A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for taking time to read this chapter and this story! I appreciate all the help and reviews! If you have any input on the story PM or leave it in a review! I'm always looking for new ideas! I know the story has been progressing pretty slowly, but stick with it! Not everything can be swish swish stab! I would like to dedicate this chapter to user Amnunne. He has been a great help in telling me to write and you can thank him for the last two chapters and this one! And without further a due, here's chapter five! P.S. Did you fine my Doctor Who reference last chapter? Post in comments if you did! And tell me what it was ;)
Chapter Five:
I rushed over to Zoe. She was on the ground and losing a lot of blood. I leaned over her, getting a look at her shoulder. The only thing holding her arm to her body was a few strands of sinew. I started to panic. I wasn't a healer. I wasn't a son of Apollo. I had no idea how to deal with this. I tore off a section of my shirt. I pressed the cloth to the wound but it had no effect on the bleeding.
"Percy…" I heard, barely even audible. I looked down and saw Zoe trying to sit up.
"No Zoe, don't talk. Save your strength." I told her. I tried to push back down but she glared at me.
She leaned closer to me. "Water… Percy. Use… the… water." She managed to say between breaths.
Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I couldn't believe I didn't think of that. Now I know why Annabeth always called me Seaweed Brain. I lifted Zoe as carefully as possible, so I wouldn't jerk her arm off. I carried her bridal style to the river. I set her down in the water gently. But the bleeding didn't stop. I knew my powers had the capability to heal wounds… but I didn't know how. She was turning deathly pale, she would be dead in minutes if I didn't get the bleeding under control. All I'll say is that desperation can lead to some pretty crazy ideas. But I was out of options. I decided to freeze the water around her shoulder. This worked better than any field dressing that I have ever seen. The bleeding stopped immediately; I froze even more water, preventing her arm from moving. This was only temporary because eventually the ice will melt. Also, if she was in contact with the ice for too long, it would start damaging the tissue, giving her some really bad frost bite.
I bought my self a little more time, but Zoe needed the help of a god. I willed the water to form a spray in front of me. The sunlight hit the mist in just the right angle, a rainbow appeared in front of me and I produced a gold drachma.
"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, except my offering and show me Artemis, at camp." I threw the coin in and an image of Artemis sitting at a long table appeared. The rest of the hunt was sitting there too.
"Percy." Artemis said with an edge to her voice. "You are late to dinner and my lieutenant is missing."
"Artemis, we need help. At the river." I pleaded. Her eyes went wide when she saw Zoe's unconscious form in my arms. She immediately flashed away and appeared at my side. She took Zoe from me. She peered at the hunk of ice on her shoulder. It was lucky that the ice was perfectly clear, allowing Artemis to examine the wound without continuing the bleeding.
"Quick thinking." She told me. She summoned some nectar and willed some of the ice to melt. She applied the nectar directly to the wound, and the flesh started weaving itself back together but not much. It slowed the bleeding, but only just. Ice reformed over the wound. Artemis poured the rest of the nectar in Zoe's mouth. She plugged Zoe's nose, forcing her to shallow the nectar.
"This is the best I can do. I willed some of the tissue backed together with the help of the nectar, but we need my brother for this." Artemis said. Then a second blinding flash occurred next to me.
"Hey, sis! Why are we standing in water?" Apollo joked. His eyes found Zoe. All humor left his face. "Give her to me." Artemis handed her over. Apollo took one look at the wound and his face went white. "I can't treat her here. I need to take her to Olympus."
"Then I'm coming with you." Artemis said.
"No. You need to take care of the hunt."
"I'll have Percy tell them what happened."
"Do you really think it wise to have Percy deliver this kind of news his first day with them?" Apollo shot back. Artemis hung her head in defeat. "Go back to them. Tell them what happened. Leave someone you trust in charge. Join me when you are ready." Artemis nodded, and was about to flash away with me, but Apollo stopped her. "I need him. He knows what happened." Artemis nodded again and I felt Apollo's hand on my shoulder. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, I was in a hospital.
