Chapter Text
Good things started this way—Will told himself while he silently watched over Percy’s unconscious form—with a boy crossing over the hill of a pine tree.
Because Will’s life changed much the same way, and he wanted to believe it was for the better. Good things, he reminded himself as the slight crack of the infirmary door carried over the sharp, broken conversation from the hallway.
“…not an official healer…overusing his power…don’t know how it works…worried about the lack of control…there's madness…something’s not right…”
“…understand your concerns…talked to Lee about the…as powerful as Asclepius…helped Percy recover quicker than…something wrong indeed…problem with dreams…deeper reason why Artemis…see where this goes…”
“…be honest, will Auntie Eve…we all know the weird weather wasn’t…the crows talk…don’t want a repeat of what happened to Luke…”
“…can’t say…also worried about a quest…I’m afraid the oracle…somehow connected…summer solstice deadline…”
“Food,” a sleepy voice mumbled. Will almost jumped out of his seat, breaking his focus away from the voices to watch Grover start to wiggle on his bed.
He moved away from his spot next to Percy’s bed to check on the satyr. Will took the rag from his forehead, dipped it in the nearby bowl of water, and then patted his warm skin. Grover developed a mild fever, either from last night’s storm or from the high levels of stress he kept stored somewhere in his goat sensibilities. Though the fever broke a few hours ago—Grover was recovering faster than Percy.
“…on my quest with Luke…Ethan said…the world’s out of balance…I don’t have prophetic powers but…something more than the Olympians…”
“…speak not of…seen too many big prophecies in…always someone to blame…nothing to be done once the oracle gives…”
Will settled the rag back on Grover’s forehead, feeling slightly out of place. Afraid he could be doing something wrong or maybe that he wasn’t doing enough.
After healing the worst of Percy’s injuries and despite the lightheadedness, Will had forced his way toward Grover’s bedside. The bright burning in his hands had compelled him to follow wherever a physical pain screamed like a voiceless siren. And the only way his hands could find relief was if they managed to fix whatever was falling apart. Normally, Will had learned to curb this urge when he was surrounded by injured campers during capture-the-flag games.
For whatever reason, at the time, Will couldn’t ignore it. Annabeth had to pull him away right as his vision started to blur with black spots. It was only after he shook off the dizziness and heard the creak of a wheelchair that he suddenly felt ridiculous.
Chiron was a healer with unfathomable knowledge and experience that Will could never compare to. Chiron probably thought Will was in over his head for trying to do his job.
“…still worried about…never been anyone like Will…Artemis had a reason…these rare powers…Patroclus’s shield isn’t…Auntie Eve talks to him instead of…has to do with this Percy kid…you said Annabeth thinks this is…”
“…can’t promise that…up to the Fates…not even the gods can…strange that the summer solstice…Will’s birthday…oracle knows what she’s…have faith in him…”
Regardless of what he might have thought, Chiron didn’t shoo Will away like he did with Annabeth. Maybe being an Apollo kid had its own perks. They had a bigger right to be in the infirmary.
Will had stayed vigilant throughout most of the night, keeping a careful eye on Percy’s concussion. Sometimes Percy’s eyes would open, and Will thought he was finally waking up, only to fall back into unconsciousness again.
Most of the time, Percy would mumble things in his sleep. The first few minutes were full of frowns and a long, fitful rest, where he muttered the name ‘Mrs. Dodds’ in distaste. Then, he stuttered out shaky words like ‘bull-man’, ‘underwear’, and ‘Fruit of the Looms’. But the worst of it had been hours later when Percy would cry out for his mom.
Will had hoped it was the delirium that was making him have strange nightmares. That it wasn’t from the possibility of Percy recalling unpleasant memories while he slept.
Unlike Grover, who mostly needed a good rest, Percy’s condition hadn’t improved. Although Will healed the major injuries, most of Percy’s continued ailment was due to an overwhelming fatigue.
In such cases, Will learned that it mostly happened when a half-blood overused their powers, either from inexperience or from a lack of restraint. Will himself was more on the latter side of such occasions. Had Percy used his powers to escape from whatever monster was chasing them? Had it been the first time he used them?
