The Beginning Of Solangelo

The sounds of Will’s screams woke me from my nightmare. In the horrendous dream, I had been trudging through Tartarus, running from an unseen grumbling monster. I could feel my muscles begin to weaken as I took step after step. Even though I knew it was just a dream, it still felt as if I was actually in Tartarus, breathing the acidic air. I could feel the danger that lurked around every corner. Bracing myself for death, I sat down, giving up. I kept trying to tell myself that it’s not real, but I wouldn’t wake up. At least not until Will started screaming.
My eyes snapped open. I could feel a cold sweat on my forehead and neck. Will was frantically running around, opening up cabinets and sending the contents scattering across the floor.
“No! NO!! There has to be more!”
I was beginning to get worried. “Will, what’s wrong? What are you looking for?”
Instead of answering, Will sat down on the floor, his head in his hands, and began to sob. I flew off the bed and over to Will’s side, ignoring my sore muscles.
“Will!” I screamed. “What’s wrong?” My voice dropped to a whisper. “You can trust me.”
Will’s tears surprised me. I had never seen the son of Apollo be anything but joyous and happy.
“We ran out,” Will said, shakily choking back loud sobs. “There’s no more.”
“No more what, Will?”
“Medicine,” he whispered. I scanned the room, skeptically eying the hundreds of vials and jars strewn across the floor.
“Look around you, Will. There’s lots of medicine.”
“MY medicine, Nico,” he spat as if it were obvious. My mouth formed and “O” as Will met my eyes with his own. I was curious as to what Will needed medicine for, but I knew better than to push somebody for information. He would tell me when he was ready.
“Can’t you make some more? Like you do with all of the other medicine?” I asked, gesturing to all of the bottles littered on the floor.
“No” was his response. He eventually continued after taking a couple shaky breaths. “I need special medicine. Pills. I…I can’t replicate them. They’re much too strong. I have to go to Olympus to get them.”
My mouth formed and “O” again. I don’t know where my courage came from, but I pulled Will into a hug, sensing he needed to be comforted. I felt my face go red. Will just sat there, encased in my arms, and began to sob again.
“Do you wanna talk to Chiron?” I asked. Will nodded in return and I helped him stand up.
We found Chiron on the porch playing pinochle with Mr. D and a couple satyrs.
“Chiron, I-,” I started, but was cut off by Chiron. He looked up from the game and looked as if he instantly knew what was wrong.
“Oh no,” Chiron gasped, walking over to Will. Chiron put his hand on Will’s shoulder and led him into a corner. I could hear hushed voices, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Then, Will put his head in his hands and starting crying again. Chiron spoke a few words and Will shook his head. I surged forward, not caring if they wanted me to hear or not.
“What’s going on? I demand to know why my…,” I paused, not knowing what to call Will. “I demand to know why Will is so sad." I truly despised seeing the usually happy son of Apollo sad.
“Right now, we just need Will to calm down and take deep breaths. Do you want to lie down, Will?” Will nodded, his blond hair bobbing up and down.“Very well. Nico, would you mind taking him to the infirmary?” My harsh gaze softened as I looked at Will’s glum face.
“I…I guess.I’m not a doctor, though.”
“Do not worry. There are many healers in the infirmary that can help. Plus, there isn’t much we can do right now except wait until someone comes back with the medicine,” Chiron assured me. Will followed me to the infirmary and lied down on the bed that I had used.
“I’ll go get a doc-,”
“No,” Will interrupted me, grabbing onto my wrist. “I’m fine. I only want you here.” I could feel myself blush.
“I…uhhh…um,” I stammered. Will smiled, but I could tell it was forced. He started wringing his hands. “Are you okay, Will? I mean, obviously you’re upset, but do you need anything?What’s wrong exactly?” I asked, caving in to my temptation.
Will gave me a slight smirk. “It almost sounds like you care about me, Neeks.” His face went sad again. I let out a small growl and the nickname and the accusation. “Third grade,” Will continued. “It all started at the beginning of third grade. I kept getting bullied every single day, for anything and everything. My hair, my clothes, my dyslexia and ADHD. I would come home from school in tears every day. I would eat lunch at a table all by myself. I would sit on the swings alone at recess. The kids would have bets to see who could make me cry the most. This went on until I came to Camp Half-Blood, at the end of my sixth grade year. I was always an outsider. A monster. Towards the end of sixth grade year, I just couldn’t take it anymore. Someone was teasing me and I just lashed out. I guess my “demigod-ly powers” kicked in and the boy ending up lying on the ground with two broken legs and many, many bruises. Being able to physically hurt that boy scared me so much that I vowed from then on out to never hurt anyone else again. I wanted to help people. To heal them. That’s why I dislike fighting so much. You asked what was wrong with me. I have major depression. It began in fourth grade, when the bullying got so intense that I couldn’t even function properly. I lost all desire to do anything that I liked. When I came to camp, Chiron eventually got me to tell him what was going on and then had Apollo make me a special, more powerful antidepressant. My depression is that bad. None of the normal prescriptions or over-the-counter medicines work on me.” Will began to sob again. I practically threw myself onto Will and gave him a huge hug. His usual warmth was gone, leaving a cold, empty void. I wiped off tears that had rolled down my cheek. Will scooted over on the bed and patted the empty space. I hesitantly sat next to him. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me down so that I was lying next to him, his chest pressing against my back.
“You’re not a monster, Will,” I whispered as I began to drift off to sleep despite it only being noon-ish.
“Neither are you, Death Boy.” A smile flashed across my face and I quickly hid it. How can Will be so sad, but still try to make others around him so happy? I asked myself. Then, Will got up on his elbows and kissed me on the cheek, but I was so drowsy that it was probably a dream.

Notes

Hey! Thanks for reading! I'll probably update it more because of Winter Break!