Previously...

He roared, and you exploded in a ball of light.

You were no more.

What... what are those sounds?

"She's almost... faded! Get... hurry!"

Why are they yelling?

"Come on, (Y/N). Just... longer."

Who's (Y/N)?

"Where... Hedge?!"

They're being too loud. I don't like loud. I want quiet. I want no noise.

"... sorry. So sorry."

I want to sleep.

(~)

Where... where am I?

You were vaguely aware of... well, yourself. Your eyes were closed. You were lying down (or were you standing? You couldn't tell) on something soft. Your skin felt weirdly slimy and weighed on. You were probably in bed, just waking up. Everything felt heavy, and you couldn't bring yourself to do anything but stay lying there. It was too hard a movement.

It took a few minutes for you to peel your eyes open, which you then immediately shut. It was really bright. What time is it? you wondered groggily. You must have missed breakfast.

It was a tad easier to open them this time. You looked at the ceiling. It was most definitely not a domed shape. That meant you weren't in your cabin. You then darted your eyes to the side. There was a small table next to you with various items on it, like a glass of nectar and a bowl filled with brown gunk.

You internally sighed. Infirmary.

Clarisse must have really done you a number this time. She had never put you in the infirmary and you had never gone there after a session with her. Usually, all you felt was sore and beaten. Bruises and cuts weren't enough of an injury to go to the infirmary, so you would just heal them with some ambrosia yourself. Maybe this time you hadn't been paying attention.

A dull pounding suddenly appeared right between your eyebrows. You decided to stop trying to figure out what had happened. She probably hit you in the head or something.

You opened your mouth to shout for someone. Maybe Will, who was normally the main healer here. Or perhaps Chiron, since the infirmary wasn't that far away from where he resided. It really didn't matter, you just wanted someone to explain how you had gotten here.

Hey, anybody-

Wait, what? Your mouth wasn't opening. You tried again, but to no avail. No matter what you did, your muscles refused to cooperate. You strained to move it again. When that didn't work, you switched to your arm. Nothing. Not even your finger. Maybe you just need to wait a little, yeah? The problem was, you already had been waiting. You'd been thinking for a while now. So, why couldn't you move?

That's when you started to worry. You couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't do anything except move your eyes around. You were essentially... paralyzed.

With that conclusion, you flew into a full-blown panic. Your breaths came out short and quick. You could feel your heart beat rapidly as it fought to keep up with your breathing. You struggled and strived to feel just a single twitch of your body. You didn't like the feeling of not knowing what was going on with your own body. Why can't I move?!

The floor creaked. You stopped all attempts to move at that point, listening. There were footsteps coming in your direction. Thank the Gods, now somebody can explain what is happening. You calmed down with the knowledge that you would soon learn why you were crippled.

A person appeared in the corner of your eye. It took a few seconds, which alarmed you, to remember her name. Charity. She froze at the sight of you, then relaxed. She heaved a great sigh, walking heavily over to you.

Once she was in your line of view, you saw why she was dragging her feet. She looked exhausted. She kept yawning and rubbing her face. Her eyes were sunken and red with black bags under them. Her hair was wild from being unbrushed, no longer the lush silky mane she normally had. She looked nothing like the dreamy Charity who always had a far-away smile on her face.

Charity sat at the foot of your bed. She smiled sadly. "Hey, (Y/N)," she said. "Guess what? I controlled someone's dream for the first time. Clovis let me try on him." She gave a short, breathy laugh. "Apparently he dreams about this girl he likes. I changed it so that he slipped in front of her and got embarrassed. It was hilarious." Even though it was an exciting experience for her, she sounded flat, completely uninterested with what she had accomplished. She normally did sound like that, with her head in the clouds, but today it felt off, somehow. Her voice was just... emotionless.

That wasn't what you were focused on, though. You were more concerned with getting her attention. She wasn't taking any notice of how you were awake, despite the fact that she was looking right at you! What the hell, Charity?

She dropped her gaze, playing with her blond hair. "Oh, and Rex says hi. He's in archery practice right now, so sorry he couldn't come. Believe it or not, that horrible shot is getting better and better every day, now that he actually tries." She flicked her eyes up for a brief second then returned them to her lap. "I suspect you have something to do with it."

The panic was coming back. She was talking nonsense. She was acting like you- like you were dead or something. Yet you weren't. You were right there, looking at her, listening to her. You weren't dead. Why else would they keep you in the infirmary?

