Chapter Text
“Percy, you have a fever again.”
Annabeth Chase sighed, lowering her fingers from the God of Sea's son's hot forehead. The girl moved slowly, sitting on her lover's side of the bed, her shiny blonde hair swaying slightly. The war goddess's daughter with storm-dark gray eyes was focused straight ahead, staring at Percy Jackson who lay almost helpless on the bed. Her gray eyes flickered in the slightly dim lamplight.
“I'm fine, Annabeth,” Percy said softly, clearing his throat slightly, ”I'm just... a little sleepy. Let me lie down for a while, Annie, and then everything will be sorted out in no time. I'll do my task today. Take it easy, I'll make sure that the duo of Stoll and Leo don't do anything out of the ordinary today.”
Percy's tone sounded calm, as if he was trying to relax his body for a while, but Annabeth knew one hundred percent that there was nothing but a lie there.
It didn't take years of life-and-death experience with the son of the God of Sea to know that he wasn't in the best of health. The voice that escaped the lips of the Hero of Olympus was hoarse, and the area of his throat was reddened, almost swollen, indicating an abnormality in his physical condition that was usually as strong and resilient as a mad bull in the Colosseum. His breathing was hot, his lips were dry, and his face was almost as white as the color of the mattress he was sleeping on now.
Percy Jackson was clearly not well.
“Stop being so stubborn, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth scolded, exasperated by her sea lover's strong-arm behavior. Even from ten centimeters away, Annabeth could feel the heat emanating from Percy's skin.
“You can't lie to the daughter of Athena. Look how pale your face is. Even now you look like the ghost of a naval marshal from the Underworld. What part of that do you call fine, Silly Boy?”
Percy was Percy. Instead of being sensitive, the demigod whose name was known throughout Olympus was now chuckling softly, clearly trying to dispel the tense atmosphere that was binding between the two of them.
“Annabeth, that's a good idea. I guess I could offer Nico if he wants an extra member for his zombie army, you know, being a living spy from the navy in a zombie army sounds pretty cool--”
“Percy.”
Even for a son of the Big Three, everyone knew it wasn't wise to still crack stupid jokes in front of the daughter of the Goddess of War who had already issued her leader's tone. Her command was absolute.
Percy spontaneously closed his mouth, his expression a mixture of embarrassment and obedience, “Sorry, Wise Girl.”
Annabeth let out a long breath for the second time.
“Nice joke, Seaweed Brain,” After standing by Percy's side for so many years, Annabeth was already immune to all the demigod's jokes and soundbites. “Now, listen to me. Quit picketing today and rest until your fever goes down. I'll take over your duties. Incidentally, my schedule is free today.”
Percy rounded his eyes. The Son of Poseidon got up from his bed, half forced himself, and took the hand of his blonde girlfriend who always looked beautiful in his eyes.
He shook his head, refusing loudly, “Annabeth, really, I'm fine. I'll picket today. You just got your free time, didn't you? I don't want to disturb your time. Besides, you know, it's just a trick of mine. I'm just being lazy, so I'm trying to buy some time. Ah, and again, this heat is normal. It's probably because I just turned off the heating. One more thing, I'm the son of Poseidon! A little heat won't hurt me--”
“But the pain of prolonged anxiety can hurt you, Percy.”
The Hero of Olympus' shoulders jerked. His sea-green eyes widened in surprise, as if he had just been punched in the face by an unexpected foe. The gentle grip on Annabeth's hand slipped, and Percy Jackson was completely silent now.
Annabeth's gray eyes looked sad. “Sorry.”
No reply, no answer, not even a single sound escaped the lips of the son of the Ruler of the Seas. All that could be seen was that the light in his green eyes that was usually as bright as the sea was now slowly dimming.
Percy didn't know what to say. Annabeth's words seemed to freeze Percy, making him unable to move, unable to react to the massive facts told by the daughter of the goddess of war. The facts that nudged his pain, the collapse of his heroic pride, his guilt, his nightmares, all his suffering... He felt like he was slapped, forced to wake up to something he had always tried to push away, something he never wanted to admit, something he always hated.
Percy didn't like to look broken.
Annabeth smiled bitterly. She decided to move, standing up from where she had been sitting at the demigod's bedside. Annabeth put her arm around her lover's shoulders and kissed Percy's forehead lovingly. His forehead was more than warm and slightly damp with sweat, but Annabeth didn't care. Percy always deserved the proof of her love.
“I'll prepare some warm water for you. After that, take a shower. I'll make sure the other kids set aside some breakfast for you to eat. Don't think about your picket line, okay? Let me take care of it. I'll also ask Will to get you some medicine.”
“Get some rest, my love.”
Annabeth walked away, leaving Percy Jackson lying on the only occupied wooden bed in Cabin Three, unable to see the tears rolling down the Poseidon's son's hot cheeks.
