The Next Great Prophecy

JASON XXVIII

            Jason ran into the infirmary, having heard Piper’s frantic search from down the hall. He found the three demigods standing in silence.

            “What’s going on?” he asked. “Percy, shouldn’t you be resting?”

            “Probably, but Annabeth was helping me in here to get some ambrosia. Then we were going to have a meeting to talk about my dream.”

            “A nice plan, but with one flaw—there is no ambrosia. It disappeared.”  Piper held up her hands helplessly.

            “What do you mean, it disappeared?” asked Jason in confusion.

            “We were about to ask the same thing,” said Annabeth.

            “I mean, it’s gone. I’ve looked everywhere. I know we didn’t use it all, we had a ton that Calypso gave us, plus what we already had. But I can’t find any of it.”

            “You can’t be serious,” groaned Percy, collapsing onto the nearest bed. Annabeth sat next to him, running her hand through his hair while they thought about how to handle the situation.

            “Well, right now, we need to figure out what to do about you, Percy. We’ll have to use mortal supplies, and you won’t be able to do much for a while,” said Jason.

            “Well that’s annoying,” grumbled Percy. Jason and Piper gathered the supplies, and set about bandaging Percy up. By the time they were done, Percy was pale and clammy, but had stopped bleeding. He couldn’t move his sword arm with all the bandages, but his broken ribs were set and his minor injuries were patched up. The bruise on his neck had darkened to a purple-black, and reminded Jason of why he was determined to beat the giants and minor gods.

            “Are you ready to talk, Seaweed Brain?” asked Annabeth, looking at her boyfriend.

            Percy nodded. “Might as well do it now.” He struggled to stand, and with Annabeth’s help, walked out toward the deck. Piper followed, and Jason went to gather the others.

            When the crew had gathered on the deck, all eyes turned to Percy. Shock passed over Nico, Hazel, Leo, and Frank’s faces as they noticed that Percy didn’t look any better.

            “All right, guys, I have good news and bad news,” started Percy. “Which do you want to hear first?”

            “Oh, I love these situations,” said Leo. “Let’s hear the bad news, our day couldn’t possibly get any worse.”

            “Well, there’s quite a bit of bad news,” said Percy. “I didn’t get Morpheus on our side. He has agreed to stop trying to kill me in my sleep, which is the good news, but he won’t be helpful. He plans to sit and watch the whole thing play out, so we have to work on the other minor gods before we get anywhere.”

            “That’s not so bad. At least you won’t be hurt anymore. You should be good as new in no time!” said Hazel, trying to be optimistic.

            “That’s some more bad news,” said Annabeth. “Our supply of ambrosia and nectar is gone. We don’t have any way to heal ourselves other than mortal methods. Percy will be out of commission for a while.”

            “Not a while, Annabeth. I feel better already,” argued Percy. It was clear he was full of it. Jason watched as he paled even more, looking almost like he was going to puke.

            “Have you tried salt water?” asked Jason. “That’s been able to heal you.”

            “I don’t know. It works sometimes, but it takes a lot of energy to heal anything major. Let’s see.” Without another word, Percy limped to the rail and tossed himself over. The demigods were silent as they waited for him to resurface. Jason walked to the side, looking into the water below to see if there was any sign of the son of Poseidon. Suddenly, his head broke the surface, and he waved frantically up at Jason.

            Jason flew down to where Percy was treading water. “Help me back up,” he coughed. Jason grabbed Percy under the arms and flew them to the deck, where Percy collapsed in a puddle of water. The puddle grew as water dripped from his hair. Wait, why is he wet?

            Percy coughed up water a few more times before sitting up. He leaned on the rail behind him, gulping air. “Something’s wrong.”

            “Seaweed Brain, why’d you let yourself get wet?” asked Annabeth, her eyebrows furrowed.

            “I didn’t really have a say. I jumped down and was trying to fix my shoulder. I went to breathe, but I couldn’t. It’s like the water in the tub at Khione’s palace, it was cursed. I could barely control it, let alone breathe and use it to heal.”

            “Hecate couldn’t have cursed the entire ocean. She must have cursed you somehow, suppressed your powers,” said Frank.

            “So, we have to find Hecate. I’d like to not be useless,” said Percy, putting his head in his hands.

            “You’re not useless, Seaweed Brain. You’re hurt. That’s a completely different thing.”

            “It’s really not, though. I can’t do anything. I can’t fight, I have no powers, all I can do is sit and wait for the minor gods to kill me, since that’s all they want to do.”

            “Percy, stop that!” said Nico. “You aren’t useless!”

            “I’m going to bed,” said Percy, standing. He stumbled off toward his bedroom. Jason and the others watched as the strongest guy they knew left, convinced he was useless. They had no idea what to do.