House of Hades is out and I haven't got it yet!
ARGH!
Wrote this to keep me, and maybe the others who haven't got it yet, going ;)
Enjoy,
I no own!

Chapter twenty-three: A talk in the morning

~Penelope's POV~

When Penelope woke up, she felt like someone had filled the inside of her head with cotton wool.
For a moment she stayed with her eyes closed, not wanting to face the day yet.
The events of yesterday were still etched in her mind: The snake, Piper killing it, her collapsing after.
But where was she now? Underneath her, she could feel a mattress and there was a soft swaying motion, so she guessed she must be back on the Argo II.
How had she gotten there though?
Groaning, she tried to think past the cotton inside her head, but there was nothing. It was exactly like she'd felt when she'd awoken in the Big House at Camp Half-Blood, and it was not a feeling she liked.
Slowly, she pried her eyes open and looked around.
From what she could tell, she was in the sickbay, and Coach Hedge was snoring in an armchair on the other side of the room.
The light was dimmed, so she guessed it was either in the middle of the night, or early morning.
Then she realised there was a clock on the stand next to the bed, which read six thirty.
Early morning then.
Carefully, Penelope tried to get out of bed, as she really needed some fresh air to help get rid of the blocked feeling inside her head.
But when she tried to get up, a dull pain shot up from her thigh and she winced, making Coach Hedge grunt in his sleep.
Looking down at her leg, she saw a thick bandage, which was stained dark grey over the place where her wound must be.
It didn't hurt an awful lot but still enough to make her doubt that she would be able to put her weight on it.
Dejectedly, she lay back in bed, wishing that her life wasn't what it was.
Not to get her wrong, she loved her friends and Camp Half-Blood, she only wished none of them had been picked for this stupid quest, or even better that Gaia had never started to stir.
Then they would all be safely at Camp, and maybe they could have found a different way to reconcile the two camps.
But then again, would she have ever arrived at Long Island if it hadn't been for her role in this quest?
Somehow, something deep inside her told her no, she wouldn't have.
And that was what kept her going, because she wouldn't change anything about her life if it meant Penelope wouldn't have met the people who were now already so dear to her.
Just then, she heard a creek from the door and looked over to see Percy standing there.
He smiled when he saw she was awake, and quietly came over to her.
"Hello" she whispered, wondering why he of all people was paying her a visit at this hour.
"Hi." Percy whispered back "I couldn't sleep, and I dunno, I guessed you need some fresh air.
I know I would."
It was a very nice thing to do, and Penelope was glad for the help.
She smiled, and with Percy's aid, managed to get out of bed and slowly up the stairs, until they were
standing on deck.
The brisk wind blew through Penelope's hair, and instantly she felt better.
"Come over here" Percy said, motioning to a few barrels which were filled with Zeus knows what.
They sat down behind them, so they were shielded from the worst of the wind, but still felt a little breeze.
The sky around them was already relatively light, and in the distance, they could see the sun rising.
"Apollo" Percy grinned, pointing at the ball of light.
Penelope nodded, she knew of the sun god.
"Have you ever met him?" she asked Percy, who said "Yeah, he's cool, I guess. Compared to some of the others at least."
Although Penelope had heard quite a few things about Percy's past adventures, she was keen to learn more.
"How many of the gods have you met?" she asked, eagerly.
"Oh, jeez, quite a few. Let's see, there's my dad, Poseidon, Annabeth's mum, though she doesn't like me very much" with a grimace Percy told her of the occasions he'd met Athena, and Penelope winced sympathetically.
They continued talking until the soon had fully risen, Percy telling her all about his encounters with the various gods, and his past quests.
It was easy to talk to him, and Penelope imagined this must be what it felt like to have a brother.
It was much better than talking to Callister back at Camp Half-Blood, because if she was honest, that guy simply freaked her out. But Percy was easy going, and he had a nice smile.
