The Unknown Destiny

| Chapter 6 || My New Limbs |

Chapter Six

My New Limbs

*First Person Point of View ~ Perseus*

I have to say, waking up is something that everyone typically does, and in itself, it isn't very thrilling. So, when I say that waking up after being in a coma wasn't unlike any other time I've woken up, I'm telling the truth. What was different about it was how everyone rushed to my bedside and seemed so happy to see me, as if I'd vanished off the face of the earth.

Another thing about waking up and immediately having Artemis by my side was that when I tried to rest my other hand over hers that was clutching one of mine, I realized that there was no hand at the end of my arm. It was a stump, and visually, I saw that, but I could almost feel it. Like any other time, my brain would tell it to move, and I could feel it moving, but physically, there was nothing there.

Strange. I'd always heard about that, but I never realized it was true. Not literally, at least. I'd always thought that if you lost a limb, it would be obvious that the limb was gone, and you wouldn't be able to feel it, but apparently, that wasn't the case.

Then, to top it all off, I also found that half of my leg was missing, too! Luckily, there wasn't anything else...unless Artemis wasn't telling me something, though I'm pretty sure that all my other limbs are accounted for.

"How are you, Percy?" she asked immediately. Looking at her face, I could see clearly that she was worried. All the signs were there. Her eyebrows were furrowed together, causing creases to form on her forehead. Her lips were puckered together in a frown, and the general sparkle in her eyes was dimmer than usual.

"I'm...uh..." I struggled to find my voice and found a glass of water at my lips within seconds. Taking a sip, I muttered a quick "thanks," and said, "I'm feeling okay, I guess. I mean, sure, life as a protector is hard, and I've heard about guardians in the past losing their limbs in the line of duty... I just...I guess I never thought that it would happen to me, you know?"

Artemis nodded, smiling a little, though there were tears in her eyes. "Let's get you to Hephaestus' workshop. He's been working on some prosthetics for you ever since you've been unconscious."

Just then, the chaos began. The door burst open and in spilled Apollo and the rest of the Olympians. It was almost like an avalanche of people, because Apollo almost stumbled and face planted as soon as he came through the door, and I'm pretty sure that the others would've trampled right over him if he had.

"Sorry, sis. I came as fast as I could, but they followed me," Apollo said. He was a little out of breath, if his panting said anything, but not too much. His hair was out of whack, too, which was surprising because he was almost Aphrodite level when it came to his self-grooming.

"Percy!" was cried in unison from the rest of the people in the room, and they immediately all gathered around the room, some smothering Artemis where she sat. Wiggling her way out, she stood near Apollo, and expression of mild annoyance settling in her facial features.

"It's good to see you, too, but please, give me some space," I said, though my voice had become weezy. A terrible pain made itself known in my chest and I gasped dryly, grasping at the front of my hospital gown. In my ears, a loud, fast beeping made itself known and I could tell that my heart rate monitor was going off the charts.

"Okay, Everyone! Back away from my patient! I have to tend to him! Hephaestus, if you could please bring your work here for Percy, I would greatly appreciate it," Apollo announced, holding his arms up from added effect. I nearly laughed at his antics but couched as another wave of pain wrapped around my heart.

The Olympians dispersed, some leaving the room and others summoning chairs and sitting in a large circle around my bed, leaving enough room for Apollo to work. Artemis, however, retook her spot right beside me again, holding my hand. Smiling at her, I squeezed her fingers, trying to express reassurance to her with my eyes and my gentle touch. I would be okay. She didn't have to worry about me all the time; that was my job.

Later, when Hephaestus returned with the new prosthetics, the Olympians were in awe. Hephaestus grinned as he worked alongside Apollo to attach the limbs, connecting the wires within to my nerves and the tendons to my tendons. It was a strange sensation, to say the least as they dug around with the sensitive ends of my leg, and I kind of wondered why they hadn't done this while I was asleep, but I didn't mind.

As they stepped away, the two gods crossing their arms and gazed his me appreciatively. Or, more likely, they gazed at my prosthetic limbs. As for me? I was in awe of the new limbs - both of which were incredibly shiny. Slowly, I wiggled my fingers, just to test them out, and I could almost feel my eyes alight with amazement as the digits did exactly as I expected them to. The only problem was a slight lag, but I'm sure that it would go away as I got used to it. Then, flexing my toes, I could feel the determination course through my body. I swung my legs out to the side and hung both the real and the fake leg over the edge, preparing to stand.

"Percy! Stop," Artemis said, laying a hand on my arm. She pushed me back into my pillows and shoved my feet back under the covers. "Rest. You just came out of a coma and need to get used to life again. Also, your body is still merging with the prosthetics. Hephaestus may be good with machines, but he can't get your body to accept them any faster than he'd like. You can go walking around tomorrow."

Oh. Darn. I really wanted to test them out, but I guess she was right. I had to rest, and, due to the slight lag that my prosthetics still had, it wouldn't be a good idea to try walking unless I wanted to fall flat on my face. I sighed, nodding. "Okay," I said. Turning over in bed, I closed my eyes, flexing my new fingers once more before I was out again.

Word Count: 1106

Average Words Per Chapter: 1730

Word Total: 10, 380

Posted: Saturday, February 24th, 2018

~CSP2708~

*Dylan_Walts*