I'm Going To Carry You Home

by annabethfavfics

Summary:

TOA spoilers.
A Will and Kayla fanfic (with guest star Nico): What if Kayla didn't survive Dodona?
Trials of Apollo spoilers. Inspired by Forest Fires//Brigton

Chapter 1

when you were young, you used to dream about fires and scream into the night and find me standing barefoot at your side
There was a mutual agreement between Will and Kayla. Sometimes, she padded up to his bed in the middle of night when she heard him crying and hugged him and fell asleep beside him. She sang softly- one of the songs Lee liked to sing a lot, and when Nico showed up, bleary-eyed and worried at two in the morning, with his sixth sense about Will, she'd move to Will's other side and let Nico take over- but she didn't leave. Will needed his sister, too, on those nights.
Other times, it was her nights. She'd wake up screaming in the night after another nightmare about Michael or Lee and whenever she turned around in panic, Will was always there. Always, with his warm glowing hands. He would wrap them around her tightly and hold her while she sobbed. She'd cry and cry and cry and the tears wouldn't stop until they felt like they were suffocating her. Then, he'd sing the same song and let her calm down and they'd fall asleep together on her bunk and when Nico came in in the morning, he'd shake his head sadly- not because he couldn't steal Will right away- but because even though he was the son of Hades and had more power over death and the dead than anyone else at camp, he couldn't take away the nightmares of a young girl who lost her brothers too soon. He'd sit down at the foot of the bed until she woke up and they would all sit there in silence before someone broke it with an awkward chuckle and a "I've got something this morning."
They checked in on each other those days. Will would step out of the infirmary and bring Kayla chicken nuggets at the archery range, give her a tight hug, make sure she was okay. Kayla spent her free time perched on Will's desk in the infirmary, watching him carefully and whenever he seemed slightly overwhelmed, she'd step in and he'd throw her a grateful look. Nico brought McDonald's and hugs and once-
Once he even brought Michael and Lee. There had been so many tears that night- and so many hugs, but Nico was pretty sure it had helped. Will almost stopped having nightmares at all and Kayla's were less frequent and further apart.
That was so long ago, but for the two children of Apollo, it was the only night that would ever matter.

Chapter 2

I used to whisper it will be alright and lay down at your side and take your tiny hands into mine
They had always been close; arriving at camp within a year of each other, and for a while, being the youngest kids in the cabin. They worked well together- the archer and the healer- and on the good days, some of the old Will and Kayla tales were proven true when they got away with pranking the Hermes cabin or the entire Ares cabin showed up to dinner wearing gold and reciting the Iliad. Nico would laugh and Austin would high five them and some of the older campers like Katie Gardner would shake their heads laughing and tell everyone else the stories of the times before the wars when Connor and Travis Stoll had been in a deadly prank war against Will and Kayla, how cabins had taken to betting on who would win, and the great showdown that had happened.
It was a far cry from the Will and the Kayla that happened behind cabin doors, when days had been long and emotions were too much and Kayla accidentally found something from Lee or Michael in the closet and she'd try, but she never was able to not cry.
If anything, they became closer. Will spent as many nights with his sister as he did with Nico. Sometimes, Kayla worried Nico resented her for it, but he'd shake his head slowly and smile at her when she asked.
"Will's your brother, Kayls. I'd never take him away from you."
She'd nod uncertainly and he'd offer a McDonald's trip to get chicken nuggets.
He'd sit and watch her archery practices with Will when he wasn't working.
"She'll never get over it," he whispered and he heard Will sigh beside him.
"She won't. She was closer with Lee than anyone else- and..."
Nico squeezed his hand. "But she'll get better," he promised. "She's got you. And me."
A tiny smile appeared on Will's face. "And we're not leaving her."
"I don't think she'd let us," Nico laughed softly. "If we tried to leave, she'd hide in your suitcase or something."
"I couldn't leave her anyway. She's-"
"She's your sister."
"Yeah."
And every time she had a nightmare, Will was there, glowing softly, radiating comfort. He'd hug her like a koala and let her cry in his shirt and ruin them and then he'd sing softly and things started being okay again.

Chapter 3

And how was I to know? I'm not strong- I should have saved you. And oh- I hope you know...that you're my home

 

Backwards steps were inevitable, because life was never kind enough to the broken to give them a happy ending. None of them had expected it to be such a far leap. People started disappearing, vanishing from the safety of the camp that was supposed to protect them.

It made Kayla stay up at night, looking like a little owl in her blanket burrito, eyes firmly fixed on the sleeping forms of her two brothers to make sure neither of them disappeared. She would not let herself lose more.

It made Will anxious. He spent less time in the infirmary and more time with his siblings, hoping that by his presence, he'd be able to ward off any potential evils from touching them. He glowed at night purposefully, letting himself be a nightlight in the cabin while he slept, praying that his light would protect the others from monsters or whatever was stealing campers.

It made Nico lose more sleep than he already did, flitting between checking on Will and checking on Will's siblings. He stopped bringing Kayla to McDonald's and started bringing it to her, instead, not willing to risk her crossing the borders they were still half-sure were working. He moved into the cabin almost permanently, and whenever he woke up from his fitful sleep, he'd see Will's glowing hair lighting up the room (almost like in the movies when people left their house lights on after they left for vacation, Nico realized) and he'd see Kayla's tired eyes trying their best to stay awake and watch Will.

