Perfect Little Blue Boy (Percy Jackson)

Chapter Fifty Two

Percy

We were tortured and starved for about two months. They fed us each just enough so we didn't die.

Some did die, of course. Of the council.

Jason became so miserable that he refused to eat. Clarisse tried to act out and got taken away. What happened after that, we don't know. Thalia went comatose. I can only imagine the nightmares Grover was having from our mental link. How much he was suffering and the others wouldn't know why. Because I am and that means he is, mentally.

Rachel, she uh... She's gone, too. Her body couldn't hold on like a demigod. She's still mortal. It's just he body that's immortal. Not her.

Clarisse was pregnant. Nobody cared to ask who her boyfriend was. Nobody knew. Nobody assumed we'd lived. So she got more food and whatever. But it was to keep the baby alive. The gods don't want to deal with a miscarriage.

But we got the surprise of our lives after two months.

The door unlocked. Which was new because when we get our food it comes from above.

But the door unlocked. And when it opened, Mom, Dad, Mr. D, Ares, May, Hermes, Fredrick, Will, Grover, Tyson, Patrick, Paige, and a bunch of people I didn't know hurried inside. Started to undo our chains. I blacked out as soon as I hit the floor.

When I woke up, I was home again. I was in my bed. Nico was... He looked terrible. Going through a box of stuff.

Nico wasn't there. With us. It was like half of the council and Rachel. The other half was never caught. And Nico got lucky. I didn't.

He looked better than I did on a physical spectrum. But he seemed emotionally drained.

And something had his attention. Maybe the shift in the bed. The sound it made.

Anyways, his head whipped back to the bed and what's when I saw his face. How bad he was doing. And he almost went into shock.

But he jumped onto the bed and gave me the biggest hug her ever given me. And I hugged back, of course. I haven't... I haven't seen him in two months.

Two months. He's been alone for two months.

Of course, both of us cried.

"Oh my..." my boyfriend managed. "You're... You're awake, I..."

"Shhh..." I whispered to him in hopes to calm down just enough so he wasn't a total mess. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here. I'm not leaving. Everything is going to be alright. How long... How long was I asleep?"

"Um... A few days?" Nico answered my question, pulling away from the hug. "They got you guys in the middle of the night. I didn't know about it. When I woke up they just got back and said you passed out and weren't responding. But you were alive. Your heart was beating and you were breathing. That was... Well today's Sunday. So two and a half day's. How... How do you feel?"

He seemed... Not happy about everything. But happy that I was here. And that made me happy. I gave him the only smile I could really manage.

"Like shit." I responded and nodded my head. "Yeah, they kind of barely fed us in there. But I'm just... I'm glad to be home. I missed you. A lot. I missed everyone. But I missed you a lot."

"I missed you, too." Nico told me. "You missed a lot. I mean, I've been back for a week. But I guess a lot happened while we were both gone."

"Like what?"

"Well," Nico went on and explained that my dad had been staying here. He wasn't really involved with my mom, as he slept in the living room and my mom was still in her room. But him and Tyson had been here. Clarisse was here a lot, so she was fine. And with Patrick (I guess they have been for a while? The more you know), so that was a thing now.

It was a lot. School was still in session, so nobody was home. Mom worked. Clarisse was here, though. So was Dad. They were just being quiet so we couldn't hear them in here.

Thinking I'd be fine, I figured I'd just go out to the living room and see them again. But I tried to stand, and got lucky that Nico was there so I didn't slam into the floor. I let out a small scream from the sharp pain.

I... Can't walk?

This was a first. And it's hard to have firsts now.

"Oh my gods, Percy!" Nico remarked as he grabbed me by my arms. "Are you okay?"

"I uh..." I pieced it together. "I don't think I can walk. I mean, I haven't for two months. So my legs are sort of... Not working yet."

Clarisse and my dad hurried over to my room, probably hearing something fall. Because I knocked down a glass as I fell.

"Nico!" They both said, worried. "Are you—"

They both froze.

"Percy!"

I smiled at them.

"Hi," I said. "I can't walk."