At that very moment Percy breathed loudly through his mouth, and Will sighed. He walked over to the storage cabinet that held the infirmary supplies to pull out another box of tissues.
Aside from his concussion, Percy also suffered from excessive drooling. Will wiped the corner of Percy’s mouth with a tissue, and then placed a hand over his forehead. He wasn’t at risk of a fever like Grover, but his skin was clammy and pale.
It became obvious that Percy needed more than just rest to recover from his fatigue. Will glanced at the cabinet again, debating whether he was allowed to give Percy medical treatment. He tried not to think about the voices still speaking in the hallway. About how Will had broken the rules.
He wasn’t supposed to use his powers without the head medic’s approval. He wasn’t supposed to heal anyone before the physician’s trial. He wasn’t supposed to confirm his lack of control.
But watching Percy and Grover sleep, although not at their best but not exactly dying either, Will felt like he’d done something right. Something that gave all of this meaning. He couldn’t regret it even if a bit of worry made its way through him at the thought that he ruined the one chance he fought so hard for. That he was so close to achieving something only to have it ripped away. Will grew a newfound sympathy for Annabeth’s own disappointment.
So Will thought, why not? He’d already gotten caught, there wasn’t anything left for him to lose here. He opened a cabinet drawer to grab a cup filled with ambrosia, but when he turned back around, he collided with the air. By now Will wasn’t as surprised as the first dozen times it had happened, but he made sure to glare at the supposed empty spot for sneaking up on him again.
“Annabeth,” he hissed low, still aware of the conversation happening outside. They could come back to the infirmary at any second. “What’re you doing here?”
Immediately Annabeth came into view, clutching at her blue Yankees cap. She placed a finger over her lips and then jerked her head in Percy’s direction. “I’m not giving up,” she whispered. “You said it yourself; he has to know something about all the weird things that are happening.”
“…no, stay back…” Percy groaned, hopefully from concussed dreams. “Don’t like petting zoos…”
Will gave Annabeth a doubtful look. He wanted to say that the only thing Percy would know was how to audition for the role of Sleeping Beauty, but kept that comment to himself. Instead, he whispered back, “What about Grover?”
They both looked over at the other bed, where Grover had started snoring blissfully. Then they looked at each other and shook their heads. Nah, Grover would probably give them his full meal order before he could offer anything useful.
“Alright,” Will relented, knowing Annabeth wasn’t going to give up on this. “But I’ll let you see Percy just this once, then you have to let him rest. No interrogations until after he’s recovered.” Then, to convince her that he had some authority over this decision, he added, “Doctor’s orders!”
Annabeth’s mouth formed a thin line, but her eyes crinkled at the corners. She was trying not to laugh at his attempts of assertiveness, and Will wasn’t above shoving the blue cap back on her head and pretending she wasn’t there. But he didn’t because that would be rude. Annabeth soon regained her composure, and nodded at Will’s demands.
“Good,” he said, placing the cup of ambrosia into her hands. “You give him some of this while I go lock the door. It might could buy you some time before Chiron comes back.” Will left Annabeth by the foot of Percy’s bed.
“…my last summer at camp,” he heard Noah say, right before he pushed the door closed. “And I want to make sure everyone will be okay without me.” The door shut quietly and Will slid the lock on.
When he returned to Percy’s bedside, Annabeth hovered over the sleeping boy, trying to spoon-feed him the ambrosia. “He drools a lot,” she commented, pointing at the dark stain on Percy’s pillow.
“Like a river,” he agreed, stifling a laugh. “Good luck getting anything out of him. He hasn’t woken up at all.”
“I could do it,” Annabeth said confidently, giving Percy another spoonful and smirking over at Will. She absentmindedly scraped drips of ambrosia from Percy’s chin when it spilled out of his mouth with his drool. It was then that Will saw Percy’s eyes open slightly, his gaze hazy and confused.
Annabeth noticed too and immediately asked, “What will happen at the summer solstice?” She didn’t ease into the topic, instead going straight to the point.
