The Plea of Apollo || COMPLETED

NICO VI

Cecil, despite usually keeping cool and sassy under pressure, was not sassy or cool in the slightest when he saw Nico and Lou Ellen holding Will's hands while leading him towards the boat like a child.

"Holy Hermes," he breathed as he stared into his friend's eyes before looking to a sniffling Lou Ellen. "What...?"

"Helios happened." Nico spit, hiding his worried eyes with his hair by looking down. "The monster made a deal with Will, which he accepted, gave us the information we needed, but then Helios blindsided him literally. After we rescue Apollo, I'll send that titan to Tartarus."

Will tugged on Nico's hand while shaking his head back and forth. "I love when you threaten people other than me, and I'm not saying what Helios did was okay, but you don't need to endanger your life just to get revenge. I'm sure my dad with be able to help."

"What if he can't?" Nico retorted, panic evident in his voice. "I can't believe I couldn't protect you. I should have seen it coming! The prophecy even mentioned a blinding curse; I should have—"

"It's too late for should haves. It was in the prophecy, so the deal had to be made. None of us realized what that line of the prophecy meant until it was too late so do not blame yourself. My dad is the god of healing, Nico. Just trust him."

"I've met your dad before. He's a moron. He's the god of poetry and he can't even recite a haiku without messing up the number of lines and he flirts with every female he sees. How can I trust someone like that?"

He didn't mean to vent his frustrations on his friend, but he felt awful for doing it anyways. At least he could still see.

Suddenly the warm hand holding his tightened its grip, causing Nico to calm down slightly. He looked up at Will's face, where he was staring just a little bit above Nico's eyes and smiling. The skeletal butterflies in his stomach suddenly fell apart, the bones reassembling themselves into doves as they tickled his insides. His heart skipped a beat.

"Fine. If you can't trust Apollo, then trust me. Okay, Death Boy?"

For the first time during their friendship, Nico didn't mind the nickname.

"Okay, Sunshine. I'll trust you."

Neither Cecil nor Lou Ellen commented on the exchange as they boarded the ship once more. However, when Lou Ellen noticed a sparkling red sports car parked on the middle of the deck she squealed despite herself.

"That's the sun chariot? It's so cool!"

Cecil managed a small grin, still upset about what had happened to his friend. "It wasn't hard stealing it; that idiot Helios left the keys in it. I put the toy car in its place though like you told me to. You're sure it'll look like the convertible when Helios sees it?"

She nodded, briefly wondering what people around them were seeing it as through the mist. A stack of crates maybe? "Until he tries to sit in it it'll appear as what he thinks he should see. We should probably hurry to where Apollo is then, since Helios could feel like riding in it at any time. When he finds out it's not going to be pretty."

"Let's go now then. Where are we headed?"

As the four piled into the car, Cecil in the driver's seat (despite Nico wanting to drive after getting denied when he was ten), Lou Ellen in the passenger seat, and the other two in the back, Lou Ellen explained to him where they needed to go. In the back of the car Nico slipped his hand into Will's. The son of Apollo seemed shocked by this, but could only grin at what Nico whispered to him.

"You're blind. I'm only holding you hand for medical reasons, Sunshine, so don't get used to it. You're getting your sight back one way or another."