Lost In Memories and Curses (PJO HOO STORY)

CHAPTER 4: PTSD STANDS FOR PAIN, TRAUMA, SCARED, & DEPRESSION

ANNABETH POV

When I woke up and couldn't see Percy, I had completely freaked out. My vision itself wasn't the greatest. Everything was swarming in front of me and everything I saw was tinged gray and red. So when I didn't see Percy right beside me as he usually stayed because of my fear after I went blind in Tartarus, I completely panicked.

Oh no, oh no, oh no! They must have taken him away! What if he dies all alone? Oh no! What if they locked him down there? Wait no! I can't do this again! His time gets longer and longer each time!

Usually I prided myself on my ability to stay calm and collected but, hey, why don't you try taking a stroll through Tartarus with the love of your life who shouldn't have even been forced to face those tortures because the only reason he was there was because he willingly jumped in for you.

Exactly.

I'd be panicking too... no wait, I am.

I feel guilty about that every day. I know Tartarus changed Percy, but, even though I was scared of him in the beginning, I have just begun to accept it. Percy is powerful and he did what he had to do to survive.

He did what he had to do.

Or else we both would have been dead.

My chest was beginning to tighten and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. It didn't help that I could hardly even move any of my limbs (they were all bandaged up, but I didn't know that yet). All of a sudden, I felt a familiar hand on my own and my breathing hitched.

"Percy?" I asked, hating how raspy my voice sounded. My last memory of him was horrible. He was bleeding, far too much. Multiple stab wounds, broken bones, and bleeding lashes, not to mention the starvation. The air is so dry and poisonous in Tartarus and there is no water. The hydration made me delirious, but if I was affected that badly, then Percy was 10 times worse. Water was his domain after all. I went unconscious after another session and Kelly smashed my head against the rock. My last memory was Percy yelling a defiant scream, tugging against his own chains, as mine rattled as I was thrown backward and then fell down like a rock, my eyes rolled upward.

"Hey, Annie, hey, I'm right here," Percy replied, his voice thick with tears. I looked up at him, my own eyes watering and broken, and just made myself content looking at his sea green eyes. They used to be so light, beautiful, and warm. Now? They're dark and swarming, like a violent storm. He was still tense, on guard, as if he truly didn't believe he was out of Tartarus yet. I didn't believe it either. What if this was all just some big trick? We both saw so many visions down there. What if this was just one of them?

"No, no, don't do that," Percy whispered, his voice so soft and soothing, as if he knew what I was thinking. No. He defiantly knew that I was thinking. I know I always call him a Seaweed Brain and stupid, but, really, he's not. Percy has always been shockingly perceptive. And all that time we spent down there together, well, if it was even possible, we had become even closer. It didn't even matter to me that my whole body was flaring in pain. He was there. Right there with me.

That's all that mattered.

My vision had finally begun to clear up and I could actually see Percy now. He was on the floor, next to my bed, still holding my hand. He was covered in a thick roll of bandages but the blood was already seeping through.

"Oh Percy, what are you doing out of your bed?" I asked, secretly glad that he had come closer to me. I hated how selfish I sounded, I knew it was hurting him and I instantly regretted it, but I also just wanted to pull him closer to me. "You need to lie down and rest!"

"I can rest next to you," he huffed, struggling to sit up. His leg was... damaged... to say the least. I can still never get the sound of his brutal screams as he cried out in pain when he did that to him. Every time we had to move to a new torture spot, if the monsters didn't decide to just drag us across the floor by our chains, I would have to carry him.

Needless to say, we fell down a lot. Obviously we weren't fed much down there. The monsters would collect the food that appeared in the Shrine of Hermes and give us the tiniest of pieces, after scorching it in fire and practically burning it and making it inedible, but just enough to survive for the years of torture. By the time of that particular injury, we were both already skeletons of our own bodies. I could hardly hold myself up, much less the weight of someone else. I forced myself through it anyway, because Percy needed me.

"Come on," I said, forcing myself to sit up so that I could grab Percy by the forearms and actually help him stand so he could climb into bed with me. In the most awkward way possible, I somehow helped Percy stand up without having to put his left leg on the ground and let himself climb into my bed and snuggle next to me.

"You can rest Wise Girl, I'll take the first watch," Percy murmured. Dark bags circled under his eyes and everything about the two of us was weary and thin. I snuggled my head into the crook of his neck, ignoring the pain of the gash on my forehead.

"None of us are sleeping, Percy. You know that. Even worse tortures await us once we close our eyes."