𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 ༄ ᴘercy ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ

The Big D (epression)

A/N: she's just, like, not having the best time right now. oops.

I woke up with a cry, drenched in a cool sweat and feeling like a bucket of freezing ice-water had just been thrown onto me. My hands were trembling and my breathing was uneven as I tried to catch my breath. I sat up in my bed, trying to regain control over myself. 

I heard some movements from one of the other beds.

"Nailea? Is that you?" Katie questioned into the darkness. Her bedside light flicked on.

Her face was framed in the light of the lamp, contrasting with the eternal dark of our surroundings. Her eyebrows were creased, and she was looking at me with an expression of worry, like she genuinely cared if I was alright.

"Yeah. Sorry, I had a nightmare." I fibbed.

She nodded, her expression turning to a sympathetic one. All demigods had nightmares, her included. But I had lied. A nightmare was not what had woken me up. 

"Do you need anything?" She asked me. "Travis stole some sleeping pills for me. I can give you one if you think it'll help."

I shook my head, before realising she probably couldn't see me in the darkness. "No. It's fine, but thank you. I think I'm just gonna go get some air."

"Now?? It's the middle of the night."

I pushed off my bed, crouching to where my boots were on the floor. "I'll be fine. I  just need a moment." 

My fingers reached down to do the laces, but my hands were shaking too badly for me to actually make any progress. I left my shoes untied, leaving them loose before grabbing my jacket from the bedpost.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked innocently.

I forced a smile at her, but it was impatient and annoyed. "I'll be fine. Thanks."

"Are you sure? It's not safe to be completely by yourself in the middle of the night. Do you -"

"Katie." I bit out.

She quietened, and I instantly felt awful, "I'm sorry. I'll be fine and I'll take Kalon with me. I just need a couple moments by myself."

She nodded, but it was clear she wasn't satisfied. "Alright then."

I slipped my jacket on and grabbed the hairpin from my bedside cabinet and began to walk outside, slipping the door shut behind me. I shot her one last smile as I left, hoping that she didn't despise me.

Camp half-blood was shrouded in darkness and fog when I left, the beds of grass covered in pale white blankets of mist. As I stepped across, the haze rose above in swirls where I had disrupted it, and as I left again, it returned to it's previous position.

There was silence across the camp, save for the occasional chirping of crickets and hooting of owls. There wasn't even wind to make the trees rustle or to make me feel less alone. As far as I could tell, nobody else was awake. And why would they be? It was pitch black and around 2 a.m. If anyone was awake at this time, then they were an idiot for not getting their well-deserved sleep.

As I walked away from the cabins and towards the river, my eyes lingered on the Poseidon cabin opposite Demeter's. Since the quest, I had only seen Percy a couple times, and both of them had been earlier this year, closer to the quest. A part of me missed his company, but the other part reminded me that he had a whole other life separate from Camp. He was doing fine.

It had been maybe six months since I'd last seen him. He hadn't yet arrived for the summer break, as apparently he'd been forced to do two weeks of summer school to accommodate his mom's wishes.