The Incoming Hero

A New World

'Where am I?'

That was Percy's first thought as he groggily rolled onto his belly so he could push himself up. His limbs felt like lead and some of the cuts were still slightly bleeding. He checked his pockets for any ambrosia or nectar, but he only found Riptide. He at least had the comfort of knowing that he could defend himself with his trustworthy weapon.

He sat back on his haunches, leaning against a tree as he tried to think of where he was and how to get back. The last thing he remembered was falling through the ground after Gaea wished him 'good luck' as she sent him to her payback.

He pushed himself off the ground and leaned heavily against a tree to catch his breath. He was still extremely sore and tired from the battle and the fall didn't help him one bit. He was about to fall off his feet in exhaustion as a wave of drowsiness washed over him. Percy suspected he had about 30 minutes before he would just fall over asleep and wanted to at least find a semi-safe place to rest.

Thinking a pond or lake would be safe in an unknown area, he stretched out his senses for a body of water. Percy slumped against the tree in relief sensing a pond only five minutes away. However, considering his exhausted and hurt state it might take the whole 30 minutes.

Percy steeled his nerves for the pain he knew would come in his legs before stumbling through the dense forest. He was actually quite happy that the trees were so close together to always have one to lean on, but the roots sticking out of the ground made him stumble several times.

When he finally reached the water source, he saw the pond was about 30 feet in diameter and 8 feet deep. It was a relatively clear pond so anyone could see him if they looked at the bottom but he doubted anybody would be walking around in this forest.

He slid himself into the water and floated towards the middle before allowing himself to sink to the bottom. There was surprisingly no marine life in the pristine water but he was okay without being hammered with 'My Lord!' or praise in general. He much preferred the calm silence he had now at the bottom of the pond.

As his body slowly shut down into a healing daze and his mind clouded up, shifting to sleep, he thought about how he was going to find his way back to his friends and family when he had no clue where he was. Gaea apparently sent him here as payback, which most likely meant it would be a long time until he would be able to return. For now, he would just focus on healing himself and getting a full rest to be prepared for the challenges ahead. Who knew when he would get to rest so peacefully again?

It didn't take long for him to fall into a deep, undisturbed slumber. No dreams haunted him as the evening turned into night. The quiet forest only containing a few cricket sounds through the night didn't even reach the sleeping demigod as he rested in his father's domain. He smiled in his slumber at the feeling of safety the water provided him, subconsciously wishing he could experience this wonderful feeling with someone else.

~~~

As Percy came back to awareness, the first thing he noticed was how well rested he was. He hadn't felt that way since the beginning of the war. He always had something he was worrying about and never in a safe place to just rest. He looked around in the clear water and a small smile found its way onto his face. Yes, he definitely felt safe here.

However, he knew he couldn't stay in the water so he swam to the bank. He pulled himself out of the water with only slightly sore muscles and decided to do some stretches to work out the kinks and not feel them even worse later on.

After his five minute stretching session, he spread out his senses to look for any more bodies of water but couldn't feel anything within his range. Since the trees blocked the direction of the sun he couldn't even direct himself with that. Shrugging and choosing a random direction, he started walking through the forest.