October, 27th 2011

I don't own any of the characters, Rick Riordan does!

Beta for this Chapter: Mcat9905

A/N: Hello there, my loyal readers! :)

Sorry for the late, guys. Stress is kicking back in. I was just a little disappointed at the little feedback I got for last chapter (at first). But I should know that most of you will stop reading because the book is out and I can understand that. So no worries xP. But I'm continuing this story because I myself can't wait to write out the moment where Annabeth and Percy meet. Even if it's going to be much different from what most people wrote about it xP. But please be aware that I thought out this story with care and that's why it's maybe progressing slowly but surely. Hope that's alright with you xP Btw, about Dakota: I got something special in storage for her. And it may not be what you think it is. Not saying any more, be a little patient. :D

First time from Gwen's POV! Hope you like it, I did at least enjoy writing xD.

Now please enjoy!

Chapter XXXIX

Gwendolyn

As the needle suddenly sank in, Gwen's eyes widened in shock. Reyna looked up quizzically and searched for Hazel's gaze. Their eyes met and the daughter of Mars tried to transmit her question via her eyes. The daughter of Minerva seemed to understand and shrugged, obviously just as astonished as all of them were. He was a true mystery, this Percy here. Since he arrived, he had endowed more confusion than any other soldier in this Castra.

Reyna now began, looking at Gwen from the side. But the blonde was in fact just as shocked, her green eyes wide. She had to concentrate not to shudder too much and get the injection full of Percy's blood. Finally, the instrument was full and Gwen put a dry tissue on the small wound so it would stop bleeding. Her hands were now quick as lightning; almost without thinking. But her mind was racing with questions.

Wasn't his skin supposed to be invulnerable? Did he honestly have a weak spot at such an obvious place? No, that couldn't be… but was it really because of the poison? Maybe he wasn't immune to that? So her assumption had been right...this wasn't good. Who in the world would create a poison like this, and why did it hit Percy of all people? Or could it have been their intention all along? Was he the target of some kind of plot? But from who? Was it that mysterious woman Percy, Reyna and Hazel met in the forest? Man, there were too many questions to answer, how were they supposed to have clarity about all this, and on top of it, be able to find Jason? The daughter of Apollo now worked automatically. The problem of his invulnerable? skin was solved, and from now on, he was an ordinary patient.

She handed the blood to Sybille and her half-sister took it, turned around and walked to the small table in the corner. There, she filled some blood in several glasses and began to mix the antidote. Gwen could only hope that her capabilities would be enough to heal the son of Neptune. When she looked at him now, his situation wasn't really the best. His forehead was breaking out in sweat, and his breath was heavy, the green eyes were closed shut and his whole face told you that he was in pain. Same went for his muscles, since arms and legs were tensed. Whatever the hellhound had on his teeth, it seemed dangerous, if not even deadly. But that couldn't be, he couldn't die here! Wasn't he supposed to change the Castra,? Wasn't he supposed to be the key to finding Jason, and shouldn't he be part of the big prophecy? If that was the case, he couldn't just die. After all, all that couldn't happen if he just lay here and his heart stopped beating.

Because of that, Gwendolyn was doing her best to suck the poisoned blood out of Percy. She gave him something against the sepsis which where the lines that crept closer to his heart- and they now had the poison to take care of. She told Reyna that it was important to be quick. They didn't know if the poison was deadly later on or if it was just destined to weaken him. As Reyna had to stand up several times because Gwen needed her space, the daughter of Mars finally decided to leave the tent. Hazel followed her as did a seemingly outrageous Bobby. Oh no, did he get Reyna's actions wrong? The daughter of Apollo knew that Reyna would never have romantic feelings for someone as Percy. Yeah, maybe she thought of him as interesting even though she didn't even want to admit that. But never in her whole life would she fall for him and his rebellious streak, his propensity to ignore every single order he received. Gwen was pretty sure that Dakota was almost the only girl in the Castra right now who would actually like Percy in that way and she wasn't even sure if the daughter of Venus only liked him because he was powerful, or if there was any other reason for it. Whatever it was, it kept her next to his bed, and she also kept pressing his hand, worry written all over her pretty face. After Gwen and her half-sister worked on him for quite a while, Dakota finally spoke, and the daughter of Apollo heard the concern in her voice.

