Chapter 29

Percy's P.O.V.

Percy stared at the small dots that were Annabeth, Piper, Jason and Natalie. They were going to Ithaca; the girls disguised as beautiful handmaidens, Jason as an old man (which he didn't like at all).

He, Frank, Leo and Hazel had come to see them off. Leo muttered something about checking the engine room as went off, rubbing his eyes. Leo hardly ever slept. Mostly, he kept working in the engine room, or tinkering with objects here and there. Even by demigod standards, Leo was highly hyperactive.

Frank put a hand on Percy's shoulder, "Go and crash in, man. You've been up all night."

Yes, he had. Since Jason was supposed to go to Ithaca, Percy has convinced the others to let the ship sail through the sea; he would do the guard duty. However, Jason getting proper sleep was not the only reason he wanted that.

Percy had trouble falling asleep, after what happened in Tartarus. Whenever he closed his eyes, the demonic landscape seemed to bore into him. Nightmares had him wake up at midnight drenched in cold sweat, and he guessed he was getting just the amount of sleep as Leo did these days.

He didn't want to sleep even then, but feeling it'd rather be best not to mention his nightmares, he nodded. "Yeah. Wake me up if something happens."

He trudged down to his cabin and bolted the door shut. One of the best things Leo had done was to make everyone's cabins soundproof, so that they could have their privacy in their cabins. He glanced at his bed. Sure, he was heavily sleep deprived, but the thought of nightmares kept him from sleeping. But he had something else to do. Something he needed to do.

He looked at the small bronze basin in his cabin, a metallic copy of the one he had at Cabin Three in Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth had asked Leo to make one for him, and it was just the same, except it was made up of celestial bronze. He rummaged in his drawer and pulled out a golden drachma.

Kneeling beside the basin, he tossed it into the spray and said, "O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Sally Jackson in New York."

Heart hammering, he watched as the golden coin disappeared in the mist. It was the first time he would be seeing his mother after, well, months. Between all that had been going on, he hadn't had the chance, but after Tartarus, he wanted to see her. He really did. He wondered what she would say when she would see the new scars on his face.

An image formed, an image that seemed surreal. It was his mother, taking out freshly baked blue cookies from the oven. Percy could almost smell those.

"Mom?" he mustered out.

She turned. The tray fell from her hands.

"Percy? Oh my gods, Pecry, it's really you!"

Tears splashed from her eyes. A tear ran down his cheeks too.

"I missed you."

She almost melted at these words, but then suddenly her expression changed.

"Perseus Jackson, you wait till you get home. Did you even know how worried I've been? Did you even know how worried Annabeth has been…."

And she went on for what seemed like hours before she finally calmed down. "Oh I'm just glad you're alright. How'd you get those scars?"

Percy didn't answer. His throat seemed to have lost the ability to produce sound.

"Percy are you alright? Where's Annabeth?"

"She's gone out to get some work done. I'm on Argo II," he managed out.

"Percy," she cajoled. "What happened?"

And he told her everything. From waking up at the wolf house to meeting Natalie, Frank and Hazel at Camp Jupiter, their quest to Alaska, going to Rome, Tartarus, Ben, everything. He didn't know how he still had the strength to say it all, but he finally choked as he told her how they had come back.

"Oh my gods, Percy. How are you?"

"Fine, for now," his voice caught up in his throat.

"And Annabeth. And Natalie?"

"They're, well, just as fine as I am. Natalie's still a bit shaken, though. Listen, mom, back at Tartarus, I made a promise to Ben. It was the least I could do after all he did for us back there. I promised him that I'd – well, I'd look after Natalie…"

He waited for her reaction.

"Percy, she's your sister. Even without promising that's your duty. After everything she's done for you, every time she's saved your life, it's your moral duty to do that much for her. Listen, why don't you bring her here? She can live with us if she wants to."

Percy smiled. He knew his mother. She always kept the door open for any demigod, and this time it was my sister.

"I wanted to ask you the same thing. But yeah, I'll talk to her. After all that's happened I can't leave her like that, mom."

She smiled. "I know you can't. You're my kid, Percy, and I'm proud of you. Don't worry, everything will be fine, okay?"

He smiled weakly at her. "Yeah."

"Paul will be really happy when I tell him I talked to you."

Percy felt a twinge of guilt. "Yeah, mom, please tell him sorry from my side. I know he must've had a lot of trouble."

His mother's eyes were shining. "He understands, Percy, that you have to do these things, and he's ready to have your back just as I am. Remember I told you the time Annabeth was taken by Atlas, whatever you do, I know you'll do it for the good, because I know your heart's in the right place. You'll defeat Gaea, and everything will be fine, okay."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Thanks, mom. It felt good to talk to you."

