A/N: So, uh. This story's about three chaps behind than on the other site. I'm catching it up, though, so don't worry. Brace your anuses, everyone!
The first thing Sam became aware of was the turkey. There was a turkey. And not the Thanksgiving, ready-to-eat, cooked turkey, no, this one was alive and very, very, noisy. And also bright red. Sam raised an eyebrow at it, but beyond that, he didn't feel overly perturbed by it.
A dream, then.
The turkey barked at him (barking? It was barking now?) and out of nowhere, Percy came flying at it, trying to tackle it to the ground.
Even in a dream, Sam's heart leaped. He wanted to shout out to Percy, but was afraid of making the dream dissolve. No, he'd rather keep this bittersweet reality to himself, turkey and all.
Percy noticed him, though, and waved brightly, dropping the turkey on the ground without a second thought (it growled angrily) and jogging over to Sam.
Sam hardly dared breathe. This was one of the best dreams he had had in a while, he didn't want to spoil it.
"Sammy. You just gonna stand there and stare at me blankly, or what? I'm not gonna disappear, you know."
There were too many things in Sam's head, and he couldn't decide what to say. Numbly, he settled on, "The turkey was red."
Percy glanced back, and nodded, huffing out a light laugh. "Yeah...It's kinda like Apollo's sacred cows, but...a bird."
"Bird." Sam echoed.
Percy gave him a Look. "What's gotten into you, Sam?"
Sam shook his head. "Um...nothing, I guess. I just wasn't expecting to...see you." His head felt stuffed with cotton. Everything seemed so odd. The only dreams he ever had about Percy were nightmares, but this one...seemed kind of like it was on crack, if he were honest.
Percy nodded, like he knew exactly what Sam meant. Then again, he was a construct of Sam's mind. Of course he'd know.
"Well, the turkey got away. Wanna come visit the Labyrinth with me?" Percy was acting like this was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
"Sure...?" Sam trailed off. "Wait...like Minotaur, Labyrinth?"
Confidently, Percy grabbed Sam's hand, and lead him over to a grate in the ground, with a ladder descending deep into the earth.
"Oh, he's long gone." Percy said dismissively, taking off the grate and slowly climbing down. "Careful...there's a missing step here."
Sam took a deep breath and exhaled, slowly following Percy down. He felt the missing rung, and thankfully did not plummet to his doom, but made it to the bottom safely.
When he got his first look at the so-called Labyrinth, his breath left him.
They were in a lavishly decorated hallway, marble pillars lining the walls, with mosaics inlaid into every available surface, depicting the ancient Greek Gods. Sam recognized most of the Olympians, but try as he might, there was nothing remotely close to a sea god, or Poseidon, anywhere on there. It was still beautiful.
At the end of the hallway, at either end, there was a fork in the path, allowing them to go either left or right. Sam didn't go anywhere though, instead watching Percy.
He looked stunned, amazed, a whole myriad of emotions that said this place meant a lot to him.
"Percy?" Sam asked.
Percy turned confused eyes on him. "I've never seen this hall before."
Sam didn't understand what Percy was trying to get at. He voiced, this, and Percy rolled his eyes.
"It's a dream. Don't you think I would have gone with what I know?"
"What...you...know?"
Percy snorted. "For something my subconscious came up with, you seem awfully...slow. No offence."
"But this is my dream..." Sam argued. "The first one about you that wasn't a nightmare."
Understanding crossed Percy's face, until he realized what Sam had actually said. Then he just looked saddened by the notion. Instead of saying anything, he just took Sam's hand again, and started leading him down the hall.
"Do you know where you're taking me?" Sam asked.
Percy shook his head. "Not a clue. Want to explore the maze?"
Sam didn't have any arguments, no problems with that, so he allowed Percy to drag him around.
They took a left into a dirt tunnel, with small scales lodged into the floor and walls. Sam picked one up, looking at it curiously.
Percy also picked on out of the walls and examined it, before casually tossing it over his shoulder. "Giant snake, you think?"
Sam put the scale in his pocket, somehow fascinated by the idea of a snake as big as the tunnel around them.
The next tunnel led them to an arena, deserted and yet still horrifying. Strung across the ceiling were chains, a few ripped from their hooks, with skulls impaled every few feet. It reminded Sam of a monstrous version of chainmail.
Percy was walking towards the middle of the arena, where one chain hung down lower than all the rest. He looked lost in thought, dazed, and Sam didn't know if he should catch Percy's attention or not.
