Chapter 12 - No More Secrets
published: Wednesday, 13 February 2019

Hazel stumbled backwards and nearly passed out from sheer exhaustion. Her eyelids had never felt so heavy, nor had her muscles ever felt that sore.

"She's bleeding out!" Percy started shouting. He set Annabeth down on the deck, his eyes flashing with panic. "We need to do something!"

Piper knelt down next to them. She seemed to have come out of her shock. "Uh, right." She shook her head and groaned in frustration. "I know this. Okay, okay, we need to apply pressure on the wound to slow the bleeding. Leo get the first aid kit, Jason get water. I need a cloth!"

Leo and Jason stumbled down the steps to get everything Piper needed.

Piper shakily took out Katoptris from her belt loop and cut a slit through Annabeth shirt to open it up to see the wound.

Percy nearly cried out.

Her ribs were pressing against her skin, and her hip bones were visible above the waistband of her jeans.

"Why..." Percy's voice cracked and he fell silent.

"Look, that's-that's another problem," Piper managed. "We need to save her life first."

Percy absently shrugged off his ragged shirt and bunched it up into a ball. He couldn't stop the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Any excuse to take off your shirt," Leo tried to lighten the mood as he walked back up, but he halted in his tracks as he saw the state Annabeth was it. Jason stopped at his side in horror.

"She didn't eat much," Frank murmured as he recalled their days aboard the Argo II.

"Guys, focus!" Piper yelled.

Percy blinked. He pressed his shirt onto part of Annabeth's wound, while Jason applied pressure to the other side with a cloth.

Hazel force-fed Annabeth ambrosia as Piper quickly threaded a sterilised needle with thread.

"Okay, remove," Piper ordered, and Percy and Jason retreated.

Frank dabbed Annabeth's wound with antiseptic from the kit before pouring nectar into the cut.

The bleeding instantly decreased once the godly food had been ingested, but the laceration was still deep.

Percy watched with a racing heart as Piper stitched the wound shut and wrapped bandages all around Annabeth's torso.

She fell back with exhaustion, breathing heavily as she took a breath of relief.

Annabeth was breathing normally and remained unconscious, but the bleeding had stopped and the wound was closed.

"She should take nectar when she wakes up," Piper said tiredly. She closed the first aid kit. "I'll patch the rest of you up in the infirmary."

Jason reached out for her shoulder. "Piper, you look exhausted. Take a break. You just saved Annabeth's life."

"I'll do the rest," Percy promised her. He grabbed the kit and packets of ambrosia. "Just eat whatever you guys need without exploding."

Leo suddenly laughed. "I just," he chuckled. "I can't believe you're actually here."

The others started to laugh with him as they drank in the fact that they were all alive, with Percy and Piper back.

"I missed you, you idiot," Hazel said softly as she gave Percy a kiss on the cheek. Jason, Leo and Frank gave Percy a hug.

Percy glanced at Piper, his gaze flickering down to her abdomen. He had completely forgotten about the baby.

Not now, her eyes said.

Percy nodded infinitesimally. He gingerly carried Annabeth in his arms again. "I should get her to an infirmary bed."

Before he left, Piper stood up and stopped him. "Wait, Percy." She swallowed. "I think, I think Annabeth did this to herself."

When his eyebrows furrowed, Piper explained, "There's this mortal condition. It's called anorexia. I-I'll explain another time. But it's just a theory. I don't know if she's actually..."

"Starving herself," Percy finished. He'd heard of anorexia. There was a girl in his old school who was said to have had it. She hadn't returned after being admitted to the hospital one day.

Percy looked down at Annabeth. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping, the hint of a smile on her lips. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear fondly.

"She'll be okay," Piper told him. "We're going to help her through this."

Percy nodded absently. "Yeah."

This is your fault, he couldn't help but think. You left her and this happened. You broke your promise and you disappeared.

He followed the steps down to the infirmary.

"I should..." Leo gestured to the bow of the ship. "We should leave before Tartarus finds–"

"Um, guys," Hazel said suddenly. "I think I might pass out." She blinked rapidly. "Nico said shadow-travel was tiring, but..." Hazel trailed off as she fell into Frank. She slowly regained her footing. "I'm going to–I'm going to sleep now."

Leo nodded. "Go, get some rest." He yawned. "I'll set us towards Fokia. It's supposed to be a peaceful isle in Gavdos, so let's pray it is."

"Sure," Hazel shrugged. "Just steer clear of Antikythera. There's a bad energy."

She and Frank retreated downstairs as Leo walked towards the stern, leaving Piper and Jason alone for the first time in nearly a month.

Piper slumped down on the couch, and Jason walked over to join her.

