Everything hurt.
The world was spinning, bright lights breaking into his vision. His head pounded, his arms and legs felt numb, and his stomach was churning. Air just scraped through his throat, barely squeezing through the cracks, and everything felt fuzzy and distant.
He didn't know how long he spent like this. Most of it was in darkness, or strange dreams Percy could never chase down or make sense of. Sometimes, the weirdest images would flash through his eyes, strange hallucinations that were too real. He just felt tired, content to let the world go by.
His mom was gone, and everything hurt.
"Hey, don't loose me," a voice spoke near him, clear and crisp. He tried to focus in on it, fading away slowly, cutting into his mind.
Percy tried to speak, but failed, his mouth foul and weak. His eyelids fluttered momentarily, catching glimpses of sky blue eyes before sliding shut once more.
"Hey," it said again, and he faintly felt a hand on his shoulder. "I can't feed you properly if you're sleeping." Something poked at his chin, presumedly a spoon, and he tried to open his lips. They only shifted a crack, but it seemed to be enough, pudding-like substance slipping into his mouth.
The taste of buttered popcorn settled on his tastebuds, keeping the sour sensation away. A sudden burst of energy enabled him to lift his eyelids, but the light outside was still too strong to make anything out.
"That's it," the voice said, soothingly, and he let himself sink back into darkness.
The peaceful afternoon fields were beautiful, grass blades shining from the gently pulsing sun, trees swaying gently in the wind- but his eyes fell on the tall drink beside him first. It resembled tea, ice cubes clinging against each other, and he never wanted anything more.
His hands reached out, shaking, grasping roughly at the glass and causing it to tremble. He lifted it slowly, and it almost dropped to the ground when another pair of hands caught the drink in time.
"Careful," strong tones said reassuringly, and the voice sounded faintly familiar, reminding him of pudding and popcorn. He let the straw be guided to his lips, allowing his eyelids to slide close as the drink flooded into his mouth, tasting of homemade cookies.
When the drink was drained, Percy looked back up, meeting startling blue eyes. The person they belonged to offered him an award-winning smile, complete with ruffled blond hair and an orange tee. Letters saying "Camp Half-Blood" were printed on the fabric, tan khakis and sandals finishing off the outfit.
Percy could make out a scar on his right cheek, hands still gripping his own. Seemingly noticing this also, the boy grabbed the cup and retracted his hands, placing the empty drink on the nearby table. When that was done, he turned back to Percy, smile still in place.
"Hey you," he said, encouragingly, like he was an infant trying to stand. He unknowingly scowled, and the guy barked out a laugh. "How much do you remember?"
He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. "There was this kind of..." He trailed off, uncertain, not really wanting those memories to return.
"Yeah?" The guy asked, patiently. Percy looked up at him nervously.
"It's pretty crazy," he admitted. The boy laughed again.
"Try me."
Percy eyes him cautiously. "I saw the Minotaur." He choked on the next words, unwilling to tell much more to a complete stranger, even if he was still banged up and dazed.
He seemed to understand that, too, and helped him up. The world spun as soon as he was righted, and he found himself leaning heavily on the blond. He tried to pull away, but the attempts only seemed to bring him closer to a face-plant.
"C'mon," he said, taking Percy's weight in stride. "Let's go find Mr D."
The walk to was long, Percy limping along the way, but the guy's help got him there. They went along the porch, reaching to the opposite end of the house. He didn't try to make sense of the beauty down the other side of the hill, focusing on the large table under the roof's shade.
Two men sat at the table, playing some sort of card game he didn't recognize from here. His attention shot up, however, at the sight of his best friend. Grover was idly chatting to one of the men, who seemed to be in a large wheelchair, expression unusually crestfallen. When his brown eyes caught sight of Percy, however, his whole expression seemed to brighten.
He ran over to Percy in that strange way of his, a frenzied limp, his shoe kicking off accidentally on the way. A hoof took the place of a foot, however, and the sight made Percy sick to the stomach. It was like finding out he had really killed Nancy Bobofit, except this time, it wasn't a bully that had died.
"Percy!" Grover exclaimed, sliding his shoe back on with minimal difficulty. He enveloped Percy in a huge hug, squeezing too tightly, but Percy reciprocated as much as he could.
When they finally pulled away, he found that the guy that had gotten him here was gone, both occupants at the table gazing at him steadily. Their faces were too far to make out, but he didn't see them returning to their card game anytime soon.