Will, on the other hand, was getting tired of hearing those two words uttered in a way that spelled an untimely doom. He wanted to remind them that the solstice wasn’t a date for the end of the world. It was Will’s birthday. So on principle, it shouldn’t be the foreboding event everyone was making it out to be. At least he hoped it wasn’t.
Percy only managed to croak out, “What?”
Annabeth looked at the door, as if afraid Chiron would suddenly appear, before turning her gaze on Will, who, now that their newcomer was finally responding, stopped the urge to push her aside and ask Percy how he was feeling. Turning back to Percy, she tried asking again, “What’s going on? What was stolen? We’ve only got a few weeks!”
Percy’s eyelids started to droop, growing too heavy to keep open for much longer. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, voice hoarse and weak. “I don’t…”
Someone knocked on the door.
Annabeth quickly pushed another spoonful into Percy’s mouth, cutting off whatever he was going to say. Percy’s eyes closed again and drifted back into a deep slumber.
Another knock came, a bit louder. Annabeth jumped away from Percy’s bed, eyes wide, and exasperated that their time to get any more information was up. Getting nothing out of it.
Without another wasted second, she shoved the cup of ambrosia into Will’s hands at the same time he pressed the Yankees cap over her head. In his own panic, he pushed down whatever solid form he could feel in the empty air, trying to get her to hide under Percy’s bed even if Annabeth was already invisible.
The doorknob twisted and turned with another insistent knock that was starting to lose its patience. He rushed to unlock the door and opened it a mere sliver to meet the suspicious gazes of Chiron and Noah.
Will hid the ambrosia behind his back, forgetting to put it away before anyone could guess what they’d been doing with it just a second ago. He tried to copy Connor’s casual mannerisms whenever the son of Hermes tried to escape the blame for any wrongdoings.
Will stepped back to allow them in, trying not to cower under Noah’s watchful eyes. A part of him expected Noah to loudly announce that Will was out of the trial. Or worse—that he was banned from ever healing again. Logically, he knew they were dumb, childish worries to have, but no one said your fears cared to be logical.
Noah opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and then deflated when he glanced over Will’s shoulder. His brother moved forward, and Will kept walking backwards until he reached the far wall. Keeping the cup of ambrosia out of his line of sight. Noah approached Percy and pulled the forgotten spoon out of his mouth.
He held out the spoon, with specks of golden mush and drool on it, to arch an eyebrow at Will. The expectant look in his eyes made Will feel like he was caught red-handed at the scene of a crime. He racked through his brain, trying to remember how Connor managed to evade the scrutiny.
Deny. Deny. Deny.
“Oh, that’s weird,” he tried to sound surprised. “How’d that get there?”
Noah obviously didn’t buy it but didn’t say anything as he stepped aside to let Chiron move his wheelchair closer to Percy’s bed. “Give me the diagnosis,” Chiron said.
There was a heavy silence.
Will took a moment to realize that Chiron wasn't looking at Noah—he was looking at him. Because he was the one who checked on the unconscious boy first. So he immediately told them what he knew about Percy’s condition.
“He came in with two fractured ribs and a torn calf, but I fixed that! There’s also a concussion, uh, in his head…obviously. But the concussion happened before the other stuff—and also after. Um, I think he might’ve hit his head twice. At different times.”
The more Will spoke, the more he felt self-conscious of his words. “Some internal bleeding and bruising, but I fixed that too!” He kept going, rushing through a nervous babble. Just wanting to get it over with. “No risk of infection or fever. Percy needs lots of rest to get his strength back. But—but he’s gonna need ambrosia or nectar for the severe fatigue, or else he’ll recover slower. Oh, and water. To drink. Because he’s, uh, really dehydrated.”
Chiron nodded politely. “Thank you, Will.” Then he wheeled over to Grover’s bed.
Will blinked, nervousness dying away to make room for confusion. “That’s it?” He blurted. Wasn’t Chiron going to check on Percy himself? He was just going to believe everything Will said?
