AN: HI! It's been a while since posted my thoughts so I thought I write something down. Hopefully, you are still enjoying this story. I rework a few plans in the draft and have a clear ending for how to take this to the final epilogue, so stay tuned! As always, stay safe and well in this day and age. I am thankful for all the favs, follows, and reviews anyone dropped on this fanfic, so a quick shout out to everyone who did. :)

2nd AN: In other news about my future writing endeavor, I am planning on starting my original story on a slow-burn romantic series. I've got a rough outline plotted out, and will start on that journey as soon as this story is in the final stages. I would be over the moon and delighted if any of you decide to take the time and check it out. However, I need your opinion on where to post that story or any original story I write in the future. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to leave a review or just PM me. I promise I won't bite and will respond sincerely to everyone who replies.

With all that said, please enjoy this slower pace chapter after two back-to-back heavy chapters.

Chapter 9: A New Healing Attendant (Illya's Introduction)

Percy

"Oww… That stings, you know?"

Despite the visible annoyance on her timid expression, the maid continued to apply healing nectar to the deep cut on his back. After all, it was the most severe with a wide-open gash.

"Please try to stay still and don't move so much, Prince Perseus."

"You said that, but… Hey… hey… Oww!"

From his point of view, it seemed like she was rather enjoying herself as she took care of him in the secret healing wing inside Annabeth's penthouse. Percy didn't know such a place existed, or to put it another way… Even though he and Annabeth started dating a while ago, he never got a chance to visit this place, and it hadn't crossed his mind once just how impressive it all was.

The Chase penthouse could easily give their mansion estate a run for its money. Equally grand with an impossible modern beauty to it, Percy could tell it's beyond the comprehension of human beings even without having a proper tour of the place.

A ceiling as high as the clouds and separated by three levels… A deck that overlooked the city…

Besides the elegant and spacious interior, the structure itself seemed out of the question in terms of architectural standards, as if physics weren't a reality in this place. In other words, it would surely require other means to achieve this level of design.

Of course, Percy knew why it hadn't toppled over the building, as surely as he was about the many different secrets yet to be revealed about his new life.

His mind began to wander back to his conversation with Luke, what he'd told him, the things he said about Lady Athena, every word he uttered etched in his mind like ink on paper, refusing to go away despite his best attempt to drive it out of his head.

Surely, he was being paranoid, but deep down, Percy felt something nagging at him at the end of the rope; the unknown variable piling up in the background was beginning to make him doubt, if only just a tiny bit, about what he'd been told. What happened tonight, what he saw with his own two eyes… Percy had to wonder…

Annabeth…

Percy's heart ached in so many different places.

Suddenly, a hand drew near…

Percy immediately tried to flinch away, "S-Seriously, Illya, I can take care of myself. You don't have to…"

"Nonsense. Lady Athena asked me to take care of you, so you should rest and let me do my job, Prince Perseus."

Percy stumbled with his next words, he wasn't going to resign so easily, "Look, I don't rather feel comfortable with…"

"Nonsense." Illya spoke plainly again, "Your body is not anything to be ashamed about. I can see how much effort you put into having a physically capable, attractive, and lean figure. The well-developed muscles you've built over the years aren't bad either, so you don't need to be embarrassed."

Blushing, Percy squirmed and looked away from her red eyes.

"But that doesn't mean I am comfortable with taking off my—"

"Enough whining…"

Illya sighed and stood from her seat. She leaned over much to Percy's horror with hands outstretched for his chest.

"W-Whoa… Hey-yy! Wait, don't— Ahh! Don't… Lia-aa!"

His refusal only spurred her on, "Stop struggling, Prince Perseus!"

After a bit of fumbling and wrestling, Illya huffed in satisfaction as she had successfully gotten off his school shirt without breaking a sweat. She laid the blood-soaked clothing on the floor, then proceed back to her duty as his healing attendant. With a bowl of golden liquid and a wet cloth in both hands, Percy tried to run away.

"Please don't make my job any harder than it needs to be, okay?"

In the end, Percy sat still and resigned to her forcefulness. It wasn't like he could run away when his legs felt as heavy as lead. His first battle with a skeleton mob, then subsequently the Nemean Lion, had gotten so out of hand that it was impossible to walk on his own. The only reason why he's on this bed in the infirmary wing was because of Illya.

Percy turned and stared curiously.

