A/N-Some of you might've realized I published Chapter 12 on accident. Sorry. That's what I get for publishing bonus chapters. With that lesson in mind (maybe), here's a bonus chapter!
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A small part of Percy's mind was tempted to let the keres kill Psi, who had his back to the monster while valiantly slicing at the hydra. The brutal truth was that he deserved it. It wouldn't even be his fault; he could "accidentally" be oblivious to the movement.
But as the thought crossed his mind, he was immediately was revolted and disgusted at himself. Nothing was solved by killing people; in fact, it exacerbated the issue. Psi didn't deserve death for being a jerk towards Percy, especially if he had a reason to back him up. But the moment that spurred him to action was when he realized how close Rosaline actually was to Psi's position; it would only take a few steps for the Keres to force Rosaline back into her reformation process.
He automatically broke out of rank, running as fast as he could towards the keres with adrenaline pumping through his veins. Unfortunately, the split second for him to make up his mind proved sufficient for the monster to sneak up on Psi, and he could only look upon in horror as his claws began their downward descent into Psi's unprotected back.
Percy desperately dove towards them, pushing Psi out of the way a moment before the keres' claws sunk into his chest. A scream was ripped out of his throat as the jagged keratin easily tore through his shirt before going deep into his body, slicing tissue, muscle, and cartilage.
But that wasn't the worst part.
His blood suddenly felt as hot as lava, and he lost all control over his body as a sudden, tiring fog filled his brain and joints, clouding his senses and tempting him to just collapse and sleep . . . eternally.
It dissipated as fast as it came, but the experience imprinted in Percy's memory as he realized with horror:
He had been wounded by a keres.
In fact, he was so scared that he didn't react when he heard the final, defeated roar of the hydra, and saw all the keres disappearing, no longer having an anchor to stay, and even when his wound completely disappeared, leaving only his torn shirt to validate the horrible memory. One would be relieved at this magic act. But as Percy laid down on the cool desert sand . . .
He knew.
Over the following days, the same intense and burning pain would presumably reappear at random times, getting stronger and lasting for longer. He would be a handicap on the battlefield and everywhere else until he could get healed.
Oh, and did he mention the fact that only immortals could heal him?
Sadly, this was all in a days of work for Percy. But what he wasn't expecting was for Psi to stomp up towards him and angrily exclaim, "What's your problem?"
"What's my problem?" Percy said disbelievingly, pushing his feelings into a shady corner of his brain, where they hopefully would get mugged and killed. "What's yours? I just saved you from getting wounded by a keres!"
Psi scoffed. "Likely story."
Percy opened his mouth to respond, but as he looked around realized there was no way to contradict Psi, unless he used his torn shirt as evidence—and given how Rosaline was studying him with concern, she would quickly catch on to what Percy was hiding.
Unfortunately, Psi seemed to think Percy's silence was an admission of guilt. But surprisingly, it was Tania who spoke. "Great teammate you got there," she said sarcastically to Rosaline. She shifted her gaze to Psi and Theon. "C'mon, guys. I think I saw a cave we could take shelter in a few minutes away." With a final glance, at Percy and Rosaline, almost as though she was dismissing them, she was gone, along with the other two.
"Ignore her," Rosaline said, helping Percy to his feet. "Psi's very . . . convincing." Rosaline was definitely upset; he could see the rage in her eyes.
Still, Percy didn't want to tell her about the curse that had been put upon him now; the thing about Rosaline was that she was very overprotective: she wouldn't rest until she found the cure. "I mean, he had a point there," Percy said, trying to keep his composure. "It seems hard to believe I saved him from an immortal being . . ."
Rosaline frowned. "Oh no. Don't tell me you got scratched by it."
Percy laughed nervously—the only indication he was freaking out inside. "I didn't get scratched by it."
But it was too late. Rosaline's anger had been replaced by furious worry—an emotion only she could pull off. "You idiot!" she screamed. "You're only job was not to get wounded! And I don't care that you saved Psi," she added harshly, making Percy draw back as he opened his mouth to say exactly that. "Screw him! He's immortal. Everybody's immortal except you!" She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What am I going to tell Artemis?"
"Nothing!" Percy told her hurriedly. "Absolutely nothing!"
The only person that scared him more than an army of monsters was the goddess of the hunt—and not because she could take out the said army of monsters.
"We'll find a cure," Percy said confidently. "I'm going to be useless, yes, but I'm not going to die."
Rosaline's eyes softened. "Fighting isn't the only way to be useful. You're not—"
She was cut off by a frantic yell.
They immediately turned the direction it came from, where the others of the group had gone.
"That was Psi," Rosaline realized. "We got to go."
As they ran, Percy's mind was full of possibilities of what had happened. In the waning light of the planet's moon as the sun was preparing to rise, it wouldn't be impossible for Psi, Tania, and Theon to get ambushed—especially if they were distracted by anger. Add on two less people for support . . . the odd of getting attacked on this seemingly-hostile planet was significantly increased.
But this sent another boatload of questions shooting through his mind: what if they hadn't been teleported onto Planet Void, but another which was uninhabited by humans? Percy only had seen Void's capital city, so he couldn't really answer that question accurately, since Earth had plenty of places humans weren't living in.
On the other hand, he was well versed on the map of Planet Chaos. He was positive that the planet didn't have any deserts, since Chaos thought they were a real waste of land. (He had only put them on Earth upon Gaea's request, albeit reluctantly.) Chaos' planet and Void's planet looked almost identical, often leading Percy to wonder who had copied off of who.
This really didn't help, in fixing the problem; even if they were on Planet Void, he didn;t know where, or how close they were to their objective. And the last time he checked, Rosaline couldn't teleport. He could also deduce that the rest of the group couldn't, since they probably would've already shown it.
That left teleporting up to him—or it would've if the stupid draecana hadn't taken his powers—which was totally unfair. Since when could common monsters make demigods permanently powerless? And how the Hades did they get their hands on Chaos metal?
The distinct sound of a body dropping to the ground jarred Percy out of his thoughts. A large amount of time had passed, given that he was in a ginormous cave lit with torches.
And Rosaline was collapsed on the ground with a dart sticking out of her arm.
Percy spun around, raising Riptide . . .
Only for another dart to lightly puncture his neck.
Then he blacked out.