The Boy of Shadows and Sin

Chapter 4

"So wait," Will asked Nico, I thought Apollo had gone silent, and so did his oracle."

Nico trudged forwards, trying not to limp, but it was clear to Will just how much it hurt."She probably won't be able to prophesise anything, but she might have some advice on what to do. Also, she's been talking to Ella the harpy, so maybe they might have some idea of what we can do."

"I thought Ella was in New Rome. How've they been working together?"

"Skype."

Will didn't have a response to that. A crazy artist and a churro-addicted harpy having video discussions about the futures of demigods all over the world. Yes, he could see that. The idea scared him. A lot.

"So Rachel's expecting us?" Will asked us. "It's eleven at night."

"I sent her an Iris-message," Nico told him in a tone that made it very clear he wasn't in the mood for talking. Will also knew that Nico was hurting a lot, and that was playing a large part in his irritation. A hint of a limp was showing and his breathing was choppy and laboured. Nico had refused to let Will tape his wrist, and his hand hung limply at his side.

Will himself was struggling internally. When he had finally gotten to sleep, his rest had been plagued by dreams and nightmares and memories, many of them troubling.

A few days after they had defeated Gaea, Reyna approached Will. "I'm going back to New Rome," she told him, and he was confused as to why this applied to him. "I need you to keep an eye on Nico."

That made sense. "I was planning on it."

She sighed and it looked like someone had lifted the world off her shoulders. "Good. He needs someone to be there for him. He hurts a lot, in here." She tapped his chest, right over his heart. "You need to fix that, and make sure he doesn't die."

Will felt like he had failed her. Not only was Nico leaving, but now he was injured and about as stubborn as a Minotaur in a snowdrift.

He also dreamt about other things involving Nico, mostly brief snatches of the other boy's memories filled with so much pain it made Will want to curl up in a ball and stay like that—when he found out that his sister was dead, when he fell into Tartarus, when he found Hazel instead of Bianca and then she left to New Rome with her (rather buff) boyfriend, leaving Nico alone in the Hades cabin.

Will dreamt about his own past, days spent surfing with his stepdad—and Will was somehow always the best—or going to his mum's performances, and the good times with his sister, despite their arguing. He had his regrets—not telling them that he was a demigod. Will had left to keep them safe from the monsters when he was about twelve. He saw the articles in the paper about him, asking him to come home, but they had no idea and it was better that way.

Nico stopped suddenly and Will ran into him. The dark-eyed boy grunted and turned to glare at him.

"So...what do we do now?" Will asked, and admittedly he sounded a bit irritated.

"Wait," was Nico's equally frustrated response.

They were standing in front of a large building, a house, a mansion, Will realised. It looked quite foreboding, and also quite familiar. With a start, he realised that they were in his old neighbourhood, just a few blocks away from his family's house. His head snapped left and right frantically to see if there was any sign of them, but the adrenaline faded when he remembered that it was a Friday night. His mum would be performing and his dad and little sister would be watching. No, he amended, just his stepdad. Thorn still had his little sister somewhere. The nausea returned.