Something wrong?"

"This is Will Solace!" Dani hummed.

"Like Naomi Solace? The alt-country singer?" Dani's father asked, then winced. "Lo siento, you probably get that often."

"I do, because she's my mom." Will nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. He'd have to tell his mother all about this when he got back. Minus the possession and near-death.

"Oh!" Dani's father rose his eyebrows. "Well. Nice to meet you, Will Solace. I am Andreo Batista, and this is my wife Gloria, and one of my stepchildren, Dani. Jorge should be on his way back."

"Come to the house," Gloria pleaded, taking Will's hand. "You're injured."

"I'll be fine, Ma'am, I need to find my friends, and-"

"You appeared." Dani interrupted, looking up at him in confusion. "From the shadows. Papi said it's impossible, but you did. Show them!"

"I-I can't-I-" Will glanced over at Gloria, whose eyes looked weary. A realization came to Will. "Y-uh-Mrs. Gloria-can you, uh..." How could he phrase this normally? Ah, fuck it. "Can you see through the Mist?"

"What mist?" Andreo started looking around, seeming confused.

Gloria took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. "Yes. I...we really should go to the house. It's nearing dinner."

Will looked up and bit his lip. He should look for Piper and Nico, but...what if they were looking for him? It'd be smartest to stay in one location, right? Besides, he hadn't eaten since breakfast. "Alright. Just for now."

Dani grabbed his hand and, with a happy squeak, led him to the house.

Once the five ate dinner-little Jorge had bounced into the kitchen and sat down, introducing himself as only 6 but a great singer. He had Gloria's hair, but his eyes were bright, sky-blue, almost like Will's. He ended up offering to help her wash the dishes as everyone prepared for bed.

"Are you...?" Gloria's voice was soft, gray eyes tentatively hopeful. "One of his?"

"Apollo's?" Will watched her nod. "I am."

Her lower lip trembled and she steopped back, drying her hands and burying her face in them. Will dried his hands, too, and reached out to steady her. "Woah! Okay-um-did I do something wrong? Are you okay?"

"No..." Gloria looked up and smiled a shaky smile. "No, no no no, it's...you're alive and so old and healthy-we keep getting monster attacks, and I've been worrying if...if kids like mine...I thought they wouldn't make it, but you...gods...seventeen..." She continued weeping.

Will stared for a few moments, then sat down. "Well...me and my friends are demigods. There's this place...Camp Half-Blood. For kids like us."

"It's safe?" Gloria blinked.

"Um. Sort of?" Will smiled a nervous smile. "But I'm head medic, so I fix things even when it isn't. My friends....well. My friend Piper and my boyfriend Nico are demigods, too. We're on a quest, but we've been seperated."

Gloria wiped her eyes. "Please. Stay as long as you need."

Will nodded, then paused. "Dani and Jorge. They're Apollo's?"

"He stayed for a few years. Gorgeous man. You look just like him, I almost thought...but this is better. My children-my babies-they'll live..."

Will gave her a pat on the back and smiled. "I'm happy to give you hope, Ma'am."

That night, Will heard Gloria sobbing again before he slept, her voice shaking with joy.

Everything went fine until they got to the statue.

Nico and Piper had been approaching the giant wooden snake, coiled tightly with its head tilted up sleepily, when a group of five mortals leapt out from behind it, firearms aimed at their heads. Now, normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but Nico was echausted from shadow traveling the three across the Atlantic and Piper couldn't charmspeak mortals who spoke Spanish, presenting a new problem.

The language barrier didn't seem to bother the mortals, though. The one closest to the two mimed emptying his pockets. Nico glanced over at Piper warily, then back at the mortals. He wanted to summon some skeletons to wreck their shit, but even the thought made his fingers twitch as faint waves of pain rolled up his arms. Piper had ended up taking Hermes' scroll once it slipped through Nico's fingers, and the son of Hades was losing feeling in them rapidly. He turned his pockets inside out, but they were empty, aside from Will's coin, which, strangely enough, didn't pass through his hand like mist.

Nico saw one of the muggers eye the coin greedily and barred his teeth, well aware that he probably looked feral and like a tired mess, but gods be damned if he let them take it from him.

Piper pulled out her card, but didn't offer it to them, just leaning back. She didn't have Katoptris anymore, so she was effectively weaponless. Nico could tell it was bothering her, watched her shift from one leg to the other, good hand balling into a fist every once in a while, her only reliable defense method.

One of the muggers stalked forward, but instead of taking the card, he snatched Hermes' scroll.

"Wait-" Piper started, but Nico shot her a warning look. Piper sighed. "They may be muggers and really annoying, but they probably have families and...I can't let them, Nico."

"You absolutely can." Nico thought back to Octavian, when he'd been fired from the onager after his robes got tangled in it. "We have to get to Will, Piper. If these muggers have to blow up for that to happen?"

Piper let out a long sigh and Nico glanced over at the muggers, who were eyeing them curiously. The one with Hermes' Scroll made to break the seal, but a voice rang out from behind him.

"¿Eso es para mí?"

The man behind the muggers had short, salt-and-pepper hair and was leaning against a polished black staff while a green python blinked yellow eyes at them.

"No ," The lead mugger, said, "Es nuestro."

"Uno pensaría que habrías aprendido a dejar de mentir después de que ese hombre te rompió las costillas."

The mugger froze and his gaze darted to the others, eyes wide. He worldlessly offered the man the scroll, and then the five of them scurried off.

The man cleared his throat and smiled at Nico and Piper, even as the first drops of rain hit him. "Hello Nico, Piper. Thank you for delivering this. I'm happy to tell you that Will's just down the road.And...here." He walked over to both of them and laid a hand on each of their shoulders. Nico let out a shuddering sigh as he felt his wounds began to heal, and saw Piper's wrist mend. "Stay safe, you two. And good luck!" Asclepius smiled and then disappeared again, and Piper and Nico exchanged another glance before wordlessly starting down the road.

It was raining heavily when they got to the house, an older, relatively large home, and Nico raised a weary hand and managed to concentrate hard enough to knock the door without his hand going through. It opened after a few moments, and he gazed warily at the woman standing at the door, cheeks stained with tears.

"Hi." Piper's voice was nervous behind him, and he knew she'd be trying to steady him with a hand if she could make contact. "Do you know a guy named Will Solace?"

Chapter Text

12-Back to questing (finally)

When Will saw Nico, he lit up brighter than a sun lamp and beamed, walking over and prompty crushing the son of Hades' ribs.

"Piper," Nico wheezed, even as he wrapped his own arms around Will, "Help. He's killing me."

"You did teleport him to a random place in Spain." Piper nodded, biting back a smile. "I should kill you next."

"Nope." Will rotated so he was between Nico and Piper. "Only I get to kill my boyfriend." He eventually released Nico, who gasped a breath and looked over. The woman who'd let them in was dabbing at newly shed tears, staring at them with a fond look in her eye.

"This," Will nodded towards her, "Is Gloria. Gloria Batista, this is my friend, Piper Mclean, and my boyfriend, Nico di Angelo."

Nico dipped his head. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Batista."

"Please! Call me Gloria." Gloria smiled. "It's nice to meet you. Both of you. And you are also, ah...?"

"We're demigods." Piper nodded. She gestured to herself, "Aphrodite," And then Nico, "Hades."

"Hades!" Gloria's eyebrows shot up. "That's what Dani was talking about! Ever since they found Will, they've been talking about him showing up out of the shadows. My husband thought they were loco."

"No, that was me." Nico felt his face warm. "I can shadow travel. Speaking of which, I really should try and get you guys' weapons-"

"No." Will grabbed his shoulder.

"Will-"

"No shadow travel." Will gave Nico his 'i'm a healer, listen to me' look. Nico sighed.

"How do you know about demigods, Miss Gloria?" Piper asked. Gloria made a face at the name, but let it pass. "My children. Dani and Jorge. Children of Apollo."

Nico side-eyed Will. "Count on you to find relatives in Spain."

"My dad gets around, I'm sure I have relatives everywhere by now." Will rolled his eyes. "Gloria, would you mind us staying the night?"

"No, not at all! Stay as long as you need!" Gloria smiled. "What was happening with you three again?"

"A quest." Will hummed. "We can, uh...explain later." Will gave Nico a look that he interpreted as 'I have no idea what to tell her without freaking her out'. Luckily, Piper seemed to pick up on it, too, because she nodded. "I'm pretty tired," She said with a bit of charmspeak. "Thank you so much for helping us, though. You're very kind."

Gloria's features lit up from the compliment. "Thank you, Piper. Now hurry, get to bed! It's dark and stormy and you three need rest. At your age, lack of sleep can be very bad."

"See?" Will glanced over at Nico. "Somebody gets it!"

"Oh, shut up." Nico rolled his eyes.

"Don't you work, like, ten hour shifts at the infirmary?" Piper rose an eyebrow at Will, who flushed.

"It's different-"

"Come on, tesoro." Nico snickered and grabbed Will's wrist. "Let's go sleep."

When Will dreamt, he was under the stars, in a field of flowers. He was alone.

"What a shame it'd be," Asteria hummed, "If one of you demigods got hurt. Or one of the mortals sheltering you..."

"Don't you dare." Will balled his fists and looked around for her, shimmering slightly with sunlight. "Stay away from them."

"Oh, of course." Her laugh grated on his ears like nails on a chalkboard. "I don't need them. All I need is you."

Will felt lines of ice go down his arms and hissed through his teeth, eyes narrowing. He felt her will press against his and pushed back hard, sunlight dancing over his skin as he did. The ball of fire from the fight with the Lupi flared again in his chest, burning hotter than it had when they'd been attacked. She recoiled as if burned and the stars above seemed to flicker.

"Insolent demigod," She snarled, and Will felt words press into his mind faster than he could combat them. His fire flickered and died. "προσκυνώ."

Will fell to his knees, cold racing behind his eyes and over his arms. He crumpled, hands digging into his hair as he tried to push back and failed. "Stop," He choked out, but she ignored him.

He woke up with a pounding headache.

"Hello, son of Hades."

Nico opened his eyes and found himself in the sky, surrounded by twinkling stars. He started, expecting to fall, but was fine.

Someone barked out a harsh laugh behind him, and Nico glanced over and saw a being made of pure starlight. Shadows clung to her edges and her eyes were all white.

"Asteria." He spat it like a curse. "What do you want?"

"Must I want something?" The Titaness sighed, shaking her head.

"You're here to convince me to give up again, aren't you?" Nico guessed. "It won't work."

"Hm." She smiled. "Not even if I promise your friends' safety? Just take them back to camp, Nico. They'll all be safe, even Will. Him, Piper, the Batistas...you don't wish harm upon them, do you?"

"You're not hurting them." Nico gritted his teeth and got to his feet, glaring daggers at her. "I'll fight you myself."

"You couldn't even beat my Lupi with help, little one." Asteria cackled. "Amusing, but I'll pass on that. No, our fight is far later, if you survive until then. I guarentee that you won't. So simply turn back now. Take your friends home. Spare their lives."

Nico summoned his sword and swung it at her, but she scattered into millions of tiny stars before it connected. "Remember what I told you last time, witch? Vaffanculo. Take that bullshit and shove it up your ass."

Asteria made a sound like a disappointed hum. "So be it."

Gloria had stepped outside with Nico, Will, and Piper the next morning, and Dani followed despite being asked to go inside.

"You're going on a quest?" The young demigod stared at them with doe eyes. "Can I come?"

"Absolutely not." Will and Piper spoke at the same time, but Nico shrugged and said, "Sure."

"What?" Will looked over at Nico.

"Nico, what in Tartarus? Why?" Piper said immediately after.

"They're eleven!"

"And you have enough issues shadow traveling three of us as is!"

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Per gli dei-can I please have a second to explain? Santo Zeus." Nico stared at Gloria with wide eyes, but she simply bit her lip as if she were holding back from joining the rapid fire of questions. "First of all, they could be like Meg!"

"Meg had personal trainers who taught her how to fight," Piper reminded him.

"We could teach them how to fight. And I wasn't done." Nico huffed. "Will, I know this'll ruffle your metaphorical feathers a bit, but we could use another healer-"

"Not a child!" Will cut in.

"CHIUDI IL BECCO. Per gli dei, lasciami finire di parlare!"Nico took a deep breath. "Other than that, less monsters will be attracted to one demigod, especially one as young as Jorge, so the other Batistas be safer." He didn't want to admit it, but Asteria's threats made him warier than he usually was. "And Dani will learn a way to better defend themself, so when they get back, they'll be able to better defend the house, too."

Will bit his lip and glared like he did when he agreed.

Dani squeaked happily. "Will you teach me how to use my cool powers? I can do such cool things, look!" They raised their hands, which caught on fire. Nico jumped.

"Oh." Will blinked and walked over. "I haven't seen that before. I thought it was a Hephaestus power, but...it'd make sense for dad, too. I wonder..." His hand drifted out towards the flame.

"Will. Tesoro. Please do not set yourself on fire." Nico breathed.

"Yeah...don't die, Will. We kinda need you." Piper looked mildly concerned for all of them.

Will pressed his palm to Dani's, but there was no burning. He beamed at Nico and Piper. "Apollo powers!"

"You're a dork." Nico huffed. "Seriously, though. We should take them with us. Unless you want them to teach themself how to control that." He nodded towards Dani's flaming hands.

"As much as I hate to admit it..." Piper's eyes shone with irritation, "Nico's right. Dani needs to know this stuff."

Will glanced over at Gloria. "I don't know..."

