Why is Everything so Loud?! (Fem. Percy)

Do You Want---?

Drugged.

The weightless feeling lingered on my hands and feet. Everything else felt heavy. Memories hazy as I lay in a pile of plushes and pillows, I knew one thing.

He drugged me.

I crammed myself into the corner. My teeth dug into my hand, hard. Copper flooded my mouth. Why not? Dad was already going to be upset. His perfect, little baby wasn't here anymore. The drugs had ran their course.

No. Every muscle, every tendon, every bone in my body shuddered. No. The room was different. Bright colors assaulted my eyes. The bed was a different shape and in a different spot. A plastic, accordion door blocked the bathroom. A heavy scent lingered in the air---lavender? Rose?---and it made my head swim.

The door to the hallway swung open. My eyes fixated on it when it shut. No handle. No lock. Or did it only lock from the outside?

A whine pushed around my hand.

"Little one, what's wrong?" Dad cooed. Even that was too loud. "I told you I'd be right back." He stretched out a hand. Bile rose. No. Don't-- I bared my teeth. He didn't stop, and I cowered back. "It's just Daddy." I snapped at his hand when he tried to grab me. "Did something scare you?" That stupid, stupid babying voice made me want to rake my nails across my ears. "Amphitrite didn't come in here, did she? Or Kym?"

With a half-shuffle, he moved closer.  Dread pooled in my gut. He was blocking me in. The wall gave slightly behind me. Padded. It was a cushy, padded cell. How long did he mean to keep me there? Days? Weeks? I wheezed and doubled over.

I'd take the basement. I would. As much as it hurt, it wasn't this. Monsters hurt demigods. Demigods hunt monsters. It was familiar. Familiar meant safety.

Dad, unaware to the thoughts in my head, pressed a sippy cup into my hands. I glared at it. Threw it.

"Little one," he said. "I know you don't want to, but it'll make you feel better. You need to keep resting for just a little bit longer."

A curl of water pulled the offending cup back to him; he tried to guide the pink spout into my mouth. When I batted it away, he sighed. Dad brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. We sat there. Him unwavering, me looking for every chance to escape. There weren't many.

"Here."

I turned my head.

"Is it because of what she said? Because there's nothing wrong with using this." The lid came off with a soft pop. "She should've never said that where you can hear it. She's---It's nothing wrong with you, baby. You just need to rest for a bit. And that's okay."

He tipped the contents into my mouth. Half of it ran down my chin and soaked my shirt. What little made it into my mouth was bitter like 90% cocoa. I spat it out. Too quickly, Dad wiped at my face and clothes with a wet rag. Stupid, because he'd just try to get me to drink it again. I sat silently, letting him fuss and bother.

How long would it take him to realize?

"Do you want some?" he asked. My head snapped to him. When had he sat next to me? He held out the mug which I stared at. After a moment, he lifted it to his lips and took a long sip. "It's not medicine."

Steam rose and curled in the air in delicate patterns. I swayed, watching the ethereal images, with unfocused eyes. They were nice. Calming. Beckoning even, begging me to lose myself in them.

Dad moved a blanket, then leaned over. The ceramic pressed to my lips. Nectar flooded my mouth, and I guzzled down what he offered of it. Warmth seeped through me, and unlike the other times I'd drank it, the nectar made me relax; it warmed my muscles, and I could sense everything: Dad's aura twisting out of reach; Triton's fretting around me and brushing my skin; and Kym's churning angrily.

I scrambled for Dad's. Any sliver I could sense, I tried to cling to. They slipped out of my grasp like sand.

"Do you---" He couldn't finish his sentence before I was desperately nodding. Soft, warm, soothing strands brushed my face and arms. They caressed and embraced me.  Cold tears slid down my face. Instantly, they were gone; I cried harder. His expression twisted then. Unsure. Hesitant. One strand lingered, and all my focus went to it.

I pulled it close and curled myself around it. It wiggled and writhed. It wasn't real. I couldn't see it, but I knew---the same way I could tell when Nico lingered in shadows.

In turn, his aura wrapped around me. Everything else was drowned out. I blinked, moved towards him, and tucked myself to his chest. Safe. Safe. Safe. Dad's hands rested on my back, I didn't care. Safe. Safe. Safe. Those weren't my thoughts. I wasn't even sure it was my own feelings.

"That's what it is," he mumbled. "Calm now, little one." His large palms smoothed over my spine. A gentle curl of warmth that brushed over my cheek. Not Dad, but...not angry enough to be Kym. Triton, maybe? It wasn't much, and it poked and prodded as much as it soothed, like it wanted to make sure I was still in one piece. I shuddered and pressed against Dad. Triton's presence slipped away.

And then I could only sense Dad.

He was an endless expanse, curled around me like a sea serpent. One guarding its young, no threat to me, but to anything that dared to come near. Soft sounds slipped from him. Calming. Gentle. He brushed his hand over my back again. I pressed my face into his shoulder and sobbed.

He held me until I stopped crying, rocked me until I was half-asleep. The feeling of his presence never receded. The serpent tightened its coils, and its gaze fell onto me. There was fondness. So much of it that I squirmed. Dad chuckled. 

"You're almost purring, little one."  He kept using that, why? And why did I like it? "Sh, it's fine. Daddy wants you to be content right now. It'll make you feel better." Safe. Calm. Dad traced his thumb over my cheek. "That's all I want." He guided me down. I shook my head, trying to ignore the burning at the back of my throat, and clambered back into a sitting position. I wanted to be close to him. I needed to be close to him. With a whine, he let me slip back onto his lap.

I felt like a baby. But not in a bad way. Not the way I felt when I woke up with fuzzy memories.  More like he was so strong that I didn't have to worry.

"I'm going to try to get a little work done, okay? Like I did before." He pulled his hair away from his face. He let me rest on his chest, both arms around me, and occasionally using my back as a desk. He hummed and cooed when I shifted and grasped at him.

"You want to move?"

I shake my head. His aura brushed my cheeks and it tilted my head up.

"Do you think you can tell me why you cut yourself today?"

I pressed my face into his chest. I can't talk. How hard is that to understand? My fingers tap, tap, tapped, just as fast as my heart.

"Sh. You don't have to answer, little one." His arm draped over my back. His aura wrapped around me. "I was just wondering." I latched onto the strand, pulling it close. It twined around me, warmth and affection and love.

I have acquired more books

But in regards to the chapter, a decent part of this (and the next chapter) were supposed to be part of the family dinner chapter. So if i hadn't split it up, it'd be a very long chapter indeed. So anyway, I hope you liked it

See yah