Chapter Text
Will wanted to curl up in some corner and hide like a wounded animal. But he that would just make things worse to salvage the situation they had to keep moving.
They had to go back into the labyrinth and go to Delphi.
Apollo, his mysterious message Luke couldn’t know, and the final line of the prophecy, the land defended by the sun god’s rays. It was the last ray of hope Will had left .
Deep deep down Will wanted that line to be about camp, but it wasn’t. Apollo was hunting with Artemis on Zeus’ orders. You can’t defy the king of the gods without severe consequences.
Still, it was the last remaining chance they had left, so step by step they made a pilgrimage to Delphi seeking answers.
Down and down, they went. The passageway slowly spiraling down to the navel of the world. Will could practically smell the choking green smoke of the Oracle.
He did not want to arrive so soon Will did not want to look his father in the eyes and tell him they had fail and camp would fall. For the first time in his life Will didn’t want to face his father. To soon sunbeams illuminated the caverns walls, green mist gushed out of the volcanic caverns around them, and stubborn golden flowers bloomed in cavern cracks.
Like every time Will returned to camp Apollo was waiting at the boundary. He didn’t look mad yet, or disappointed. In fact, he was grinning. Apollo must not know. Will did not want to tell him.
“Will! Nico! Racheal! I am so glad you are all okay” Apollo gushed.
As they stepped past the flower markers every nick and cut down to the splinters sealed. The aches and pains that built up through their long journey vanished. And Will had more energy than he knew what to do with, but his dread and guilt didn’t lighten an ounce.
“Dad I am so sorry. We failed! Minos was the ghost king, I healed the wrong person, and I missed! Camp is doomed.” Will wailed.
“It’s all right” Apollo said picking Will up in a hug, “You did everything right. And you didn’t miss Will, you’re a far better archer than you think. Camp is saved.”
That didn’t make sense. What did he mean Will didn’t miss and camp is the opposite of safe? Sheer confusion stopped Will’s tears.
“Apollo what is going on” Nico asked equally confused.
“We should talk about it outside.” Apollo said, grabbing Nico by the hand and leading everyone out of Delphi.
Outside was a grassy clearing. The Curse of Delos blossomed around them, in the cracks of the cave and sprinkled across the clearing. Despite it being a famous site, no one was around. And there was a picnic table set up just for them.
Apollo ushered everyone over and started handing out sandwiches and snacks.
“Why are you so calm.” Nico said staring blankly at the egg salad sandwich Apollo offered him.
“What was your message” Will asked.
“And how do you know if you have a prophetic dream.” Racheal said.
“Easy questions first. You know you’ve had a prophetic dream if you can clearly remember it by noon without writing it down and if you had the same dream three times.” Apollo answered. “As for everything else... where do I begin.”
“Maybe explain how in the world camp is safe after I doomed it” Nico said.
“You can’t doom camp because I am there.” Apollo said casually like that made sense.
“Did Zeus change his mind! Or did you and Artemis finish killing all those monsters first?” Will asked pleasantly surprised.
“Nope just the opposite. Zeus would never change his mind about my punishment for such a minor task. It is very hard to bind a god after all.” For a moment Apollo’s bracelets vanished and were replaced with flickering lightning chains.
Apollo wasn’t gone. Will didn’t know what he should feel about that. Confusion, joy, burning anger, or relief. Nico just seemed to be relieved.
“Why did Zeus punish you? I don’t remember any myths about this...” Racheal said.
“There aren’t any myths about my skill at bagpipes either but trust me that’s real too.” Apollo said and surprised Will by adding, “All I did was hide a prophecy. My punishment wasn’t about anything important.”
“That prophecy didn’t have anything to do with thunderclouds, right?” Racheal asked, giving Apollo an odd look.
“Nope! No, it doesn’t. No need to mention that ever again!” Apollo panicked, “Anyway Artemis and I lied about me going off to hunt with her because Luke was going to siege camp. If I made him think I was gone he would invade camp instead. And I could do something about that.”
