AN: ...Would you believe me if I said I originally wanted to name this chapter 'Dumb Dumber Dumbo'?

Time: Six Months After the Last Battle

Percy woke up feeling sore all over.

He did not know where he was.

He wondered if he was dead.

Was that Annabeth holding his hand? Her hand was so soft. He gave her a reassuring squeeze.

There was a soft gasp.

Whispered words. Percy couldn't make out what words they were saying.

There were multiple voices.

'Angels... I'm in heaven.'

He tried to laugh, but couldn't.

He tried to discern stuff, but couldn't. His eyes were covered by something, his ears were ringing. His mouth tasted like parchment, a rough, dry tongue. His lips were equally dry and rough.

He felt a beard prickling his neck. His beard. His long matted hair stuck to his sweaty face.

Unbidden, an image came to his mind. Blonde hair shining even in the darkness, grey eyes dancing with mirth, soft lips parted in the middle of a snide remark. A Yankees cap askew on her head. Shorts showing off her smooth, toned legs.

His mind supplied a name to the ungodly apparition. Annabeth.

His angel.

He felt soft hands gently prying open his mouth, holding his undoubtedly prickly, bushy jaw gently as if he were some priceless artefact.

A fluid was poured into his mouth, thick with minute crumbs of... something. It tasted delicious, but had a bitter undertaste. It felt cool on his tongue, but left his mouth warm. It tasted like his mother's blue cookies, something which Annabeth baked him at Camp.

He rinsed his mouth thoroughly with the wondrous fluid, not fully comprehending what he was supposed to do. His tongue felt soft and wet, velvety as it was supposed to feel, and his lips had also regained some of their natural softness. The simple action created a dent in the smoky haze that clogged his mental faculties.

It took him some time to realise that it was normal, and that the drink was nothing but a nectar and ambrosia mixture. It probably had some herbal paste mixed in, too.

Percy relaxed, gulping it after some internal debate. Apparently, it was the right thing to do, seeing as there was no rebuke yet.

He relaxed into the soft bed, and tried to feel himself. Apparently, he was not dead, something which he bitterly regretted.

He was naked, was the first thing that he observed. There was only a soft, fluffy towel covering his privates, slightly ticklish. He felt the fine, smooth, soft fabric of a thin blanket that covered the lower half of his body. His legs were propped up on some soft pillows. There was a bandage wrapped tightly over his chest, with what seemed like gauze, pressing tightly against the right side of his chest. It felt... wet, but Percy could not tell if the moisture was from blood or medicine.

He felt himself sinking into the soft bed that he lay on, feeling like he was lying on a cloud. His skin felt damp, as if he had been swabbed recently to clean his body. His wet skin stung in the cold air of the room, a chilly draught of air blowing through wherever he was, forming goosebumps on his skin. Despite the cold, he sweated profusely, the moisture trickling down slowly along the side of his face.

There was a beep, and he felt the cold air stop, though the temperature in the room was still quite low.

"How are you feeling, Percy?" The voice was familiar, though Percy could not place a name to it.

Percy squeezed the warm, soft hand that held his larger paw again, to show his appreciation. A few minutes of silence later, he realised that he could speak.

"I am..." His voice was rough, scratchy, and he coughed slightly to correct it. The simple gesture caused a burning pain to erupt in the right side of his chest, making him wince.

Immediately someone was at his side, handing him a glass of water. Percy accepted it thankfully, gulping down the life-giving liquid quickly.

"I am fine..." He waited. His voice sounded fine this time, so he continued, "Where am I? Can this blindfold come off? What happened?"

"Sit up, Percy, then we'll explain." A soft voice came from his side.

"Artemis? What... what is going on? What do you mean we?"

Artemis sighed, before she removed the damp cloth from his eyes. Percy squinted as the cold air stung his sensitive eyelids, then opened his eyes, squinting at first. He was thankful for the dim lighting in the room as he struggled to comprehend the interior of the room.

It was night. There was a closed window on the side of his window. Percy could faintly make out the moon by its silver glow.

