Titans Wrath

Percy: Chapter 12

Shout out to @goldenmp for voting on literally every chapter, what a mad lad, love you dawg

    I came to as peoples arms wrapped around me and lifted me from the ground. I recognized I was sweating and covered in grime, but my brain felt so foggy I could barely focus. I heard female voices, and I tried to look around to locate them but my vision was clouded. Shadows and spots swam in my eyes, blotting out faces. Why was it so hot? I tried to move my arms to pull at my shirt, but they wouldn't obey my brains commands. My eyes locked on a silver blot in the distance, and then my vision went black as Morpheus took me. 

     I don't know how long I was out, but I do remember the pain. My body felt like it was on fire, and my brain pounded with the flow of my blood, over and over and over. I wanted to scream, but I was trapped in the confines of my own mind, and no sound came. I heard flitting whispers, voices I recognized but couldn't place. A male voice spoke the most, and I swear I knew his voice but I just couldn't figure it out. Then, finally, as it felt like my body was starting to cool off, the worst came at me like a freight train. All at once, it felt like the molecules of my body were being pulled apart at the seams. 

      The pain was mind numbing, incapacitating, and overpowering. Even the pain from my dip in the River Styx didn't feel as bad anymore in my mind, nor Annabeth's and I's trip through Tartarus, breathing in the noxious air and drinking liquid fire, slowly suffocating to death in that wretched pit was drown out by this pain. It felt like my vapor travel, but instead of the breeze pulling me away, it felt like magnets were forcibly pulling every single atom in my body apart, and I felt like I was about to explode. Then, after what felt like an eternity, it passed, and with it, what little hold I had on consciousness passed as well, and I drifted back asleep. 

4 DAYS LATER

     I came to in the infirmary at camp. My whole body felt heavy, and there was a weight on my right shoulder. After a moment, I found the strength to turn my head, and there was Annabeth, her head on my shoulder, out cold. Looking out the windows, more and more strength returning to me by the moment, it appeared to be late at night, though I can't be sure how late. The moon was out, a thin shaft of light shining into the room. A few quiet, peaceful moments passed, before Annabeth stirred and looked up at me groggily. I shot her a playful smirk and muttered, "You drool in your sleep." 

     She blinked at me slowly, and for a second I thought she was gonna pass back out when suddenly her eyes widened as her brain finally started working again, and she crushed me in a hug. "Percy!" Cried Annabeth, shoving her face into my chest. I grunted and laughed, hugging her back. My strength starting to return, I sat up and pulled her into my lap. She looked up at me and I was struck with the realization that Annabeth, the strongest woman I'd ever met, my Wise Girl, was nearing tears. I smiled at her gently and cupped her face in my hand, resting my forehead against hers softly and looking her in her stormy grey eyes. 

     "Come on Bird Brain, you gotta know I don't die that easy by this point." I muttered and she broke into a tearful laugh, punching me in the shoulder after a second as she wiped her tears away. 

     "Shut up Barnacle Beard..." She trailed off and just leaned into my arms, and we stayed like that, in silence, for a long while. As the first bits of sunlight peaked over the horizon and made It's way into the infirmary, I got to get my first good look around. There were several other kids in the infirmary, some with burns, others with minor cuts and bruises, a broken bone or two, but nothing serious. When I looked back down at Annabeth, she was looking back up at me and biting her lip like she does when she's got something to say. "What all do you remember..?" She asked hesitantly and I shrugged.

     "Not much." I admitted. "I remember seeing the ogres as I came to the top of Half-Blood Hill. After that, It's all just flashes, glimpses. I think I fought them, but after that, all I remember is a lot of pain, like I was laid on a table and pulled from my wrists and ankles." She nodded as I came to a stop and opened her mouth to say something, but she hesitated. 

     "Come on Wise Girl, spit it out." I laughed softly and she looked down slightly.