Everything clicked into place.
This is why Apollo didn’t destroy the entrance to the Labrinth when he left (Zeus’ fist is definitely within camp boundaries). And why he needed to talk with them before they talked to Daedalus. It explained so much. It didn’t explain everything. There was still something else strange about camp. Lester.
“You really didn’t leave” Will said.
“Yes? I didn’t want to trick you like this, but it would be so easy for the truth to leak out especially since Luke still has friends in camp.” Apollo said nervously.
“You’re Lester!” Nico said beating Will to the punch, “That’s what felt off about him, he didn’t feel mortal. He felt like you!”
“It explains how he was able to beat Micheal! And how Lester showed up the second we passed camp boundaries, and how he knew the woods so well!” Will said, he didn’t know how he didn’t notice sooner!
Apollo didn’t meet their eyes but shifted back to Lester’s form for a second. “Guess I was caught again.”
“Wait again?”
“Yeah, Micheal confronted me about being a spy sent by Luke, so I immediately confessed what I was doing. Apparently, Lee identified me by poetry alone and was just waiting for me to tell him what was happening.” Apollo said.
“Why did you choose the name Lester? And why does he look so plain?” Racheal asked.
“Chiron chose it and rejected my first seven disguises.” Apollo huffed, clearly not happy that the word plain would ever be used to describe him.
Will started to laugh. It was all so ridiculous. There was never any reason to go into the labyrinth, it was all for nothing, and Will was so relieved about that.
“Hey, Will are you okay?” His father asked.
“I am. Just never lie about something like this ever again, okay?”
“Of course.” Apollo answered, “And next time please talk to me before you enter the labyrinth again?”
“I am never going there ever again. It's horrible” Will promised.
“It wasn’t that bad” Nico said like an insane person, “What. There is something comforting about being so deep in the earth.”
“Do you know what happened to Daedalus” Racheal asked trying to get them back on track and on a topic she knew about.
“Actually yes.” Apollo snapped his fingers.
Daedalus popped into place next to Apollo looking very confused. He didn’t look like what Will expected, far too young, and even Nico took a second to identify him. Why was he here? He must have visited one of Apollo’s sacred places if Apollo could teleport him here. But why would Daedalus visit Delos, Delphi, camp, or one of Apollo’s shrines?
Apollo answered before Will could ask, “Daedalus here was visiting camp to check out our defenses and see what side he wanted to be on. He made the correct choice.”
Daedalus nodded, seeming almost scared of Apollo? Weird.
“I was going to trade your soul for my sisters.” Nico said which did not help Daedalus’ nerves at all.
“I hope you changed your mind. I really do not want to enter the underworld right now.”
“You're going to one day and it's going to be sooner than you like,” Nico said completely unaware of just how intimidating he was being, “You can’t keep running away and switching bodies. It’s unnatural.”
“Y- Yes I understand. I know I cannot keep doing this forever. One day I will have to face your father and Perdix.” Daedalus said looking away.
“Don’t be so down. It’ll be a few centuries before your body breaks down and until then you have a place to stay at camp half blood. Get in some good deeds before you are judged.” Apollo said encouragingly.
“What! He’s staying at camp?” Will asked.
“Are you sure about this? Athena and Hades are angry at me” Daedalus stated.
“Of course I am, everyone deserves a second chance. And immortality is such a waste if you can’t live free” Apollo said uncharacteristic seriousness.
Daedalus nodded. And looked for the first time hopeful about his future.
“Can we go back to camp now? I want to see my siblings again.”
Apollo winced, “They are worried sick about you two, but now isn’t a good time to return. The battle is starting.”
A scene appeared out of thin air. It was Zeus’ fist. Traps, razor wire, vats of greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks, and catapults were prepared around the edges. It was an impressive sight. Will had never seen camp prepared for war, he didn’t like it.
But their defenses were nothing in face of the monsters that charged from the labyrinth.