"If it'll help keep all of us safer..." Gloria said, but her eyes shone with fear and she'd dipped into her accent a bit more, "I suppose so."

"We're going to Mount Everest," Will reminded her gently. "You can say no if you want to."

Gloria steeled her gaze. “No, I’m sure. Take them with you, please. Keep them safe.”

Nico watched Will heave a deep breath and nod. “I’ll bring them back to you, I swear.”

Nico nodded and gave her his most reassuring smile, tamping down the fear that it might not be true.

Demigods could be both lucky and unlucky.

Lucky, because Apollo’s sun car was in fact on the top of the hill as Will promised.

The bad luck was that it was beneath a four-headed redbellied hydra. Naturally.

Will let out a long sigh and Nico extended a hand, and after a few moments, his bow materialized from the shadows. Will muttered a small thanks and glanced back at Dani. "Stay back."

"Is that the hydra?" Dani breathed, eyes wide. "From the myths?"

"Uh." Nico drew his sword. "We fight a lot of monsters in myths. But I don't think it's the exact one, no."

"Can I help?" Dani looked up at Will with pleading eyes.

"I don't want you getting hurt." Will adjusted his grip on his bow.

"I can heal the others if they get hurt! I can heal by humming, did you know that?"

Will winced and looked away. He knew-he could, too. But Dani was so young, and he was worried that if they started healing now, they wouldn't be able to stop.

Like him.

"Will." He looked up and met Piper's eyes. "Give them a chance. If they get hurt here, they'll stay back from now on. But...let them try, at least."

Will held her gaze, then sighed and reluctantly nodded. "Stay safe."

Piper gestured for Dani to follow her and started marching up the hill.

"Tesoro," Nico's hand snaked into Will's, cold palm against warm, and the contrast sent a tingle down Will's arm. "What's wrong?"

Will sighed and bowed his head toward Nico's, closing his eyes. "I'm just thinking. I don't...I don't want Dani to become...to just be another healer."

"They're not like you." Nico's voice was soft, but his words were sharp. "They don't have a whole camp of demigods relying on them. And you're our main healer anyways. They'll be fine, sole."

"Maybe." Will sighed. "You should probably catch up to them and give Piper Katoptris."

"Already did. And we'll find some place to get Dani a weapon on the way." Nico kissed his cheek and Will felt himself relax automatically. "Trust us, tesoro. Please?"

"I do." Will nodded. "I swear I do, it's just...it's hard."

"I know." Nico heaved a sigh. "Stay here."

"I know."

"Don't do anything stupid."

Will smiled. "I'll try."

He watched Nico dissolve into the shadows and reappear in front of the car, sword slicing upwards and sinking into the hydra's tail. It screeched and whipped around, spitting acid, but Nico disappeared before he could get hit.

Will took a deep breath, nocked an arrow, and let it fly.

Dani hadn't expected to see a monster so soon, but they'd thought it was pretty darn cool.

That is, until said hydra nearly took their head off in one bite.

"MERDA!" They heard from nearby, sounding something like Italian, as the Hydra swiveled and struck with more speed than Dani had expected. They flung their hands up to protect themself, but didn't need to, as Nico's sword slashed cleanly through its head, the son of Hades materializing instantly.

"Woah!" Dani said, then, "Gross," As they spotted the severed head.

"Yeah. Things are about to get way messier." Nico grabbed Dani and everything faded into cold anbd whispers, and when they stepped out, they were a bit further away, watching Piper slash at one of the heads while the one Nico sliced regrew, but double. "Oh dioses..."

"Be careful, they're fast." Nico's words were sharp and his dark eyes seemed to stare into Dani's soul. They couldn't help a shiver, and felt like a pressure was lifted when the older demigod turned and went back to fighting.

"How do we kill it if we can't cut its heads off?" Dani called, staying back for a moment to try and formulate a plan. Definitely not because they were scared. Dani wasn't scared! They were really brave and cool like Will.

Will, who wasn't even on the hill, shooting three arrows at a time, so Dani hanging back should be fine.

Dani watched Piper step back and look over. "You can do the fire on command, right?"

"Yeah." Dani couldn't tear their gaze from Nico, holding their breath when the Hydra's acid hit the pavement right next to him.

"Nico!" Piper called. "I'll slice off a head, and we can distract the others while Dani cauterizes it!"

"While I-wait, what?" Dani stared at her, eyes wide.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Will's voice called from somewhere off the hill.

"Best chance we have," Nico muttered darkly, and Dani watched in awe and a bit of fear as several skeletons clawed up from the ground, armed with swords, and charged for all of the heads-all but one.

"Coime on, we'll cover you." Piper rushed forward, and Dani reluctantly followed, heart fluttering like a trapped bird. Fighting monsters was seeming a lot less cool now.

They thought they heard something from off the hill, but they couldn't dwell on it, because Piper's sword was slashing and the Hydra's head was off.

Dani tried to summon his fire, fueling the heat within him, but it only sparked pathetically, drowned out by his fear. "I-I can't."

"What?" Piper glanced over at them, eyes wide.

"I can't!" Dani took a step back. "My fire isn't working!"

There were only so many places Will could fire arrows and be effective. He was trying to aim for the eyes, but the hydra was writhing, and though he had archery skills like his siblings, he was far from the best, only having managed to blind one head with a lucky shot. Anywhere else only seemed to annoy the beast, and an annoyed hydra meant a less safe friend, boyfriend, and half-sibling.

Maybe his focus on finding more weak points was what distracted him from footprints behind him, or maybe they'd just been too quiet-though for a child of Apollo who could hear more frequencies, it was probably the former.

Either way, his focus was broken when he felt someone grab him by the shoulders and yank him back harshly, throwing him to the ground with a shout. He tried to look up, but then pain flared from the side of his head and everything went dark.

"Call Apollo!" Piper stared at the rapidly rehealing head, waiting for it to reform halfway before slicing it again. Nico's skeletons clattered nearby.

"How?" Dani shrieked. They didn't realize that this was something demigods, did, calling on their parents. They hadn't even met Apollo before.

"Just say something! Say his name, ask for help!" Piper sliced the head again.

Dani felt their hands shaking and looked up at the Hydra head again. "Um, Dad? Apollo? Help? Please? M-My fire isn't working!"

They felt warmth immediately, the sparks within them responding again as the fear waned slightly. Their hands burst into flame, the warmth dancing across their fingertips.

"Great job!" Piper offered him a warm smile. "Now set the stump on fire!"

Dani stared at the growing stump and, before their fear could return and extinguish their fire again, shoved both palms against the Hydra's regrowing head.

The other heads screeched and Dani cringed as they felt the flesh curling and mangling beneath their fingertips, but didn't move their hands away until their medicine voice told them it was sufficiently cauterized. They felt a hand on their shoulder and slipped into the shadows again, slipping out further away. Nico stood behind them and Piper, looking at the writhing Hydra.

The head did not regrow.

"It worked!" Piper sounded half-surprised, half-delighted. "Think you can do it again, little guy?"

Dani grinned at her, their fire sparking a bit brighter with pride. "Yeah!"

"It'll be harder this time," Nico said, and Dani winced, having forgotten that he was behind them. "It knows what we're doing."

"I'll distract it. You two shadow travel on top of it." Piper dashed off before Dani could protest, leaving them with Nico.

"Come on." The older demigod grabbed them by the shoulder and tugged them back into the shadows.

Maybe Will should consider this 'healthy sleep habits' thing, because it was certainly saving his ass.

He wasn't tired enough to stay out for long, so when he found himself being dragged across the grass, he blinked away the beginnings of a headache and stuck two fingers in his mouth, blowing hard and letting out a shar, ear-piercing whistle. He heard a sharp hiss and glanced down, freezing. Empousai. Shit.

It was a bad time to be a bi guy.

Will locked eyes on the monsters and couldn't move, every joint locked. There were two of them, and they barred sharp fangs at him, clutching their ears. "Stupid demigod!" One spat.

"I don't see why we have to keep him alive." The other snorted, taking a sharp hoof to Will's ribs. He let out a cry, stabbing pain flaring through him. Fuck.

The shadows darkened around them, and Will saw someone solidify before him. "Sei completamente fottuto."

Nico di Angelo had come to Will's rescue, and he was absolutely pissed.

Dani did not appreciate their decapitator and only form of escape teleporting away while they clutched the Hydra's bloodied stump, but something about the sharp, painful whistle that'd filled the air made every muscle in Nico's body tense, and Dani really did not want to see an angry Nico di Angelo.

The Hydra's two remaining heads-they and Nico had managed to take out two more already-roared and twisted, locking in on Dani.

Dani swallowed thickly and dove off the Hydra right as it spat acid, landing heavily next to the car. The Hydra screeched as its own acid hit its back and Dani felt Piper drag them up. "Come on! Hurry, something's going on with Will."

Piper and Dani managed to take out the second to last head, only for the last one to whip around and spew acid in a wide arc. Piper dragged Dani to the ground before the two could get melted, but a few drops still splattered across Dani's arm, and they let out a cry. "¡Ay, maldita sea!"

"Going to assume that it was not a curse because you are eleven and should not be cursing," Piper grunted, having also been splashed.

The Hydra whipped around and scrambled off the car, screeching as its last head writhed in pain. Dani was about to release the breath they'd been holding when they looked up and saw a mass of shadowy tendrils a short ways away from the hill.

"Gods-dammit, Nico." Piper scrambled to her feet, and Dani let out an indignant yelp.

"I thought you said no cursing!"

"You're eleven." Piper muttered something under her breath that sounded like angry Greek and began running down the hill. "Come on!"

Dani sighed and, with no other choice, ran with Piper towards a clearly murderous Nico di Angelo.

Nico felt cold rage explode inside him. He himself didn't see the empousai die, masked by shadows, but he heard them, and he sensed their deaths as they were drawn into the shadows and then torn apart by darkness and whispers, until they were shoved back into Tartarus where they belonged.

He let out a long sigh, forcing the shadows to retreat, then glanced back at Will, who was sitting up and holding his head with one hand. He didn't have to ask if they were dead-he was a healer, and he, like Nico, could sense death.

"Tesoro." Nico walked over to Will and crouched down beside him. "What happened?"

"Caught off guard, I guess." Will shrugged and then winced, his hand drifting from his head to his side. Nico watched sunlight shine beneath his skin as he healed the injury. When he saw Nico's face, he smiled a nervous smile. "Just a bruised rib, Nico. I'm fine."

Nico wanted to continue tearing at the fading remains of the empousai's essence, but he had bigger issues.

"Nico!" Piper's voice drifted from on the hill. "What's happening?"

Like that. Nico craned his head to call, "Will got attacked by empousai."

"Here? Really?" Piper let out a long sigh, walking over. "I thought they could like, paralyze men or something."

"I'm gay." Nico grumbled. "Their whole thing is seduction. It's why you and Drew can't charmspeak me."

Will brightened. "Does this mean you're immune to sirens?"

"Sirens sing your greatest desire, not always seduction." Piper pointed out.

"What happened?" Dani hung back a bit, and when Nico looked up at them, they flinched.

"Death glare," Will reminded Nico gently, and he sighed and softened his expression. "Will got attacked by monsters."

"More?" Dani looked around, gray eyes wide.

"They're gone." Will's voice was gentle if a bit teasing. "You're fine. We should probably go to the car now. And, uh...Neeks?"

"Hm?" Nico glanced over at him.

Will grinned a shit-eating grin. "I call shotgun."

Chapter Text

Chapter 13: behind illusion number THREE is....

Piper, for once, wasn't the one driving, sitting happily in the backseat across from Dani while Nico drove and Will snored faintly in the passenger's seat. As it turned out, he was, in the words of Nico, "Very similar to some weird combination between a plant and a cat-some sunlight and a bit of motion and he's out like a light."

Piper decided not to question that and instead stared out the window, watching the world drift by.

Not for the first time this trip, she found herself missing Shel. She'd text her if she could, tell her that she was okay and somehow alive and reassure her that she was coming home, but it'd alert all monsters nearby to her and the others' presence, and even if it was worth it, she didn't have a phone of Shel's number.

With Nico being the son of Hades, it wasn't worth the risk.

Still, Piper missed Shel, missed the nights they'd sit on the roof and gaze at the stars. Piper was sure stargazing would lose its appeal after this quest.

Gods-dammit, Asteria. She heaved a sigh.

"Are you alright?" Dani asked from across the car. Piper looked over at them, met their wide gray eyes and managed a small smile. "Yeah. All good, little buddy."

"You're lying," Dani observed.

"And why do you think that?"

"Apollo's the god of truth," Nico said from the front seat. "His kids can sense lies. Will, Austin, and Kayla have it, too."

"Oh." Piper rose her eyebrows. Maybe that was why Will never took her excuses to stay up late. Gods-damn Apollo kids. "Just...missing my girlfriend. Her name is Shel. I hope she's alright."

Dani blinked and looked down. "I've never had a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or a themfriend. I never realized that people actually felt that way. Like...like sappy songs and stuff."

"That's alright." Piper offered a small smile, tentatively reaching out the senses that Aphrodite granted her. Everyone had some sort of romantic aura, with Nico's being more limited to guys and, more recently, Will, since he was gay, while bi guys like Will and Percy tended to have a broader aura-though both's were dilated due to them being in active relationships. Dani, Piper noticed, didn't have an aura-similarly to some of the campers at Camp Half-Blood when Piper first met them. Reyna was similar, but not the same.

Dani looked away. "So...what powers do you have?"

"Hm?" Piper tilted his head.

