A/N: Hello guys! This is the 12th chapter. See the bottom for a couple of announcements.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Leo's POV

My morning had sucked.

Granted, I was a demigod, and terrible days were common, but that didn't mean that I had to like it. Or that I didn't get to complain about it.

I tightened a screw on one of the pipes in the engine room, listening to the soft hum of the entire machine. It was soothing. Wires and tubes were scattered across the room, tracking across the floor and hanging from the ceiling, creating organized chaos. I could follow the flow of the machinery and see any problem. At one glance, I could see everything working the way it should. Everything made sense.

Yeah. This was the best room, no question.

Satisfied with the small maintenance, I shimmied out from under a cage of beams and made my way towards the workbench I kept in the corner of the room. I pulled out the chair and sat down, resting my head on my arms. Mindless work always helped an out of control mind, but even this wasn't enough to banish the events of the morning.

An argument had broken out in the dining room earlier over breakfast. Tensions had already been high, and add to that the pressure of being the only ones who could save the entire universe, and you end up with a bunch of demigods all screaming angrily at each other.

Things that shouldn't have been said reached the open air, and I ran.

Like usual.

I pulled out a couple of my blueprints from a drawer and started to sketch, once again trying to lose myself in the work. Numbers had always been my safe place. They weren't subjective. They followed rules, always unchanging. If you knew the laws, then you were good to go.

Numbers were the exact opposite of people, or any other kind of social situation. People were messy and confusing, and things changed from day to day. Mathematics offered a stability I could trust.

Idly, in the margins of the paper, I sketched out a small face. I drew on a pair of eyes, erased them, and sketched them out again. Next, her nose and mouth. Then her caramel colored hair, always tied away in a side braid.

Calypso stared back up at me. A deep pang of loneliness struck me in my chest, creating an ache that reached to my very core. The others had been right. The only thing I had done was build the ship. I fixed it when it was broken, and made sure it ran as it was supposed to. I was only here to make sure they made it there. I brought nothing else to the table.

The words of Nemesis echoed in my ears. Everyone else contributed something amazing to the team. They had straight up power, or tactical brilliance, or versatility in battle, or the ability to lead an army and crush the opposing side.

And next to all of that was me. Useless Leo, who stood alone on the sidelines. The seventh wheel, never needed, never wanted.

Somewhere, in the far back of my mind, the chains holding back all of my monsters snapped. The creatures of darkness rampaged across my mind, polluting every thought.

I closed my eyes and gripped the pencil as tight as I could. Under my fingers, the wood creaked and snapped.

Destruction. You can't fix broken wood. Not with fire and smoke.

I loosened my grip on the pencil, letting the broken pieces fall from my grasp. Slowly, I let myself relax. I focused my being on the darkness behind my eyelids, pushing away every thought that tried to worm its way to the forefront of my consciousness.

The emptiness of sleep drifted on the horizon of my mind, and I let it overtake me. After all of this, sleep would be a welcome escape.

But demigod dreams are rarely oblivion. I opened my eyes suddenly, looking straight into the darkness of a dream.

I turned around, and caught a small flash of color in the corner of my eye. A couple of figures were standing in a group far off in the distance, just out of my sight range.

I moved towards them, somehow able to walk despite a lack of visible floors, walls or ceilings. A hard surface pressed up against my feet with each step, but I couldn't see any evidence that there was anything there.

I looked up at the group. At the sight of them, dread curled in the pit of my stomach. Something here wasn't right.

A person was crouched on the floor, with several shimmery human figures surrounding them. The spirits surrounding the person were all outlined in read, a visible representation of their anger. Harsh, choking sobs broke free from the person's throat, and their tears continued to drip into a puddle on the floor.

I stepped closer, praying that it wasn't who I thought it was.

The gods weren't on my side.

In front of me, sobbing desperately and covered in blood and wounds, was Percy Jackson.

I kneeled in front of him, reaching for his face. I tilted his head up, hoping that he would stop crying when he saw me.

He didn't.

His eyes widened in terror, and a fresh wave of tears cascaded down his face.

A couple tears of my own streaked down my face, matching his. I didn't want to see him like this. He didn't deserve this kind of pain, although I still wasn't sure of what exactly was happening.