"Go to sleep," he'd say.

She'd shake her head. "I can't lose him."

And he had no argument, because how could you argue against protecting those you loved? It was what he was doing, too.

Chapter 4

But now I'm lost- so lost.

Kayla was the one to disappear, during a camp-sanctioned activity no less. Will should've known his dad's arrival at Camp would bring nothing but trouble for them. And Kayla was gone, and as much as Nico reassured him that she wasn't dead ("Yes, Will, I know Kayla's alive!") and that he'd know if she was- he was paying attention- it did nothing to calm his fears. That was little sister, gods know where, facing gods know what.

Chiron had to pull him off his job at the infirmary after he forgot to check someone's IV for the fifth time in a day. He couldn't focus and the old centaur was more than capable of taking over for a while. He'd been a healer himself, once.

The lack of activity made Will feel worse. Without anything to put his hands or mind to, he was left to just wander the camp. He spent most of his time sitting at Kayla's favourite target at the archery range, trying desperately to figure out where she could be. He sent prayer after prayer up to the Heavens, burned more offerings than he ever had before, and there was nothing.

Maybe Apollo would have listened if he was a god, but Will had hoped Artemis might spare a glance for his sister. She was a maiden, after all. It appeared the goddess didn't care, though.

He tried calling in favors- his mom was famous and while most of the time, he hated that fact, now it could help. If his sister was anywhere where there were security cameras, Naomi's people would find her.

It was a slim and unlikely chance but it made Will feel a little better to make that phone call.

The feeling didn't last very long.

Chapter 5

keep imagining those flames that did rise and blackened up the sky

Apollo- no. Lester. Lester found her on his stupid quest to become a god again (Will wanted to strangle him for being worried about his godhood when his sister, Apollo's daughter, was missing. He understood more than ever in that moment why Luke had done what he did and he would be damned if he let Kayla pay for the arrogance and uncaringness of a god- and he would be damned, oh he would be damned, because he could not stand against a god and to try was to fail and failure was the one thing that would end them).

But Lester blundered into the trap and with no abilities or training, he failed. He failed so hard and Chiron had to physically restrain Will from murdering him when he came back, shaking his head- but not crying, because why would a god care about a mortal life. Will struggled against the centaur, trying to lunge at his father. No one tried to restrain Nico. No one dared to, because in that moment, they were reminded exactly what Nico had become, what he could do- when those skeletons rose from the ground to attack a helpless Lester and Nico's eyes flashed with anger and the power he held, even the former god saw the strength the boy had and how he would raze Olympus if his people got hurt.

Lester did not understand much about mortals, but he did learn that day that the love they bore for each other was something no god could hope to win again- as he nursed his broken bones alone in the cold (no one wanted him in their cabin, because why would they? Will was well-loved by everyone and Kayla had been too). He suddenly had a respect for Aphrodite's domain and he trembled to think of what might happen if another demigod got hurt because of his quest.
Even Meg abandoned him to spend the night with her siblings and the rest of the camp.

Chapter 6

The light that showed you barefoot in the snow, and then the fire starting building up inside, exploding, blinding lights, now I'm the one left screaming through the night

 

They didn't have the funeral that night. Will wouldn't have been able to handle it- no one would have, really. No one cancelled the campfire, but there was some silent agreement between all the cabins and nobody showed up for it. It wasn't the night for that.
It was a night for silence- silence punctuated by screams of rage or sobs from one of the cabins. The Apollo one glowed more than it ever had, as Will lost control of his powers and glowed, glowed, g l o w e d, and there was no stopping it.
He glowed for his sister and for the life he had failed to save. His light blinded and burnt and he stood in the midst of the destruction and cursed the gods. He cursed his father and cursed the Fates, cursed Olympus for taking another innocent life.
And if that made Lester's quest more difficult, he would be glad.
Nico left him alone for that night, letting him scream and rage as he did the same in his own cabin. The ground shook and skeletons made their appearance. Neither knew where Austin was, neither tried to find him. He would appear when he was ready from the refuge of the hidden spot he and Kayla had turned into their hangout, with a tear-stained face and dark circles under his eyes.
She wasn't Percy Jackson. She wasn't a savior of Olympus, a legendary demigod whose deeds would be told forever. She was a kid- a sister, a friend, a lover, a teacher and a student, a little ray of light in the darkest world- and that would be told forever. She didn't have to defeat Kronos to have her name immortalized, because her bright smile and her friendly hugs were an act of heroism in themselves, even more than fighting those battles.
The kids she had trained and saved mourned too; the campers she had led as head archer, into battles against impossible odds and then brought them out alive on the other side; the demigods she had healed with Will's help, and the siblings and friends of those halfbloods. They all mourned.

 

And how was I to know? I'm not strong- I should have saved you. And oh- I hope you know...that you're my home, and now I'm lost- so lost.

I'm gonna carry your bones, I'm gonna carry them all, I'm gonna carry you home.
And oh- I'm gonna bury these bones, I'm gonna write it in stone, that you were my home, my home.