The Asylum
"I'm not crazy, I swear!"
The psychiatric guards drug Percy under his arms to his room. The burly guard on his left just snorted. "Sure thing, Bud." They set him on the bed and tied down his ankles and bounded his wrists. "Now stay put. If you get up again, the warden said he'll be forced to put you in isolation, Johnson. You know how that goes. So be a good boy." He and the other guard shared a chuckle as they left Percy's room.
Percy jerked against his bonds, only with no results. They were on tight, and Percy had became weak being in this Insane Asylum for so long. It was going on five years. he thought. The warden used to let him have a calendar, but had dropped off in 2012. Ever since then, he's been guessing. Asking the guards only made him seem more insane - though he wasn't.
Percy had seen things that these people hadn't. They hadn't seen the Hydra, or Zeus and Poseidon, his father, fighting on a beach in horse and eagle form. They hadn't fought the Minotaur, or exposed Luke Castellan for stealing the Lightning Bolt. They had never crossed the Sea of Monsters, or walked the Labyrinth. Had they ever fought in a Titan War against Kronos? No. Had they ever had a nose bleed that lead to Gaea rising from her slumber? Percy had, and he remembered everything clearly.
He was Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, for Hermes' sake. By-gods, he was going to escape this Insane Asylum. He didn't belong here. The other people who were stuck here weren't friendly towards him. They kept their distance, glaring and asking the guards to put him in Isolation every other week. Percy shimmied down in his bed and began to work the belted strap off his wrist.
In a matter of minutes, he was out of bed and looking out into the halls. Everyone seemed busy, not paying attention to the room labeled 4-E JOHNSON, PETER. He groaned quietly. "Still have my name wrong..." Softly closing the door behind him, he snuck out across the hall towards the stairs. His hands were balled into fists as he went down two flights. He ignored the draft around his rear where his hospital gown had flew open. He held it closed as best as he could, but was soon distracted when he saw the Exit door. Percy's eyes lit up and he sprinted faster. Unfortunately, his legs had grown wobbly since his time away from Camp Half-Blood, and he tumbled head first down a set of stairs.
Two guards stood over him after a few minutes of dazed silence. They were the same ones from earlier.
"Dammit, Johnson, you just gotta make my job harder, don't you?" He snatched him up by the back of his collar and drug him up the stairs. Percy choked.
"Quincey, stop it," the blond one said. "You're hurting him worse."
"Grace, do you really think I care? He's been a pain in my -"
"Jason!" Percy gasped, grabbing onto the blond's uniform. "Jason Grace, praetor of New Rome! How's Piper?"
The man cracked a smile. "It's Jeffrey, Peter. And her name's Penelope." A hint of redness came to his cheeks. "She's doing fine. How... How did you know I have a wife?"
Percy grinned. "Remember? We traveled to Greece and Rome! We defeated Gaea together! Why aren't you wearing your glasses, Jason? You're a littler bit near-sighted. You're going to damage your eyes even more, Sparky. I guess you must have gotten contacts since they put me in this looney bin. Are you here to take me home? I need to go see Annabeth." Percy's hands began to tremble and he dropped his hands from his best friend's scrubs. "Anna... Annabeth..."
"Hey, it's okay, Peter-"
"It's Percy."
"Okay, Percy. Calm down. I'll... I'll take you to see Annabeth." Jeffrey smiled and nodded his head. He reached in one of his pockets and pulled out a pair of gold glasses. He placed them on his nose and squeezed Percy's shoulder. He looked up at the other guard and murmured something. He nodded and released his Python-Grip from his collar. Jeffrey walked Percy upstairs with his arm around his shoulders.
"We'll take you to Annabeth, Perce."
They walked towards the isolation halls. Percy halted, glaring at the halls. His fingers began to twitch. Something was wrong, he could feel it. The water fountain began to sputter.
Jeffrey sighed. "That damn water fountain still has a leak. They're just wasting the state's money. Come on, Johnson."
Percy reluctantly followed, glancing into the tiny windows as they passed. Men and women were in padded rooms in straight jackets, crying and screaming. Percy again hesitated. "Jason, you can't put me in a straight jacket. Please. You know I hurt my shoulder when we were fighting the giants."
Jeffrey stared at him blankly for a moment and then nodded. "I remember. They hit you hard with that club. I won't."
Percy frowned. "Jason, it wasn't a club..."
His eyes flashed with nervousness behind his lenses. "Sorry, it's been a few years."
He carefully nodded and followed slowly. What was wrong with Jason? It looked like Jason and sounded like Jason, but it was Jeffrey... He followed him into the padded room. Jeffrey walked back towards the door. "I'm going to go get Annabeth and then you two can talk." He locked the door behind him. Trembling, Percy sat in the corner, his legs pulled up to his chest. Something was wrong - very wrong, but Percy couldn't discern what it was. Closing his eyes, he waited for Annabeth.
He could wait eternity for her...
