The Moon and the Stars || Heroes of Olympus

Chapter 41

I blinked awake blearily, groaning as pain shot all through my body. My skin was burning, muscles aching and head pounding.

"Oh my gods, you're awake!" Annabeth's face moved into view, jumping up from her seat. "How're you feeling?"

I sat up slowly, taking in my surroundings. The infirmary on the ship. "Like I've been burned from the inside out and run over by a truck." I sat up. "Fuck me.... what happened?"

She pushed a glass of water into my hands. "You burned yourself out overusing your powers. As soon as your shield fell, you passed out and your heart stopped." Her hands shook slightly. "Percy's the only one CPR certified other than you, but he managed to get your heart going again. He did break a couple of ribs though."

I grimaced. "Hence the bandage around my ribcage."

"It was an accident - he didn't do it on purpose." She explained quickly.

"I know, I know. It happens. Don't worry about me. It'll heal." I reassured her. "Then...."

She nodded. "Anyway, We managed to get you here without any accidents and Coach Hedge worked on healing you up. We've been taking shifts to keep an eye on you. Yesterday, Keto sent one of her monsters after us - a skolopendra." She spotted my confused expression. "It's basically a huge shrimp monster that attacked the ship. Hazel, Frank and Leo ended up in the water and met some ichthyocentaurs."

I held up a hand. "Uh, icky what?"

"Underwater centaurs I guess?" She explained. "Apparently they're Chiron's brothers - I don't really know. They gave us brownies. We crossed the rest of the Atlantic without too much chaos but this morning your heart stopped again and Percy couldn't restart it. We were running out of time and options so Jason tried using a spark to restart it. It worked but burned you. Looks like it'll scar."

"I felt that!" I gasped. "It fucking hurt! But it did save my life so I guess it was worth it."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Moving on, right now we're at the mouth of the Mediterranean. Piper and Jason are doing a quest for Hercules to allow us to enter." She paused, taking a breath. I'd never seen her look so relieved. "You've been out for two days, Neo, we've been really worried."

She pulled me gently into a hug, holding me close. "I'm glad you're awake." I wasn't used to such displays of affection from Annabeth, so I knew just how concerned she was and how close I was to death. Her hold spent pain spiking in my ribs, but I kept quiet to enjoy the moment.

It was difficult to express how thankful I was for the effort everyone put into keeping me alive. It had clearly been an uphill battle and I knew I could never fully repay the debt, but I could certainly make a start. "Thank you so much. The gods themselves couldn't have done a better job."

"As if we'd let you die." She pulled away smiling and brushed a hair from my face. "Do you need anything?"

"Food, please."

"Ok," She nodded, straightening up. "What do you want? I can grab - "

"Wait." I interrupted. "Can I come with you? I think I can walk with a little help."

Worry clouded her face. "Are you sure? I don't want you overexerting yourself again."

I nodded. I'd need to recover quickly if I was to be any use in Rome, and a walk would do me some good. I lifted the covers from my body to find that I had been changed into my Snoopy pyjamas while I was out. Absolute fashion icon. Clearly someone decided if I was going to die, I should at least do it comfortably.