Mystery Iris Messenger

Six

Apollo felt something was off, so he teleported down to Camp. Many campers were talking and laughing almost like the normally would except their laughs today were cold hearted. He noticed many of them were around the infirmary, so Apollo figured this would be the best place to start.

He walked in, shoving his way past demigods to a room with a door closed. Μην ενοχλείτε (not sure how accurate that is since I looked it up on Google Translate, but it's supposed to say 'Do Not Disturb on it) was wrote on it. Not that many were following it. Some of them were trying to open the door. They were shouting some things at whoever was inside then laughing. They were saying some stuff that Apollo wouldn't dare repeat.

Pushing through demigods, he headed to the room. He pushed open the door, being greeted by a bunch of his children surrounding a bed. Nico stood in the corner of the room, glaring at the wall, Apollo assumed was for the crowd outside. "What's going on?" Apollo asked, walking over to Nico, assuming his children were busy.

"Wait a few minutes and see for yourself," Nico scowled. Apollo decided not to argue and turned to face the bed. He could see a tuff of pitch black hair, but then it was gone.

"Is that Percy?" he asked, the words almost failing to get the words out. Nico only nodded, not saying anything. Apollo stiffened a bit.

They stayed where they were. One by one Apollo's sons and daughters began leaving, soon leaving a whole where Apollo could see Percy.

He was in a bad state, to say the least. Pale, tear stained face. Little to no breathing. A few times, Apollo couldn't see his chest moving for a long moment. His arm was still a little bloody, and he assumed that their first priority was getting the wounds closed instead of cleaning the untouched, bloodied skin. A few scars ran up his arm when it hit him what had happened.

"Let me," he spoke up, startling his children. "Based on the way Nico's been glaring at the crowd outside through the door, I'm taking it Percy is close to death." They only nodded, moving aside so Apollo could go up to the bed.

First he closed his eyes, allowing himself to go into Percy's mind.

Percy found himself in a white room, weak, wanting to give up. But he couldn't. It was like his mind wanted to keep going, keep living. "Why can't I just die?" he tried to yell, but his voice broke, leaving it as a broken sob.

"Hey, Percy," he heard. That voice. It was the same one from the Iris Message. The voice of Lester. "Hey, I know you're hurting. But listen to me, you're going to be okay. You're going to get better. Someone's out there, out of your mind, helping you get better. There are people crying because they think you're dead. Nico is ready to murder everyone in camp because they drove you to attempting this. Just stay calm, Percy. Everything will be alright. I promise."

"How do you know?" Percy curled up into a ball. Still, in the outside world, Apollo could sense Percy relaxing even the slightest bit.

"Because I just do," Lester told Percy in his calming voice. "Focus on my voice. You'll get through this. We'll get through this. Trust me."

"But I don't want to keep living," Percy cried. Apollo sensed him tightening back up.

"I know you don't," Lester replied. "I know you don't want to keep living. But you're a wonderful person, Percy. You have to remember that. People are horrible, but you have to see past that. There's no excuse for them, but that's the way it is. Soon you'll be away from them. They'll be out of your life and you can be happy. Doesn't being happy sound nice. Soon you can know who I am, and we can be happy. Okay, Percy? Let me make you happy in the dark life you're living. Just trust me."

Apollo knew Percy was loosened now, so Apollo opened his eyes to see a relaxed Percy in the bed.

"It's going to be okay, Percy," Apollo muttered to the unconscious Percy just for safe measures. "Will, have Nico shadow travel you both to Olympus. There's some special Nectar there. Get some of it. We're going to need it. With a nod of both heads, the two were gone in a second.