A Soul To Suffer

Chapter Six: The Man I've Become

-
-
-
-
-
-

The nightmares didn't stay away for long.

Percy had hoped with everything that his last nightmares would live and die in the pit.

For two years, he had spent enough time living in hell to push past the trauma of a nightmare about the place, but the domain of the primordial did not accept his rejection of its trauma. So it found new ways to fuck with his mind.

Many nights Percy was grateful for the idea to soundproof his little hut down there as best he could with the resources at hand. He was far from where most of the monsters roamed, and when he awoke screaming those nights, he usually didn't have to watch himself, but he did nonetheless.

If the pit's image itself couldn't bring him nightmares, it shifted its tactics to his greatest fears.

One would think watching someone die over and over again would be heart breaking, but eventually the pain would numb and his soul would get used to being tortured.

But that's not how it worked. It never, ever got easier watching Annabeth die, whether it was the same death replaying over and over again for the six meaningless hours he would sleep, or different situations playing one after the other.

Sometimes it would be his baby sister whom he had yet to see, and yet the pit didn't let him go. It took what his mind assumed his baby sister would look like, paired with his mother holding her, and Gaea, with a sword made of Earth, driving it through his mother's stomach.

Percy slowly explained all of this to Annabeth the moment he woke up that second night, screaming, shaking with dread.

If anyone else was woken up by his screaming, they weren't coming to check, probably knowing Annabeth was by his side.

They all stayed in their own rooms, even the couples parted ways at night, but no one dared to tell Annabeth and Percy to do the same. It just simply wouldn't happen.

Coach Hedge tried to tell them off one time, looking Percy in the eyes.

Five seconds later he was not quite as confident, watching the bubble of darkness in the son of Poseidon's eyes. Percy knew the rest of the crew talked about his demeanour ever since he came back from the pit.

Jason avoided him like the plague. Apparently Percy had hit too deep, or perhaps scared the son of Jupiter with just how much he knew about him. Stuff even he barely remembered. But no, no one expected Percy Jackson to actually do his homework.

Only Annabeth and Nico understood the Perseus Jackson that made sure he knew everything about the people around him. After the first war, he wasn't going to have a repeat. Those two understood that well, the others thought he didn't trust them.

Percy hadn't realized he'd been crying until Annabeth wiped his tears away, kissing his cheek softly. "Which ones this time?" She asked gently.

Percy rubbed his eyes, wishing he could hold his head still until the images stopped, but they never did. "Everything, just on repeat."

Annabeth continued to pepper him with affection, snuggling deeper into his chest. "I'm never going to leave you, Seaweed Brain."

"And I won't let anything take me from you, and I know you're going to make sure of that." She assured him. The positive affirmations really did help when she sounded so confident about it.

Percy knew he had to fight this. He knew the hardest battles ever fought would be between his ears, in his mind where it was him against his weakness, insecurity, fears...