Hola. Another week, another chapter. Nothing interesting there, I guess. Uh, I have no fantabulous news for you all, so I hope you guys enjoy and stay awesome.
-ROC6
To be entirely honest, Piper felt kind of let down by the Happy Hills mental hospital. She'd spent so much time studying pilfered blueprints, planning the infiltration and going over every possible detail of their plan that the facility didn't really live up to the image in her head. She didn't expect barbed wire fences or anything, she knew that was unrealistic, but still. She expected something… More. For a facility that held two of the most skilled demigods she knew, it was relatively unimpressive.
The lobby was nice enough, it gave off an aura like that of any hospital waiting room. Pristine white couches, wooden end tables, a white carpet. Yellow walls lined with flatscreens depicting a weathered looking young couple hiking up some mountains. There was a young man working behind the desk, typing away at a computer. He'd looked up inquisitively when they walked past, but after a quick smile from Hazel his eyes had glazed over and he returned to his work.
The two demigods were now working their way down the first hallway, where they knew their friends were located. It was a wing for young, high school age patients that would likely need long-term care. So far, unfortunately, Piper and Hazel weren't having much luck, growing increasingly tense as they felt the weight of their infiltration weighing down on them. The mission was meant to be quick, efficient and, hopefully, undetected. They had Nico, the son of Hades and their third member, stationed outside the facility so he could shadow travel the party away when they hopefully successfully rescued their friends. Again, hopefully.
Piper sighed as they passed the room of Lee, Nathan and then Adams, Jonathan. She and Hazel were so distracted that they almost skipped the door after Harley, Julia, but at the last minute they remembered to check, and a flash of adrenaline flooded Piper's body. They had found the room of Jackson, Perseus. Hazel glanced over at the next nameplate, and just as they'd been informed, it read Chase, Annabeth. Piper grinned, and Hazel returned a hesitant smile. It was time to continue on to the next phase of their plan.
The demigods began meandering down the hall as if they had no idea where they were going. Occasionally they exchanged a comment or a laugh to add a casual, self-deprecating air to the endeavor, hoping to run into another person. They'd just turned a corner when they spotted a man approaching. He was tall and lanky, with a lumbering gait and an average face, and clad in the same yellow scrubs as the ones Piper and Hazel had borrowed and replicated.
"Oh, hey," Piper greeted with an embarrassed smile, pretending to bump into him by accident as she looked out at him from under her lashes, then gestured to herself and Hazel, "We're new around here. Do you think you could help us out?"
The nurse stared at her blankly, and she mentally groaned, already aware that he was not going to make this easy for them.
"We're trying to find the room of a-" the daughter of Aphrodite pretended to hesitate, waving her hands as she pretended to search for the name.
"Perseus," Hazel commented, falling into character, just as they'd rehearsed seemingly a thousand times before.
"Oh, yes," Piper forced a chuckle, "Percy Jackson. Do you think you could show us?"
The nurse continued to give them a blank look, causing Piper to have severe difficulties in restraining her urge to slap him, but right when she was about to give up on him he opened his mouth, "Why are you two working together?"
Glancing at her fellow demigod, Piper improvised, "It's a new program to help nurses find their way on their first day. Obviously, it's not working."
After another impassive look that left Piper's pulse thundering through her veins, the nurse finally relented, "Alright. Follow me."
Singing his praises, Piper and Hazel followed him back the way they'd come until he plodded to a stop and unceremoniously announced that they'd arrived.
After pretending to search her clothes for a set of keys, Piper announced that she must have forgotten them and turned to Hazel, who said that she didn't have hers since Piper said she'd carry the keys. Pasting a strained smile on her face, the Cherokee demigod turned back to the nurse, who'd been watching the exchange with his usual unimpressed expression and crossed arms.
"Could we have your keys for a moment?" Piper layered the charmspeak on heavily, batting her eyelashes and trying to force a flush to her cheeks.
The man's eyes slowly clouded over, and he moved sluggishly, as though in a trance, pulling his lanyard, decorated with tiny superheroes, over his head and handing it to Piper.
