Snapping his head around, he cried, "Quick, get some athelas. And build a fire. We need to boil some water."
The men quickly rummaged through their saddlebags for their supply of athelas. Since Aragorn had become King, athelas was tended to in every garden, and no one rode anywhere without a small bundle of some.
Thalia and Nico came back up the hill, laden with two full pots of water, to find the camp bustling with activity, and many men staring at Percy like he was on his deathbed.
As a soldier raised his sword to execute the last Haradrim, Aragorn held out his hand. "Stop. I need to ask him some questions."
The man bowed his head, stepping back but not sheathing his sword.
Aragorn picked up the knife's hilt and held it out to the Haradrim. "How did you come by this," he asked, his voice steady. "The Witch Kings are dead."
The Haradrim coughed slightly, before speaking rapidly in another language. Aragorn let out a snarl. "I know you can speak the common tongue. I will ask you again, how did you come by this blade?"
The man spit out a clump of blood on the ground, before saying in broken common tongue, "He will die. That boy will become a wraith, and you will be forced to kill him."
Aragorn slapped the man across the face. "Where did you get it," he said in a deadly whisper. The Haradrim sneered. "You thought they all were destroyed with Mordor. Well, you were wrong. My master has many such relics. And he is allied with demons from another world. You stand no chance against us. The end is coming. Death is upon you. The Omega will cleanse this world, and start anew. And they will decide who deserves to live in the new παράδεισος."
Aragorn's brow crinkled in confusion at the word the man said, and he took advantage of that confusion, pulling out a hidden knife. Aragorn jumped back, but the man was already plunging the knife into his chest. Aragorn let go of his body in disgust, and the man's dropped to the floor, where a soldier grabbed him, throwing him in with the pile of bodies to be burned.
"παράδεισος," said a weak voice. Turning around, Aragorn saw a pale Percy leaning against a tree, Nico and Thalia sitting next to him. "That was greek. How did he know greek?"
"What did it mean," Aragorn said gently, walking towards the young demigods. "Paradise," Percy replied. Aragorn nodded and began to turn, urgently needing to get Percy some athelas. "Aragorn, what is a wraith? What does he think I will become?"
Swallowing nervously, he said, "a wraith is a being of shadow. They have been killed, yet live on by some dark sorcery. "
Percy visibly paled, further than he already was, and Aragorn hurried to reassure him. "Percy, I swear to you I will not let you become one." He walked off to gather some herbs, leaving Percy to process the new information with his cousins.
"Nico, Thalia," he said suddenly. "Listen to me. You need to promise me something. If worst comes to worst, kill me. Kill me before I turn into something else."
"Shut up Percy," Nico said. "You're getting back to Annabeth. I promise."
"Promise me," he said again, leveling them with an even stare. "I will not be controlled. I will not be the one to hurt these people."
The clearing was quiet, the air tense. "We promise," they said.
Thalia broke the silence first, clearing her throat. She reached down to cuff Percy behind the ear. "Now shut up about this death talk Aquaman. Your going back to Annie after all this crazy stuff is over."
Percy smiled at her gratefully.
Aragorn came back with a steaming mug in his hands. "Here, drink this. It will help."
Nodding in gratitude, Percy took it, eyes wide. "It smells like mom's cookies. And the strawberry fields at camp."
Aragorn chuckled. "Yes. That is athelas. It is an amazing healing plant. It should help until we're in Minas Tirith and I can get the morgul shard out of you."
Percy nodded in gratitude, before downing the concoction.
Aragorn grasped Nico and Thalia's shoulders, beckoning them to follow him. When they were on the other side of the makeshift camp, and he was sure they were out of the teenager's hearing range, he sat down on the ground.
Nico and Thalia sat as well, staring at him.
"I have to thank you. You did not have to fight with us, yet you risked your lives, and it may cost your cousin his life."
"I feel death around him. Surrounding him. It's cold. It has a grip on him already, and yet the bleeding is slowed and the wound is not deep," Nico said, staring nervously across the clearing at Percy, who had fallen asleep.
Aragorn cast Nico a curious glance, before speaking. "The wound itself is not dangerous. It is what is in it."
The two of them stared at the King, who continued. "The knife that stabbed him, was a Morgul blade. A shard of it broke off and embedded itself in his wound. Over time, it will slowly work itself deeper into his body, until it hits his heart, turning him into a wraith."
