Annabeth hunkered down and tried to block out the sounds of Percy's weeping, adjusting her armor and fiddling with her bone sword as she stood guard outside the cabin door. Jason seemed to be faring no better than the daughter of Athena was, and he seemed slightly sick as he took another peek through the window to see if Percy was still cowering under his bunk. Judging by the look on his face, he was. The most awful thing was that the reason Percy was scared was because of them; he thought it was all a hallucination or an illusion cooked up by Polybotes, and that day when he'd finally broken out of that insanity-induced stupor was one of the worst days of Annabeth's life, right up there when Hera took Percy away from her. She tried not to recall the memory, but it was like telling someone not to think of blue elephants; that's all they thought about.

-Ω-

Percy hadn't spoken to anyone since his liberation from Polybotes. Hell, he rarely even moved aside from blinking and breathing. He chewed and swallowed if food was given to him but would otherwise fail to eat, and Annabeth found it hard to look at the limp, prostrate form on the cot in the infirmary. Dionysus was supposed to come today and restore him, but the god had warned them via iris message that he could only cure the insanity and not the problems that occurred while he was still sane. So, if he was sane and still a blubbering mess, the wine god could do nothing about it, and that thought chilled Annabeth, because there was no if he was a blubbering mess. It was when he was a blubbering mess. Tortures like no other had been exacted upon him. Upon her Percy. Annabeth wondered how he must've felt, trapped in Polybotes's palace, what could've been going through his mind as he was reduced to nothing more than a shell of who he once was.

He must've felt so helpless.

So lonely.

No one to talk to but the very one he was being tortured by.

Nowhere to hide except inside himself. Chiron had said that his mind was too beaten and broken, and had retreated and curled up into a niche where Polybotes couldn't hurt it. He'd compared it to his head going into hibernation in order to make for minimal pain felt. Annabeth wiped her tears away rapidly as she was jerked from her reveries; Chiron had just ducked into the infirmary with Dionysus in tow, and all of the other campers inhabiting the beds were watching with rapt interest, though tension still hung thick in the air.

Dionysus didn't need any introductions or anything, he simply took a seat next to Annabeth at Percy's bedside and rolled up his sleeves. He looked more solemn and serious than Annabeth had ever seen him, and he turned Percy to face him with a gentleness that the daughter of Athena didn't know he possessed. She supposed it was a trick of the ears, but she swore she heard the god muttering prayers under his breath as he touched two fingers to either side of Percy's head.

Almost immediately, the god inhaled sharply, screwing his eyes shut tightly and gritting his teeth in obvious attempt to bite back pain. Annabeth chewed furiously on her nails as the god's arms trembled, his brow furrowed in concentration and his jaw clenched tightly. "C'mon, c'mon," he muttered. "You don't have to hide, come out." Time seemed to drag on for what seemed like hours, and Annabeth felt like she'd just perspired several buckets of sweat.

Percy's was thrust back into sanity with a scream.

-Ω-

Percy let out a broken sob as Jason walked in to bring him his dinner, cowering farther under the bed. This was all a mind trick. A hallucination that Polybotes had conjured up just to torture him seven further. This wasn't Jason, it was something created by his shattered, shattered mind to lure him into a false sense of security; one slip up and he was going to be tortured until the ends of his days. These mind-versions of his friends tried to persuade him to look them in the eye, tried to get him to sleep on the furniture and go outside, but he was having none of it. He could play Polybotes's game. He could follow the rules. Perhaps he had to spend a certain amount of time in this hallucination whilst still following the rules and then Polybotes would call it quits and let Percy rest for once in his life.

"Hiyah, Perce," Jason greeted softly, and Percy screwed his eyes shut, tears leaking out of the corners. That really sounded like Jason. It was such a perfect copy that Percy knew that it could only be created using Percy's own recollections of the son of Zeus; eidolons couldn't get his voice exactly right, and if this was the waking world that was just disguised as Camp Half-Blood, then boy did Polybotes go out of his way to make Percy's life a living hell. Therefore, he stuck with his theory that this was all just inside of his head. "Brought a little something for you." The sweet, delicious scent of pancakes wafted over to Percy, joining the smell of dust that always lingered under the bed, and his stomach let out a pitiful whimper. Judging from what he could see, the pancakes were, indeed, blue, and he gazed at it mournfully. "I mean, I'd prefer if you ate it out here and not under the bed." Jason took in a shuddering breath, and it seemed like he was trying to hold it all together, to be strong despite the fact that everything was against him, and Percy was chilled at the resemblance to the real Jason. Softer, the son of Zeus whispered, "Please?"

