A Cursed Hope (Sequel to A Dark Legacy)

Prologue: He-Who-Does-Not-Have-A-Nose gives me drugs

Percy's POV—

A body was lying in a dark forest, lifeless.

And it just so happened to be my own body.

Was I dead? No. Not yet anyway.

Was I bleeding? Yes. Very much.

And for the last time, it's not my fault that I got ambushed at night by freaking Telkhines! How was I supposed to know they'll stab me in the leg with Kronos' Scythe that I didn't even know exist?!

And—ow, it hurt like Tartarsauce. Fuck.

Yes, I know it was just a deep cut, but still felt like my soul was being ripped from my body. Literally.

Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Note the totally not inherited sarcasm.

I'd like to tell you that I saved myself in some heroic way, like being healed by water and stuff, but really, I didn't.

This dude that had no nose did.

He-Who-Had-No-Nose had just appeared out of nowhere with a loud crack, gave me something that looked like water (it was actually a potion), told me to spill it over the wound, and disappeared with another crack.

He was also bald like Dwayne Johnson.

I managed to reach out (with immense pain, of course) and spilled it over the wound. I gagged as I saw the cut. Sure, I've seen a lot of bad injuries, but this one looked horrific.

In fact, I don't think I'll describe it to you in case it triggers anything. I accidentally described photosynthesis to Nico and how the sun is helpful to make plants green and he wouldn't come out of the shadows for a week.

Ah, the good times.

The liquid sizzled and stung even more, but it eventually was able to form a small layer of skin over the cut. 

Then I found water. 

Or...uhm...I might've made a tidal wave to help me.

Oops.

When the potion was all used up and I was fit enough to limp, there was a small note at the bottom of the jar.

It read, Mongolian Croissant.

Welp, my dyslexia still worked after all these years. How nice. 

After several minutes of trying to decode it, it came out as Magnolia Crescent. That sounded more reasonable.

And it sounded familiar. Wasn't that a street in London or England Will had wanted to go to for the Solangelo date they were going to do?

I guessed that Mr. I-Don't-Have-A-Nose wanted me to go there. He had saved my life, after all, so I supposed I owed him.

Oh, the mistakes I made. 

Including that one mistake I did when I fed Blackjack cherry jam donuts instead of his favorite strawberry. 

...we will not speak of that day anymore. Enough of that, dam ADHD. Heh. Dam. Argh, focus, Percy!

Fear struck me as I looked around in the night. Monsters couldn't sense me because of The Cloak of Order, but I was pretty vulnerable, not having a weapon since I lost it trying to get away, and not being strong enough to vapor travel or run. 

To add to all of that, the world thought I was dead.

Poor Neeks. I didn't actually try to almost die; it wasn't my fault!

I crawled to the shade of the trees, huddling underneath a thick fern bush. I was tired and exhausted after the fight with the Telkhines, not to mention that I lost a lot of blood. 

I promised myself I would sleep that night as my eyelids grew heavy, and I drifted into the realm of Morpheus.

—Le Time Skip—

I lied. I didn't sleep that much. Instead, I did the exact opposite of what Nico and Will would tell me to do and went to find Magnolia Crescent.

It was still dark when I appeared on the streets, looking around. 

No one would see me now, would they?