Noah handed over the spoon to Will, who stopped hiding the cup behind his back. “That’s it,” he confirmed. “Chiron isn’t in charge of Percy’s health.”
“He’s not?” But Percy was the half-blood Chiron spent months keeping an eye on, shouldn’t he be a little more invested in his wellbeing? “Then who is?”
Noah’s lips settled into an easy smile. “You.”
The single word echoed in his brain like the numbers of a winning lottery ticket. Will quickly hopped from one foot to the other. His body was unable to contain his glee. Feeling like he won. “You mean it?”
“Your trial starts now.” Noah jerked his head over at Percy’s bed. “For the rest of this summer, your task is to heal Percy Jackson. If you succeed, your name will be added to the Apollo cabin roster of official healers.”
Will was absolutely beaming with joy. He did it! He got his trial. He got his assigned patient. He was going to be a respected healer. All he had to do was make sure Percy was at the peak of his health. Oh, and make sure he didn’t die either. That shouldn’t be too difficult.
“I won’t let you down!” Will threw his arm up in victory, forgetting the loose grip he had on the spoon. It went flying through the air and landed with a solid thump on Grover’s face.
The spoon clattered to the floor a second later when Grover shot up from his bed in a frenzied panic and let out a throaty, “Blaa-ha-ha!”
“Oops,” Will managed to say. He should probably apologize for flinging a spoon at another patient’s face, but Grover didn’t seem to have a clue what had woken him up.
The damp rag tumbled off his forehead when he tried to slip out of bed. “Where are…” Grover mumbled, bleary eyes trying to take in his surroundings.
“Calm down,” Chiron said. “You’re in the Big House infirmary. You’re safe.”
Either Grover didn’t hear him or he was still processing what had happened last night. “P-Percy!” Grover stumbled over to Percy’s bed when he caught sight of his friend.
Will moved out of Grover’s way to pick up the fallen spoon. He’d have to get a new one if he wanted to keep giving Percy his ambrosia treatment. It was while he was crouched on the floor that he remembered Annabeth was still hiding under Percy’s bed. He stood up to put the cup and spoon down on the bedside table.
Chiron wheeled around to give the satyr his full attention. “Grover, we’re going to need you to explain what happened.”
Grover’s throat bobbed. His eyes were full of fear and worry. “I…I knew there was going to be another attack. The math teacher at Yancy tried and failed, so a different monster was going to want to finish the job. It was time for Percy to come to camp. I ran to tell his mom,”—Grover suddenly turned to look at Chiron with a pleading gaze—“Is Mrs. Jackson okay?”
Chiron shook his head. “The situation doesn’t look good, Grover. It’s obvious a monster attacked you, but there was no sign of Percy’s mother anywhere. The only logical conclusion would be that she…” He let the rest of his sentence die off, but everyone in the room could hear its implication.
Grover sniffled at the news, and Will felt his own heart stutter. He couldn’t imagine anything happening to his mom. Forever grateful that Celyn had been there when Will was attacked while his mom was safely tucked away in some recording studio. At least Celyn was a Hunter who knew how to fight monsters.
“What attacked you?” Noah asked. “Chiron had some of us scout the borders after you both showed up injured. All we found was a crashed car by the main road.”
“Take me to it,” Grover pleaded. “I - I have to check. I want to make sure there’s something—” He swallowed. “Something left.”
“If you want, but know that the Hephaestus kids are raiding it for spare parts.” Noah turned his gaze to Chiron, who nodded. “Follow me,” he told Grover. Both left the infirmary. Leaving Will, Chiron, an invisible Annabeth, and an unconscious Percy in the room.
“You’re doing well, Will,” Chiron said after a while. “Mr. D told me about the little Curse of Delos incident I missed last year.”
He winced at the reminder. It had been a dreadful time for everyone. “I already apologized for that,” Will mumbled, in case Chiron was bringing up the topic to reproach him.
“I’m not blaming you for anything.” Chiron wheeled his chair toward the door, and Will followed him. “I’m simply relieved you’ve been claimed.” The word finally wasn’t said, but Will caught it in his tone.