Percy decided that it would be best to follow the orders, considering the fact that Polybotes may be the one giving them, and slowly crept out from his hiding place, trembling all over. He kept his eyes dutifully trained on the ground and could feel Jason's ice-blue gaze boring into his body, though he ignored it as he tucked his knees under himself and tried to make himself as small as possible as he picked at the food. He tried to go slow, tried to have manners, but pretty soon the plate was empty and Percy's stomach was happily full.

Jason bent down and took the plate and silverware, trying to catch the son of Poseidon's eye, but Percy kept his gaze strictly averted. He was not an equal. He couldn't look anyone in the eye. He was still just a dog. Still a dumb, stupid dog. "Hey, it would be cool if you could, you know, look at me." Percy was not falling for that one, and he closed his eyes slowly, trying to calm his frantically beating heart. They sat there for what felt like years, silence reigning and the tension hanging like a fog over them. It was Jason who finally spoke up, "You want to talk or…?" There was another pause as Percy bit back the words on his tongue. He couldn't speak to him. Not now when he'd only been at Camp Half-Blood for a day and he'd seen Annabeth again. He couldn't have that ripped away from him. He couldn't survive that. He would not speak, because as soon as he did the illusion would shatter and Polybotes would drag him down to his cell and gouge his eyes out. He liked this place. Liked this little fantasy world of Camp Half-Blood, and he was desperate to keep it. If being good meant he got to stay here longer, then he was going to be fucking good. In order to lessen the temptation of following the son of Zeus's request for conversation, Percy retreated back under the bed, the smell of dust welcoming him back once more. He tried to ignore the way Jason's face fell as he returned to his cowering and praying that he didn't slip up.

"Okay, then…bye, I guess." Jason rose to his feet, looking heartbroken as he ran his hand through his hair, his eyes glassy as he chewed on his lip. Percy shoved down the pang of guilt in his chest, knowing that this was all just a part of Polybotes's game, a game that he fully intended to win. "If you need anything, Annabeth and I are just outside the door, okay?" His words died as Percy didn't reply, and just like that he'd slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Percy let out a heavy sigh, turning over so he was lying on his back, looking up at the bottom of the mattress and the mesh supporting it. It looked less comfortable from this position, so it was easier to fight back the longing to jump up into those familiar sheets and bury himself in them. There were no dog beds to be seen, and Percy wasn't sure whether he'd be punished if he took the blankets off the bed, so he simply remained on the floor, trying not to feel the cold creeping up on him as the night progressed.

He didn't sleep, too afraid of what may be lurking in the dark and too afraid of the monsters that may haunt him in his dreams. He stayed under the bed, though, and every so often Annabeth would poke their heads in to check up on him, and on more than one occasion he had to feign slumber if they actually knelt down beside the bed and looked under it. He was just nodding off when Annabeth slunk inside of the cabin once more, closing the door gently behind her in an attempt to keep quiet. That was odd; it was usually just an in-and-out thing, and she always left the door open so she could make a quick exit. This time, though, she laid down next to the bed, a mere foot away from Percy. The demigod wanted to reach out and touch her. Wanted to run his hands through her hair and tell her how much he loved her. He refrained, though, and hoped that Polybotes would give him a reward for all of the restraint he was exhibiting.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she murmured to the room, pillowing her head on her arms. "I've missed you." It only took those six words and Percy was already crying silently, and he hoped that Annabeth didn't notice his uneven breathing. "We were looking for you for such a long time. We thought we'd lost you for good. I'm glad you're here." Percy pursed his lips to keep from whimpering, and the silence that reigned while Annabeth pondered her next words deafened the son of Poseidon.

This is just a trick. This is just a trick. This is just a trick.

"You're acting a little off now, but I'm hoping that you'll get better soon so I can do a little more to help," she hushed, her words wet, and Percy could see her wiping away her tears. His own left salty trails down his cheeks, and he screwed his eyes shut and pursed his lips against the sheer agony of it all. Here was his girlfriend. Right here. And he couldn't talk to her.

It's not real. It's not real. It's not real.

