DOG DAYS ARE OVER | PJO

3. Gods and Fathers

Everything felt fuzzy.

It was like Olive was swimming underwater, her sight restrained and her hearing gone. Her lungs were burning- begging for air. She couldn't move. She was just getting dragged deeper, and deeper, and deeper into the water until nothing was left to-

Olive shot up with a gasp, her chest heaving up and down and sweat prickling her forehead, forcing stray hair to stick to it.

Two figures in the room whipped around in alarm, their eyes wide and alert.

"Ollie, Ollie," It was a voice, a voice so, so very familiar.

It took the young girl's eyes a moment to adjust, and when they did, they landed on her brother, sinking down to his knees on the side of a bed that she was now sitting in, worry filling his blue eyes.

"It's okay, you're okay." He assured her soothingly, reaching out and gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, letting his hand rest on the side of her head as he spoke.

"Percy-mom-" She stuttered out, her mind going a million miles an hour- too fast for her to keep up with all of her thoughts. All of her memories before she had blacked out.

The older boy squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head, unable to look his sister in the eyes, and as her gaze fell onto him, she knew. She knew that she hadn't been imagining any of it. She knew that her mother had vanished before her very eyes.

"How're you feeling?" A kind voice called out from behind the pair, causing Olive's eyes to snap over to Grover, who was looking at her with a soft concern.

Before she could even attempt to respond, Percy turned around, leveling a glare on the satyr that had him averting his gaze.

"Come on, Ollie." Percy spoke softly, gently helping the girl out of bed, "Let's get out of here."

Unsure of what else to do, the young girl allowed the blond to wrap his hand around her own before letting him lead her out of whatever room they were in.

The two walked in silence, merely a moment passing before they found a door leading outside.

Olive paused for a moment, lifting a hand to shield from the bright sun that was beating down on her suddenly, squinting her eyes as she looked around. It seemed as though they were in a house on a beach, overlooking a waterfront.

The Jackson siblings glanced to one another before Percy caught sight of something over Olive's head, his eyes narrowing in on it and he let go of her hand, moving around her and towards whatever it was that he saw.

Eyebrows furrowed slightly, the brunette girl turned around in her spot and followed his gaze to a room with the door open, leading it to a table, a man wearing sunglasses and sleeping in one of the chairs.

Percy got into the room before she did, but she went to stand at his side, head tilted slightly as she studied the unconscious man. He had a long beard paired with long hair, was wearing a printed beach shirt, and had a can in his hands, resting on his stomach.

"Excuse me?" The boy called out suddenly, taking a step forward, "I'm Percy Jackson, and this is my sister Olive. We're new here."

The man stirred, though he didn't lift his head as he turned to the side slightly and yelled obnoxiously to nobody, "Peter and Olivia Johnson are here!"

"'Kay, that isn't really... our names." Percy glanced around.

Olive looked up at her brother, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt to make him look down at her, "Does he have hearing problems, or is he just stupid?" She asked, genuine curiosity lacing her tone.