I looked around and saw that we were in an operating room, Apollo was dressed as a surgeon, and Zoe was in a hospital gown. I looked at my hands and saw I had on latex gloves. I also noticed I had a surgical mask on my face and my clothes turned into scrubs. Zoe was lying on the operating table, hooked up to a breathing tube. Apollo melted the ice.
"What happened?" Apollo asked.
"Alpheus captured Zoe. I freed her, and he attacked us. Well I guess we attacked him first but he left us no choice. In the attack, Alpheus' spear hit Zoe in the shoulder."
"Direct hit or grazing?"
"Grazing." I replied.
"Good, that's a start." Apollo said. He had a bottle of nectar in his hand labeled 'Extra Strength'. "Need to be careful with this stuff." Apollo commented. "Too much and Zoe will burn up hotter than me." Apollo smiled at his own joke. "Hand me the needle the thread over there."
I looked around and saw a sewing needle on a counter along with some gold thread. I brought it over to him. I saw that Apollo hadn't poured the nectar on Zoe's shoulder like Artemis did, he was carefully applying it to specific spots with a metal poker thing. He kept on dipping it back in the nectar, applying it drop by agonizing drop.
Apollo noticed me staring. "I need to make sure all muscle fibers in the rotator cuff repair themselves correctly. If they come back unchecked, she would survive, but she would not be able to shoot a bow again. The draw strength would tear the fibers if not properly repaired." I nodded and walked to a chair to sit down in. Moments later there was another flash and Artemis appeared.
"What can I do brother?" Artemis asked.
He handed her a little bit of the extra strength nectar. "Mix about an ounce of this stuff with two quarts of water. That should dilute it enough for me to keep on using the nectar for her shoulder. Apply the solution to her skin that was covered by ice. While the damage was only minor, it is better for the body to not worry about such things at this moment." Artemis nodded and began her work.
I sat there for what felt like hours, completely useless. I kept on running the battle through my mind. Trying to find something I could have done differently. I kept on coming back to the same thing. I shouldn't have asked Zoe to go to the river. I should have done more myself. I should have realized the water wasn't under my control and I could have exercised more caution.
"Alright, that's enough Artemis." I heard Apollo say. "I'll finish up here. I'm sure you have questions for Percy."
Artemis walked over to me, rage evident in her silvery eyes. "What happened to my Lieutenant." Artemis demanded. I recounted the events of what happened. I started with my finding the river, telling her how it didn't feel right. Then I told her I asked Zoe to look into it before any other hunter got to it. I explained what I found when I went looking for her, and told her of our battle with Alpheus. I finished and look at Artemis, to see her reaction.
Her face was hard to read. It was devoid of emotion. "When Alpheus flashed away, what exactly did you see?" Artemis asked.
"Well, I don't really know what you mean."
The color of the flash. What color was the flash?"
"It wasn't really a color, or really a flash. But it was the only way I could explain it."
"Than explain it better." Artemis demanded.
"Well it was a flash of black. Not really a flash even, more of an absence of light. Like there was a black hole that swallowed him up."
Artemis nodded, and a smile spread across her face. "You sentenced the bastard to Tartarus. Good job. I know a few hunters who would be happy to hear that." Her face immediately turned back to one of stone. "We need to get back to the hunt. Tell them your side of the story and give them an update on Zoe."
I nodded, I took one more look at Zoe before I felt Artemis' hand on my shoulder. I closed my eyes and I started to feel queasy, like I jumped off a swing with my eyes closed. When Apollo flashed me I didn't feel nearly as bad. I sat down and put my head between my knees to stop my head from spinning. I opened my eyes to see the Hunters had surrounded me, some looked quizzically at me, expecting answers. Others looked at me with hatred, like it was my fault Zoe got it. They weren't necessarily wrong. i wasn't fast enough. I didn't get up quick enough. I hung my head and started to get up. I couldn't bring myself to look any of them in the eyes.