"Will shoots arrows really well," Dani looked over at their sleeping half-brother, "And Nico..." They dropped theri voice. "Nico is scary."

"Thanks," Nico snickered from the front seat, and Dani jumped.

"Well," Piper said with a small smile, "For one, I can charmspeak. Well...usually I can."

"What's that?" Dani blinked.

"Essentially, a sort of, um...mind control, ish? But with words. I can't do it here, though. I don't speak Spanish."

"I could teach you!" Dani suggested, smiling brightly. Their smile looked almost like Apollo's. Piper bit back a smile. "Then you could mind control everyone mean and send them away!"

"You'd do that?" Piper tilted her head. "Teaching someone a whole language is a daunting task."

"I'm a great teacher," Dani beamed.

Piper half-expected him to start glowing, but he didn't. Maybe that was a Will-specific power. "Alright, little dude. Teach on."

"So 'speak Spanish' is 'habla Español'?"

"Sí." Dani nodded.

"And 'I don't speak Spanish' is ' no hablo Español'."

"¡Buen trabajo!"

"What's that mean?" Piper blinked.

"Good job. And 'can you speak English' is...?" Dani smiled.

"Uh..."

"Puede hablar Inglés."

"Right." Piper nodded. " ¿Puede hablar Inglés?"

"Sí! Muy buena, very good!" Dani beamed at her.

"Can I know what 'don't kill us' means in Spanish, too? Just in case."

Dani's smile faltered, worry creasing their eyebrows, but they nodded. " No nos mates."

"No nos mates. Thanks, little dude."

It was only a matter of time before those gods-damned wolves returned.

The Lupi sat in the distance, blocking the road. Nico hadn't driven up yet. Piper couldn't blame him.

"We could get out," Nico tried. "Find cover."

"They'll dogpile us," Piper reminded him, wrist starting to ache at the memory. "And Will's asleep."

"Are those wolves the reason Will had all those bites?" Dani asked, frowning.

"Yeah." Piper frowned. "I'll get Will up. Nico, prepare for the worst."

"Always," Nico muttered. Dani squeaked.

Piper took a deep breath, yelled, "WILL, WAKE UP!", and prepared for all Hell-sorry-Tartarus to break loose.

Dani screamed when the first wolf popped into the car, but the others seemed unfazed-other than Will, who flashed with sunlight like a flash-bomb.

The four of them pushed out of the car and Dani watched Nico grab Piper. The two of them disappeared.

Dani yelped.

"They'll be back," Will's voice came from beside him, soft and a bit tired but somehow calm, aside from a few tremors. He grabbed Dani's hand, his warmer than theirs. Dani hadn't ever met anyone warmer than them.

It was strangely comforting.

Then Will turned and punched one of the Lupi in the snout, and Dani was suddenly very glad that he was with the older son of Apollo rather than against him.

The shadows around them darkened, and Dani felt a cold hand clamp around their free one, and suddenly they were torn into a sea of darkness and whispers.

Not good enough.

Burden.

Tag-along.

It was gone as quickly as it came and they stumbled, holding down vomit. They'd been shadow traveled before, but it'd never been that bad.

A warm hand rested on their shoulders and the nausea faded. Will was holding them upright, hands glowing faintly with sunlight. Nico was leaned against him on the other side, face buried in his shoulder. Even from there, Dani could tell that his vitals were half-there, as if trying to read the vitals of a ghost.

They shuddered and pushed the thought away. Even though Nico was, in their opinion, legitimately terrifying, the thought of the demigod just...becoming a ghost made them feel hollow.

"Where are we?" Will asked, and Dani looked over and spotted Piper clutching Katoptris and staring at what looked like a temple ahead of them.

"Not sure," Nico croaked, his voice almost seeming to echo slightly. "Away."

Will made sure Dani was steady before his hands drifted to Nico. The son of Hades tried to bat his boyfriend away, but it was no use. Dani watched, awed, as Will's healing magic flowed into Nico.

"Well," Piper spoke up, voice shaking slightly, "Let's head in. Maybe there's a god in there...and we could use some divine intervention."

Will and Nico mumbled matching agreements and Dani followed her up the stairs and into the temple.

When Dani stepped into the temple, they were alone.

They didn't know what happened, just that one moment, Will, Nico, and Piper were there, and the next? Gone. As was the temple entrance.

A low howl echoed down the hall. Dani turned and saw a large, lone wolf with a pelt of moonlight, eyes blazing with fury. Its claws clicked faintly against the floor.

Dani knew they should've stayed. Should've been brave and fought. But everything in their body screamed at them, urged them to turn and run down the winding hallways and get the Tártaro out of there. So they did.

The wolf didn't chase them. Just howled again.

Dani didn't have to hear the claws to know they had a pack of Lupi on their heels.

The first thing Piper noticed was that the light significantly dimmed once she got about five steps into the temple, and when she turned, the entrance was gone. She was alone.

That was her first sign.

Her second sign was a deep laugh from down the hall. A familiar laugh.

No.

She tightened her grip on Katoptris and looked into the blade. In it, she saw herself, with the temple around her. It was brighter, somehow.

She looked back up, gritted her teeth, and marched down the hall, towards Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, murderer of Jason Grace.

When Will stepped into the temple, everything seemed to shift, his vision doubling. When he recovered, everyone was gone.

"Wha..."

"Will!" A voice called from deeper in the temple. He froze, every joint locking.

"Will! Help me!"

Shit. Will glanced over at the hall. He started to walk, then paused.

"Will?"

SHIT.

Will froze in place. He had two options for two paths.

He could look for Nico and figure out what in Tartarus was going on...

Or he could go the other way and figure out how in Tartarus he was hearing Micheal Yew.

Nico must've blacked out when he got into the temple, because he opened his eyes and he was alone. The entrance was gone. He stumbled and almost fell.

Shit...where's Will?

Nico sighed and rolled his shoulders, taking a step forward and pausing. There were small veins of water running along the ground, pooling to meet at a small pond-like area that looked like it dropped off into nothingness. In front of it, Nico saw a figure. He tilted his head and took a step forward, then two-then froze.

Whispers echoed from the water like an old, bitter friend.

Somehow, some way, the water was from the River Acheron.

Dani ran until they found a harsh drop-off marked by a waterfall and froze, but they couldn't hear the Lupi anymore. Instead, they heard footfalls.

The demigod turned around and saw Nico di Angelo. The son of Hades' eyes were dark with what looked like fury, and Dani felt their heart stutter and stop. Still, for whatever reason, Dani couldn't get a read of his vitals.

"Nico?" Their voice sounded tiny, even to their ears.

They looked past Nico and everything slowed to a painful halt.

Behind Nico was a charred body, covered in burn scars. No vitals came from it, but Dani could tell the person was dead.

And they looked suspiciously like Will Solace.

Piper didn't find Calligula in the temple's center. She wished she had.

Instead, she saw Jason, impaled on the Roman's spear. His eyes, blue and sightless, gazed at the sky with what Piper thought might've been longing. Her legs almost gave out. She walked over to him.

He was cold, unresponsive. Already dead.

He'd been dead. But how was he here...?

Piper knew Katoptris didn't show visions anymore, other than in nightmares induced by Asteria, but she looked into the blade anyway.

Instead of reflecting her beside Jason''s body, it refleted her alone, surrounded by mist.

There was someone behind her.

Piper adjusted the blade's angle and managed to catch the flash of a grin before everything went dark.

Will didn't have to be Apollo's son to know that something was wrong. Of course, it helped, but there was still the question of how Micheal could even be alive.

Everything shimmered faintly, and he caught a glimpse of mist. For a moment, he got the sensation of being weightless. He stumbled.

There was something familiar about this...like...

Lou Ellen. When she got annoyed with Will's sleeping habits, she'd often try to trick him by turning the infirmary into a room of cushions-well, she made the Mist appear that way, anyways.

This could be the work of another child of Hecate, then. But he would've seen through it by now-he was the son of the god of truth. Why...?

A wave of drowsiness overcame Will and his knees buckled. Cold hands cupped his face.

"Very sorry, εκλεκτός, but our Lady insists things must be done a very specific way...worry not, έκλειψη. Your friends will be safe until the Ceremony."

Will had a thousand questions, but his mind was slipping away and suddenly, he was-

gone.

"Hello."

The person at the edge of the Acheron turned and stared directly at Nico with dark, almost purple eyes. They had pale skin but freckles all over their face, and white hair fell in tangles down their back. He looked young, maybe Dani's age. "Nico di Angelo, is it?"

Nico summoned his sword. "Who are you?"

The stranger smiled a sleepy smile. "Sovar, son of Morpheus. Pleased to meet your acquaintance."

"Morpheus." The guy who put all of Manhattan to sleep during the second Titan War. "What have you done to me?"

"Pardon?" Sovar blinked slowly, like a tired cat.

"The Acheron can't possibly be here. It's in the Underworld. Where are my friends?"

"Safe." Sovar seemed to reconsider with a slight scowl. "Mostly safe, anyways. My star-sister, Emphi, gets a bit carried away when she gets to weild the Mist. One of your friends saw through and....well. I'll have to make sure she didn't bruise anything. I eish she'd talk to me...I can knock people unconscious, but no. She's oldest, so she gets to make the rules. I don't see why the Lady put her in charge instead of me."

"The Lady."

"She cares for us. She...raised us, after our mothers left us here." Sovar's face flushed. "Emphi was here first, so the Lady named her oldest and sovereign. We are twins in everything but family and appearance. Same birthday."

"She's a demigod, too?" Nico guessed.

"Daughter of Hecate."

"And she was...abandoned. By Hecate."

"No, her other mother." Sovar shook his head.

"Right." Nico frowned. "So this...it's an illusion?"

"More of a waking dream, really, but yes. Emphi needed me to give you all dreams so she could access your memories, even though she doesn't need them, but Emphi is Sovereign as oppointed by the Lady...it really is unfortunate."

Nico was starting to guess who this Lady might be. "And who is this Lady?"

"I musn't speak her name. It's improper and impertinent."

"How old are you?"

"Twelve." Sovar beamed.

"Eh. You're old enough to start being impertinent. Is this 'Lady' named Asteria?"

Sovar squeaked. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess." Nico narrowed his eyes. This kid was working for Asteria-but if he was telling the truth, he had been raised by the bitch and wouldn't know any better. Nico couldn't just fight him. Cazzo. "Why does Asteria need you to make us illusions?"

"For the Ceremony." Sovar blinked.

"What Ceremony?" Nico frowned.

"Oh, you know." The younger demigod shrugged. "The one where we take you to Mount Everest and sacrifice you to the Stars."

"Wha..." Dani tried to step back, but there was no ground left-only the waterfall. "What happened?"

"You." Nico's voice was low, dark, and Dani felt another shudder pass through them.

"What?"

"You have fire." The shadows around the two elongated. "Who else could it be?"

"But-wh-I didn't--I couldn't-" Dani froze.

Will was immune to fire.

"You're fake," They blurted, then squeaked. Gods save them if they were wrong.

"What?" Nico's voice was dangerously quiet.

"Will c-can't burn." Dani tried to hide their trembling. "He's i-immune. Son of Apollo."

Nico glared at him for a long few moments before dissolving into Mist. In fact, everything did-Dani found themself in the middle of an empty, orange-stoned room.

"ARGHHH!!"

Well. Mostly empty.

Across the room sat a girl who looked about 12 with messy ginger hair and fierce green eyes, pouting. "Why're all of you breaking through? I'm supposed to be great at this!! ARGHH! SOVAR!"

"I'm busy..." A sleepy voice drifted in from a doorway.

"GET YOUR SORRY ASS IN HERE! THE LITTLE ONE'S LUCID!"

Dani frowned. "I'm not that little."

"Shut up." The girl scowled. "My star-brother is going to put you right back to sleep until the Ceremony."

"You're mean," Dani observed. "I'm Dani." They scanned the room. There wasn't much there, other than a spear and a sword leaning against the wall.

"Emphi, Daughter of Hecate." The girl grumbled. "Sovereign of this temple. I'm the oldest and the best."

"Um. Best what, exactly?"

"Best demigod!" Emphi puffed her chest out. "I even get a minion! His name is Sovar!"

"I thought he was your brother."

"Same difference!"

Dani frowned and glanced over at the weapons again. A spear or sword was better than nothing, right?

They took a deep breath, set their entire body on fire, and lunged for the weapons.

Piper woke up in a room lined with orange bricks, similarly to the temple...

The temple. Katoptris.

It was a gods-damned illusion...and Piper's dagger was across the room, just out of her reach. She felt raw, as if an old, stitched-up wound had been sliced open two times as deep.

"Shit," She muttered, sitting up and then wincing as a headache bloomed from the back of her head. She ignored it and clambered to her feet.

She went to reach for the dagger, then paused. "Show yourself."

No response. Nobody there.

Piper grabbed Katoptris and stepped out into the temple in search of her friends.

Nico jumped when the voice shouted nearby. He assumed that one was Emphi.

Sovar gave Nico a look that was depressingly tired, for an eleven-year-old. "You wouldn't be willing to stay here while I send your friend back to sleep, would you?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?"

"No..." Sovar sighed. He looked like he had more to say, but then a scream rang out and Nico watched Dani burst into the hallway. Mist appeared, thick like smoke, and suddenly, Nico and Sovar weren't in front of the Acheron's waterfall, but on flat, temple ground. Dani held a spear in his hands, and spun to face a taller girl who burst out behind him. Emphi, Nico guessed.

He willed the shadows to surround Sovar as if he were shadow travelling him, even though the strain would be pushing his limits. "Show us to Piper and Will or he goes to Albania."

