The Next Great Prophecy

JASON IV

The first thing he noticed was the pain. His head was killing him. Then he noticed the yelling, which certainly wasn’t helping his headache.

            He slowly opened his eyes. He was on a bed, surprisingly. There were bars all around, and Percy was in the next bed over. That was the source of the yelling.

            Percy’s eyes were closed, like he was sleeping. Which Jason figured he was, in a sense. Which is when he realized Percy was having a nightmare, a bit of an after effect from Tartarus.

            After the two had escaped Tartarus, Annabeth and Percy had spent the first few nights having horrible nightmares and flashbacks. During the day, they never left each other. The solution eventually became that they slept in the same room. It was the only solution the demigods could come up with. They were planning on talking to Chiron when they got back.

            Percy’s screaming only got worse. He began to shake, like he was having a seizure. Jason quickly got up and raced to Percy’s bed.

            “Percy! Perce, wake up! You’re not there, you’re back! WAKE UP!” He grabbed Percy’s shoulder and started to shake him.

            Faster than Jason could follow, he was on the floor, pinned by Percy’s hand around his neck. He couldn’t breathe. He looked up at Percy, whose eyes were open, but unfocused. He managed to choke out, “Percy-“

            Percy’s eyes focused, and Jason saw the terror as he realized what he was doing. He jumped backward, sitting down with his back against the bars. “Jason, I’m so sorry. I-“ He stopped, running his hands through his hair. Jason coughed and sat up.

            “Dude, it’s fine.”

            “I just tried to kill you, how is that fine?” shouted Percy, putting his head in his hands. He looked so guilty, and Jason wasn’t sure what to do.

            “Percy, you had to go through something most demigods never even thought was possible. Honestly, I’d be scared if you came back as if nothing happened. I understand that much. But you never did tell us what happened down there. Maybe you should try.”

            Percy was quiet for a while. Jason was just beginning to wonder if he fell back asleep when his head came up. He looked like he had resigned himself to a tough decision. “Fine. I guess I’ll start at the beginning.”