Hey, guys. I'm back with another chapter! I'm so so so sorry that this took this long. I honestly was not expecting it to. There will be a message in the outro about my updating habits, but for now, on with the chapter...

Chapter 10- "You."

"You're Will?"

No. No. No, this was not happening. Nope. Absolutely not. There's no way that his fath- Apollo can just slither back into his life and bring even more siblings. He did not need another Lee and Michael situation. No. He refused to accept this.

He couldn't think straight (though did he ever really…?). His mind was foggy. He spent his whole life accepting that his da- Apollo could go rot in Tartarus. He had grown to never even want to think of Apollo. Why was this affecting him? He already had accepted never having a father. Barely registering his mom's worried voice, he stared blankly at the wall.

"Excuse me? What's going on?"

A war raged. One side of him screamed that this was all fake. It was all a dream. Just pinch yourself and wake up. Wake up, Will. Damn it, wake up. The other side whispered in his mind, somehow louder than the yells. It told him that this was reality. A screwed up one but a reality.

"I-I'm not sure. I mean, this is Will. Wait…you must be Naomi. Naomi Solace. I'm Hygieia. Well, I guess you already knew that. Um…I'm your son's half-sister? I-I don't know."

What was happening? He was faintly aware of his friends slowly huddling by his side, Piper and Annabeth gently rubbing his back. Will didn't know what to do. He didn't expect to see a sister he didn't even know he had today. He was just excited to get this cast off. Was it on? He couldn't register anything anymore. Well, he could register one thing.

Shock. A thousand lightning bolts spewed across his mind, numbingly electrifying. He couldn't think straight. What was happening? The light was blinding in his head. What was going on? A voice shook him out of his state

"Will?" He looked up warily, meeting the gaze of his half-sister. She looked uneasy. Uncomfortable. Maybe even a bit sad. "I guess we're siblings."

"Where…where's Apollo?" As soon as those words tumbled out of his muddled mind, a dam broke, unleashing a torrent of emotion. "Does he even know about me? About Lee and Michael? Does he even realize what he's done? How many families does he even have? How many did he abandon?" With every word, Will could feel his anger rising. He felt all the pent-up frustration that simmered inside. Hygieia looked away.

"He's at my childhood house. He's…he's not doing too well. He learned a while ago about Lee and Michael. Dad was never around much when we were younger. He was always somewhere around the country. When I was around eighteen, we found out. My mom, brother, and I…we were a bit broken to say the least. About 6 months ago, we found a letter from years ago. It was Lee and Michael's mom. She told us they died. Dad…dad just lost it. He had gotten Lee and Michael's mom pregnant. Then, he got your mom pregnant. After we found that letter, he broke down. He fessed up.. I…I can't see him right now. No one in our family can." Will saw red. He was angry. No. He was beyond angry.

"So, he proposed to my mom while he was married to one woman and had impregnated another lady, and he didn't have the audacity to come by and check every once in a while?" Hygieia grabbed his hands, staring into his eyes.

"Will, I'm not asking for you to forgive him. I don't even think I can. When I learned, I was out of that house. My mom, brother, and I moved to another house entirely. Now, he's alone. And…and I don't even want you to meet the man. All I want to ask is…is if you could meet my family and somehow understand this mess." Will glanced at his family. He saw his mom, staring at him with encouraging eyes, almost giving him her blessing to see them.

"Could…Could you give me a minute? I'm just…processing everything?"

"Sure. You take as long as you want."

Naomi shot Hygieia a smile as she left the room, walking closer to Will. All his friends were shooting glances at each other, wondering what in the world just happened, what was happening.

"Will, you don't have to do this, but if you want to see what's going on, you can. It's okay with me. Your father….he left me in a dark time, and I don't know if I can forgive him or even look at him, but if you want to see him, you can. It's all up to you. Or you can just meet Hygieia's family." Will looked up at his mom. He already knew he was absolutely not ready to meet his father. It was too hard, and he knew deep down his emotions would get the better of him.

Looking at the door, he could almost see Hygieia's worried face, hoping that he would give her a chance, and he knew inside he would. Peering around the room, he saw the encouraging looks of his family's faces. He knew what he had to do.

