Reincarnation in the PJO verse: Volume 1

『Maybe Diedre Should Wrap Percy in Bubblewrap』

Diedre dragged Annabeth as they both ran through the corridors of the maze. Diedre couldn't stop now, he needed the both of them as far away from the explosion as possible.

Diedre deemed the distance to be far enough as he stopped to pant. Annabeth held onto his T-shirt, shook him, and said, "Why'd you leave Percy there? He is going to die!"

Diedre took a few deep breaths in, the shaking was not helping him gain back proper vision. He moved his hands towards Annabeth's fists and said, "Percy is going to be fine Annabeth. He's like a little cockroach, y'know?"

"There was a blast! No normal person would survive that blast!"

"Well, he is Percy. He will survive the blast!" Diedre shouted back at her, with certainty in his voice. He did not want to entertain his intrusive thoughts.

"And what makes you think he will!"

"Because even though you like him, he was my best friend first! He has to be alive," Diedre said, screaming. "He will be fine," he said, a bit more quietly, more likely to assure himself as he slid down to sit. 

He turned away from Annabeth and wiped the tears that escaped his eyes, "He is going to be fine," he repeated, more of a reassurance to himself than Annabeth any more because if Percy died, it would be entirely his fault because he was the fanatic who thought changing the ending would be better.

Annabeth looked shocked. Perhaps it was him shouting or perhaps it was due to him crying but he sat beside him and said, "I'm sorry Diedre."

"He'll be fine, Annabeth," he repeated, like a broken record.

"He'll be fine," she agreed. "We need to get out of here, Diedre."

"Okay," he whispered as he stood up. As they walked he thought about when had fiction become reality for him.

♬♬♬

After a point in time, they had to rest again mainly because of Diedre. He was breathless and the wounds he had were opened. The large gash in his legs seemed to be bleeding the most but Diedre could not expend his healing powers now. Being underground limited several of his abilities and now that they had lost the lamp, he was feeling pretty dizzy now.

Annabeth held onto him and said, "Just a few more miles, Dee. We'll be back in Camp again."

He nodded. The adrenalin had worn off and he was feeling the backlash pretty bad.

"Yeah, just a few more miles, hopefully."

As he trudged along with the support of Annabeth, his traitorous mind wondered whether Percy had landed on Calypso's island. He hoped he had.

Only a few miles later, Diedre saw the light up ahead and hoping it was not a mirage, Annabeth and him moved along. Diedre felt his feet gain some strength as they moved so it was not a mirage.

Good news, now he could probably walk on his own.

Bad news, he would probably faint for a few minutes.

Taking that into consideration, he walked as fast as he could, hoping that Annabeth didn't have to carry him back. 

As soon as they exited, Diedre fainted but not before he heard Annabeth shouting for help.

♬♬♬

He woke up to the smell of disinfectants and hoped he was in the infirmary and not some random place. When he saw the tell-tale signs of Lee near him, he rasped out, "Water, please." Lee jumped back several feet but complied with his request as he handed him a jug of water. He greedily drank up the entire jug.