I'm Going to Carry You Home

Part 5

I keep imagining those flames that did rise and blackened up the sky
Apollo- no. Lester. Lester found her on his stupid quest to become a god again (Will wanted to strangle him for being worried about his godhood when his sister, Apollo's daughter, was missing. He understood more than ever in that moment why Luke had done what he did and he would be damned if he let Kayla pay for the arrogance and uncaringness of a god- and he would be damned, oh he would be damned, because he could not stand against a god and to try was to fail and failure was the one thing that would end them).
But Lester blundered into the trap and with no abilities or training, he failed. He failed so hard and Chiron had to physically restrain Will from murdering him when he came back, shaking his head- but not crying, because why would a god care about a mortal life. Will struggled against the centaur, trying to lunge at his father.
No one tried to restrain Nico. No one dared to, because in that moment, they were reminded exactly what Nico had become, what he could do- when those skeletons rose from the ground to attack a helpless Lester and Nico's eyes flashed with anger and the power he held, even the former god saw the strength the boy had and how he would raze Olympus if his people got hurt.
Lester did not understand much about mortals, but he did learn that day that the love they bore for each other was something no god could hope to win again- as he nursed his broken bones alone in the cold (no one wanted him in their cabin, because why would they? Will was well-loved by everyone and Kayla had been too). He suddenly had a respect for Aphrodite's domain and he trembled to think of what might happen if another demigod got hurt because of his quest.
Even Meg abandoned him to spend the night with her siblings and the rest of the camp.