"I…I want to meet her family. I want answers. This is all so confusing, and I just want to make sense of it all. And help their family make sense of it." Naomi let out a sigh of relief, knowing that if her son had said he wouldn't have gone, he would have regretted it.

"I'll go get her."

"Oh, Will! Thank you, thank you, thank you. My mom and brother…they'll love you. I can feel it. Oh, this is great," Hygieia squealed, bouncing around the room. Will could already tell she was going to be family.

"Not to be a disturber of the happiness, but what about the rest of Will's cast?" Leo pointed out. Will glanced at his encased arm.

"Oh, right. I'll get on that," Hygieia responded, a slight blush coating her cheeks. After five minutes of sawing, Hygieia popped his cast off.

"Voila! The cast is now off! Just make sure to do your exercises every day, wear your brace, and you should be set in two weeks. As for your boot, you can go ahead and take it off. Make sure to do the exercises, and you should be able to do whatever in two weeks. I know you're a runner, so don't overdo your muscles. Just take it slowly. Start at one mile and go up another every week."

"Thank you. I'm…I'm excited to meet your family. They seem great," Will responded.

"Oh, Will. You have no idea how much it means to year you say that. I'll be sure to tell them of your visit. They're gonna be so happy. We'll arrange a time and place later." After glancing at her watch, Hygieia pulled Will in for a hug, startling him ever so slightly.

"I hope that this is okay. I'm a hugger." Will wrapped his arms around her.

"So am I." Hygieia pulled back.

"I've really got to go now, but I'll see you later, Ms. Solace and Will." Naomi smiled at her.

"We're family. Call me Aunt Naomi. I predict we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the coming years. We would love to welcome you to the family."

"Thank you, Ms. So- Aunt Naomi. That means a lot. I'll see you guys soon." Slipping out of the room, Hygieia left. Lou signed and said:

"Well, that was a doozy, wasn't it?" Cecil snorted.

"To say the least."

"So…That just happened," Jason said, flopping on the living room couch. The gang all huddled together in Will's apartment, spread all about the room. Piper was lounging with Jason on the couch. Annabeth was playing with her hair while Percy played with hers. Thalia and Hazel both plopped on the floor, laying down on the carpet. Calypso was helping Lou and Cecil get snacks. Frank and Leo were flipping through an old scrapbook, Leo snickering at pictures while Frank held his laughter in. Will was sitting on the couch, trying to act nonchalant and failing. Nico was just watching everyone do their own thing.

"You okay, Will? You look tense," Annabeth asked. "It's a lot to take in."

"I mean, yeah, I guess. Who wouldn't be chill after discovering their father had kids with two other women while being married to their mother?"

"Someone named 'Leo Valdez.' Oh, and a few other people. Maybe people called…I don't know… 'Everyone in the entire world?'" Leo piped up.

"I think what Leo's trying to convey," Calypso said, smacking Leo slightly. "is that it's okay not to be fully adjusted and comfortable with this whole situation right now. I doubt anyone here would be."

Will paused for a second. He wasn't adjusted. He needed time. He needed questions answered. He needed a way to understand everything. Thank goodness he was going to have some time to answer with Hygieia. Sure, his father could answer then better, but no way in heck is he going there now. He wasn't ready.

"Will, it's okay to not be ready. It's okay to not have to accept everything in a rush," Lou added, coming in with some bowls of chips and fruit.

"Thanks, guys. It's just a crap ton of stress."

"Speaking of stress," Thalia chimed. "are you going to do PE in school, Will?" He shrugged.

"I mean, I can do archery now with this cast off, so why not? I'll probably do it tomorrow. Why?" Thalia chuckled.

"Coach Artemis is going to kill you." Will paled. He knew that something would go wrong. Groaning, he buried his head in a pillow.

"Is she really that bad?" Percy asked. Will glared at him.

"'Is she really that bad?' Yes, Percy. She's absolutely terrifying, and for some reason, she hates all males. Especially those who miss practice and haven't been practicing. So I'm screwed."

"Aw, poor Will. How upsetting and all that. You'll do great, as we all know. Now, what movie do we watch? Big Hero 6, Inside Out, or Frozen?" Cecil asked, holding up three CDs.

