The Demigod King; Book 2

"We Can Never Be Together Again."

Percy choked on a strangled cry of shock. Blood bubbled at his lips. He tried to reach for Nico, but he was too weak to move. He saw the Seven run forward, Percy's power that had been holding them back broken. He had no strength to keep them away, even if the threat was not handled. His body was so exhausted, so broken. Percy could feel how slow his heart was, how close he was to death. He could barely focus on the scene in front of him.

Will dropped to the ground under Nico's weight, cradling the son of Hades in his lap. Will's hand was still on the glowing, sunlit blade, and he looked just as shocked as Ouranos. The son of Apollo was golden like a glowstick, using his power to hold his body as sunlight. He was not corporeal, which had to be how he was touching Nico in his near-faded form.

Will relaxed his hand, releasing the dagger. It lost form, melting into streams of sunlight and vanishing from the demigod's chest.

"You—!" Ouranos snarled, lurching up at Will with the promise of destruction.

"Nico," Will said calmly. He pushed Ouranos's shoulders down, and Percy saw golden healing magic flow from the son of Apollo's fingers to Nico's body. That healing, light, and goodness was the opposite of Nico's power. It seemed to weaken Ouranos. "It's me."

Percy watched in disbelief as Ouranos stilled. Was he so weakened from fighting Percy? Was the sunlight blade what did it, driving the final hit to combat his power? Perhaps thrusting that bright, golden power into the demigod's heart had allowed Will to weaken Ouranos's hold.

The black in Nico's eyes faded to its normal dark brown. The pupils dilated as his eyes cleared and his face brightened.

"Will?" Nico gasped, grabbing the son of Apollo's wrists with desperation. He gripped the other boy so tightly that his knuckles turned impossibly white.

Will did not seem to notice the pain. A golden tear slipped down his cheek as he laughed in relief and astonishment. "Yeah, Neeks. It's me." The son of Hades shuddered in his arms.

The Seven reached the trio then, clustering around them. Percy felt multiple sets of hands on him, but he was so weak to be able to identify who it was. The hands rolled him over, searching his body for wounds. Percy was struggling so much to remain conscious, the death that Ouranos had pushed on him having taken him within an inch of his life. He did not think he would survive for much longer, and his vision was getting quite spotty.

Hazel and Jason dropped down next to Nico, wanting to touch him or hug him but entirely unable to make contact with his non corporeal figure.

"More, Will," Nico gasped, squeezing his boyfriend's hands. "It's working." The son of Apollo nodded and closed his eyes. The golden magic hummed between them. Will poured all of his magic into Nico.

It was brilliant, and Percy was mystified at the ingenuity of Will's idea. His power was the complete opposite of Nico's, and pumping that light and healing into Ouranos—for he was grasping the primordial now that Percy had tired Nico into a non-corporeal form....Pushing that healing in was splintering Ouranos's hold on this Earth. Percy could feel it. He could feel Ouranos's grip on Nico and the world, and he could sense how Will's power splintered that hold.

Besides them, the son of Apollo was glowing with magic as he separated the primordial from the demigod's soul. And finally, finally, Will broke Ouranos free.

A ripping sensation ensued. It seemed like an essence burst forward, rippled, and dissipated into the atmosphere. Percy would never be able to explain it, but it was like the sensation of deep slumber when Piper had charmspoken Gaea. He knew that Will's magic had sent the primordial away, definitively, his power broken from the healing power.