Apparently, I'm Dead

Chapter Twenty-Six

Do I really still have to do this? I don't own PJO/HOO or MCGA

MAGNUS

"Cover your ears!" Sam screams.

I've already done that. I've heard Ratatosk's bark once before, and I never want to hear it again. I feel the noise shake the World Tree, rattling the branches. I also see Percy shake his head as if he's listening to something, then waver as he stands, then crumple to the ground with his eyes screwed tightly shut.

Ratatosk closes its mouth, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. He's done what he came here to do. He turns and disappears into the tree, the tail the last part to disappear.

We all rush over to Percy. He's mumbling under his breath, disjointed words that don't make much sense.

"Bianca! Nico!... Didn't mean to... Not my fault!"

A pause.

"Zoe? ... Saved you... Promise!" he cries.

He continues to speak, his voice a low keen, mourning people only he can hear. "But you-!" he cuts himself off, as if he was interrupted. His hands move to his head, yanking at his hair. The twinge of feeling his pain wakes me up from the trance-like state I was in, just watching him.

"What are we doing?" I cry. Alex and Sam start. "Let's wake him up!"

We rush over to him. I grab at his shoulders, trying to shake him out of his insult-induced state.

Percy wails and smacks my hands away. "Don't hurt me!" he begs. "I swear, I try my hardest to save everyone, but I just can't do it!"

I pull my hands off his shoulders, realizing that everything we do will translate into his dream-ish thing. I look at Sam and Alex, who've come to the same conclusion.

"We'll need to be calculated with what we do," says Sam.

We all look over at Percy as he pleads, "Please, leave me alone." He curls in on himself, trying to become a smaller target.

Alex snaps her fingers. "It's all happening in his head, right?" she asks. We nod. "Then Magnus, maybe you could do some healer-y stuff..." she drifts off, leaving me to finish her sentence.

I kneel down in front of Percy and place my pointer finger on his forehead. Percy flings himself backwards. "No, don't touch me!"

I flinch, trying to ignore Percy's obvious terror. I channel power into my finger, trying to heal his head and bring him out of his squirrel-induced trance. Percy screeches, an ear splitting sound that makes my hands instinctively move to make me stop hearing and makes the children of Loki smack their hands against their ears.

"No, stop it, please!" he screams. "Please, please stop!" He slaps my hand away from his head, and I hiss, shaking out the finger.

The air pressure around us becomes much heavier. Alex and Sam, still standing, stagger backwards and try not to fall over. I'm on my knees, so I just topple over. "Can't... breathe," I wheeze.

"Percy, wake up!" Alex croaks out.

Painstakingly, I wrench myself off the floor, taking shallow breaths. I raise my hand and, with a wince, slap Percy across the face. "PERCY, SNAP OUT OF IT!" I yell.

Immediately, the air pressure alleviates. Percy gasps in a huge breath and his eyes fly open. His sea green eyes look more like water than ever. They're swimming with tears. He seems to know this, too. He shakes his head back and forth like a dog, probably trying to dry his eyes.

He looks back up at me, then shrinks backwards, as if he's afraid I'm going to attack him.

"Hey, Percy," I say softly, trying to reassure him. "It's okay. It's fine. I don't know what Ratatosk told you, but none of it is true. You're okay." I reach out a hand to help him stand up.

Percy stares at it, contemplating whether or not I'll hurt him. Haltingly, he takes the hand and I help him stand up.

Alex appears beside me. "You okay, man?" she asks Percy, patting him on the back. Her eyes are worried, but she leaves the answer up to Percy's control.

He takes a deep breath in, and the remaining tears in his eyes suddenly evaporate. A brilliant smile appears on his face and I blink, shocked. If I hadn't seen with my own eyes that he was just being tortured by a squirrel, I would think that he is completely fine. Percy's acting skills are very impressive.

"Yeah," he says, his voice trembling, barely audible. "Yeah, I'm fine." He seems to be convincing himself more than he's trying to convince Alex or Sam or me.

Alex frowns, but respects Percy's wish to be treated normally. "Alright," she says slowly, "You wanna grab a piece of that leaf?" She points out a leaf that's pretty close to Percy. He should only have to walk a few feet. I smile at Alex's cleverness. It won't stress him, but it'll make him feel useful.

"Sure," Percy says, his voice a bit clumsy. "I'll do that." He blinks, once, twice, three times. "I'll do that," he repeats, seemingly not knowing that he said it before. He stumbles over to the leaf that Alex's pointed to, looking like he's drank a bottle of whiskey.

The daughters of Loki and I exchange glances. On second thought, I think that Percy just needs to sit down and sleep. I walk over to Percy and place my hand on his back. He looks at me, his eyes bleary. "Hmm," he mumbles.

"What?" I ask him. "What is it?"

"You have a twin," Percy smiles drowsily. "Right there." He waves his hand around next to me, where I most certainly don't have a twin.

"Oookay," I say, leading Percy off of the branch he's standing on, back to the trunk. "Let's sit down. Maybe take a nap."

"Sure," Percy repeats. "A nap."

I look at him worriedly, then walk over to the siblings, who are on the branch getting a piece of the leaf. Alex seems to be steadying Sam, until Sam decides it's a waste of time and just flies to get it. Alex screeches, hanging on to her sister's waist for dear life. By the time Sam comes back down with the leaf, she's screaming at her sister. "My gods, Sam! A little warning next time, would you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure," Sam replies flippantly. "The next time we're on Yggdrasil grabbing a leaf for a magical sedative that will put Jormungandr back to sleep so like Loki can't start Ragnarok, and you're hanging on to me so that I don't fall off into Ginnungagap, I'll tell you I'm about to fly."

Thanks,

ATOTALMUSICALNERD