After having a heated discussion over whether to watch Frozen or Big Hero 6 (A/N sorry to all you Inside Out fans, but we both know Frozen and Big Hero Six trumps it. *whispers* please don't attack me), they all sat back and relaxed as the opening credits of Big Hero 6 rolled onto the screen. Will barely even remembered what in the world he was worried about. Something about school? He didn't care. All that he registered was the movie in front of him and the reactions around him. Specifically, Nico's.

Will saw the curiosity in Nico's eyes when Baymax was being created. He saw the sadness when Hiro's brother died, almost connecting in a sense with him. Will almost wanted to turn off the movie because of the glossy look in Nico's eyes. He saw the anger when it was revealed that the true villain was a trusted one. He almost shivered when Nico had that look in his eyes. He saw the bittersweet happiness when Baymax sacrificed himself. He saw the joy when Baymax was brought back in pristine condition with Hiro's skill.

Watching the end credits roll by and Nico slump against the couch, he realized he had basically stared at Nico the entire time of the movie. He even noted the change in mood and body language. How no one had noticed Will's staring and stalkerish behavior was beyond him.

Very inconspicuous, Solace. Good on you. Will berated in his mind. To distract himself from what he had just done, Will took the disc out and asked:

"So how did you guys like the movie?" A torrent of shouts answered.

"HOW COULD THEY DO THAT TO TADASHI?"

"Why can't everyone have a Baymax?"

"I WAS LITERALLY SOBBING THE WHOLE TIME."

"I petition for this to go on Netflix."

"SCREW YOU, CALLAGAN!"

Lou, Cecil, and Will all nodded at each other. This was about where they were mentally after watching the movie. They could be surprised if everyone was doing any better. Will snuck a glance at Nico, who was talking to Thalia, the only other remotely sane person there, about the movie, presumably.

"Fair, honestly," Lou said. "But putting aside mental sanity after this movie, who wants some dinner?"

"Sounds fun, but I gotta get going," Percy said, getting up. Along with Percy, Jason, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Calypso, Frank, and Hazel had to go. Saying their goodbyes, all of them were gone.

"And then there were five," Thalia said. "DUN DUN DUUUUN."

"Terrifying, honestly. Now, who wants some dinner?" Lou asked.

"So how's school, guys?" Martha asked.

"Hell."

"Language, Thalia!"

"Just speaking my truth, Will." Everyone was seated at the table, eating, joking, and laughing. Nico looked around at it all. In some ways, he was jealous. He felt it boiling inside him, but it never won. He was too happy. And that's more than he could've ever asked for. He spent so long in the shadows, battling with himself. Terrified. Scared. Angry. Now…now it was different.

"Nico? Niiico? Niiiiiiiico?" Will shook a hand in front of his face till the boy was struck out of his stupor. "You good?"

"Oh! Yeah, I'm good." Will threw him a suspicious look but dropped it anyway. Nico looked down at his plate, blushing slightly. He was supposed to be the cool and mysterious one, dammit. This boy is the death of him.

"So Will, you're gonna do archery tomorrow?" Will's gaze flitted over to Sophia.

"Yeah. Coach Artemis is gonna kill me."

"Well won't she understand?" Thalia and Will started cracking up, tears welling their face.

"Coach Artemis? Understand? Good one, Soph," Will responded. Naomi shook her head.

"She can't be that bad, guys." Will and Thalia stared at her.

"Oh yes, yes she is." A couple hours passed before Naomi, Martha, and Sophia decided that everyone should return back to their house. It was already almost 10. Thalia and Nico headed to the door, both of them heading to the cabins back at school. Sometimes Thalia and Jason's dad had long business trips and couldn't be at the house, so they just stayed at the school.

"You guys sure you don't want my mom to drop you off?" Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Will. For the hundredth time, we'll be fine. Now, shoo." Will narrowed his eyes at her but let her go. He looked right at Nico.

"See you later, Death Boy," he said, winking. Winking. Winking. Winking. Nico felt fire within him try to break free, but he kept it down and half-heartedly glared.

"I will murder you in your sleep, Solace."

