(Percy's POV)
This time, I was less successful in holding back a scream. A louder REET! rang across the room. Instead of a tall, dark-haired human(well, demigod) boy standing in front of the mirror, a rather cute, fluffy guinea pig peeked over the edge of the mirror. Me. My long fur puffed out, orange and black. My eyes, two brilliant(who would've ever thought someone could describe me with the word brilliant) blue ones, flashed everywhere nervously. The earth started shaking. I almost cried, even though I couldn't, not anymore. I couldn't take an earthquake, not now, not here, not like this. I looked down, and I realized the earth wasn't shaking, it was me. Well, my teeth. Gods, I thought. I had four large teeth, the top two sticking out like, well, a guinea pig's.
I was about to have a nervous breakdown when a boy's voice called from outside the door. I flinched visibly at how loud it sounded to me, to my tiny, sensitive ears. "Percy?" The voice called, knocking on the door worriedly. Thank the gods. It was Will Solace, counselor of the Apollo cabin, son of the god of healing. I almost called out to him, then realized I couldn't. "Percy, are you in there? Come on, dude, breakfast started ten minutes ago!" For whatever reason, my relief dissolved, replaced with a deep panic. The only response was scratching on the floor, me, desperate to hide. Will must've heard the noises. His voice took on a panicked tone. "Percy! Percy, if you're in there, I'm coming in!"
I scooted further under the desk I was hiding under, trembling furiously in fear. I mentally kicked myself. Why was I scared? Will's a friend, a healer, who's saved mine and my friends' lives numerous times. Then I realized my newfound guinea pig instincts were kicking in.
The door rumbled as Will opened the door. His voice was laced with panic, his face looking extremely worried. "Percy!" He yelled. I flinched, my rodent instincts determined not to give myself away. "Percy!" I saw him notice my upturned sheets and, to my horror, little brown droppings that looked like poop pellets littering my sheets, blanket, and the space around my mirror. I watched as Will's face turned from worry to pure panic. "Percy!" He yelled again, louder and higher pitched than before, and I couldn't take it. I let out a guinea pig shriek. Will stiffened at the noise. "Percy, if you're in here, I'm going to get Chiron and some help! Just stay where you are!" I wouldn't, just couldn't, reveal myself to the whole camp. I needed to figure this out on my own.
Just as Will turned to run and alert the camp, I scurried out from under my desk and let out a large REET!
Will whirled around, not expecting the sudden squeal. He tensed, then saw me on the floor, shivering with fear, my fur fluffing me up to twice my normal size. Well, in this form, anyway. He must've realized he'd scared the fur off my skin, and he relaxed, even though he thought I was still missing.
"Hey, little guy," he coaxed softly, bending down. "I'm Will Solace. I'm sorry I scared you. Will you forgive me?" Will held out his splayed hands, and I climbed on. He brought me up to his shoulder and started trying to calm down the shaking guinea pig in his arms. Then he remembered what he was doing here: looking for me. Will stiffened and nearly dropped me. I squealed in terror, a fall from over five feet onto hard marble would definitely kill me.
REET! I protested, hooking myself onto Will's Camp Half-Blood shirt. He seemed to remember I was there.
"Oops, sorry there, buddy." He muttered. "I'm actually here looking for my friend, Percy. Have you seen him?"
I tried to nod my head like, yeah, I've seen him. You're holding him right now! But that didn't translate too well into guinea pig gestures.
"Say, what're you doing in here anyways? Never heard of Percy keeping a guinea pig, especially not in his cabin." I sighed mentally. This was gonna need some work.
"Reet?" I questioned, trying to keep him talking while I formulated a plan. Gods, I thought, I've been spending too much time with Annabeth. My tiny heart raced, and my blood turned cold. Annabeth. What had happened to her?
"You say you've seen him, huh?" Will continued. I sighed, exasperated. "Well, let's have a look around." He looked around again, slowly connecting the dots. He saw the poops on the pillow and the mattress, then the scratches on the marble floor, and then the other poops leading to the desk. Realization dawned on his face. "Percy?" Will breathed, looking down at me.
I squealed, relieved that Will finally figured it out. I tried to climb deeper into his shoulder, and he held onto me, not wanting to hurt me again.
"What happened to you, man?" Will breathed. I sighed.
Suddenly, I felt really sleepy, like I hadn't slept all night. But I had slept, even with that terrifying nightmare. I shrugged mentally. It didn't matter that I just slept. Alarm bells were ringing faintly in my pea-sized brain, but I didn't care. I was tired. I wanted to sleep. I needed to sleep. I allowed my eyelids to droop, and drifted off back to sleep.