He tried not to grumble when he said, “You knew Apollo was my dad.”
Chiron nodded. “I was surprised it took him as long as it did to claim you, but perhaps it was always meant to happen that way.”
“So you think it was dumb of me to pretend it didn’t happen? For trying to stay undetermined in the Hermes cabin? Even when, before I realized I had healing powers, I had nothing in common with my dad?”
“I’m afraid one often finds their fate through the actions they take trying to avoid it.” Chiron opened the door, watching Will like his questions amused him. “But what you did, Will, was exactly what Apollo would have done. You’re more like your father than you think you are.”
Before Will could come up with a response for that, Chiron continued, choosing his words carefully. “While we wait for Percy to recover, I’ll have someone check on you. I’m still concerned about your issues with remembering dreams. But in the meantime, you continue as usual until we know more.” With that, he exited the room.
Will heard Annabeth sigh in relief. A minute later, she reappeared beside him. “Don’t worry, Will,” she said, mistaking his bewilderment for apprehension. “We’ll figure out what’s going on in your head.”
He shook off Chiron’s earlier words about his dad and shrugged at her. “Does it matter?” So what if Will couldn’t remember his dreams? It was probably nothing.
“Yes!” Annabeth huffed in that same old way she did when she used to explain demigod life to him on those first few days Will had arrived at camp. “Demigod dreams are there to help us. They give us extra information about things that happened, are happening, or will happen. A lot of these dreams serve as messages and warnings. To guide us on our journey to become Greek heroes.”
She reached for the doorknob, intending to sneak out before Chiron came back. “If something is messing with your dreams, then it’ll leave you in a very vulnerable spot. It might lead you in the wrong direction. You’ll be lost. You’ll be doomed.”
“It can’t be that bad,” Will reasoned, because what Annabeth was saying highlighted the importance of an expectation; a planned design; a predetermined path. To follow the story that was written for you. But, from what he’d learned from ancient myths, things like fate were always given to the heroes. And Will—well, he wasn’t made out to be someone like that.
“Yes, it is! If you went on a quest or had to fight a monster without—”
“Annabeth, come on. Me—on a quest? Fighting a monster? That stuff’s for the half-bloods like you. The ones with the prophecies and the big destinies. We can’t all become myths and legends.” And that was okay; Will was fine staying in the safety of Camp Half-Blood. He was fine with taking care of its campers. With doing what was expected of him as a healer. With fulfilling his duty.
She rolled her eyes at him, as if she understood something he didn’t. “I don’t think I was completely wrong when I thought you were the one. We don’t know why yet, but I know—you’re going to be important, Will.” Annabeth didn’t wait to hear Will’s protests, she opened the door and walked out of the infirmary.
He shook his head. Annabeth was probably on her way to hunt down Grover and press him for more details. Will was full of doubt and mild amusement after she left. Annabeth was going off on a theory again. She wasn’t usually wrong about these things, but there was always a first time for everything.
Will kept checking up on his patient. Instinctively, with the sun shifting its position in the sky, he knew it was well past noon by now. He’d been carefully attending Percy for over thirteen hours, having skipped breakfast and lunch. It probably wasn’t wise to go without eating, but Will needed to be here in case Percy woke up.
There was a sudden knock on the glass window. A small shadow moved behind the cream curtains. Will went over and pushed the curtains aside. He was met with the eager face of Cecil, who stood on the Big House porch holding a tray of food.
Will quickly opened the window.
“You missed lunch,” Cecil said in place of greeting. He passed the tray over to Will, who accepted it gratefully.
Will took a happy bite of his turkey sandwich. “How’d you know I was here?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I just feel where people are hanging around.” Cecil shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal. “Get this, there was this giant monster just outside the borders last night, and then it disappeared out of nowhere, so someone had to have killed it.”
“Did someone tell you that?” Did word start going around about what happened to Percy and Grover?
