Broken together.

Will POV 2

I continued to zone out into the camera. Aegeus never woke up once. This scared me so I checked on her several times throughout the night. This was difficult to do given that I was on the inside of the bed. I managed to crawl around Nico to get out of the bed because his legs didn't reach the end of the bed. (Crusty reference?) Eventually, at around 5 am, I just decided to get dressed for the day. The sun would be coming up soon anyway. As a child of Apollo, I am legally (not really) required to wake up at dawn or before.

I sat down for literally two seconds and when I stood up again, my legs felt like jelly. I looked in the mirror and my eyes looked so red. I had been unceremoniously scratching at my eyelids and my arms all night long. Meaning that my eyes had been rubbed raw and my arms were bleeding from my sharp nails.

I had to then put an undershirt under my T-shirt so no one would notice. Even if they did, It's not like they could do anything about it. Every time I pulled an all-nighter it happened. It was a bad behavior I couldn't let go of.

I knew it was probably best to leave Nico to sleep, he had a long day yesterday. However, I needed details.

I gently rubbed my boyfriend's back as he groggily sat up. He coughed once or twice before glaring at me with hatred.

"Nico, I need to know what happened to Percy."

He got a little misty-eyed before reaching out and touching me on the shoulder. Shadows surrounded us and whispered in my ear. We're not in Kansas anymore. 

We were in the woods. Still at camp half-blood, that much was clear. We were just extremely deep into the monster-infested forest.

Nico was staring upwards at a nearby tree. I instinctually followed his line of vision but then immediately wished that I hadn't.

There, hanging from the tree, was Perseus Jackson. He had killed himself by hanging. The rope dangled softly in the wind and I felt close to vomiting. His eyes were still wide open.

We decided to IM Chiron and tell him to come retrieve the body. We didn't want to unceremoniously drag our friend's corpse across the camp. We did however leave out the part where we figured out he was dead last night. And how we already had taken in his daughter. Hope he doesn't ask too many questions.

We let Chiron take him ahead given that he can walk much faster than we can. He seemed incredibly unsurprised by his protege's death. Not that he wasn't sad, no he was probably more sad than any of us, but when you see so many deaths happen to so many heroes, you learn to deal with it.

The trees seemed to close in around us as we walked, almost like they were mocking us. I pulled Nico a little closer as if he could stop the forest from looking at me, despite it not having any eyes.

I was still having a hard time comprehending it. How could Percy be dead? Just three weeks ago he was having fun doing baby voice as his wife's stomach. Funny how someone's life can go from happy to over in the blink of an eye.

I gripped Nico's hand as we finally got back to camp. It was almost lunch time so we headed to the dining pavilion, although neither of us was very hungry.

Dionysus sat at the top table per usual, but this time Chiron was not by his side. When he saw us he just exclaimed a simple "oh" and continued picking at some grapes. No funny name mess ups and no yelling at us for being late. Never thought I'd see the day where Dionysus was depressed. But here we are.

We sat and just stared at our plates. There didn't seem to be much point in eating anymore. Or in anything really. It was like every time something amazing happened something tragic happened immediately afterwards. Nothing ever went right as a demigod. Nothing at all.

Chiron eventually came out of the big house. I was curious as to where he placed the body but decided to keep my inquiry to myself.

Chiron started over towards us back in his wheelchair disguise.

"Will, I have something I would like to talk to you about in the big house. It is very Important."
He gestured for me to follow him.

I quickly squeezed Nico's hand before standing up to follow. We walked into the big house and into the living room. It was kinda scary. I had never seen Chiron so shaken up or informal before.

I sat down on the uncomfortable hard couches and squirmed a little under Chiron's gaze. I think he zoned out because he suddenly looked like he had been shaken awake.
"Uh-Will, I was going to ask you if you could talk to Sally about Percy."
This was the moment I had been dreading. I knew that if my mother heard I had died in combat, she would breakdown immediately. I didn't see her much, but I knew she loved me just as much as any other mother. I can't imagine the heartbreak Percy's poor mother will have.

I had only ever seen the woman once before. During the battle of Manhattan. She had fought just as bravely as my fellow demigods. And for that, she had my respect. We lost many a half-blood in that war and we needed as many soldiers as we could get.

"Will? Can you do this favor for me?"
"Uhh yes" I said like an idiot. How in the world am I going to do this?"
"I would recommend not taking the young son of Hades with you. He appears to be in a bad mind state and I am worried that Sally would just make it worse."

I looked out the window towards my boyfriend. He was talking to Dionysus about something. I couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt. I had left him out there alone with a apathetic god and now I had to lie to him. If I told him I was going to tell Sally, he would insist on coming with and if I said no, he would just shadow travel there anyway.

Why does life always have to be so complicated?

I nodded at Chiron, as I was too deep in thought to formulate a proper response. I walked back outside and grabbed Nico as tight as I could.

"Will? You okay?"
I didn't answer. I felt like I was betraying his trust already.