"I know, Percy. Take care. Bye."

"Bye," he waved his hand over the mist. The image of his mother disappeared, and again, it felt as though a sphere of positivity that had been near him due to his mother's presence was gone. Tired, he crashed on the bed, thinking….

Percy didn't know when he felt asleep, but he was back in Tartarus, in his nightmares.

He saw Ben walking towards him, only it was his corpse. Tartarus laughed, taunting him. Monsters slashed and clawed him, but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't breathe…he wanted to leave but couldn't…something was hitting him, making a strange noise.

Knock, knock, knock.

He jolted awake. He was shivering from head to foot, covered in cold sweat.

"Percy!"

Leo. Had something gone wrong?

He immediately opened the door. Leo stood panting, as though he had run the whole ship.

"Distress signal, morse code." He clutched his chest. "Frank's gone to help. Come on."

Glad to have something that would take his mind off the nightmare, he ran back towards the deck. Frank was in dragon form, flying towards the ship. Natalie, Piper and Annabeth were on its back, and he was clutching something in its legs. As he landed, Percy saw what it was.

It was a makeshift white stretcher, and lying on it was Jason, his abdomen covered with blood, unconscious. The girls jumped off the dragon's back.

Natalie lifted one side of the stretcher and he immediately grabbed another one, and they rushed him to the infirmary. Piper and Annabeth immediately started tending to him. Having been the longest to camp, Annabeth had the most experience in healing.

"Let's go outside, guys. The ladies are handling him. I don't think we all should stay here," Leo murmured.

Annabeth looked him in the eyes and he nodded, leaving with the others.

"I need to wash my hands," Natalie went near the edge of the deck. Water shot up above, and she cleaned her hands. Ever since Tartarus, her powers over the liquids had increased rapidly. She could control any liquid, however he, along with Natalie and Annabeth had kept it well covered. Except water, Natalie didn't try to control any other liquid, and she was too traumatized to bloodbend.

"What happened?" he asked her as they gathered near the edge of the deck.

"Varus, that slimy, old excuse for a –,"

"Michael Varus? Again?" Percy asked. She had killed the guy back in Alaska.

"Yeah. Our cover got blown. We had to fight. Almost destroyed those deads but that –," she called Michael Varus something very bad in Latin that made Hazel glare at her. "– got Jason from the back just as we were finishing."

"So you found something out?" Frank asked.

"Jason knows it," Natalie said. Due to their detour, her mind had been completely fixed on the quest. She seemed better, just like he did while he was invested in something. Being in action made them forget, well, the bad things. Momentarily, at least.

"We'll ask him after he wakes up and is ready to tell."

"Gods, I need to change this thing," she looked awkwardly at her sleeveless white dress. "Fighting with this on is literally so difficult."

She went back into her cabin. Five minutes later, she emerged with Annabeth and Piper. All three of them had changed. Annabeth and Piper wore their orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt while Natalie had changed into a full sleeved purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt and black jeans.

"Okay, guys, I think we should get back to work," Leo clapped his hands. "Hey Annabeth, I needed some help with some calculations back in the engine room. Mind helping?"

"Let's go," Annabeth followed him into the engine room.

"I'll go sit beside Jason," Piper sighed and left.

Frank looked at them. "Anyone up for a bit of sparring?"

Hazel agreed.

"You and Hazel enjoy the session," Natalie sighed, leaning against the railing.

"Percy?"

"You two go on."

They both took out their swords and started sparring. Percy and Natalie stood watching them.

"Had a good nap?" Natalie asked him.

He shrugged. "Nah, nightmares."

"I can't sleep much either. After what happened…"

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something."

She turned to him. "Go on."

Percy hesitated. How should he start the conversation? He took a deep breath.

"I wanted to ask you, well if you feel like it, I mean, obviously I'll understand if you won't, but I just thought–,"

She made a weird expression. "What do you want to say?"

"I just wanted to say that – like, if you wouldn't mind–,"

"Percy."

"I want you to come and live with me at NYC."

"Oh," she said, now looking at the horizon again, not meeting his eyes.

"So?"

She hesitated. "Thanks, Percy, but I mean, how can I just, I mean have you talked to Mrs. Jackson about this?"

"It was her idea."

She took a deep breath. "Well I know this much I'm not going to Camp Jupiter anymore. But I haven't really thought about where."

"Take your time," he told her. "But I'd really like it if you agreed. So would my mom and stepdad."

She smiled. "Thanks," she squeezed his hand.

"Hey, we're family, right?"

"Yeah, we are," she said. "We all are."

"Hey guys," Piper called. "Jason's awake. Come on!"

"Let's go," Natalie said.

He gestured to Natalie. "Ladies first."