There's Nothing Sweeter
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Harry Potter' or 'Percy Jackson'. All recognisable characters, content or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter Twelve:
In the past, Gwen's accidental magic, triggered by desperation, or anger, among other things, had accomplished more than she'd thought possible. Aparation onto her school roof, the overnight growth of her sable hair, the inflation of Marge Dursley, to name a few.
As she knelt by Percy's side, however, and Percy's lifeblood spilt from the slash down his torso, as she tried and failed to quell the bleeding with her own two hands, Gwen had never felt more desperate in her life. She knew no healing spells, she was too deep in the woods to float Percy out, and it would take far too much time to run and get assistance.
She was fast, after all, but not that fast.
The scarlet, viscous blood pulsed between her fingers, hot and sticky, and more red than she'd ever seen, and Gwen closed her eyes, tears streamed down her cheeks, and helplessness had never felt worse.
"I'm sorry, Percy."
In response, her magic welled up deep inside her, the strength of her mother and fathers deep within her skin. She didn't notice it, of course, but it thrummed beneath the surface of incandescent, verdant eyes, swelled in the air like the promise of rain, and with a thunderous crack of air, a flash of light, and the ominous roll of thunder, the pair disappeared.
They reappeared to chaos, and smoke, and the uncomfortable heat of out of control flames. The cabins were on fire, smoke billowed from the windows and the campers were in a panic, but Gwen's focus was on Percy, and the help he so desperately needed.
She got to her feet, unholstered her wand and levitated the runt, the weight of him against her magic almost nothing. She ran through the camp, sought out Chiron all the way, and found him gathering a team, among them Annabeth Chase.
"There you are," Chiron exclaimed, upon sight of her.
"No time," Gwen rasped, hindered by smoke and her sprint, "Percy's hurt. Help him."
Chiron took one glimpse at the floating boy, scooped him up and trotted into the infirmary. Gwen followed, as did Annabeth, Will, MIck and Lee, and Chiron fired questions at her, almost too fast for her to answer.
"What happened? Do you know who did it? Are you hurt?"
"I don't know," Gwen answered, "I couldn't find either of them, Annabeth said they'd gone hunting, and I don't know, I just had a feeling I should go find them. I found Luke first, he had blood on his hands, said I wouldn't find Percy in time. I left him - he was bonkers, you know? - and used my magic to find Percy. He was unconscious, I thought he was already dead, but his pulse was there. I tried to stop the bleeding, but I know squat all about healing, then I don't know, my magic brought me to camp, I guess. Then I found you."
Gwen took a deep, shuddering breath, slumped against a wall, and stared down at her hands. They were still covered in Percy's blood, drying now, the colour of rust and still uncomfortably hot. She wondered if she was just imagining that feeling, that unmistakeable sensation of pulsing blood beneath her fingers, and her stomach rolled. She thought she might heave.
In front of her, though Gwen didn't notice, Chiron and the three sons of Apollo were tending to Percy, speaking rapidly and occasionally chanting in Ancient Greek, Lee with the occasional latin incantation - while Anabeth watched on from a corner, grey eyes, like Gwen's on an overcast day, wide beneath golden lashes. She was scared, frightened beyond belief, really, but as Gwen stared through glazed eyes at the hands so very red with the blood of short, sheltered Percy, her situational awareness was shot to shit.
Vaguely, somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered this fact, and the word 'shock' echoed faintly through her head, but all she could see was the blood - somuchfuckiingblood - and she hadn't known a person carried all of that in their veins.
And so much of it had pulsated between her fingers, a pathetic mimicry of the pulse of the boy's heart, and a sensation she'd never be able to forget.
Gwen closed her eyes and the memory replayed in her mind, the image of percy in a field of hyacinths, and she wondered hysterically if she'd ever be able to look at the flower again, stained with blood, and the imprint of Poseidon's son.
Much like her own hands.
It was a terrible irony.
"Come on, Gwen," Silena Beauregard coaxed, her hand at Gwen's elbow. It was a familiar touch, and Gwen let the daughter of Aphrodite lead her, "Let's go clean you up, hmm?"
The daughter of Zeus came to to the sound of Silena blabbering nonsensically about Beckendorf, and Gwen blinked dazedly, confused. There was a mirror in front of her, and tear tracks down her cheeks, and Silena was cleaning Gwen's hands, the water in the sink a discomforting shade of red. They were in a bathroom, somewhat cramped, but enough to do the job.
"I need a fucking drink," Gwen declared, voice raspy. From the smoke, she assumed, but her recollections weren't clear. Shock, she recalled, and the witch grimaced to herself, unimpressed.
She despised weakness.
"Yeah," Silena agreed ruefully, "I don't blame you. Could use one myself, really. Its been a long night."
"What the fuck happened at camp? Rocked up, and the joint was on fire."
"Alabaster Torrington," Silena replied, tone grim, "Dick set the place on fire and went running for the hills. Luke's gone too. Can't believe this has happened. I mean, there are the dreams, but, damn."
"You too, huh? Thought it was just me."
Silena shook her head. "Everyone, I think. No one's really talking though. Shit's going down though, we know that much. And things have gone to shit around here, too. The Hermes cabin, man, I'd hate to be in there tonight."
"And Percy?"
"He's been poisoned, on top of that slash that practically cut him in half," Silena answered, "They think he'll pull through though. Annabeth suggested water, which seemed to work a miracle. Guess it makes sense, P's prodginy, and all."
"Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah," Silena confirmed, "I think they just wanted to scare the camp. Except for Percy, anyway. I'm surprised they didn't go after you, really."
Gwen shrugged, and sort of wished they had. She'd have copped it, for Percy's sake. At least once she'd hexed the assholes six ways from Sunday.
She'd never liked Luke Castellan or Alabaster Torrington.
"Wankers. Probably knew I'd kick their asses before I let them close enough to hurt me. Pricks. He's fucking twelve."
With a hum of acknowledgement, Silena rinsed off Gwen's hands, the witch dried them off with the offered towel, and they stepped back into the infirmary to find that they'd finished up with Percy. Chiron was in quiet conversation with Mr D by the door, Will and Annabeth were playing a game of 'Go Fish' over Percy's legs, and Lee was by the bathroom door, apparently waiting for them. Mick had disappeared out of sight, and Gwen supposed he'd gone to bed. Gwen wished she could too, because maybe in the morning, it would turn out that the greater majority of this night had just been an absolutely awful nightmare.
But then there was Lee, and she couldn't really forget the fact that he'd asked her out tonight.
"You alright?" Lee queried, gaze on Gwen, but question directed at the both of them.
Silena grunted, yawned and left with a murmured goodnight over her shoulder. It was returned in kind, and the lingering pair watched her go, silent.
"I'm fine," Gwen replied, "You?"
Lee looked unconvinced, but he didn't push the issue. "Fine. Chiron says you're spending the night in here. He's, ah, worried about an attack on you."
Gwen, frankly too tired to protest, trudged over to the nearest bed, flopped ungracefully on top of the covers and turned weary, heavy lidded eyes on the son of Apollo by her bedside. He explained without her having to ask.
"Will and I are monitoring Percy throughout the night. Mick and Austen will take the morning."
Gwen nodded, didn't bother to protest when Lee settled in the chair by her bed, and instead closed her eyes, exhausted. When she slept, it was a rest blessedly free of dreams. In the days and nights to come though, she doubted it would last.
Author's Note: Do the page breaks show up?
Hell guys, the Avengers/Harry Potter fandom has a massive following.
Thanks for reading. Leave a review? Until next time, -t.