Saving Him.

Chapter Eight

A/N

warnings? I guess

emotional-ness

Highly suggest listening to the song through the chapter but you don't have to. 

**Percy POV**

Something was wrong. I'm not sure what tipped me off first. 

Maybe it was the fact that Camp Half-Blood was covered by overcast, something which itself was highly unusual. 

Maybe it was Bianca, pushing her way through the pavilion with crazed eyes. 

"Percy!" She screamed. "PERCY SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN!" 

Everyone practically dropped their plates, parting so that there was a direct path between her and I. 

"What is it?" I asked, throwing my own plate down and running up, drawing my sword. 

She stared at Riptide. "It's not something your sword can change." 

Her eyes were crazed, wide opened and eyes dilated so much they were practically entirely black. It had been more than a month since she properly left her cabin and interacted, and for the daughter of hades to come screaming...something horrible had to be happening. 

"What is it?" I asked in a hush voice, trying to calm the scene. Already demigods leaned in, waiting to hear what the feral looking girl had to say. "What's happened?"

She put her hands on her shoulder, and I could feel the tremble of her hands. "Someone is dying." 

There was a collective amount of worried sounds; gasps, fearful whispers, and anxious glances. 

But the moment where it was clear there was something wrong was when we heard a scream. 

"HELP!" 

As an instant response, everyone swarmed, running one direction. But Bianca grabbed my hand, and we slipped away through their shadows, ending up ahead of all of them...seeing the horrors before anyone else could. 

There were two bodies laying next to each other, faces towards each other, blood dampening their clothes and draining color from their faces. But there was no doubt who they were. Jason had what looked like talon marks following his neck to his stomach, and a shard of something tainted red poking out of his side. 

I ran to him first, as the footsteps of campers finally arrived. 

"Jason! Oh gods...Jase," 

I was going into panic mode as i set Riptide under his nose. There was a faint fog. 

"I NEED APOLLO KIDS HERE! RIGHT NOW!" I demanded. "NOW!!" 

They swarmed, already with a stretcher, and I turned then to Bianca. She was holding Nico...and sobbing. "no..." was all i could say, as I dropped to my knees, and crawled towards them. She looked at me, her eyes filled with tears. 

"Is he-"

She nodded, sobbing even more. "Mi amore," She howled, hugging his body, and shaking him. "I'm so sorry! Oh Nico, I'm so so sorry-" 

"Move! Move!" Will cried, pushing though the crowd. "Nico!" He screamed. "NICO!" 

I rushed to stop him from bolting to Bianca. Wrapping one arm around him, i held him as he dropped to his knees, crying along with the broken hearted sister. He leaned into my shoulder, clutching my shirt. 

It started to rain. 

I looked up at the sky, wondering if Hades asked Zeus for this...to honor his son. 

"Go get a shroud," I murmured to Will, "get a shroud for our fallen son of Hades." 

~~~~

Will was shaky as he cleaned up Nico's body, but he treated him just as gently as he used to. He brushed the hair from his face to wash off the crusting blood, and gently moved around the wounds, like he was trying to not hurt him more. Every once in a while Will had to stop. He put his hands over his mouth and just stared at Nico, I don't blame him.  

Nico looked paler...and though for a lack of chest movement, he looked just like he was sleeping. I think that's what was getting to Will. I didn't know much about their relationship, but everyone knew that they were best friends, they did everything together, even sleep, and just that. It helped Nico a lot, with his PTSD and I think, in away, it helped Will too. 

"He's...he's all cleaned up," Will said, wiping his eyes, and facing me. "Um...you...um...have they...finished his shroud-?" 

"I don't think so," I whispered, looking away from Nico. 

He shuddered. "Uh...Jason is...he's in critical condition. The metal...was Stygian...Maybe from Nico's sword. But I don't know anything that could break that sort of metal, anyway. We got it out of him, it barely missed vital organs, but he...he's really really hurt. He lost so much blood and we just don't know if..." He droned off. 

I nodded looking at my hands. "Do you have any idea what...what could've even..." 

"I think, some sort of serpent," Will murmured. "I'm not sure what but...whatever it was just...they didn't stand a chance. Even if they're some of the strongest demigods there's ever been..." He stopped talking, looking over at Nico. "I just...I hope Jason makes it...but gods, how can we even begin to tell him about this?" 

"I don't know," I sighed, covering my face with my hands. "How are you...handling this?" 

"I...I drove him away, this is...it's all my fault, Perce," Will returned to Nico, letting his fingers press against his wrists. I'm not sure why, but he shuddered hard before falling to his knees. He pressed Nico's fingers to his lips and murmured something that i couldn't hear but read from his lips.

I'm sorry.

~~~~

Hazel and Bianca dressed Nico nicely while Will lurked in the corner. Hazel's arrival had been almost immediate, I'm not sure how they swung it, but they did. She didn't cry when she saw her brother, she simply took a sharp breath and nodded, hugging Bianca and holding her face. "let's dress him nice, okay?" 

Bianca only half nodded. They had found a suit that belonged to him buried deep within their cabin. Very carefully, Hazel lifted Nico and Bianca pulled his arms and legs through his suit. When he was dressed properly, we turned to Will, who was holding Nico's shroud like a child would hold a blanket. 

Hazel very gently approached him, touching his hand softly. Their eyes met and she nodded. This comforted him, as he handed over the fabric, and even helped to properly cover Nico. The fabric was beautifully designed with a skeleton surrounded by the vibrant embroidered flowers.

As the sun set, we all took a moment together, holding hands and pressing our heads together and we tried to make acceptance easier. 

We each took hold of one corner of the stretcher he laid on, and lifted it together. I'd held the world on my shoulder, and yet it wasn't as heavy as this moment was. 

We stood as we watched our friend was engulfed in flames, sent to the Elysian fields the proper hero way.

Bianca was sobbing heavily, leaning into her sister for support. Will was crying to, but he was trying to keep to himself as much as he could. As for me...I wanted to cry, really I did. I was bidding my friend farewell from this world, but I just couldn't. I was feeling too many things at that moment, and not one emotion could project itself. 

All I could really do right now was be there for those who needed support more than anyone. 

I wrapped one arm around Will. "It's okay," I hummed, "it'll be okay." 

But I didn't promise. 

You can't ensure anything when you're a demigod.