Percy wasn't sure when it stopped. It just did.
One day after being forced to drink the fire for one more time. He was left alone.
His vision cleared. His head stopped hurting and, eventually, all the bruises faded and the cuts healed.
His broken bones mended.
But there was one pain that could never be healed, no matter how much fire they gave him.
The ache for Annabeth, his Annabeth.
They had come all that way through Tartarus, just to be separated again.
The door opened, and Aoa stepped through.
"Eh k'id, what's goin on wi'th you?" she asked.
Percy, immediately enraged, stood up and shoved Aoa against the wall. His arm came across her throat and pressed down, cutting off her oxygen supply.
Aoa did not seem alarmed, en-fact she even smiled.
"Oh, yo're feisty tod'ay!" she said, somewhat choking.
"Cut the crap!" he said, pressing down harder. "Who are you, and where am I?!"
She clawed at his arm, trying to speak. Percy eased up a bit.
"I'm on' y'our si'de!" she choked.
"Oh really?!" he laughed. "You tortured me for days! How can you say your on my side?!"
"Ca'lm down Seaweed Bri'an!" she said.
"How do you know that?!" he hissed through his teeth.
"Bec'use I cam'e 'ere like you di'd. Ask m'e some'th'in, anythin!" she coughed.
He pulled back, releasing Aoa.
"Okay then, who's your godly parent?" he asked.
"Ap'hrodi'e."
"Where did you live before Camp Half-Blood?"
"The Outback, in whoop-whoop."
Percy raised his eyebrow.
"Okay then, what color did you paint your name in on top of your trunk?"
She raised her eyebrow at him.
"I didn't paint it Jas'on, I carved it. Af'ter Pipes trac'ed out the lee'ters."
One more question, Percy needed to ask one more question.
"And why did Piper have to trace the letters?" his voice barely lower than a whisper.
"Because I couldn' read 'or wri'te yet."
Relief washed over Percy in a wave. He ran towards Aoa, and grabbed her, shaking her.
"Is this a joke? Dear Gods, if this is a joke-"
Aoa laughed. "No, don't wo'rry Ja'son. It's no't."
Percy sighed, and hugged Aoa, happy to have something from his world.
"Have you seen Annabeth? Not the Zeus one, my Annabeth." his green eyes bored holes into her's.
"No Ja'son, I'm sorry. 'ave you seen...you know...J'ames?" she said.
"No."
"Ahh...no'w can you le't me go? You're crushing me!"
Percy let her go. "Sorry."
"It's okay, now let's go int'roduce you to e'eryone, they wan't to know who's behind those blood cur'ling screach's."