Freak || Percy Jackson x OC

One Hundred and Forty-Six: Things finally cool down but then they heat up again

PERCY

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After some ambrosia and nectar, Sen was able to stand and function on her own.

That night, there were too many goodbyes.

Percy, for the first time, saw many of the burial shrouds get used on bodies, which was not something he ever wanted to see again. Among the dead, Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin had been downed by a giant's club. He was wrapped in a golden shroud without any decoration. A girl named Elias from the Aphrodite cabin had gone down defending a satyr from a hellhound. Hardly anybody expected her to do it- Aphrodite's kids rarely fought. Silena lit her funeral pyre and Sen held her hand as the taller girl cried for her fallen sister. Percy was ashamed that he was seeing so many of the pyres get lit, but he hardly knew who any of these guys were.

The campers spent the next day treating the wounded, which was almost everybody. The satyrs and dryads worked to repair the damage to the woods. Sen was working herself half to death running around on both sides; sending out ambrosia and nectar, fetching new bandages and medicines, helping the pollinators to speed along the regeneration process in the forest.

"Sen, you need to stop." Percy said as he followed her to the infirmary. She had half a dozen IVs in her arms and a satchel of needles and tubes.

"Nope. Gotta help 'em." Sen mumbled. "Percy, could you..."

She trailed off again. She hadn't stopped doing that. During the battle, it was almost like she'd had a brief period of clarity- but that was it. Brief. Just like that, she was back to being a faraway girl with a voice that didn't seem complete.

He didn't understand what it meant, but he was hearing her thoughts more and more. And more often than not, she was thinking about Ethan or telling herself not to cry or saying Just one more and you'll be okay. You're strong.

Percy had to walk away before he did something stupid, like cry.

At noon, the Council of Cloven Elders held an emergency meeting in their sacred grove. The three senior satyrs were there, along with Chiron, who was in wheelchair form. His broken horse leg was still mending, so he would be confined to the chair for a few months, until the leg was strong enough to take his weight. The grove was filled with satyrs and dryads and naiads up from the water- hundreds of them, anxious to hear what would happen. Juniper, Annabeth, Sen, and Percy stood by Grover's side.

Silenus wanted to exile Grover immediately, but Chiron persuaded him to at least hear evidence first, so the demigods (not Sen) told everyone what had happened in the crystal cavern, and what Pan had said. Then several eyewitnesses from the battle described the weird sound Grover had made, which drove the Titan's army back underground.

"It was Panic." Insisted Juniper. "Grover summoned the power of the wild god."

"Panic?" Percy asked as he steered Sen's fingernails away from her mouth. The touch made her zone back into the moment.

"Percy," Chiron explained. "during the first war of the gods and the Titans, Lord Pan let forth a horrible cry that scared away the enemy armies. It is- it was his greatest power- a massive wave of fear that helped the gods win the day. The word panic is named after Pan, you see. And Grover used that power, calling it forth from within himself."