Chapter Five

Percy

"Don't lie to me," hissed a voice. Percy thought it might've been his voice, but it all seemed distorted and hazy.

He swayed on his feet a bit, his vision coming in and out of darkness. One moment, he saw Chiron and Leo and a few dozen demigods staring at him, the next he saw nothing but endless black void.

He wanted to hate all the people who'd lied to him about Annabeth. He'd find her, and all would be alright, and then he could punish them for being LIARS and… wait. No. He clutched his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut.

Nope, nope, nope, that wasn't him. Nooooooooooooooope, no thank you.

He searched through his subconscious, trying to find the thing that had infiltrated his mind. Not surprisingly, he came up with nothing.

"-alright? Percy?"

Percy shook his head, opening his eyes slowly to reveal the concerned faces of Leo and Chiron.

"You alright?" Leo repeated.

Percy shook his head slightly before his vision blacked out.

He awoke to the smell of warm milk. Percy jumped up instantly, looking around wildly.

"Eep!" yelped Clovis, the head counselor for the Hypnos cabin, who jumped back at least 7 feet.

"Oorgh," replied Percy, immediately collapsing back into the cushioned chair in which he'd woken up.

Another camper rushed forwards. "Oh, no no no no no you don't," ordered the curly-haired kid who shook Percy before he could pass out again. Leo, he reminded himself. That's Leo.

"Leo…" he murmured. "I-" he attempted to say something, but stopped short, not knowing what he was going to say. "Leo. We are…" Percy tried to think. "We're at camphalfblood." He slurred the last part of his sentence, fatigued and weak.

Leo whirled around to glare at Clovis. "What did you do to him?" he demanded.

Clovis shrugged and said, "No idea. I just kept him asleep and tried to see whatever has caused that… thing outside."

Percy frowned. "What thing?" he muttered.

Leo's eyes widened before Percy held up a hand.

"Right!" he exclaimed loudly. "That thing. Um…"

"Go get Chiron," Leo told Clovis. He added for Percy's benefit, "The centaur who leads this camp."

Percy mumbled, "I knew that."

Leo gave him a skeptical look.

Clovis scurried out of the cabin.

"Why am I here?" Percy asked.

Leo made a face. "We thought maybe one of the Hypnos kids could figure out what happened. Because of, you know, their powers with sleep and mind stuff and… yeah. You know."

Percy nodded. "So," he said. "Um."

Leo grabbed Percy and hauled him up. "C'mon," he sighed. "Let's go to the Big House. I get the feeling Mr. D will want to get a look at you."

Chiron was waiting at the top of the stairs with Mr. D when Leo half-dragged Percy up to meet them.

Mr. D had a disapproving look on his face. "Let me see," he told Leo as he set Percy down onto a chair. Leo took a hesitant step back.

"Hmmm," Mr. D said. Percy tried to lean back as far as the plastic chair allowed; Mr. D was making him nervous.

"What?" Leo pressed, earning him an annoyed expression from Mr. D.

"I don't know!" the god exclaimed. "It's not like he's insane!"

I hope not, Percy thought nervously.

Dionysus went on with his complaining. "What am I supposed to do? He's perfectly fine!"

"No, he's not," interjected a new voice. Percy turned around in his chair and was met face-to-face with Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

A/N

CrazyPotato0, THANKS FOR YOUR FAV AND FOLLOW!

addalittlesmoke, I WILL ALWAYS UPDATE, SO NO NEED TO WORRY 'BOUT THAT :P

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THIS STORY WENT FROM A LITTLE SIDE-PROJECT THAT BEGAN WITH A RANDOM THOUGHT TO SO MUCH MORE IN A MATTER OF DAYS! IT'S INCREDIBLE WHAT JUST A LITTLE INSPIRATION CAN DO, AND I THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT. IT HELPS ME SO MUCH TO HAVE SUCH AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF ENCOURAGEMENT!

AND TO RoseGoldTheSkywing, AHEM, I DO GET SOME SLEEP! I GET 8 HOURS, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES!

SORRY ABOUT MY LACK OF PUBLISHMENT. I TRY TO FOLLOW SOME SORT OF ORDER, BUT THIS STORY IS REALLY THE ONLY ONE THAT I'VE HAD ANY PROGRESS WITH LATELY.