Emphi froze. "Hey!"

As if on cue, Piper stepped out of a hallway behind Emphi, and hit her hard with the back of Katoptris, knocking her out. Nico blinked, then reluctantly released Sovar.

"Where's Will?" Nico narrowed his eyes.

The young demigod shivered, looking from his collapsed birthday-twin to Nico, and seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry. I don't know...far away by now."

Nico felt his blood turn to ice. "What?" His voice was low, sharp like ice shards. He saw Dani wince.

"We aren't the only demigods the Lady watches over. She sent a few of them over yesterday, and today they were meant to get you all to take you to Mount Everest."

Nico's glare got colder. "To sacrifice."

"What?" Piper blinked.

"Y-Yes? No? Not really. Not him." Sovar looked down. "I don't understand much of it."

Nico started to speak, but was cut off by a small twinling sound. He looked up and spotted a pack of Lupi growing closer.

"Shit." Nico grabbed hold on Sovar, did his best to grab onto Piper, Emphi, and Dani's spirits, and shadow traveled them as far away as he could.

They were without Apollo's help, without the sun car, and without Will Solace.

Maledizione a tutto.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14: Oh Look, The Child of That One Goddess We Pissed Off That One Time

Shadows enveloped Piper for a moment, tearing at the grief in her heart, which was already raw. It felt as if her wounds were being reopened time and time again. Her heart hurt.

When they faded, she was on a bridge overlooking what looked like a canal. She grabbed the edge to steady herself and her gaze flitted over the area, eyes widening slightly.

She’d seen pictures of this place before. They were in Venice.

If anyone noticed or cared about five kids appearing out of the shadows on the bridge, they didn’t say, simply going along their days. Well, evenings now. How long had they been in the temple?

Nico sat slumped against the bridge’s railing, eyes closed. He looked paler than ever, and Piper swore she could see through his fingertips. Beside him, the two kids were clutching each other, staring at Piper with wide eyes. Dani was rubbing their head on her other side.

It took a moment for everything to sink in.

Will was gone. They were in the middle of Venice, Italy with no transportation methods or healing supplies, with two illusionist children they didn’t know who’d previously intended to sacrifice them to Asteria.

She gave her best glare to the two, and the older lifted her chin defiantly. The other seemed to shrink.

Piper sighed. “What are your names?”

“Like I’d tell you!” The older spat.

“Sovar,” The younger murmured, sounding tired. “She’s Emphi.”

“Shut up!”

Piper frowned and glanced back at Nico, unconscious. She gritted her teeth and walked over, grabbing the son of Hades in a bridal carry. She glanced over at Sovar and Emphi, and, speaking with charmspeak, said, “You two. Follow me. Behave.” Then, to Dani, “Make sure they don’t do any illusions or anything.”

Dani nodded, but their gaze was distant, a bit frightened. Piper didn’t blame them. Perhaps it’d been a bad idea to bring them along, especially as their first quest.

Piper started walking along the bridge, and then along the streets. She didn’t know where she was going, just that staying still would attract monsters and she had to figure out somewhere to go before nightfall.

Her thoughts drifted to Shel. What would she do, if Piper was stranded in Italy with barely 200 dollars and no way to get home? Would she worry?

She was too distracted to notice the person stepping in front of her before it was too late, and shook her head, glancing up and meeting dark brown eyes that looked almost amber. “Sorry.”

The man was tall, taller than her, with short, dark brown hair and black clothes. “Where are you going?”

Piper froze. “Somewhere close,” She said, with as much charmspeak as she could muster.

The man bit his lip and hummed. “Clever. But my partner’s one of Aphrodite’s, too, so I know my way around charmspeak. Are all of you demigods?”

Piper froze. “You can see through the Mist?”

“I’d be a pretty lousy demigod if I couldn’t.” The man blinked. “Autumn, pleased to meet you. And you are…?”

Piper hesitated, but Dani spoke before she could stop him. “Dani Batista. That’s Piper, and this is Emphi and Sovar. Nico’s passed out. We’re demigods.”

Piper sighed. “Right. Aphrodite, Hades, Apollo…and no idea what those two are.”

Autumn hummed. “Shadow travel?” He guessed.

“How did you know?”

“I’m familiar." The older demigod gave a lopsided smirk. "Autumn Corvo, son of Zagreus."

"Zagreus?" Piper blinked. She'd never heard of that god before.

"God of Rebirth. Hades is my grandfather." His smirk became a wry smile. "From experience, I'd bet you don't have anywhere to go and are running from...well. I'm not sure, but something. Me and my caro can take you in. We're used to fighting off the monsters that swing around."

"I think seven demigods will attract a lot of monsters." Piper frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Do you want somewhere to stay or not?" Autumn raised an eyebrow.

"Right." Piper let out a long sigh, already expecting the darkness that leapt up to pull her through the shadows. She hoped she wasn't making a mistake.

When Will woke up, he was in a dark room, and there was someone sitting with their back against the door, reading. The only light came from white tattoo-like constellations all over their face, illuminating their silver-white hair and pale skin. Dark, hollow eyes flitted up to him as he shifted, realizing that he was awake.

"What the-"

"Good morning, Εκλεκτός."

"What?" Will frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Εκλεκτός?" The other-younger, from what Will could tell, maybe twelve- "It means Chosen One."

Will's frown deepened. "Chosen by who?"

"Our Lady." The younger gestured at the star fleckles on their face. "I'm Stelle. Child of Nyx."

Will nearly choked. "Nyx? A promordial?"

"Similarly to how Athena's children can be born from a thought of their other parent, Nyx's children can as well." Stelle's gaze darkened. "My father was dead long before my mother thought of me."

"Were you...were you born into Tartarus?" Will frowned.

"I was." Stelle nodded. "But Nyx sent me to the Lady when the Doors opened."

"Right." Will was guessing that the Lady was Asteria. "And I'm assuming that means I have no chance against you?"

"You underestimate yourself, especially since you're older. But...it'd be a hard fight. And I'm not the only one." Stelle tilted their head. "Zephyr is the son of Aether. Chloe's a daughter of Gaea."

"Gaea!" Will blinked. "Didn't she...um..."

"Yes. Chloe kept us safe when Gaea tried to rise." Stelle dropped their gaze. "They don't get along."

"Are all of you, um..." Will cleared his throat. "Are all of you this young? How many of you are there?"

"Only us three. I'm twelve, Zephyr is ten, and Chloe is around your age."

Gods. They were little kids... Will sighed. "And why am I here, wherever here is?"

"Chloe's house. We're taking you to Everest."

"Why?"

"The Lady needs you, and she says you won't come of your own volition."

Will sighed. "I won't. Why do you work for her?"

"We owe her. She took us in when we had nowhere to go-I had no father and my mother lives in Tartarus, Zephyr's mother died in a plane crash, and Chloe...I'm not sure. She's never shared. The Lady taught us how to control our powers and protected us from monsters." Stelle shuddered. "There were so many monsters."

"Kids of primordials," Will noted, half to himself. "That must be worse than when Nico, Percy, and...and Jason were in the same room."

"Yes." Stelle nodded.

There was a knock on the door and Stelle stood-surprisingly tall for their age-and an older girl stepped in. Sure enough, she looked to be around Will's age, so he assumed she was Chloe. "Hi."

Chloe scowled. "You've been running from the Lady?"

"Running to her, actually. But not for the reasons you are." Will's fingers twitched, wishing he had his bow. At the very least, if things came to it, his whistle might stun them for long enough for him to at least get a lay of the area. He was fast enough and running seemed to be his best chance.

"You must think you're funny." Chloe's scowl deepened. "Stelle, get Zephyr. I'll call you in when I need you."

Stelle left and Chloe closed and locked the door. Will pivoted so his legs hung off the bed. Chloe had similar constellation freckles on her face, with one on her forehead. Eridanus, Will's stupid unwanted constellation identification told him. The cycle of life.

"Godly parent?" Chloe asked, eyes narrowed.

"You don't know?"

She grumbled low in her throat and a tremor passed through the building like an earthquake. Will suppressed a shudder.

"I'm not scared of you." He said, eyes narrowing. "I have Nico di Angelo for a boyfriend and I've been to Tartarus before. I'm not afraid of a moody demigod...especially one who needs me alive."

"Alive, but not uninjured." Danger flickered in her gaze.

"I think I'm willing to call your bluff on that," Will retorted, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice. If he was being honest, he was afraid-terrified, even. But Chloe seemed like a Clarisse type, and if he showed her that she was scaring him, she'd only push further.

"You're an idiot," Chloe spat.

"Thank you." Will let out a shuddering sigh. "Is there anything I can tell you to get you to let me go?"

"No."

"Thought so." He frowned. "You plan to get me to Mount Everest...so what, you'll knock me out every time we have to move?"

"You're meant to come willingly, dumbass." Chloe snorted. "You're being given an honor, you know. I'd kill you if it meant being able to take your place."

"It's not so great when you have a campful of friends relying on you and the son of Hades as a boyfriend." Will rose his eyebrows. "And I'd gladly make you Asteria's new plaything if it meant I was rid of this whole quest."

Chloe tensed. "We don't speak the Lady's name."

"Why not? Are you afraid of her?" Will tilted his head.

"Aren't you?"

"Nyx is scarier." Will shrugged, then winced as cold lines of pain raced up his arms. He hadn't missed this sensation.

"If you value not being in pain, I'd hold my tongue when speaking about the Lady," Chloe advised.

Will gritted his teeth and tried to project his own glow, the constellation freckles on his arms flickering between white starlight and golden sunlight. The cold pain extended to his back now, and he had a sneaking suspicion that somehow, Asteria had put more of the constellations on him. He also felt the pain tease the base of his neck, and he blinked rapidly to hold back tears. "I'm done letting her bully me into submission."

"You really are an idiot," Chloe muttered under her breath. "So you'll be fighting us this whole way?"

"Damn right," Will grumbled, his words drawling slightly as his accent slipped out.

"Very well. Stelle?"

The younger demigod stepped into the room and everything went dark.

"Caro!"

Dani blinked as he watched Autumn step further into the house he'd shadow-traveled them into. It was pretty small, but had a cozy feel, and the young demigods stood in front of a small fireplace.

He watched someone roll backwards in an office chair, holding a strange pen and wearing a glove that only covered two of their fingers. They had long, curly black hair and warm brown eyes, dark freckles standing out against brown skin. "Hello, Amore. I-wha-" Their eyes widened slightly. "Are those five kids? Per de gli, one of them's unconscious! Amore!"

"It wasn't my fault this time!" Autumn rose his hands, laughing. "A quest, by the looks of it."

"You brought questers without asking me? Amore! Nel nome di Zeus, ti strapperò il collo, bastardo!"

"That's my caro, Veia." Autumn beamed at the young demigods. Dani saw Sovar shuffle beside Emphi, blinking.

Veia sighed. "Sorry, young ones. Yes, I'm Veia Corvo, daughter of Aphrodite. You?"

Piper let out a long sigh and set Nico down on a reclining chair so she could point. "Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, Dani Batista, child of Apollo, Emphi and Sovar, children of someone or other, Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite."

"Morpheus," Sovar hummed, and Emphi barked, "Hecate!" At the same time.

"Gods." Veia blinked. "And...another daughter of Aphrodite. I guess we're siblings...gods, Amore, how are we supposed to take care of all of them? There aren't enough beds!"

"Scusa, Caro. Vedo semidei in cerca di missioni, devo offrire aiuto." Autumn said, smiling. "I've done this before," He said to Piper.

"What is your quest?" Veia asked.

Piper sighed. "We had a friend...Will...who was having trouble with a goddess. Titaness, really, and...the quest was to fight her, but Will got sort of...kidnapped."

"Their fault." Dani shot a glare at Sovar and Emphi, frustration flaring in his heart again. "They stopped us on the way and tricked us with illusions!"

"And we're not sorry," Emphi huffed.

"I am a little," Sovar mumbled. "Will seemed nice."

"No you're not." Emphi stepped on his foot. He didn't flinch, just sighed.

Veia sighed and her gaze softened. "I'm sure we can find an air mattress or two..."

"Changing your tune so quickly, Caro?"

"Shut up, Amore, or you sleep on the floor."

The Lady didn't arrive until the sun set, and Stelle had been assigned to keep watch over the Εκλεκτός.

They don't know what they'd expected, but it wasn't...well. Him. For one, he was younger than Stelle had expected, and a lot less impressive as a result. Almost their height-though they'd always been tall for their age-with sunkissed, freckled skin and a mess of golden hair that curled over his ears and forehead. His eyes were blue, the same bright, blinding blue of the sky, reminding Stelle of when they first stepped onto the surface and realized just how bright it was.

He was sleeping now, thanks to Stelle, chest rising and falling gently. The only sounds in the room were the two's breathing and the muffled sound of Zeph and Chloe's footsteps outside. Stelle knew Zephyr wanted to see the Εκλεκτός more than anything, but Chloe had given orders.

Eventually, the darkness outside of the house began to call to Stelle, and they watched as little lines of light glowed through the Εκλεκτός's sweater, starlight connecting in little constellations kind of like theirs. When he opened his eyes, they were pale, the blue so washed-out it looked about five shades lighter.

Stelle inclined their head like they knew they were supposed to, well aware that the Εκλεκτός would be dormant now that the Lady had taken over. "Good evening, Lady of the Stars."

"Good evening, Stelle of the Darkness." The Lady spoke with the Εκλεκτός's voice, but her tone was the same, kind and gentle with a bit of an edge that warned them to treat her with respect.

you know what happens if you don't.