"As you all know, our sister, and your Lieutenant, has been severely injured. I trust that Thalia has been a good leader since we were away." Artemis announced. "Zoe is in Apollo's hospital on Olympus and is in the best of care. Her condition is stable right now and she will live thanks to Percy's quick thinking." At this the angry girls took a step back, obviously surprised. Hell, I'd be surprised to learn that I didn't completely screw everything up as well. "Judging on the state of her injury when we left, Zoe should be able to return to us when she wakes up." All the girls cheered, I was just relieved she wasn't dead. "However, we are not sure when she will wake up. It could either be tomorrow or a week from now. That part, is up to her. You're all dismissed."
None of the girls left. They were all looking at me again. They all wanted to here what happened. I couldn't tell them. How could I? I was the only one present when their Lieutenant, one of the oldest members of the hunt, had almost fallen in battle. No matter what I'd say, they would blame me. Most of them already did. I opened my mouth but my voice didn't work. I already hated public speaking. I got all shaky and nervous when I have to do it for school. Now imagine what it was like for me, surrounded by a very deadly group of immortal hunters all perfectly paying attention to what I had to say and half of them already wanted to kill me. I was a wreck to say the least. Luckily Artemis stepped forward and recounted the events I told her in the O.R. The Hunters took the story from Artemis a lot better than they would have from me.
"... and you can see, Perseus is not to blame. His quick thinking with the ice saved Zoe from losing a lot of blood. So instead of blaming him for Zoe's injury, you should thank him for saving Zoe's life." There were a few murmurs from the crowd but they dissipated after Artemis was done talking. I started to head for my tent, it was late and it had been a long day. I was about half way there when I felt a tug on my arm.
"Thalia." I said. "Hey."
"Hey, where are you going?" She said, hurt evident in her eyes.
"Thalia, whats wrong?" I knew right away I said the wrong thing. Her eyes started to tear up. "It's okay, Thalia." I said, doing my best to comfort her.
"I just lost Annabeth, my oldest friend, I had no idea if Zoe was alive or not the past few hours, and the girls were saying you were gonna get kicked out of the hunt." Her voice quivered and cracked. "I almost lost everyone in a matter of days... don't leave just yet."
"Alright, Thalia. I'm here for you. Whenever you need me to be." I said with a grin. This got her to give me a small smile in return. Together, we walked over at a few rocks at the edge of camp and just sat down on them. We didn't say a word. We didn't even touch or hold on to each other. All we did was sat there, taking comfort in the fact that we were both alive and there for each other. It was only 30 minutes later when Thalia realized I didn't have anything to eat in well over 8 hours.
"Percy!" Thalia exclaimed. "You need to eat something!"
"No, I'm fine. I'm not hungry."
"Come on! Dinner was four hours ago and you didn't eat anything since we stopped for the day!"
"I'm fine!" I protested. "I just need some sleep, its been an eventful first day." Thalia nodded. I stood up and turned to face Thalia. I produced my hand and she took it, helping her up from the low rock. "Thanks, Thalia. I'm gonna head to bed. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Percy." We parted ways, I went to my tent and she went to hers. It was nice knowing that at least someone needed me just as much as I needed them.
I opened my tent and saw that everything was just that way I left it. I stripped off my clothes but left my boxers on. I liked to sleep in my underwear.
A/N: Hey! I am really really sorry for this late update. I've been busy and the little free time I had left I didn't spend it writing. I wrote the first 1,000 and some words quit awhile ago, but it was too short to post and I've been procradtinating hard. This was still shorter then I wanted it to be but 2,500 words is not too bad. I hope I haven't lost any readers because of my slowness! I'll try to write more often and update sooner than this chapter. But again, no promises. So, Percy's first day with the Hunt! Exciting huh? Let me know what you guys think of it as a review or a PM!
P.S. Reviews and story ideas help keep me motivated to write, even if it's just a "Good job!" or a "Your story sucks, but this will improve it..." every little comment helps the creative process! Thanks again for reading!
