The Demigod King; Book 2

"Goodbye, Harry Potter"

Will
The plane ride back to New York was dead silent. The demigods sat quietly, no one wanting to talk. It was especially difficult to make conversation with Percy's body in the back. It was wrapped in a makeshift shroud, Annabeth sitting next to it. Will wasn't sure if that was a healthy response, but he didn't want to be the one to pry Annabeth away from her dead boyfriend's corpse.

Informing camp had been horrible. When they had arrived at Half Blood Hill, all the campers came running over to see what the commotion was. They had been shocked to see the wizards emerge. Will could see the demigods counting the heads, knowing what those distraught expressions meant. He saw as they slowly realized who was missing and made the connection of who Jason, Frank, Ron, and Will were carrying.

Chiron's face fell and quickly hardened. Will knew the old centaur had been through this too many times to count, but Percy had been different. He had touched so many lives.

After gently placing Percy's body in the Big House, Annabeth went to hail a cab and Will went to the woods with Hazel. The daughter of Pluto led the way in silence until they were so deep in the woods that Will couldn't see the light of the cabins.

Hazel stopped at a pool of water, which was reflecting the sunlight in a very slight rainbow. Will dug in his pocket and pulled out a drachma. He tossed it in while Hazel prayed for the Iris Message.

"Collect call to Nico di Angelo," Hazel said quietly.

The rainbow shimmered, but nothing happened. The connection did not cement.

"He's in the Underworld," she announced. "That's why the call didn't go through."

"What's he doing down there?" Will asked, scared of the answer.

"Making arrangements for the ritual," Hazel said mournfully.

A few hours later, Sally and Paul appeared at the top of Half Blood Hill with Annabeth, who allowed them in. Just looking at them shattered Will. Both adults had clearly been sobbing, and Sally was weak with grief to the point of needing Paul to half hold her up. Will watched as they headed straight to the Big House to talk with Chiron while the rest of camp prepares for the funeral.

The wizards helped out, adding extra benches around the campfire, aiding the demigods making calls to hurriedly gather people. Satyrs, fauns, Cyclopes, demigods, and others trickled into the camp as the afternoon wore on. Will watched Tyson come in, his one eye leaking steady tears. Grover and Juniper arrived almost right after Sally and Paul. The satyr was trembling in grief, weak with despair. Will was amazed that Grover had survived with his empathy link with Percy. He wondered if that had been severed when Ouranos had taken over Percy.

Finally, the sun began to set. There had been no sign of Nico so far, but Jason and Frank were deliberately staying by Harry's side. They settled into the front row with the rest of the Seven, Percy's family, Grover and Juniper, Tyson, and Reyna. Annabeth and Chiron stood by the campfire, waiting for everyone to settle in for the ceremony.

Will had to say, the funeral was beautiful. The number of people in attendance was astounding and the words spoken about him had brought tears to everyone's eyes. Percy's shroud was magnificent, too. The Ares cabin had volunteered to make it with help from the Athena weavers. The edges were embroidered with gold with a sea green background. Ares had gotten the Athena campers to weave scenes of Percy's battles on it, depicting images of his quests throughout the years.

Finally, with shaking hands, Annabeth and Sally were each handed a torch. It was time to light the funeral pyre. Tears streamed down their faces as both women lowered the torches.

Right as the flames connected with the shroud, darkness swept through the camp, eliminating the fire. Campers gasped in shock, looking around for the source.

From the edge of the woods, Nico appeared, stepping out of the shadows. His hands were raised in the action of quelling the flames. He started walking towards the crowd. Next to Will, Jason and Frank tightened around Harry.

"Nico," Will breathed, eyes wide.

The son of Hades was wearing all black, like normal. His eyes were dark and hooded, and waves of death curled off his leather jacket. "Give me Harry Potter," Nico growled, eyes fixated on the wizard.

"Don't do this, Nico," Annabeth begged. "Percy wouldn't want this!"

Nico ignored her, walking right past the daughter of Athena. He approached Harry—sheltered by Jason and Frank—and stared down the wizard. "Come to me now, and I'll leave your friends unharmed."

"You won't hurt them, Nico," Jason said firmly. "I know you. You're good and kind."

Nico cocked his head at the son of Jupiter. "I am neither good nor kind, Jason Grace, and neither am I Nico."

"You're still you!" Hazel insisted, stepping forward to her brother's side. "No matter what you've been through or done, you're still Nico. You're still my brother. And I can't let you do this. It's wrong, Nico."

Nico rounded one her, snarling. Hazel tried to pull him back but he wheeled around and struck her across the face. The daughter of Pluto cried out in pain and went sprawling.

"Hazel!" Frank cried, breaking away to dash to his girlfriend's side.

"Frank, NO!" Jason yelled, lunging forward to grab the demigod, but it was too late.

Nico swept in, drawing his sword and moving in with one stroke. Jason didn't have time to draw his sword before the butt of Nico's weapon crashed into his head. The son of Jupiter's eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed.

Hermione and Ron cried out in alarm and tried to shield Harry. Nico just sneered at them and threw them both aside with twin sweeps of his dark sword. Will pushed himself in between the mortal and Nico, holding his hands out to the boy he loved.

"Nico, please," Will pleaded. "Don't. I know you don't want to do this, I know this isn't you. Think what Percy would want." This was it. Who would Nico choose—Percy or Will?

"You're wrong, son of Apollo," Nico snarled. "I do want to do this. In fact, I will relish killing this mortal."

"Nico—!"

Before Will could finish his sentence, the son of Hades whirled and struck him, knocking Will back. The other demigods in the stands caught on and moved to try to stop Nico, but the son of Hades was bent in his goal.

Nico grabbed Harry around the neck, the spells the wizard was casting having minimal effect. He secured the mortal in a deathly tight grip, pulling Harry's head back by his throat. "Goodbye, Harry Potter," Nico growled, and drove his sword through Harry's back.