Too Late

Chapter 35

~ Will ~

Against his best intentions he fell back asleep.

Will found himself behind two half-bloods inside a pair of gates, he turned to his right and almost jumped, there was Luke Castellan. The son of Hermes smiled at him, "Be careful. I don't want either of you dying."

Will gave a mock salute, "Yes sir." Harper smiled, "You got it, captain." Luke seemed to force a smile. "Alright. I'll get an apple, you two distract it." Will glanced at his sister and she gave him a reassuring smile.

The trio advanced slowly, weapons ready and faces set. Luke was in front of them and when he was about fifteen paces away from the tree, he froze. Harper and Will came to a stop as well. "Why did you stop?" Will whispered softly.

Luke put a finger to his lips and pointed. Twisted around the base of the tree was a dragon, a real one. And it was beautiful. Harper smiled, "He's incredible." Luke glared at her, "Stop talking, are you trying to wake it up?" He hissed.

Will raised an eyebrow, "Luke, she knows what she's doing." Luke glared at him, and Will glared back until the son of Hermes looked away. Harper took a few steps forward and knelt next to the beast. She stroked the top of its head and the monster rumbled.

"Harper be careful!" Luke hissed.

Will rolled his eyes, "You are aware she knows what she's doing, right?"

Luke ignored him and kept his attention focused on the daughter of Apollo.

Harper was humming a tune and the dragon was starting to wake. "Harper, just grab an apple and go. We don't need to wake it up." Luke whispered.

"Yes, we do." She replied, "If we get permission, we can take one. And it will not be permitted to kill us." Harper turned back and began to sing softly. The dragon's head swayed as it began to rise, it's eyes not yet open. Harper took another step forward. "Harper!" Luke called, "Come back here." She ignored him. "Luke," Will tried again, "Give it a rest, she'll be fine." He put a hand on the son of Hermes' arm, but Luke pulled away.

The dragon turned to face the sound of Harper's voice, opening its mouth wide and roaring. Luke lunged forward, hitting the dragon with his blade. "Why did you do that?" Will hissed. Luke looked back at him, terror etched in every part of his face, "I thought it was going to hurt her."

"Well, you thought wrong." Will hissed.

Harper's voice died and she just stood there, looking at the beast. The dragon hissed and spit, its eyes opening fully. It turned to face Luke. And then it lunged and Luke's scream pierced the quiet night.

Will's dream changed, he was still with Luke and Harper, but almost a day had gone by. The three of them sat on a hill overlooking the Caldecott tunnel. Harper stood to the side leaning against a tree, tossing the golden apple and catching it. Luke was sitting against a tree and Will lay on the ground, staring up at the stars.

"Luke, what you did back there, it was beyond idiotic."

"So? We all made it out alive." Luke shot back defensively.

"We bearly made it out." He corrected. "And it's your fault."

"My fault? I wasn't the one who send us on some stupid death quest."

"Oh right, blame the gods. Because they are always to blame." Will snarled, "Luke maybe you should stop blaming other people and start looking at what you're doing. Start thinking about your own actions."

"But can't you see, this is how the gods treat us. This is how they see us. We are pons on their chess board. They use us without second thoughts and they throw us away. And they never feel guilty, because we're just pons."

"We are much more than pons Luke, we're heroes." Will snapped.

Harper caught the apple one last time and stuffed it into her pocket, "Can you two give it a rest, what's done is done."

"How can you say that he almost got you killed. And more importantly, he almost ruined our chances of getting that apple!"

"What do you mean more importantly? Harper's life is much more important than some dumb apple." Luke stepped forward and balled his fists.

Harper stepped between them, "Luke they have a point. We had a job to do and you trying to help almost ruined our chances. I'm willing to die if it means the right thing will happen." Luke opened his mouth to protest but Harper was quick, "Now get some rest, you've lost a lot of blood and you won't be doing anyone any favors by making us sit in a mortal hospital for hours."

*

Will sat up and found the son of Hades looking down at him, "You slept through breakfast sleepy head. I tried to wake you but you were out cold..." Nico stopped as he noticed Will's expression. "Hey, you okay?"

Will shrugged, "Another dream, it's probably nothing." Even as he said it her words bounced through his head, I'm willing to die if it means the right thing will happen.

what is this insanity, two updates in one night?!!??!?!