The Other Side - A Percy Jackson Fanfic

2

Percy's POV:

I woke the next morning, great full that the dreams were over. I've had nightmares before, but never that intense, or violent.
For some reason, I was angry.
I didn't want people to think I was weak, and that dream showed all of my weak points. Every time I'd gone soft, or failed at something important. I hated that I had weaknesses. But I couldn't help it.
I got up, still a little mad at myself, and all my faults, and headed to the dinning pavilion for breakfast. Grover, of course, asked me what was wrong. Again.
We had the same conversation, with the same results, me getting angry and leaving without eating much food.
What is his problem? Why can't he just leave me alone? He knows when he asks I just get angrier!
About halfway to the training arena, I stopped in my tracks. An image came to my mind. One that made me smile, just a little. Almost exactly like the one I'd had yesterday, when Annabeth and I were talking, but this time, with Grover....
"Percy, you okay?" Nico snapped me out of my daze. I hadn't noticed him before, but now he was only a few feet to my right.
"Yeah..." I replied slowly. "I'm good."
He nodded, looking as if he were about to say something, then changed his mind and asked if I wanted to train with him.
"Sure." I replied, and we both headed over the the arena, neither of us saying a single word the whole way there.

After training for about two hours, we stopped and sat down near the edge of the arena, both gulping down water.
"So..." he began, "About earlier-"
"What about earlier?" I asked, cutting him off.
Nico looked taken aback, and I realized that I was glaring at him, and my words had been harsher than I'd meant.
"Well, I just wanted to ask what you were thinking about, when I walked up to you... You looked like you were thinking pretty hard..."
"Yeah," I said. "I don't really want to talk about that." I was trying hard to keep my voice low, and soft, and I think Nico could see that I was about to go off on him, so he backed off and changed the subject.
"Okay, so how's it feel, being done with all that Gaea crap?"
I managed a small smile. "Awesome, but you should know that. You helped beat her too."
Nico was smiling too now. "I transported a statue. You fought off Zeus knows what and then some."
"Don't go selling yourself short Nico. We couldn't have won without you."
He smirked at me, and went on thinking whatever it is that goes on in his head. I smiled, and lay down on my back in the grass, relaxing as the sun rose higher in the sky.
Nico and I sat there like that for a while, and, to my surprise, it was Nico who broke the silence.
"Percy?" he said.
"Yeah?"
"Are you really okay?" He asked.
He was probably lucky that I was so relaxed, or I would've snapped at him. Instead, I did something that surprised the both of us. I told him the truth.
"I'm not sure..."
"What's wrong?"
I let out a deep sigh, "I keep having these... thoughts, and I had a pretty intense nightmare last night. I don't know man, everything's just messed up right now, you know?"
"Yeah." He said. "Yeah, I know how you feel." He paused a moment, then asked, "What are the thoughts about?"
I began to raise my guard. "Just, thoughts..."
Nico looked at me kinda weird, "Yeah, but what are they about?"
"Nothing." I said, realizing that I shouldn't have told him anything at all.
"Percy, I won't tell any-"
"I said it was nothing!" I growled. "What is everyone's problem? I'm fine!"
I got to my feet, and started walking away, ignoring Nico's apologies as I got to the climbing wall, and then practiced on it until lunch had passed.

Nico's POV:

Man. I thought, I've got to find a way to get through to him.
For the last week, I've felt something wrong inside the camp, and kept quiet about it, not knowing where it was coming from. Now I know.
Something's wrong with Percy, and I need to find out what it is before it's too late. It's like he was dying, but he was perfectly healthy, and the feeling that was coming off him, it was different, and kept getting stronger.
I don't think he'll physically die... and if what I think is right, we are in for a world of trouble. I just hope the others are ready for anything, and that I am very, very wrong...