Annabeth
walked into Nico’s room where he sat on the bed, tossing a hacky sack up and
down. “Hey Nico.” she said.
Nico paused
a moment and looked up. “Hey.” He went back to tossing the hacky sack. “What’s
up?”
“Something
weird happened to Percy last night and now he’s acting crazy. Can you come help
us please?”
“Sure. Where
is he now?”
“He had me
tie him to the mast.”
Nico nodded
and placed the hacky sack on the table. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do.”
Annabeth
nodded and they walked back out to the deck.
Percy hadn’t
moved from his spot on the mast, but he looked horrible. He kept flexing his
muscles against the ropes and his breathing was heavy.
Nico looked
him over. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t…
know…” Percy replied.
“How do you
feel?”
“FUCKING
HORRIBLE! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL?” Percy fumed. He closed his eyes tight and
shook his head. “Sorry…”
Nico
furrowed his brow and thought for a moment.
A tear fell
down Percy’s cheek. “What’s happening to me…?”
Nico looked
around the ship and his gaze stopped at Asa, who returned an innocent look. Nico
gave him a stern look. “Asa, what did
you do?” he demanded.
“What?” Asa
questioned.
Annabeth
looked to him. “Asa…?”
Nico crossed
his arms. “Asa, you did this didn’t you?”
“No.” Asa
replied.
“You’re lying
to me. Tell the truth now.” Nico
ordered.
“I didn’t do
anything.”
Nico
squinted at him angrily and glanced to his pocket. “What’s that?”
Asa looked
to his journal. “Notes on what you teach me.”
Nico nodded
and sighed. “Asa, please just tell me what you did to Percy. I’m not mad.”
Asa huffed.
“Course you are.”
“I’m not.
I’m just disappointed because I can tell that you’re lying to me.”
“I’m not.”
“Asa, too
many people have lied to me over the years. I can tell the difference. I won’t
get mad if you tell me, but I will be
mad if you don’t.”
Asa ignored
him and walked toward the stairs.
Nico walked
after him and grabbed his shoulder. “You’re not leaving until you tell me what
you did.”
Asa rolled
his eyes. “Magic.” he said simply before pulling away and going downstairs.
Nico
followed him. “I can see that, but what exactly
did you do to him?”
Asa
shrugged. “I dunno exactly, but it worked.”
Nico sighed
and rubbed his temples. “Well, what were you trying to accomplish?”
From
upstairs, Percy screamed. “STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!”
Jason
screamed back. “I JUST DROPPED MY- OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?”
Asa sighed.
“I wanted to change Percy’s mind about travelling.”
Nico sighed.
“Asa… You’re gonna fix this. Right now.”
He shrugged.
“Would if I could. Won’t cause I can’t.”
“And why is
that?”
“It’ll wear
off.”
“It had
better wear off soon. Annabeth’s gonna kill you.”
Asa
shrugged.
Nico sighed
again and shook his head. “This had better not happen again.” he said before
heading back upstairs.
_
Percy
thrashed and furiously struggled against the ropes. “GET THESE CONFOUND THINGS
OFF OF ME NOW!”
Nico looked
to Annabeth. “What happened?”
“He’s
getting mad.” she replied.
Nico nodded.
“Well, I talked to Asa…”
“FUCKING LET
ME OUT OF THESE OR YOU’LL ALL WALK THE PLANK!” Percy fumed.
Annabeth
ignored him. “What did he say?”
Nico rubbed
the back of his neck. “He uh… He used some magic… to make Percy change his mind
about staying on the ship… and the pirate stuff.”
Percy
struggled against the ropes with fury in his eyes.
Annabeth
tightened the ropes.
“Son of a bitch!” Percy shouted.
“I’m going
to kill him…” Annabeth muttered.
“He uh… says
it’ll wear off…” Nico said.
“Take it off
of him now!”
“I don’t
know how! I told Asa to do it, but he said he can’t!”
“Look at
him!”
“I’m sorry!
There’s nothing I can do!”
Percy
coughed violently. “UNTIE. THESE FUCKING ROPES!”
Annabeth
sank to the floor on her knees.
Nico sighed.
“I’m sorry…”
Percy
struggled some more, but paused a moment and looked to Annabeth. “What’s wrong
with the lass?”
Annabeth
stayed silent and started to cry.
Nico
frowned.
Percy
watched her for a moment then coughed and closed his eyes, shaking his head.
