The Next Great Prophecy

PERCY IX

Percy wasn’t sure who was muttering, but he really wished they would shut up. He was trying to sleep.

            When he finally managed to open his eyes, he realized he was in a bed, which was a nice change. Although the bars that made up his and Jason’s cell could disappear. That would be nice, too.

            He slowly turned his head to the side, where he found the source of the muttering. Jason was sitting next to him, his eyes closed, and muttering. Percy coughed, and Jason’s eyes shot open.

            “Thank the gods! Are you okay?”

            “I’ve felt better. Who were you talking to?” said Percy, trying to sit up.

            “You might not want to do that just yet,” said Jason, putting a hand on Percy’s shoulder. “I patched you up as best I could, but this isn’t exactly the infirmary. I was praying to Apollo, hoping he might help. You almost died.”

            “What do you mean, ‘died?’”

            “Percy, they beat the crap out of you. Khione stabbed you seven times, and the only reason you didn’t die of blood loss was because she kept freezing the wounds. Polybotes probably broke all of your ribs, and definitely gave you a concussion. I was almost certain you weren’t going to wake up.”

            “Well, that explains the raging headache. And also why I feel like a squashed bug.”

            “Gee, ya think?”

            “Shut up, Grace.”

            “Yeah, Grace. Shut up!”

            Percy almost fell out of the bed turning toward the voice. It was Leo, he was sure of it. He finally managed to find the cource, and was surprised and excited to see an Iris message behind Jason. His friends smiled at him and Jason, before Annabeth’s expression changed completely.

            “Percy? What’s wrong?”

            “What? Nothing!” answered Percy.

            “Seaweed Brain, you are such a liar! Are you okay?”

            “Define okay,” interjected Jason, resulting in a feeble kick in his direction from Percy.

            “It’s fine, really, Wise Girl. Nothing more than usual. A few scrapes, that’s all.” Percy smiled, but he could tell Annabeth still didn’t buy it.

            “A few scrapes, huh? Since when do scrapes require bandages made of bed sheets?” demanded Annabeth, pointing toward his wounded shoulder. He looked down and realized Jason had torn up his sheets to bandage up Percy.

            “Maybe we shouldn’t argue this right now,” suggested Piper, her voice dripping with charmspeak. Annabeth immediately backed down, and Jason looked at Piper gratefully.

            “Where are you guys?” asked Frank.

            “Khione’s castle,” answered Jason.

            “Oh, is that who the crazy ice lady is? I was wondering. No one introduces themselves anymore, it’s just straight to the stabbing,” commented Percy, resulting in silence from his friends. He realized too late what he had said.

            “Percy, please, just tell us what happened. We need to know,” said Annabeth. Percy relented, and explained what the giants and goddess were trying to do. Jason had to finish, because Percy was still a little fuzzy on what happened after the third stab.

            Annabeth bit her lip, and said, “There’s a new Great Prophecy.”

            “Well, maybe this one will actually wait a few hundred years, and we can get on with our lives,” joked Percy.

            “What is it?” asked Jason.

            Hazel repeated the prophecy. The two demigods were silent, but Percy eventually spoke up. “Seriously, though. What did I do to the Fates? Will there still be prophecies about me when I’m eighty?”

            “Percy will quest until a slip, causes him to break his hip…” said Leo, trying to make his voice as ominous as possible.

            “I wouldn’t put it past them. The Fates seriously hate me,” said Percy.

            “Well, you do have a certain way of irritating immortals, son of Neptune,” said Polybotes from their cell door. He made to swipe away the Iris message, but Poryphiron stopped him.

            “Let it stay. They can enjoy the show, too,” said the giant, grinning at the demigods.

            “Great idea. Shall we?”