Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 13

"PERSEUS JACKSON!" Zeus roared, banging his lightning bolt on the Camp Half-Blood infirmary. He breathed and exhaled out deeply before calming down. "Where is the skull?!"

Check under the bed.

"Uh... Under the bed?" Percy guessed, hoping to the gods that Zeus wouldn't find a decapitated head under the bed.

Disgruntled, Zeus made Hermes do it. The messenger god bit back a smirk and crouched down, checking under the bed to see if he could find anything.

A surprised noise, a grab, and a head knock were what it took to get the skull out from the bed. Hermes stood up straight, the skull looking quite old, but it was polished neatly, as if Hades had cleaned it everyday (which he probably had.)

Even Zeus or Poseidon couldn't be able to boast about how 'someone made something better than that,' because in reality, almost no one could. Hades was also in the infirmary, reaching over to the skull and gently grabbing it into his hands. The god's face broke his serious expression for a while, to go in a cheerful and longing look.

A thank you would be nice. After all, the poison didn't affect you when you yelled did it? And I told you where the skull was.

"You can talk in my head now?" Percy muttered, almost silently, not wanting anyone to hear him.

I'm talking to you right now am I not?

"I guess. Tha-"

"Who the hell are you muttering to?" Thalia demanded, sitting down next to her cousin.

"No one," the son of Poseidon spoke clearly, mentally doing a face-palm.

A lingering look towards Percy, and Thalia snorted- at the same time letting it go.

"Son!" Poseidon boomed, striding forwards with a fatherly smile on his tanned face.

The other demigods that were next to Percy moved a little to make space for the Olympian. The god sat down next to the bed and hugged his son.

Thalia watched with unwavering eyes, glancing back towards her father and the reunion. A pang of jealously went through her, and she closed her eyes, only one thought going through her mind. Why can't Zeus do that after I returned back to the land of the living?

"I'm glad you're alright Percy," Poseidon spoke, feeling happiness.

"Me too," Percy responded, surprised that his father would show his hugging in front of everyone.

And I'm also glad, Annabeth thought to herself silently, a bright smile on her face- unlike some of the gods like Ares and Dionysus. She couldn't help but feel giddy with excitement.

"What had happened Perseus?" Athena, curious as ever, asked.

Tell them about the quest. No one will die. I swear on the River Styx. Just as long as you don't tell anything about the poison. Naughty...

Thunder rumbled, and a small smile that wasn't there in the first place appeared on Percy's face. He nodded and opened his mouth to speak.

"I went to Alaska, retrieved the skull, went rock climbing down a snowy mountain with rocks, skiing down it the last few minutes, found the skull and here I am," Percy explained as if he had limited vocabulary.

"You skied down a climbing mountain?!" Annabeth asked incredulously, forgetting about her silence for a minute. "How high up was the mountain from your destination?"

"Higher than the climbing lava wall here," Percy responded, sending a reassuring smile towards the daughter of Athena.

Said person however, was not reassured at all. "Why didn't you tell anyone?! We could have organized a proper quest of a trio and gotten a prophecy!"

Percy's temper was short. He was not having a good day at all. He had just gotten back from a dangerous quest in Alaska without anyone knowing. All the bruises and scars were there to prove it. He had gotten the skull for which Hades was still admiring and clutching in the god's hands. And on top of that, his back still hurt like hell.

"I suppose I should thank you Jackson," Hades spoke gratefully at the wrong timing.

"Welcome," Percy nodded in the god's direction.

A searing pain of heat and feeling like someone worse than death, Percy forced a smile on his face as he got stares from every direction. He felt his back gingerly; touching it and feeling a substance trickle down his back. It wasn't water.

Watch out Jackson, the poison is still in place. One more yell? Tough luck.

Blood probably.

"You still haven't answered the question," Nico persisted. "What happened to your Achilles heel?"

"I think I lost it," Percy muttered, fidgeting with his hands.

"Yeah, no shit, we can all see that," Thalia grumbled. "Death Breath wants to know how."

I think I might have changed my mind. Tell them! Tell them!

"Poison," the son of Poseidon stated clearly. "QWERTY. Stands for 'Quarantined waters in eligible rats through yelling.' Don't laugh."

Naughty naughty... Testing your loyalty. Told them without a second thought. Did I swear on the River Styx that I wouldn't harm them?

"No," Percy breathed out, his eyes closing as his fists clenched. His mouth set in a straight line. "How could I be so stupid?"

Oh well. Too late to tell them lies now. Someone has to die. Sooner or later. You'll be seeing the corpse in the morning.

"Kill me instead," Percy pleaded, not caring if all the Olympians plus the many campers were watching him. He was sitting upright, wearing the same clothes of when he was in Alaska. He was currently rocking back and forth, while Poseidon didn't have a clue of what was going on. "Don't kill them."

Most of them didn't take Percy's statement seriously. Laughter and goofy grins shone in the infirmary, ignoring how the son of Poseidon was acting.

"QWERTY?" Athena asked, feeling disgruntled of not knowing something. "I've never heard of that poison before."

Everyone proceeded to shut up then. If Athena didn't know what it was, then something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Percy cursed, damning himself.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked gently, clearly worried. She touched his shoulder carefully. "Are you okay?"

Percy's head was in his lap as he ignored the gesture that was meant to be comforting. He ignored the area around him. It was like all links of the outside world was cut off. The only thing that popped up in his head was his friends' dead bodies. Thalia, Nico, hell even Chiron. Annabeth. Grover. Clarisse.

Shivering. That was all he did. He shuddered as he saw the gruesome pictures in his head. Decapitation. Amputation. Death...

"What's wrong with him?" Katie asked, with panic in her voice.

Faint voices rang out in his ears.

"Don't kill them, kill me, please," Percy chanted, feeling like he had lost the Titan War.

Blood streamed out and visions of the same two people blurred, as Percy looked at his two hands. The blood loss was making him dizzy. The healers were going crazy in the infirmary, grabbing a bunch of random items. Apollo was shouting orders, shaking Percy, and telling him to stay awake.

"We need to bring him to the Olympus infirmary!" Apollo shouted.

"EVERYONE GET OUT!" Poseidon roared loudly, as the ground shook a little.

Frantic campers made their way to the door, while only some stayed.

"OUT! ALL OF YOU!" Poseidon demanded, shooing out the demigods that helped out on the Titan War.

His eyes flickered open and closed, and saw more made-up images. In the entire ruckus however, he completely forgot about the one person he treasured the most, which could almost seem impossible. Out of sight out of mind they say.

And that person was the exact one the attacker was targeting for.

A/N: Incredibly sorry for the late update! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for all the support!

opticalzero: What do you mean by that?