Asylum

On Percy's past and talking to the sun

It was dark in my dream.

I couldn't really see anything.

The light that always followed appeared rather quickly, and that annoying voice came too.

"This new place is a dump." It grumbled. I sighed.

"I rather like it here." I decided. It scoffed.

"You only like it because you're the center of attention. Four boys this time? That's a new record. Congratulations." It sounded so sarcastic. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't they know? You are the Queen of Hearts. You're here to break and destroy. No good comes out of you." It muttered. I let a smile break out on my face.

It's true. That's all I really do anyways. I'm a heartbreaker.

And a darn good one at that.

"So... Leo Valdez, Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, and Nico DiAngelo..." It trailed off.

Here's where things get a bit strange.

You see, for some reason... I dream about people's pasts. I see them in third person, as someone outside, looking on. Like a movie. But in person.

It's really weird.

Especially when it's children from an insane asylum's past.

"How bout this Percy kid?" It decided. The light neared me, and I shivered.

Percy's parents had beaten him.

Did I really want to watch this?

But I was too late, the light had already engulfed me. I could hear voices, angry voices.

I blinked a couple times as I looked around, taking this scene in.

"Where is that little piece of crap?" A man- short and round, really ugly, with food stains on his shirt and a beer bottle in his hand- was sitting in a raggedy easy chair.

"I dunno, darling, must be out with that gang of his." A woman that was tall, thin- beautiful actually, Percy probably got his looks from her- was sitting on a stained couch, a cigarette dangling from her fingers. The man's ugly eyes narrowed, and he seemed to get angrier.

The door opened then, and a different Percy, one that didn't look anything at all like the Percy I had met today. His hair was longer, more rugged, and he had this aura to him that said- mess with me and you'll wish you had never lived. One of his hands were stuffed in his baggy jeans, and when the other was visible from behind his back, you could see the knuckle braces on them.

He was a fighter even before he came to the asylum.

"Where have you been?" His father asked, enraged. Percy shrugged.

"Out." He said simply. His father stood up, rolling back his sleeves.

"You won't be going anywhere for the next couple of days." His father threatened. Percy raised an uninterested eyebrow.

"Why not?" He asked, feigning innocence. His father was right up in his face now.

"Because I'm gonna knock you into next week-!" His father growled. Percy didn't seem any more interested.

He just stood there.

His father took a swing, clipping Percy in the cheek. I covered my eyes. I didn't want to watch this.

I listened to his father grunt with the effort of each punch, but I never heard Percy make a sound. He just took it.

When I opened my eyes, Percy was laying on the ground, bleeding from his mouth, with a bruise forming over his eye. I gasped at the gruesome sight, hiding behind my fingers when his father stepped on his chest, making a sickening crunch as Percy's ribs snapped under the pressure.

My stomach roiled. It hurt to watch. I didn't want to watch it.

No more.

"No more!" I screamed.

The darkness took me again.

"What about Nico's past? Or Jason's? Or Leo's? Don't you want to know?" The voice taunted, almost cackling with glee. I shook my head. No more. No more!

"Just leave me be!" I shouted, sitting up in bed.

Well, at least I was awake.

It was still dark outside, and the clock they had given me read 3:48. There was no chance of going back to bed now. I decided to roam a bit, stake out my new 'habitat'.

I slipped out of my room, my socked feet silent on the tiled floor. I walked around the first floor, where I resided. There were a total of six activity rooms and one movie theater open at the moment. Leo was right, four of the ten activity rooms were closed.

Nice going.

I'm starting to like this kid.

I went up the stairs to find another floor of bedrooms. Nothing special.

The third floor wasn't a floor. It was the roof.

I'd been in too many asylums to count. What was up with asylums and open roofs? At least this one had a fence around it. The last one I was at got one after someone jumped off.

I sat down, watching the sun peek out from behind the trees. Yellow, gold, pink, and red spilled from behind the dark outline of jade trees. It was beautiful. If I ever left, this will be the thing I remember.

I looked around, and on finding no one else in sight, I decided to vent.

"Do you ever wonder what else is out there?" I started, talking to the sun. "I mean, sure, you've seen it all. You go around the world every day, while I'm stuck here for who knows how long..." I sighed.

"I’m not even going to be here for that long. I was only at the last asylum for a week. No friends, no food... It was all my choice though. It's not like they could make me stop hallucinating." I twirled my hair in my fingers.

"But the ones before that… In the beginning… Those were the longest stays I've ever had. A whole year. And I still only made one friend. One. She was so shy, they were astounded that she even came near me. She was perfect. She was an angel." I squinted at the sun.

"How many angels have you seen around, watching over people and preventing disaster?" I questioned. The sun seemed to shine brighter. That seemed like a good enough answer.

"Thing is... I'm not an angel. I've got demons on my tail. They're coming soon... They're getting close, I can feel it. That last institute wasn't far enough away- it only took them a week. Let's see how long it takes for them to drag me to hell this time." I groaned, my eyes smarting from the light of the sun.

"Plus... I've never known anything but asylums. Can you believe the schizophrenia started when I was four? You weren't even there when they dragged me to my first institute. It was raining so hard that day... As if the sky was crying with me." I tried not to think too hard on that.

My family's betrayal was the last thing I wanted to think about.

"I've been alone ever since then... Everyone I tried to make friends with were fake. The minute something weird would happen... I didn't matter anymore. I was forgotten." I scowled.

"People are so shallow. You have to be perfect to be with them. Don't they understand?" I pleaded with the sun. "I’m not perfect. I'm nowhere close."

"Ever since then, I've hated anyone who looked at me. It doesn't matter what you say, even if you don't mean to, inside, you're judging me. But that's okay. Because I'm judging you too. You'll forget me like all the others did." I looked down at the tar of the roofing.

"I am the lost. I am the forgotten. Nothing lasts forever- especially not me. There's no point anymore. I'm just living, I guess." I looked back up at the only one who would listen.

"I guess it's sad that I'm talking to the sun, but what can you do? No one else will listen." I sighed, taking a deep breath and letting it out. The morning air felt good in my lungs.

"Tell me about it." A gruff voice sounded, a body plopping down beside me.

I looked up, surprised.