"Shall I fetch Chloe?" Stelle lifted their chin again, but didn't get up. They couldn't, not until given orders. To do so beforehand would be impatient and would disrespect the Lady.

"Please do."

Stelle stood and left the room, closing the door behind them. The whole house was dark now, since none of them needed to turn on the lights and Chloe's parents weren't around to pay the electricity bills.

Chloe was sitting on the couch, staring intently at the door and, consequently, Stelle when they stepped out. Meanwhile, Zephyr sat on a small mat, drawing clouds while his pet bird, Skedi, rested on his shoulder. Zephyr was the shortest and youngest of the three, with permenantly windswept dark hair and bright blue eyes that were similar to the Εκλεκτός's, if only a few shades darker. It was hard to see them, though, because they were constantly covered by his hair.

"She needs you," Stelle nodded to Chloe, who stood and walked past them, stepping into the room behind them. They let out a soft sigh as the lock clicked and walked over, sitting beside Zeph and making a soft humming noise to alert the demigod of their presence.

"Hi, Stelle." Zephyr smiled.

"Hello, Zeph." Stelle blinked at him. It'd taken two years for them to grow comfortable enough to use a nickname with the young demigod, and even then, they kept their conversations and responses short, curt, and straight-to-business. It was for the better, anyways. The Lady smiled upon those who were concise.

"What was the Εκλεκτός like?" Zephyr's voice was filled with excitement and awe.

Stelle thought on their short conversation with him, of answering the constant questions. The Εκλεκτός had carried himself with a sort of uncertain confidence, as if he was both completely assured in his abilities and doubting himself at the same time. It'd help the Primordials if they had to face him in a fight-not that they'd need help, considering he seemed to be a child of one of the Olympians. "Talkative."

"What's his name?" Zephyr whispered, turning his head a bit too far in an attempt to look at them.

"I am not sure." Stelle frowned. "Chloe didn't tell me."

It wasn't often that the Primordials fought or disagreed, but Stelle had to admit that they were a bit frustrated at their superior's witholding of information. The Lady had allowed them to speak the Εκλεκτός's name, but Chloe refused to give it to them. It was irritating.

"What did your Nyx powers tell you about him?" Zeph's asked.

Stelle blinked. Chloe had told them to hold off on their Reading-being a child of Nyx, they were able to see the worst in anyone if they so chose.

It wasn't as good of a power as one would think.

"I didn't use them this time," Stelle admitted. "What're you drawing?"

"Sky," Was Zephyr's only answer. He was getting better at drawing without sight.

When Zephyr had been born, Aether, unable to hold him in the sky, had sent him to Asteria, who took him to live with Stelle and Chloe. The sky, as it turns out, was significantly brighter than there, though, so Zephyr saw everything as if it were in a cave-completely dark. Firelight could help and he could see the star tattoos just fine, but since none of them were lit up at the moment, he was blind.

"Stelle." Chloe's voice came from the door, loud and commanding, and the child of Nyx looked up at met her gaze. Chloe was tall, taller than Stelle, with fierce gray eyes and brunette hair that fell in deceptively soft waves over her shoulders.

"Yes?"

"Call the Lupi. We leave in the morning." Chloe's jaw was set, a clear sign of her irritation.

Stelle resisted the urge to ask if the Lady would approve of such a show of emotion, knowing it'd get them sent under the earth for up to an hour. Never a good experience. "Won't the Εκλεκτός be in control then?"

Chloe let out a fast sigh. "Yes. The Lady says that it's our duty to keep him under control. You two get some rest-in the morning, we go to Venice."

When Nico awoke, he was in an unfamiliar house, laying in a small bed pushed up against a wall, just underneath a window. The light made it look like early morning, and he yawned. Where...?

"Morning." Nico jumped and turned to see a man, maybe twenty or so, sitting on the floor next to his bed. The man didn't turn to look at him, but Nico could see him watching from the corner of his eye.

"Who are you?"

"Autumn Corvo at your service. And you're Nico di Angelo, hm?"

Nico frowned. "How do you know my name?"

"I've been introduced." Autumn shrugged. "From what Piper said, you all were in a tight spot, so you teleported them away."

"Away...where, exactly?" Nico frowned. He hadn't had a place in mind, only safety.

"Venice, Italy. Benvenuto."

Nico froze.

In his panic to get them to a safe place, he'd brought them here. His birthplace, up until he and his family moved.

His thoughts, ever-traitorous, drifted to Bianca, and it stung but wasn't all-consuming like it used to be and he huffed out a long sigh. "Right. Of course we are."

Autumn snickered and turned fuller to face Nico. "I've been told you're the son of Hades."

"That's probably because I am." Nico nodded, then paused and considered the possibility that he might be a mortal and frowned. "Are you-?"

"Child of Zagreus, who is the son of Hades." Autumn nodded.

Nico thought about it and his frown deepend. "Does that mean you're my nephew?"

"Let's not." Autumn shook his head. "This is me and my wife's home. We were told you shadow traveled a long way."

"You could say that," Nico mumbled.

"Luckily for you, I'm a long-time shadow traveler. Bad news, you'll need to rest for a while before you do it again. The process will be faster if you eat well, drink water, exercise, ect eratra, ect etera, but I understand that the quest might not make that feasible." Autumn took a deep breath. "That being said, I would greatly prefer it if you took two days to rest here."

"We don't have two days," Nico frowned.

Autumn frowned and bit his lip. "One day, then. Listen, whoever took your friend...you're probably ahead of them. At least stay until they get here, hm? That way you'll get a chance to get him back."

Nico scowled, but nodded. "Okay. Fine."

"Thank you." Autumn smiled. "My wife, Veia, is making breakfast downstairs. We went out and got some clothes for all of you that should fit, but I'm not sure."

"What?" Nico blinked.

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but the ones you have on now are a bit...torn."

Nico looked down. His shirt was in fact torn, and there were a few rips in his jacket. He had a few Lupi-bite shaped rips in his pants. "What color are the new ones?"

"Piper said to get you nuetral dark colors, so there's a brown shirt and dark pants."

Nico considered. "Acceptable."

Autumn smiled a small smile and laughed. "Great. The clothes are in the closet." He rose to his feet and started to leave.

Nico watched him reach the doorway, then said, "Bye, nephew."

Autumn shot him a look that only a descendant of Hades could've managed and then left.

When Will woke up, he had a headache and his arms stung. He was laying on the same bed he'd woken up in the first time, in Chloe's house. Stelle was at the door again, standing. For a twele year old, they were scarily tall.

"Morning," They said, voice flat. Their eyes were dark, though not as dark as Nico's, yet their pupils seemed to collapse in on themselves over and over, a vacuum of darkness to paralel space. Will was a little unsettled.

"Good morning." Will sat up. "What happened?"

"The Lady visited," Stelle hummed, which Will assumed meant he was possessed. That explained the stinging. "We're going to Venice."

"What?" Will frowned. "What do you mean, Venice? Why Venice? What about my friends?"

"I mean Venice, Italy. It's our next stop on the way to Everest. Your friends shadow traveled away when I sent the Lupi." Stelle nodded.

"You're the one sending the Lupi?"

"Well, their alpha, Lupus, is sort of like a pet of sorts to me, so I can send him places. A gift from the Lady." Stelle admitted.

"Those things almost killed us, you know." Will frowned, anger flashing through him like a flash fire.

Stelle's eyes darkened. "I am well aware. The Lady repermanded me. It will not happen again."

His fire sputtered and died. "Repermanded how?

The door opened behind Stelle and they turned their head. Chloe was back, gray eyes blazing. "Is he awake?"

"Very. Why are you taking me to Venice?" Will frowned.

Chloe scowled. "Get up. We leave in an hour."

"I'm not going to Venice." Will narrowed his eyes.

"You'll do what we tell you to," Chloe spat.

"Your boyfriend might be there," Stelle added. Chloe turned gray eyes on her, and Will could tell that what they said was out of line, because they dipped their head and stepped away from Chloe. It almost reminded Will of wolves, the older ones snapping at the younger to keep them in line.

Will didn't like that comparison, considering Stelle was twelve.

"You're coming with us, like it or not. That's final." Chloe said, then stepped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Well." Stelle watched the closed door, then turned back to Will, who frowned. "I'm going to change."

With that, the child of Nyx left, leaving Will with his thoughts.

Dani had finished eating when Nico came down, wearing a dark brown sweatshirt and black sweatpants, and his dark eyes held confusion and a bit of frustration. Dani was glad to see him awake and back to his terrifying self.

Dani was wearing a yellow sweater with jeans, and Piper a pink one with brown pants. The Corvos had gotten them long-sleeves after hearing that their goal was Everest.

"It's cold there, and the air is thin. Never a good combo," Veia had said.

Dani couldn't help but think about his illusion, of seeing Nico tower over him, eyes dark with fury. They knew it wasn't real, but ever since seeing it, they felt dread in the pit of their stomach, gnawing at their insides. Tjhey knew they had to talk to the son of Hades, but...they were afraid.

Sovar hadn't woken up yet and Emphi was sitting in a corner, glaring at the other demigods, so Dani's only real hope for conversationw as Piper and the Corvos, who were speaking about Camp Half-Blood.

"Is Chiron still doing the Chariot Races?" Veia asked.

"Occasionally." Piper nodded. "You went, too?"

"We met there." Autumn leaned over to kiss Veia on the cheek, and they huffed and rolled their eyes. "We were playing Capture the Flag and I was ganged up on by Ares campers. My Caro swooped in and saved the day."

"I did half the work, Amore, you weren't helpless." Veia rolled their eyes. "He was sent there when he was twelve because it got too dangerous for him here. I went when I was seven for similar reasons."

"Do you remember that day when we were stuck with the younger campers? We had to compliment each other, and you said I was daring." Autumn grinned.

"Yes, well. It was only fair after you called me handsome." Veia scoffed.

"I'm sorry, Caro, I didn't know."

"Know what?" Nico asked, walking over to the table. Dani tried to be a bit more subtle in their evesdropping.

"We met before I transitioned," Veia nodded at Autumn, who smiled. "He was with me the whole way."

"I'd do it again, Caro."

"You're an old sap, Amore."

"Nonsense! I'm still in my prime." Autumn grinned.

Dani blinked and glanced at Nico again, then froze upon realizing that he was staring directly at them. Their brain short-circuited and they blurted, "Can we talk?"

Nico blinked, dark eyes searching. "Sure."

The son of Hades got up, and Dani took a moment to get over their momentary panic before following him to a quieter room.

Dani took a long moment to search for words, good words, but it was obvious that they hadn't gotten the gift of poetry from their dad. "I...you're scary."

Nico rose an eyebrow. "Am I?"

"Not! Um! Not in a bad way! J-Just..." Dani shrugged helplessly. "You scare me, sometimes. And, um...And I'm sorry that Will got taken. I wish...I wanted to help, I just-"

Nico's gaze darkened at the mention of Will's name and Dani's heart dropped like a stone in the ocean, but he just sighed. "I don't know how to be...less scary, I guess. And Will getting taken wasn't your fault. I think..." He narrowed his eyes, gaze growing thoughtful. "You still have the spear from Asteria's temple, right?"

"Yeah." Dani nodded.

"We're stuck here until Will and his kidnappers roll through, so...do you want to learn how to use it? Properly, I mean?" Nico tilted his head. "I spent...well, really a concerning amount of my childhood in the Underworld, so I've learned some things in fighting with spears from Achilles and the likes."

Dani gaped. "Achilles?"

"Don't think too hard about it. Give me some time to eat breakfast and we can start today." Nico stood and stretched. "Also, good morning."

"Um. Right. Good morning." Dani nodded.

Nico offered the ghost of a smile and then left.

Stelle would've laughed at the Εκλεκτός when he saw the Lupi if it were acceptable for the current situation. The sat on Lupus' back, his cold fur brushing their knuckles, hands balled in the starlight that made up the wolf-like Lupi's being.

"You ride them? Like...like horses?" The Εκλεκτός stared, eyes wide.

"Believe it or not, none of us have a driver's license. Get on." Chloe scowled.

"What? No!" He frowned. "I'm not-no!"

"You can get on with me if it makes you feel better," Stelle suggested. They felt Chloe's glare on their back, but ignored it. To their other side, Zeph sat on the smallest Lupi, cooing in its ear.

The Εκλεκτός frowned, and Stelle saw his eyes dance with indecision. They resisted the urge to remind him that his boyfriend was probably on their route, knowimng that they were pushing their luck already.

The Εκλεκτός let out a long sigh and climbed onto Lupus behind Stelle. Chloe huffed and turned. "Stelle, they know where we're headed?"

"Venice," Stelle hummed to Lupus, who growled in response. "They know."

"Zephyr, when we get there, I need you to make sure we're downwind." Chloe ordered.

"Okay!" Zephyr smiled.

Chloe's gaze locked on the Εκλεκτός. "You. Behave."

He just huffed. "No promises."

Stelle watched Chloe roll her eyes and then urge her Lupi forward, sending the pack into motion. They heard the Εκλεκτός inhaled sharply behind them, surprised by the sudden motion.

Once Stelle was sure that they were going fast enough and were far enough behind Chloe for her not to hear them, they asked, "Hey. Εκλεκτός."

"That's not my name," He muttered.

"Okay. What is it?" Stelle tilted their head slightly.

He was quiet for a moment, though Stelle wasn't sure why. "Will. Will Solace."

"Okay." Stelle blinked. "Who's your godly parent?"

