I'm Still Here (Rewrite)

Nightmares

Over the next six weeks, several appointments with Apollo were made, Will and Nico having gone on a quest in return for his help.

The three of them made weekly trips to Sally and Paul's apartment, Sally about a month away from her due date.

Percy was excited, he was going to get a little sibling.

By now, most of Camp Half-blood knew, Clarisse deciding that after the baby was born and Percy was back on his feet, he was to train with her seeing as he couldn't currently.

Percy had agreed, mindful of the spear in her hands, his arms around his midsection.

They were all getting nightmares still, the majority of them revolving around Percy and the baby.

They weren't the only ones, most demigods reporting their dreams to be centred around Percy. Whether they're stood on the sidelines watching him get tortured, or their the ones to plunge the knife into his stomach. Either way, several campers had been traumatized, a few insisting on apologising to Percy despite their dreams being fake.

Training Week happened more frequently, an excuse for the others to come over and check on them.

Once, Leo had paraded around with a 'PERCY JACKSON IS A BOTTOM' flag, only to return to his room that night with a black eye.

Leo didn't like Training Week as much anymore.

Nico woke up shaking, searching the sheets for Percy.

He didn't find him, stomach dropping.

He got out of bed, still unable to find Percy. He couldn't find Will either.

Tears streamed down his face, his breathing heavy.

He heard a heave coming from the bathroom, as if someone was throwing up.

He ran towards the bathroom, throwing the door open.

He found Percy slumped against the toilet, coughing up blood, a knife wound in his stomach.

Nico gasped horrified, the sound alerting Percy of his presence.

Percy turned to look at him, looking down at Nico's hand before looking towards the wall, Will's body laying on the floor.

He had a knife wound in his stomach, just like Percy, as if he'd tried to take the knife for him.

Percy looked back at Nico's hand once more before coughing more blood into the toilet.

Nico prayed to every god he could think of that Percy didn't mean what he though he meant.

Reluctantly, Nico looked down at his hand, finding it covered in blood. Nico couldn't help the scream that tore through his throat, feeling like a monster.

Percy awoke to the sound of screaming, turning to find Nico thrashing around in Will's hold.

Will looked panic, tears sliding down his face.

Percy took a deep breath, moving towards Nico and grabbing his hand, rubbing his knuckles as he pried his fingers away from his palm.

He gulped, the sight of blood dripping down Nico's palm suddenly making him feel sick.

He pushed past it, doing the same to Nico's other hand before swiping his thumb across Nico's forehead, hoping to calm him.

Will took ahold of Nico's hands, limiting his movement.

Percy exhaled as he dodged a kick from Nico, a hand on his now slightly swollen belly.

Nothing he tried was working. Nico had started shouting Percy's name, sounding distressed.

Percy looked hopelessly over at Will, eyes wide.

Will's eyebrows furrowed before he pulled Percy close, wrapping Nico's arms around him.

Percy lay still, feeling Nico's arms tighten around him as he stopped shouting, barely fidgeting.

Will sighed, he'd been trying to calm Nico down for twenty minutes now.

This nightmare seemed worse than his others, a lot harder to bring him out of.

Nico's eyes opened slowly, staring straight at Percy's concerned expression.

He sighed in relief, feeling Will behind him.

He shuffled closer to Will, dragging Percy with him.

Percy complied, happy to do anything for Nico after hearing his screams.

Nico's breathing was laboured, his head buried in Percy's neck.

He hated nightmares, he really did.