Chapter XIII Why Are You Looking At Me Like That? You're Just A Snobby Caterpillar

Percy woke up slowly, blinking his eyes rapidly to adjust to the light. He spent several moments staring at the ceiling above him, before looking towards the window, and then to the clock on the wall. It was about ten at night. Curfew was some fifteen minutes ago, and the harpies would arrive in roughly two hours.

Wonderful. Percy took his time as he moved around, stretching leisurely and cracking bones and joints. He let out a relieved sigh, and then groggily made his way out of the infirmary. He had a satyr to locate. Percy sat himself on the porch steps, crossing his legs and closing his eyes, focusing on the little nudging in his gut. That was the bond. He hadn't noticed it until he had seen Grover again.

Concentrating, Percy focused on that spot, making it his epicenter. If he kept going, kept focusing in, getting closer and closer to the core of the little nudging, he was hopping he would be able to find the satyr, somehow. It took several tries, but he was finally able to hone in on the spot, listing to the little voice murmuring to him. Percy almost gagged when he realized where Grover was, and quickly cut off the connection. That was just indecent.

Percy stood, shaking out his slightly stiff limbs as he trekked towards to forest. He had a tree nymph to find. At least Grover would be worn out when Percy found him. One less problem for Percy to worry about.

As he walked, he deliberately slowed his steps. He didn't have any particular wish to find Grover in the middle of...fornicating. He walked silently and stealthily, moving throughout the forest on feather-light feet and savoring the silence that surrounded him on all sides, almost suffocating him with its pressure, its ever-looming presence, so fragile but so great.

He relished in the silence. If he tried, he could block out all the constant white noise in his head, the chattering voices and the crazed laughs, the heart-wrenching sobs and blood-curdling screams that rang in his ears continuously throughout his day and night. The sounds haunted his dreams, and even when he was alone on a night such as this they were still with him, always murmuring to him, always whispering inane things, little temptations and sweet offerings. But, if he focused, if he concentrated, then for a few moments he could bask in the bone-chilling silence of the forest.

As he walked, the trees became thicker, the grass greener and the bushes larger. Noises started to become apparent, breaking the sweet silence that had been comforting him. The sounds of heavy breathing and small giggles slowly reached his ears, becoming louder but less frequent as he neared. He waited until no noise but soft, rhythmic breathing and the occasional snore could be heard before he peaked out between the bushes. He shut his eyes upon his quick analysis that they were in a rather...inelegant state, for the sake of their privacy and his nightmares.

He gently levitated the deeply sleeping Grover and walked away, leaving Juniper to cuddle a nearby bush that looked rather fluffy. Grover shifted in his sleep and snored, making a noise every once in awhile, but Percy would know the moment he started to wake up, and so didn't worry. It took him awhile to get back to the camp with a floating satyr behind him, struggling to make sure Grover wasn't hit by anything and awoken as a result, and remembering the path back to camp with as little confusion as possible. By the time he had managed to set Grover down on the soft grass near the center of camp, he could hear faint screeches in the distance. He ducked into the nearest shelter he could find, which was one of the training structures. He wasn't going to miss this.

The harpies circled overhead in that same cyclone from the night before, a mass of wings and feathers and talons and beaks. Percy's eyes flickered back to Grover's form, and snorted. Even his dick is hairy, Percy mused absentmindedly as he watched the birds circle closer and closer to the ground. Closer and closer to Grover. Percy started to worry his lower lip. He didn't want to kill Grover, but it had to be done. Still, he couldn't help but wince and yelp in pain for his friend as one bird swooped down and cleaning bit off his...penetrator.  Percy winced for him.

Grover sat up with a scream lodged in his throat, panic swelling him. He began to yell as he realized there was a mass of feathers and wing bones circling him, trapping him on all sides. He sobbed in pain as he tried to move away from them, but they were blocking him in on all sides. One bit into his arm, another his ribs and another his leg. Slowly they tore bits of flesh and bone off, until finally Grover was no more than a pool of blood. Percy felt remorse in the pit of his stomach, the image of Grover's pained and horror-stricken eyes glued to the forefront of his mind, possibly forever.

Percy made himself comfortable inside the training building. He wouldn't be leaving for another two hours, until the harpies left. Once they had, he had to assure that nothing could be lead back to 'innocent Percy who's still healing'. Percy sat alone with the never ceasing voices ringing in his ears. At least they made some entertaining conversations.

Once the harpies had finally left, leaving in their dramatic cyclone (that Percy thought was more to show off than anything,) Percy reveled in the fresh air exposed to him, bathing in the constantly perfect whether of Camp Half-Blood. Percy sniffed delicately, wondering over to the huge statue of Zeus. Or what was supposed to be him. Percy gave a crooked smile. It was still as he remembered, resembling a pile of feces more than the King of the Gods.

That made him begin to think of Jason, the son of Zeus. He had heard all about the Demigod from Hera long before he returned without his memories. Really, the Goddess was very eccentric sometimes. But very easy to talk to if you got on her good side, which was really the 'Anti-every-other-God/Goddess' side. The boy held some promise, certainly. Handsome, good physique, strong and capable of leading, Percy could tell. Hera had made a good choice. In his musings, Percy didn't immediately realize that he had wandered over to cabin one, Zeus' cabin.

Once he did realize, he wasn't sure what made him make sure the only occupant was asleep before creeping in. He looked around himself. It wasn't a very stylish room, or personalized. Percy assumed it was because no one was planning on it having an occupant. A giant statue of Zeus in sandals loomed on a pedestal in the center of the room, and a single bed had been pushed into the corner of the room with a lumpy form atop it. Various, small decorations littered the walls, but Percy couldn't be bothered to pay them much attention, instead wandering over to Jason.

Jason was on his stomach, a trail of drool falling out of his squished mouth, an arm and leg both flung over the edge of the bed, face smushed into a pillow and the majority of his body covered with a giant, fluffy blanket. Percy wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but before he knew it he had entered the dreams of the young praetor. He couldn't make out much, just a few hazy shapes and colors here and there. Percy frowned. He didn't like it. It was too dull.

With a wave of his arms, the mindscape lit up in a spectrum of bright colors. Mushrooms and flowers towered over Percy, caterpillars with hookahs sat atop mushrooms snobbishly, and butterflies zoomed overhead pretentiously. A tall, blue-haired Jason wearing a top hat appeared, sipping tea and rattling about ravens and writing desks while he sat at a table with a high-backed chair. A white rabbit bounced around rapidly, almost too quick to follow with one's eyes. Soon, a black haired Percy wearing a blue and white frilly dress appeared. Percy giggled to himself as he watched Jason flirt with his other self, before leaving with a content sigh.

He loved Alice in Wonderland. And, that should give Jason something to think about in the morning, if how Percy had planned it to come out would actually happen. This was fun!

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So I have a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee bit of an Alice in Wonderland obsession. Sue me! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVEEEEEEEEE *Cackle*