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much," she waved her hands as she spoke, distracting him from the look of immense concentration that had clouded over Hazel's golden gaze.
Abruptly, the nurse's confused expression slackened and he turned, lumbering back down the hallways the way he had come, as though nothing had ever happened. Hazel offered Piper an anxious smile, and she tried to look reassuring. Everything was going according to plan so far, but with the luck of demigod, Piper knew that was unlikely to last.
The pair turned towards the door, flipping through the keys on the lanyard until they found what looked like a universal key card, which they tried testing on the door's lock. The tiny blinking light above the lock blinked an angry red, and Piper felt a flash of anxiety as she tried again, flipping the card over. The light, thankfully, flashed green, and there was an audible click as the door unlocked.
After exchanging a brief look with Hazel, Piper took a deep breath and gently pushed the door open. The room was plain, Piper noticed, comprised of an overly enthusiastic paint job and minimalistic furniture. One wall of the room was entirely a mirror, and the lighting throughout the room was overly harsh. Piper mentally winced at the thought of spending an extended period of time within the room. The floor was tile, and the furniture that was present looked incredibly uncomfortable. She took all this in during the course of a few moments, as her attention was immediately drawn to the room's sole occupant.
Lying on the room's small, barren cot lay the teenage boy she recognized as Percy Jackson, absently drumming his fingers. Any of his tan that he'd regained since his time in Tartarus had faded, leaving his skin unhealthily pale again, but otherwise, he seemed fairly healthy upon first glance. His cheeks weren't hollow, his bones couldn't be seen through his skin. When Piper started looking a little closer, she noticed that the confinement had caused the atrophy of some of his muscle mass. His hair was really shaggy, and there was a scruffy shadow along the line of his jaw.
Glancing over at Hazel, she and Piper silently started moving forward together. By this point, Percy had to know they were there. Yet there he sat, idly staring at the ceiling as though he was unaware of their presence. Piper felt her brow furrow as she thought over the facts. The were maybe a yard from the bed he was lying on, yet he still hadn't responded. Something was obviously wrong.
They were close enough she could clearly make out his expression, and realization began to dawn over her. His posture was relaxed, and a complacent, childlike smile adorned his face. Percy's eyes stared blankly upwards, a dull garbled green that reminded her of watered down paint.
"Percy," Piper ventured tentatively.
His eyes narrowed slightly, lips twitching downwards in a frown and almost immediately, a sudden change took hold of his expression, slackening his face until he was staring blankly again.
"Percy," Piper called again, a steely note pitching into her voice, "Percy, we've come to rescue you."
Sluggishly, the son of Poseidon sat up, blinking uncomprehendingly at Piper and Hazel as they could see him attempting to think through the haze of medication that filled his bloodstream.
"Piper? Hazel?" A light of thought entered his gaze, then a grin broke out on his face, "Piper, Hazel! You're here."
They offered weak grins, disoriented by the sudden liveliness in his voice.
His expression switched again, this time a disorienting, unreadable smile, "Where's Annabeth?"
"Her room's right next door," Piper offered, "We're going there next."
His grin faded slightly, seemingly more strained, a higher note coming into his voice, "You rescued me first?"
"Percy," Hazel broke in, "It works better this way."
He opened his mouth to object, but the daughter of Pluto continued, her golden gaze flashing elsewhere, "You can heal yourself with water, correct?"
The son of Poseidon nodded, "Yeah, but I don't see-"
"Have you tried using the sink water to get the medication out of your system?"
His mouth dropped open in a perfect 'o', and he smiled giddily, "No, actually-"
Piper had walked over to the sink and turned the faucet on, staring pointedly at the cameras in the four corners of the room, "Quick, heal yourself, we need to keep moving."
Percy did as instructed, and Piper could see the dullness fade from his eyes and the change in his stance. He blinked a few times, orienting himself, and she caught him wincing, though he ignored her questioning look.
Surveying the room impassively, Piper could see Percy resurfacing, and less than a moment later he turned to Piper and Hazel, just as they remembered him, "Alright. Let's go free Annabeth."