Chapter Seven: Sunday Morning
Percy wanted to wake up, but was trapped in a grey state of mind. Oh, gods; Will must've given him painkillers of some kind Percy thought. He managed to power through the mental prison of tiredness, and wake up. He saw the door was open again, giving him a view of the camp, and the sun setting behind the trees. Percy looked over to the lamp that was on, and Annabeth was reading a book under it, and he let out a loud yawn to get her attention. She looked up from her book and shut it quietly, "Hey, Percy. How're you feeling?" He rubbed the sleepy seeds out of his eyes,
"Fine, I guess. Will must've mixed them in with something, 'cause I didn't ask for any painkillers. I didn't even want them, I'm fine." Percy ranted on how much he hadn't wanted the pills, but were given them anyway, until she placed her index finger on his lips to shush him.
"Percy." He got quiet and sat up a little, and saw the bag of McDonald's on the table, Annabeth saw Percy eyeballing it, "Oh, right that's your lunch, but it's getting a little late, they're going to be serving dinner in the pavilion, and the food is probably cold now, too." Percy grabbed the bag of food anyway, and wolfed down his food.
"Mrrf…" Percy swallowed some of his burger so he could talk, "This is the best, thanks." She waved her hand, telling him that it wasn't a problem at all. He finished off his fries and soda. "I'll be right back." Annabeth looked up from her book, "Okay."
He limped out the door and looked back, making sure she wasn't watching him. He limped out to the porch, and shut the screen door behind him quietly. This was taking a lot of energy out of him, but it was worth it anyway. He had a full view of the camp, the sunset, and the canoe lake; the sun's rays were reflecting off the water. He leaned on the railing, watching campers heading to the dining pavilion. He couldn't wait until he could walk again; it wasn't fun being bedridden. Percy heard the screen door open behind him, and footsteps come to a stop next to him. He looked by his side and saw Annabeth by his side; Percy wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm finally home again."
She leaned her head on him, "Yeah, same here." And with that, they watched the sun set, and head back inside.
Percy sat alone in his room, resting, while Annabeth got food for them at the pavilion. He insisted he got his food himself, but she reprimanded him, and said he had to stay in bed. He looked at the book on the side table, turning it over, and looking at the cover in more detail. The cover was written in old English, but the author of the book was Edgar Allan Poe. Percy flipped through a few of the pages; the book was filled with poems like The Raven. He never really liked reading, since he was dyslexic, and couldn't read it without the words shifting around on him. He set the book back on the table, sighing, and looking out through the doorway. He could hear the clank of plates; and in walked Annabeth with a tray holding covered plates of food. She divided up the food as she had earlier in the morning, and they ate, talking in between swallows of food. Percy, finished his meal first, and set his plate off to the side, "So, reading some Edgar Allan Poe?" She looked surprised a little at his question, but nodded,
"I'm surprised you even picked up the book." She smirked, setting down the plate, and placing the book in Percy's hands, "Read it." He fumbled around with the pages,
"Uh…which poem do you want to hear?" Percy said, palms beginning to fell slightly sweaty. She leaned over to look at the selection, and placed her finger on the page she wanted read to her. He read the poem as best as he could, with some help from Annabeth, but he could feel his face get red, and he could tell it was probably bright red.
She gave a sincere smile to him, "Percy, don't worry about it. I won't judge you on your reading skills." She ran her hand up and down his arm, reassuringly. He gripped her hand, and they both locked eyes on each other, leaning in for a kiss, until they heard the door open,
"Whoops." The clip-clop of hooves filled the small room, "Percy!" Grover bleated. His curly brown hair stuck every which way, but they couldn't cover up the goat-like horns on his head. He wore khaki shorts, and a green plaid button down shirt. He eyed the tin tray the plates were carried on, "For me? Thanks guys!" He snatched up the tray, chomping off a piece the moment he got his hands on it.
"So, how's life been, G-Man?" Percy asked, watching his friend swallow down the rest of the pliant tray. Grover let out a burp, "Fine, dude. We've been getting tons of demigods rescued; I'm going to need a bigger amount of travel money!" Grover finally noticed Annabeth sitting at his friend's side, "Annabeth! How's Olympus coming along?" She perked up at his question, "You have no idea, it looks amazing, I mean, it looked amazing before, but now it looks phenomenal, and it's not even finished yet." Percy hadn't heard much about the rebuilding of Olympus, so it was interesting to hear what was going on finally. Grover leapt out of the chair, "I've gotta go, I'm meeting Juniper, so…bye!" He scrambled out of the room. Will walked into the room, next with a roll of bandages, along with some nectar, painkillers, and water.