"Do you know anything about me? You'd think a kidnapper would have this information," Will muttered.

Stelle bit their lip. "Chloe hasn't told us yet. Technically, I'm undermining her authority now, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Will was quiet again, then said, "Apollo."

God of the sun, poetry, music, archery-too many things, really. He could have an array of powers that Stelle didn't know about. Gods, why wouldn't Chloe tell them these things?

"Why do you fight the Lady so fiercely?" Stelle asked.

"She hurt me. And she hurt two of my friends." Will's voice was angry, angrier than it had been when he'd asked Stelle about the Lupi. "I also have a life and friends and an amazing boyfriend, so I don't really have time on my schedule to get possessed. Especially by my dad's bitter ex." He got quiet again then, as if he were thinking.

Stelle fell silent, too, and stayed that way for a few miles before speaking again. "Please don't tell Chloe I asked you these things."

"I won't." Will's voice was strangely sincere. Stelle hoped they could trust him.

Nico hadn't expected Dani to catch on as quickly as they did, but they guessed it was Child of Apollo skills-after all, a spear could be a ranged weapon.

Still, it was becoming a little embarassing, since now that Dani wasn't afraid of hurting Nico, they'd started putting in as much effort as they could, which meant they were using the spear's range to keep Nico too far to slash at them. Occasionally, he would get close enough to kncok the child of Apollo on their ass, but the fact that it was occasional made Nico think he was getting rusty, which made no sense because he'd only gotten back from Tartarus about a month or two ago.

Nico was about to go in for a swing when Piper shouted, "Nico! Dani! We have a problem!"

Nico was about to shadow travel, but Dani made a face that reminded him of Will when he'd almost dissipated after the battle against Gaea, and he hesitated.

Gods-damn it, Will was haunting him even now. He walked back to the dining room.

"Emphi's gone," Piper frowned. "And Sovar still hadn't gotten up. Autumn checked to see if he was dream walking, but he just...seems to be a heavy sleeper."

"We think he might be alerting your friend's kidnappers," Veia added.

Nico scowled and glanced over at Sovar, whose consellation tattoos were glowing brighter than ever. It was hard to tell if he was breathing or not, and Nico could sense a presence nearby. He hoped it wasn't who he thought it was. "How long has he been doing that for?"

"About an hour," Autumn said. "We tried waking him up, but..."

Nico glanced over at Dani, then frowned. The child of Apollo was pale, gray eyes fixed on the sleeping demigod.

"He's dead," Dani whispered, and Nico froze.

The presence in the air grew stronger, and Nico looked back at Sovar and saw Thanatos resting a hand on the demigod's forehead.

"Why?" His voice was soft, mostly so that no one would know who he was talking to, since the others couldn't see him-well, Autumn might be able to, but the others?

"Asteria couldn't have him telling her secrets. Don't worry-he won't be judged too harshly." Thanatos closed his eyes and spread his wings, disappearing with the demigod's soul.

Nico inhaled sharply and all Tartarus broke lose.

Will didn't know how fast the four demigods were going on the Lupi, but it most certainly was breaking speed limits, considering they reached Venice in what felt like two hours.

There was a demigod on the side of the road that they'd landed on-because Will had realized about halfway through that Stelle's Lupi wasn't touching the ground, and that had been a completley different crisis-and Will didn't even have to touch her to feel the waves of pain rolling off of her.

"That's Emphi. Daughter of Hecate." Stelle's voice was level as always, but there was something in it that spoke of fear. "She's one of the illusionists that trapped you and your friends in the temple."

"What's happening to her?" Will whispered.

"She was captured. This is her punishment. But it means she's stayed loyal-Sovar isn't here, so I assume he's dead." Their voice got a bit quieter. "Asteria can't have them giving away secrets."

Will bit his lip and anger stirred in his heart again. If Sovar was anything like Stelle, he was just a kid. They didn't deserve this.

He hated Asteria.

"Emphi." Chloe guided her Lupi closer to the girl, who was curled on the ground. "They're here?"

She nodded shakily, then a tremor went up her body and she collapsed, limp. Will's mouth opened slightly and he stared at the girl-the body. He felt a familiar pressure in the air, one that told him that Thanatos was there collecting the soul, though he'd never been able to see the death god like Nico was. His anger multiplied tenfold.

Chloe let out a long, thin sigh that sounded almost stressed and dismounted. "I suppose we'll try this again."

"What? Try what again?" Will asked, getting off Stelle's Lupi to walk over to Chloe. "How can you work for her? Do you see what she just did?"

"Will..." He heard Stelle say, still atop their Lupi. Chloe wouldn't have heard-it was too quiet, only quiet enough for a child of Apollo to hear. Still, he didn't want to listen. Asteria had just killed a kid."

Chloe scowled. "Zephyr, keep him here. Stelle, let's go."

Will tried to follow her as she walked away, but the air itself seemed to push back against him. 

He turned and looked over at the child of Aether, who was still petting his Lupi. Stelle shot Will an apologetic look, though their dark pupils swirled with some emotion he couldn't identify, and urged their own wolf to follow Chloe.

"What the fuck?" Veia shouted, rushing iover to Sovar in an instant and putting a hand over his heart. "Cazzo."

"Asteria?" Autumn looked over at Nico. "She's the one possessing your friend? Zeus onnipotente... devo ucciderla. Ho bisogno che sia morta."

"Questo è il piano," Nico muttered darkly, looking back at Sovar.

Dani was trembling, hands over their mouth and gray eyes wide with shock and horror. Nico had the urge to cover their eyes, find some way to tear their gaze away from the sight in front of them.

Piper must've had a similar idea, because she said, "Dani, look away," with as much charmspeak as she could muster.

Dani dropped their gaze. Tears welled in their eyes.

Nico's anger at the son of Morpheus and his sister had evaporated like morning dew in sunlight. He'd even been apologetic, had told Nico about the two of them being abandoned, and now he was dead.

A howl echoed through the air and Nico cursed. "The Lupi are back."

"Shit." Piper frowned. "We don't have the sun car-"

"I'll drive you to the train station and get you tickets." Autumn said.

"Be careful, Amore," Veia murmured.

"But-" Piper started.

"No buts. I semidei si aiutano a vicenda." Autumn turned to Nico, then pulled a golden ring off his finger and handed it to him. "With this, you'll have enough energy to shadow-travel back to Camp if you need to. Use it if you're in real danger, but be careful. If you bring more than two others, you could die."

Nico accepted the ring, unsure of what to say. "Grazie."

"Ovviamente. Now come on, let's go." Autumn stepped out of the house and Nico followed, Piper and Dani in tow.

Stelle and Chloe managed to intercept Will's friends before they could make it too far, though they were with a man that neither of them recognized. 

"Send the Lupi," Chloe said, the two of them standing in a small area off to the side. "We'll come up from behind." She extended a hand and the road shook, the black car's tires seeming to sink into the asphalt. Stelle dismounted and sent Lupus and his pack to block the car off.

They watched the demigods step out of the car and took a deep breath, then shadow traveled a bit closer. 

The shadows pulled at them, begging them to join the darkness forever, and they went through their usual effort of disentangling themself from them before stepping back out.

The nearest demigod-Nico di Angelo, they remembered-spun to face them, dark eyes bright with fury. His eyes were darker than theirs, and seemed to hold an equal amount of intensity. He was a son of Hades, Stelle remembered, which meant he was dangerous.

Fury sparked in Nico's gaze. "Are you the one who took him?"

Stelle tipped their head in a sort of nod. "We have to get you to Everest. I'm sorry for the Lupi. They got carried away last time, but they will not again." The Lady had made sure of that.

Nico summoned a sword and Stelle watched him swing, shadow traveling a bit further away. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Stelle, child of Nyx." They watched Nico freeze, just like Will had when they mentioned their mother. Maybe there was something behind that, or maybe it was just because their mother wasn't exactly a pleasant figure in the eyes of the Olympians.

Nico slashed at them again and they shadow traveled away. "We don't want to hurt you, really. Just come with us. Go through with the Ceremony. I promise it'll go to a good cause."

"A cause that kills kids for showing remose?" Nico sneered. "No thanks."

Stelle bit their lip. So Sovar was dead. Pain burst into their chest as if they'd been struck by an arrow, but they kept their face blank. I'm sorry, πολυαγαπημένος.

Nico must've been used to reading people, though, because he faltered, and Stelle chided themself. Unreadable, Stelle, or do you want to be reprimanded again?

Their inner voice was sounding a lot like the Lady these days.

The ground shook again and both demigods stumbled. Stelle watched Chloe rise from the ground nearby, an iron sword in her hand.

Nico swore and Stelle watched as the Lupi attacked and the car exploded.

If you asked Nico what happened to the car after the fact, he'd have to guess that Dani got their fire a bit too close and one thing led to another. But really, in the moment, he was half convinced that it was one of the two demigods who appeared near the car, and then his thoughts divolved into chaos and pain.

He could feel burns all over his left side, and pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the lines of fire that raced up his arms as he did so. The remains of the car were on fire, and Dani and Piper were leaning against each other for support. The child of Nyx-Stelle-was a bit further away, but was rubbing a fresh burn on their arm, so they hadn't escaped the blast. The demigod who'd come out of the ground wasn't nearby, or if she was, Nico couldn't see her.

He couldn't find Autumn.

Nico gritted his teeth and ran over, grabbing Dani's arm and Piper's shoulder and throwing the three of them into the shadows.

He hoped they'd make it out somewhere safe, but Tyche clearly wasn't on their side, so all he could do was pray.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15: Fighting Dogs

Stelle had always thought that, aside from the Lady (stop that, improper thoughts are not allowed), there were few things they hated more than when Chloe got mad.

That was, until Chloe got mad and Will got mad at the same time.

Will had firmly planted himself in front of Stelle and Lupus , staring the daughter of Gaea down with blazing blue eyes that were a little too intense to be focused on someone without being uncomfortable.

Across from him, Chloe glared at the son of Apollo with gray eyes of steel. The term, unstoppable force meets immovable object, comes to mind.

“We’re leaving,” Chloe growled through gritted teeth. The Unstoppable Force had been frustrated when Nico di Angelo had shadow travelled away- again -and had made Stelle very aware on the blissfully short trip back to the Lupi , where she met Will Solace, the Immovable Object who refused to get back on Lupus or any of the Lupi until she either let him go, told him what the explosion he’d heard was, or withered away and died.

Gods save them all. This was the Phlegathon incident all over again. Stelle repressed a shudder.

“I’ve already given you my options. Three very good options, actually.” Will smiled a tight smile, crossing his arms. “I’m not moving.”

The ground swirled around their feet, yet Will didn’t even slip, shifting his balance whenever Chloe tried to will the ground to move him with his chin lifted and eyes dancing with defiance. Stelle wanted to laugh at it, but seeing their superior get their ass handed to them by the child of an Olympian was not funny.

(It was very funny, who are they kidding?)

“Zephyr,” Chloe tried, but Zephyr was busy playing with the smallest Lupi , who he’d named Starry.

“Don’t drag them into this.” Will shook his head. “They’re just kids.”

Stelle frowned. They were not just a kid. They were also. A soldier.

“I wouldn’t have to if you’d just move ,” Chloe hissed through her teeth, hands balled up into fists. If Stelle didn’t know any better, they’d think she was about to-oh.

Chloe threw a fist at Will and he stepped back, throwing her off balance, and then grabbed her by the shoulders and rammed her into the ground.

Well. Immovable Object: 1;  Unstoppable Force: 0.

Chloe let out a sound akin to a scream of rage and got to her feet with blinding speed, aiming another punch at Will’s stomach, but he blocked it and grabbed her wrist. From what Stelle had seen, he was surprisingly strong for the child of Olympian, especially against Chloe, the daughter of a Primordial matching in age.

And then Chloe rammed her knee upward and hit him in the groin, so fuck Stelle and their observations, they guess.

They wouldn’t dare repeat the slew of curses that came from the son of Apollo in their wildest dreams, so they just watched in a Frankenstein’s monster of concern and amusement as he keeled over with a long, “fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.”

Immovable Object: 1; Unstoppable Force: 1.

“Get on the damn wolf,” Chloe growled.

“ Lupi ,” Stelle corrected.

“Go fuck yourself.” Chloe glared at them.

“I’m twelve,” Stelle reminded her.

“Holy fucking Zeus,” Will wheezed.

Stelle took pity and shadow traveled him into Lupus with them. Chloe glared for a moment longer before mounting her own Lupi , ushering it on.

“That was funny,” Stelle told Will, in a dead monotone.

“You are cruel and unusual,” Will said under his breath. He seemed to recovered from his Intense and Agonizing Pain(™).

“Thank you,” Stelle replied, in the same tone.

Zephyr looked up and Stelle suspected that he hadn’t been present until that moment. “We’re leaving?”

“Yes, Zephyr. Come on.”

Because Nico’s shadow travel is horrible and fucking hates him, they ended up in Greece.

He was half-conscious when Piper carried him into the hotel room she’d gotten for the three of them and dropped him onto the bed, and then had passed out as soon as the blanket was over his head.

When he woke up, faint light filtered through the blinds and he didn’t feel like his body was actively rejecting him anymore, and his pain had gone from ‘Holy Shit I’m Going To Die’ to ‘Holy Shit This Really Fucking Hurts But I Might Not Immediately Die’.

He checked his burned side, but the burns were scarring over already, whether it was natural or help from Dani, he wasn’t sure. He was more inclined towards natural, though. Maybe all that time around Will was speeding up his already fast healing.