He leaned over the threshold of the window. “No. I told you, I felt it. But I did hear from Miranda, who heard from Drew, who heard from Silena, who was told by Beckendorf, that there’s a car crashed out on the road. Michael yelled at Jake for setting his foot on fire—don’t know how he managed that—then Noah showed up with Grover. Oh, Grover’s back, by the way, and everyone’s wondering if he brought someone with him.”
Will took a sip of his Pepsi drink. “He did.”
“He did?” Cecil’s eyes sharpened with interest. It was a look Will started to see more and more of whenever his best friend became enchanted by gossip. He was even worse than Drew. “Who is it? Did you see them? Do you know what happened?”
Will leaned over to tell Cecil about his new patient when the scenery behind Cecil gave him pause. He pushed Cecil’s arm out of the way to get a better look outside. Camp was bright and sunny. Filled with a clear blue sky. Not a storm cloud in sight.
“What happened to the weather?” Will asked, eyes searching for a hint that last night’s semi-hurricane wasn’t something he imagined.
“Everybody’s wondering that too. The naiads told the harpies, who told Sunny about the lake going crazy over last night’s storm and then how it just stopped. We haven’t had clear skies since April. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Since you’re always tracking the sun.”
Loud voices spoke in the hallway.
“You gotta go.”
“Wait—!”
Will quickly shoved the lunch tray at Cecil and closed the window. He heard Cecil’s startled shriek when he hit the deck just as Will closed the curtains. Mentally apologizing to Cecil as he turned around in time to watch the door open again.
Eric Hertz, a son of Hypnos, walked lazily through the door and rubbed at the corner of his eye. Chiron came in behind him.
“Hertz is here to check on your memory issues,” Chiron announced.
Will reluctantly approached them, playing around with his bracelet to distract himself. “Uh, what should I…?”
“Close your eyes,” Hertz yawned, reaching out a hand as if he were stuck in slow motion. “And I’ll just…”
Will closed his eyes just as he felt Hertz’s fingertips tap his forehead. It triggered a hollow noise, and the sound echoed in his ears. A sudden chill rushed through him. In response to the cold, something like a spark flashed across his skin. Warming him up.
When he opened his eyes again, Hertz blinked rapidly, like something got caught in his eyes. Chiron watched him with a withdrawn expression, keeping careful control of what showed on his face.
“Is everything okay?” Will asked.
Hertz rubbed at his eyes. “You got really bright all of a sudden,” he replied. “Like a flashlight.”
“Is that normal?” Will looked down at himself but didn’t see anything.
He shrugged, moving around Will to reach one of the empty beds. “Had nothing to do with me.”
Chiron cleared his throat. “Hertz, what did you find?”
“Definitely something wrong,” Hertz yawned again. “The memories of his dreams are buried. Normally, I could bring them back up to the surface, but they’re so far out of my reach.”
Will touched his head as if he could swipe away whatever was wrong in there.
Hertz sat on the bed and grabbed a stocky pillow. “There’s like a black hole in his mind, sucking in his dreams. They’re not stolen or anything. They’re being held hostage.”
“Held hostage,” Chiron repeated, rubbing at his bearded chin. “By what?”
“More like who.” Hertz pulled away from the bed, looking reluctant to leave it but forcing himself to move. “Only a god can do something like that.”
Will didn’t want to believe what he was hearing, but he had to ask, “Is there a god of memories?”
Chiron nodded. When he spoke, the first word out of his mouth was indecipherable to Will’s ears, “—she’s a Titan goddess and mother of the nine Muses.”
He wanted to ask Chiron to repeat the first part again, but the question refused to leave his lips. Instead, he managed to say, “Okay…and how do I get my dreams back?”
“You find the goddess’s name,” Hertz answered, nodding to himself like he solved the entire puzzle. He slowly approached Will and dragged the pillow with him like a deadly weapon. “But you can figure that out later. You’ve been awake for too long, so nighty-night.”
The last thing Will saw was a white, rectangular pillow launched straight into his face.
When he woke up, not wanting to admit that he was feeling far more rested, he felt dawn crawling through the horizon again. Did he sleep the whole day away? Will turned his head to see that Percy was still sleeping (and drooling) where he left him. Pulling himself out of bed, he noticed Argus in the corner of the room, keeping careful eyes on them.
