Lost In Memories and Curses (PJO HOO STORY)

CHAPTER 12: BONDING AS IF IT WILL MAKE IT ALL GO BACK TO NORMAL

JASON POV

I was in shock practically the entire Lamia was telling her story, knowing for a fact that everything, even in a twisted sense, was true. But, the second she disappeared and Percy collapsed, I snapped out of it and lunged for the tortured boy. Nico had buffered his fall, but the poor kid was so tiny he couldn't keep Percy up so I helped him carry Percy to the sofas. As I went to get water, I saw Piper sitting with Annabeth and using her charmspeak to calm her down.

My head was swarming with all the information that I got today. Percy and Annabeth were lying to us, all of us. Well, I think all of us. Nico and Piper seemed a lot less confused about the whole 2 years in Tartarus thing. That wasn't the biggest issue though, I had suspected they were lying, after all, you can't just walk through literal hell and then pretend that nothing happened down there. No, the biggest issue was what we had to do now.

I got the glass of water and helped tip it into Percy's mouth. He started to sputter and almost spit the water out of his mouth before he finally jolted awake. Percy looked over at me wearily, his eyes looking far older than his age.

I never really considered it, that we were just kids. All of us had been thrown into a life of fighting, survival, and war from such a young age that it was all we had never known. Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Piper were inexperienced but Percy, Annabeth, and I... we've been doing this for years now.

Gods. It gets tiring.

What's the point of fighting for a side that isn't always right?

I shook away those thoughts, scared at where they had come from. I need to be a leader and, right now, Percy needs my help.

"Hey, Percy," I called out to him, wincing at how awkward I sounded when I tried to talk with a soft voice. He doesn't need pity right now, nor for anyone to treat him like he was broken. "Come on man, you passed out, that's my job!"

I tried to crack a joke and lifted up the corners of my mouth into a weak smile that no one reciprocated. Percy was just staring blankly ahead, gazing at the spot where Lamia was killed but still not truly seeing.

I could replay that scene in my head. Lamia taunting him, him snapping with anger, letting loose of his control and unleashing all his powers. I always knew Percy was strong, but this was a whole different level. He killed Lamia, one of the strongest and biggest monsters, without even touching her.

That was scary.

No! I screamed in my head. You cannot be thinking like that! Percy is your friend. He has proved time and time again that he is loyal... sure he went down to Tartarus for Annabeth, but it was overall for the sake of the quest as well. What if it had been him down there?

I tried shaking Percy again.

"Come on man, look at me. No one here is going to look at you any different. You did what you had to do, okay? We're not mad, promise."

"Yeah dude," Leo started, coming to kneel down beside me as we both tried to get Percy to warm up to us. "So what, you have these cool new powers. In fact, that's actually pretty cool in our opinion. And why are we listening to some weird snake lady anyway? We trust you Percy. You can talk to us, whenever and whatever."

"I have blood on my hands," Percy whispered roughly, his voice hoarse from all the screaming. "Gods, Leo! I have blood on my hands! EVERYTHING Lamia said was true. Every bit of it. I'm dangerous. You can't trust me. No, this power is not cool. I hate it. I killed her and I have the blood of so many more on my hands. My own girlfriend is scared of me. You... you might as well get rid of me. Just kill me. Gods, I'm just better off dead!"

I didn't know how to respond to hearing him talk like that. He wanted to die? I understood that Tartatus was bad in a way that I could never connect with but I didn't expect this. I was sitting there, just gaping at him like a fish out of water, when Nico came over from his seat beside Annabeth and promptly slapped Percy across the face.

"Now you listen here Jackson! Don't you dare talk like that, do you understand me! Look at me Percy!" Nico screamed at him, fury laced in his voice. He grabbed Percy by the chin and forced him to look at him. "Gods Percy! I have no one. You are my brother, do you get that? Other than Hazel, I have no one! After Bianca, you're all I have left. Don't you DARE talk like that Jackson, don't you dare!"

"Oh will you just stop it Nico!" Percy shouted, standing up and staring Nico into the eye. "Gods, what is it with you? Sometimes you pretend like you care so much but the rest of the time you just hate me! Hades, just pick a side! You hate—"

"I'VE NEVER HATED YOU! Gods damn it Percy I've never hated you! It's always been awkward just for things I can't really explain to you right now. I was young when my sister was killed and, at that age, all I knew was that you promised to keep her safe. That's all that I knew Percy! Gods I'm sorry for complicating it but I DON'T hate you! You are my brother. So get your head out of your ass and just find something to live for!"

"Nico... fine, okay. I've always loved you Nico. You've always been more than just a cousin to me, you're my brother. I know you also went down to T... Ta... there, but this is just something you won't understand! I already told you that we were captured. Lamia went out and just revealed that we were kept down there for two years. But I've never actually told you what happened when we were with the monsters, Nico," Percy ranted. He broke eye contact for a few minutes and the silence became so thick and heavy it felt like a weight on my shoulders. It was delicate but I didn't want to break it. "Before the whole fighting thing Lamia was talking about, we were tortured for months. I'm not talking about just locked in a room and slapped around. I mean chained to walls. Our bones broke repeatedly. Burned with fire and crushed under rocks."

"They whipped us like we were animals," Annabeth had said. I hadn't even noticed that she had recovered from her state. She stood up next to Percy and held his hand. Percy suddenly became noticeably tired and weak, his eyes filling with tears as he allowed himself to become vulnerable in front of Annabeth. " They did anything to make us scream. We were fed once a week, and by fed, all I mean is tiny crumbs of food burnt half to crisp. We were desperate enough for anything, though. We were weak, starving, and in pain. The fights happened after we became too dazed to even open our mouths to speak. They pitted Percy in with large, unbeatable monsters at our state. I was put in another area. The longer it took Percy to kill the monster, the longer I was being whipped. Or forced to walk up and down burning pieces of coal with a broken leg. This was going on forever, us just getting weaker and weaker. Eventually, when you guys got to the doors, the pit, yes his physical form, decided to let us go, but with a curse. For the next 100 days after we reach up to the surface, our wounds would not heal and our minds would be weakened with flashbacks and nightmares."

They both fell silent after that, allowing that time to fill in the rest of the gaps of their story. They went through so much down there! None of us knew what to say and we sat there in an awkward silence until Hazel finally spoke up.

"You guys can say no to this if you want but I know you guys haven't been sleeping well and, well, clearly your wounds haven't healed either so you're still in a lot of pain. Since it's already getting late, what if we all sleep down here? We can protect you both, you just have to let us in."

"That sounds like a good idea," Piper said, nodding and standing up next to the younger girl. "We'll all be there, surrounding you so we can watch and protect you both. If you get scared, we'll always be here for you."

"Hazel... Piper... we can't ask you to do that for us," Percy whispered, sounding sad and dejected.

"Nonsense, we're the ones offering," Frank said. "Percy, you both have done so much for us. We're your team. Give us a chance to save you for a change."

Annabeth's eyes glistened with tears as Percy pulled her in for a hug. I've never seen two people look more grateful in my life.

"Guys, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to us!" Percy told us, his voice cracking a bit.

"Now, now, don't get all sappy on us!" Leo exclaimed, trying to divert the mood into a slightly happier one. "If we're all going to stay down here anyway, we might as well, like, I don't know, play some games or something!"

"Like a slumber party," Piper mused.

Sure, why the Hades not?