III

PANDA

The dreams got worse every time I closed my eyes. More and more vivid. I would wake up in cold sweats, my head hurting from the constant grinding of my teeth and fingernail marks in my palms from balling my hands into fists so hard for so long. After Percy had woken me up, pulling me away from Hera's grasp, he fed me. He gave me a regular sandwich I could barely eat. He told me to go to sleep again, even though it was only 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but I did anyways. I didn't really have a choice, because tiredness pounded on me like an otter pounded on a clam to open it. I lay down inside the tent and closed my eyes. I fell asleep only minutes later.

I was in darkness when I heard a loud sound. I jumped up, scared I was somewhere else but I was still inside the tent. I sighed in relief. I was going to lay down again when I heard someone moaning. My first thought was that Percy or Nico was hurt, so I ran outside. My knees turned to jelly and my hands started to shake as I stared at the sight in front of me. Percy was lying on the grass, his shirt drenched in blood. My breath quickened and I almost had a panic attack when I realized he'd stopped breathing.

"No!" I screamed as I ran and knelt next to him. "No, you aren't leaving me!" I yelled, as I entwined my fingers over his chest and started pumping softly. His face was pale and his blood seeped through my fingers as I furiously pressed.

"No, no, no," I started whimpering as I realized his heart was just not beating. Then suddenly, his eyes opened. His sea green eyes stared at me and he grabbed my arm and squeezed it tightly. I was afraid he'd say one more thing and I'd feel him die in my arms. I wouldn't be able to bear that.

"Panda, snap out of it," he said. I stared at him, my fingers curling around his bloody shirt. "Panda!" he yelled. I blinked and kneeling in front of me was Percy. I breathed heavily, as I looked at my shaking hands. It had all been an illusion. I was going crazy. I was losing it. A laugh echoed through the clearing. I didn't recognize it, and I was too busy to even pay attention to it anyways, but Percy jumped up.

"Get out of here Phobos! Or I'll kick your ass again!" Percy yelled into the empty air. There was a sharp flash and the laugh faded to nothing. Percy knelt next to me again, throwing his arm over my shoulders.

"Panda, are you okay?" he asked, as he softly rubbed my shoulders. I was staring at my hands, still seeing his blood under my fingernails. The thought of losing Percy was making me tremble. If I was barely surviving now, I'd simply just die if I lost Percy. Nico ran up to us, and looked at us confused.

"What's going on?" he asked. It was already night and the moonlight reflected brilliantly off his brown eyes that reminded me too much of Ryder. My breath was shallow and I felt like I wanted to break down. The gods were just tormenting me.

"Come on, let's get you back to the tent," Percy said softly, as he helped me stand up. My knees were so weak, they buckled and I fell into Percy who caught me with ease. He held my wrists as I slowly regained my strength.

"I don't know if I can do this, Percy," I whispered. With that note, Nico awkwardly walked back to where he'd come from. I slowly met Percy's gaze. I had said that phrase several times in the past, but I always overcame it. This time, I wasn't so sure. I couldn't defeat every god or hide from them forever, and I knew that there was no way to fight this. Percy cupped my face.

"Yes you can," he said.

"Percy—"

"If I had a doubt you couldn't, I wouldn't be saying this. But I know that you can overcome this, one way or another," he said. "And I'm not just saying that because you're my sister Panda."

I smiled weakly, because although I still had my many doubts, I somehow believed him.

"I don't want to go to sleep again," I said. He smiled.

"Then don't. I'm here for you," he said, wrapping me up in a hug. I let myself melt into him, feeling his warmth and letting his heart beat calm me down.

"Come on," he said, grabbing my hand and leading me towards a small fire they'd created. Nico was poking the fire with a stick. He looked up as we neared and smiled when he saw me.

"How are you doing?" he asked, poking the fire again.

"Fine," I said, sitting down between him and Percy. I felt the heat of the fire touch my skin and my muscles slowly relaxed as the heat brushed my skin. They gave me a stick with a marshmallow on the top and we spent the next couple hours chatting, spilling corny jokes and I laughed at them, despite the fact my chest still ached. But it felt nice just letting go of all my worries and heartaches for just a few hours for total bliss. There was nothing better than hearing Percy snort and seeing Nico's tongue stick out as he laughed.

At one point, Percy's marshmallow had burst into flames. He tried to extinguish it on the ground but the grass was so dry that it also caught on fire. The only reason the whole forest didn't catch fire was because Nico dumped water on it.

"I had it under control," Percy muttered, as he pulled the sticky marshmallow off his stick.

"Sure you did…" Nico laughed. I had laughed so hard my stomach hurt and I fell back and stared at the starry night. The night sky was so beautiful, I decided to just stay laying down and ogle. Percy and Nico lay down next to me, so close their shoulders were linked with mine. We stared at the sky in silence. Eventually, my eyes grew heavy and as much as I didn't want to admit it, I was still dead tired. So, I grabbed Percy and Nico's hand in mine, entwining my fingers with theirs and a sense of security fell over me.

I wasn't afraid anymore to close my eyes.

Well, I hope you guys like this chapter :) I'm sorry there's not a whole bunch going on, but I'm trying to give you guys an idea about Panda's state and how the gods are treating her and I hope I'm getting that across well! If not, then let me know and I'll fix that. Thanks :) And I hope you feel better Percy! Thanks for the review! And thanks MysteryPerson for your constant reviews :)

Quick Note:
That story I mentioned of Panda & Ryder earlier, it would be like an alternate story (like what would've happened if the whole dagger deal never happened). Also, I have so many ideas swimming in my head right now, I've got two (and three if I start that alternate story) that my updates might get a little slow, and I apologize. If you guys would like, you can check out my other new story too! (The Boy Who Proved Her Wrong) And, this weekend I won't be updating cause I'm going out of town and I doubt I'll have much internet in my reach (or even time).

Thanks for reading all that! Hope you review and I hope you guys have a good weekend :)