𝖇𝖆𝖉 𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 || ᴘᴊᴏ x ʜᴘ

20 - 𝕹𝖔𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖙'𝖘 𝖙𝖚𝖓𝖓𝖊𝖑 𝖔𝖋 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊

That night, before they went into the dining car, Holly split up from the three to find a bathroom.

As soon as she found an unoccupied and relatively sanitary one, she locked the door behind her and pulled up the hem of her shirt. She winced as she saw a large gash on her side, she turned the faucet on and splashed water onto the skin before she dug around for a potion in her beaded bag.

Then there was a knock on the door. "Occupied," Holly shouted, questioning the intelligence of whoever was on the other side of the door not noticing how the door was locked and otherwise occupied.

"It's Percy," The voice replied.

Holly looked at the door before she put her shirt down and pulled the strings of her bag closed. Then she opened the door.

"Hey, I'll be with you in just a moment-"

"I can help you," Percy said. "Well, I think I can heal your wound."

"You're a healer now?" Holly questioned as she opened the door fully, he took her arm and inspected the scratches she obtained then nodded her head as if asking to let her in. She does so, as the two of them cramp into the small space.

"Actually, I'm not entirely sure I can heal other people." Percy admits as he opened the tap and held Holly's arm close to the water. "But it's worth a shot seeing as we don't have anymore ambrosia and nectar."

He cupped a handful of water and let it trickle over her skin, Holly winced as he placed his palm over the skin. But then, the pain began to ease as the water travelled up and down her arm.

Holly watched in awe as her skin knitted itself back together, "You're not bad, Jackson."

"One of my father's many gifts," he said sarcastically.

Holly raised an eyebrow and then sighed as she took a paper towel to dab her arm dry. "Grover's right, Percy. You can't ignore a God's summon."

"I know that." He sighed and turned to lean against the counter top. "I wasn't planning to."

"But you should know," Holly tossed the crumpled up paper towel in the bin. "Gifts always come with a price."

"Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of giving gifts?"

"Not to the Gods."

"Well," Percy crossed his arms. "I don't suppose your mother's many gifts were any different."

Holly plucked her quill from her pocket and flourished it in front of Percy, it elongated into a long rapier that took most of the space in the small cubicle. "Everything comes with a price, but I got it as a... prize." She glances at him, pondering whether to continue or not. "I had to lose something to earn this."

"Do you regret it?"

"Every day." Holly retracted her rapier, packed up her things and slipped out of the lavatory.

Percy was left in his own thoughts once more, left to wonder the mystery that is Holly Black. But slowly, he's starting to see the truth. He's starting to come to a realisation, not that he knows it yet.

***

The following afternoon, their train rolls to a stop as they reach the station in Denver. As soon as they stepped outside, Annabeth immediately set a plan in motion.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"We can't use phones, right?" Percy asks.

"I'm not talking about phones."

Annabeth glances at Holly who nods in understanding, she plucks a map from a nearby stand as they pass before unfolding it.