An Assassin's Guide to Family

Chapter 47: Past

-------------Percy's POV: ---------------
((AN: Do not take most of this chapter as face value until you read the end note- My sibling who says my readers will riot))

I was stumbling through the forest, I could barely see through the tears and the pain. My hand was the only thing guiding me, going from tree to tree in order to make sure I was continuously going in a straight line, feeling for a direct route out of the forest.

Away from camp. Away from my second home.

Scrapes and cuts lined every part of my body, sending spurts of pain every time a leaf, thorn, or stick scraped or even touched my skin. My breathing was still sparatic, my chest still heaving as I tried to calm down. Not to mention how totally drained I was from the war. None of that mattered now though. I just needed out, away from camp, away from them.

A sudden and painful sob ripped through my system, nearly sending me to the ground as I stopped, suddenly gripping tightly onto the bark beside me, keeping myself steady as I shoved the urge to cry back down again. My throat felt like I was trying to vomit a bundle of knives, and my chest felt like it was full of bubbling acid. I needed to cry, to release everything but I couldn't, not here. If I were to be found, I may be swayed to stay, and that might end up killing me. So instead I ran, keeping my feet going one after the other as I made my way towards the tree line, something reminiscent of hope keeping me going as I neared my exit, my escape.

"Percy!" Jason's (Grace) voice echoed distantly behind me, ripping any warm feeling from my heart as my situation came crashing back on me like a meteor. I felt a tear break from my eye at the reference. Leo was gone because of a dumb rock, one shot into the sky by the resident idiot Octavian.

I picked up the pace, now not trying to avoid any bushes and taking all the pain in order to leave faster. I couldn't be here.

"Percy, please wait!!" Jason yelled, I could hear his voice nearing. Damn his flight. I wouldn't be able to outrun him at this point. I took a sharp left, thinking on my feet now as if an enemy were approaching. I quickly found a large bush, and with a swift jump, I was in the middle of it. I lightened my breathing as much as possible, trying my best to not sob or let out a broken breath as I waited for Jason to pass.

I watched as he appeared from behind a tree, flying in mid-air and looking around frantically, he placed his hands to his mouth and called out again, his eyes filled with worry and panic. I placed a hand over my mouth as I shut my eyes. He hadn't defended me back there, did everyone think I was a murderer? That Annabeth meant that little to me?

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"Murderer!!" I'd just begun walking from the battlefield the images of fire, the stench of blood mixed with that horrible golden dust filling my lungs, and the screams, gods those screams. It continued to replay in my mind, I was numb, and my body didn't seem to feel anything. I knew I was in pain, but I couldn't feel it. It was a surreal situation. In all honesty, I hadn't heard the first cry when it ripped through the air, but when I heard it the second time, my eyes turned towards Nico, his fist clenched tightly by his sides, tears in his eyes as he raced from near the boarder of camp to me. He'd just looked fine when he was with Will, why now was he so furious. I paused in my tracks, looking around me for whoever could be at the mercy of his wrath.

I turned to look but was stopped when Nico pushed me, the cold hands making contact with the exposed skin of my shoulders, my body stumbled back and nearly fell as my eyes shot to him. His aviator jacket was ripped, his dark eyes darker than normal and filled with so much rage it shouldn't be possible for anyone.