Tales of Camp Half Blood

Tale 24: Blood In The Water

Mary was teaching him how to play some mortal rhyming game when the doors of the infirmary slammed open. Chiron galloped in, Percy Jackson slung over his back and non-responsive. Behind them, Annabeth was sobbing and Katherine looked as if she was going to be sick. Tatiana came after and looked horrified. Will wasn't used to seeing his big sister scared, it terrified him more than just about anything else.

Will remained frozen, his hand clutching Mary's tightly as Chiron abruptly placed Percy on a cot. Katherine raced past to fill a bowl of water and shove Percy's hand in it.

"What's happening?" Mary asked in a small, terrified voice, glancing at Annabeth hopelessly. The other girl wasn't much help, she was still sobbing, and the few other campers milling near the door looked just as confused.

"Mary!" Both Will and his sister startled at Tatiana's shout, "get everyone out of here now," she ordered before turning to Will, "you're with me Will, Kath you too."

Will still felt kind of numb, he hadn't fully processed what was happening. But he stumbled over to Tatiana's side nonetheless.

"You and I are going to stabilize Percy while Kath works on removing the poison," Tatiana told Will quickly, grabbing his hand.

"But- I," Will sputtered hopelessly. He was a good healer and all, but this was nothing like he had ever seen before. If he had a clear injury to heal then he would be fine, but he had no clue what Jo meant by stabilizing him. What if he messed up and Percy died. Kath wasn't paying much attention to them, she was mumbling under her breath, reciting some kind of verse or hymn as she held Percy's hand under the water. Amber followed behind her quickly with a bundle of herbs in her hand that Katherine took and began to mix into the water.

Despite the dire circumstances, Tatiana took time to squeeze his hand and give him a reassuring look, "you'll be fine, all you have to do is funnel your power to me and I'll handle the actual work. We just have to keep him stable while Chiron removes the poison. We need to keep his heart pumping, his lungs working, and divert the poison from his vital organs as best as we can."

Will nodded, he could do that. Tatiana placed a hand on Percy's chest, right above his heart and began to sing softly. Will was still shaking a bit, but joined his sister in singing the healing hymns. Activating his power without a clear aim was a new experience, usually he funneled it towards a single injury. Right now it just felt like he was unleashing a directionless flood of energy.

He must have been doing something right, because his and Tatiana's joined hands started to glow and Tatiana's other hand held over Percy's chest started to do the same quickly after.

After they began, Will lost track of time passing. It all could have happened in a few hours or a few minutes for all he knew, he was lost in a hazy state as his only job was to funnel energy to support Tatian. Eventually Kath stepped back, "He will live," the demigod said, her voice thick with exhaustion and relief, "he is stable, we can rest now."

They collapsed to the ground the moment the words were out of Kath's mouth. Despite his own exhaustion, Will immediately scooted over to his sister's side, "Tatiana! Are you ok?" He asked quickly.

His sister mumbled out something ininteligible as she sat slumped against the wall. Chiron's hand on his shoulder startled him a bit as he looked behind him with wide eyes, "your sister is fine, just drained from the healing. I'll send in some of your siblings to help her back to cabin seven so she can rest."

Katherine was not moving, or replying. "Is Kath okay?"

Chiron looked confused and realised. "Fainted."

Will nodded earnestly, "is Percy really gonna be ok? What happened that exposed him to such a dangerous poison?" He shivered as he asked.

Chiron grimaced, "pit scorpion. It should not be able to get into camp, or the mortal world itself for that matter. However it got here doesn't matter at the moment, It may still be alive in the woods. I must warn the campers, in the meantime you stay here and watch over Percy," Chiron explained grimly.