"Percy," I whispered, trying to reassure him.

"No," He replied, murmuring to himself. "Not you too." He stared up at my face for a moment, heartbroken, before focusing on something behind me.

I turned and saw Jason. He was staring down at Percy. I stood, leaving a hand on Percy's shoulder. Was Jason having the same dream? Were we both here? I'd never heard of anything like this happening, but that didn't mean it was impossible. Maybe we could help Percy get out of here. Maybe we could catch him up on what we were doing on the surface. We could talk through some of our issues. Maybe Percy had some ideas.

Jason opened his mouth. "You should have been there, Perce," Jason said, bitterly. My train of thought shrieked to a halt.

What was he talking about?

Jason continued to speak, an unholy rage hidden behind his stone mask. "Maybe I would have had to die. Maybe everyone else would have survived. Maybe Annabeth wouldn't have been so distracted on the battlefield."

He… wasn't dead? Annabeth wasn't dead either. As far as I knew, none of this was true. This Jason wasn't real. None of this was true or real. But Percy wouldn't have been able to know that.

"What?" Percy asked, his voice broken and raw.

I opened my mouth, ready to refute everything that these fakes had said, when Jason turned to look at something behind him. I paused as well, watching.

Annabeth materialized out of the darkness. She looked exactly the same, but her expression didn't match anything I had ever seen on her before. This figure wasn't real either.

"Seaweed Brain," She spit out. Percy winced. "Look what happened when you left me behind. Now you'll have to live the rest of your life without me because you couldn't keep one simple promise."

Percy's face was frozen in horror. "Wise Girl, please," He tried. The nickname held no weight to the fake Annabeth. "I didn't stay behind to leave you. I stayed behind because I thought it would keep you safe."

She didn't buy it. She stared down at Percy with disappointment.

"You and I both know it was because you were too much of a coward to deal with Gaea," She said, anger lacing her voice. "You thought you found an easy way out the battle."

Percy screwed his eyes shut, a few tears continuing to leak out. "Please," He whispered quietly. He lowered his head and wrapped his arms around himself.

The wound on his back tore open and started to drip blood, but Percy did nothing to acknowledge it. Either he didn't realize it had happened, or he didn't care. I wasn't sure which was worse. He mumbled a couple of words to himself, too quiet to reach my ears.

I approached him slowly, hoping to make him understand I meant no harm. He had seen me. I could tell him that none of this was real. I could help him.

Gently, I reached out and put my hand on his uninjured shoulder. He tensed underneath my palm, freezing up. Another second passed before he flung my arm off of him and bolted away. A small trail of blood drops were the only indication of his direction.

Annabeth snickered softly. "Running away again, huh. Does he think that that would be enough to stop us from finding him? Come on. I knew he was dumb, but I didn't think it was this bad." She beckoned to the rest of the group. "Let's go teach this idiot that trying to escape his problems doesn't solve anything. He apparently never learned."

She stalked off into the darkness, her bright blonde hair serving as a beacon for the others to follow. I walked along with the others, sneaking glances at the others in the group. I couldn't pick anyone out, besides Annabeth and Jason, but Percy clearly knew who they were. Idly, I wondered what had happened for him to have reacted like this.

We moved briskly through the darkness for what felt like forever. Had Percy really run this far, when he was that badly injured? Was the mental pain enough to distract him from his physical injuries, or was he so used to the pain that these injuries didn't bother him anymore? Which was worse?

Annabeth kept walking, laughing quietly with one of the campers. He had a bow strapped to his back. Maybe a child of Apollo? There were two hunters, although I didn't recognize either of them from my meeting with the Hunt. Most of them were wearing Camp T-shirts, although they all looked unfamiliar too.

My thoughts cycled back to Percy. How long had he been down here? How long had he been trapped in this black night, surrounded by mocking voices? All of the tears and blood…

We stopped walking. I almost crashed into another spirit, barely stopping in time. I shook myself from my thoughts. Someone was talking. "-I knew that you weren't a hero, but I thought we could count on you to not be a coward either. Of course, I suppose that's what happens when you place too much trust in terrible people."

