Percy Jackson:The Mountain Climbers

I'm Going Home: Percy

When I woke up, it felt like I was back home.

I opened my eyes slowly, as I adjusted myself into a sleeping position which proved to be difficult, considering that the broken vertebra on my spine was healing. As I looked down at my bunk, I noticed that someone had thrown on several blankets on top of me. As I looked around, I saw that everyone was missing their blankets and I realized that they had given them to me.

For a moment, I thought that the whole scene was too real to be true - I had made it back, barely in one piece. But thanks to Jason and Frank, I had been saved time before the blood poisoning in my lower calf had took my life. According to Reyna, my heart stopped for a moment and she had to perform CPR on me. I nearly choked on that part, but I realized that the daughter of Bellona had saved my life.

I sighed through my nose, feeling comfortable which was ironic, considering how much pain I was still in. My left arm was healed, but it somehow felt numb up to the point where I couldn't even feel it. My leg was wrapped in a hard case so I would have to be in crutches for maybe a week or more, until the ambrosia kicks in and heals my leg completely. The blood poisoning was history, since Clarisse and the medics had managed to erase it, so there was no panic in me dying anytime soon.

The feel of the mattress and the pillows behind my head made me want to go back to sleep again but I knew I had slept long enough. Plus, I didn't want to sleep for a while - being near Tartarus again was causing some pretty bad memories to come back to me and the last thing I needed was more nightmares to come. That would just make Annabeth even more worried.

Annabeth...who I would see in few days at most. 

I felt so excited that I couldn't even stop my good leg from shaking. I was going home back to Annabeth, and I would actually get the chance to live the rest of my life with her and our son. I was so happy at the thought that I got myself a headache thinking about it so much.

Just then, Jason came over looking like he hadn't slept the whole night. He was carrying a bowl that was filled with something. As Jason got closer to my bunk bed, I got a whiff of the stuff and I found out that it was actually porridge with sugar on top - something that I would normally have for Thursday breakfast if I was at Camp Half-Blood.

"Here you go Perce," the son of Jupiter said, passing over the bowl. The warmth of the bowl instantly heated my hands up. At that point, I hadn't realized how cold my hands were. "Eat up."

I did as he said and I slowly ate the porridge, enjoying the hot sensation as it went down my throat and into my stomach, getting rid of the hunger I felt for days on end through this whole experience. In no time, I practically devoured every spoonful of oaty goodness and leaned back on the soft pillows feeling satisfied for the first time in days.

"Feeling better?" Jason asked, a small smile on his face.

I didn't say anything, but I did nod.

As I looked at him, I saw how tired he was - he had dark patches under his eyes like he had been in a boxing ring; his hair was ruffled up as if it were blown by the wind and his skin was very pale as if he had a tonne of snow dumped on him.

He picked up the now empty bowl and placed it on the table. He sat down next to me on a nearby chair. He must've sat there for while, checking on me.

"How long have you been sitting there Jay?" I asked.

"For a while," he admitted. "Nico and I have been taking turns for the majority of the night. We had to make sure you're heart didn't fail again and if that were to happen again Reyna would've gotten over to you and perform CPR on you again."

I shuddered. "She's grateful that Annabeth isn't here. She would've kicked her ass if she did that again."

Jason laughed so much at that point that I found myself joining in. I missed it - being able to crack jokes with my friends even though I'm in bad shape. And I knew I was going to be fine because at this time tomorrow, because we're the only people here at Base Camp, the gods were going to teleport us back home.

I was going to see Annabeth again.

I was waking up the next day, feeling slightly better than before and Clarisse and Nico was at my side ready to support me in case I collapsed standing.

"Take it nice and steady now Percy," Nico said anxiously. "We don't need any other injuries now, do we?"

"Oh shut up," I grumbled. As soon as I stood up, I felt woozy and dizzy because as soon as I stood on my wounded leg it shot tendrils of pain up the femur bone and muscles. I would've fallen back down on the bunk bed if Nico and Clarisse hadn't caught me.

"Whoa!" Clarisse exclaimed, catching me under my armpit. She hoisted me back up on my good leg as I kept my bad leg off the ground. "You're gonna have to stay off that leg for a week or two. If it's causing you that amount of pain that makes you feel that dizzy that you can't stand, then you need to keep it off the ground."

"Anything else Doc?" I sarcastically said. 

Clarisse scolded. "Be thankful that I'm helping you punk. Otherwise I would beat you to a pulp."

Jason came over with a pair of crutches. "We best get ready - they'll be picking us up in a moment."

I took the crutches from him and started limping forward out of the tent. As soon as all of us got outside, there was a bright light that enveloped us and next thing we knew it, our surroundings changed from the icy plains of the Himalayas to the white marble stones of Olympus.

To precise, we were standing in the Throne Room of the gods and right there in front was Thunder Brain himself. Along with several other of the gods, who greeted me.

Athena came over shaking my hand. "Good to see you Perseus."

My father gave me an encouraging nod, letting me know that he was there.

"Welcome back nephew," Zeus greeted. He wore his normal pinstripe suit as usual, and he gave me such a wide smile that looked so genuine and kind. Though he did give me a nervous look, probably remembering that I said a lot of swear words.

I limped up to him and punched him in the nose.

Everyone was shocked. They pulled me back before Zeus even recovered from doubling over. He stood up, stunned as he had to wipe ichor away from his nose. 

"What was that for?" he exclaimed. 

"For sending me to Nepal and nearly getting me killed," I growled, gripping my crutches tightly.

When our meeting with the gods ended - the usual "We thank you for your bravery and courageous spirits" crap Jason, Nico, Reyna and Frank helped me walk towards my house as soon as we returned to Camp Jupiter. I found myself extremely anxious to reach Annabeth - to hold her, see her face and kiss her.

Jason stood to my right, with one hand on my back in order to support me. There wasn't any need for it because I could walk fine with the support of the crutches. Though I did appreciate the help he gave me.

We stopped a few metres away from the front door, looking wistfully at the huge house that Annabeth had designed. My heart pounded against my rib cage - I was home, the familiar comfort stirring in my chest. 

Nico and Reyna came forward. "Go on you two - this is yours. The quest ends here," Reyna said, smiling as Nico wrapped his arms around her waist.

Jason and I nodded our thanks and walked forward, limping for me and gingerly for Jason as his ribs were still slightly sore.

The last thing I remember before Jason and I were engulfed by our girlfriends was Annabeth's voice whispering the words that made me feel like I was home:

"Seaweed Brain."