Too Late

Chapter 28

~ Will ~

They fell out of the shadows at the top of half blood hill. Will looked down at Nico, "Well that was an adventure."

Nico shrugged, "I guess." He led Will down the hill and they made their way to the big house.

* * *

He stood outside Chiron's office, waiting for Nico. After what seemed like an eternity the door opened and Will stepped inside. Nico thanked Chiron and the old centaur smiled at him, then turned away and Nico headed for the door, he looked back at Will, "You coming?"

"I'll be there in a minute." Will gave his boyfriend a small smile and turned back to Chiron, "Sir, there's one more thing... can we talk?"The centar turned to face him, "Of course, is everything alright?" Will nodded and sat down across from Chiron, "It's... It's about the strange things that have been happening..." The old instructor raised an eyebrow, as if interested, and nodded for Will to continue. "You remember Blake, right?" Chiron sighed, "Who could forget him? One of the most powerful heroes I've seen who refused to use their powers."

"Probably one of the only heroes that you've seen that refuses to use their powers." A voice said dryly from the doorway, Will moved his neck so fast it hurt, but it was only Nico. The son of Hades shot him an apologetic look, "Sorry, is it okay if I stay?" Will gave him a small nod, a weight that he didn't even know was there lifted from his chest as Nico took the seat beside him, as well as his hand.

Chiron smiled at them, then returned his attention to Will, "Why do you ask?"

"I..."

"We met Ayla." Nico said calmly.

Chiron blinked, "Who?"

"Blake, she goes by Ayla now."

Chiron looked confused "But.... he.... er she joined the titans."

Will shook his head, "No she didn't, she would never. She despised Luke. When she went looking for Harper, she lost Shelby and then ran to camp Jupiter."

Chiron looked baffled, "Why... How...."

"It was Luke, he killed her..." His voice broke and he suddenly he felt like crying. Like he hadn't already spent years grieving, he felt like a kid again, alone and scared. He was that boy who had just lost his sister to a man they had both trusted. He felt empty. Hollow. Alone. Completely and utterly alone.

And then Nico squeezed his hand, he looked up and saw the son of Hades, with concerned expression on his face, "You good?"

Will took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry..."

Chiron gave him a sympathetic smile, "It's fine."

He still felt like he was about to cry, but he pushed his emotions away. He had to let Chiron know. "Luke killed her and blamed it on the gods, he knew that he did it, but he got himself to believe it was them. He only wanted answers. And she was the only one who could give them to him. So he asked her to meet him in the forest, where the grove is, she could talk to the grove. No one else knew how. No one else could. He tried to force her to tell her what they said but she wouldn't."

Chiron took a long sip of his tea, "My boy, you said he asked her to meet him, she knew what she was getting into. Why did she go?"

"She wanted answers too. Luke had been telling new campers about the ways of the gods, letting them know the harshness and the cruelty at a young age. She wanted to know why, she wanted to stop him. She thought she could convince him to stop. She was wrong."

Chiron nodded, "She wasn't wrong, she was right to do that. She knew what she had to do. She knew so much but couldn't do anything about it. That was her curse."

Will blinked, "Are you talking about the gift of Apollo?"

The old centaur nodded. Nico cleared his throat, "What is the gift of Apollo exactly?"

"It's more of a curse." Will explained, "But, it's a gift... so like a curse with perks."

Chiron put down his tea and looked at Nico, "Apollo's gift isn't given by Apollo specifically, but only children of Apollo can receive it. But it's even rarer than charmspeak or summoning fire. As you know, the Fates only choose the most worthy, to have the most unbearable tasks. The chosen is able to see possible outcomes for situations, they can see fates and memories. They can see the past and the future. But they can't do anything about it."

"Oh."

"When she met Luke she saw his future, she knew his past, his deepest fears, she knew it all. And she wanted to save him from his fate." Will explained.

Nico made a face, "I never really got the pleasure of meeting Luke, but I've heard that he was quite the charmer... Was she in love with him too?"

Will shook his head, "She was strictly asexual."

"Gods, that's a big mood."

Will raised an eyebrow, "Okay, for one thing you've been spending way to much time around Anika if you're saying things like 'big mood' and for another thing you can't say that because you're not asexual."

Nico rolled his eyes, "It's called being 'relatable' Solace." When he said relatable he made air quotes with his fingers.

Will sighed, "Why do I even try anymore"

Chiron smiled at the two of them, then something caught his attention and he looked past Will's shoulder, "Will. I'm afraid we will have to continue this conversation another time." Both Will and Nico turned to see Austin, gasping for breath and pale.