Percy was scared.
He'd admit it. To himself anyway, never actually out loud. But on the inside, he knew.
He had been scared since he had heard what Apollo had told them, when all this had started; he had been scared when he started coughing, fearing the worst; and he was scared now, lying in bed knowing full well the reality of his situation. No matter how much he wanted to deny the truth, he couldn't any longer.
He had the plague.
And when he saw Jason come into his room, he knew that he had to accept his fate and protect his friend. Even if it hurt.
Percy had always been able to fight the monsters and figure his way out of situations, but this was one battle he couldn't fight no matter how hard he tried.
Even as he lay in bed, he felt as though he were somewhere else, the room swaying unnaturally.
"Feeling under the weather, are we?"
Percy whipped his head around, looking throughout the room for the source of the voice. But no one was there.
He frowned, thinking he must have imagined it. I haven't been getting that much sleep. Must have just been in my head.
He closed his eyes in attempt to nod over but was interrupted by the voice again.
"It's not nice to ignore people when they speak to you. A son of Poseidon should know better."
This time Percy sat up and peered in every direction, slowly and carefully. Yet the room remained empty still.
"Whose there?" he asked anyway, encase he was just being blind.
A chuckle sounded, a very unnerving one. "Show yourself!" yelled Percy, glaring hard at the invisible being.
"I'm already here," was his answer. "Perseus."
Percy froze. Slowly, he looked down, recoiling instantly. In the midst of the floor was a face he thought he would never have to see again.
"Gaia," he whispered. A smile grew on her dirt covered face as she looked up evilly at him.
"You thought you had seen the last of me, I'm sure. But the truth? You will never truly defeat me, demigod," she declared. "I will destroy every last one of you."
Percy glowered at her, hatred radiating off him in pure force. "You forget that we destroyed both you and your forces," he said darkly.
Gaia only seemed to smile more. "You have temporarily vanquished me, but nothing lasts forever. You should know this, Perseus," she said, tauntingly. "Especially not something, or someone, you love."
Percy seethed in anger. He knew she was baiting him, but his worry and rage had overtaken any and all logical thinking. "If you have done anything to Annabeth, anything to my friends-"
"Now young Perseus, you mustn't speak to your elders in that tone," she tutted. "Although your friends are having a bit of a... tough time, you might say. I guess you'll just have to wait and see the aftermath," she finished, gleefully.
Percy had had enough. He lunged forward, grabbing at the floor that was now bare, with only an echoing laughter left behind.
"No! Get back here you coward!" he shouted, grabbing at the ground. "I'm not done with you yet!"
...
Percy stared at his hands, now red and painful with chipped fingernails from his attack on the floor.
It had taken all his patience to calm himself down and take a step back. He couldn't let that witch control his emotions.
He took a deep breath. I won't let her do this to me.
The room was quiet, a peaceful atmosphere which Percy appreciated. Actually though, it wasn't completely quiet.
There was a noise, barely audible, but still there. He then noticed his feet started to feel cold. And Percy knew the noise. From a dream, and from reality.
Water.
He looked down to see the floor completely covered, and the level was growing.
He whipped his head up, frantically searching for its point of entry. But there was none, and it just kept coming. The water was now up to his knees, and his panic was increasing.
Calm down. This is irrational. You can control the water, bend it to your will. Now do it.
Percy slowed his breathing enough to close his eyes. Focus.
He raised his hand out it front and urged the water to move. Nothing happened.
He scrunched his eyes harder, yet still the water would not heed his bidding.
He kept trying. No no no! Not again!
He opened his eyes with the water now reaching his torso.
He frantically moved forward as best he could to the door, desperately trying the handle, but as predicted, it was locked.
He then turned and hurriedly climbed onto the bed to put as much distance between himself and the rising pool of death as he could.
This must be some kind of trick. A test. But then why can't I control the water? Is this some cruel attempt by the Avengers to get me to talk?
When he came out of his thoughts, preparing to call for help, he realised with petrifying fear that the water had now covered the bed and was at his shoulders, nearly his neck.
He quickly gasped a breath before he was completely submerged.
He peered through the water, but couldn't even see the door anymore. The water was so dark, not at all transparent. he tried to breath in, but his lungs filled with the liquid. It didn't seem like water at all. Just like...
His eyes began to burn and he felt the world going dark.
Then, just as he was about to black out for good, it all vanished.
He coughed harshly, gulping the air into his lungs.
As he adjusted himself, he heard something else. Not more water, thankfully, but something just as unsettling.
It sounded like yelling, screaming. He heard voices. Voices he recognised. They were his friends. They came into view, and they were in danger.
Monsters were everywhere. There was fighting, but his friends were losing.
He saw his friends, Frank, Hazel, Piper, Will and Nico. Even Jason and Leo. They were surrounded and badly injured.