This Percy, the one he was seeing now, was certainly nothing like the one he had known in life, the one who was cheerful and avoided all talk of family (Sam hadn't ever really thought too much of it, because he'd been focused on pretending that his wasn't a mess as well), who loved blue to an obsessive degree, and who had had so many friends that he'd left behind (but he was going to get back to them one day, Percy had been so sure) and all of a sudden Sam needed to take a closer look at Percy, get a chance to really see.
"Percy!" Sam called, and Percy turned around almost too fast, like he'd been startled.
He put on a smile that looked oddly fake, and Sam began seeing all the little things that he hadn't noticed. There was a tattoo on Percy's arm, and that wasn't anything unusual, but now it looked like a burn (and yes, Sam was very familiar with burns. He'd grown up a hunter, and there were a lot of things that needed the burn to be killed), and Percy's hair was longer. He had a streak of hair that was slightly lighter than all the rest, not as midnight black. He carried himself differently. But most of all, the strangest thing about Percy was that he seemed so much more complex, alive, than a dream should be.
"What?" Percy asked, dropping the chain (when had he picked it up?) and stepping closer, dodging a specific spot on the floor.
"Percy...Is this your dream?" Sam asked.
Percy didn't say anything for a long moment, then, "...I think...maybe we're sharing."
Before Sam could even begin to guess what that meant, Percy grabbed his hand one more time, fingers interlacing in a tight grip that meant he wasn't letting go, not if he had a choice. It was familiar, nice, and Sam relished it.
This, time, Sam was the one to pull them to the other door, not knowing what to expect. It was Percy's dream, sure...but it seemed oddly fluid.
Sharing, though...sharing a dream? Sam couldn't help but hope, couldn't stop the rising in his chest...If Percy was also dreaming...he was alive. Somewhere, Percy was alive.
The years fell away almost like magic, and Sam felt as if he'd never lost Percy. He felt so, so much better. He was going to get his boyfriend back, but first they needed to chat. Sam needed to get it all out, his relief at Percy being alive, his hurt at the loss, and just...
As if knowing what Sam was thinking, Percy sat the two of them down on a bench on the porch of some large house. Instead of being imposing, though, it was comforting. Sam wondered if this was where Percy had used to live.
"You're...alive?" Sam asked.
Percy's face grew solemn, like he'd been expecting that question but not wanting it. "Yes."
Sam felt calm, still, not how he'd expected after finding out his long-dead boyfriend actually wasn't. "How?" He asked.
"I...um...Fire doesn't affect me as much as it does others?" Percy made it sound like a question, like he wasn't actually sure whether this was the case.
Sam had a sudden flashback to the last night he'd seen Percy, on the ceiling, like his mother. "But the wound..."
Percy shook his head. "I'm fine, see?" He lifted up the bottom of his shirt to reveal smooth skin, no scars, but Sam still caught that he'd managed to avoid actually explaining it.
Sam blinked, long and slow, and let out a breath. There were so many things he wanted to sat, questions he wanted to ask, but this was too precious to him, he didn't want to ruin it. Sam wanted to hold on to this memory tight and never let it go.
When he looked up, he saw Percy watching him, a sort of wistful smile on his face.
"I want to explore the Labyrinth." He announced, and though some people might have taken as a brush-off, as a harsh subject change, but Percy understood, didn't he? He understood as he always did, and wordlessly grabbed his hand, pulling him through the halls.
There was one lined with crystals, blue and green and purple, and so beautiful that Sam couldn't help but break one off when Percy wasn't looking and jam it in his pocket. It was a warm weight at his side, and Sam somehow was reminded of something old.
Percy was a couple of steps ahead, tracing the walls, before the Labyrinth took a sharp turn right.
"Is this the basement of a building?" Sam couldn't help but feel a little stupid saying that, but Percy only laughed and nodded.
"Yeah. A hotel, to be exact." Percy didn't offer any more explanation, though, and Sam didn't press.
The next hall...was actually one Sam recognized. It was lined with lockers, and a single tile about halfway down that was sideways and as irritating as ever, and Sam was fourteen again and in school.
Percy, seeing Sam's face, shook his head and opened one of the classroom doors, pulling him through. Sam was about to protest, when one look in the classroom stopped him mid-thought. Instead of neat rows of desks, scattered pencils and crumpled papers like Sam remembered, there were grass hills, dotted with animal pens, boasting the strangest creatures Sam had ever seen.
There were chicken-horses, and the freaky red cows that Percy had mentioned earlier, and a weird dog running amongst it all.
