Wings

22: This Is The Moment When I Can Be Brave

WPOV

Track: Always, Isak Danielson

A/N: This song is very Will Solace, in my humble opinion.

The night air is cool against my skin as I run with Austin on one side and Kayla on the other. Each step sends a jolt of pain through my injured leg. I try to ignore the pain—I can't afford to stop now. Not when Nico's life is on the line. We have to come up with a plan to get into the castle as soon as possible—I'm not sure exactly how many days it's been, or even what time of the night it is currently, but I know that Nico has already been in that castle for far too long, believing I've left him for dead. Now that I'm free, I have to make every second count.

We arrive at Annabeth's house with burning legs and lungs, and we hunch over to catch our breaths after knocking on the door. For a few seconds, the sound of us trying to catch our breaths is the only thing that interrupts the owls' occasional call into the night.

Mr. Chase opens the door, medical bag in hand, expecting an emergency. He looks alarmed, like he might have to sew an arm back on if this is urgent enough to disturb him without warning.

And then he meets my eyes, and realization crosses his face.

"Come inside," he says, pulling me by the arm and checking behind me to make sure nobody from the neighboring homes is watching him take me inside his home. "I'm going to guess your family doesn't know you're here. I'll hide you as long as I can—hopefully it'll at least be long enough for you to heal properly—Jesus, Will, I'm so sorry for what they did—"

"It's alright," I say as I finally catch my breath. "I'm fine. I need Annabeth, though—I need to help Nico, and I can't do it alone."

Mr. Chase opens his mouth as if to argue that I shouldn't be walking around much in the state that I'm in, but then he winces and shuts it again. Perhaps he's remembering what I looked like when my father and the priest were hurting me, and thinking that if that's happening to Nico too, we cannot afford to wait until I'm healthy again.

"Alright," he says finally. "If he's injured, you know you can bring him here when you have him again. If there's anything else I can do to help you both, let me know."

He disappears into the hallway to find Annabeth, so my siblings and I wait in the entryway for her to come find us. Luckily, it doesn't take us long. She appears in front of us after only a minute or two, still in pajamas but looking extremely awake. Her somber gray eyes widen when she sees me, and then she's lunging forward and—

She tackles me in a strong embrace, holding me like I might fall into pieces if she lets go. Maybe I will. I hold onto her right back and make the intelligent decision not to ask for her help until she's had a moment to process that I'm not dead, at least.

When she does finally step back, she has to wipe tears away, and my own eyes are burning, too. "You're alright. I mean, not really alright—my dad told me what they've been doing to you. God, Will, I'm so sorry—I should have given you more to help you avoid this."

"It's not your fault," I promise softly, "but I could really use your help. I know it's a lot to ask, but Nico has been captured too, and I have to get into the castle and rescue him. Do you think you can help me with that?"

Her jaw tightens, and she clasps and unclasps her hands for a moment while she thinks. I know I'm asking a lot—this isn't just packing an emergency bag for a friend, this is helping me break into a castle that's flooded with guards to help save a stranger.

Nevertheless, she exhales slowly and says, "What do we need to do?"

An exhausted smile tugs at my lips. I tell her the plan: send Percy to get Luke from the castle, and then we'll get information on where Nico is being held and how the interior of the castle is laid out from Luke. Last time we saw Luke, he seemed pretty determined to try to kill us. But maybe he can be reasoned with—knowing Luke, he's probably doing this for the sake of earning his father's respect. They never really got along, and Luke spends a lot of time worrying about what his father thinks of him, of how his father will react to Luke performing any action, no matter how mundane. I think it's because Luke is worried he might lose his status as heir—he might lose the chance to reign as king.