The emotionless girl looked about the same age as him, wearing a meticulous side ponytail on her right shoulder, her long hair was as white as snow in a blizzard, those bashful red eyes the color of shining ruby gem. It was no doubt she was very attractive, hence why this situation was so uncomfortable for him. Every time she wiped a wound on his body with the nectar, Percy felt awkward. Truly, his love for Annabeth made him want nothing more than to get away from Illya.

"Ah!"

Illya frowned as she withdraw from a small cut on his chest, "Please refrain yourself from making any weird sounds as well, prince Perseus."

Embarrassed, Percy tried his best not to pay attention to his left side. Just how in the world could Illya keep a straight face and stay calm while taking care of him half-naked was beyond his comprehension.

Luckily, she tended to every one of his wounds over his upper body in a matter of minutes. Percy felt the healing nectar at work immediately, his strength came back and any small cuts began to heal themselves.

"Thanks." Percy moved his fingers around and flex his arms, but because their awkwardness still refused to go away, he tried to find something to talk about, his voice completely stiffed and ungraceful, "T-This stuff is pretty magical, isn't it?"

Illya tilted her head to the side, "I don't understand? Nectar is an ancient source of the Gods with healing properties if consumed in small amounts, isn't that right?"

"Uhh, no… I mean, that was sarcasm."

"Sarcasm?"

The fact that Illya looked stumped made Percy wondered if this girl had any interaction with people before she became his healing attendant on the spur of the moment.

"Yeah. I was making a joke, you know?"

"Oh." Illya cast her gaze down, "Well, it's not a very funny joke to begin with, Perseus."

To hear something so blunt and honest, Percy felt like a shotgun blasted right through his heart, pellets shredding him to pieces. Though given how unconcern she looked, Percy could only cough awkwardly and keep quiet.

Truly, Illya was a strange girl.

"In any case, I should get to treating your lower half as well."

"Lower half? W-Wait a minute, you don't mean…"

Illya was already reaching for his pants without an ounce of remorse or shame. Of course, Percy immediately fought back, and thus a struggle broke out between the son of Poseidon and his newly assigned nurse.

"Don't struggle! I am just trying to do my job, Percy!"

Percy pulled desperately and barely registered that she just called him by his regular name, "And I am telling you, I can do it myself just fine!"

"No you can't! It's my job as your healing attendant! I won't let you take my job away."

Percy refused, thought the hem of his pants was already below his thigh, "Why are you being so stubborn?! I can do it myself! Illya, stop pulling!"

She didn't.

What a strange and aggressive girl….

"Ohh-Hooo? What in the world are you doing, Percy?"

Stunned, Percy's grip around his pants loosen. Immediately following that revelation, Illya flew.

"Eeekkkk!"

Percy snapped his head toward the entrance where two people stood beside each other. It was the daughter of Aphrodite and the son of Zeus. Looking no worse for wear other than their visible tiredness and messy figures, it seemed they came out of their own experience still alive and well.

Percy couldn't help but thank the Gods, but his reaction spoke differently.

"Piper?!"

His unintentional release sent Illya flying backward with his pants and she landed on her butt. A disoriented groan left her lips, her eyes shut tight and she quickly brushed her forehead in a daze. His school pants had been completely taken off and now clutched in her right hand.

"Oh my God! This isn't what you think it is! I was… Illya was trying to…"

Piper's smile turned into a weird sneer, "Oooh-Ooohh? I wonder what happened in here."

Percy immediately panic and try to conceal himself, though that proved quite difficult when there weren't any covers for him to hide behind, "Again, it's not what you think! Illya was just trying to heal my wounds!"

Piper avoided a specific area when looking at him and cast a sidelong smirk, "Really? I wondered what would happen if Annabeth stumbled upon this scene right now."

His heart sank.

"Don't tell Annabeth! I'll do anything you want…"

Gleaming as she got exactly as she wanted, Piper beamed a smile past his way and strolled right in, "I'll hold you to that deal, Percy… Don't ever forget it. Now, let's go, Jason. I've to take care of that wound on your hand."

Jason made low grumbles and followed Piper in.

"Illya, please prepare another batch of healing supplies for this idiot." Piper pointed hopelessly at the son of Zeus.

