Why'd you have to lead me on? Why'd you have to twist the knife? Walk away and leave me bleeding, bleeding
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[ chapter four - say don't go ] —
Not a trigger warning but more of a small PSA because this chapter intentionally contains a lot more strong language than it usually does.
Percy hated seeing Cassie in pain. He really did. He hated seeing her throw up that disgusting water, seeing her curled up into a ball crying from stomach pain, shaking and sweating from that boiling sensation.
Something he hated even more, was knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it. He could hold her hair back and rub her back and get her water and feed her nectar and ambrosia as much as he wanted to, and it still wouldn't do anything.
She would continue to feel terrible. She would continue to slowly die.
But no matter how much he hated that, part of him was slightly relieved that she had been sick rather that going on that quest to Sparta.
He hadn't liked the idea of Annabeth going after Piper had told them about her dream, and based on the summary the two girls had given about the quest, he had every reason to be worried about it.
Even Cassie seemed sort of happy she hadn't had to go on the quest, even though it was masked by feelings of guilt and anxiety.
She'd told him all about it last night. About how she felt like she wasn't helping enough and forcing everyone else to take on extra work to make up for it. Like a super dangerous group project.
Percy had tried to assure her it wasn't her fault. Tell her that she'd pulled her weight by going to Tartarus and helping save Hera in December. Tell her that all of these quests they were going on now were just extra steps that they needed to take to get to the main issue—defeating Gaea.
But she simply brushed him off, saying something about how she needed to use the bathroom. If her voice hadn't given the fact that she was hiding something away, the fact that she didn't return from the bathroom until after he'd fallen back asleep would've.
It was the next day now, and Cassie said she was feeling better, but based on the amount of coffee she was drinking, he could tell she was still exhausted.
They were lying in his room for once, as apparently her room was making her feel claustrophobic with how "messy" it was (air quotes because when was Cassie's room ever truly messy?).
