A STORM IS BREWING | PERCY JACKSON

Chapter Two

Percy woke up to darkness and a dull pounding in his skull. It took him an embarrassingly long time to realize that the darkness was caused by the fact he hadn't opened his eyes. His eyes fluttered open and were met with a bright light. He immediately shut them again as the pounding in his head got worse. He hesitantly opened them slowly so he could get used to the light.

When his eyes adjusted he found himself on an infirmary cot. He wondered how he had gotten there. He had probably fallen off the lava wall again. He tried to sit up but fell onto his back as a sharp stab of pain went through his entire body. Looking down at himself, Percy found his chest was covered in bandages. There was a dark red stain on some parts of the gauze. He was confused; he had never been this injured from a simple fall before.

He glanced at the table next to the cot and found a few squares of ambrosia and a small amount of nectar. He gingerly picked up a piece of ambrosia and started chewing. The taste of his mom's chocolate chip cookies filled his mouth and he let out a sigh of contentment as the pain immediately started fading.

Since his head was clearer, he tried to think about the last thing could recall. He inhaled sharply as he remembered the final battle against Gaea and the giants. Leo had sacrificed his life to stop Gaea and Percy felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He would miss hearing his friend's jokes and watching him enthusiastically explaining his newest invention.

After Leo had died, and Gaea had been defeated there was still an army of monsters left. He remembered fighting next to his cousins to defeat the drakon and smiled. The three of them worked well together. They had rushed Nico to the infirmary after he collapsed and then... Percy gasped as he recalled Annabeth's pale form, her torso covered in red gauze as she slowly died. He put a tentative hand to his lips where she had kissed him for the last time.

A sob started building in his throat and he had to choke it down. She was gone. It would be years until he saw her again. Unless... he glanced at Riptide sitting on top of a stack of clothes for him to change into.

He shook his head violently to get rid of those thoughts. He wouldn't go down that path. There were still people who needed him.

Percy slowly started to remove the bandages from his chest. It was a slow process and he had to stop more than once to avoid reopening his wounds. Once he had removed the last strip of gauze he moved to the stack of clothes and changed into them as quickly as possible. He tried to not glance down at the scars that littered his body. He would have to deal with it eventually but at that moment he was filled with the need to get out of there as soon as possible.

He managed to sneak out of the infirmary without anyone noticing. They were too busy attending to the other patients who had more serious injuries. The sun was low in the sky, letting Percy know that it had been at least twenty four hours since he had lost consciousness. He made his way through the camp, avoiding any campers that he came across.

He sat on the soft sand of the beach, his feet getting covered by the surf every few seconds as the tide moved. The sun was setting by the time Nico and Thalia found him. He slowly got up and turned to face them.

Thalia had a look of unbridled fury on her face. "Where have you been? Will told us you disappeared an hour ago. The entire camp has been looking for you!"

Percy didn't respond. He moved forward and pulled his cousins into a group hug. Thalia was tense but her shoulders relaxed after a moment and hugged him back. He started to cry again, the tears running silently down his face.

After a few minutes of the three of them standing there, Percy broke the embrace. He looked closer at his cousins. They both looked horrible, Thalia had unkempt hair and Nico's skin was two shades paler than it normally was. Thalia was also missing the silver circlet that marked her as the lieutenant of Artemis.