Will didn’t like being watched, but Chiron must’ve asked Argus to supervise them while they were alone in the infirmary. He walked toward Percy’s bed, noting the empty cups of ambrosia left on his bedside table. Had someone been giving Percy his treatment while Will slept?
He grabbed Percy’s hand. While Percy’s skin now had a healthy color, his muscles were still sore. But it wasn’t something to be concerned about. The fatigue had faded, and so had the concussion. It wouldn’t be long before Percy woke up.
Since Argus was here, Will decided it would be fine if he stretched his legs for a little bit. He carefully moved around the large man—squashing the temptation to poke one of his hundreds of eyes—and left the room. The Big House was quiet. Only the floorboards squeaked with Will’s departure.
On the porch, Will watched the sun rise over the trees. Bathing the camp in rich, warm colors. “Welcome back, Dad,” he mumbled quietly. It was nice to soak in the full force of the sunlight again. He hadn’t felt it since the storms started. Whatever stopped them had Will’s gratitude. His birthday wouldn’t have been his birthday without the constant company of the sun.
It wasn’t long before the rest of camp came to life, finally feeling the bright ambiance of summer.
Grover came around early in the morning dressed in his mortal disguise, right after Argus had been dismissed. He carried a shoe box in his hands, looking like he hadn’t slept a wink even though he spent the previous night resting, and nervously stood at the threshold of the door. “How’s Percy doing?” He asked.
“Better,” Will answered, guiding Percy into a sitting position. “He’s awake, but he’s still out of it, so don’t try to start a full conversation with him yet. I think it would be good to move him outside in the sun with the fresh air. Percy’s going to be a little spacey for awhile, but he’s well enough to leave the infirmary.”
Percy sluggishly leaned on Will, but he was smaller than his patient, so he tried not to make either of them fall. Grover came over to take some of Percy’s weight. Together they led Percy outside of the Big House and onto the porch. They sat him on one of the deck chairs and propped his back with a pillow. Will settled a small blanket over Percy’s lap.
“Can you keep an eye on him while I get him his last dose?” He asked Grover, who distractedly watched as Mr. D waved his sons away when the god visited cabin twelve.
Grover jumped, almost dropping the box, and squeezed out a shrill “Yes!”
Will went back inside. In the storage cabinet there was a bottle of nectar, but he didn’t think Percy would be able to open it, so he headed to the kitchen to look for a cup. He found one of Mr. D’s fancy drinking glasses—one with a green straw and a paper parasol. It would do.
He poured the nectar into the glass, hoping he wouldn’t bump into Mr. D and have the god question why Will was touching his stuff. When he went back outside, he saw Annabeth and Chiron on the porch. Will set down the drink on the table next to Percy’s chair.
Annabeth waved her hand in front of Percy’s face. He didn’t react. Will lightly slapped her hand away, and she huffed. “Isn’t he supposed to be healed already?” She asked, crossing her arms.
“Once he drinks the nectar, he will be.” He pointed at the glass. “He’ll come back to his senses soon, but don’t rush it.” Will was just glad he didn’t have to clean Percy’s drool anymore.
Annabeth turned away from Percy to look at Grover. She pointed at the shoe box. “Can I see?”
Grover held out the box to let them have a closer look. Inside was a black-and-white bull’s horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood.
Will touched the blood.
“Oh, Styx!” Grover shrieked, pulling the box away from him. “Why would you touch it?”
Will tried not to feel embarrassed even as his ears began to grow warm. “Why not?” He said defensively. “I wanted to see what it was. It ain’t right.” He rubbed his fingers together, noting the strangeness in the dark stain. It was too acidic and settled over his skin like rot. The texture reminded him of tar. Nothing at all like blood.
“That’s because it’s monster blood,” Annabeth told him.
“Which monster?” Aside from Cecil’s attempts at gossip, no one had told Will what managed to topple over an entire car.
“Pasiphae’s son. The half-bull, half-man. The creature from the Labyrinth.”