Grover didn't let him think on that for too long. "Hey, Perce," he said, tones light and excited. "You've been out for two days, and we had to double the normal amount of ambrosia and nectar to patch you up this quickly." Percy didn't understand much of that, but let him ramble on. He noticed a shoe box at Grover's side, and eyed it wearily. His friend noticed, handing it over, letting Percy lean on the porch rail for support.
"You saved my life," Grover said, and he opened the box to see a glimmering horn staring back at him. "It was the least I could do, so I- I went back to the hill." He gestured at what was no doubt the Minotaur's horn, shyness creeping up in his eyes. "Spoil of war."
Spoil of war? He didn't remember a war, or battle, or anything, not really. Not after the thing-
He choked, tears fighting to break free through his eyes. Grover looked at him, concerned, and he forced himself to speak. "My mom," he stuttered. "Is she really-" Grover looked at him sadly.
"Come with me," he said. "I'll explain it all." The satyr let him lean against his shoulder, leading him to the two others at the table, sun beating down at their backs.
Percy leaned against the hard cabin walls, trying his best to compact himself into a corner. The other kids weren't mean, sure, but he wasn't quite looking for any conversations.
He didn't know what to do anymore. He was officially an orphan, with powers that had killed people before. Percy was a bigger freak than he had ever been in his whole life.
He sighed, not noticing much of anything until someone took a seat beside him. A glance proved that it was the guy from before; Luke Castellan.
A part of him wanted to leave, but he couldn't make good on it under that smile, especially since Luke had been so nice before. He nodded, scooting over to give him some more room, and Luke thrusted a large sack into his lap in return.
"I found you a sleeping bag," he explained. "And stole you some toiletries from the camp store."
He didn't know what to think of that, but his heart lifted in a way it hadn't the whole day. "Thanks," he said, as sincere as possible.
"No prob," he said, pulling up his arm to rest his head on and propping another one against Percy's shoulders, as if in an attempt to get comfortable. Percy let him, not caring enough anymore.
"Tough first day?" He spoke up, breaking the companionable silence. Percy nodded, letting out a deep breath, leaning against Luke's arm when sitting up became too unbearable. He still found himself getting dizzy an awful lot, especially with the recent episode in the bathrooms, and just wanted to curl up in his bed at his mom's apartment more than anything.
"I don't belong here," he admitted at last. "I don't even believe in gods." He waited for the distant thunder that seemed to sound every time he breached this subject, but if it did come, he couldn't hear it over the noise of the cabin.
"Yeah," Luke replied, somewhat bitterly. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier." Percy blinked, slightly surprised, finding the need to change the subject.
"Your dad is Hermes?" He blurted, watching Luke lean back and close his eyes.
"Yeah," he answered, and his voice sounded hollow. "Hermes."
"The wing-footed messenger guy."
Luke smiled again, but it wasn't a happy expression. "That's him. Messengers, medicine, travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."
Percy nodded slightly, Luke's eyes opening up a crack. "I didn't mean to insult you," he said, apologetically. "He's just not the greatest person to get along with, I suppose."
He didn't know why he felt the need to continue the subject, but he did. "Did you ever meet your dad?"
Luke closed his eyes again, sighing deeply, head almost touching Percy's shoulder. "Once," he said. "But it's probably not something you would want to hear about."
He didn't know how to reply, giving a shrug, small enough that it didn't disturb Luke. Just when he'd thought the other demigod was asleep, he spoke. "Don't worry about it, Perce," he reassured, the nickname rolling off his tongue. "The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're an extended family, right? We take care of each other."
He really wanted to say something, something more, but Luke chose that moment to get up from his position. He yelled an order to the others, and watched as the all ran outside, arranging into a line. Through the chaos, Luke gave him one more smile, muttering something about dinner before going to the front.
Percy distinctly heard a horn blowing in the distance as he lined up, sun retreating into the horizon, as he tried to make sense of his life.
I just wanted to clarify that any mistakes you see are a result of posting these chapters literally seconds after writing them. All you see here is raw, and I would edit it, but every time I try I just end up making more mistakes. Call it me being anxious to give you mortals more chapters faster.
Was "human slaves" too mean of a term? Really, you guys are awesome.
Check out my Bio for news, and if you want to hear my inner-monologue. But you probably don't, so I'll advise you to stick to the News section for update times and appreciation. See you soon, reviews are love- but so is the fact that you took the time to read this, so you're already great.