I shoved my way towards the front. Percy was collapsed on the ground, his back to an elaborately carved wall. He pushed his hand against feebly, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

It hurt to see him like this. I had to do something.

"It's not real," He mumbled. "It can't be real. This doesn't exist."

Another girl spoke up. "Percy, do you really think that this isn't real?" They asked. "We might not be here physically, but we can all guarantee that this is how we feel. You can't escape your shortcomings. We are a testament to that."

I flinched. These were all the worst possible thoughts a person could have, come to life. They weren't even directed at me, but I felt the hurt. The longer I was here, the realer these other people felt.

I shook my head. Not real. Not here. They are wrong, not right.

Annabeth stepped forward and sat on the floor next to Percy. He had given up on trying to get through the wall, and was instead sitting with his knees pulled to his chest, arms wrapped around himself. His head was down.

"Poor Percy," Annabeth said, condescendingly. "The little, tiny demigod who thought he could pretend to be a hero. Hate to break it to you Seaweed Brain, but you are nothing. Nothing to us, nothing to everyone. You couldn't help us, so you aren't worth our time."

Percy didn't move. He sat still and ignored the insults. He looked absolutely miserable. I had to do something.

I chained my own insecurities in the back of my mind. Now wasn't the time for this. I needed to help him.

I opened my mouth, prepared to tell Percy that this was all a lie, that he shouldn't believe any of this, but… my voice didn't work.

I couldn't speak. It wasn't working. I couldn't make a sound. Why wasn't it working?

"Percy…" I struggled out, softly. "It's…"

I couldn't push the sound out of my throat. The words were stifled before they could even reach the air.

I reached up to my neck, desperately trying to say something, anything. I pushed as hard as I could, trying to force out a sound.

Another second passed, before another realization sent me into panic. I couldn't breath. Whatever was trying to stop me from speaking was also suffocating me.

I coughed hard, wheezing heavily in my attempt to bring air in. Nothing. Darkness gathered in the corners of my eyes, and my chest threatened to burst open. I needed to breathe, right now.

I pinched my skin, hard, trying to free myself. I fell down to a knee.

Someone shouted my name, and I jerked awake.

"It's not real!" I shouted, still half-convinced I was with Percy. I breathed hard, leaning into someone's arms.

I looked up.

Piper was holding onto my shoulders, her face twisted in horror. When I looked up, relief flooded her eyes. Behind her, Jason stood in the doorway, his sword out.

"Thank the gods, thank the gods, thank the gods," She whispered, hugging me tight.

"What?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

She leaned back. Jason came up beside her, also watching. He sheathed his sword.

"Leo, you weren't breathing," She said. "Don't do that again, okay? Jeez, that was terrifying. I thought you were dead."

"Sorry," I replied, although I didn't really have any control over the situation.

There was a moment of silence..

I glanced up at Jason, who had rested a hand on Piper's shoulder. I couldn't help but remember his harsh words from my dream. The real Jason would never say anything like that to Percy, but now I couldn't help but see tears and blood when I looked at him.

I turned back to the others. "I need to talk to everyone, right now," I said. "It's important."

Piper frowned. "Are you sure?" She asked. "I think we should go to the infirmary. I know you're fine, but it can't hurt to check. Whatever dream you were having affected you physically. We need to make sure that nothing else happened."

I shook my head. "I need to tell them now. And I'll be okay. We can do a checkup thing later."

She shared a glance with Jason, before letting out a shuddering breath. "Okay," She said. "I came to call you to a group meeting anyway, so we can go. But you need to go to the infirmary immediately after the meeting."

"Deal," I said, pushing myself off of the workbench. "Let's go."

Piper led the way out of the room.

As we passed through the hallway, I glanced over at Percy's bedroom door. A while ago, he had decorated his nameplate with a bunch of sea animal stickers he had found while in Atlanta. A couple of them had started to peel off. I picked up one of the fallen dolphin ones and pushed it back onto the door. It wouldn't stay for much longer, but it was good enough for now.

The others were already in the dining room, sitting in the chairs. Annabeth was at the head of the table.

Her gaze was fierce, lit with an intense fire. Most of her injuries had healed in the three weeks since we had left Epirus, although the dark bags under her eyes testified to her sleepless nights.