"At least you're eating well," Annabeth mused, but she seemed to be trying to cheer herself up. "You were a bit skinny. But I'm hoping that when you get better you'll be able to go to the mess hall with me and shovel food into your mouth to your heart's content." That sounded like an incredible idea, but the part of Percy that was fueled by dark humor threw back its head and laughed at the way this Dream-Annabeth said when he got better, not if. How…optimistic of her.
"Aristotle was sent by your dad. He watches over you when Jason and I need some sleep. I hope you're okay with being guarded by a bird." She laughed weakly to try and mask her sniffling, which tore Percy's heart in two. "Please get better."

This is just a trick. It's not real. This is just a trick. Only a trick. It's not real in any way, shape or form.

"Come back to me. You're here but you're still so far away…" she allowed herself a single solitary sob, and Percy wiped furiously at his face, trying to keep his own whimpers silent. "I just want to let you know that I love you so very, very much, and I think that you're the best boyfriend in the entire world. You're such a Seaweed Brain and you can put a smile on my face even when times are hard and…" she took in a shuddering breath, "I just want you safe and happy. I want you to put this all behind you and be able to live your life in peace. I know you're probably asleep and can't hear this, but again, I love you so much." And with that, she got up and left, closing the door behind her quietly.

"No, please, stay," Percy whispered hoarsely to the room. The illusion didn't dissipate. He wasn't punished for speaking aloud.

Percy fell into an uneasy slumber.

-Ω-

Dionysus delved deep into Percy's mind, sifting through the endless memories that surged up to meet him. It was intimate to point where the demigod would've never approved had he been sane enough to voice his complaints, and Dionysus batted away recollections of fighting Furies and flying on pegasi, venturing towards the darker parts of the boy's mind. The memories slowly began to have more feelings than just joy and nervousness and excitement attached to them. Fear. Loneliness. Helplessness. Agony. Dionysus ventured through memories of the war with the titans and the giants, eventually coming to the darkest corner he could find. Images of whips and clubs, things meant to bruise and break and slice, greeted Dionysus, and the god shuddered, trying to ignore the muffled screams that were Percy's own as they echoed through the recollections, which always carried around a haze of agony with them.

Most of these nightmares contained Polybotes, and the giant always seemed to be having so much fun making Percy scream and wail. The giant usually had a grin plastered over his face, his eyes glittering with malice as he exacted unimaginable tortures upon poor Perseus Jackson. Dionysus thought he was going to throw up. He had no business to dwell here, though, and continued to go even farther until he'd reached the edge of the huge ball of memories that made up Percy's mind. Had Percy been sane, Dionysus would've had to travel a whole lot farther through the son of Poseidon's head, considering that every single minute the average person had about forty-eight thoughts. It chilled him how all those thoughts had been silenced.

He was standing at the edge of the cluster of memories, now, looking out into the huge expanse of blackness that lay ahead. Normally it would house the subconscious, but that part had retreated away into the recesses of Percy's mind in order to make sure that the boy suffered less. Dionysus's eyes raked over the void until they trained on a single pinprick of light in the distance, and with confidence he began to stroll over. Usually, the body would be trying to eject Dionysus from its head, unwilling to have intruders, and the god was wary of the fact that there were no guardians to be seen, these guardians usually taking the forms of parents figures and friends. The light grew brighter, and eventually Dionysus was standing before Percy's subconsciousness, his sanity. It was tucked away in the recesses of Percy's head, far away from where anything, including pain, couldn't be felt, and Dionysus swallowed hard as he regarded it.

It was a small tendril of wispy golden light, but instead of pulsing with energy, it was dull. Normal sanities usually would rise up to greet Dionysus, curious, but this one stayed put, limp and shining so much more weakly than any other sanity he'd ever seen. And to think that this was Percy Jackson, savior of Olympus twice over.

"Hey there, Perseus," Dionysus murmured, extending a hand, but the wisp of light shied away from him, its golden hue dulling even more in its fear. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." The light curled in on itself, trembling, and Dionysus took it gently into his arms, carrying it away and back towards the huge, glowing mass of memories. "Let's get you back to where you belong." He looked down at the light and found that it had dimmed even further, nearly transparent, and the first seed of anxiety and doubt was planted into the god's mind.

Percy may not survive this.

-Ω-

(A/N) Gah this is so depressing :'(