Seemingly familiar with one another already, Illya got up and suddenly looked flustered. As if she lost all that composure she had before, Illya pad down her maid outfit; she was in a long black garb that went below her ankles, wearing elegant white cuffs at the end of her wrists, and on top of the dress, a plain but very cute white apron wrapped around her back, tied into an adorable butterfly pattern behind the black dress, frilly hem covering her from shoulders to her knees. To top it all off, she wore a red ribbon around her neck as well.

Percy couldn't deny how charming she looked. Although pretty much every girl servant wore the same outfit around the mansion, Illya somehow made it seem enchanting and effortless.

No no no! Stop it! Percy smacked himself mentally from going any further with that train of thought.

Hurriedly, Illya turned and made a slight gestured bow, "As you wish, Miss McLean."

Piper smiled, then skipped over and put a hand to her ear. She leaned close enough to whisper, but her voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Also, you probably should ease off on teasing Percy too much… I wouldn't want the princess to paint a target behind your back, you know?" Piper shot her a grin, "As always, you are too innocent for your own good, Illya."

Illya blushed and stay quiet, then hurried to a huge cabinet seemingly to retrieve the supplies. Lost in her embarrassed bubble, Percy decided to pull his gaze toward the others.

"So, what happened to you two?"

Percy was more than intrigued. No one had time to tell him anything ever since they made it home, and because Thalia was the only one who came back to save him and Annabeth, the two of them must have to stay behind after the force teleportation. Honestly, it looked like they only made it back just now.

Piper sighed and took Illya's prepared healing nectar along with two peach color square cubes. It looked almost like a piece of candy.

"Long story short, we were ambushed by a horde of monsters when Luke teleported us. It was a trap to keep us occupied, so we decide to hold out with Owlfred's help so Thalia can get back."

"Seriously?" Percy took a passing glance at Jason's right hand, "How bad was it? Did you two get hurt?"

A smirk moved across Piper's lips as she pulled the stopper out from the container. The same healing nectar filled the small tube with its golden liquid.

"Meh… We were fine. It's not much trouble at all. Plus, Owlfred made a few barriers that gave us more than enough time to catch our breaths."

Owlfred can make physical barriers?! Yet, given what he had yet to know about most things in this world, that revelation wasn't all too surprising because of course their advance AI could make something impossible. His existence itself was pretty much impossible to begin with.

Making him sit, Piper forced Jason to hold out his hand and wrestled a bit to get his palm open. Jason was fighting her back at every single point in defiance. She sighed in exasperation.

"How did that happen?" Percy finally saw it.

The wound was deep and right in the middle of his palm, a straight line cutting through his skin. It looked painful, yet Percy hadn't heard a single complaint from Jason, he was pretty sure his friend had already gotten used to wounds like this.

As Piper tilted the bottle carefully, a single drop dripped and ran down his wound in perfect sync, then she answered nonchalantly like this happens all the time, "Jason was being stupid and stopped a sword with his bare hand like he's superman or something."

"Hey! Don't forget I did it to protect you, dumbass." Jason complained, "Jeez… If I'd known you were going to be like that, I wouldn't have taken that sword for you. I don't care if you and I used to— Guhah!"

An abrupt cry left him in mid-sentence. Piper flashed him a smirk, her fingers pinching his right thigh with a tight twist, "Care to keep going, lightning boy?"

Jason scoffed, "Whatever."

But before Piper knew it, he quickly snatched the bottle away much to her shock, "Let's see how you like it then, beauty queen."

Jason smeared a good bit of nectar on his fingers and roughly shoved his hand around Piper's back, he knew exactly what he was doing as he reached underneath her shirt. A much stronger reaction left Piper as she squealed.

"That's right! I still know all your weak spots, Pipes."

"Eeekk! J-Jason… S-stopp Stop it!" Piper squirmed wildly underneath Jason as the son of Zeus supposedly— hopefully... using that nectar to treat one of Piper's wounds.

Dumbfounded by their display, Percy watched the scene unfold with no words whatsoever.

"Ahem…" An awkward girly voice reached his ears, "And now we are all done."

Percy snapped his head back to his cute attendant with white hair and red eyes, her unusually calm gaze seemed to return to normal. Illya then stood beside the bed and aimlessly wander back to his eyes. She held him for a moment, then pulled away sharply.

"Done?"

Percy watched Illya nod plainly without a word. As she walked around the rectangular bed, she began to clean up, little by little the mess they'd made and put away the trash. First came the dark red necktie, then his white button-down shirt for school, soon enough his long pants as they got stuffed in a large garbage bag.

