chocolate chip cookies Will had ever tasted. Or maybe it was the warm, soothing milk that made the baked treat's deliciousness. The combination of the gooey, melted chocolate and the comforting drink almost made Will forget about his problems. Almost. There was nothing that could cause him to forget that Nico was currently in a coma for who knows how long, maybe forever.

Looking on the bright side as usual, at least he was ready to fall asleep. Clovis, the Hypnos counselor, had does his job well, surprisingly without taking a nap himself. Gradually feeling drowsier by the second, Will struggled to walk towards the cabin bunk beds, so Clovis reached out to guide him there. He helped Will into one of the beds, tucking him in with a soft blanket just like a mother would to her child.

Clovis murmured some words, but the only ones Will could make out before he drifted away were "Sweet dreams".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

He opened his eyes again to find himself squinting at... nothingness. He wasn't accustomed to such darkness, so he found it difficult to just look around him. It appeared like he was stuck in the middle of a black void. For some reason, he felt strangely calm, as if some unknown force was comforting him.

That is, until Will saw the orb of golden light, expanding rapidly. The sphere was now forming into the shape of a person. Gradually the glowing human figure grew, until with a sudden flash of blinding whiteness, Will watched as his father's divinity appeared.

"Dad?!" his voice wavered, his throat felt fragile like it could break in half any moment, but he was hopeful he wasn't wrong.

"Will!" It was his father. Apollo had come back, even if it was in his consciousness. "Listen kid, I would love to stay and catch you up with everything's that happened, but my time is limited. Zeus could be coming any minu-

He couldn't help but run out and give the sun god a crushing hug. Warm and fuzzy, just like the other few times the two had embraced.

Apollo laughed, though Will sensed a thin layer of sadness along with it. "It's good to see you again, Will. But please hear me out I can't-"

"Wait, dad. What's going on? Where have you been? Are you alright? The war already ended so why-"

"Whoa there, that's way too many questions to answer. I wish I could explain everything but I can't, Zeus is already out to find me again so I can face my punishment. I only came at such high risks because I sensed something off, with my awesome godly powers of course. So I investigated a bit, it's okay Will, I know how to heal this friend of yours. Hades's kid right?"

Will gulped, finally shutting out his curiosity about his father's whereabouts. "Yeah, Nico DiAngelo. He saved me from a giant that recently attacked the entire camp. He hasn't woken up since and it's all my fa-"

"Relax Will, he's not gone forever, and it's not your fault. It's going to be very difficult for you and normally I wouldn't want you doing something dangerous like this, but I see how much you care for him. So just listen carefully."

Will turned a bit red at this, but nodded all the same.

"Alright then. The only thing you need is you. No medicine or cure is going to fix this. Now, about Nico. I only need to take one glance at him to know he's been through a lot of suffering. I'm honestly surprised that he's made it this far, survived two full-out wars, mourned more deaths than anyone should have to live to experience.

"He's in great agony, Will. And I know you're aware of that. Which is why in order to wake him up, you'll have to extract some of the pain from him. The pain, it's tearing him apart. First, his consciousness, then his physical body, limb by limb."

"Okay, I'm more than ready for this," Will said. " But how exactly do I extract this pain?"

"Your hands. That's all I can really say, it's part of your healing abilities, so you'll just feel it if you're doing it right.

"But I need to warn you. You must understand that whatever pain you extract, it'll be transferred over to you. To be blunt, it's going to hurt you. Though it won't cause any physical change on you, it's guaranteed you'll feel some mental repercussions.

"I want to remind you too, before you do anything rash. No one is forcing you to do this. You have a choice in what you-"

"I'm doing it," Will interrupted firmly. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring him back."

"Well, I must say you're being awfully brave for doing this. You remind me of myself when I was several centuries younger, back in the days when my love for-"

"Hyacinthus, yeah dad I know," Will finished off impatiently. He had listened to plenty of Apollo's rants on his former love interests. "Anything else I should know?"

"Yes definitely, I left out the most important thing actually. You must not, I repeat you must not attempt to extract all of the pain within him. In doing so, it'll have disastrous consequences upon yourself, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," he answered unworriedly, for he was sidetracked. "Don't worry about me, I'll be great," Will flashed the first smile in two days. Chiron was right, sleep presented him a solution.

"Ah, there's my boy," Apollo smiled faintly back, though he looked vaguely concerned.

"But listen to me. After you wake Nico up, which by the way, you will. I believe in you. Well, and also my skills that you inherited, but of course I do. Anyway, after he awakens, things are going to change quite a lot."

"Yes, dad, I can already tell things are going to change, thanks for the reminder. Any specifics?"

"I was just getting to that. As you already know, I'm facing the wrath of Zeus's enragement. This is why I can only be present in your dream right now. I'm not in the best condition."

"How could he do this to y-"

"Nothing I can do, kid. Alright I have to speed things up- I can already sense him tracking me. No need to worry, just hang in there for when I return."

"So you will return soon right? That's great!"

"Well, if I'm right about what Zeus has in mind for me, it's not going to be great at all. I'll be returning to the camp, but in quite a different identity."

"Wait a different identity?! What do you mean?"

"I mean he's going to turn me into-"

"Dad? Dad!!"

It was too late. A flash of lightning had zapped Apollo out of his dream, clearly the work of Zeus.