War Takes Its Toll

Doors of Death

Piper's POV

I remember that day clearly. We were wondering around in the House if Hades, hoping against hope and praying to every god we could think of that our friends were on the other side of those doors.

We were fighting a bunch of monsters when Leo and Hazel got cut off from us. "Leo!" I screamed at the same time Frank called Hazel's name.

Jason turned me to look at him. "We will find them. But right now, we need to focus on the battle. We need to kill all these monsters, okay Pipes?"

I nodded and joined in the fight. I was filled with a steely determination. I was not going to let these monsters harm my friends. I was proud to say that not one lived to tell the tale.

I remember coming to Hazel and Leo's aid and seeing the Doors Of Death. I remember feeling small and insignificant standing beside them.

I glanced at Leo and sobbed in relief. He was trying to take care of Percy and Annabeth. She was lying there, staring at the ceiling, but Percy was still unconscious. Oh gods, I thought, is he dead?

Leo was struggling to force-feed him ambrosia. I turned from the scene and joined my friends in destroying the giant guarding the doors.

"The chains," someone rasped behind me, "you gotta cut the chains." Of course! The chains were holding the doors in place. I rushed forward and sliced through the thick chains.

I realized Annabeth had spoken. She was propped up on her elbows, half watching us and half watching Percy who was mumbling "Bob Bob Bob" deliriously.

Soon enough the battle was done and both Percy and Annabeth were on their feet. I ran forward tackling Annabeth in a hug. I let out a sob. I was so worried!

That's when things started to go wrong. I noticed Annabeth was wheezing and I gave her some more ambrosia.

I looked over to Percy. He looked horrible. Open wounds covered his body and he too was struggling to breath. Jason tried to approach him, but he backed away quickly looking terrified.

"Hey, Perce, we're your friends. We're not going to hurt you. You're out now." Jason said and I was surprised by how soothing his voice was.

Annabeth looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Help me get to him." She whispered.

Together we hobbled over and once she was close enough, Annabeth fell towards Percy and wrapped him in a hug. She whispered soothing words in his ear and he slumped against her.

She looked startled. "Woah, hey, Seaweed Brain! Guys I don't think he's breathing!"

Horror was written on all of our faces as we scrambled forward to help. Nico leaned forward, putting his head on Percy's chest.

"He's still breathing, but barely. We need to get him to the ship now!"

Frank scooped him up and we ran, Hazel in the lead, towards the ship.

For the days following, Percy was terrified of everything that moved. We still have no idea what happened down there that could be so horrible, but we could imagine.

I remember when Percy finally woke up two days after we got back on the ship from the House of Hades.

Annabeth hadn't left Percy's side and she sat holding his hand when he warily opened his eyes.

They looked void of happiness and mirth. His eyes filled with a sudden terror and he started to whimper, searching the room for threats. He obviously didn't recognize where he was.

Annabeth ribbed his hand and kissed his forehead, whispering soothing things and he calmed down.

I rushed out of the infirmary to tell the others that he woke up. I ran into the mess hall, but found no one there.

I then dashed onto the deck. Leo was at the helm and Nico at the mast. Jason and Frank sat on the deck playing rock-paper-scissors for some reason and Hazel was playing referee.

"He's awake!" I practically screamed as everyone jumped up. I giggled excitedly and turned on my heals, leaping down the stairs to the infirmary.

Everyone gathered around Percy and I soon realized this was not a good idea. Everyone started talking at once and Percy's calm expression shattered into one of pain and terror.

He scrambled backwards and pressed himself as far as he could go against the wall. "Guys stop you're scaring him!" The room got quiet. "Sorry, man." Leo muttered.

"Percy," Hazel soothed, "we're friends, remember? We're all friends here. You can trust us. We're not going to hurt you."

He calmed down visibly at her words and nodded. "So," Jason said, "you okay bro?"

"Sure." Percy rasped. "What kinda answer is that?" Leo joked. Annabeth cut him off with a glare. "We'll be okay." She said quietly, retaking his hand. "So what did we miss?" She asked, attempting to change the topic.

Leo went on to explain their adventures and we fell into a comfortable silence. Things would be okay.

Or so we thought. Now Percy's sick and we don't know what to do.

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It all started when he was in Tartarus and we didn't really notice any symptoms once on the ship. Two months after the war and something changed. He seemed different somehow, but I couldn't put my finger on it. He still had the same attitude, the same smile.

At this point, Leo had already returned from Ogygia with Calypso. Everything was finally peaceful. We had decided to all stay at Camp Half-Blood for the school year and enjoy some time off.

We were just playing a harmless(sort of) game of Truth or Dare when things got a little out of control.

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Hello people. That was the official first chapter of War Takes It's Toll. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned to find out what happens to Percy. Remember to vote and comment and check out my other stories on my profile page. So far I've got Olympian Games(completed), When The Dark Swallows You Whole(completed), She Keeps To Herself(completed), and New York Isn't Big Enough For The Both Of Us. And of course this one. Hope you enjoy. Have a great day. See ya demigods:)