The Next Great Prophecy

PERCY XXXIV

When Percy woke up, he was surprised. His last conscious thought was of his imminent death, but he had apparently survived.

            He sat up carefully, shivering. He glanced down, noticing that his clothes were still fairly damp, and that there was still a puddle around his bed. He looked down at it apprehensively.

            “Nice to see you up,” said a voice from the doorway. Percy turned and found Piper looking into his room, smiling.

            “Yeah, I’ve been spending a bit too much time unconscious lately. Maybe I’ll be awake for a whole ten minutes this time!” he joked. Piper laughed before taking a seat on the bed. If she noticed it was soaked, she didn’t say anything.

            “Percy, what happened?”

            He had known the question was coming, and knew he should answer. But he wasn’t sure where to begin. “Just an accident.”

            “How does one accidentally fill their cabin with water and almost drown?”

            “I just—I lost control. It happens sometimes. The drowning thing is a whole new issue, and I’m not sure what to say about that.”

            “So, everything’s fine?”

            “A-OK.”

            “Then why do you keep staring at that puddle like it is going to attack you?”

            Percy hadn’t realized he was staring at the puddle until Piper pointed it out. He quickly averted his gaze, looking at her instead. “I’m not. I wasn’t staring at anything.”

            “Bull.”

            “I wasn’t!”

            “Percy Jackson, don’t lie to me. There is something you aren’t telling me, and I want to know what it is.” Percy glanced at her, and it hit him like a bus. Piper could make him tell her, but she wasn’t. She was letting him make the decision for himself, which made him trust her more than he ever thought he could. That’s what made the decision for him.

            “Ok, but please don’t mention it to Annabeth, she’ll just worry. Or anyone else, for that matter.”

            “Swear on the Styx. Now spill.”

            “Well,” Percy started, hesitating a bit before bursting out with, “Ithinkimightbescaredofwater.”

            “Come again?” said Piper, looking at him like he was speaking a foreign language.

            Percy took a deep breath. “I think I might be scared of water. I keep panicking every time I see it, I’m terrified that I’ll drown. That hasn’t been an issue for me before, but ever since Alaska—“

            “What happened in Alaska?” Piper interrupted.

            “When Hazel, Frank, and I were there, I stepped in some muskeg. It’s kind of like a mixture of mud and quicksand, and it sucks you down. I couldn’t breathe, it was like I was drowning in dirt. Hazel managed to get me out, but I was terrified. And then, in Rome, with the nymphs, it just got worse. That time it was actually water. And it has been happening more and more, at Khione’s palace, out in the ocean, just now in here. I’m supposed to be stronger in water. It isn’t supposed to kill me.”

            Piper looked at Percy, concern evident on her face. “And you haven’t mentioned this to anyone?”

            “No. I didn’t want you guys to worry.”

            “Percy, we’re your friends! Worrying is in the job description!”

            “But with everything else going on—“

            “Who gives a crap about everything else? I don’t. I care that my friends are okay, that they aren’t dealing with some inner pain, that they don’t get hurt. The rest of the world can rot, for all I care, but as long as the six of you are okay, I’ll be happy.

            “’To save a friend, you’d sacrifice the world,’” Percy said, remembering the words of the wisdom goddess. “Pipes, I think I just figured out your fatal flaw.”

            “And what would that be?”

            “Personal loyalty. It’s mine as well. Athena told me about it a year before the Titan War.”

            “Doesn’t sound like much of a flaw. Why is it a bad thing to want to help my friends?”

            “You’d have to ask them, I never understood it. Hasn’t gotten me killed yet.”

            “Percy, what are you going to do about this water thing?”

            “Pretend it’s not there?”

            “The water or the fear?”

            “Both.”

            Piper laughed, and Percy couldn’t help but join in. They sat on the bed, laughing until their stomachs hurt, tears streaming down their face. Percy caught his breath, struggling to speak without bursting into laughter again. He became somber. “Piper, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Try to get over it, I guess. But I don’t really have time to be scared, we’ve got another potential war on our hands. But please, don’t say anything to the others.”

            Piper stared at him, her face still filled with concern. “If you think that’s best, then do it. But I’ll be around if you need me, okay? You don’t have to suffer alone.”

            Piper rose, walking toward the door. Percy stopped her before she made it to the hall. “Piper?”

            “Yeah, Percy?”

            “You may want to change your pants. It looks a little like you peed yourself.”

            Piper giggled. “I appreciate the warning,” she said, walking back to smack him on the back of the head. “Water Boy.”

            The two of them laughed, and Piper said bye and left, presumably to change her pants.

I have this headcannon that Percy and Piper are best friends, which I know plenty of people share. They harass each other, like brother and sister, and it makes me happy.

So, I already failed to keep my self-imposed schedule, and I apologize. I have failed you. I will try harder next week. Please, comment and respond, and answer this question:

What do you want to see in the upcoming chapters? I have ideas, but I wanted to see where some of you might want me to go.