pjo | 30 days of h/c

01. electric blue

tw: injuries and blood (empousa attack)

It happens when Percy's walking back home from school. He passes by an alleyway where an empousa is hiding and she pounces on him, without warning, tackling him to the ground, hard, without time to process what's happening.

"Hey!" he shouts, and she snarls above him, pinning his arms down. He kicks out with a grunt, and makes contact with her gut, and she groans, clutching it. He slips out from underneath her, getting up as the monster stands fully, growling at him.

"Aww, come on." she hisses, smiling sickly, "Don't be sssooo difficulttt." He doesn't justify her with response, doesn't want to, he kinda really wants to go home, actually, so he just pulls put riptide and charges at her.

He holds his own for a while, the two of them going back and forth, and she manages to rake her claws against his arm a few times, and he manages to nick her, before he finally gets the upper hand. Percy raises riptide, and just as he's about to run it through her, she ducks and pushes a claw through his leg.

Percy lets out a scream through gritted teeth, his weight giving out from under him. He falls to the ground, as riptide clatters away from his gasp. The empousa grins nastily at him, towering over him. She bares her fangs, nails out, extended and deadly.

"Ssseee? Wasssn't that sssoo much easssier?" she asks, and he's about to retort with something sarcastic, like yes, it was, and then find a way to kill her, when she explodes into golden dust.

He freezes, shock still for a moment, before he sees Luke, of all people, where the empousa was, panting, a dagger in the air where it has impaled her. "Are you okay?" he asks, and Percy just stares stupidly at him.

After a moment, he registers who he's looking at, and he bristles, flinching away. Luke seems to notice this because he sheathes his dagger and holds up his hands, placatingly.

"Hey, calm down." he says, when Percy scrambles back away from him, grimacing with every movement, as spikes of pain hit him. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you, okay?"

"Really?" Percy growls, "Because you had no problem doing it before."

Luke closes his eyes, lips twitching over his scar - the same scar Percy constantly saw in his nightmares, the same scar that haunted him. He hated that scar, mostly because he couldn't get over it, and that was the worst part. The fact that he saw it everywhere, and every time he did, it made him jumpy and ready for a fight that wasn't really happening.

"Percy, I -," Luke sighs. "Can I help you? Please?" Percy's head snaps up. He must be crazy if he thinks Percy's gonna trust him. He left Annabeth. He blamed Grover for Thalia's death. He tried to kill Percy.

His expression must read the same as his thoughts, because Luke sighs, again. "Look, I know I'm not the person you want to see right now, and I haven't been very... helpful -," Percy scoffs. That was an understatement. "But," Luke plows on, ignoring him "that," he says, motioning to Percy's very badly bleeding leg, "could get seriously infected."

Percy glares at him. "No." he says, jaw clenched, "I've got it." he lies, because he doesn't. He doesn't have any bandages, nectar, or ambrosia, and he'd die before he even thought about getting back to his house.

"Really?" he asks, calling his bluff, and Percy looks away, "I know you don't." he says, and Percy clenched his fists. He sighs for the third time, "You'd seriously just rather die here?" Percy doesn't answer, and Luke groans. "Come on, just let me wrap it in a bandage, at least."

Percy growls in frustration, not wanting to accept his help. But he really didn't want to die in a disgusting New York alley. And it didn't seem like Luke was trying anything. He didn't know what to do.

"Percy, please," Luke says, pleading with him, as he crouched next to him. Percy has to stop himself from scooting back. "just let me help you."

Percy's sea green eyes meet Luke's electric blue for a moment before he cautiously nods, giving in. Luke sighs in relief and Percy tries not to read too closely into it. It wasn't fair that Luke could act like he cared so much, could show a visible need to help him when he's the one who hurt him first - he was the one who broke his promise, who left Percy behind, he's the one who left camp behind, he's the one that tried to send Percy to Tartarus, who tried to kill him countless times, who left him alone with nothing but a burning scar that he felt in his heart. It wasn't fair.

Yet, Percy couldn't help but watch as Luke carefully wraps his leg with a bandage and handed him the rest of his ambrosia, watch as he didn't try anything to hurt him, or sic another monster on him. He just helped him.

"Okay." Luke says, after he's done, so softly, it's like he's whispering. "That should help. Try not to put to much pressure on it, and definitely don't even think about walking on it, at least for a few days."

Percy continues not to say anything, his eyes focused on the ground just to the left of his leg. Like sighs, after a moment, before standing up and biting his lip.

"I'm sorry." he says, roughly, and Percy knows he's not going about the wound. Still, he can't make himself look at him. Luke stands there for another moment, until he briefly closes his eyes before exhaling through his nose, slowly. "Do you - do you want me to iris-mesage someone? Chiron? Annabeth?"

Percy considers for a moment before shaking his head, slightly, deciding against it. He doesn't want them to worry, he causes enough problems as it is. He'd rather bleed out here than bother them anymore than he already does. Besides, he can find a way home. Probably.

"You sure?" Luke frowns, getting that concerned look again.

"Yeah." Percy says, tightly, shifting and wincing as pain shoots up his hip. "I'll be fine. You can go." he manages. Part of him, although he won't admit it, wants Luke to stay. He wants Luke to see how wrong he is, how wrong Kronos is, how he's being used in a way he doesn't deserve, wants him to say fuck it, and stay with Percy, to come back to camp with him and end the fight now, while he still can, but he doesn't. He can't.

And Luke doesn't.

He stares at Percy for another moment, electric blue eyes that Percy feels like could shock him, that pierce right through him, to his bones, full of regret and grief and apologies that he doesn't speak, before sighing, and nodding, just the tiniest bit.

Percy watches him walk off once he turns away, and stays that way, even long after he's left, his leg and palm burning, using his elbows to prop him up. He groans, after a while, swallowing hard and hitting his head against the wall behind him, before squeezing his eyes shut.