It's strange how often I find myself eating apples while writing the chapters of this fanfic. Probably at least a third of them. Which I find extraordinarily peculiar.
HoOisawsome (guest): I got it, I got it! :) Don't stop reviewing! And thanks for the super long review; it's always really nice to get those. They're my favorite type of review. You'll have to wait and see what's going to happen with Calypso...but you don't have too long! I got the potted flower reference, although I think I'd rather have one of Hades' keys...
candyisyummy83: Thanks for reviewing! Technically, Grover already knows about Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus-Annabeth sent that napkin message, and he was with Rachel when she went to talk to Reyna, remember? But he doesn't know how it impacted them, and changed them. So it'll be fun to write about that.
Wild-at-Heart14 (guest): Aww, you told your friends about me? More people have been doing that lately, and it makes me so happy. All rainbowy and fluffy and stuff. I don't know what the cover for BoO should look like, but it'd be cool if it had all of the Seven on it, maybe standing together against Gaea? Idk. And thanks so much for your compliments!
AnnabethChaseDoA: Thanks! And thanks again, just for reviewing!
Carrot Seven (guest): Thanks, and sorry for the wait. But I'm back now, so yay!
Tyler D (guest): Annabeth and Percy would totally be great parents. And I imagine them with their kids a lot, so I understand where you're coming from. But they a.) aren't married yet, and b.) are a little too young for that. They're only seventeen. But I like your ideas, and I might use them in one of my next fanfics.
PercabethForever (guest): Nico is about 13 or 14, and Reyna is probably 16 or 17, around the same age as Jason and Percy. The age difference is a bit weird, but Nico is really mature for his age, and they do make a totally adorable couple.
Guest (guest): Aww, thanks! I'm glad you think so.
uramazing112 (guest): Thanks so much, you have no idea how much that means to me. Thanks for the cookies, too, and I'm glad you've become a reviewer! Also, I think I am going to do that fanfic, although probably not for a while.
Jason Grace (guest): Some of my reviewers seem to have the powers of mind reading, and you may or may not be one of them. (hint hint)
ElijahS34: Thank you for reviewing chapter 62...was it four times? Anyway, Tyson and Ella will be making an appearance soon, as will Rachel and Clarisse.
Random Person (guest): You are very welcome for all of those things. :)
Guest (guest): They are going to contact each other soon, although you'll just have to wait and see how they do it. And thanks, you're amazing too.
Me (guest): I'm going to be 15. And you're younger than every fan; I got really into PJO and HoO last year, before my fourteenth birthday. I'm sure there are plenty of other people around that age too.
daugherofzeus911: Yeah, I do, and I know the age difference is a little weird, but Nico really is at about the same maturity level. Besides, it's only four years, at the very most, and is probably more like two or three.
Rajell Cellar (guest): No, I didn't think those were your real names. That'd be kind of weird. I suspected that you two were sisters, mostly because you said your sister was reading it the same time that she said her sister had told her to read it, but I wanted to make sure. Unfortunately, I live nowhere close to Georgia, which makes me sad. I wish there were more fangirls and boys that lived close to me, but I think I might be the only one. :(
RMS Titanic (guest): Yeah, she told me about the dream. A little strange, but cool. I really wish I was home schooled, public school is most definitely NOT awesome.
Megan Stark (guest): I'm sorry, as you can see from my super long author's note, I have a lot of reviews to respond to. I try to get to everyone, but I know I miss a lot of people. Keep reviewing, though, and I'll try my best to respond as often as possible.
Chapter LXIII
Piper
Deer bites are disgusting. Apparently they don't make an effort to keep their teeth very clean, because after only half an hour, both Hazel and Annabeth's bites have turned a shiny purple and are oozing yellow pus. Which makes Piper very, very glad that she wasn't bitten-even if it means that she's the one that has to clean the others' bites.
Leo helps, of course, but he's not particularly skilled at first aid. His knowledge mostly extends to putting a band-aid on a paper cut, and these are most definitely not paper cuts. Of course, he's had experience taking care of himself when he's had accidents in the forge, but again, his technique wasn't very scientific. He mostly just drank some nectar or ate some ambrosia and kept a bandage over it until it had healed completely. And while ambrosia and nectar generally work really well, these bites need just a little more care. Especially since half of the deer's teeth are still stuck in both wounds.
"Ew. Ew ew ew ew ew." Piper says as she pours nectar over Annabeth's bite and watches as it bubbles with yet more pus.
"Very much ew." Leo agrees from where he's watching the same thing happen to Hazel's bite. She's still unconscious, which is a little worrisome, but Piper thinks it's probably just because she overexerted herself-using the Mist with a wound that bad must have seriously sapped her strength.
