Climb (Percy Jackson x Reader)

twenty-six

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this chapter contains combat scenes & heavy descriptions of injuries/blood that may be considered violent, gory, and/or graphic. please read with discretion.

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there is also commentary/internal dialogue that verges on mature content. this writing will be slightly more suitable for older audiences, though it is very brief & indirect (so don't get your hopes up too too high lol).
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✺ THE PHANTOM OF PAIN ✺

Light begins to work its way across the sky, and Percy's skin tingles with the chill of the dawn. He rubs at his eyes, sitting up and groaning at the ache in his spine. With a deep inhale, he drinks in the scents of dew and grass and roses and ash.

He looks to the small firepit placed between the two tarps on the ground. Blackened fragments of wood lie piled among the pit's lining of tin foil, glistening with flecks of moisture after what had to have been hours since going dim.

"Morning," (Y/N) says, and Percy blinks with surprise.

He looks up from the pit, lifting his eyebrows in greeting when she nods at him from her tarp. Her sword rests in her lap, her hand loosely gripping the hilt; beside her, her collapsible bow and arrows lie in easy access, an arrow already nocked.

His brow furrowed, he nods to the bow. "Meant to ask you—" he starts, his words interrupted by a yawn. His voice grates roughly in his throat, and he fails to notice how (Y/N) shifts at the sound. "Did you steal that from Annabeth?"

The daughter of Persephone arches a brow. "You think so little of me, Percy," she says, putting on a frown. She pats the bow fondly. "Annie lent it to me."

Percy raises his eyebrows, disbelieving.

(Y/N) rolls her eyes. "Okay, fine. She let me borrow it about a year ago. I just . . . forgot to return it because it came very much in handy."

A huff of a chuckle escapes Percy's throat, and (Y/N) shrugs.

"It's not stealing if she didn't take it back," she defends, a tiny smirk pulling at her lips. Percy holds his hands up in concession.

The half-bloods quietly eat their breakfast of packaged snack foods, each of them more focused on enjoying (or examining) their surroundings than making conversation. After close to an hour, when the air begins to grow slightly warmer, Percy stands and stretches.

The hem of his shirt lifts to show the muscles at his stomach, and he shudders at the cool breeze that pushes through their area and onto his exposed skin. He notices how (Y/N) quickly diverts her gaze, and his skin flushes with a hint of pride.

His blush turns into an embarrassed one when he looks around, conflicted. He stammers his dilemma, and (Y/N) chuckles before telling him to just find a bush to do his business.

"All right," she says when he returns to the camp site, her bow and arrows already collapsed and in her backpack. "Now that you're back, I'm going to go scout ahead."

Percy's stomach flips. "You're leaving me here alone? When things are following me, specifically?"

(Y/N) sighs, standing and pulling her sword's sheath over her head and across her torso. "Percy, you're a half-blood son of Poseidon—things have been following you your entire life. Besides, I've been listening out for anything for the past few hours, and nothing's in our area as of now." She shrugs, tilting her head at him expectantly. "I'll be gone, like, five minutes. You can manage."

He stares at her with wide, offended eyes. "And why can't I just go with you?"

"Because someone still has to clean up their side of the camp," (Y/N) says, nodding pointedly to his belongings strewn about the ground. "You can put everything back in here." She lightly kicks her backpack. "There's space in the big pocket."