Clockwork

28

A hush fell over the camp, wondering what the hell Annabeth was talking about. She was in the middle of the camp in tears, crying and chanting how she 'killed her'. 'Her' as in Kai.
Kai looked terrified, which was understandable.

Percy didn't know if she noticed him or not, but Percy didn't care. He made his way to the infirmary, and all of the children were still there, lifeless and unmoving, and some of them still had their eyes open. "Clockwork, you can't come busting in like that! There are patients!" Will scolded. "Sorry." Percy apologized.

"Well, you're here and from the looks of it, there's something going on out there that I don't want to get involved in. Will said, peeking through the blinds. "How are they?" Percy asked.

Will frowned and took a deep inhale before letting it out quickly. "Not well. Sixteen and Six, ages 9 and 3 respectively, are being cared for at Camp Jupiter. But, seeing as Sixteen had to travel to get there, the poor kid's condition is worse than the other. He hasn't opened his eyes in days." Will said worriedly. He was constantly checking on their vitals, especially the younger ones.

"Are they awake?" Percy asked, looking at Four. The infant had his eyes half-open, his breathing sounding rough and labored. "Yes and no. I suppose they're conscious, but they can't give us any signs that they are."

Will looked troubled, and it made Percy remember that Will was the head doctor at camp, and he was in charge of everything. What happens to a doctor when he meets something he can't heal?

"Is there any particular reason you came here?" The son of Apollo sighed. Percy decided that right now wasn't the time to tell him what Amanda had said, that all of the Twenty were going to die, even Twenty if she didn't do what she was told. Instead, he said, "I want to see Nineteen."

Will gave a small smile. "Nineteen talked about you a lot. He admires you, and you care for him. Are you sure you're a robot?" Percy nodded his head slightly. "Mostly, Mr. Solace- di Angelo," Percy said. Will gave Percy a look, before nodding towards the small boy, who was laying in a bed, his brown eyes laying half-open. His eyes had always had a strange intensity to them, but Percy noticed how dim and tired they looked now. He was staring at something, but he wasn't really looking at anything. His eyes were just open, fixated on a spot that held no purpose. Percy wondered if he was even aware if Percy was in the room.

His breaths were small and almost nonexistent, and his heartbeat was irregular and slow. That was when Percy noticed something on his neck. A scar. It twisted from the side of his neck to the back.

"Will, can you lift Nineteen? Just a little?" Percy asked Will. "Clockwork, I don't know how that would affect him--" "But lifting him up might give us a clue as to what is going on. Did he have any scars on his neck before the illness?" Percy asked the son of Apollo. "No, he didn't," Will said. "Look at his neck," Percy said.

Will sighed. He bent down and gently lifted Nineteen to examine the back of his neck. "What? This wasn't even here yesterday." Will said. "What is it? Can you tell what made it?" Percy asked. "It looks like someone branded him with the number 19. Check the others." Will ordered.

Percy checked Eighteen and Fourteen and frowned at the number on the backs of their neck. Each of the children that he checked had the number that they were named after burned on the back of their necks. But Four seemed to have a bad reaction to it. The burn on his neck was deeper than the others, but Percy saw no blood. The others looked healed, but Four's looked swollen and painful.

"That looks like... An allergic reaction. Something must be causing it, and I need to extract it or Four will die." Will said. "Go get my siblings, I want all the doctors here. Thank you Clockwork, I wouldn't have noticed until it was probably too late."

Percy nodded before leaving the infirmary, making sure he told every Apollo kid he saw to go to the infirmary and help out.

Annabeth wasn't in Percy's sight anymore, but the camp was still as tense as they had been before Percy entered the infirmary. Kai was still out, and she was scared, a traumatized expression on her face.

Percy frowned, looking down at the child. "What is the matter? What was Annabeth talking about?" Percy asked the surrounding campers that consisted of Jason and his son, Leo, and Calypso and their daughter, Nico with his adopted Tyche son, a few Aries kids including Clarisse, and the Stoll brothers. And then there was Chiron.

"She was just explaining how much of a murderer she is." Sherman Yang said. Clarisse silenced him with a look. "It's a camp issue that we'd like to keep private." She said. Nico looked mildly uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything. Percy decided to interrogate him later, seeing as to everyone but Nico was just a machine sending information to the gods.

"But, for that very same issue, we don't believe that the child would be safe with us," Chiron said, looking at the little girl with an apologetic smile. "Because, it seems, that there are monsters here that can get through our boundaries without breaking them." He said, throwing a meaningful look at the Athena cabin. "I've already requested an audience with lady Artemis, and--"

Clockwork. One is being born, the mortal is dying and Eileithyia hasn't even done anything to delay the birth. The way the child is being born is... that child is not like any demigod I've seen. I'll flash you to Apollo's palace.

Hephaestus cut the connection after that, and Percy could do nothing but frown when he was instantly transported to Apollo's palace, looking at--

"What the actual--" Percy cut himself off. The mortal's skin was peeling off, she was skinny and frail, her blonde hair thinned out and stringy. Her eyes were rolled to the back of her head, and she was ghost pale. So this was Violet Newberry, or what was left of her. That pregnancy quite possibly drained the life and soul out of her.

But her swollen belly, the big, bruised swollen stomach had something in there that wanted to get out. There was something trying to claw its way out, and Percy could make out three individual fingers as they scraped from the inside.

Percy watched as the thing ripped a hole through her stomach but the hole closed itself back together almost immediately. "Apollo has been healing the mortal's wounds every time it breaks through," Hephaestus said. "Is she still alive?" Percy asked, looking at the woman. "Yes, because like I said, Apollo is healing her. And Dionysus knocked her out." Hephaestus answered.

"I called you here because we don't know what that thing is, nor how strong it is. We may or may not need to kill it." Hephaestus said looking at the swollen bump that held an unknown creature. "I don't know, but I feel like a certain goddess is responsible for this," Percy muttered to himself.

Percy didn't know why exactly; maybe the thing got tired of trying the same old strategy to get out and managed to overpower Apollo, maybe there was a weak spot in Apollo's power to keep the thing from escaping since he also had to keep Violet Newberry alive, or maybe not even Apollo could predict it, but that didn't change what Percy saw.

Percy saw a toddler, with razor-sharp teeth, dirt-encrusted skin, and small pointed claws climb its way out of its mother's throat and dive headfirst out of Apollo's window. Percy didn't fail to notice the green hills in its eyes with black skies behind it.

One was born, and Percy could think of a few ways on how he could begin Doomsday.

And that's the end of this part. Ayeee I'm early yayyyy! What'd you think? Yes, I have yet to reveal the truth about Kai and Annabeth, but mkay. Any theories about One? Imma give you a hint: he's more than just 'One' in that prophecy. Well Imma go,
               DemonsFromAbove