She sat tall in her chair, hair pulled back from her face. When we all walked into the room, a small smile appeared on her face.

"Good," She said. "We're all here. Let's get started."

I sat down in one of the chairs and pulled out a couple of pipe cleaners from my belt, automatically starting to mess with them. My hands moved quickly, easily constructing some sort of toy. At this rate, I would have two or three by the end of the meeting.

"All right," Annabeth began. "Leo? Any changes on the journey's progress?"

"Uh," I stared. "We're only a couple of days away now. As of this moment, we're going to head west for a little bit to avoid the water, and then head up north to Olympus."

Jason looked up. "Annabeth, I know that we already talked about this, but I still think we should head straight over the Malian Gulf, not around it."

Annabeth watched him. "No, we can't. You remember. Water isn't safe right now."

Jason sighed. "I know, but it would cut at least a day out of our flying time. The sooner we get there, the more advantage we'll have. We won't be cutting it so close, and we would be able to scope out the battlefield."

Annabeth nodded. "I get where you're coming from, but we can't. We don't have Percy right now, and if anything attacks us over the water, we'd be at a severe disadvantage. The air, where we're over ground, is our safest option."

Jason frowned. "Even if we're at a disadvantage, at least knowing the terrain a little could help. At this rate, we're going to arrive on the morning of the day, if nothing else goes wrong. We won't have any chance to see what we're facing or where we're fighting. We'll be going in blind."

"It's better than going in with a damaged ship, or having any of us be injured before the battle. I think we need to prioritize our safety before the fight," Annabeth said.

"You can't be sure that nothing is going to happen," Jason said. "Monsters on land are just as hard to fight as the water ones. We won't be able to avoid them either way. At least this way we'd be able to save time."

"You're right," Annabeth said. "But at least we can fight monsters on land. We don't have any chance in the water. We're familiar with most of the monsters up here. Water monsters are a completely different ballpark, and we can't risk that."

"We could still fight over water. Out abilities and fighting styles still work over water, almost as well as on land. We need to be prepared for fighting in any environment, not just land. We can think of it as practice," Jason said.

"Jason, no," Annabeth said. "We can learn other environments when the fate of the world doesn't rest on our shoulders. We're all more suited towards land anyways. Hazel and Leo are best over land, and we need all the fighters we have if we cross that Gulf."

"But getting there beforehand, and knowing that information could be the difference between life and death. We need to know that," Jason said. Their voices were both rising slowly.

Annabeth frowned. "If we get there early enough, we might still have some time. And most monsters like to attack during the night. During the Second Titan War, Kronos never attacked during the day. Gaea might be different, but we have to take that into consideration. It's still too much of a risk. What do we do if we arrive injured, with a damaged ship in return for something we could possibly get anyway?"

Jason held Annabeth's gaze. "I just don't like our time frame," He said.

Annabeth nodded. "I know, Jason. Believe me, I understand. But I think that this is the best course of action. We can vote on it, if you want to."

"Yeah," Jason said. "That works with me."

"Okay," Annabeth said, addressing the table. "All in favor?"

She raised her hand. Around the table, Hazel, Piper, and I raised our hands.

"All opposed?" Annabeth asked. Frank and Jason lifted their hands.

"Okay," Annabeth said. "Then we're keeping course."

"Hey," I said, a small idea growing in my mind. "Maybe Jason could use his powers? Fill up the sails with winds or something to move faster? Sorta like how Percy could speed up boats?"

Jason nodded. "I could, but it would probably drain me to do that. If it would give us the opportunity to get there faster, then - "

"No," Annabeth said. "We all need to be as rested and ready as possible. Anyway, even with the extra speed, we'd only get there during the night before, and that's not worth it. Let's stick to our current plan. It's the best one we have right now."

"Okay," Jason said. He frowned slightly, but didn't push the issue any further. "I see what you mean."

"Alright," Annabeth continued. "Next topic on the list, the Physician's cure. Piper, is it still doing okay? No magical shenanigans or anything?"

She nodded. "I have it. Nothing to report here."

