A wasteland shelters a soldier.
A meadow holds a camper.
Woods hide a hunter.
A bustling city holds a businessman.
Beneath the ocean there's a scuba diver.
In a storm there's a mother.
Through a shopping mall wanders a child.
Museums filled with workers.
So many places.
So many people.
So many times I have forgotten even more.
What was I looking for again…? I can't remember anymore… Somehow I stumble across a girl, and recognize her for what she is. I take her power and move on.
It dulls my mind further.
Then why am I doing it?
I have to, though.
I promised.
"Annabeth," I say to the gravestone before me, "I finally asked Hecate how to cure the sickness."
I close my eyes, remembering.
They all died.
Then I continue, "She actually had an answer! You know I'm not very good at physics. But because of my connection to water, I can take powers into myself."
Annabeth loves physics. She'd probably laugh as I struggle to remember what it was. "Something about connection and human beings made up of a large percentage of water… About how the 'flow' in their body affects the 'flow' in their power. It was too complicated for me to understand. You know that."
I sigh. "She said there'd be side-effects… Even though I'm immune to this, because of my strength, taking on this much power would be…"
There's no reply, of course, but still I keep speaking.
I finish by saying, "I promise I'll do for them what I couldn't do for you, Annabeth."
Then I get up and leave. I have work to do.
People to save.
Like always.
Why did most half-bloods die young?
Because they were weak.
Not only too weak to last against the monsters of the realm behind the Mist, but too weak to handle the power in their veins.
The power from the gods.
It is their mortality that condemns them.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"You tell me," I say dismissively. Their terrified faces amuse me, somehow.
So I laugh.
They try to run away, but I force them back, and steal their powers.
The weight crushes me.
I scream.
Then I laugh some more.
Do I have to keep going? Isn't this enough?
Is there anything…
Anyone waiting for me?
Last one.
This filthy, tattered map and broken, shattered memories.
Last one.
This boy is the last one.
He's backing away - in fear?
I take his power.
That's it.
I'm done.
What was I supposed to do now?
Oh.
I can stop.
A slow pain working through my body.
With it, though, comes a blessed clarity I thought I'd lost forever.
Carefully I open my eyes.
And before me stands a man.
A familiar sea-green. His eyes is what they are, sparkles of blue-green that seem to be…
What emotion was it?
Can't remember.
"Percy," he says carefully. He walks over to where I lay on a bed. "You're awake."
He seems to be restraining himself somehow.
"How do you feel?" the man continues on, kneeling beside me.
I blink. "Alright, I guess." I do my best not to move - my muscles ache for some reason. "Who are you?"
Shock flickers over his expression for a moment.
"Poseidon," he answers. He smiles slightly. "I suppose… It did take a toll on you, didn't it? Pulling immortality from your relatives?"
"Is that what I was doing?" I say. I sit up, disregarding the pain - if anything, it sharpens my mind even more. "Why am I here? Wherever here is?"
He seems uncomfortable. "As thanks for saving our children, the gods will grant you a second wish." Smugness crosses his face. "Zeus agreed to this."
I laugh. "A wish? Any wish of mine will be granted?"
Poseidon nods.
"Will you erase my existence then?"
The man twitches. Poseidon looks at me, a little sadly. "You don't want your memories? Or… your loved ones back? You could… well… even become a god. You want to die?"
"No," I say firmly. "Not die. Even dead, I'll exist." I shake my head wearily. "I don't want to exist anymore. I'm too tired."
Poseidon seems to understand. He stands as he tells me, "I'll tell the council then."
He leaves.
I close my eyes and fall back asleep.
[?] have a dream about people dancing and laughing.
About beer bottles thrown in my face.
Monsters trying to kill me with fists and swords and all sorts of things.
[?] dream of family and friends.
Of girls with blonde hair and boys with horns and goat legs.
Of dragons made from metal.
Seas superimposed with coordinates.
Ladies with hair made from snakes and horses with wings.
[?] have all sorts of dreams, some that seem normal and others that seem so outrageous. But surely they're all dreams, though [?] can't tell how [?] dreamt them in the first place.
They are only dreams.
Because when [?] wake, it is to an emotionless life, filled with nothingness. Or is it a life in the first place, then?
[?] am nothingness.
Soon the memories of those dreams fade.
They may not have existed in the first place.
The entity known as [?] doesn't either.