"Of course, Sunshine." Nico knew if he just so looked into those damn blue eyes that made his heart do flips, he would become a human tomato. Instead, he turned on his heel and started walking down the hallway, Will laughing underneath his breath. He was just too easy to tease sometimes. Glancing back a final time, he saw Thalia catching up with Nico.

"Nico! How could you abandon me like that?! I'm hurt. But seriously, what was that about?" Nico looked down.

"Nothing! Just had to get outta there I guess." Thalia smirked. Oh, this just solidified what she thought was true. That day in PE when Will said he had a crush on Nico. And now this. Oh yes. Oh, hell yes. These two are blind.

"Looks like someone has a crush, hm?" Nico blushed a fiery red.

"N-no. Shut up." Thalia smirked.

"Lie all you want, di Angelo. I'll be your wing woman." Nico groaned. What in the heck did this turn into? He feigned a look of disgust.

"I do not have a crush on Will."

"Oh, but you do, you little love bird. I have plans. LOTS of plans." Nico groaned. It was too late to go back. Thalia knew for sure. He was lying to himself when he thought he could cover up the cafeteria incident. Sighing, he gave up.

"Ok, fine. I have a crush on Solace. But you can't tell him!" Thalia snorted.

"I wouldn't. I'm mean, not evil. Well, maybe a bit evil." Nico looked at her dead in the eyes.

"But seriously, Thalia. You can't tell him. I would spontaneously combust."

"Chill. I won't say anything. Well, other than to our friends because they obviously already know. I mean, you aren't exactly inconspicuous." Nico looked away, blushing because he knew that was oh so true.

"Oh whatever. Let's just get back to the cabins." The whole way back, Thalia's teasing rang through the air- along with Nico's cursing, of course.

"I'm nervous. Like really freaking nervous." It had been 3 weeks since Will's doctor's appointment, and Hygieia asked him to meet her family. "What if I screw it all up? What if they hate me? What if I make everything awkward?"

"Will, no one's gonna hate you. Chill," Cecil said. "They're gonna love you. Everyone always does, Will. You'll be fine."

"Cecil's right, for once. You'll be okay," Lou agreed, Cecil smacking her arm.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right. It'll be okay. Okay. Okay. I'm going in. I'm gonna go in and meet them. I'm gonna knock on the door- or maybe they have a doorbell. You know, doorbells can be annoying. Maybe they don't have one. And why do they call it a doorbell? Like sometimes it's not a bell. It's a ding. It should be called a doordi-"

"SOLACE! Stop rambling, and chill. You'll be okay. We'll all be right outside," Nico said, grabbing a hold of the nervous boy. Will looked around at all his family cheering him on. Everyone was there: His mom, Sophia, Martha, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Calypso, Cecil, Lou, Thalia, and Nico. They were all there for him. He could do this.

"You're right. I'll be fine. I'll just do my best." Will gave his family a quick, nervous grin and knocked on the door. A bright, smiling Hygieia opened the door and led Will inside.

"Welcome! We've been looking forward to having you. Excuse the slight mess of our house, and I'll take you right this way to our living room." Hygieia's brother, Will assumed, was almost a spitting image of Hygieia herself. Both had caramel brown hair, Hygieia's reaching to her mid-back. Their striking blue eyes were the exact same shade of cool, icy blue, their tan skin only bringing out how startling their eyes were.

The lady sitting next to Hygieia's brother also had brown hair and tan skin, but she had brown eyes. She looked to be in her 50s or 60s, having a warm and inviting aura around her. But there was also a sadness that darkened her eyes, that made her seem hurt, and Will had an idea who was behind that sadness.

"Mom, Lark, this is Will. Will, this is my brother, Lark, and my mom." Both of them stood up and smiled at Will. Hygieia nudged her brother forward, making him jump a little.

"Oh! Hi. I'm, uh, Lark, like Hygieia said. I'm 28. I'm a musician. My hobbies are playing the guitar, singing, and….I really like drawing, even though I'm not very good."

"Wow….um….that's great. I like singing, too, but I'm not very good. You sound like a….stand up guy, Lark," Will responded. At this point, Hygieia and Lark's mom rolled her eyes.