"How is it, Gwen? Is he going to be alright?" she asked, stroking some braids of blonde, curly hair behind her ear. The daughter of Apollo shook her head and sighed, scratched her sleeve and roughed up her short hair in thought and silent frustration.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know that yet… we still need the antidote to be sure. But Dakota-" She now lifted her gaze and smiled at the girl on the other side of the bed.

"I'm sure he'll be okay. Absolutely. Trust me." She winked at her and then stood up, hoping that she didn't promise too much there. But it was a fact, she had seen him in a vision that didn't happen yet, so he couldn't die here, right? Anyway, the blonde now walked over to her half-sister and looked over her shoulder.

"I think I'm close" Sybille said, obviously feeling the breath of her half-sister on her shoulder. Gwen was still wearing her full armor like the whole first legion, but she didn't quite care. In fact, she was almost used to it. There were days when Lupa ordered them to wear the armor all day, even in the summer. Still, right now it somehow annoyed her and she just nodded at Sybille's statement.

"That's really good. Wait, I'm helping you." she fingered the fasteners of her armor and pulled it off, tossed it on an empty bed. Then she sighed relieved, rolled her shoulders to enjoy the freedom and wanted to turn around and help her sister, when a small scream disturbed her thoughts. She turned around in alarm, only to see Dakota half standing next to Percy's bed.

"H-he just said something. I couldn't understand it but that's a good sign, right?" her blue eyes flew up to meet Gwen's green ones and the healer just nodded, smiling at the relieve in Dakota's eyes and face.

"Yes, that's usually good. But I still don't think that he'll get better without the antidote, especially that he won't wake up without it. Most likely, he murmured something because he's having nightmares." She stepped closer to Percy's bed and pressed her hand on his forehead after taking off the wet and already warm tissue. He was really burning up, there was nothing better than just a few minutes ago. They needed this antidote, quick. Looking up at Dakota, she just smiled again optimistically. It was just not her intention to make the daughter of Venus worry again. So she decided to hide Percy's true status a little.

"Yeah, it's getting a little better. You could help me by refreshing the tissue as soon as it's becoming warm."

Dakota just nodded and took the tissue out of Gwen's hands with almost too much hurry. Actually, Gwen was glad about a little help and returned to Sybille to aid her with the antidote.

All three of them didn't even notice how time passed. Percy was getting weaker by the minute, and Gwen kept searching for the antidote. The Castra life around them continued as if nothing happened, though almost the whole legion camp probably already knew that the new guy from first legion had landed in the infirmary, because now and then, the daughter of Apollo noticed curious watchers and had to throw them out of the already overcrowded infirmary. It only added to her stress, and she astonished probably everybody that knew her when she snapped once at two girls that didn't want to listen and kept telling her they were here for some ambrosia although Gwen knew pretty well that they weren't in need for any. Reyna had been present right there and finally threw the two girls out in the blink of an eye. The daughter of Mars didn't even have to say anything, a simple glance from her angry brown eyes was enough to make the girls shudder. After that was finished, Reyna went back to Percy and told Dakota that she had to come to breakfast and continue her training. Even though Reyna tried everything, Dakota wouldn't budge and decided to stay at the infirmary. Finally, the daughter of Mars agreed, but insisted that Dakota told her when they had found the antidote or Percy was waking up.

