Heroes of Olympus Oneshots

Remember me

This is after the war with Gaea. There were some Roman demigods who still despised the Greeks and decided to attack Camp Half-Blood. Nico had died, leaving Will alone. And as always, thanks for reading.   -Aki 

 Will sat motionless on his bed, barely breathing as he stared blankly at the old wooden floor of Cabin 7. After working without any food or sleep for two days straight, Kayla had finally managed to drag away a reluctant Will away from the infirmary. Gently, she sat him down on his bed, thrust a plate of fresh fruits in his lap and draped a blanket over his shaking shoulders.

She didn't have to do this, he knew. Especially since she was taking one of her precious breaks. She should have been taking the time to catch up on rest, but instead, she had run to the dining pavilion and gotten food for him. That would have warmed his heart and he would have thanked her under normal circumstances.

But today, there was no joy in Will's heart. A huge part had been ripped out by the Fate's cruel claws. It felt cold, empty...numb most of all. He had no energy to even attempt to smile or say a thank you.

"Will, Will, eat something, please. You've eaten nothing and haven't slept either. Overworking yourself won't change what happened," Kayla said not unkindly.

Gazing vacantly at his plate, he tried to eat a tiny piece of apple, but it tasted awful, and he could taste bile at the back of his throat. Struggling, he finally managed to choke it down without gagging. Apples had been his favourite fruit...

Perched on a huge oak tree, Will peeled a bright red apple with his small pocketknife while humming to himself. The bright sun was shining down on the forest, but the huge trees provided shadows, and cool wind wafted through the leaves. He offered half of the apple, and the other boy had jokingly said, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" and had enthusiastically taken it. Will pretended to be extremely hurt and offended but a smile played on his lips. Rolling his eyes, the other boy had leaned over and kissed him...

A sudden crash jerked him back to the present and he promptly fell off his bed. Hitting the floor hard, a jolt of unexpected pain ran up his arm. The plate of fruits had shattered, and the pieces had flown halfway across the cabin. Looking down at his arm, he saw that he had a long scratch down his forearm and small cuts all over his palm.

Kayla gasped and immediately started picking up broken pieces of ceramic while asking him if he was okay. The roaring in Will's head and the despair tearing at his heart drowned his sister's concerned voice.

The back of his eyes started stinging and all he wanted to do was curl into a ball and sob, sob until he physically couldn't anymore. But not here. Not right now. As the head counsellor, he had to stay strong for everyone else. Be the strength they needed now and show that he was there for them. He couldn't do that if he had a breakdown when everyone was desperately trying to keep things together.

His breaths started coming too fast and he felt as if the room was closing in on him; there was no room for him to breathe. The beds started rattling, the chest of drawers shaking, threatening to fall. Feeling himself suddenly burning up, he knew he had to get out. Ignoring the pain on his arm -which unnaturally felt like it was on fire- he quickly pushed himself onto his feet and almost tripped over them when he flew toward the door.

Throwing the door wide open, Will greedily gulped down sweet night air and clung onto the door frame to steady himself. Slowly, his head started to clear but every noise was still muffled like he was underwater. Somewhere in the distance, he thought he heard someone call his name. He knew that voice. He could recognize it anywhere.

Running toward the voice, he barely noticed himself going deeper and deeper into the forest. He knew there were many dangerous creatures lurking in the shadows. But he couldn't have cared less. So, what if he died? The love of his life was gone. Nothing seemed to matter anymore.

So, he continued running. Even when his lungs were on fire, or when his legs felt like noodles, and when tears started to blur his vision, he ran blindly. Finally, his shoulder slammed into a tree, and pain flared up his entire arm. Collapsing to his knees, he cradled his bad arm and curled into a ball. Some small distant part of him said you can't stay here forever. You'll eventually have to go back. You have things to do.

Will pushed those thoughts back, but he told himself that he wouldn't break down here. Not in the forest. He usually didn't breakdown at all. When something pained him, he would push those feelings down, and hide them with a smile. Keeping his emotions in check was easy enough. He'd learned to keep everything together for everyone else, from a young age.

And when he did collapse, when all the pain, and anger he kept back burst out, it would only be in front of him, the only time he allowed himself to be vulnerable. He had promised himself that no matter what, he'll keep himself together in front of everyone except him.

Will was thankful he ran into the forest alone, as he felt the first sobs rack his body. He knew nosy dryads and nymphs would be talking about him, when he went back to his Cabin but at least only Kayla knew he was here. If he ever went back. He didn't feel like doing that at the moment. He just wanted to die there, on the cool forest floor, among the fallen leaves, the wind softly ruffling his hair.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, and soon, his shirt was wet, his hair sticking to his face, every soft breeze sending a shiver up his spine. Suddenly, the rustling of leaves and whistling of the wind stopped, as he slipped into a memory.

Will was tending the injured when he briefly looked up and spied Nico desperately slashing with his sword, trying to get out of a circle of enemy demigods. He was whirling around so fast he was a mere blur, yelling a string of incoherent words, most likely insults and swears. Many demigods fell around him, all with screams of pain, blood pooling underneath them. There were only two demigods left standing up, but Will could see that his boyfriend was tiring, his movements slightly slower and more sluggish. One of the fallen grabbed his foot, unbalancing him. He crashed to the ground, but quickly sprung up and brandished his sword at the remaining demigods. He lunged.

...And found a sword in his ribs. A bigger demigod had snuck behind him, and he smirked as he yanked his sword out of Nico. A terrible agonizing scream tore out of Will, but there was nothing he could do.

Later, when Will had Nico in his arms, frantically trying to stop the blood flowing out of him at an alarmingly fast rate, Nico had raised his head and croaked out, "Will I... l-love you." Then, he slumped back and looked into Will's eyes as life fled from his chocolate brown eyes.

Hugging Nico's still warm body, Will had screamed over and over, begging all the gods he knew to bring his boyfriend back, but none had. Not even his father. They were silent as ever.

Will opened his eyes to a deafening scream, only to realize it was coming from him. His throat was raw, and he tasted the bitter tang of blood. Shadows were swirling and dancing around, making odd shapes. Then one of them said, "Will."

It was Nico, wearing his usual jacket, a hand in his messy hair.

Will quickly scrambled to his feet, ignoring his protesting arm and reached his hand as if to touch Nico.

"Are you real?" The words tumbled out. His boyfriend shook his head, smiling sadly. "No. I am merely a ghost now. I cannot stay for too long but know that it was not your fault that I died. Or anyone else's.

"You have to move on without me, Will. Just remember that I will always love you and promise me that you won't blame yourself." Then, he glided through the air smoothly, and dropped one of his rings into Will's hand. "Here, keep this to remember me. I will always be with you whether you could see me or not."

Will's voice shook as he answered, "I promise. Stay Nico. I need you, please." Nico shook his head once again, and said, "I love you," before he pressed his lips softly to Will's. Then he vanished into shadows, leaving no trace of him.

A fresh flow of tears spilled down Will's cheeks, and he collapsed to his knees on the cold forest floor, weeping. Drawing his knees to his chest, he curled up, as sobs racked his body once again.

At dawn, Kayla found him sleeping in that position, clutching onto Nico's ring like his life depended on it, his cheeks tearstained.