Percy Pov

Thalia and Jason got the second blessing. That means there's only one more to go before I'm home free. I can wait that long. It's not that hard, yeah this'll be easy. Pain is just an emotion Percy you can over come it, it's not like it can't last forever.

Who cares that I couldn't breathe or that my arms and legs were numb and my knees were bleeding from scraping on the stone floor. It definitely didn't matter how each tear that slipped down my face felt like pure acid against my burning skin.

The poison from the berries spread throughout my body like tar, slowly infecting every inch of me and causing different side effects each time it reached another portion of my anatomy. My chest felt like it'd been run through with a spear and my throat was so closed up that I could barely suck in the smallest amount of air. The pain was so intense that it scrambled my brain and left me grasping for sanity.

Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Nico, Leo, Tyson, Grover, Mom.

Gods it hurts so much.

Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Nico, Leo, T-Tyrone? Goat man.

No that's not right, don't forget, you can't forget!

Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Nico, Leo...Um...

Who am I missing? I know there's more! This can't happen!

As Akhlys tortured me I repeated the names of everyone I cared about. I started using the technique when I almost lost my brother's name in Damasen's swamp. Although even with the repetition his name still somehow slipped away from me. The list of people had been a lot longer yesterday, I was sure of that. Now I could barely remember the eight names of the people who were trying to save my life. My eight friends who I needed to remember or I knew I wouldn't have to will to go on.

Thalia and Jason's visit had brought back a lot of my memories which I was very grateful for. I'm ashamed to say that I'd forgotten Piper's name for a while but the second I saw Jason it came rushing back to me. I'm determined not to lose her's or anyone else's again. No matter how long, no matter how painful it may be. No one's taking all of my memories again.

Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Nico, Leo.

Don't forget. Don't lose hope.

A blue light caught my attention and when I looked down I saw that the ara's curse was glowing brightly against my pale skin. The light soothed me and right away my breathing became easier. I relaxed a bit as the pain dulled to almost nonexistent. A warmth blossomed in my heart as I thought about how Frank was probably sitting by my side and unknowingly healing most of my ailments.

Akhlys wasn't too happy when my skin knit back together and the poison's symptoms wore off. She let out a yell of anger and spoke in a venomous tone. "Every time your friends heal you I will make sure your new torture is worse than the previous one. Soon you will perish by my hand no matter how fast they try to heal you. Everyone has a level of tolerance and I will find yours."

I took a deep breath, trying to focus on the comforting blue glow on my abdomen and not her daunting words. I'm not alone. They're all with you. It'll be over soon. Don't give up.

Akhlys crouched down in front of me, her nasty teeth way to close to my nose for my liking. Her breath smelled of rotten fish and moldy cheese and she there was a glint of excitement in her dark sunken eyes.

With a twisted grin she lifted her hand and presented a small pile of oddly shaped seeds like a trophy she'd won for having the longest nails. "These are from the Brugmansia flower. When ingested they produce strong hallucinations and severe delirium. Even if you survive the psychosis the after effects will surely be too much for your weak demigod body to handle. There is no chance of survival, give in."

Before I could protest she blew the seeds directly into my face. I was so startled that I gasped reflexively and inhaled about half of the seeds. The effect was almost instant as all of the saliva in my mouth evaporated, leaving me choking for air. My heart beat increased to that of a hummingbird's and the panic set in.

Akhlys ran a single, sharp fingernail across my cheek, not deep enough to tear the skin but enough to get my attention. My vision swam as her face seemed to swirl in and out of focus. Her words sounded way too deep and far away that I could barely decipher what she was saying. The sentence clicked right as I lost control of my shaking limbs. "There is no escape Perseus Jackson."

The world around me got progressively more terrifying as the seeds polluted my body and ate away at my brain. It felt like my head was being bashed in by a Laestrygonian and the hallucinations had started to mess with me way more than I'd expected them to.

At first it was a hair-raising whisper in my ear or a shadow slinking across the ground in front of me. Then after a while the voices grew louder and horrifying visions seeped into my mind, becoming my new reality and separating me from all reasoning.

Scenes of Annabeth and the others dying in front of me, being slaughtered or tortured in every way I could ever think of destroyed me the most. People I knew but could no longer place a name to floated around me like angry ghosts, seeking revenge for a crime I never committed. Everything I ever feared was presented to me and tempted me to quit fighting the pain and let death overtake me. It would be so much easier to give in. It could be all over in seconds if I just...

Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Nico, Leo.

Please hurry, it's too much. It hurts too bad. I'm going insane and I don't know what's fake or if I'm even still hallucinating. Are they all dead? Am I fighting for nothing? No that's the poison talking, they're fine.

Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Nico, Leo.

What's that blue glow on my stomach? Did Akhlys do that? I somehow knew whatever it was had to be important but my mind was so mangled that I couldn't gather enough information to explain it. I stared at the light and pretended that it was a gateway to my friends. As long as I could hold onto their names and faces I'd be okay. Just a little longer.

The hallucinations eventually stopped but the after effects were almost worse. Sweat started pouring down my body and my mouth was so dry that every breath stung my throat as if I'd swallowed a bag of needles. My body jerked uncontrollably, rattling the chains that pulled roughly against my wrists. I wanted to curl up and press my hands against my aching eyes to block out the pain but no matter how hard I yanked the links never budged. Every inch of me was consumed in fire and the mental and physical exertion keeping me from dissolving into a screaming mess was taking far too much out of me.

Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Nico, Leo.

Pain. Endless, unbearable pain. Please hurry. Save me from this endless torment.

The pain slowly faded to darkness as I eventually passed out, my body finally giving in to the abuse and allowing me a small break until Akhlys could no doubt find a new and horrible way to deteriorate my hope.

I thought I'd do a short chapter from Percy's Pov to show his inner struggle to attempt to hold onto reality. Also because Moonstar requested more chapters at once. I apologize for not posting as often but I promise I'm not putting them off. I have a system and It takes a while to produce a decent chapter. Thank you for sticking with me through the process. :)