the weight of the world [a pjo fanfic]

chapter eleven.

Percy waved Nico goodbye. They were borrowing a small boat, similar to the Argo ll, from the Hephaestus' cabin. Nico stared at Percy for a while, and then hugged him timidly. 

A small nagging feeling in the back of his head told him it would be his last. 

--

Percy paced around his cabin. What am I going to do? 
... do I just stay in here for the rest of my life? I can't bear looking Annabeth in the face.

It hurts.

He walked over to his small desk. Inside a drawer, he pulled out a few sheets of paper. He didn't know why, but he began to read them. 

"Seaweed brain!" Percy heard a knock on the door. He raced over and turned the doorknob, coming face-to-face with a beaming Annabeth.

"Wise girl?" She had been in her cabin for 2 days, refusing to come out except to eat or play capture the flag. She proudly held up a few papers.

"What is this?" Percy took it from her hands, trying his best to read her scrawled writing.

"Oh, right. You have dyslexia. Okay, let's go inside first." She ushered him onto the bed and closed the door behind her. He looked at her eyes, which had big eye bags underneath them. He opened his mouth and was about to say something when she cut him off.

"Do you remember controlling poison in Tartarus?" She said seriously. He flinched.

"Yes." He replied shamefully and quietly.

"I was doing some research and if you can control poison, a gas, you must be able to bloodbend."

Percy jumped up from his bed. "Woah, Annabeth, no. I am not doing that. The face you made when I was controlling poison was bad enough." He frowned and she took his hand gently.

"I'm not asking you to bloodbend, I just wanted to conduct some research."

"I guess I'll hear you out. But I really don't like the idea of it, Wise girl."

"Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything you don't want." She grinned and Percy smiled gratefully back. "But this has to come with strings attached, considering how powerful it is. I've never heard of Poseidon being able to bloodbend, but with you, it should be possible." She flipped through her notes. "Right. It should have effects similar to what Nico experiences when using his powers, except a lot more severe. I searched some things up, and-" Percy's ears twitched. Is someone there? He looked around suspiciously. He could swear he saw a hooded figure pass his window. He dashed to the window, pressing his face against the glass. There it was again, a shadow of a cloak. Percy swore and ran out the door. There he was, the cloaked figure. His startling ice blue eyes pierced Percy and left him frozen. He grabbed the edge of his coat and yanked it, disappearing into thin air. Percy snapped out of his transfixation and murmured to himself, "Impossible." Annabeth appeared from behind him.

"Percy? Did you see something?" She asked worriedly. Yes. He tried to bring himself to say, but his mouth wouldn't comply.

"No," He fibbed. "It must have been my eyes playing tricks on me." He smiled sheepishly and took Annabeth's hand, leading her back inside.

"Alright, then. As I was saying, if you use too much at once, you could collapse. Or worse, die. You won't fade away like Nico, but you'll pass out." She shuffled the papers and looked proudly up at her boyfriend, who still wasn't paying attention. "Hey!"