There was also a pen of relatively normal looking horses, and Sam thought that was probably the safest thing to investigate, so he started walking in that direction.
A tug on his sleeve stopped him before he could take too many steps, and Sam turned around to see Percy shaking his head. "I wouldn't, if I were you."
Sam glanced back, and suddenly all the horses were smiling predatory grins (and that was terrifying enough, in and of itself) lined with wicked sharp teeth.
"Oh." He said.
These were all monsters(?) that he'd never seen before, wicked and strange and Percy was acting as if they were all absolutely everyday, and suddenly Sam was seeing him in a new light.
"What is this place?" He asked.
"Just another place, connected to the Labyrinth. Geryon's farm."
"I've...heard that name before." Sam said, wracking his brain for information.
"Yeah." Percy nodded. "Greek mythology, I'd imagine."
"Yeah." Sam said.
Percy dragged him to a grate inlaid into the ground. "Come on. We're going back down."
"Back down?" Sam questioned. He didn't remember having climbed up at any point, so didn't it just mean they were going deeper down into the Labyrinth, Inception-style?
"This place exists in the real world. Not sure where, but the point is, it's only connected to the Labyrinth, not an actual part of it." Percy explained, as they landed in a long corridor with a pile of rubble on one side.
"This is all very weird." Sam admitted, as he caught sight of a woman with snakes for legs quickly walking (slithering?) away, disappearing before Sam could look too long.
"This is my world." Percy said. "Well, I didn't live in the Labyrinth, but everything you see is something I've had the misfortune of running into before."
"Even the horses?"
"They called me sushi." Percy deadpanned.
Sam almost wanted to laugh.
"Here, I want to show you something. Look up."
Sam did so reluctantly, because the sun was bright up overhead and he didn't understand what Percy wanted him to see. Suddenly, though, the sun was sinking as if it had lead weights tied to it (obviously Sam understood why that wouldn't work, but it was a nice-sounding simile), and the moon was being dragged up, along with millions of little stars.
Sam gasped. He didn't have a degree in astrology, but he knew where the stars where supposed to be, and something was definitely off.
Percy pointed out a particularly bright constellation. "Zoë." He said.
Sam followed his finger, and watched as he traced out the pattern of a girl, running across the sky. He could almost see it as a real person, it was so clear and bright.
"Is this real?" He asked.
"She was one of the Hunters of Artemis." Percy said. "She was real, and so are the stars."
"It's beautiful." Sam said.
Percy smiled brightly at him. "I thought you might like it."
Sam was quiet, again, just as he had been for most of their journey.
"Hey, Sam?" Percy said, sitting himself down on the grass and inviting Sam to follow.
"Yeah?" He asked, dropping down unceremoniously and nearly landing on Percy.
"I want you to know that I never wanted to leave you. I want you to know that it's been hard for me, and that I always wanted to come back."
"But you didn't." It wasn't an accusation, just a statement. You may have wanted to, but you never came back.
"No. But I will, soon, I promise."
"Why?" Sam asked. "Why now?" He was still looking at Zoë, memorizing the pattern so he could find it again when he woke up.
"I need your help, Sam. You're a hunter."
Something about that comment startled Sam out of whatever sort of fog he'd been in with Percy. "How did you know that? We had a normal life together. We were normal."
Percy laughed cynically. "We never were. You were raised to hunt monsters, and I was born to satisfy a prophecy. It was just an illusion. We were both running away."
"No." Sam said. "How? How did you ever learn about my past?"
"The three years I've been gone, Sam. You may have thought I was dead, but I've been busy."
"I...Percy..." Sam felt stunned. He didn't know how to respond to any of the information he was being fed. Maybe he was okay with learning Percy was alive after all, but this? Percy suddenly knew everything Sam had tried to keep him away from, and it was just... shattering.
Percy kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sorry. I am. But I'll see you soon, I promise."
"Soon? You said that. When is soon?" Sam asked. He stood up.
"I don't know. Maybe a year. Maybe tomorrow."
Sam looked up, almost out of exasperation, but then he saw the sky. The stars of Zoë were starting to fade. The sky didn't seem as dark as it had moments ago.
"Is the sun rising again?" Sam asked.
Percy shook his head. "No."
The edges of Sam's vision grew blurry, then faded to white.
Percy smiled. "I love you, Sam."
Then he disappeared, and Sam was left in a blank white dream, all evidence of Percy erased, the dream gone.
.:~*~:.
When Sam woke up, it was to a feeling of complete calm, better than he'd felt in a long while.
He must have had a nice dream. It was a shame he couldn't remember it, though.