Percy tried to run to them, but his feet would not move.
"Hey! Get away from them!" he yelled. But the monsters paid him no attention, advancing on his friends evermore.
Suddenly his heart stopped. Annabeth. She was there, with the others. Her dagger was drawn, but it would not do much good against the horde around them. And she was weak despite her fierce glare, stumbling away from the beasts. She can't fight them all off.
Percy tried again to run to them, but there was no point, and his heart dropped in realisation. They aren't going to make it.
He screamed as they fell, the life draining from their eyes as Percy watched in horror.
Annabeth dropped to the ground, blood pouring out of her. Her eyes were glassy, but they met his.
"Percy," she whispered, before her body went limp.
"No!" screamed Percy. He cried out in agony, dropping to his hands and knees, unable to stand. His face was a waterfall of tears, uncontrollable.
"Welcome back, Perseus."
Percy slowly looked up from where he knelt on all fours on the ground, realising where he was. No.
The river of fire, the toxic air, the glass sand. It all made up the place of his nightmares.
Tartarus.
"No. I'm not here. I escaped," Percy said shakily. "Where else could you be?" the voice said, tauntingly.
"I'm not here. This can't be real. It can't," denied Percy, shutting his eyes tight. "Oh, but it is. And you know it," replied the voice, laughing darkly.
"No. No!" yelled Percy, standing up and running. He knew he couldn't go anywhere, but he had to try.
As he ran, he saw them. The Doors of Death. He knew he should not have reached them that, quickly, but in the moment he didn't care about logicality.
He sprinted towards them, yet they weren't getting any closer.
He was breathing heavily, putting all his energy into reaching those doors. Reaching freedom.
But they just kept getting farther and farther away.
And suddenly, he was falling. Falling like he did when he fell into this horrid place.
He slammed into something hard, feeling his body scream in pain. "Ah!" he gasped, trying to pull himself up, but something slammed into him, pushing him back down.
A tutting noise could be heard, and suddenly he was on his knees, his hands locked in chains, tying them down.
The heat around him burned his skin, the air made it so he could not breath a single breath without his lungs feeling as though they were on fire. His knees were digging into the ground, and he could feel a wetness pooling on his jeans as his skin broke.
"It is time for you to face justice, young demigod, for everything you have done," the voice boomed. A voice Percy couldn't see but knew. It came from all around him. Tartarus himself.
He looked up to see monsters had appeared and were surrounding him. But not just any monsters. Arai.
"There are so many curses to choose from. You have many enemies, Perseus Jackson," one hissed at him. "Why don't we refresh you on all the trouble you have caused over the years?" another chuckled, darkly.
Then it began, and Percy had never felt such pain in his life.
He tried his best not to scream, but the agony became too great. He cried out as he was hit with so many, sometimes one at a time where the Arai would savour his suffering, sometimes multiple together..
"Physical pain is too merciful for you," sighed the monster as he crumbled to the ground, catching his breath. "How about emotional pain?" another suggested, a cruel grin spreading on all their faces.
Percy looked up as they started laughing once more. What he saw stopped his heart and made his blood run cold.
His mum.
She was thrown on to the ground by an Arai, grunting as they did so.
"Mum! Are you okay?" Percy asked, frantically, struggling to move himself closer to her.
"Yes Percy, I'm fi-" she was knocked over so she lay sprawled on the ground. Percy saw blood on her forehead.
"No!" he yelled. He glared with such ferocity as he turned to the creatures. "Let. Her. Go," he demanded, his hands curling into fists so tight they had gone completely white.
"By all means," obliged the Arai, before turning and slashing his mother right across her throat.
"No!" screamed Percy, scrambling over to her. "Mum. Mum!" he cried out, tears rolling down his face as he saw the life draining from her eyes.
"No. Please," he whimpered as he held her head. "Percy," she whispered with great difficulty, her words barely decipherable.
"I'm sorry, mum. I am so sorry," he muttered, voice shaking. She reached up to cup his face in her hand, but only made it halfway before it fell and her body went limp,
"No!" yelled Percy, tears coming down in full stream.
A slamming sounded from beside him. "What is going on in here?"
Percy looked up to see Tony staring down at him. He looked back down to see his mother had vanished and he had returned to his room. No water, no fire, no blood. No death.
"How did I get here?" asked Percy, quietly, looking up at Tony with red eyes, voice wavering.
Tony frowned at him. "You don't remember us taking you here?" he asked slowly.
"No, I do, I meant...," Percy trailed off. "Have I always been in this room?"
"Yes, you haven't left since we put you in here if that's what you mean," answered Tony, peering at him weirdly.
It wasn't real. None of it was real. But it felt so genuine. Mum was...
"You okay there, kid?" asked Tony, bringing him out of his thoughts.
Percy blinked. "Yes," he replied, not looking at him. "I'm... fine."