"My god, Lark. Have you never spoken to a human being before? Way to make him awkward. Now, Will, I'm so sorry that he put you through that torture. Come, sit down with us. We'll all get to know each other better and answer some of your questions."

Guiding Will to the spot to her right, she continued saying, "I'm Violeta. You don't have to call me ma'am or anything like that. Makes me feel older than I already am."

"Well, you don't look a day over 30," Will said.

"Oh, you know how to make a girl smile, don't you? I haven't heard a compliment in ages- and yes, that's clearly directed at my children." Hygieia blushed, mumbling an apology, while Lark looked away sheepishly.

"Hehehe...Sorry about that. Anyway, let's just get to know each other first, and then we can answer questions," Hygieia suggested.

"I'd love to," Will responded.

Hours passed, and Will didn't even notice. He absolutely adored Violeta, Lark, and Hygieia. He learned that the two siblings were actually twins, and Violeta was a twin herself. Lark was a musician and was the songwriter for a lot of record labels. Hygieia was a nurse practitioner student. Violeta was actually a surgeon, but she had retired early because of a hand injury.

Amidst all the laughter, there was always a certain elephant in the room that no one addressed but was slowly suffocating all of them. Apollo. Apollo was a looming name that weighted everybody's shoulders that no one wanted to address, but they knew they had to at some point. Will wanted to know. And he was tired of this elephant weighing him down.

"I….I have a question regarding my father." Violeta looked at him with comforting eyes.

"Go ahead, hun."

"I know that Apollo is in your old house, but...Does he ever visit? Do you ever visit him? Does he even still work? Does he have another family?"

"He never visits, and we don't visit him. The last time we actually saw him was a little over a year ago when Hygieia and Lark ran into him at the grocery store. He didn't say anything though. And, yes, he works. He still has to make a living after all. And as far as I know, no, he doesn't have another family."

"Oh. What does he do?"

"He's a doctor. I think he actually works at the same hospital chain Hygieia does, but it's a big one, so they never run into eacho-" A muffled voice from outside screamed.

"OH MY GOD WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Leo?

"PLEASE! PLEASE YOU HAVE TO LET ME IN!" Who was that? Will had no idea. He started to rush out of the room.

"NOT UNTIL YOU TELL US WHO THE HELL YOU ARE!" Jason? He ran to the door.

"I'm begging you. I have to see my family." Seriously, who was that? Almost there...

"Guys, what's going on?!" Mom? The door flew open.

"Naomi...you have to help me! PLEASE!" Will had no idea who that was. All he saw was a messy blond head. Who was that, and why were they holding mom? She looked surprised.

"No...No….Get...GET AWAY FROM ME! GET THE HECK OFF OF ME, YOU SON OF A-"

"Mom?" Everyone stopped. Naomi kicked the guy off of her and plopped down on the ground. The man looked up. He had messy blond hair that looked like he hadn't washed it in weeks. His blue eyes that looked like they used to be full of life were deflated and dull. His tan complexion somehow looked pale, like he didn't have enough energy. Why...why did he look so familiar?

"Will! Will, my boy. Come here. I'm here now! You must be so happy!"

Oh….

It clicked.

Will expected more. A lot more. Hadn't he been dreaming about this for years? Well, a lot of them were he had thought about this day. A lot. This was majorly underwhelming.

"Will! Will, I'm here. Dad's here. Will?"

There he was, in all his glory.

"Apollo."

For all of you that wanted to see my little note at the bottom of this chapter, here it is. I'm so so so so sorry that I haven't posted in forever. I'm going to try to post more regularly because I have a lot of free time.

As everyone reading this probably knows, there is a worldwide pandemic going on. I hope that everyone in their respective locations is safe and healthy. Please, please, please, follow the rules and regulations that CDC and the World Health Organization are saying to do. Wash your hands, social distance, and don't hoard. Hospitals, medical organizations, and other places need supplies. My parents are in the health care industry, and they're running out masks!

You can always stay connected with friends and family via Zoom, texts, emails, calling, etc.

That's it for the PSA, and I promise I will have a lot more free time to update this story. That's it for now, peoples! See ya next time!

-EscapingWriter