"Really, guys, it can't be that bad." Annabeth scolds them wearily. She's laying back on the cot with her right leg stretched out in front of her so Piper can attend to it. She shifts a little, and then winces-the Peryton that knocked her onto the deck broke some of her ribs.
"Yes it can be. Worse, even." Leo replies, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
Piper pauses to scratch her right arm-the bandage over her cut is itchy. Then she grabs a cloth from the pile Leo deposited on the bed at her instruction and starts dabbing at the area around Annabeth's wound.
Annabeth sucks in a breath, and the muscles in her leg clench under Piper's hand. "Ow." She says.
"And ew." Piper adds, once again watching as pus trickles out of the bite marks. "How much pus can there be in one bite wound?"
"I don't know, but I think a gallon of it already came out of Hazel's shoulder." Leo tells her.
"This is just not right." Piper complains.
"I don't see what you have to complain about." Annabeth says. "You're not the one with deer teeth stuck in your leg."
"A fact I am very grateful for." Piper replies. "But I'm still not entirely sure that being the one who has to get the deer teeth out is much better. Especially since I can't even get to the teeth yet, since your leg is so swollen and full of pus."
Annabeth's face turns green. "I'd really rather you didn't tell me."
"I won't say anything if you don't." Piper promises. Annabeth just waves a hand at her, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling with a nauseous look on her face.
"That's it. I'm changing religions." Leo suddenly says. "If being Greek means I have to deal with rabid carnivorous deer, I'm so done."
"Leo, you're the son of a Greek god. You can't just change religion." Annabeth points out.
"Technically, I can." He replies.
"But it's not going to stop monsters from attacking." She answers.
Piper's relieved that Annabeth is back to being her usual matter-of-fact self-if she's capable of that, hopefully the wound isn't as bad as it looks.
For the next ten minutes, she and Leo work in silence, trying to get the swelling down enough to be able to dig the teeth out of the wounds so they can heall properly-until then, they can't really do anything to help with the pain, or the fact that blood is continuously dripping from the bites along with the pus. Piper finds herself praying continuously to the gods as she works-mostly Apollo, since he's the god of healing. She hopes prayers can still help when the gods are completely schizophrenic and Olympus is closed.
Finally, though, the swelling goes mostly away, after what seems like several gallons of pus and another of blood. But Piper knows it can't be that much, otherwise Annabeth would be a little more than just pale.
"How's Hazel doing, Leo?" She asks quietly. He looks up at her, then back at Hazel, still dabbing gently at the bite mark on her shoulder.
"Better. The swelling's almost down. But I could probably get to the teeth, if you wanted me to try now." He offers, looking worried.
"No, not yet. Try to get the swelling down more. I'm going to go ahead and get the teeth out of Annabeth's leg, but it'll probably go easier for Hazel if the swelling is down completely." Piper tells him, before looking apprehensively down at Annabeth's leg.
"Annabeth-" She starts.
"I heard." The blonde girl interrupts. "Just get it over with, okay?"
"Okay." Piper answers reluctantly, picking up the tweezers laying next to her on the cot and bracing herself.
The first tooth comes out easily-it didn't go in very deep. But when she goes to take out the second one, it's in a lot deeper than Piper expected, and she has to dig for it a bit, trying not to accidentally push it farther into Annabeth's muscle.
Sweat beads on Annabeth's forehead, and her breath is shallow. She has a fistful of the cot mattress, and she looks like she's about to rip it in two.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." Piper apologizes repeatedly as she pulls out the tooth, finally extracting it and laying it next to the first.
"Not your fault." Annabeth groans. "But the next time I see one of these things, I'm going to set it on fire."
Piper smiles a little. "I think Leo already did that."
"Then I'll strangle it. Or drown it." She answers, gritting her teeth.
"Percy could probably help you with that second one." Piper comments, trying to help keep the girl's mind off the pain.
Annabeth's eyes fly open, panic in them. "Oh, schist." She curses.
"What?" Piper asks in alarm.
"Percy. He's going to completely freak out when he gets back." Annabeth explains.
Piper makes a face. "Crap. Jason's going to freak too."
"At least you only have a few cuts. Those'll be mostly healed by the time they get here. Hazel and I, on the other hand..." Annabeth trails off.
"It's not like it's our fault." Piper points out. "They can't exactly blame us."
"No, but they're never going to leave us alone ever again." Annabeth tells her.
"Let's not forget Frank." A hoarse voice says to their right. "If anything, he's even more overprotective than anyone."
"Hazel!" Leo exclaims in surprise, dropping the cloth he's holding. "You're awake!"
"How're you feeling?" Piper asks quickly, turning to face her.