"We never really got a chance to say 'hi'," Jason murmured as he pulled Piper towards him and kissed her passionately.

Piper drew away, her hand still clasped in his. "I missed you."

"Me too," Jason said. He shook his head. "When I thought you were dead..."

Piper cupped his face with her hand and kissed him lightly. "When I thought you were dead..." She bit her lip. "I never want to go through that ever again," she whispered.

Jason squeezed her hand. "I love you." He look down at their entwined hands. "Piper," he started hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"When you disappeared," Jason said tentatively. "I was so angry. I-I don't know what came over me. I mean, at the castle, I threatened a maid's baby to get information on you and I just–" He cut himself off by burying his face in his hands.

Piper kissed his forehead and shushed him.

"You should've seen me, Pipes," Jason said miserably. "I was a monster. I wouldn't have recognised myself. And I knew how disappointed you would be in me if you saw that. Because you would've realised I'm not that perfect."

He shook his head. "Piper, I'm not okay. I haven't been for a while now. It's been five year since Camp Jupiter was destroyed, and I still have nightmares about it today."

Piper frowned. "What?"

Jason sighed. "I wake up in cold sweat. I cant sleep. I see old friends, ghosts, and people telling me I could've saved them."

"Oh gods," Piper breathed. "Jason, why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid you'd think I was weak," Jason said quietly.

Piper kissed him again. "Never think that, Jason. You're one of the strongest people I know."

Jason smiled weakly. "You have no idea what it's like now that you know. It's like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

Piper leaned into him.

"No more secrets," Jason vowed. "No more secrets between us from now on, yeah?"

"Yeah." Piper lay her hand on her stomach, feeling the baby in her womb like a heavy rock. "No more secrets."

She glanced up at Jason. His eyes so relieved and a small smile on his face.

How could she break the news to him now? How could she ruin this rare moment of happiness he was feeling?

So Piper sat there with her hand in his, staring at the wall and wondering how she was ever going to get out of his impossible predicament she had landed herself in.

^^^^^

"You sure you're okay?" Frank asked again.

Hazel nodded meekly.

She sat down on her bed as Frank stood by the door uncertainly.

"Oh, come in," Hazel said. "We're adults and Coach Hedge isn't even close by."

Frank blushed, but came to sit on the edge of her bed. Hazel shuffled closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. 

"How was it?" Hazel asked softly. "Having to fight your grandmother."

Frank looked down at his feet. "I couldn't. I couldn't fight her, Hazel. She was my last living family – and I thought she might have been alive..." He shook his head painfully.

Hazel slid her hand into his. "I know."

"I loved her so much," Frank's voice cracked as he buried his face in her shoulder.

Hazel recovered from her surprise and wrapped her arms around Frank. She ran her hand up and down his back comfortingly. "I'm here," was all she said.

It was all that mattered right now.

"And Sammy?" Frank asked in a small voice.

Hazel swallowed. She stared at the wall.

She didn't want to think about Sammy.

She didn't want to think about how she had rammed her longsword through his gut, tears streaming down her face as he cried out in pain.

She was afraid if she did that she would burst into tears.

Frank gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "You can talk to me." He sat back up to look at her.

Hazel fiddled with her hands. "At first, he wasn't Sammy at all. He was sneering and he was cruel. It made it easier to–" She closed her eyes. "–to fight him."

She bit her lip. "Frank, gods, he was my best friend. My only friend. And I was in love with him."

She said Hazel's great danger would not happen in my lifetime. But I promised I would be there for her. You will have to tell her I'm sorry, Leo. Help her if you can.

Hazel had seen Sammy saying that to Leo in her flashback.

Sammy had promised to always be there for her, and Hazel had betrayed him completely. She had killed him. Both times.

In her first life, it was the cursed diamond. And now, she had condemned him back to Hades just so she could live.

"It's not fair," Hazel said quietly. "That he should die so that I could live. It isn't fair at all."

"Life just isn't," Frank said sympathetically.

"I hate them," Hazel told him. "Apate and Dolos. I've never hated many people but I hate them."

Frank nodded in agreement. "Trickery and deceit is worse than outright violence, in my opinion."

"And all for a stupid limerick that doesn't even make sense," Hazel said bitterly. "Darkness trumps the light, heroes near their blight. What does it mean?"

Frank sighed. "I've learnt long ago that deciphering prophecies only give me a bigger headache."

Hazel laughed softly.

Frank stood up. "I'll let you sleep now."

"Wait, Frank," she said hesitantly. "I don't want to be alone right now."

Frank kissed her forehead. "Okay."

They climbed under the covers, Hazel snuggling into Frank's warm embrace.

He wrapped his arms around her and she buried her head in his chest.

"I love you," Hazel murmured.

"I love you too," came Frank's reply.