     "Percy, you let your powers get out of control. Your godly side tried to purge your mortal side from your body." I looked at her, and blinked slowly. I knew what this process was. Apollo had pulled some of the more powerful, powers wise, Guardians aside at one point after a training session and filled us in on the danger of being such powerful demigods, and I had a sneaking suspicion on what had happened now that Annabeth had brought it up. 

     "It happened, didn't it?" I asked softly, and she nodded softly.

     "Do you know what this means?" She asked, and I nodded. 

     "Yeah, I know. What are we gonna do about it..?" I asked and Annabeth shrugged, leaning back into my chest and pushing me onto the infirmary bed once again. 

     "For now? Nothing. We're going to sit here, and I'm going to cuddle my idiotic husband. Later, when the camp wakes up, we'll go to Artemis and figure out what to do." I laughed gently and hugged her close, doing just that. We sat like that until the sun came up, and with it brough the arrival of Artemis and Apollo. 

    Apollo formed from a ray of sunlight reaching through the windows of the infirmary, and Artemis was accompanied by a soft, fresh breeze, appearing at the foot of my bed between blinks, simply coming into existence. Annabeth was asleep again at this point, but I for some reason was not tired. She was curled into my chest, with my arms around her, and her face was pressed into the crook of my neck. When Apollo saw this, he flashed me a toothy grin, blinding me enough to not notice Artemis's downward glance, almost like she didn't want to see Annabeth like that. 

     "Percy!" Apollo started, his voice barely above a whisper shout, careful not to wake the others in the ward. "How are you feeling, cousin?" Apollo sat at the foot of my bed, following Artemis's lead. I shrugged, looking down at my palms over Annabeth's shoulders. 

     "Weirdly strong. Not like I didn't just sleep for 4 days straight. Definitely not like I almost died earlier. It's weird." My eyes were drawn to Apollos chest, examining his shirt. He had a KISS shirt on, the actual words being black with a white back drop, names written in sharpie were surrounding the logo. For a second, I didn't realize what felt weird about this, until I realized, the words weren't swimming out of position like normal, and they weren't getting muddled up. I could even read the names written in cursive, which shouldn't have been possible with my Dyslexia. 

     Apollo's grin fell ever so slightly, so much so that before the fight on the hill, I doubt I would have noticed. But now, the slight movement was as obvious to me as a bad magician blatantly pulling a card from his sleeve in the middle of a trick. "Did Annabeth tell you?" He questioned, and I nodded in response. "I tried to warn you, years ago." He started, but I held up a hand and cut him off. 

     "It's not your fault, Apollo. I know. What does this mean for me as a guardian?" I looked to Artemis and she simply shrugged, looking at her brother for help.

     "I'm not sure, Perseus. Theoretically nothing. You becoming a god really shouldn't change much. You weren't GIFTED godhood, so you don't have any domains. For all intents and purposes, you are simply another immortal. You'll have to swear your Guardian Oath once again, as becoming immortal absconded you of all mortal oaths." She opened her mouth to say something, but seeing the worry on her face, I cut her off. 

     "I swear." I cut in, and shock flashed on the twines faces. "We have a war to fight, and it's just starting to kick off. I'm NOT going to just walk away from it now. Besides, I don't want the hunters to have to get used to another guardian, much less another male guardian, should the fates be so cruel." If I didn't know any better, I'd have said that Artemis looked relieved. 

     "Thankfully, I don't actually believe Father will throw too awfully big of a fit over this, I warned him of the dangers of introducing already powerful demigods into an environment that would train and grow their powers even further." Apollo stood and flashed me a blinding smile. "I'll go break the news to him that it wasn't Jason. And then probably run away." And with that, the sun gods image folded in on itself till it winked out of existence, leaving behind the smell of fresh hyacinths. 

     Artemis sighed in defeat and stood as well, muttering to herself, "I better go join him, he has a terrible way with Father. If I were you, I'd make my way to Olympus as well, just to talk with him face to face. Worst case scenario he kills you." She said it so matter of fact and with more annoyance than actual concern. Between blinks, my patron simply disappeared. 

     "Pluto's pauldrons..." I grumbled