"You know, sometimes when I come here and your eyes are open, I get that little bit of hope that you're finally awake. As in, completely conscious of everything around you. And then I remember what Will said about patients like you1." Charity peered into your eyes as if she were looking for something.

You tried with all your might to portray some sort of emotion in your eyes. You tried to show the panic and the fear and the tears of frustration that wanted to leak out. You tried your hardest to do anything, to just flick a toe so she would hear the covers move. Come on, come on, come on! I'm awake! I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm awake!

Suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed. Yes, come closer, look. She leaned forward, frowning concentratedly. "(Y/N), can- can you hear me?" Yes! I can! "Blink twice for yes." It took some difficulty, however you managed to do it. Her eyes widened. "Are- are you actually awake?" You blinked twice. A grin split her face. "I have to go get Will!" She was out of there like lightning.

Finally! You were so relieved you wanted to cry. For a minute there you were worried she wouldn't see what you were attempting to show her. If she had left without any recognition of you being awake you probably would have had a heart attack. You were seriously scared of what was happening.

The sound of multiple footsteps reached your ears. In came Charity, followed by Will, Rex, Annabeth (why Annabeth?), Clovis, Aria, Demitri (why are the Hypnos kids here?), and... Percy.

Despite the fact that him being there made your stomach feel like a butterfly war was happening, Percy was the one that confused you most. You and him had never interacted for any other reason than for sword practice and the odd 'hey' if you ever came face to face. There wasn't any reason for him to be here right now. Maybe he had been there when Clarisse hit my head? It was kind of sweet, though. He was looking at you with such worry and grief that you almost felt bad.

You looked up at them as they stared at you, breathless. "(Y/N)," Will said, "Blink twice if you can hear us." You did so. "Are you fully conscious?" You blinked twice again. You heard someone whisper "thank the gods". "Can you move? Blink once for no." You blinked once. "Can you talk?" No.

Everybody was grinning. Rex was holding back tears. Charity had her hands to her mouth. For once, the children of Hypnos were wide awake and in the present. Annabeth looked ten times more relaxed than when she had come in. Percy looked so happy that you were awake.

But you? You were downright pissed that no one was telling you anything. The whole purpose of getting Charity's attention had been to get some answers. Right now, you were more confused than ever. You blinked rapidly to get their attention.

Will asked another question that silenced everyone. "Do you remember why you're here?"

It was as if time stood still. Everybody waited with baited breath. You could practically feel the hopefulness radiating off of them. They were all hopeful for you that you could remember something that somehow employed all of them, something that seemed to be crucial to your future. You held off on your answer for as long as you could, though when you realised that you were just getting their hopes up you gave them exactly what they didn't want to hear.

You felt absolutely horrible when you slowly blinked once.

They all deflated as though the previous joy had never happened. They looked absolutely crestfallen that your memory had been altered in such a way. It was as though something huge had happened that you didn't remember. How could I be so important that it included Annabeth and Percy?

Annabeth cleared her throat. You flicked your eyes over to her. "You mean, you don't remember me asking you to help with Percy's nightmares?"

A blink.

"What about when you figured out it stemmed from Percy's soul?" Rex asked.

Another.

"Not even when you went into his soul?" Clovis pleaded for you to remember. "When you faced Tartarus' power and... and sacrificed yourself?"

One mo-

Wait.

No. No, this one was familiar. There was just something blocking the memory from your head. You knew what he was talking about, just couldn't figure it out. It was at the tip of your mind, ready to present itself. Only bits and pieces floated around in your head, yet those couldn't possibly be memories, right?

I was... in his soul? Because nightmares were created there? That's impossible. No demigod has ever- Wait. Wait. It was coming back to you. I remember this. Something about books and sleep? Exhaustion? I went to Clovis for help at one point... no, I went to his whole cabin for help with my siblings. What did I do that for?

It did not go unnoticed by the others that you had not blinked at them yet.

His soul. Clovis said we went into his soul. Because of his nightmares. That's why I went to them for help. We got in, and it was... it was completely black. Cage of shadows. I remember. We gave memories, yes, and it was working for a while but then Tartarus realised what we were doing so I tried to give my strongest memories and the darkness was fighting back and I told them to return while I stayed and I blew up in light and-

Oh my Gods.

I did sacrifice myself.

I remember everything.

The full memories hit you like a tidal wave. All you had needed was a little push to recall them. Your eyes widened as you re-experienced the dark, pitch black evilness of his soul, and the absolute terror of having to give your life to save Percy. You remembered how Annabeth had first come to you for help, how the first night you were so, so tired after you had stayed up to prevent the nightmare from changing back. You remembered swearing on the River Styx after finding out about his soul. You remembered Tartarus' voice, something that was sure to plague your own dreams for a while. You remembered how you had exploded from the emotions and...