When he opened them, the anger was gone. “…Annabeth, what’s wrong?” he asked.
Annabeth
didn’t respond through her broken sobs.
Percy
sighed. “It’s… because of me, isn’t it?”
Nico nodded.
“I didn’t hurt her, did I…?”
“Just
emotionally.”
Percy
frowned and hung his head.
“Should I
let you down?”
Percy shook
his head. “No… I don’t wanna do anything I’m gonna regret… Could you just get
me some water?”
Nico nodded.
“Sure.” He went off and came back a few minutes later with a glass of water. He
held it up to Percy.
Percy drank
about half of it. “Thanks… I’m just gonna stay here overnight.” He looked down
to Annabeth. “Are you alright…?”
Annabeth got
up and ran off without a word.
“Sorry
Percy.” Nico apologized.
Percy
frowned and sighed. “It’s okay… Just remind me to kick Asa’s ass when this
thing is over…and tell Annabeth I’m sorry…”
“Try to keep
your temper… and yeah, I will.”
Percy
nodded. “Thank you…”
“No problem.”
“You should
go get some sleep… I’m gonna try to do the same.”
Nico nodded
then looked up at Asa who had just shadow traveled to the top deck. “Asa, come
down here please!”
“No!” Asa
shouted. “I’m saying goodnight to mom.”
Percy
sighed. “Leave him. Just keep him the fuck away from me…”
Nico nodded.
“Night Percy.” he said, walking towards his room.
“Night…”
Percy replied, resting his head on his shoulder, trying to relax.
Asa looked
down at Percy and huddled into a ball. He started to cry quietly.
Percy looked
up at him and frowned.
Asa got on
his knees into a praying position and looked to the sky. “Mom, I know you’re
probably mad at me… I wasn’t thinking. You can ground me if you want, but I
miss all the fun and adventure…”
Percy
sighed. “Asa, are you okay?” he shouted up to him.
Asa ignored
him. “And please teach our dear captain how to know when to shut the fuck up.”
Percy rolled
his eyes. “Should be grateful, considering you fucking cursed me…”
“And you
should be grateful it wasn’t permanent.”
Percy took a
deep breath to keep himself from getting mad. He rested his head on his
shoulder again and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep.
_
The next
morning when Percy woke up, he shook his head a little bit and blinked the
sleep from his eyes.
Annabeth ran
over to him from across the deck and cut him out of the ropes, throwing herself
into his arms.
“Woah!”
Percy exclaimed. Hesitantly, he hugged her back, rubbing her back in a soothing
motion. “It’s okay…”
Annabeth
kissed him. “Don’t yell at me again…”
Percy shook
his head. “I won’t… I won’t let it happen again. I promise…” He kissed her
again. “I uh… I still think I should stay tied up for now though… Just until
this wears off…”
Annabeth
squeezed him tight and looked up to him with a broken frown. “No…”
“Annabeth,
it’s for the best-”
“No!”
“Annabeth,
please…”
“No…” Her
voice cracked as if she were about to cry.
Percy
sighed. “Please don’t cry… How about we compromise?”
She looked
up at him. “How…?”
He rubbed
her cheek gently and kissed her forehead. “I’ll stay in the brig downstairs. That
way I can’t hurt anyone, but I won’t have to be tied up…”
Annabeth
frowned.
“…If you
need to, you can stay with me… alright?”
“Okay…”
_
Within a few
minutes, Leo had both Percy and Annabeth locked downstairs in the brig. It was
pretty dark, but there was a lamp, a bed, and a radio on the wall so they could
call if they needed anything.
Percy sat
down on the bed and rubbed his temples. He took a deep shaky breath.
Annabeth
gave him a worried look. “You okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah…”
He coughed. “My head just hurts a lot…”
Annabeth
nodded.
Percy winced
and held his head, coughing loud. He groaned and fell to his knees. “Fuck…”
Annabeth
walked over to help him. “Percy…”
“No! Don’t
touch me…” he ordered, breathing heavily and gesturing for her to keep away.
She backed
up slowly.
He held his
head and winced hard. “Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!” He started muttering
various pirate phrases, but he cut himself off with a strained voice. “No…
Promised…”
“Percy… snap
out of it!” Annabeth hissed.
Percy
groaned as tears fell down his cheeks.
Annabeth
kneeled in front of Percy and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
Percy was
shaking a lot. “Annabeth, no…” He breathed heavily in and out a few times.