As demigods fell against the monsters, and the Titian's forces invaded camp, Will forgot his siblings weren’t in danger. Apollo squeezed Will’s hand. The screen zoomed in on one of the fallen demigods. The moment Castor crumpled to the ground his injuries instantly healed and he played dead. This was an act.
Turns out all of Maddie’s plays and acting lessons weren’t for nothing.
Wave after wave of monsters attacked the camp. Apollo seemed to be waiting for something, scanning the swarm for something or someone.
Then Ethan Nakamura emerged holding Ariadne's string aloft. Apollo grinned.
Faster than the mortal eye could see the string was pinned to a tree with a golden arrow. Ethan barely had time to stumble back into the maze before a rain of arrows struck the invading army.
In seconds all that remained was a pile of ashes and half a dozen very confused enemy demigods.
It was always hard to remember that his father was a god. Apollo made bad haiku, burnt his marshmallows, deferred to Chiron’s wisdom, and encouraged people treating him lightly. But Will could never forget this.
An army dead in seconds and that was just the power of a chained god. How much more powerful was Zeus? How could Luke possibly hope to stand against the Olympians when they are that powerful? He had no hope of winning.
Will wasn’t comforted by that thought at all. It was terrifying to think that so much power was in the hands of careless arrogant people who are above any consequence.
As calm as anything Apollo walked over to the labyrinth entrance. Zeus’s fist shattered. Will could spot the shining mark of Daedalus fading to nothing.
It was finally over. Everyone was safe.
“Let’s head back home.” Nico said relieved.
Will nodded.
“Actually, can I stay and talk with you for a minute? I have questions.” Racheal stated.
“Yes.” Apollo said to both requests snapping his fingers.
Will and Nico appeared in cabin seven. Will didn’t realize how much he missed it and his older brothers until he came back. Before they could even speak Lee hugged Will in a far too tight embrace.
“I was so worried about you! What happened? Are you okay? Is that blood?” Lee questioned too fast for Will to answer even one.
“Calm down Lee. He’s fine. If anything, you're the one getting him bloody. You still haven't washed off.” Micheal said tugging Lee back.
“Are you okay Lee?” Will asked worried. His hair was soaked with still drying blood.
“I’m fine. Dad healed me the moment I went down.” Lee said brushing the question off and turning to Nico, “Thank you for taking care of my little brother, he can be very reckless. You didn’t get injured either did you?”
“It’s fine if anything he took care of me.” Nico said weirdly bashful at the attention, “I’m fine too.”
“That’s good. I am terrible though; you both gave me a heart attack.” Lee said dramatically collapsing on Will’s bed like it was a fainting couch.
“Yeah, you two are grounded for a week.” Micheal said.
Will felt betrayed. Micheal was supposed to be the calmer one about this!
“You can’t ground me! You aren’t the camp counselor or dad.” Will said.
“I vote in favor!” Lee raised his hand.
“How about three days working the infirmary.” Apollo proposed, “Even if it was reckless they were trying to save camp.”
Will wanted to argue but then thought better of it. It was always a good idea to rest after overusing demigod powers. Nico had pushed his limits these last few days. Will had too, he guessed, but that wasn’t as important.
“Ugh fine.” Will gave in and pulled Nico towards the infirmary tent. They could organize medicine cabinets together.
Time passed so quickly in the Labyrinth, outside it practically a week went by. New campers were already arriving. Will set to work cutting new bandages and organizing medicine for newly arriving campers. They were going to need more adderall at this rate.
“Will you’re back already?” a familiar voice asked.
It was Clarisse! Ever since she had to spend a week in the infirmary after a particularly vicious monster attack the two of them had been almost friends. With Clarisse respecting Will’s medical judgement despite his young age and Will always willing to patch her up.
“Yeah!”
“You’ll have to tell me all about it when you get back and get a recording of Apollo’s song of it.” Clarisse said ruffling Will’s hair.
“Where are you going?” Will asked.
