The Plea of Apollo || COMPLETED

THE CURSE: PT3

"Nico!" Will rushed forward, not caring about how dangerous the action was. The son of Hades looked absolutely lethal, Jason was bleeding from a wound that he obviously hadn't inflicted on himself, but the healer didn't care. Every instinct in his body told him Nico needed him. That was his Death Boy standing there, and despite some stupid curse Nico would never hurt him. Will was sure of this.

It appeared Nico was thinking the same thing, because instead of raising his sword defensively he let the tip of it rest on the ground. An emotion passed through his eyes as Will ran to him that caused him to come back to his senses if only for a second. Gingerly, his eyes still gazing at those watching the spectacle warily, he opened his arms wide and allowed himself to be embraced.

"Will?" He asked after a few seconds, his voice shaky as he gripped the sword still in his hand tighter. When the blond pulled away, blue eyes meeting Nico's strangely almost black ones (they were usually a chocolate brown), he seemed like he was sick. "I-I don't feel good."

The healer nodded, running a comforting hand through Nico's hair. "I know, Angel; you're not yourself right now. It's not your fault. How about you let me hum a lullaby so you can get some sleep? That'll make you feel better," he spoke softly.

Nico began to nod, but to Will's horror it seemed as if shadows were crawling over his irises. Whatever brown was left in them had now turned completely black. Even more unnerving, Nico gently pushed Will away from him while a scowl quickly appeared on his face.

"You won't trick me, Solace." His voice was no longer shaken or vulnerable like it had been a few moments before. It was hard, suspicious of everyone around him. "Trying to lower my guard by putting me to sleep was a decent idea, but you'll have no such luck. Now get out of here. You're a healer, which means it would be unfair to fight you." With that he turned his attention back to Jason. "Sparky and I, on the other hand, haven't finished our own battle."

Before Will could even open his mouth, the shadows enveloped his boyfriend. All around him the undead, skeletons and zombies alike, began making their way towards the Hazel, Frank, Piper, Reyna, Percy, and Annabeth. Will could only watch as the armed undead completely ignored him, worried eyes turning towards the sky where Jason and Nico were going at it once again.

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Ever so slowly, clouds began to gather in the skies above New Rome as the son of Jupiter and son of Hades fought. Jason was doing everything in his power to not harm Nico, but it was starting to appear that he would have to unless he wanted to bleed to death. Nico wasn't holding back in the slightest. Every strike left the older demigod more tired than the last, his reflexes getting more sluggish as he tried to hold his opponent back with the wind. This was proving to be ineffective though, since Nico just kept summoning towers of rock to find ground on in the air and shadow traveling all over using the shadows created by them.

"So much for a worthy opponent," Nico scoffed as he appeared behind Jason, causing the latter to whirl around and fly backwards to avoid another hit.

At least he was planning on doing that, but he was prevented from doing so. He stared at the shadows wrapping around his legs and torso in shock. When had they gotten there? How had he not noticed?

Nico grinned viciously, a look that seemed so out of place on his normally relaxed, kind face. Just as he raised his sword, Jason's eyes widening at the realization that if it hit he might actually die, a blast of water knocked Nico right out of the sky.

Down below, Percy was standing next to a giant elephant (aka Frank) and a now broken fire hydrant that was spewing water several yards into the air. With a nod of thanks Percy jumped into the stream and allowed it to carry him upwards. He ended up directly in front of Jason, standing in front of him protectively as Nico returned to stand on one of the pillars a few yards away.