When Steve opened his eyes, he noticed that the sun was just beginning to rise. The sky was filled with red-orange and gold and a bright rose. His hands and mouth were sticky, a tang left over on his tongue. The salt of the sea stung his nose and made the taste make his mouth feel fuzzy. He stretched against the tree that he had slept upon, the bark giving him a pleasant scratch.
"H̵͊e̻̒l̙̝̯͎̘̩̏̍ͯ̓́͌l̫̝̲͎̖͖̝͜o͇̹̦̼̗̭͐.̭̞̯"
Steve looked up. Bright eyes looked down at him, accompanied by facial features that were relaxed and held joy. His tongue was filling his mouth and he couldn't move when a warm hand caressed his cheek.
"F̢̣̞̘͈͍̩͒͗ͣ̑i̝͔̗͚͖͙͚͊̄n̆̈̕r͐́̚ỵ͓̄͜u̧̐̄ͬ͌̆ͦ̇,̴̝͔̞͖̞͖ͦ ̼̮͚̪̜̑̀I̦̲̪̦̮̣͋͐͒̀͝ ̸̼̟͈̪̤̞͗ͪ͒͌̄͐͆f̥̳̦̬̬͍͐̿͢ͅo̫͓̙ͯ̀ͤ̋uͥ̃ͦͯ̓͂͏nd̪̗̽ͦ̑̎̆ͧ̐̀ ͆y͇͚͉̺̳̼̻̎̈́͋o͎̺͉̪͆͌ͣ͐̑ͧ͑u̢̟̯̺͈͙̳ͤ̈͐̋ͥ.̬̯̿͗͆͊ͯ͛̎͠"
Steve shivered with anticipation, letting his head rest in the other's hand. It felt real, certainly did, and soft... and kind.
"Who..."
"W̧̳͔̣̝̎̂h͇̝̦̭͚̞̮o̳̬̭ͨͣ́͌̍͋ͯ́ ̯̦̥̘̜̤̥͊ͦ̚͡s̷̲̯̎ͪ̿͋hő̧̞̤̘̼͌ͮư̔̉̐͛ͅl͕ͯͬ̔͐d̰̳̜͆̓̋̐̏̇ ̯̩̳ͣ̆̇̉ͅI̘͚̟̻͋ͬͤ̄ͤ ̧̦̲̪͛ͥ̂̿̃͋̿b̼͔̠ͧ̕e͎͔̗̖̼ͭ̏ͤ̈́?̅"
Steve sighed and closed his eyes. "What's your name?"
"... P̀e͞r̥̱̮͞ć̻̫͔͍̟y̷̩̣̖͚͔͖̦."
"'Percy'..." Steve mouthed, air barely passing in his voice box to actually resonate and create a sound. Percy's hand was squeezing his cheek a bit more firmly, a harshness that was drawing a rattling sound out of Steve that he was struggling to silence. In response, he felt Percy bring another hand down to hold his other cheek.
"Percy?"
"W͔̪͝ḥ̩̬̟͢͠ó̜͈̳͕͉̹͖̰ ́͏̥̪d̝̪͜o̶̲̪̺̩͉̫͚̼ ̧͔̲͓̯̲͚͎ͅý̯̱͍̤͔̺̕o͜͏͍͎̘̣͓ṷ̷̯͠ ̱́ͅw̷̶̛͈̥̠̲͕a҉͕͎̤̩̭̺͟͠n͚̳̟̻͘t̨̟̜͕ͅ ̷̲̦̳͉̦̟͖t͙̰̕͜ͅo̕͏͎̘̫͍͎̥ ͔̹̙͢b̢̦͙̮̥̫̀ͅe̢̺̼̰̜͇̦̣̭̖?̭̲̟̝̳"
Steve wondered for a moment. Who did he want to be? He wanted to just have his life quest finish, honestly. Percy's breath was warm against his cheeks, tickling his eyelashes and making him close his eyes.
"Whoever you want me to be."
Percy dropped his hands to Steve's shoulders, letting a small smile grace his face. He pulled gently on the other's body, wanting Steve to follow him somewhere. As Steve stood, Percy pulled him along, going faster to just barely catch Steve's right hand. He let out a breath that was building inside of his chest.
"Where are we going?"
Percy did not answer, only leading Steve to the edge of the sea. He pulled a bag off of his back that Steve had not really noticed before. Steve copied the motion, slipping off his backpack and setting it on the sand. Percy walked into the water, gesturing for Steve to follow.
Steve turned to look behind him, a strange chill flooding over his skin.
"Ẃ̎̾ͣ͠h́̀a̵̵̐ͮ͂̚t̉͆ͮ̽ͣ͢'͊ͦ̿ͪ̌͐̓͗͂͟s̴̛̋ͪ ̄̃̆̿ͮ̀͏w̢͋̏̄̓̊̃̇͟͜r̷̍͊̄̄̒͛ͧͮ͠͠o̸̽͆͋ņ̌̇̒̏̊́g̨ͥ͋ͨ̓ͭͭ̏̇͜͡?̏ͯ̾ͬͥͣͫ̓҉͏" Percy asked.
Steve looked around, not answering.
'Are you certain that you should follow him?' Steve heard, his special headvoice finally coming forward to press its thoughts upon Steve and override him.
'...I don't want to listen to you anymore.'
The headvoice had once whispered many things, until Steve found a reason to distrust it.
Alex had been running with a tiny Steve, one that was barely able to run with the shortness of his legs. The fires were following them. as were the wolves. Snapping jaws were loud in their pursuit of the tiny Steve.
Steve remembered falling out of Alex's reach, stumbling, the ground hurting his knees, and Alex's pale hand reaching for him. He doesn't remember who or what threw him forward into the waiting Alex's arms, but he remembers that his headvoice was saying things.
'Go back,' it said. Back into the fire, back to Never-Spawn-Again, it said, but the Alex-thing was holding him close and saying it would never let them go again.
Steve remembers that Alex was crying in the next village, tears blessing the little Steve and wishing no harm to come, no threat of Never-Spawn-Again.
That was when Steve promised to keep running, and to trust his gut when the headvoice said things he didn't like.
Percy led Steve through the water, surprising Steve by being able to be led through the salty water without hitting anything.
"T̘͇̦͕̱̲̖o̫̻̗͓̰͉̝͠ ͖̱̪ṭ̗͕̖͓̙͡h̫e̵͓̦̤̦ ͘È̼͓͕͓̙̖ͅld̛̯̹̫̹e͕͔̪͍r͎͙̮s͓̜̳͔̦̱̟,̤͖̗̩̤ ̵͎͇͍̰t̵h̜̤e̩̞̠̰̬re ͔͉͖͚͙͔y̝͖̦̺̟o̹̰̲̦̰̞͜ư̞͓͈̲̜ ̥s̰͜h̡̟aͅll̴͖͕̖̱̭̤ ̢͉f̛̜̙̗͎i̧̯͓̭̣̙n̵͖̠d͍̰̺̦̳̳ ̫̼͇̥͖ẁh͇a͏̯̯̙t͚͖̥̤͙́ ̶͍̘͕̥̜y̢ò͇̰̖̪̭̙u҉ ̧͈͕̻s̛̯̲̳̩e̡̫̬̞e̖̲͢k̷̭͇̖͔.̙̱ͅ" Percy pressed a cheek to Steve's and pushed him on his way to the deep sea.
Into the brine, where he was blind to the world.