Chapter 2: My Nose Job is a Success
I awoke to the buzzing of what sounded like a million bees.
Well, this is odd.
Vaguely my ADHD began to muse what the life of a demigod beekeeper would be like. Slowly, the buzzing took the form of voices, and I became aware of a slight ache on my nose and the back of my head.
"-good thing the kids of Apollo were there to fix his nose."
"Yeah I doubt he could have pulled off the Owen Wilson"
"Guys, he's coming around," warned the newly deep voice of Nico.
I opened my bleary eyes slowly, adjusting to bright light streaming in. Blurry blobs came into focus as faces; including one particularly angry one who's grey eyes had narrowed to slits.
Uh-oh. My subconscious swallowed.
"Perseus. Jackson. What was that?" Annabeth ground out, looking a scary amount like her mother.
"Oh. Umm... I, don 't know?"
Gee, great one sub conscious.
She closed her eyes and sighed once, attempting to calm her nerves.
"Nice nose dive Jackson," Jason smirked from his chair in the corner of the Camp Half-blood Hospital Wing, grabbing a mirror and holding it in front of my face.
My nose was plastered with white bandages, and the surrounding areas were a little bruised, but other than that my face seemed perfectly normal. Well, besides the big globs of drool that dripped attractively from my chin. Gods, I really needed to kick that habit.
"What happened?"
"You just sort of passed out," offered Hazel.
"Yeah and fell flat on your face and broke your nose," added Grover with a throaty chuckle.
"Don't worry though Percy," Piper began, "My mother would have ever allowed anything to mess up your face,"
"Golly, that sure is reassuring," cut in Leo, "Because the first thing I would be worried about in a life or death situation is my face. What about his vitals or something?"
I was about to add that I could full defend my vitals on my own when Annabeth roughly shoved a spoonful of abrosia in my mouth. I waited for the familiar taste of warm chocolate cookies to fill my mouth, but instead I was treated with the delicious taste of soiled milk and Ares gym socks.
Nausea surfaced in the pit of my stomach.
"Uh-oh guys," warned Leo backing away, "He looks like he's going to-"
I lurched forward, expelling the contents of my stomach fully onto Nico.
"Aw great!" The son of Hades shouted, looking absolutely miserable.
"Sorry," I groaned lamely, laying back on my pillows.
Frank had turned an unflattering shade of green, and Thalia suggested that he leave the room. One puking person was enough for all.
"Percy what's wrong with you?" Annabeth whispered, looking concerned.
"His system is rejecting the ambrosia,"
Suddenly, the air was filled with the overwhelming scent of Old Spice, Sun Screen, and Piña Colada. Apollo breezed through the doorway, whipping off his Ray Bans and running a tanned hand through his perfectly shaggy blonde hair.
Instantly Thalia blushed a light shade of red. (It was clear she sort of had a kind of crush on the sun god after he let her drive his flying sports car a few years back.)
Nico on the other hand, looked positively disgusted.
"Course he has to show up," he mumbled before trudging out of the room to wipe off his shirt.
"Something about those children of Hades," Apollo mused with a laugh and another flip of his hair, "Just can't take a little sunshine every now and again. What party poopers,"
Hazel gave a polite cough from where she stood a few feet away.
"Oh, sorry" Apollo grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "So, what seems to be the problem Amigo?"
He fist bumped Thalia as he passed, who was clearly thrilled but trying to hide it.
"That's just it," Annabeth supplied, "Even Chiron can't figure it out..."
She trailed off as Apollo knelt next to me, placing a finger theatrically on my forehead. The light that seemed to emanate from him was so bright; I had to temporarily close my eyes.
Worryingly, a shadow passed over what a child of Aphrodite or a sunscreen bottle might call his exquisitely sun-kissed face.
"Shit." He concluded.
Never in all my years of prophecy chasing, monster slaying, and Pegasus riding, had I ever heard a god swear. Clearly, the same was true of Annabeth, who looked as if she had just been hit with a wood board.
"What?" She demanded, snapping out of her shock.
"He's been poisoned, but by what? I'm not sure. Something is clouding my vision," he was more mumbling to himself now, "Same thing happened when I tried to examen him a couple of days ago but—"
"Wait you examined him?" exclaimed Leo.
"Uh, yeah dude. It's my job remember? God of healing—"
"Wait but when? None of us have seen you,"
"We'll I just came at night, with Sis's permission of course. She's one person you sure would not want to tick off!"
"Now man, no offence," said Leo shaking his head, "But that's a little creepy-"
"ANYWAY, moving on" interrupted Apollo, looking slightly embarrassed now.
He his feet, giving a loud whistle as if calling a dog. While I have expect Clifford to come dashing around the corner, instead it was Rachel who burst in, gasping and bumbling.
"Sorry Sorry!" She gasped, "Jeeze, I really need to start working out-"
Apollo snapped his fingers and instantly Rachel dropped the ACT prep book she was holding, going stiff as a board, eyes turning eerily green. I shivered as a raspy voice croaked:
Annabeth Chase-
The mighty eight will rise for the quest
A battered conscience will be put to the test
Bellow the doomed city that paid for its plight,
The festering darkness must be cured by snakebite
She gasped and pitched forward, and Apollo dashed forward to catch her before she ended up with a face like mine.
"That's my girl," he said proudly, patting her on the shoulder.
"Don't think I will ever get used to that," said a still pretty creped out looking Jason.
Grover sighed, "Why do the quests always have to pop up on my vacation?"
All of a sudden, a boom shook the entire Big House.
Apollo turned and winked at me, "Uncle's here! Now, it's a real party,"
Hi guys! Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it, and I will try to update more soon! I would love to hear feedback on what I have so far and maybe even a little bit on what direction you would like the story to go! For those of you just tuning in, this is a rewrite of Percy Jackson and the Gate to Tartarus! Thanks!
-under the willow tree