Will. He felt as if his heart had been ripped, still-beating, out of his chest and he was still somehow living, but barely. One most definitely needed their heart to live. Nico was going to shrivel and die like a plant without sunlight if he didn’t find Will soon.

Oh, fuck. Solace has reduced him to a plant.

There was the sound of a door opening and Nico saw Piper walk in, looking more tired than the average questing demigod. In other words, she looked like she was about to fall over. “Oh, hi Nico.”

“Where did you sleep?” Nico asked, acutely aware that Dani was in the room’s only other bed.

“Chair,” Piper said solemnly, as if this were the answer to the universe.

Nico was pretty sure that her spine would suffer for it, but the floor was worse, so… “Acceptable.”

Piper let out a soft, strained laugh and flopped onto the chair with a wince. “So.”

“So,” Nico agreed.

“We should IM camp.” Piper fished a golden drachma out of her pocket.

“And your girlfriend,” Nico muttered, a bit bitterly. It wasn’t his fault he’d been plantified.

“And my girlfriend,” Piper agreed, with a nervous frown. “And your boyfriend.”

“ Scusa?”

“We’ll talk to him last, since he’s probably not alone, but if we can get contact with Will, even for a little bit, maybe you’ll be less of a complete disaster-” Untrue, Nico is only 90% disaster, the other 10% is fury- “-And we’ll get more hints as to how to get him back.”

“I hate you,” Nico agreed. “Call Chiron.”

Piper set up a pocket humidifier- how does that even work? -and angled the light so she’d get a rainbow, then tossed the drachma in. “O Iris of the Rainbow, please show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood, hopefully.”

The rainbow shimmered and Chiron’s face appeared, looking infinitely stressed. “Oh! Piper, Nico, I was wondering how you three were doing. Where’s-”

“Don’t,” Piper warned, with a wary glance at Nico. “You-know-who was kidnapped.”

“You-know-who?”

“Yknow.” Piper said, with another wary glance at Nico. “The guy.”

“Calling him ‘the guy’ is making me angrier than saying his name,” Nico informed her. “I think I might kill you.”

“Who are we talking about?” Chiron asked.

“Yknow,” Piper shrugged. “Sunshine boy.”

“Will?”

“I’m going to kill both of you,” Nico confirmed.

“Ah.” Chiron nodded as if this all made sense. “I see.”

Nico took a deep breath. “Will got taken by powerful demigods and we don’t know where they are right now. Or…or where we are.”

“Greece,” Piper interjected.

“Oh, cazzo, of course we are.” Nico scowled.

Chiron frowned, looking concerned. “Is there anything you need me to do?”

“No.” Nico shook his head. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”

Piper cleared her throat. “How’s Malcolm?”

Chiron seemed to brighten. “Awake and walking around as usual.”

“That’s great!” Piper said, sounding genuinely happy. Nico wanted to be, too, but his mood had soured at the reminder of Will’s kidnapping, so he just continued to scowl.

“Jake and Ellis are fine, too.” Chiron assured.

“How long have we been away?” Nico asked. He hadn’t really been counting the days.

“Things have been a bit hectic around camp and I may have lost track of one or two, but I believe today is the fourth day since you left.”

“Cazzo.” Nico swore. “We need to go. Now .”

“We don’t even know where Will is, Nico. Calm down.” Piper frowned. “Maybe you should get more sleep.”

“Piper,” Nico practically growled, voice laden with warning.

“I’m serious. If you have to shadow-travel us again I’d rather you be awake when we land in our destination.” Piper gave him a hard look. “Plus, I’d like to talk to Shel and I’m sure Dani would like to talk to their family, so you can sleep or take a walk or something, but running back out into danger before we get the chance to make a plan or something is incredibly stupid and a trap we’re not falling into again.”

She was right, and he knew it. Nico glared at her. Breathed in for three. Breathed out for three. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” Piper nodded.

Nico got up. “I’m going to go take a walk.”

“Be safe,” Piper said.

“I will,” Nico said, and then, “...Sorry.”

“I get it. Take your walk, clear your head.” Piper offered a small smile. “We’ll get him back, I swear.”

Nico met her gaze and then nodded, walking out.

Will started acting strange after a while. Stelle wanted to say it was similar to when the Lady had taken over him, but it wasn’t quite that, either. Before, it’d been more obvious.

Stelle had a working theory that they were calling incomplete control involving some sort of leakage between the Lady’s mind and Will’s, causing their personalities to bleed together. Whether it was purposeful or not was still a working progress-Stelle couldn’t just ask , especially if Will was partially the Lady. Or the Lady was partially in control.

Or maybe he was just really dismissive sometimes, Stelle didn’t know. They didn’t do people things .

The thoughts were mostly just drifting around Stelle’s rather dark and rather empty head while they waited for the Lupi to land in Greece, but after a while they felt something, like a tug at the back of their skull.

They’d felt it once, right before they’d found Chloe in her backyard, with shaky hands at a shaky trigger, steel eyes wide with every emotion that weighed too hard, too heavy on her shoulders.

That had been the first time Stelle had used their Reading on someone, and once they started, they couldn’t stop, not without trying. It was second nature now, to dig into someone’s worst thoughts, dig out the blood and tar in their skull and forge it into a weapon of venom to stab right back into their brain.

That tug they’d felt was the desire to hurt . It wasn’t the same, of course-Will/the Lady was intending to direct their hurt outward, as opposed to Chloe, who…

Stelle didn’t want to think too much on that anymore. They took a deep breath. “Εκλεκτός?”

“Hm?” Will/The Lady’s’s gaze flitted over to her, blue eyes distant and a little bored, as if they had better things to do.

Pain flared in Stelle’s head-no, their mind-like someone had taken a knife to it. Something was wrong with their body, a tightness in their chest…

Ah. Sorrow. How had they become so unfamiliar? Now if only they could figure out why.

Stelle shook their head and told themself to focus. “Is the Lady there?”

Will blinked, pursed his lips a bit, and something within Stelle shifted, telling them that he was at the forefront again. “I don’t think so.”

Intentional, then. The sorrow was accompanied by irritation.

Stelle dropped their gaze a bit, then took a moment to turn themself around on Lupus , which seemed to stress Will quite a bit, but it kept him at the helm, and that’s what they wanted. “Can I Read you?”

“Read-huh?” Will frowned, eyebrows creasing. “What does that mean?”

“Can I see the worst?” Stelle held Will’s gaze, well aware that their own was too intense for it. “Can I look into your mind and find the darkness in you?”

Will didn’t look away. “To see if Asteria’s there?”

Stelle winced, casted a wary glance at the morning sky, and then shrugged. “Partially. Partially because I-” I want to know.

Too much information, Stelle. You’re a soldier. Impartial.

Will seemed to understand anyway. “Do I need to do anything?”

Stelle shook their head. “Not if you don’t have any mental barriers up.”

Will looked guilty. “Sorry.”

“I didn’t know before,” Stelle admitted, though they were a bit hurt. Why, they didn’t know. Will was right not to trust them, given his situation.

“Ready?” Stelle asked, and Will nodded.

Stelle closed their eyes and dipped into their subconscious, their mind its own being of swirling darkness and shadow. They willed it to stalk forward, press into the bright light that was Will’s thoughts, and push past the superficial into his mind.

The first constant they found was stress. Stress about some camp-Camp Half-Blood-, stress about healing, stress about Nico, stress about his own thoughts, his father-they found anxiety, and an entire well of grief-half siblings, Micheal Yew and Lee Fletcher, who died in some sort of war, though Stelle hadn’t heard of any in America as of recent-and beneath it all, a pit of roiling pain that Stelle themself knew very well.

Tartarus.

Will had been to Tartarus.

How?

They watched through their own subconscious as Will and Nico trekked through the painfully familiar terrain, watched their hardships, watched them free their Titan friend, watched them fight Stelle’s mother -

That explained the reactions-the slight pause from both when Stelle had introduced themself as a child of Nyx. They’d met her.

Stelle pushed past their own thoughts in favor of pushing through Will’s, saw the way he lost control, saw how the Lady took his magic and his mind, and Stelle felt their own fury lacing itself with Will’s. Shit, they hadn’t meant to create a Bond, but it’d take too long to undo it.

Hi. One thought rose above the rest, so bright and loud it shot a burst of pain through Stelle’s head and they felt their body raise its heads to try and rub at the headache in its temples. Silly body. This pain was mental-there was little it could do to help. Are you there?

“Hi, Will.” Stelle answered aloud, though it did intensify the pain until it was physical, too. “I’m going to leave now. Operating my physical body and subconscious one at the same time gives me a headache.”

I can help, Will offered, but Stelle pulled away anyway, blinking and looking up at him. His blue eyes were soft, a little concerned, but not about Stelle, they knew. For them, rather.

“Thank you,” Stelle murmured, because they knew now that certain parts of Will were going insane at the lack of plans and control, knew that he needed to feel useful now.

They knew now about the pity, too, but Will wouldn’t understand. Well, maybe he would, he became Head Medic of his camp at thirteen, but still.

Will rested a hand on their temple and the pain receded surprisingly quickly.

“Don’t do that again, please.” Will pleaded. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

“I won’t,” Stelle promised, turning themself back around on Lupus , much to Will’s concern. “Thank you. Not many people would agree to something so…invasive. And she’s not there.”

Will didn’t respond for a moment, then nodded. Stelle felt his anger pulse in the background, though directed more at the Lady than them. “Thank you too, Stelle. And I trust you.”

Stelle felt a strange warmth within them, not unlike how they felt when teaching Zephyr. Strange.

They’d figure it out another time-there were bigger problems. Like the cloud of purple fog over the city ahead.

When Nico returned from his walk down the street from the hotel with McDonalds, Piper wisely did not question the dust all over his shirt until after they and Dani-who was awake now, so they definitely weren’t a Will-type who woke up at 6am every morning-had eaten, and when she did, she did so in a very sophisticated way.

“Monsters?” She guessed.

“Monsters,” Nico agreed.

“I called on Iris once I’d talked to Shel,” Piper said. “I asked if she’d be able to  connect us to Will once you were back, but she said that he wasn’t alone and that I’d probably want to wait.”

“Damn.” Nico frowned.

Piper nodded. “On a brighter note, Dani called in with Apollo. He sent the sun car.”

“First good news in some time.” Nico sipped his sprite.

Dani beamed. “He was really nice, actually. And kind of concerned about Will, so he set up a bond between us so I could tell if he’s nearby. Look!” Dani showed Nico what looked like a sun tattoo on the back of his hand. That’d be fun to explain to Mrs and Mr Batista when they finished the quest.

“I should get one of those,” Nico muttered to himself. “Alright, so what? We just keep going to Everest?”

“That’s our most likely chance of meeting them,” Piper said, a bit cautiously. “We can fight them before they get on the mountain, hopefully, since that’ll be their home turf.”

Nico sighed. “I don’t like it.”

“But?”

“But I can deal with it.”

Piper nodded. “Good, because we leave now.”

“What?” Dani squeaked.

Nico got to his feet. “I’ll drive.”

“Alright.” Piper nodded. “I think I’m going to take a nap.”

“Nobody told me we were about to leave!” Dani protested.

“Okay.” Nico raised an eyebrow. “Pack your things.” It then occurred to him that he wasn’t doing a great job of the ‘be less scary’ thing.

Dani looked around, realized they had no things to pack, and sighed. “Okay. We can go now.”

Piper shook her head, amused. “Then come on, let’s go.”

“What is that?” Chloe scowled at the fog over the town.

Will frowned, his gaze dark with concern and confusion. “Hay fever.”

“What?”

“I…was that me?” Stelle watched him look down at his hands. “I don’t remember…”

“That’s probably what the Lady was doing,” Stelle guessed. “Can’t place why.”

“Probably in case any demigods live in the town and question some Primordials rolling in on star wolves,” Chloe deadpanned. “Come on.”

Stelle frowned, then glanced over at Zephyr. “Go on, we’re taking the rear.”

Zephyr grinned and gave Starry a back rub. “Come on, Starry! Let’s follow Chloe!”

Stelle watched the Lupi take off and lead Lupus after them. They felt Will’s anger behind them, like hearing someone repeatedly pluck an out-of-key violin string. They resisted the urge to tell him to tone it down-it wasn’t his fault they’d accidentally made a Bond.

“She hurts so many people.” Will’s voice was low, near-furious. If his thoughts were plucking, his voice was a full-on, syncopated melody of dissonance. “And she doesn’t care, does she?”

“Was that a rhetorical question?” Stelle turned their head.

“Yeah.” Will sighed. “Sorry. I know she basically adopted and raised you, she’s just…” He bit his lip and Stelle felt his anger flare again. “That reminds me, actually. What do you know about, uh…let’s say…kids who grow up in abusive households?”

“I know what you’re doing.” Stelle frowned.

“Humor me.”

Stelle rolled their eyes. “Their parents don’t raise them right and they’re fucked up for life.”

“Not for life,” Will corrected. Stelle felt their own irritation flare. “Just until they get therapy or some other form of help.”

Stelle grunted in acknowledgement.

“Growing up in an abusive place can also change the way you think. Especially about authority figures and yourself.” Will said. “Usually negative for the latter.”

Stelle considered this. Their brain spat out their thoughts on the various breeds of insane darkness that resided within it. No, that couldn’t be related. That part was actually true, and what Will was talking about was perceptive. Ha. Take that, Will.

“And…” Will paused. “I’m reluctant to tell you this, because…because it can also be hard on self-image, but I think for you it’d help to know that…sometimes…victims of abuse can become abusers.”