Did you actually save him, though?

You flicked your eyes around, realising you had not given an answer yet. Looking at the hopeful faces, you were happy as you blinked twice. They all basically deflated, shoulders drooping forward from the relief. You hadn't even noticed how strung up they had been. Now it made more sense why the Hypnos cabin, Annabeth, and Percy were here.

Speaking of Percy, he was the only one to not have a look of joy on his face. Actually, he looked strangely scared that you had remembered. His face was white, and his hand was gripping a table so tight it was shaking. His wide eyes stared back at you, unmoving, unblinking, frozen in the gaze.

They noticed you were staring at one spot, and turned to see Percy. Annabeth was by his side instantly. "Percy?" she murmured. "What's wrong?"

He just shook his head. "I have to- I have to go," he croaked out. He stumbled his way out the infirmary, Annabeth almost supporting him herself as they left together.

"We'll go too," said Clovis, gesturing at the others to follow him out. He didn't seem completely focused on what he was saying, though. His eyes kept flitting back to where Percy just left through. "Will is probably going to explain a lot of things right now." Will nodded in agreement. Charity and Rex both flashed you one large grin before disappearing behind the door.

Will turned back to you and must have seen the alarm in your eyes. "Percy will be okay, (Y/N). Let's just focus on getting you back to health. I'll bring you up to speed on your condition. The general idea is that you've been in a coma for about three months now."

If you could have, you would have screamed. Three months? Three whole months? No wonder everybody had been worried as hell.

He talked about how Clovis and the others had brought you here, completely panicked, since you were no more than a wisp of bright mist in their hands. Apparently, they had seen light shoot out of the portal and raced back to see if you were still alive. His soul was bursting with light, all coming from a single memory that was in the process of forming. They quickly realised that you were the memory and worked to reverse the process. Eventually, they managed to get at least an outline of light of your body.

At first, they had thought you were dead, but parts of you were solidifying then fading away again, which meant that at least your brain and heart were still working. The Apollo kids chanted every single healing hymn they could think of. They called for Coach Hedge to do his nature treating on you along with several other of their best healing dryads and nymphs. That's what the brown gunk on your arms and in the bowl was.

It felt like it took ages before you were solid. There were moments where you would solidify completely and some where you sent them into a frenzy because you wouldn't stay substantial. It was a complete guess-and-check when it came to how you were doing. Will told you that you would not be able to use any powers for a very, very long time until he was absolutely certain that you would not fade away again. You had exhausted all your powers and went well past your limits.

He explained how it would continue from here on out. You will slowly regain feeling in your limbs and try to use them. "Even something as small as moving a finger will be a huge accomplishment," he said. It will be a long, arduous journey, though ambrosia and nectar should help and speed up the process to much faster than what a mortal would have to go through. You will still have trouble with supporting your limbs, although at least you will be able to move them. Then you will progress to regular eating habits instead of just ambrosia and nectar.

Will left the last for worst. He hesitated before speaking again. "It's going to be really hard, (Y/N). Harder than you think. You've probably forgotten how to walk, move, and eat. Reading is going to be like you're back in grade one. You're basically going to have to re-learn your life." He sighed and looked at you with such a despaired look you wished you could hug him. "I'm so sorry, but I can't do anything else. The rest will have to be up to you."

Your mind was reeling with all the new information. Before you could make any sense of it, a sudden wave of exhaustion came over you. Will must have noticed it as well, because he said, "You should probably sleep. Don't worry, you won't go back into a coma. You'll wake up in maybe 10-15 hours."

You accepted his advice and closed your eyes. You were not looking forward to the future at all.

1. Apparently, coma patients have to ability to appear awake while they are still very much in a coma. For example, they can open their eyes, interact with others, follow orders (ex: "blink twice" "look here"), and even walk around, but during these times they are still unconscious and may not remember any of this when they finally are awake for real. I don't know if this happens with all coma patients or if it a rare side effect. Check #5 of this article describing someone's experience with this for more info.

Hiya! Hope you're liking the story. Just to inform you, the next update might take a while. I just missed a week of school because of me being sick so I have a LOT to catch up on. What sucks is that I have science and apparently we took a heck ton of notes and got homework so most of my time will be taken up with trying to understand what they mean! Anyways, that's just so you won't be expecting anything anytime soon.

Ciao!