"Will he survive?" Thalia asked, a hint of desperation in her voice.
Aragorn shifted uneasily. "I have only known one person to survive it, and it weakened him afterward for a time. He carried a scar with him for the rest of his life, and it would pain him occasionally. He was not human though. He was stronger."
"Will he survive?" She asked again, steel in her voice, eyes hard.
"I do not know. Frankly, I am shocked he is still conscious. I have never heard of a human enduring the shard for more than a day or two. And none of them managed to maintain consciousness."
Thalia glanced back at Percy, a small smile on her lips. "He's not human. At least, not fully."
"I'm sorry, what?" Aragorn said, eyebrows pulling together in confusion.
"He's only half-human. So are me and Nico."
Aragorn stared at them. "What?" He said, again.
"One of our parents was not human," Thalia said slowly.
"Yes, I understood that," he said, sighing in exasperation. "What was your other parent? I wouldn't guess a Hobbit or Dwarf, as you all seem of average height, but I wouldn't say an Elf either."
They didn't answer his question. He got the feeling that pushing any further would be futile. He stood up, wiping his hands together. "I'm afraid I can't do much for your cousin until we reach the White City. I must see to the rest of my men, but if he ever complains of pain, give him another cup of the athelas tea."
Nico scoffed, knowing Percy, being the idiot that he is, would never complain of pain.
Aragorn walked off, and they could see him greeting men, shaking hands, and patting horses' heads. "He seems like a good man," Thalia said.
Nico stared at her, wide-eyed. The Hunters of Artemis almost never complimented men, seeing almost all of them as disgusting pigs. Noticing her cousin's stare, she shoved his shoulder, before storming off.
"She's rather spirited, isn't she," said someone.
Nico spun around and saw the three short men or 'hobbits' had approached him. "You have no idea."
"I'm Samwise Gamgee," said the one in the middle, holding out his hand. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance young sir."
Returning the handshake, Nico replied, "Nicholas Di Angelo. I believe everyone in this camp wanted me dead an hour or two ago." Sam shifted uncomfortably on his feet at the mention of previous events.
Indeed, looking around, many soldiers were giving him nervous glances, and one man in the corner wouldn't stop glaring at him. He walked over to a fallen tree, the hobbits following him, before sitting down, leaning his back against the wood.
"I'm Meriadoc Brandybuck, but you can call me Merry, and this is my cousin, Peregrin Took-" "Pippin. You may call me Pippin," he said.
Nico smiled. "Then you can call me Nico."
Pippin smiled softly, before glancing over at Percy. "I am sorry about your cousin. He seemed like a good man."
Nico frowned. "He's had worse. He will survive this if I have to march down to the underworld and steal his soul from Thanatos himself."
The three hobbits smiled sadly, exchanging glances with one another, obviously thinking he was a naive child, not understanding how grave of an injury Percy had.
Nico rose with an annoyed huff, stalking over to join Thalia at Percy's side, who had fallen asleep.
"We're getting him back to Annabeth. No matter what it takes," Nuco murmured.
Thalia nodded. "And we're also getting you back to Will," she said, smirking at him.
Nico rolled his eyes but nodded a small smile
AN
WE JUST HIT 20,000 VIEWS!
I can't thank you all enough for this. I started off this story as just something fun for myself, but so many people have been encouraging me since I started writing this story. Even when it was practically abandoned, you all patiently waited for me to come back to it. Special shoutout to Death Fury, who left an incredibly kind note on every single chapter. I did wind up crying at midnight because of it. So I thank you all for your support of this story.
Thalia and Nico ain't letting their mans become a wraith without a fight. Everyone else thinks Percy's basically already dead.
Am I hurting Percy for almost four chapters straight because I want Thalia and Nico to show how much they care about him? Yes. Yes, I am.
Aragorn knows that the three of them aren't just human, but he doesn't know what? They're too big for half-dwarves or half-hobbits, and they're all too idiotic to be half-elves.
Did I yet again forget certain characters exist? Yes, yes I did.
So sorry I missed updating. Last week I was on vacation and had no internet, and this past weekend my report card came in and my mom wasn't very happy with it, so my devices were confiscated for everything except school, so I'm literally updating this in the middle of third period.
Fallen-Angel signing out.