Tony continued to look at him for another moment, not really believing him. "Okay," he finally said. "If you say so. Need anything, ask the agents."
After a slight hesitation, he exited the room.
Percy quickly got up and scanned his surroundings.
It was completely normal. No traces of anything he had seen or heard. Everything was as it was. He had been here the whole time.
But it was so real.
...
They had finally managed to coax Jason out of his room after much persuasion.
He has been feeling surprisingly okay, which was a slight comfort in his worries of having the disease. He still made sure to stay a good distance away from everyone just to be safe, but he knew if he stayed in his room forever while the Avengers thought all Percy had was a heavy case of the flu it would look very odd.
He insisted on having the windows open though just to be sure. No point in taking unnecessary risks.
Guilt still clawed at him, though.
He still hadn't been to see Percy since this all started, and the shame was getting to him.
He's sitting there, all alone in an unfamiliar place. The last time we talked we yelled at each other. That can't be the last conversation we ever have!
"Jason, you there?"
Jason was jerked out of his thoughts by a voice calling to him from across the room.
He looked over to see Clint looking at him expectantly. "You good? You kinda zoned out there," he asked, slightly concerned.
"What? Oh, yeah no I'm fine. Just, lost in thought I guess," he replied, giving a weak smile.
Clint raised an eyebrow at him. Damn it, they're getting really good reading me. Or maybe I'm just getting really bad at lying.
"You thinking about Percy?" Steve asked, softly. "Yeah," conceded Jason. No point in denying it.
"Don't worry Jason, he's going to be alright. He might be sick for a few days, but after that he'll be fine," said Bruce, giving him an encouraging smile.
He'll be dead.
"Yeah, you're probably right," agreed Jason. Lie.
"I know what will take your mind off of him," chirped in Clint. "Why don't we find something for you to do. Like a new hobby or interest you can take up, seeing as so far you do nothing in your life other than train," suggested Clint.
"I'll have you know I like training," argued Jason, puffing out his chest a little in defiance.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Clint said sarcastically, standing up from his seat and exiting the room before quickly returning.
"You ever read a comic book?" he asked. Jason shook his head and so Clint tossed him a few.
"Why not suggesting an activity more educational or worth learning in life? Something that doesn't involve a magazine of cartoon people fighting each other?" You know, like something not mind-numbing?" suggested Steve, looking at Clint pointedly.
"Because that would be boring," replied Clint, maturely. "We're not all ancient and enjoy reading the newspaper or listening to jukeboxes like you, Steve."
"Hey, I'm still physically young. And I enjoy things that are liked by the youth of today," retorted Steve, frowning.
"Sure you do, Cap," said Natasha, a smirk on her face.
Jason was half listening to this interaction, with the other half of his attention on the comic books Clint had thrown at him.
There were a mix of various DC superheroes, Star Wars etc. All action with dramatic and obnoxious battle cries with cheesy punchlines.
Emotion started to crawl its way up Jason's throat, the memory of a lost friend seeping its way into his mind.
"Hey, you okay?"
Jason looked up to see all the others staring at him with varying levels of concern.
"Yeah sorry, I'm okay," he answered, blinking away tears. They continued to gaze at him, obviously not intending on letting him go without an explanation.
"It's just," began Jason, struggling to find the words. After a few stuttering starts, he sighed. "I had a friend who used to love this kind of stuff. He would always judge us when we didn't understand references or jokes he made from them."
Nobody responded for a few moments, then Clint broke the silence. "Had?"
A pause, Jason looking down and taking a moment to elaborate.
"He died," Jason said bluntly. "He sacrificed himself to save us, to save camp."
He heard someone suck in a breath but didn't look up to see who. Why am I telling them this?
"How long?" asked Bruce hesitantly. "A couple weeks ago," answered Jason monotonal.
"Weeks?" repeated Clint in shock. Jason swallowed thickly and nodded.
"He sounds like a very honourable person," said Steve, sympathetically.
"He was," agreed Jason. "And an even better friend."
He breathed in slowly.
"I miss him."
...
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Click. Click. Clatter. Clatter.
Pain. Nausea. White fluffy clouds. Wind.
His eyes blinked open as he groaned. Wow that hurt.
"Who knew getting blown up would be so painful. I feel like I'm going to be sick."
More clicks in return. "Yeah, I'm alright, don't worry," the boy said.
He pulled himself up and tenderly tapped the metal surface beneath him. "Nice job, buddy."
Creak.
He looked around him, and smiled as he took in his surroundings and checked his navigation systems.
"Really nice job, buddy. We're almost there," he told his friend. Said friend made a sound of confusion, understandable since they were in the able of nowhere. "No really! We are, you'll see," he persisted.
His response was one of disbelieving agreement.
"Now," he began. "Let's go rescue my Sunshine."