Sometimes, Gwen envied Reyna for her authority. In the Castra, nobody really listened to Gwen, even though she was part of the first legion. Maybe that was because her siblings kept the mobbing up. They had begun a few weeks after Gwen had reached the Castra, her clothes torn, worn out, but otherwise perfectly fine. She had healed her own wounds while getting here, coming all the way from Phoenix, Arizona. That was a pretty long way for a seven year old. Her siblings here took care of her, but they had never understood her immense talent when it came to medicine. And her mother-

A test tube splintered on the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sybille." Gwen whispered and kneeled down to clean the mess. She hadn't even noticed how while working, her thoughts had wandered over the miserable parts of her past, causing her to throw away the antidote she had worked on. Shit, what if that had been the real one-

"I GOT IT! Oh gods, I'm finished, come quick, Gwen!" Sybille suddenly shouted, causing Gwen to jump up so fast she bumped her head on the little desk above her. Probably all the people present in the infirmary looked over because of the ruckus they were making. When Gwen finally made it up, rubbing her head in frustration, she saw how Sybille dropped some liquid into the poison and it seriously changed the color. That meant a success! Gwen screeched and hugged her sibling with joy. Finally, something positive had happened on this totally frustrating day!

They filled another injection with the antidote, and Gwen almost ran over to Percy's bed, where Dakota seemed close to fainting because the boy looked like… well, really bad. His flawless chest had begun to build sweat as well, and he didn't just lay still anymore, because his breathing had become even heavier. And from time to time, he clenched his fists, grabbing the bedspread below him really tight, and his jaw was tensed, as well as pretty much the rest of his muscles. Gwen had tried to calm Dakota down for a while now, but she had just become more furious. When she saw the injection in the healers hand though, her face lit up and she dropped back in her chair.

"You did it? Oh thank the gods…" she whispered, and rubbed her own forehead. Gwen just nodded and then stepped closer to inject the antidote. It succeeded just as last time, and she was still curious how this could be if the rest of his skin was invulnerable. When she finished, the healer got out a bandage and an ointment to treat the wounds from the outside a little further. Finally, she stepped back and smiled a little.

"Ready. Now we just have to see if he wakes up. Good work, Dakota. Thanks for the help." She said, also dropping on a chair next to the bed. Dakota just nodded and waved her hand to tell her that it was nothing special. But it was. Normally, Gwen didn't really have much to do with the daughter of Venus. They were in the same legion, yes, but most of the time, Gwen was alone or just standing there with the others, because she was part of the team somehow. But none of them connected to her fully, not even Jason. Of course, Jason had been nice to her and lifted her self-consciousness a bit, but really connected… even after 7 years in the Castra Roma, Gwen wouldn't say that she had friends, ya know. Plus, she was younger than all of the soldiers from first legion, that probably added to the reason why they couldn't interact with her that much.

Time passed, until they could be really certain that antidote actually worked. Gwen had to leave for archery class, but left Sybille at Dakota's side. Dakota had to report to Reyna, but afterwards quickly returned. When the head of the Apollo tent came back, she found the daughter of Venus pretty bored, fingering the necklace Percy had worn until the hellhound tore the leather band apart.

"I'm just wondering… where did he get this? On one bead, there are names written in a weird writing and it's the Empire State building on it. Maybe that means he really has been there?" the blonde looked up when Gwendolyn sat on the chair on the opposite side of the bed again. Sybille had left the infirmary completely, because she now had to attend the training herself. The other daughter of Apollo just shrugged and sighed.

"I don't know, Dakota. But if Hazel says that's impossible… I don't know, really. Though I think in his case, the word 'impossible' gains a new dimension." She giggled slightly and stretched her neck a little, because it was stiff from a lesson she had taught in archery.

"Oh really? I'm honored to hear that." A hoarse voice was heard from between the two girls and they both turned their blonde heads in that direction. Green eyes the color of the sea looked back at them.

Yay! Percy's awake xD. That wasn't that long of an illness I guess. But he's not completely cured yet..there are still so many things to clarify...:D

Hope you liked it! Please tell me what you think about it :3 I wanna know everything, even if you said it 100 times already or somebody else did or whatnot XD.