"Like I've been bitten by a rabid deer." Hazel says dryly.
"I think we'd better hope that they weren't rabid, because otherwise, you two have one heck of a week ahead of you." Leo tells her.
"I'm not entirely sure Greek monsters can be rabid. But of course, knowing our luck, we just met the only ones that are." Annabeth says with a wry grin.
"Let's try not to think about that, shall we?" Piper asks. "It's not really helping anything."
"Well, on a different note, the teeth in Hazel's shoulder can come out now." Leo informs her. "It's not swollen anymore."
Piper sighs, looking down at Annabeth's leg, which still has at least half a dozen teeth embedded in it. "Wonderful. I love having something to look forward to."
"I could try doing it myself." Leo offers nervously, glancing back down at Hazel's shoulder.
As tempting as it is, Piper knows it'd be better if she did it herself. The closest thing to this Leo's ever done is probably pulling out a splinter, and that really isn't enough experience to be pulling fangs out of someone's leg-or shoulder. Especially since she doubts he knows very much about anatomy, and very well might end up hurting Hazel more. No offense to Leo, or anything. But he's probably better just being the nurse for now, not the doctor.
Piper's wondering how she's possibly going to manage to get all the teeth out of both Annabeth and Piper's wounds without either puking or passing out when Annabeth suddenly sits up and leans forward, holding out her hand.
"Here, Piper. I can get the rest out myself." She says.
Shocked, Piper wonders how the girl could possibly even be able to consider doing it herself-it has to hurt like Hades, and it's not exactly something that's easier when you're about to pass out. "Are you sure?" She asks anyway.
"Yeah. If I can splint a broken ankle by myself, I can pull a couple teeth out of my leg, right?" Annabeth says, smiling without amusement.
Piper studies the girl's face, looking for any sign that she's incapable of doing it. But she's actually not as pale as she was, and her eyes are sure, confident.
"Okay." She finally says, handing her the tweezers. Annabeth takes them and pulls her leg closer to her body, leaning over her wound. She holds the tweezers steadily-her hands aren't shaking at all, not like Piper's would be if she was pulling teeth out of her leg.
Piper pushes down her awe at the older girl's strenght and walks over to Hazel's bed, shooing Leo out of her way.
"I have to say, I'm not particularly excited about this." Hazel mutters.
"It's not something to be excited about." Annabeth mutters back in response, just as she yanks the third tooth from her leg.
"Don't worry, Hazel, it can't be that bad if Annabeth can do it herself, right?" Piper soothes her, slipping some charmspeak into her words-it makes her feel guilty, like it always does when she uses it on her friends, but if Hazel's apprehensive about it, that'll just make the pain worse.
She picks up the second pair of tweezers that Leo set on the bed, and gently probes Hazel's wound, trying to minimize the pain.
After she starts, Piper kind of slips into autopilot, turning off her feelings so that her repulsion and the guilt from knowing she's causing her friend pain are shoved to the back of her mind, where they won't interfere with Piper's doctoring. She focuses on the task at hand and tries to ignore Hazel's occasional winces and grimaces of pain, reassuring herself with the knowledge that getting the teeth out now will cause her less pain in the long run.
Finally, she pulls the last tooth from Hazel's shoulder, just as Annabeth pulls the last one from her leg, and all of them breath an audible sigh of relief, leaning back and relaxing. Then they look at each other and laugh.
"Here." Leo says from behind Piper, handing Hazel and Annabeth both cups of nectar. "Drink this; it should help now that the teeth are out."
They do as he says, and Piper watches as a bit of color flows back into their faces, and as a bit of the purple surrounding Hazel's wound recedes and the bite marks themselves close more with each sip.
Piper bandages Hazel's shoulder and helps Annabeth with her leg before helping Leo clean up, ignoring the occasional throb of pain in her arm and forehead. When they're finally done, she sags against the wall, relieved.
"I think," she says, "that I'm going to take a nap now."
"Same here." Hazel and Annabeth say at the same time. They all look to Leo, and he smiles at them.
"Don't worry, guys. I'll watch the ship while you get some rest. You need it." He reassures them, before exiting and heading down to the engine room.
Piper doesn't both going to her room. She crashes on the nearest cot-the one next to Annabeth-and is asleep before her head hits the pillow.
Wow, guys, lots and lots of reviews. Thanks for all the support. We're definitely going to make my goal. That's still nine hundred, by the way, but if you guys manage one thousand reviews by May 3, I swear on the River Styx that I will double update on my birthday. Also, sorry to everyone who's reviews I didn't respond to; I'll try and get to you next chapter!
I love you, don't stick your fingers in electricity outlets, don't plunge to your death, and be crazily, abnormally, strange, because normal is overrated!