The Mutated Sea( A Percy Jackson/Maximum Ride Crossover)

Chapter 41✔️

Percy POV
The son of Hades barely had a heartbeat. His face teemed in pale blotches, like an asphyxiation victim.

"I thought you said he was fine!" I told Hazel, as we all came upon the disfigured and bruised figure of Nico.

I took my fingers from atop his slowly pumping aorta, experiencing the cold that stayed on my fingers.

"We found him on the hill and took him here, but he was still conscious," Hazel explained urgently, with a tinge of cold in her voice. "We left him here for five minutes, just to get the two of you. Too bad it took longer than we'd hoped."

I found myself frowning from her indirect accusation. Was she really playing the blame game after being gone for weeks?

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," I muttered with a roll of my eyes, so only Annabeth could hear.

My girlfriend wasn't listening, though. She checked Nico's pupils, and searched his body for anything that might be indicating a problem. From the looks of it, it could've been anything. The scars, bruises, and malnourishment evidenced on my cousin's face seemed meant that it would be harder to find an underlying issue.

Of course, nothing was too hard for a daughter of wisdom.

"He's going into shock," Annabeth determined with confidence. "Leo, inform Chiron of what's going on. Jason and Hazel, get enough blankets to keep him warm. And Perce, fetch me some nectar and ambrosia!"

I obeyed, retrieving a spare bag of the godly food immediately, just as Leo, Hazel and Jason went to do their duties. "How are we going to give him this if he can't swallow by himself?"

Annabeth grabbed the bag and took out a couple of cubes. "We're going to have to inject him."

I looked over at her, questioning how serious she really was. I mulled it over in my head nervously, knowing how risky this procedure could be. As if the situation couldn't get any worse, a certain son of Apollo decided to show his face.

It was Will Solace.

"What's going on?" He noticed my presence and turned to me with a sneer. "Where's Nico?! What have you done with him?!"

"Chill out," I said, barely hiding my look of disgust. "Annabeth's got him right here."

Will shoved past me abruptly and made it to Nico's side. The worried son of Apollo acted on impulse upon the sight, shaking Nico and begging that he got up.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked, voice breaking. "He told me he would be alright."

"Stop touching him, Will," Annabeth said sternly, inspecting needle to make sure it wasn't cracked or broken. She mixed the nectar and ambrosia in a bowl of water until it became a liquid.

The risk of giving Nico too much of the godly food was heavily outweighed by the fact of his impending death.

"What are you doing with that?" Will wondered, eyes widening. "What are you going to do to him?!"

Annabeth had begun placing the mixture into her needle, too deep in concentration to concern herself with any questions.

"She's trying to save him," I said, feeling a small bit of pity for Will. "He can't swallow anything, so this is the only way."

"What if it kills him?" He said darkly.

"He's going to die if we don't do something now," I told him, abandoning any feelings of malice in my voice. "If you can't trust me, trust Annabeth. She knows what she's doing."

"I don't understand. He promised to save Nico from Tartarus," Will said, darting his eyes. "He swore on the Styx."

"Will, who are you talking about?"

He gave me a sour look, as if remembering I was still there.

"Percy, turn his head towards me," Annabeth said. She had the needle full of godly food in a liquid state, ready to be deployed for a fast effect.

I did as she wanted, exposing his neck and jugular.

Annabeth set the instrument at an angle, plunging it into her desired location. The medicine glowed as it entered Nico's bloodstream and throughout the rest of his body.

"Put your hand over the incision," Annabeth told me. "I'm not sure how much it'll bleed."

I nodded, seeing an anxious Will in my peripheral. As soon as Annabeth took the needle out, I placed my hands over Nico's neck.

"It's not too bad," She determined, seeing small amount of blood that ran onto my fingers.

Jason and Hazel made it back, putting blankets over Nico as Annabeth bandaged his neck securely. My hands were covered in red, but I didn't have time to wash them off.

Nico still seemed dead upon first glance, but his heart rate had become steady. Some color decided to come back into his face, signifying that the medicine for demigods was making runs through his system. Will noticed this as well, pulling the covers up to the son of Hades's neck gently.

"He's not going to wake for a while," Annabeth said. "This dose should last for 24 hours. Hopefully he'll be conscious before then."

Will nodded.

"I need some air," He told no one in particular. He got up and left the infirmary tent, taking the exit towards the woods.

"Me, too," I whispered, getting up to follow Will. Annabeth might've noticed my intentions, but didn't comment on it.

Hazel and Annabeth stayed by Nico, and I assumed Jason went elsewhere. Chiron and Leo were making there way over when I exited the infirmary, despite me failing to acknowledge them.

"Percy," Leo yelled, demanding my attention.

He caught up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I turned to face him, hoping this conversation could be quick.

"How's Nico?"

I glanced in the direction I'd been walking, hoping to catch sight of Will and the way he was going.

"Nico's going to be fine," I said, trying to put up a confident face. "He's just going to be dependent on us for a while."

Leo nodded, finding relief in my words.

"So, what are you doing?" He wondered.

I shrugged, trying to hide the impatience I was feeling.

"Something urgent," I said coolly, turning my back to him.

Leo went to follow me, sporting a questioning look.

"Leo, this isn't the time," I said. "I need to take care of something."

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I have something against parts with two to three thousand words these days.