Who I Truly Am

Ch. 11 *Edited*

Percy POV:

When we get back to camp, everyone seems to have a question. I can tell Jordan isn't liking the attention, I know the feeling. I don't want them to burst into flames again. Chiron seems to notice this and speaks up.

"Later, children, let them rest. Facing The Olympians is not an easy task," Chiron dismisses the crowd. The crowd slowly disperses, and I see Annabeth glance at us. I stare at her, trying to send her a message that I'll talk to her about what happened. "Percy, Jordan, Mr. D, will explain what happened."

"Thanks, Chiron," I grab Jordan's hand, and we head off. I drop Jordan off at their cabin, and I head to mine.

I take a deep breath, the scent of the sea filling my nose. It's relaxing. I sit down on my bed and rest my head on my hands. I need an explanation of what's happening to me. We leave for the quest in the morning on the Argo II, the Hephaestus kids, and Annabeth have rebuilt it. When Leo found out, he immediately went to work on it, modifying and adding Festus back to the ship. I lay down in bed and try to relax. I try to focus on the fountain running, listening to the waterfall in a melodic flow.

I hear a soft knock at the door. Did Annabeth get my message? I roll out of my bed, landing on the ground with a thud, but before I could make it to the door, Jordan bursts in. Tears stream down their face, I open my arms for a much-needed hug.

"What's wrong?" I ask softly. "Bad dream?"

Jordan nods and buries their head in my shoulder. I pick them up and set them on my bed. I can hear the harpies scratching at the door; they must've seen Jordan. I rub Jordan's back to calm them down, which seems to help.

Eventually, they fall back asleep. I grab a pillow and blanket from one of the other beds and get situated on the floor. It's not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. I listen to Jordan's even breathing pattern and sync mine with it. In. Out. In. Out. I keep my eyes on a fake fish that hangs on the ceiling until sleep consumes me.

I slowly come to my senses; I'm back on Kullimkien by the looks of it. Though I'm in an office, a hologram of the universe in front of me, I couldn't control my actions. Sydney walks into the room.

"You promised to — —," My mind fuzzes, I couldn't focus on what was happening. I watch as I stand up and get close to Sydney. I hear muffled words come out of my mouth. Why can't I tell what they're saying? What is going on? I try to think of what could be obstructing this dream from me. All I want is answers! Why can I never get them?

I dig through the past few days, thinking of what could be causing this dream to slip from me. Something sticks out: the liquid Chiron and Dionysus distributed to us. Wasn't mine slightly different? It was for a potential outbreak. How could there be an outbreak with no one coming into camp? Except for Jordan, I guess, but this was before they got to camp. No one that I know of was sent to the infirmary due to an illness.

When I'm able to clear my head, I'm sitting in a cell. Definitely not on Kullimkein anymore. I look around, concrete walls with one barred one. There are cells across from me, guards walking back and forth. Are those demigods? Am I on Earth? Before I could move around or look around more, my vision blurred again. I try to focus on the cell, a figure walks up, and I can hear muffled talking. Man, that liquid is messing with my brain.

I pull myself awake and check the time. 5:00 am. It's early, so I decide to pack. I shove some clothes into it and other necessities. Adding a notebook if I want to scribble anything down because it's just gathering dust in my cabin. The sun is peeking out of the horizon and the Apollo cabin must be getting up. According to Will, Apollo blasts music at dawn, no wonder he stays in Hades' cabin most of the time. One morning the Apollo cabin freaked out because Will wasn't in the cabin in the morning, but the cabin only panicked when he wasn't there at lunch. We had found him in the Hades cabin that afternoon, sleeping in a pile of pillows and blankets next to Nico, Myth-o-Magic cards scattered on the floor in front of them.