Slowly, he stopped shaking and his muscles relaxed. He let out a big shaky
breath and hesitantly hugged her back gently. “I’m okay…”
“Good.”
He squeezed
her slightly. “Thank you…”
“You’re
welcome.”
After a few
moments of silence, Percy pulled back and got to his feet shakily. He took a
deep breath and exhaled. He helped Annabeth up as well and hugged her again,
resting his head on her shoulder.
Annabeth
sighed happily into him.
He kissed
her head. “You know… I think you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me…
I don’t know where I’d be right now without you.”
Annabeth
blushed slightly and smiled.
Percy smiled
and kissed her again. He looked to the small window. “It’s getting late. We
should get some sleep…” He looked to the bed. “…You can have the bed. I’ll just
sleep on the floor.”
“No…”
“Annabeth,
you’re not sleeping on the floor. I
won’t allow it.”
“Stay with
me…”
Percy looked
to the bed again. “You sure…? It’s a single… It’ll be cramped…”
Annabeth
gave him a small smile. “Cozy…”
Percy
chuckled slightly. “Alright, come on.” He lay down on the bed, scooting over so
there was just enough room for her.
Annabeth
climbed in after him and curled up in his arms.
Percy smiled
and wrapped his arms around her, sighing happily.
She kissed
him lightly. “Love you.”
“Love you
too.” He reclined his head and slowly fell asleep.
_
Around
midnight, Annabeth woke up.
Percy was
still next to her, but his muscles had tightened. He was wincing and twitching
in his sleep.
“Percy?”
He didn’t
wake up, but his words were strained. “No…No!”
She shook
him rather roughly. “Percy!”
He snapped
awake and sat up quickly, shaking and breathing heavily. “I-I’m okay… Just…
just another nightmare…”
“I’m sorry…”
He shook his
head. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault…”
She kissed
his head.
He smiled
and kissed her back. “Sorry for waking you up…”
“It’s okay.”
“I-I think I’ll
be okay now… Go back to sleep, alright?”
“Okay…”
Percy nodded
and they both lay down, relaxing and falling asleep once more.
_
The next
morning, Annabeth’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She looked down at Percy and
his facial expression looked like he was having another nightmare. “Percy… wake
up.” she said.
He opened
his eyes slowly. “Hmm?”
“You okay?”
They both
sat up and he yawned. “Yeah. Just another nightmare… Not as bad as last nights
though.”
“Okay…”
He took a
shaky breath. “That one keeps replaying in my head ever since this started…”
Annabeth
frowned and put a hand on his shoulder. “Tell me.”
Percy looked
down and frowned. “…There’s a storm… Giant waves taller than buildings. I can
tell that I made them. The ship’s sails are on fire… Jason, Leo, Frank…
Everyone’s dead. I walk to the side of the ship where a wall is broken off…” He
paused to take a shaky breath. “Y-you’re hanging off the side of the ship…
begging for me to help you and I-I… I summon another wave and it drags you
under… You never come back up.” He paused again and wiped some tears from his
eyes. “When I snap out of it and realize what I’ve done… it’s too late…” he
finished, his voice breaking on the final word.
“Percy, that
won’t happen.” Annabeth assured.
Percy took a
shaky breath. “I’m scared…” he whispered.
She kissed
him lightly. “Don’t be.”
He sniffed
and wiped his eyes before giving a small nod.
“…We’re
docking today.”
Percy
nodded. “Okay… Can you go up to get the supplies? I don’t wanna do something I’ll
regret… I mean- I’m just afraid of what might happen…”
“Nothing
will happen. Just go up.” Annabeth assured.
“…You’ll
stay with me, right?” he asked nervously.
She gave him
a smile. “Of course.”
Percy
returned a small smile. “Thanks…” He looked over to the radio on the wall. “I’ll
uh… I’ll call Leo.”
Annabeth
nodded.
Percy walked
over to the radio and pressed a button. “Leo?”
“Yo, what’s
up?” Leo replied.
“We’re
docking, right?”
“Yep.” There
was a crashing sound. “Shit!”
“What was
that…?”
“My life.”
“Right…”
Leo sighed. “It
was the steering wheel, but we’re all good unless Festus is on a delayed
reaction.”
“Okay. Can
you come open the door for us down here?”
“Sure. I’ll
be down in a sec.”
“Thanks.”