Will thought hard, trying to recall which myth contained such a monster. A man with the head of a bull. Locked away in a deadly maze. Slayed by an ancient hero. Ariadne’s brother.
“Percy did that?” Pollux and Castor’s concern for their mom’s grief proved true. “He killed the Mino—?”
“Will,” Chiron interrupted. “You have done well for Percy’s recovery, but Grover and Annabeth can take it from here. They’ll explain his new demigod life, and get him settled at camp.”
Will remembered his first few days at camp. How Annabeth gave him a grand tour and did her best to explain everything to him. But unlike Percy, Will had already been traveling with a gang of immortal girls and their goddess leader. So maybe he had been a few steps ahead of Percy by the time he reached Half-Blood Hill.
He nodded, releasing the care of his patient to them. At least for now.
Chiron moved to the corner of the porch with Annabeth before addressing Grover. “We’ll be on the other side of the house. Bring Percy once he regains consciousness. Mr. D will be waiting for the both of you.” Grover visibly winced but nodded in sad understanding. Chiron and Annabeth continued on their way and disappeared to the other side.
Will checked on Percy one last time before he left. Everything seemed fine. It really was just a matter of waiting. When he turned to remind Grover to make sure Percy drank the nectar, he found the satyr already watching him.
“You smell,” Grover said before the words caught up to him and he tried to correct himself. “You smell different. I - I’ve noticed it before, but I’ve never been this close to…I mean, it’s not a bad smell. I’m just surprised that you’re connected.”
He tilted his head, frowning down at the floor. “Connected?”
Grover tapped his fake foot. “You know, an empathy link.” When he saw the look of confusion on Will’s face, he stuttered. “I'm sorry, I thought you knew. I thought your satyr protector forgot to remove it.”
“I don’t have a satyr protector,” Will said slowly, silently wondering when these otherworldly beings decided to mess around with his head. That was what—the fourth mythological thing that’s happened to him? At this point, Will needed to start making a list.
“What? No protector? Then how did you find Camp Half-Blood?” Grover leaned against the porch’s railing, as if to hold the weight of his disbelief. “You’re so small, like when Annabeth ran away. Did you run away too?”
He shook his head. “My babysitter saved me from a monster. She told my mom I had to leave. The Hunters brought me here.”
Grover’s eyes grew wide. “The Hunters? I heard rumors that Marley Evergreen found a half-blood boy with the Hunters of Artemis. No one believed him!”
“Yeah, that was me.” Was Marley the satyr boy with the winter trapper hat? The one who found him by the beach somewhere in New York? To think that Will had secretly hoped to see the Hunters turn him into a jackalope.
“…but only nature spirits can form empathy links.”
“She’s a nymph.”
Grover proceeded to ask Will for details about his time with the Hunters. The more they spoke, the more he missed Celyn. He wanted to ask how empathy links worked, but he’d rather have that conversation with the nymph who made it in the first place.
He hoped Celyn did it because she cared about him. Because the empathy link was what she wanted for them. That it wasn’t some obligation to Artemis. That it was something that kept them attached. That showed they still meant something to each other.
That they were still family.
“I…” Will interrupted Grover’s increasing questions about Artemis’s forestry splendor. “I’ve gotta go. Good luck with Mr. D.” Grover sputtered through a goodbye as Will went back inside the house.
He mindlessly allowed his legs to walk wherever they pleased. Blind to his surroundings as the pressure of last week finally caught up to him. Too much had happened in the span of a few days. Will didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know who to talk to or what he’d even say if he tried.
He thought about Lee, who was busy being a head counselor. Thought about Noah, who was feeling guilty about leaving them for college. About Logan, who was worried about completely taking over the position of head medic. All of his siblings were dealing with their own issues, and he didn’t want to give them any more problems.
When he blinked out of his stupor, he was faced with the wooden surface of the attic door. Maybe there was one person who could help him make sense of what was happening. He reached for the doorknob, hoping that none of this had anything to do with a prophecy.
Good things started this way, Will told himself again, desperately wanting to believe it, so he took a deep breath and opened the door.