It was four hours until Annabeth showed up. She walked in with straight, short blonde hair and blue eyes. Percy didn't care about her hair, or her eyes. It was her - his girlfriend, coming to see him. He ran towards her with a grin on his face, reaching out for an embrace -
When she tased him.
Percy thrashed on the floor for a few moments before she pulled the tiny stickers out of his chest. He still was shaking, biting his lip until he bled. Annabeth closed the door behind her, standing before him with her arms crossed over her expensive suit. Percy wondered how she kept her balance on the fluffy floor in those heels...
He sat up. "Damn, Wise Girl. What's gotten into you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Cute. My name isn't Annabeth, Mr. Johnson. It's Anne Castello. I'm not your Wise Girl. I'm married to Lucas Castello, and we are very happy with our two children, Zoey and Thalia. I hate to bust your bubble, Peter, but I have always been a rather blunt person."
Percy sat on the floor, his mind in a whirlpool. Jeffrey was Jason... Anne was Annabeth... His stomach did a 360 and he scooted against the wall. "B-but... You nursed me back to health after I came to camp..."
"I have never been to a summer camp a day in my life." Anne pulled a chair into the room and sat down, crossing her legs in a business-like manner. Percy didn't like this Annabeth. "Mr. Johnson, I'm going to be very honest with you. You were in a coma for six years, from the age of twelve to seventeen. You dreamed up a fantasy world, where you slayed dragons and what not. It is believed that you based your characters off of real people. Every name you've mentioned has been a form of or very near to the names of the students in your sixth grade class. The boy Frank Zhang who was a shape shifter was a boy named Frank Zade, from which I heard was very close with you.
"I believe you gave me the name Annabeth because, I too, was in your class. Most people you made up came to see you during those years, talking to you while you were asleep. From your files, it says that a Gregory Underwood visited you the most. The only time I came was when I went to work with my mom. I informed you that you drooled in your sleep and left. You still do." She stood and straightened out her jacket. "The fantasy world you're living in doesn't exist, Peter. When you grow up, we'll let you go home."
She smiled as she walked out the door, and Percy knew she was lying. He was never going home. Ever. There was an observation box, and he carefully crawled over to it, getting his first glimpse in the mirror after several years. He gasped at his reflection. He had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes, just like his mother Sally. The intercom flicked on in his room and Anne's voice rang out loud and clear.
"We tried to tell you, to help you understand. You just wouldn't understand." It turned off.
Annabeth cried behind the glass, sitting on the floor and sobbing. Jason ran in with Piper behind him, tears glistening in his blue eyes. Annabeth threw her shoes against the wall, rubbing her heels. "I can't do this anymore..." she sobbed. She took out the colored contacts with trembling hands.
Piper bent down and held her in a hug. "Hey, it's okay... He chose his fate." Her voice cracked, and her Charm Speak broke. Jason looked out at the insane man sitting in the floor, picking at the padded floors.
"For me! He didn't have to do that! I had to go look him in the eyes and lie!" Annabeth broke down, hitting the floor and sobbing loudly. Percy looked up at the glass case with a frown.
"Annabeth, hush! He can hear you!" Jason ducked down and picked up her shoes. "I took this job to watch him, and I will, but he recognized me so I have to quit now."
"You can't!" she whispered. "He- They'll kill him!"
"Wouldn't it put him out of his misery?" Jason laid a reassuring hand on his wife's shoulder when a loud THUMP came from the padded cell. He stood to see Percy having a seizure on the floor, foaming coming from his mouth. Annabeth screamed and pushed past Jason and Piper, sprinting into the padded room. She threw herself on her knees with one hand on his chest as he thrashed.
"PERCY!" she screamed. His medically-changed brown eyes were wide with fear as he shook. Annabeth felt his hand squeeze back as the light left from his eyes.
Nico di Angelo met Percy Jackson just outside of the gates to Elysium. With his arms folded, Nico glared at the son of Poseidon.
"How dare you make a deal with my father!?" the short, skinny, gay boy barked, his arms flying with his Italian flare. "You put everyone through misery just because you wanted to keep Annabeth safe?! SHE WAS SAFE AT CAMP, YOU DIMWITTED, IDIOT -"
"It's good to see you too, Nico." He picked him up in a hug and then set him down. His muscles felt alive again, and he flexed his arms. He was seventeen again, with black hair and green eyes. He grinned.
"Can you take me up to see the others?"
Nico shook his head. "You know how it works. You stay down here. I might bring Annabeth to come see you, but I don't think you'll be lonely down here for long."
"What do you mean?"
Nico shrugged. "All in time, Percy. All in time."
Percy looked out at the expanse of Elysium. A mansion with its own private lake sat on the top of a hit. It's outside was covered in seashells and it looked like it could use some of Percy's touch.
"Is that one mine?" he asked Nico.
He flipped his shaggy black hair. "Will and I decorated it ourselves."
Percy grinned. He could definitely call this home.