On his bedside table, there was a flower. It smelled like moonlace, so Percy assumed as such, but his eyes could not make out any further details.

He tried to look in the interior of the room.

Faces swam in his vision, their features unrecognizable. He tried to recognize people by their hair colour, but there was only so much he could identify.

Artemis sat at his side, holding his hand, identified by her dark auburn hair. Twin flashes of electric blue showed that Thalia and Neo were standing at the foot of his bed. He assumed that the black hair in his bed belonged to his twin sisters.

"How are you feeling, Perseus?" Hestia asked. Where was she?

He ignored her location, instead correcting her, almost on instinct. "Its Percy."

From somewhere else, someone snorted. "Definitely the son of Poseidon I know." Piper's voice swam.

"Piper? Why is no one answering me? Where am I? Where is Annabeth?!" Percy asked, feeling a dreadful anxiety taking shape in his heart.

"Percy... you're on Ogygia." A soft hand caressed his cheek, and the demigod couldn't help but lean into her touch. "I'm Calypso." Caramel hair entered his rudimentary vision.

"Calypso... what happened?"

"You were passed out for six months, Percy. You took a fatal wound fighting the Triumvirate." Phoebe answered, her voice trembling slightly.

"When will my sight come back? Where's Annabeth?" Percy repeated his earlier question.

There was a brief silence, which made Percy squirm in discomfort, as he felt that everybody was hiding something.

"What happened?" He tried to sit up, but was pushed back into his pillows by a pair of soft hands. He tried to think what he was missing- some clue of what was going on- but came up with nothing.

He was assaulted by two weights on his chest, and had a faceful of silky black hair. "Big brother!" Rose broke down, hugging him tightly, and burying her face into his chest, careful of his bandage. Percy felt her crying, her body wracked with sobs.

Violet, who was trying to be strong, could not maintain her composure for long, as she hid her face in her big brother's neck, sobbing uncontrollably. Tears trickled down her beautiful face, and she ignored Percy's prickly beard. "You almost died!"

Percy laughed, which again made him wince. Immediately he felt the identical twin daughters of Poseidon pull away. "Annabeth would have killed me if I died." He smiled softly at the thought of his angel.

"Where is she?" He asked again.

"Will you stop asking about her for one minute, Jackson?" Thalia rudely interrupted, though Percy could tell she was trying to suppress her emotions from the way her voice was high pitched. "When there are women around you, you don't think about other women." She laughed weakly at her own joke.

"Sooo... I was out for six months, and you couldn't improve the quality of your jokes, could you?" He smiled as he imagined the indignant look on her face.

Someone embraced him gently. "Its good to have you back, big brother," Neo whispered softly as she pulled back.

Percy smiled again as he heard Thalia grumble under her breath. "Jackson is taking away my sister from me, I know it..."

He felt his cheeks being kissed. "Glad to have you back, Jackson." Phoebe whispered in his right ear the same time Atalanta whispered in his left, "We were waiting for you..."

After going through the same motions with the rest of the Hunters, Percy felt himself being softly embraced by Hestia, identifiable by her pleasant scent of freshly baked bread and hearth. "You can't imagine my relief at seeing you awake, Percy." She spoke lovingly, "Its been too long."

Piper was next, kissing his forehead protectively. "You almost gave me a heart attack, Percy. You owe me one."

Percy went to chuckle, before remembering his wound. "You got it."

A pool of shiny blonde hair entered his vision. "Annabeth?" He asked unsurely, but he couldn't help but let a bit of hope creep into his voice.

"No, hero, I am Aphrodite." A soft, surprisingly gentle voice answered him, a small, soft hand caressing his cheek gently. Percy was torn between feeling worried about Annabeth and surprised that the goddess of Love was capable of such gentle ministrations.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, not being able to keep a bit of resentment from creeping into his voice, due to the unavoidable fact that she was not the one he was looking for.

Aphrodite chuckled, a soft sound akin to the tinkling of bells. "What everybody else is doing." She answered cryptically.

