VI

PERCY

Spyridon's body wasn't moving and I already knew what had happened. When we had been flung from his back I'd been temporarily knocked out with Nico lying on my back. He looked light, but he was very heavy. As I slowly came to, I could hear roaring and weird snapping noises. I had a pretty good idea what was going on.

I emerged from the woods with Nico at my side and slowly walked towards Spyridon's motionless body. I gulped.

"Oh man," Nico whispered as we looked at the scene before us.

Sitting down next to Spyrdon's big face, was Panda. Her legs were together and tucked under her, the side of her jeans on her right leg was ripped from a little higher of her mid-thigh down to her knee. Visible from the torn jeans, was a huge gash, black and red, blood pooling around the edges and staining her jeans, but she didn't seem fazed by it. Her head was lying on her arms which were crossed over Spyridon's face. She had green blood staining the front of her blue V-neck and clumped up in her hair. She wasn't moving either.

Our feet crunched on dead leaves as we walked towards her and she looked up. She had her own blood dripping down her left temple and Spyridon's blood across her cheek; tears glistening in her green eyes.

"He's gone," she said softly as she passed her hand down his face. "He's really gone," she said again, as she stared at Spyridon's face.

"Come on," I said, as I grabbed her and pulled her up. The smell of blood hung heavily on her and I could feel its stickiness all over my hands as I helped her up. Nico came over, and together we took her as far away as we could from Spyridon's body. I looked back as we walked away and I managed to see Spyridon's body disappear; turning into butterflies and flying away. I suddenly felt guilty. Just like Ryder, Spyridon had sacrificed his life to save us. And now he was gone. My heart ached with their losses. As soon as we were a good distance away from the pool of blood, we set Panda down again. She winced as she sat down and that's when she noticed her wound.

"Whoa," she said as she wiped a smudge of blood across her leg.

I wanted to wipe the blood away, but we'd lost our bags and all of our supplies. All we had left was what we had on ourselves and all I had was half a square of ambrosia left. I pulled it out and gave it to her. She swallowed it quickly and licked her lips, which were red with her blood. The ambrosia didn't do much to her wound. It just turned a lesser red.

"Can I borrow your dagger a moment, Panda?" Nico asked, as he knelt next to her. She looked weary, but she shakily gave it to him. He took the dagger and looked at her reassuringly, letting her know the dagger was safe. He took it and carefully cut her jeans. Panda tried extending her legs to make it easier. He started at her mid-thigh, cutting on one side. He then walked to the other side of her and cut the left side, leaving her with a pair of ugly shorts. He pulled off all the extra material and then placed it on her wound. Panda winced and bit her lip, stopping a scream that was about to escape her lips. I knelt next to her and grabbed her hand. Nico stopped for a moment, and then slowly wrapped her torn jeans around her wound; Panda tightly squeezing my hand as Nico slowly tied up the make-shift bandage. When he was done, Panda let out a sigh. Nico gave the dagger back to her and she quickly shoved it into her boot as if it were out too long it would disappear.

"Do you have any more ambrosia or nectar?" Panda asked. I bit my lip.

"I gave you the last of it," I answered. She sighed.

"I think it's infected," she said, lying on the grass. Nico pursed his lips and sat down, probably fresh out of ideas for her wound. Panda stared at the sky, which was starting to darken. We stayed in silence for probably an hour or so. Nico had built a small fire pit and there was a small, fragile fire blazing.

I thought about how close I was to losing Panda when the dragon had first attacked us and she had slipped off Spyridon's back. If Nico hadn't been there, she would've been gone a long time ago. I owed a lot to Nico. He had tagged along with us without being asked to and without obligation. He was now considered a rogue as well. Yeah, that's what camp and the gods were calling us. Demigods gone rogue. Pretty cliché, but probably true. I looked across from us to the spot Spyridon had lost his life. He had been very brave; probably braver than I had ever been. Panda had told us about Spyridon's past mistake and he had died trying to right his wrong. I admired that fact about him.

I looked back at Panda. Her face had moonlight and shadows over her face as the moon, that was rising, shone through the trees. Her eyes were closed, but her eyebrows were furrowed. I knew she wasn't asleep. She was hurting.

Nico was sitting with one leg crossed in front of him, his other bent, with his arm over it as he sharpened his sword with a rock in front of the fire pit. His dark eyes flickered with the fire and his hair fell into his face; with the sword in hand, he looked extremely dangerous. I could hear the metal rasping of the rock against his sword every time he rubbed them together.

I looked at Panda's leg and the bandage Nico had made was soaked in blood. And I realized that the rest of her legs were covered in cuts and bruises. She hadn't had any ambrosia or nectar when she had gone on the run, now she was left with a lot of ugly scars. Suddenly, she started to squirm and she slowly sat up as she bit on her lip.

"What's wrong?" I quickly asked her, scooting closer.

"It's just getting worse," she said, as she fidgeted with the bandage.

"Maybe—" I began, but there was a bright flash behind us. I blinked the white spots out of my sight and I saw a big sized lump on the ground a few feet away from us. Nico had stopped sharpening his sword and furrowed his brows. I stood up and carefully approached the lump nestled into the grass. Nico stood a few feet behind me with his sword ready in case this lump turned into a monster.

It was a small rectangular box wrapped neatly in brown paper. It was only about a foot wide and about one tennis ball high. Next to that, were three small backpacks. I squatted and tapped the box quickly and took a step back, but the box did nothing. I sighed.

"What is it?" Nico asked. I picked up the box in one hand and the three backpacks in the other and turned to Nico.

"A box and backpacks," I said, as I walked over to the little camp site. I set them down and I started to rip the paper away from the box. Panda grabbed one of the backpacks and rummaged through it.

It was a white box, like what you'd use to ship something. I pulled up the top and inside was a silver canteen and another white box. I pulled out the canteen first. The fire reflected off the shiny surface. I opened the canteen and a sweet smell hit my nose. I stuck a finger inside and tasted it. Kind of stupid, I know. But it was nectar.

"What is it?" Nico asked, as he stared at the box.

"Nectar and…" I said, as I pulled out the white box about the size of my hand and opened it. "And ambrosia," I said surprised.

"I've got water bottles and a set of clothes in this one," Panda said as she pulled up a black shirt.

"I don't get it. Where did it come from?" Nico asked, as he knelt down to get a closer look at the supplies we'd just been given. I searched the box and Panda searched through the bag.

"It doesn't say," Panda said, with a confused look on her face. "But whoever sent it… is helping us," she said as she pulled out a pretty big first aid kit from the bags.

Thanks for the reviews guys, like always :) I hope you liked this chapter, I wasn't too sure about it, so let me know. Thanks for the advice MysteryPerson! I'll keep that in mind and try to apply it better ;)

Okay guys, a little heads-up, just in case. It's going to get a little chaotic, of course, hence its title. I hope the big mess doesn't bother you guys :) Thanks and I hope you enjoyed!