Across the table, I exchanged a couple of looks with Frank and Hazel. Piper didn't know anything to be out of the ordinary. Our plan would continue as expected. The actual cure was with Festus's figurehead, where I could get to it easily if I didn't end up as the person who needed it.

Although, if it came down to it, I wouldn't let anyone else use it. I wouldn't let my friends die for me, or for anyone. They all had people to return to. Beyond Calypso, I had no one. And Calypso was immortal. Only a couple of people would miss me, so I was the perfect candidate for the prophecy. I wouldn't let anybody else die.

Annabeth was speaking again.

"Does anyone else have anything to add, before we wrap up?" Annabeth asked.

This was the time.

I raised my hand. "I do," I said. Immediately, all eyes were on me. I swallowed back a couple of nerves. These were my friends. Why was I still getting the feeling that I was about to give a school presentation? I started fiddling with the pipe cleaners again.

"Before the meeting, I had this dream," I started. "I'm pretty sure it's real. I was in Tartarus, with Percy."

Annabeth inhaled sharply.

How do I word this? "I was in this really dark room and there was nothing around me at first," I said. "But after a little while, I heard a bunch of loud voices. I followed them to their source, and there was this group of people all shouting."

"As I got closer, I realized that they were all shouting at Percy. He wasn't taking it well. He was on the ground, crying," I said.

"What were they saying?" Annabeth asked.

"They were blaming him osr something," I said. "I'm not sure exactly what it was, but they were saying terrible things."

"Describe the people," Annabeth said.

"Umm…" I said. "There were two girls who were dressed like hunters, although I don't remember ever seeing them before. The others were all greek campters, but I didn't recognize them either. Also, you and Jason were there too, but you two were also shouting at him. Percy looked horrified to see the three of us though," I said.

Annabeth looked at the pictures of Camp Half-Blood on the walls.

"So, there's some sort of category that all of the others fit into. That would explain why he was terrified to see us," Annabeth said. She paused for a moment, frowning slightly. She turned back to me.

"Tell, me, did one of the hunters you saw look Italian? Similar to Nico?" She asked. Her gaze was as strong as steel.

I thought back to the memory. One of the hunters…. I wouldn't have pegged her as Italian due to her pale skin, but she did look really similar to Nico. "Yeah," I said. "I think so. "

Hazel gasped slightly. "You don't think…." She said to Annabeth.

"I do. We just need to see who was there," Annabeth said. "Leo, I'm going to give you a bunch of descriptions. Tell me if you saw them, okay?"

I nodded.

"The other hunter, did she have dark brown hair? Black eyes? A silver circlet on her head? Spoke in old english?" Annabeth said.

"I don't think she spoke in old english, but everything else matches with her," I said.

"Okay," Annabeth said, marking something down. She sketched out a small list on the side of the paper and crossed out a name. "Next up…"

"Did you see a really muscular man? African American?" She said.

"Yeah," I said. "He had someone with him. A girl, with black hair. I didn't see her eyes very well, but she seemed close with the guy. I think they were boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Silena," Annabeth murmured, crossing out two names and adding them to another list. I couldn't quite tell what she was doing, but she appeared confident. She knew something the rest of us didn't. That wasn't typically unusual, but I still wanted to know what was going on.

"Did you see someone with a long scar on their face? Blond hair? Tall?" She asked

I wracked my mind, trying to remember. There had been a couple of blond haired people, but I didn't remember seeing any scars. "No," I said. "No one with a big scar on their face."

Annabeth marked something down on a third list.

"Wait," I said. "Do you mean the kid with the eyepatch? His hair was black though, not blond."

Annabeth shook her head. "Not him," She said. "But I know who you're talking about."

She made another mark.

"Umm... " She said. "Who were the other people you saw with blond hair?" She asked.

"Wait," I said. "Do you mean the kid with the eyepatch? He had black hair though."

Annabeth shook her head. "Not him," She said. "But I know who you're talking about."

She made another mark.

"Umm…" She said. "Was there anyone else with blond hair?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah," I said. "I don't really remember them very well though. I was too focused on trying to talk to Percy."

"Did any of them have weapons on them?" She asked.

"Uh…" I said. "I think that there was a dude with a bow. There might have been another guy with a bow, but I'm not too sure."

