Pain - A PJO Fanfiction

~Chapter 27~

"What about food?" Apollo asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm not hungry," Percy shrugged again, "Plus, Will handled that in the infirmary with an IV."

Apollo gave a reluctant nod.

"What do you want to do, then?"

"Maybe see the rest of the seven? I want to talk to them, especially since... Piper and Thalia..." Percy said quietly, trailing off.

"Do you want me to be there?" Apollo asked softly.

"I do, but I think it's best if you weren't. The others aren't currently very... pleased, let's say, with the gods," Percy winced apologetically.

"Alright. I guess I'll go to Olympus, then," Apollo shrugged.

Percy gave a small nod, glancing up and meeting his boyfriend's eyes. Even though he was reluctant to be away from him, he stayed quiet.

"I can wait for you here," Apollo offered gently, seeing the reluctance in Percy's eyes.

"N-no, no, you probably have stuff to do. I don't want to keep you busy and cause trouble," Percy said quickly, shrugging.

"You could never. It's fine-"

"No, you said you wanted to leave, I'm not going to keep you here if you don't want to," Percy said firmly.

Apollo sighed and gave a reluctant nod.

"Alright, my love. I'll be back before you know it, okay?" Apollo said softly.

"Uhm, okay. I guess I'll tell you if there's anything important," Percy shrugged.

Apollo stood up and flashed our, leaving Percy alone in his cabin. The sudden silence hit him like a truck, making him feel so alone for the first time in a while.

He glanced out the window with a soft sigh, knowing nothing would come out of his self-deprecation if he continued.

He reluctantly got up, the sound of his footsteps cutting through the sharp silence as he made his way to the door.

Thoughts swirling inside his head, blurring together, he slowly made his way to Zeus' cabin first. He knocked on the door and recoiled quickly, not wanting to test Zeus.

After a few moments, the door opened, revealing a tired looking Jason. He brightened up slightly once he saw Percy.

"Oh, hey, Perce," he greeted quietly.

"Hey, uh, sorry about Thalia and Piper and all," Percy said softly.

Jason gave a small nod, glancing at the floor.

"Thanks, man. You too, by the way," Jason replied quietly.

Percy gave a grim nod and sighed.

"It feels like the gods will never give us peace, will they?" Jason sighed, a dreading hopelessness in his voice.

"Nah, not with Zeus leading them," Percy scoffed softly. "Not that I'm planning on overthrowing him," Percy added with a pointed look at the sky.

Jason snorted, giving Percy a small smirk.

"That would be awesome," Jason chuckled.

"Amything that involves Zeus gone would be awesome," Percy reasoned with a shrug.

Thunder rolled out through the skies overhead, making Percy roll his eyes.

"I'd say come in, but..." Jason trailed off, glancing irritatedly at the sky.

"Nah, it's fine. Maybe you could come to my cabin sometime this week, though. You know Poseidon never minds, he's chill like that," Percy shrugged.

"Alright. Invite Leo, too, we can have a sleepover or something," Jason suggested.

"I need to fire-proof my cabin first," Percy snickered.

Jason laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, that'd be for the best," he agreed solemnly.

Percy sighed, smiling slightly.

"I'll see you later, man. Don't get too hung up about stuff, alright?" Percy said softly.

"Yeah, alright," Jason sighed quietly, giving Percy a small smile before closing the door.

Percy sighed, ignoring the murmurs of campers as he went to the Hephaestus cabin next. He knocked on the door and a girl, Nyssa, opened it. She looked him up and down before turning back.

"Valdez!" She shouted, not even bothering to ask Percy why he'd come.

"What?!" Leo yelled back from somewhere deep inside the cabin.

"Jackson's here!" Nyssa shouted back.

There was the loud thud of something metal falling, and within seconds, Leo Valdez shoved Nyssa aside and stood at the door, covered in grease and staring at Percy in shock.

"Uh, Percy, hi," Leo greeted, panting slightly.

"Hey, just wanted to see how you were after the whole, uh, Piper and Thalia thing," Percy said quietly.

"Oh," Leo replied, fidgeting with a screwdriver. "I'm doing alright. Spent some time with Jace that day, we talked."

"Good, I'm glad," Percy responded with a small smile. "Jason was thinking that we could have a sleepover at my cabin this week, if you're up for it."

Leo's eyes sparkled in excitement as he smirked.

"Of course I am," He replied, not hesitating.

"Great. We'll talk later, 'kay?" Percy laughed slightly at his eagerness.

"Sure. It was nice seeing you, Perce. Don't lurk so much on your cabin, you're passing Nico's record," Leo joked.

Percy laughed, making Leo smile.

"Bye, Aquaman," Leo sighed.

Percy rolled his eyes.

"Bye, Repair Boy," Percy replied, emphasizing the nickname.

Leo rolled his eyes as he closed the door. Percy sighed, already feeling exhaustion from the tiny bit of socializing. He gave a weary glance at the cabins, not wanting to approach all of his friends individually.

I'm a bad friend, he thought, but the exhaustion made it harder to make himself visit the others.

He started walking away from Leo's cabin, looking at the ground in thought as he did. A sudden spike of nausea made him cringe, wrapping an arm around his waist as he made his way to his cabin.

By the time he got there, his vision was swimming, making him stumble slightly.

"Fuck," Percy groaned.

He stumbled into his cabin and let himself fall, too tired to continue. There was a bright flash of light, and before he knew it, a pair of familiar arms wrapped around him and lifted him off the ground.

"Percy," his boyfriend whispered quietly.

"'Pollo," Percy murmured tiredly.

"I'm taking you to the infirmary," Apollo said quietly, carrying him gently.

"N-no, I'm- I'm fine-" Percy argued quietly, his words slightly slurred.

"Shh," Apollo shushed him softly.

Percy groaned tiredly, closing his eyes as another wave of nausea hit.

"Morpheus," Apollo said quietly, continuing in Ancient Greek that Percy was too tired to understand.

Before he could realize what Apollo was doing, though, the merciful darkness of sleep overtook him, leaving him unmoving in his boyfriend's arms.

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

(A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, and tysm for 15k reads. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter, it's currently past 3am and I've Bern writing since 1am so I'm really tired, not sure how coherent this chapter is. Thanks for reading<33)

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■