"Whoa Hey! That's my clothes for school, you know?!"

Given no reaction whatsoever, she ignored him.

Percy sighed.

How can she act so unreasonable and aggressive earlier, and now she wouldn't even give me a passing glance at all? Seriously, what gives?

As she went around tending to the left side of his bed, Percy wanted to reach out and grab her attention just so she wouldn't put his clothes in the incinerator or something.

But then his whole body moved.

Surprised, Percy came to realize that Illya had been taking care of the rest of his wounds when he was watching the odd banter between Jason and Piper. Like an old bickering couple, they were still going at it even now, and being in the same room with them was making Percy feel more and more uncomfortable.

"Eeeakkk! Noo… No! J-Jason… Stop rubbing me there! Please… Eeeek!" Piper continued her plead for mercy which could easily give people the wrong impression.

Jason's eye grew smug and even a bit sadistic, "Hahaha… Not so tough now, aren't you McLean?"

Percy pulled his eyes away before their inappropriate wrestling could suck him in.

At long last, Percy was more or less back to his normal self. His wounds healed in the blink of an eye all thanks to the nectar and Illya's help. Of course, he should still take it easy after a long battle, but otherwise, he was back physically and mentally.

"Thanks, Illya. You were a big help. I can't than— Phud!"

Something soft slammed into his face and muffled his thank you for the Illya. Of course, the same girl had thrown it, her aim was impeccable.

Percy reached up to remove a set of comfy pajamas stuck on his face. He looked up at Illya who spared him a brief second glance before looking away. Her pretty red eyes darted downward.

Huh? Did I do something to her? Why is she so— Oh…

Finally, his brain stopped hitting a brick wall and he realized why she's been reacting this way. It was so obvious, and Percy couldn't believe how dense he could be sometimes. Things like this had happened way too often in school that it naturally just pass from one side of his head to another.

Flustered… Embarrassed… Avoiding eye contact… And hiding it all behind a veil of calmness.

Percy tried to be as gentle as possible and said in exasperation, "I am starting to think you don't like me very much…"

When she shoved the final towel into her stuffed garbage bag, Percy noticed a slight smile on Illya's lips but she hid it very quickly. Right on the dot, she gave him a stern look like a mother lecturing a child.

"Get dress, Prince Perseus. I'm pretty sure Lady Athena is waiting for you urgently."

Percy gave Illya a sidelong you are so bossy look.

Looking satisfied and her impromptu job now done, Illya took the huge bag with her, then as she made it to the exit, she turned back and gave him a slight bow.

"Also, thanks for letting me take care of you, Percy." A completely different smile made its way over her lips if albeit for only a second, her expression lit up to the fullest in a widely different sense.

Her sweet voice laced with mirthfulness, Percy barely had time to react to her sudden playful demeanor when she timidly scurried out the door. Percy shook his head and sighed... Surely, this girl was something else and would likely be the death of him if a certain girl with blonde hair ever found out about what happened.

"Eeek!"

Instead of leaving as one expected, Illya rushed right into another person coming in and bumped off her feet. She yelped and fell on her butt for a second time.

"Oh I am so sorry Illya! Here, let me help you."

Reaching out to help, that gentle voice Percy was very familiar with came into the infirmary. It was his mother. Her otherwise relaxing attire suggested she's been asleep for quite a bit already. It was now eleven o'clock, and what happened tonight must have scared her so much that she immediately took the limo from the mansion and get here just to see him.

Percy could already see the lecture and scolding that was about to head his way. It was enough to make him wince.

Eventually, Illya got up with his mom's help. Fluster yet again, she bowed sheepishly at the more mature woman and quickly made her way out. She disappeared around the corner without saying a word.

Uh-no… why do I have a feeling I'll see her again? Percy's mind wandered.

Sally turned around and watched as Illya disappeared into the hallway. Percy noticed a kindhearted smile on his mom, a familiar motherly warmth that only she could pull off.

"Percy?"

Sally picked her head up and turned to face him. That same warming smile never left her expression, yet Percy felt something else prickling at his skin, goosebumps surfaced as her needle gaze got closer and narrower.

"What do you make Illya do?"

Passing him a friendly smile, Percy's mouth dropped on a dime, "Eehhh?!"