Around him, Pen felt oddly at peace, and whole, as if her life made sense, though not in a romantic way at all. Why exactly she felt like this she couldn't say, and she felt too shy to tell Percy.
Instead, she asked him if he'd ever met her mother.
"Hecate? Nah, not yet. I've met one of your sisters, though. Circe."
"When you were stranded in the sea of monsters." Penelope grinned "And got turned into a guinea pig."
Percy blushed, and Penelope laughed at the image of the son of Poseidon in a cage, eating straw.
"So, what Hecate powers have you got then?" Percy asked her when she'd stopped laughing.
"Well, concealment was one of the first things I learnt, though I can only do it in the dark. Chleo said the more powerful you get, the easier it is, but during the day it's always a challenge."
she thought for a moment. "And some forms of healing, though they're really rudimentary, mostly just mixing some herbs, nothing like the Apollo kids."
Percy continued to listen, as if he knew there was more.
Penelope coughed. "And, there was this one occasion when we ran into Mormo- "
"Wait" Percy said "Your ran into what?"
"Mormo. Long story, but basically Piper, Annabeth and I met one of my mum's companions and it tried to kill us. But when it threw purple flames at me, I just, I don't know, caught them and threw them back, making it go away. I haven't really tried summoning them since, only once and it didn't work, so I wouldn't really call it a power."
Percy looked at her, impressed. "Sounds like a pretty awesome power to me."
Penelope blushed. After all, Percy was probably the most powerful demigod ever, and here he
was saying she had cool powers.
Then, a frown appeared on the dark haired boy's face.
"What?" Pen asked and Percy answered
"Annabeth told me you can probably breathe underwater."
Penelope didn't answer, unsure what to say. It was true that Ryan had told her she hadn't had any water in her lungs after coming out of the ocean, but she hadn't tried breathing underwater since.
She hadn't even been swimming, avoiding to go into the water when she was at the lake with Leo.
It was true what she'd told Leo about not being afraid of the ocean, but the thought of actually going for a swim did make her a little nervous. Anyway, her theory was that it was merely Hera who had kept her from drowning.
Without really meaning to, she found herself explaining all this to Percy, who nodded, as if he understood.
"You know" he said slowly "when I was in Alaska, I fell into a patch of muskeg, and since then I-"
But he was interrupted by a shout of "There you are!".
Piper, whose scratches had disappeared with a little ambrosia, was standing before them.
"What are you doing here?"
"Couldn't sleep, thought Penelope would like some air and now we're having a chat."
Percy explained.
"Oh, okay." Piper sat down beside them. "Breakfast will be ready soon. Have you told Pen yet what happened?"
Penelope looked at Percy, who shook his head slightly uncomfortably.
"Why, what did happen?" she asked and Piper told her all about Jason, Percy and her going to find Bacchus, and Percy and Jason's duel. She continued to tell her of the exorcism she'd succeeded in doing for the three boys, and Penelope's mouth fell open in horror.
"So eidolons were what were possessing them? What possessed Leo when he fired on New Rome?"
she asked, her eyes wide.
"Yup. But don't worry, they're gone now, and they're not coming back." Piper said, the relief obvious in her voice.
"Gods, poor Leo. Poor you, too" Penelope murmured, looking at both of them. "How long was I out for?" she asked, realising how much had happened since she'd blacked out.
"Oh, about a day and a night." Piper told her, getting to her feet. "Right, come on you two. Breakfast!"
And five minutes later, all of them were sitting in the mass hall, enjoying what felt like their first proper meal together. The others were all glad Pen was okay, even though out of the corner of her eye she saw Leo give her an odd look, as if he knew something she didn't.
She decided to ask him about it later, as now all she wanted to do was eat.
The food tasted amazing, and the atmosphere was lighter than it had ever been so far.
Annabeth informed the others they were now heading to Atlanta, to look for some old god called Phorcys, and that they would be arriving soon.
And although it looked like the next hurdle was already forming, Penelope was glad for the morning of peace, where she could simply enjoy the company of her friends, and feel like maybe she did belong here, after all.