"Hey guys, sorry Percy, but you're going to have to take more of those pills again; unless you want to be writhing around in pain in the middle of the night." Will stated, setting down the medicine down. He rubbed some nectar onto a cotton ball, and set it aside, "I've got to take off these bandages, hold still…" Will dug through a few drawers until he found a pair of medical scissors, cutting through the bandages when he found them. He unraveled the bandages, beginning to dab the wound with the cotton ball.
"Ouch! Gods, Will. That stuff stings!" Percy shouted, "It's freezing cold, too." Will looked at Percy, "Jeez, Percy. It really isn't that bad. You've gone wimpy, man. Once you're on your feet, Annabeth's going to have to get you sword fighting again." He picked up the delicate roll of bandages, wrapping them around the wound, "I know you hate these but… you need to take them." He handed painkillers to him, and Percy reluctantly took them. "Well, I'm going to sleep, g' night you two." He stretched in his seat, stood up, and strolled out. Percy began to feel drowsy, yawning and settling into bed.
"Good night, Percy. See you in the morning; if you need anything, I'll be right out here." She flicked off the lamp, gave him a small kiss on the cheek, and walked out of the room. He could hear her recline onto the couch in the other room. His eyelids felt heavy, so he allowed them to close.
Percy dreamed of the sea that night.
He sat on a rocky cliff, waves crashing all around him. Percy breathed in the clean sea breeze, and dove into the blue water. He swam past fish, turtles and all kinds of other sea creatures. Just up ahead, he could see his father, Poseidon's palace. He swam to the entrance of the palace; the guards bowed and opened the fortress doors. Percy walked in, and was escorted by a puffer fish wearing a red bowtie, "This way, my lord." The fish must've been the palace butler, because his voice had a very convincing tone in it. The fish lead him in the direction of the throne room, the doors opened to reveal Poseidon dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and swims shorts, lounging on his throne, "Percy. How are you?"
Percy smiled, "Awesome, what about you?"
Poseidon's face lit up, "Excellent, son. But, I heard about your injury, I'm sorry about that."
Percy shrugged, "I'm fine, I should be able to walk pretty soon."
Poseidon nodded, "Good. Well, be sure to take a look at your cabin. I left you a few get-well gifts."
And with that, Percy began to wake up again.
Percy slowly opened his eyes, and wanted to check out his cabin right away. He tiptoed to Annabeth, placing a blanket over her. He continued to tiptoe the best he could to the porch, and tried walking a little, surprisingly enough, he could walk fine now. That nectar could work miracles. Percy sprinted to the cabins and unlocked the door to his. He grabbed around for the light switch in the near-pitch black of the morning, and finally found it, flicking it on. His cabin looked the same as it always did, but spotless and clear of trash and dust. The cleaning harpies were pretty up to date on their duties. Percy found his gifts in the previously empty corner of the room. There stood a plasma screen television, black leather recliner, a stereo system, a cabinet filled with games and movies, and a mini fridge. "Thanks, dad." Percy said aloud. Percy saw his duffle bag of stuff was plopped on the floor. He dug through it and grabbed a navy blue hoodie, jeans, and his pair of Adidas sandals. He slipped them on, grabbed a can of Cola out of his stash of snacks, and headed out to the dock.
Percy sat down on the edge of the dock, dipping his feet in the cool water. He popped the top back on the soda, taking a sip of the smooth soda, and resting his back on the paint-chipped dock. The sun started to rise little by little, and Percy could see the early morning fog blur the rays.
Percy already knew that this summer was going to be the summer of a lifetime; it would change his life forever. He realized this as the sun's rays fought through the fog, and the sun rose into the sky.
Sunday Morning…
Hey guys, I am so sorry that you had to wait practically a week for this chapter. I just haven't been in the writing mood lately and the late nights have finally caught up to me. I said to my mom,
"I've been so tired lately!"
Mom: "You're a teenager."
Me: "I like staying up late, though. I'm not a morning person like I used to be."
Mom: "You can't be both without passing out from exhaustion."
Anyway, this chapter was a little disappointing to me.
Again, I may not update for a while, but I'll try to get the next chapter written ASAP.
Peace!
~iGwyn12