“I am going to recruit former campers to fight with us next summer.” Clarisse responded, showing Will a list of people and addresses written in Apollo’s flowing script. There had to be more to it than that. Clarisse was no one’s first pick as part of a diplomacy mission.
“Yeah, I am going to need a medical kit. Can you prep one? And don’t skimp on supplies weight won’t matter.” Clarisse asked sitting down to polish her spear.
Which did nothing to reassure Will that her mission would be a success. Nevertheless, he started putting together a med kit for her trip.
“Do you want the questing backpack too?” Nico asked offering it to her.
Clarisse looked tempted but refused it, “Unfortunately Grover just got a prophecy and quest about Pan, so they’ll need it more. Especially since it mentioned the Labyrinth.”
“When is Percy leaving with them. I need to tell him something.” Nico asked.
“You better hurry. They were headed to the big house last I saw them.”
Nico was already out the door. Will smiled. It seemed that he wouldn’t need to be the one to pass on Bianca’s last message.
“So, who are you going with?” Will asked Clarisse.
Right before she could answer, as if it was timed, a car horn blared. Brakes skidded across the grass. Will rushed out of the infirmary tent.
It was a bright purple hippy van with an insignia that was spray painted over with theater masks and twisting ivy. There was only one person this car could belong to. Sure enough, Maddie the theater obsessed head consoler of the Dionysus cabin stepped out of the driver seat.
“Nice to see yah squirt. Can’t believe someone as young as you got a quest” Maddie shouted running up to Will.
Because Maddie was the youngest kid at camp for years before Will came along, she always delighted in being older than him. Will sometimes wondered why she came to camp so young and never returned home but decided against prying. The answer without a doubt would be personal and depressing.
“Maddie what are you doing?” Clarisse asked, “Did you even check if Chis-”
“Chris is fine don’t worry about it. He’s buckled in.” Maddie answered rolling her eyes as if this was part of a long running argument.
“Chris? Didn’t he-”
“Abandon camp and go insane in the Labyrinth? Yes” Maddie answered Will. “But don’t worry we are going on a field trip to fix that and recruit some people.”
“How can you just fix madness? Even Apollo can’t do that.” Will asked, eager for her answer.
“Another reason why Dionysus is superior.” Will frowned at that but Maddie didn’t care or notice, “You see every eighteenth birthday Dad gives us a bottle of divine wine. The effects vary from, healing, to divine strength, to visions, to curing madness, to just being damn good wine.”
“Oh, so you are going to see if any former campers are willing to share.”
“Yup and try and recruit people too of course, but we all know the reason she wanted to go on this quest.” Maddie said, pointing at Clarisse fussing over Chris.
“And if it doesn’t work?” Will asked.
“Well then, we can always ask my dad. He’ll help. And my eighteenth birthday is coming up soon.” Maddie shrugged not the least bit worried.
She was so weird.
Outside of the Apollo cabin very few campers have that kind of faith in their parents. It was bizarre. And even weirder that she was willing to request a gift from her father to use for someone she was not close friends with.
“Why are you going on the quest?”
“It’s quite depressing to spend well over a decade at camp and not go on one. Think of all the bragging rights I am missing out on. And this is going to be so much fun. I’ve brought so many musicals to listen too, snacks, and I am sure Clarisse, and I will get along great.” Maddie said walking back to her van with a pep in her step.
Will shared none of her confidence about any of that. Especially when Clarisse stomped back to get the med kit complaining about all the superfluous supplies Maddie brought for their quest.
It would be a miracle if those two didn’t kill each other.
Between Grover journeying to find Pan, Clarisse as a recruiter, the faked battle of the Labyrinth, and the quest to find Artemis last winter, there was a lot of competition for what the bead of the summer would end up being. Will didn’t mind.
He was just happy that he was back home safe.
Will found himself wondering what it would be like to ask Nico for an actual date. Maybe to a museum, or a candy shop, or an actual trip to the geysers. He had three days to think about it.