*********************************************************************************
Nico sighed. He had been wondering around killing random monsters for hours.
Percy had yet to come out and let anyone know he was alive. Nico also hadn't heard from anyone other than Thalia for just as long.
He didn't even know if they were alive given the war blooming around him.
Nico turned to Thalia Grace. "Any signs of Annabeth or my sister?"
Thalia shook her head. "No. Any signs of Luke?" She asked. Nico shook his head. He had long since found the real device hypnotizing Luke and destroyed it.
Luke had, in a rage ran after Percy and Kronos. Nico hadn't seen him since.
"Nico!"
Nico snapped up to see his sister Bianca Di Angelo in a full sprint towards him. She was dressed from head to toe in knives and bows and arrows.
"Nico it's Will! He jumped in front of me. I'm so sorry."
Annabeth Chase frowned at Nico. "He should be okay. Do you want to see him?"
Nico nodded. "Where?"
Annabeth hesitated. "With Apollo. You can't shadow travel. Come on."
Annabeth grabbed Nico's arm and dragged him to the god Apollo who was kneeling over his son. Apollo looked up and slowly moved away.
Will Solace had a huge gash of blood right under his throat. He looked up at him and sadly smiled. "I'm okay. I promise."
Nico blinked away his tears and kneeled in front of the blonde.
"Will? Close your eyes okay. No peeking. Just close them."
Will shut his eyes. Apollo grimaced. "I wouldn't." He said. Nico ignored the god and summons a bit of smoke. He set his hand down on the part of Will's neck that was cut.
Slowly bit surely the gash began to heal. Annabeth turned to Bianca who just shrugged in response. No one knew how Nico could have done this not even Nico himself.
He had never been able to do it before and he would never be able to do it again.
Once fully healed the son of Apollo stood up. "How'd you do that?"
Nico shrugged. "Come on. I think I see Percy."
And right he was. Perseus Achilles Jackson staggered out with many cuts and bruises. "Kronos is dead. Luke."
Annabeth pulled the boy in a hug. "Where is Luke?"
Percy wiped tears out of his face. "He's dead! It was the only way to kill Kronos!"
Annabeth idly picked up the body. She covered it as best she could and looked down at it in tears. Luke Castalan was dead. There had been no point in fighting for Percy.
The Kronos might have been dead but he took the only one who could matter with him.
The sun shining in the sky was the biggest insult Percy had ever seen.
He glared at all the shining faces filled with smiles and hugs of people glad to have survived an experience.
He glowered at the gods who drowned themselves in Ambrosia and Nectar in immortal laughs and whoops of survival.
It all seemed like an insult. A way to purposely attack him.
How could anyone be happy? How can they smile? How can they laugh and drink as if everything was happy?
Percy couldn't smile as he sat at the front of the table showered by laughs and praise.
He couldn't laugh when each Olympian god expressed how proud they were.
He couldn't smirk in defiance when Athena begrudgingly said she had been wrong about him.
He couldn't muster up one happy emotion. How could he? How could anyone smile or laugh?
How could they feast and prance when a loss was hanging above the hero?
How could he be happy when Luke Castallan was dead?
