Chapter 6

Percy

It was all white. No sound, no sight, no smells, no touch. It was blank. Was I breathing? Was I living?

Apparently I was because slowly, my senses came back to me.

The first was smell. I smelled the sea. It was familiar and comforting and seemed to be around me a lot. There was also the scent of a fire yet it didn’t give off a dangerous scent. This was around me a lot as well yet not as much as the smell of the sea.

Then touch came. There was an impossibly soft bed under me with sheets pulled up to my chest. A hand was holding mine occasionally and a rough hand was sometimes placed on my forehead as if checking my temperature. It gave me something to latch onto- to let me know that I was here; alive and safe.

Sound came next. There were people talking in quiet voices. I could hear snippets of their conversation.

“How is he?”

“-alive.”

“-much longer?”

“-don’t know.”

One of the voices was a low pitch sound. The speaker was obviously male. It reminded me of ocean waves crashing onto a sandy shore. There was also the voice of a girl. She sounded young, yet wise. The one that wasn’t around too much was another male voice. His voice seemed to tell me that usually he wasn’t the serious type of person yet at the moment; his tone told me that something bad was happening. These people’s whispers were familiar to me.

I had difficulty opening my eyes, telling me that they have been closed for a long time. Eventually, I was able to open them a crack. There was a huge blast of brightness and I quickly shut my eyes again with a groan. I could feel the eyes of someone on me.

“Is he waking up?” A male voice asked.

“I think so.” Another responded.

I open my eyes again and this time saw a blurry face above me. Then I was enveloped in bone-crushing hug. I groaned once again. That hug had hurt a bit. Slowly, everything started becoming clearer to me. When the man released me from the hug, the first thing that I said was, “Dad?” My voice cracked and although the volume was barely a whisper the voice sounded childish.

My dad had tears in his eyes. “You were so close to death. Curse Oceanus and that wretched Athena spawn.” I flinched a bit at his loud voice and he immediately brought the volume of it down.

“How long hav-“ I started to say but Poseidon stopped me and handed me a glass of water. I accepted it gratefully.

“You were out for about 3 months Percy.” My father said gently. “The gods know of this so there is no need to worry. However, the demigods have no idea that this occurred.” I nodded slowly, absorbing the information as I put down the now empty glass. As if reading my mind, the cup filled with water once again and I brought it up to my lips, enjoying the feeling of the cool water trickling down my throat.

“How are you feeling, Percy?” My dad asked. I paused for a bit, thinking.

“A bit warm.” I replied quietly. Poseidon nodded his head as if he were expecting this.

“It took a lot of energy from Apollo to heal you. When we found you, there was almost no skin on your back, and your left wrist, right arm, and left leg were broken, as well as your right ankle being sprained.” My father informed me. “You lost so much blood it was surprising how long you lasted there. You also appeared to have a number of concussions.” He told me slowly. I winced as I remember getting each of those wounds. My father had a look of pain in his eyes as he looked at me. “You should sleep more, Percy. You need to heal.” Poseidon told me. Soon, I felt my eyelids drooping and before I knew it, I was drifting away into Morpheus’s realm.

When I awoke, I felt much better. I looked around me to find that my dad was gone and in his place was a girl that looked about the age of 8.

“Hestia?” I questioned. “What are you doing here?”

“You are my champion. I am always trying to help you when I can.” She told me. “Your father wants you to have some water and some nectar before you get up.” She handed me a glass of water and after I downed it, she then gave me a glass of nectar. After drinking some water and nectar, I felt as good as new but I felt a bit feverish and there was a new soft buzzing in my ears. “You shouldn’t have any more ambrosia and nectar. We already gave you a lot so if you eat anymore; you are likely to burst into flames.” She informed me. After listening to Hestia rant about being careful to the next couple days, I swung my legs off the bed and got unsteadily onto my feet while ignoring a slight throbbing in my head. After wobbling a bit, I regained my balance and made my way to the elevator after saying thank you and good bye to Hestia.

I slowly made my way to my mother’s apartment. Remembering what she did, I started to walk faster, until I was running then sprinting. When I arrived at my mother’s apartment, I was panting slightly, I could feel my wounds burning, and my head was spinning. I wouldn’t be running with a concussion again.

 After ringing the doorbell, my mom opened the door. As soon as she saw that it was me, she enveloped me in a hug.

“Poseidon told me what happened.” She told me. “Are you feeling alright, Percy?” She asked me in a motherly way.

“I’m fine mom. Just a bit angry and sad.” I responded. I think that my mom could tell that I wasn’t telling the truth but she let it slide.

“I’m glad that you are safe.” She said. “But can you try to be more careful?” She asked me.

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. “I’m a demigod, mom.” I stated.

“I know.” She replied with a tired sigh.

“Well, I’m going to head back to camp now mom.” I told her.

“Alright. Try to stay safe please.” My mom told me.

“I’ll try.” I responded. With that, I was on my way to camp.