The Demigod King; Book 2

"There Has to Be a Better Way!"

Percy
They called a cabin counselors meeting first thing the next morning. Ron and Hermione came as well, although they were to leave camp directly afterwards. The two needed to get back to England and handle the situation of Harry.

Percy couldn't shake the guilt. He'd had a hand in the young wizard's death. After all, it had been Harry's life that had been sacrificed to resurrect Percy. Not that he had wanted it, but still. It was his fault.

But at least he felt better now about being alive. Percy remembered the agony of being brought back, of having to lose Elysium. But thanks to Piper, he couldn't remember his possession or death. It no longer felt terribly wrong, although there was still a subtle itch. Like an ache he couldn't shake. But it was small, and Percy could handle it. If he was here, maybe it was for a reason, like Chiron had suggested.

"Annabeth, you called the meeting," Chiron said, settling into his wheelchair. The cabin counselors, Ron and Hermione, and Will were gathered around the ping pong table. Leo was adding a disturbing amount of cheez whiz to his crackers while Jason nudged him to stop. "Would you like to begin?"

The daughter of Athena placed her hands on the edge of the table, leaning forward. Percy stood by her side, drawing comfort from her presence. He'd woken up to find Annabeth laying on the cot next to him, on top of the covers. He understood that—she'd lost him. And by some miracle—or evil—he was back. They'd been glued to each other's side the entire morning, neither capable of being alone. After all Percy and Annabeth has been through, it was always them together.

"We decided last night that we have the best shot in a few days when Ouranos has exhausted Nico's body," Annabeth began.

"By which point Nico'll be close to death," Will pointed out, looking devastated.

Annabeth nodded. "Yes. That's when Ouranos will be weakest. So we'll need you at the ready, Will. If we're able to get Ouranos out of Nico, he will need your immediate medical attention."

"And how are we getting Ouranos out?" Hazel asked, pushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. The concern in her voice was clear.

"That's where I come in," Percy told them, kneading his hands. Annabeth had told him Ron's idea when he woke up. It was a long shot, but Percy thought it was the best plan they had right now.

Clarisse's head jerked in surprise. "Um, what?"

Ron stepped forward. Or rather, Hermione prodded him to respond. "I realized last night, this has sort of happened before. With Kronos, right? Lucas—"

"Luke," Annabeth corrected.

"—Lucas was the host for the titan. And only he could kill himself?"

"What he's trying to say," Annabeth sighed, glaring at the red faced wizard, "is that Luke was able to defeat Kronos himself. We couldn't, because he would see us as a threat and regain control."

"So Nico needs to kill himself?" Hazel demanded indignantly.

"Hopefully not," Ron said hastily. "He's a Big Three kid and the Ghost prince or whatever. Maybe he is powerful enough to not die?"

"But how would Nico even do it?" Travis Stoll asked. "How can we make him regain control, bring him back into—" his eyes stopped at Percy. "Oh. Oh."

Will stared between them in confusion. "What? What's 'oh?'" He asked immediately.

Percy bit his lip, unsure of how to answer. He turned to his girlfriend for help.

Annabeth understood instantly. "Percy and Nico," she began slowly, "have a long, complicated history, as you all know."

Will's face hardened. Percy deliberately avoided eye contact.

"Percy is the one who introduced Nico to the demigod world," she continued. "Nico looked up to him and loved him for a long time."

"Obviously it's different now," Percy added. "But Nico and I do have that history, and we love each other like brothers. And the last time we lost him—"

"Percy brought him home," Clarisse finished.

Will's lips thinned and a vein ticked in his forehead.

Percy guessed how he must feel, but it wasn't like that...then again, what was it like? His relationship with Nico was all over the place. But he was certain that phase had ended a while ago.

"So let me get this straight," Will began irritated. "You guys think our best shot here is getting Percy to—what? Talk to Nico? Convince Nico to kill himself?"

He didn't give anyone a chance to answer. The son of Apollo glared at them before storming out of the Big House. He slammed the door behind him so hard the entire house shook.

Percy looked at Annabeth with worry. "What do I do?" He asked, his eyes anxious.

She bit her lip. "I don't know, Percy. Try talking to him, make him see this is our only option."

He nodded and headed out of the Big House. It was still early in the day—he hadn't even been back from Elysium for 24 hours yet. Percy looked around, squinting from the bright sun. Where had Will gone? He couldn't see the blonde near the cabins. Where would he go?

Percy changed directions and started walking down the hill towards the woods. While Percy liked to sit by the lake when he needed to think, Nico's spot was the woods. He would disappear into them and shadowtravel from the trees. Percy had even stumbled upon the son of Hades just walking around the forest late at night.

Sure enough, Percy found Will by the creek. He was sitting at the edge of the water, his arms wrapped around his legs and chin on his knees. The son of Apollo was staring at the rocks beneath his feet, deep in thought.

"Hey," Percy said, stopping a few feet beside him. "Can we talk?"

Will didn't say anything.

Percy stuffed his hands in his pockets nervously. How did he have this conversation? He was super bad with this kind of thing.

"Look, just let me explain. Nico and I...it's complicated. But it's not like that. It's not what you're thinking."

"And what am I thinking, Percy?" Will asked sourly, finally turning to look at the son of Poseidon.

The demigod shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know, I guess. I'm just trying to say that I care about Nico too. We have a complicated history, but he's like my brother. Yeah, there was a point where he didn't feel that way...but that was a long time ago. And now it's just worry for him, okay? Trust me, I don't want this to be our solution. But it is the only option."

"There has to be a better way, Percy!" Will cried, jumping to his feet. His hands were balled in anger. "Your best idea is to have him kill himself!"

"He might not die—"

"He will! That's the whole point! The host needs to die for the parasite to, yeah?"

"Bro I didn't take freshman bio—"

"Stop it, Percy!" Will yelled, stepping forward so they were nose to nose. "Your idea is bullshit!"

Percy got angry now. "Yeah! It is! So is this whole situation! But Nico dies if we don't do anything, and he might not die if we do this."

Will snarled. "There are more than two options, Percy!"

"I haven't heard you come up with anything!" Percy shot back.

"UGH!" Will yelled, shoving Percy backwards.

The son of Poseidon's eyes widened with horror as he stumbled and fell on his ass into the creek. The splash threw water all over him.

Percy looked up in horror at Will as his skin regained its color, as the bags under his eyes disappeared, as the stab wound sewed itself together—

As his body healed.