Stelle paused. “What?”

Will hesitated again. “They learn that the behavior is okay and pass it on to their own kids or other people.”

Stelle closed their eyes. “Do you think I’m an abuser?”

“No. Of course not.” Will’s voice got firm, the uncertainty fading away like morning do. “But do you?”

Stelle bit their lip. They thought to a long time ago. To when Chloe had caught them after a particularly bad argument, curled up on the ground and using their fury to rip chunks of hair out of their scalp. They remembered Chloe telling them that it wasn’t a great way to express emotion, and remembered snapping back that after they’d walked in on her suic-her attempt , she couldn’t say anything.

She’d locked Stelle in the bathroom until all of their rage exploded, until they broke a window and threatened to tear the door off of its hinges.

They didn’t talk about feelings with each other anymore.

“Stelle?” Will’s voice broke through the darkness in their head. “Did you…hear what I said?”

“...No,” Stelle lied, and they knew Will could tell, but he just sighed.

“Do you think you’re an abuser?”

Stelle looked away.

“No,” They lied.

Will sighed again.

Nico and the others had been driving for a little over thirty minutes when a solid wave of dirt rose up in front of them.

“Uh oh,” Was all anyone (anyone being Dani) had time to say before said wave crashed down on them, denting the roof of the car. Nico felt them sinking and slammed his foot on the gas hard , trying to get out of the ground, but it wasn’t working. “ Cazzo . Out! Everyone out!”

Nico tried to open the door, but the dirt around it was firm. He felt the wheel becoming less solid in his hands as Apollo lost his grip on it. It was a sun car , and it seemed they were underground .

Nico felt himself get pushed up just as the sun car disappeared and stumbled. In front of him stood the demigod he’d seen after they’d been attacked in Venice. A short distance away was another demigod, the Lupi , and…

Will, sitting behind the child of Nyx-Stelle, Nico remembered-one the largest Lupi . Will and Nico locked eyes, and Nico felt warmth flood him like he was standing in a beam of sunlight. Will’s face lit up with hope and he smiled. Nico offered a small smile in return.

“Who are you?” Piper demanded behind Nico.

“Chloe,” The demigod cut herself off abruptly as if biting a word back. “Child of Gaea.”

Nico froze. Another Primordial? And Gaea, at that? Gods, why was everyone they were fighting the kid of someone he’d fought before?

Piper frowned. “Return Will and leave.”

Chloe scowled. “No.”

Piper looked like she was going to try charmspeak, but a wall of stone rose in front of her and she stumbled back.

A sword shot up and out of the ground in front of Chloe, and she grabbed it and held it out. “If you want him back, you’ll fight me.”

“It’s a trap,” Piper warned.

Nico locked eyes with Will again. “What other choice do we have?”

Piper sighed. “Just making sure you know.”

Nico was about to call on Dani when a ball of fire shot out at Chloe, who stepped out of the way with a startled curse. Dani’s hands were blazing, silver eyes dark with anger.

“Will’s my brother,” They practically growled. “If I have to fight you to get him back, so be it.”

Chloe’s gaze darkened. “Oh, well.”

Nico shot Dani a grin that probably looked more like a feral barring of teeth and summoned his own sword, then lunged at Chloe with fury in his gaze and vengeance in his heart.

They’d been 10.

“Like you would know, you grew up in fucking Greek Hell. Piss off.”

Stelle didn’t know what’d pissed them off. Maybe it was the whole sentence. They’d stormed off, slamming shut the door to the pantry, and they would’ve locked it if it locked from the inside (why it locked from the outside? Chloe, they suspected.).

They’d dug their handsclawshands into their scalp and screamed, pulling until they swore they’d rip. Gods damn they try to offer her some sort of support, gods DAMN they be anything other than a child soldier for the Titan who’d adopted them, GODS DAMN they be a LITTLE shaken about finding the only stable person in their life about to end it all--

They screamed again. FUCK her. Fuck Chloe and her feelings. They didn’t fucking care. Who gave a shit about her?

They hated this. They hated the hurt that festered in the dark hole in their heart. They needed to move it. They needed to give it to someone else.

The door swung open. Looks like they’ve found their ‘someone else’.

“I’m sorry,” Chloe started, then paused. “Are you alright?”

“Fuck you,” Stelle spat. It wasn’t enough, wouldn’t even phase her. Chloe was tough as nails. None of their bitching had ever been enough to phase her. But they had something now, ammunition locked and loaded, pressed to her temple just like she’d pressed her own-

“That doesn’t look like a very safe way to deal with your feelings,” Chloe murmured, trying to untangle Stelle’s hands from their hair.

Stelle yanked their hands back, glared at her with too-intense eyes, and spat, “Like YOU’D know, I caught you about to kill you-about to-” They choked on their own tears. “Piss off, Chloe! Get the fuck out! You can’t even deal with your own emotions, stay the fuck away from mine!”

Chloe had yanked her hand back as if burned, fury lighting in her gaze. “What the fuck? I’m trying to help you, you piece of shit!”

“Don’t!” Stelle had screamed. “It’s no fucking use! How about you help your fucking self, so you’re not thinking about jumping every second of every fucking day? Get the fuck away from me, get out!”

Chloe stared at Stelle, then scowled and spun around, closing the door.

Stelle had heard the lock click and screamed.

They’d scrabbled at the door, little explosions of shadows causing parts of the pantry to fall apart, their mind scrambling apart and reforming. They were trapped, and they deserved it, they’d spat out so much venom and they deserved this, and they screamed and cried and swore they’d burn the whole fucking house to the ground, and Chloe had left them there overnight, until they swore, in a flat monotone through the door, that they’d rip the door off of its hinges and strangle her in her sleep.

She’d stared at them with horror and a healthy amount of fear. They’d smiled.

The next night, they agreed to never talk about feelings again.

Two fighting dogs.

Chloe and Stelle were like two fighting dogs, pitting against each other so much that they couldn’t see each other without lashing out.

So they stayed away from each other, for the most part. Didn’t bare their throats to each other anymore, barred their teeth instead. Together, they were deadly. Efficient. They could take down the Asteria if they had the chance.

It was a good thing they could only work together when working for her , then.

Chloe was circling around Nico, their swords clashing, using walls of earth to swallow Dani’s fire while it tried to swallow the demigod themself, while Piper screamed about all the things she was trying to block out to focus on Nico and whatever he was doing next. It was painful and it was taxing, but she was doing it, and she was doing it well.

Stelle was watching beside Will, long-buried emotions swirling within them like a maelstrom, hands digging into Lupus ’ fur until the wolf whimpered and pawed at the ground. Will could feel it, they knew, could feel the pit of anger in them as strongly as they could feel like orchestra of his own, but he didn’t push. Maybe he knew, maybe he could tell that the fury was just begging him to say something, to take a shot, approach with his weapon down so Stelle could tear his fucking throat out.

It was painful, and it was taxing, but they could do it, and they could do it well.

Eventually-inevitably-Chloe messed up. Piper had yelled, with as much charmspeak as she could muster, “WAIT!” And Chloe had paused for just a second.

A second was enough.

Nico’s sword had cut across her arm, and she’d screamed and dropped her own. At the same time, a ball of Dani’s fire had hit her square in the chest and she;’d stumbled. Stelle watched her panic and vanish into the ground faster than any of them could follow.

Nico had shot for Will immediately after, and Stelle’s fury had crowed in excitement at somewhere to channel itself, but Will had placed a hand on their shoulder. They felt a sound stir within them, dark and empty just like themself, and had the sudden urge to spin around, seek out a vital artery and tear into it with their teeth if they had to, but he just hummed softly and slid off Lupus , and something in Stelle compelled them not to follow.

They’d watched Nico and Will embrace, their thoughts drifting to Sovar.

They could’ve had that, if he’d stayed loyal to Asteria, or if they’d met earlier, or if they weren’t under Asteria’s care at all, or if Stelle wasn’t a parasite child of Nyx, a being of pure darkness with evil lurking in their heart, waiting to poison everything around them.

They felt bitter. And angry.

They felt hollow.

They showed nothing.

Nico smelled like petrichor and pine trees and home, and Will would’ve stayed in his arms forever if he could.

And he would’ve, if it weren’t for the low growl of Stelle’s anger in the background of his mind, pounding on his senses like a hammer on a forge. They were practically seething, and Will could guess why.

They’d stopped, then, when Will had asked them if they thought they were an abuser, the way Nico stopped when someone mentioned the Labyrinth, the way Piper stopped when Jason was mentioned and the way Will himself stopped when someone talked about Micheal or Lee. They’d been remembering, and whatever they’d remembered had freed a well of anger that’d been suppressed before.

Will was a little worried.

Their anger was explosive, Will knew, he knew if he pushed too hard, if he went too far, they’d lash out again, reset all the progress he’d tried so hard to make, and he wouldn’t be able to reach them again.

“What’s on your mind, tesoro ?” Nico whispered, looking up and meeting Will’s gaze.

“Stelle,” Will’s voice was soft. “They’re a kid, Neeks.”

“They helped take you.” Nico scowled.

“They were raised by her.” Will felt his voice crack, anger and sympathy warring within him. “They remind me of you, Neeks.”

“What?” Nico scowled.

Will rubbed his fingers over Nico’s knuckles. “They’re defensive and try to pretend like they don’t have feelings and are a child soldier. Like…like you after the battle of Gaea.”

“Rude,” Nico whispered, but his voice had softened. “You want to talk to them?”

“I want them to be free,” Will breathed. “But I’m scared. There was…there was a demigod we found, who-”

“I know.” Nico closed his eyes. “I saw. We can talk to them, but our best bet is defeating Asteria. You know that, right?”

Will thought back to Stelle, to the sadness in their eyes, the way their anger thrummed beneath his senses like a live wire. “I know.”

The two walked over to the Lupi cautiously, Nico’s hand in Will’s.

“Hi, Stelle.” Will kept his voice soft. “Are you okay?”

He felt their anger flare, gaze darkening. “Oh, no, I’m absolutely fine. It was nice to see your friends tag-team my adoptive sister.”

Ouch. Will frowned. “Stelle. They were forced into this, you know.”

Stelle stared at Will. Their eyes were empty, as if there were nothing behind them, but Will knew there was something. Anger at least.

He wasn’t sure why he’d started feeling their rage after they’d Read him, but it was useful in times like these.

Nico cleared his throat. “Will says we’re pretty similar.”

The corner of Stelle’s mouth twitched down. “We’re not.”

Nico huffed. “Sure. I’m guessing you’re angry?”

“Only a little,” Stelle said in a flat tone. Their gaze was a bit distant. They were Reading Nico, Will realized.

Fuck.

“Neeks,” Will’s voice was soft. “Be gentle.”

“I don’t think they want me to,” Nico argued. “I’m going to give them exactly what they want.”

“Neeks-”

“Act like an emotionless husk all you’d like, but I’ve been there and done that, and I know you aren’t.” Nico ignored Will. “You have emotions, like it or not.”

“You’re good at this projection thing,” Stelle said flatly, “Did you get it from Minos?”

Nico inhaled sharply and Will tried to speak, but the son of Hades spoke over him. “Call it projection all you want. You do this because you can’t handle your anger. You have to pass it on. So go ahead, Stelle. Show me your darkness.”

“You have enough of your own.” Stelle’s hands spasmed, digging into the wolf’s coat until it winced. “Get rid of the demons, change their names, it doesn’t matter. They’re still a part of you. They came from you, they made you do terrible things. They’re who you are. That’s who you are.”

“Stelle.” Will whispered, hurt. Nico put a hand on Will’s shoulder and didn’t drop his gaze.

“You’re a child of Nyx, right? That’s not who you are. Standing with Asteria isn’t who you are. Whatever grief you have, it isn’t who you are. When you get past that trauma, you’ll know who you are. That’s what worked for me.” Nico’s voice was calm and even.

“Is it?” Stelle practically snarled. “You’ve hurt so many of the people who pretend to be your friends now, you’ll hurt them again if they push you. You’re-you-” They dragged a raspy breath in, and Will realized that their pupils had dilated, taking up about half of their eye now. It was, frankly, a little terrifying, but he didn’t want to show it. “You think you fucking know me, you think you know you, and you don’t, you never have and you never will , you’re born from the darkness and that’s all you are, a little hollow fucking d-demon that’s ruining EVERYTHING around you.”

Nico drew in a shuddering breath. “I’m calling projection.”

Stelle screamed, and Will had to admit, he jumped. Not because he was scared-even though the scream was fucking terrifying-but because they hadn’t been expecting that . He watched dark satisfaction flit into Stelle’s dilated pupils before disappearing as Nico spoke again.

“You’re not Nyx,” Nico repeated. “You’re not Asteria. You’re not Chloe. You’re just a kid, Stelle, and I know that’s the worst thing I can tell you right now because it was for me, but its what you need to hear.”

Stelle stared at Nico for a few moments, then snarled again and yanked their Lupi around. “Come on, Zephyr, we’re leaving.”

Will released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding and watched the Primordials disappear into the distance.

“Shadow travel?” Dani asked when they got back to the sun car.

“I think I’d rather we drive.” Nico’s heart hurt from the verbal knives Stelle had driven into it. He rolled his shoulders and got into the backseat of the car, and Will slipped in beside him. Dani got in the back and slumped over, looking exhausted. Piper got in the front seat and put the car into drive. “Take a nap, you two.”

Nico was going to protest, but he yawned and Will shifted him so that he was laying his head on Will’s lap, and he was asleep before he knew it.