Given to Fly (PJ/MR Crossover)

Book 1: Chapter VII

A/N:  Here's Percy (and a little surprise POV) for you all. Enjoy. ;)

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Perseus

I was really starting to hate cages. If I ever got a pet (besides Mrs. O'Leary, of course), I swore that I would never force it into one of these prison cells. Seriously, how could dogs handle it? I was about ready to blow my head off. Of course, animals probably didn't have a bad case of ADHD, making it almost physically painful to sit still for long - but still.

So, when I woke up to find myself shoved in my four-by-four jail once again, let's just say that I was not a happy camper (pun fully intended). My entire body ached like I had gone another round with the Minotaur - and lost.

My head throbbed mercilessly, and my throat felt ripped to shreds. The spots on my back and ribs where the cattle prod had been jammed into were especially sore; looking down, I could see the raw flesh through little burnt holes in my now not-so-white shirt. I guess I could add them to my ever-growing collection of scars. More than anything I wished that I had some ambrosia right now, or even just some water.

Chuckles chose that very moment to bust through the steel door and, like my own personal fairy godmother, plop a plastic tray on the ground near my cage. On it was some unidentifiable slush and a small paper cup filled with dingy water. I expected him to say, 'Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo,' but instead what came out was a snarling, "Bon appetite," before he stomped back out. Oh well, close enough.

After the door slammed shut behind the guy, I snatched up the little cup and greedily chugged it down...only to end up choking on it. As I started coughing up my lungs, panic seized me. Being the son of the sea god, I had never choked on water before. It wasn't supposed to be possible! I mean, I've seen other people have water go down the wrong pipe, but it never happened to me personally. What was going on here? First I couldn't call on the water around me, and now I couldn't breathe underwater? Most importantly, why had my powers chosen now of all times to malfunction? I was almost beginning to believe that Tyche had a grudge against me. Though in my defense, I had truly thought that it was a feast for Tuna, not trying to insult her Roman festival or anything.

"You okay?" The unexpected voice caused me to jump slightly, banging my head on the roof of the cage. My hand automatically went to my pocket, only to realize that I no longer had pockets and that Riptide was currently MIA. My green eyes searched the virtual twilight until they stopped on the skinny girl in the cage diagonal from mine. I coughed once more before answering.

"Um, yeah, I think so." My voice was rough from the lack of liquids for so long and my recent choking fit. I glanced at the now half empty cup in my hands before flickering my gaze back to the strange girl. "Do you want the rest? When was the last time you drank something?" I tried to hand her the paper cup through the iron bars of my cage, but she shook her head and shrunk away.

"No thankssss. You probably need it more."

After trying once more to offer her the cup, I shrugged and downed the rest. As the cool liquid washed over my dry throat, I had to stifle a moan. This must be what true bliss feels like. However, the water didn't give me that immediate power boost like it always did. Not only that, but the liquid did nothing to satisfy my thirst; it almost seemed to make make throat drier. I felt like my very own element had betrayed me.

Once I swallowed the last drop, I moved on to the grayish-brown mush. Was this supposed to be food? It looked worse than my school's 'Mystery Meat Monday'. I shoveled a few bites in my mouth - resisting the urge to gag as soon as it hit my taste buds - before pushing the tray toward the snake girl. She was majorly thin, like, skinnier-than-a-supermodel thin, so I figured she needed the calories.