The Sun Without Stars Solangelo

The Reunion

Will's POV

Right as Bob disappeared from view, Will heard a shriek of terror from across camp. It wasn't coming from the arena, but rather the pavilion.

Will twisted the ring around his finger nervously.

Was this it?

"Let's go. Something's happened," Chiron ordered.

Will started to run, dodging trees and entering the protective barrier that separated camp from the outside world. This was probably the fastest he'd ever run. 

His intuition was telling him that, this time, things would be different.

He would find Nico.

Everything other than Chiron's hooves hitting the dirt behind him was quiet as he got closer. Not another scream to be heard.

When the trees became sparser, Kayla came into view, jogging towards Will from the pavilion which seemed to be in disarray, campers and hunters looking tense, some more hostile than others. Her face was red, and she was huffing from running such a long distance.

"Will! You have to go to the infirmary. NOW!" 

He came back!

He's alive!

Will wanted to believe that Nico was there, but another part of him feared what he would see.

What if Nico really was in horrible shape? Who else to blame than himself?

Chiron headed the other way, promising to come as soon as possible after he dealt with the new arrivals. Kayla followed behind the centaur, bow in hand. Will didn't think she'd be much use anyway in the infirmary, considering that she was much more adept on the battlefield than she was with medical equipment.

When Will came within a hundred feet of the entrance, he felt a wave of fear ripple through his body. The same dread he'd felt every night as the creature went in for the kill--the terror when it bit down on his throat like a rabbit's.

Everything was telling him to turn back around, and he couldn't understand why. His jogging slowed as his feet sank into the floor the closer he came to the door.

WHY NOW?!

PLEASE!

He trudged through the murk outside the door. He couldn't tell if it was a figment of his imagination or whether it was really there, but he couldn't let Nico down–again.

When he swung the door open, the first thing he saw was Reyna, daughter of Bellona, who was flipping open cabinets left and right. He'd never been properly introduced, but Nico had mentioned her more than enough times.

"WHERE IS IT? WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?!" She was like a riled up bear, items breaking and falling around her. She reminded Will of the Ares kids, making a ruckus on accident when they were lost or scared. He refrained from placing a hand on her shoulder, afraid that she might cut it off in her rage.

 "Reyna. I've got this." 

I hope.

"Where is Nico?" Will asked Reyna, who looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"The bed to the right. Do something, please. If he dies, I swear to the gods..."

Will swerved around the fallen items, running to the patient beds.

Needless to say, the sight was ghastly. 

It had to be the worst condition Will had ever seen a patient in.

Nico's face was bloody and bruised, his eyes squinted. His shirt was in pieces, if it could even be called a shirt anymore. It looked as if something had bit off a chunk of Nico's shoulder, and blood was seeping onto the bed from a wound from his back, dripping down the legs of the bed onto the floor.

Will didn't know how to explain it, but it seemed as if Nico's body were already rotting or decaying, which couldn't be possible unless he was dead.

Your fault.

If you hadn't been so needy back in Tartarus, Nico would still have had ambrosia left.

Will raced to his side, placing two fingers on Nico's neck and feeling for a pulse. It took a second or two, but he finally felt a weak beat against his finger.

Austin came from a different room, with Will's yellow duffel bag in hand.

"Open my bag and get me some ambrosia," he instructed him. Will had left it in the infirmary there since he'd arrived, anticipating that Nico might return injured. Of course, he'd never imagined he would look so horrible.

Hands shaking, Austin reached inside and removed a cube of ambrosia, wrapped in clear plastic wrap. When his nails wouldn't work, he tore the side and ripped off a piece.

Meanwhile, Will searched in the closest cabinet for scissors and his suturing tools. He cut off the remaining piece of cloth left from what had been Nico's shirt and disinfected the parts around the wound. It would be difficult to sew the pieces of his shoulder back together considering how far apart the skin that was unharmed was.

What happened to you?

Will gestured to Austin to come over, but he saw Reyna shift nervously from the corner of his eye.

"Reyna. It might be better if you walk out for right now. Can you tell Kayla to get Nico's bag? She's probably with Chiron."

Reyna nodded briefly and left for the pavilion.

Austin raised Nico so that he was sitting upright, Nico groaning from the change in position. The blood smeared Austin's shirt and pants, the room looking like a crime scene. Will brought the piece of ambrosia to Nico's chapped and cracked lips.

"I'm here, Nico. Everything is going to be alright." Will felt like he was comforting himself more than Nico, whose eyes were near closed. "Nico, you're going to need to swallow this." Will gently brought down Nico's lower jaw, but it snapped back, Nico thrashing from Austin's grip.

"Not again," Nico begged. "Please not again!" Will began to sweat as he saw the shadows reach for anything in the room, gaining distance towards Will. It was like living in his own nightmare. He'd never seen Nico use his abilities this way, and he prayed that the bones of a dead sumo wrestler wouldn't emerge from the ground to tackle him.

Surprised, Austin recoiled, but finally reached out to hold Nico in place again, his grip stronger. When Nico refused to stop struggling, darkness covering a large portion of the floor like a tasteless rug, Will reached for the sedative bottle in his bag, preparing the needle for injection.