Percy closed his eyes again, feeling his eyes burn from the prolonged exposure to the cool air after months of inactivity. Weird shapes swam in his vision, and he was tempted to rub his eyes, but before he could, he was restricted by Artemis, who had not moved from her spot.

He felt someone sit down on his bed, beside him. The soft mattress sank down a bit, and like a sick child, he extended his hand blindly. Soft, nimble fingers twined together with his own.

"Percy, are you absolutely fine?" Calypso asked softly.

Percy shook his head. "Where is Annabeth?"

"She is sleeping, Percy. She stayed by your side all this time, and is tired. Do you want me to go wake her up now? It's almost midnight."

Percy shook his head, and felt Calypso briefly detach her fingers from his. The sound of a pen scratching away reached his ears. He tried to open his eyes, but they still stung, so he restricted himself to feeling Artemis' hand, which had never left his. He traced her soft palm with his rough fingers, before he felt his hand being taken by Calypso again.

She held his wrist, presumably checking his pulse. After a brief period of silence, interrupted by their gentle breaths, she asked, "Do you remember what happened?"

Percy shook his head. "No, you told me that I took a fatal wound fighting the... Triumvirate. I don't remember anything else. It's all foggy."

"Can you try to remember?"

Percy complied, concentrating on any memories he had of the final battle. He remembered preparing with the Hunters, sharpening Anaklusmos, chatting with them deep into the night. Then dawn came, there were fortifications of the Field of Mars, monsters marching across the Tiber... cannonballs firing, the roars of monsters.

Percy was violently shaken out of his thoughts.

There were loud whispers all around him. The shadows of the night were crawling up to him, the moon was red, dripping with blood. A faceless woman sat in place of Calypso, sharpening a knife. He looked up at Artemis, to see her holding him down. The auburn-haired beauty mouthed sorry, before looking away.

There were loud booming noises, like the echoing sound of a thousand cannons firing together, thunderous knocking on the door, before it broke down.

Monsters flooded into the room he lay in, helpless and bound to the bed. Hellhounds howled for blood- Percy's blood- faceless, shadowy demons danced around him, Kelly the empousai cackled with laughter. Suddenly, the towering form of the Minotaur entered the room, shaking its bull head. It's horns caught on the door frame, but they crumbled to dust as it snorted, raising his axe high above his head-

Percy expected the axe to crash into the ceiling, but nothing happened. The ceiling stretched away from the monster, allowing it enough room to wield its enormous weapon. Percy tried to move- to do something- he would not go down without a fight, but he could not move. It was almost as if the shadows of the night themselves restricted him, pinning his arms to the bed.

It all was happening too fast.

Percy faintly heard Artemis calling for him, telling him to wake up, and he realised it was all a nightmare.

He was back in the previous room, all the monsters gone.

He turned towards the side. Artemis was still holding him down, and the faceless woman was still there.

There was the thunderous bang of a cannon going off in the distance. The roars of dying soldiers. Percy felt the coll metal of Anaklusmos' handle thrust into his hand, but he could not raise it. He was too weak. He watched as the faceless woman held the knife at his throat, not bothering Percy's violent struggling, futile against Artemis' godly strength.

Percy bolted upright, his heart beating madly. He could feel his open wound bleeding profusely. The room was in chaos, Calypso was injecting something into his arm, Artemis was holding him tightly, her beautiful face streaked with tears. The Hunters were sobbing uncontrollably, holding onto each other. Piper stood beside Calypso, holding a tray.

He observed all this in a second, straining his eyes to see everything.

Someone else entered the room, but Percy couldn't care less.

Percy did not know where the others were, nor did he care a single bit.

He was sure he was dying. He could not breathe, he felt as if a great boulder was crushing his chest. He was hyperventilating. He did not know how he looked then, but he felt sure that his normally tanned skin was pale, and his eyes were dull. His hair stuck to his face, the bedsheets were drenched with sweat. He noticed someone had switched on the air conditioner again, and he was thankful for that. He noticed how their shadows danced and elongated, calling for him to join them.