"Brown hair?" Annabeth asked. She had a death grip on the pencil.

"I don't know," I said, nervously. "I can't remember. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," She said. "Don't worry about it. I have enough information anyway."

She paused.

"I think I know what Tartarus is doing to him," She said. She glanced back at the magic walls again, her face turned into the shadows.

"Those people," She started. "We're all of the people Percy couldn't save. His worst regrets. And if Tartarus is designed to torture the monsters it holds, then that is Percy's worst nightmare."

I inhaled sharply, along with a few of the others in the room. Hazel looked down at the table.

"Leo," Annabeth continued. "What was his condition?"

"Bad," I said. "He had a lot of injuries, and his mental state… I don't know. It wasn't good."

She nodded, although water glistened in her eyes. "That would make sense. When we were together down there, it was terrible enough. We barely managed to survive."

She trailed off, before speaking again. "We need to win this, so we can go and get him out of there as soon as possible."

Frank glanced over at the others before looking back at Annabeth. "Are you sure we could even save him? I mean, I'm all in for any plan, but is it even possible?"

Annabeth frowned. "I'm sure we can. If it's not possible, then I'll make it possible," She said.

Frank swallowed. "But still, how would we even get down there? Everything is closed, and we can't just make another entrance into Tartarus," He said.

Annabeth's voice grew dangerous. "Are you implying that we shouldn't go after him?" She asked softly.

Frank backpedalled immediately. "No, no, no!" He said, waving his hands in front of him. "Percy's one of my best friends! I'd never abandon him. I just don't know how we'd do it, or if we can even save him at all."

It was the wrong thing to say.

Annabeth pushed her chair back, standing up. She slammed her hands down onto the table so hard that we all flinched.

"I will not leave him down there. You don't have to do it with me if you don't think it's possible, but I will not be stopped. If I have to do it alone, so be it. It's won't be the worst thing I've ever had to do."

She stalked out of the room, door closing behind her hard.

Silence.

Hazel sighed. "Frank, I know you didn't mean it that way, but that was the worst possible way to go about that conversation."

Frank nodded, head bowed. "I know," He said. He sounded miserable. "I wasn't trying to say that I didn't want to go after him. I was trying to get her to think about how we'd make it in. I know there's a way, I just don't know what it is."

Piper put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Frank. She's just stressed right now. She learned that he was in pain, and that wasn't the best time to bring it up."

I stood up. "Don't worry about it, man," I said. I leaned over the table and put the pipe cleaner helicopter in front of him. "I don't think she's really angry at you. Just at the situation."

Frank smiled softly. "I'll apologize to her later," he said.

Jason nodded. "Good idea," He said.

I looked around at the walls. "I guess the meeting's over," I said. "We can talk again later, but right now, I have to do a couple of course adjustments."

I headed back through the doorway and up to the top deck. As I passed through the hallway, I noticed that Percy's door was slightly cracked open. A muffled sobbing was coming from inside.

Annabeth.

I shut the door quietly to give her privacy and headed upstairs. Right now, she needed time be herself. I couldn't do much else for her.

The bright light of the afternoon sun almost blinded me as I stepped onto the top deck. My hair rustled slightly in the afternoon breeze. To my left, the glittering sea reflected a green emerald.

A swift pang of loss hit me in the gut. Another reminder of what Percy was going through.

But I couldn't do anything about that right now either.

I moved towards the helm of the ship, double checking a couple of measurements. We were only two days travel away from Mount Olympus and our greatest battle yet.

We were going to win it. We had to.

A/N: Thank you guys for reading!

Announcement 1: Because Nanowrimo season is starting soon, I might be absent for most of November. I've done a bit of pre-writing and have a some of the next chapter written ahead in advance, so I should update at least once, but no promises. My goal is to end this story by the end of the year, or by the end of January, so the wait shouldn't be too long.

Announcement 2: I have a tumblr! It's the same username, dreamingcerulean. I'm not really sure what to do with it, but someone advised that I get one for writing.

Anyway, thank you for listening to my rambles. Please leave a review, I love to read them!

See ya soon!

~DreamingCerulean

Published: October 21st, 2018

Edited: November 2nd, 2018