Percy shook his head. It was all a horrible hallucination, nothing more.

"Percy..." Hestia whispered, "we are here. You have nothing to fear."

Rose and Violet were crying, their petite bodies wracked with sobs, clutching him possessively. They were gently pried away from his bleeding chest.

"Percy, you have PTSD. Try to relax, and sleep. We will be treating you now." Calypso whispered, afraid of causing another relapse of his nightmare fit. "No need to think. Just keep your head blank. No more questions, you will receive your answers when it is time."

Percy nodded dumbly, shutting his eyes and relaxing into the soft bed, thankful for the reprieve.

He felt someone hold his hand again, and lean in close. Their breath tickled his sweaty face.

"Percy... I am here." Percy recognized it to be Rachel's voice. Her undoubtedly blazing red hair caressed his bearded cheek gently. Her voice shook with emotion. Her pleasant scent, her unidentifiable cologne, mixed with fresh paint stimulated his nasal faculties. He knew that she had been painting.

"I am sorry for disturbing you all. You must be so tired." He apologized, feeling sad and ashamed.

"Nonsense, Jackson." Thalia interjected, and another Hunter, Cynthia, a daughter of Nemesis, added, "You disturbed no one. We are only relieved that you woke up at all."

Atalanta picked up her line. "You were..."

She was rudely interrupted by Hestia. "There were some complications when you were healing, Percy. You were in a coma. Annabeth was very worried for you."

Percy smiled softly, remembering how his Wise Girl fretted every time he did something stupid. "Sounds like her." He ignored the sounds of shuffling and whispered rebukes in the background, their words not making sense to his foggy mind.

"I must say, I never expected Piper of all people to be so medically talented," Aphrodite commented offhandedly.

Calypso stifled a laugh as she slit open the bandage that covered Percy's chest. "She surprised me, too. She has a knack for ancient healing, surprisingly. Something which neither Apollo nor Asclepius has. I think it has to do with you being descended from Ouranos."

"More like she sprang magically from castrated balls in the middle of nowhere," Artemis muttered under her breath, so that Aphrodite could not hear.

Despite his less than normal hearing, Percy picked up her words, and snorted in laughter.

Calypso immediately stifled him. "Shush everyone. No laughing, Percy."

Percy nodded, childishly making a lips zipped motion. There were silent laughs from the others in the room.

"I am warning you..." Calypso threatened, snipping a part of his beard with her sharp scissors to add to the threat.

"I didn't..." Percy started, before falling quiet as both his hands were squeezed hard by Artemis and Rachel.

Calypso removed his gauze gently, and judging from the gasps in the room, it didn't look quite good. Percy could attest to that. Without the bandage and wet gauze to press tightly against his wound, Percy could feel his skin stretched taught in the area, sticky with various medicines. As Calypso pressed gently at various points, thunderbolts of burning pain shot through his core, making Percy gasp. As her nimble fingers gently swabbed the area with wet cotton, Percy could feel the uneven, bumpy skin there from large stitches, somehow different from the other scars that littered his skin.

All the while, Piper was making comments under her breath, and scribbling away at something, most probably taking notes. "It looks much better than before."

"You call that better!" Phoebe's voice was high-pitched. There was whispering, and Percy assumed that Atalanta, the only other healer in the room, apart from Calypso and Piper, was explaining some medical mumbo jumbo to him.

Calypso stopped her examination. "No need to worry, Percy." She patted his beard, the part which she had snipped off, "You will be doing a thousand push-ups in three weeks time, give or take two days."

AN: Lol, Percy's thoughts is what the Physics department thought of us when we were studying medicine, and what we thought of their mathematical mumbo jumbo. There will be no update tomorrow, BTW. I'm taking Lace out for a party hosted by... some relative whom I don't know. All I know is that it is being hosted at the biggest club in Calcutta.Keep calm and CR7!! Keep calm and LM10!! (Messi)