***
In Annabeth's eyes, Percy was the fruit of intoxicating happiness.
Not that she didn't feel happy for Athena's love and her father's care. Not that she didn't find happiness in her memories of living together with Luke and Thalia. It wasn't she didn't find joy in her friendships with her colleagues at Camp Half Blood, the Camp Jupiter, or the girls in the Artemis Hunters. Even with all the suffering Annabeth had endured during her life as a demigod, it didn't mean that there was nothing in this world that made her happy other than Percy's existence.
However, Annabeth could not deny the fact that Percy Jackson's name held the highest throne in her heart.
Ever since their first summer at Camp Half Blood a few years ago, on the way to completing a mission to obtain the Zeus's original lightning bolt and bring Percy's mother back from the Underworld, Annabeth had been secretly in love with him.
She was passive at first, deciding to hide her feelings deeply, but as time passed and she accompanied Percy on various life-and-death missions, Annabeth's affection gradually became unstoppable. After all the adventures and battles that ravaged almost half of the world, the deep bond the two shared finally saw the light of day.
Annabeth's affection was met by Percy's genuine love--and three months later, they were officially dating. The daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom fell for the intoxicating charm of the son of the God of Sea, and the son of the God of Sea fell for the matchless beauty of the daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom.
Perhaps, no one ever thought that she, the daughter of the Goddess Athena who was known to be intelligent and independent, would fall for an seaweed-brained demigod like Percy. Even in terms of the historical deities of Olympus, the endless rivalry between the Goddess of Wisdom and the God of the Sea was enough to make their relationship almost impossible.
They were almost like heaven and earth--Annabeth with her impeccable leadership traits and habit of strategizing two-three steps ahead before acting, and Percy with all his spontaneity who always acted twice as fast before his brain could even think. The two have different mindsets, different personalities, different courses of action, almost too opposite to see where they intersect.
But perhaps that was the basis of their special relationship; despite their differences, in the end Annabeth and Percy complemented each other.
The months that followed the war against Kronos were much tougher than anything Annabeth had ever faced before. Three months after they officially became lovers, Percy disappeared from the camp. Annabeth almost destroyed herself only to find out that his disappearance was the work of Hera, the Queen of Heaven who had long occupied the number one spot on her list of least favorite deities. And so the journey begins again--the liberation of Hera, the voyage of the Argo II, a visit to the Camp Jupiter, before finally embarking on her own personal hellish mission to Rome for Athena Parthenos, and getting the most horrific reward Annabeth could have ever expected; falling into Tartarus with Percy.
Although Annabeth and Percy made it back from the God's cursed abyss, the daughter of the Goddess of War knew better than anyone that the event would always be a vicious poison whose sensations she could never forget for the rest of her life.
More than Gaia, the God of the Pit Tartarus was the darkest core of all Annabeth's fear and horror.
Nevertheless, the great war against Gaia was eventually successfully concluded. From both the Greek Demigods and the Roman Legion, there were so many casualties in the war. Demigods, naiads, nymphs, satyrs, there were many funerals to be done. The camp buildings were destroyed, renovations were urgently needed. It took a long time for both the demigod camps and Mount Olympus to recover, and the overall situation of Western Civilization was now almost stable, recovering.
Not to mention the relationship between the seven demigods of the Great Prophecy and the loyal companions who accompanied them in the war against Gaia, things had changed for the better than before.
Jason and Piper, putting aside the fact that their previous relationship was the result of Hera's interference, are now officially dating. Jason was busy shuttling back and forth between camps, continuing Percy's actions in the previous major war, ensuring that all deities--not to mention minor deities--and their children had proper lodge rights in both camps while his girlfriend served as counselor of the Aphrodite Cabin. Frank fulfilled his duties as Praetor with Reyna, aided by Hazel's presence by his side. Nico restarted his new days with Will, becoming the counselor of the Hades Cabin and continuing to be the stabilizing bridge between Olympus and the Underworld. More surprisingly, Leo, who had been claimed dead by everyone, reappeared with Calypso from Ogygia, and is now officially the head counselor of the Hephaestus Cabin in Camp Half Blood.
Everyone had adapted to their new lives, enjoying the happy days that seemed so hard to come by before, and Annabeth was no exception. It took Annabeth a little longer, but in the end she managed to survive and get rid of the memories of Tartarus that had been burning in her mind for the past months. But not with one person. Percy. After all her observations and analysis, Annabeth knew for sure that something was wrong with her boyfriend.
At first, Annabeth thought it was just the usual things that every demigod felt; nightmares that kept him up at night, exhaustion from training, dueling, and completing missions, or contact from gods and goddesses who sometimes did not know human ethics. As the center of two Great Prophecies, it was no longer unusual for Percy--it was the hero of Olympus' daily bread. Especially with his experience of falling into Tartarus and making it out alive. Therefore, Annabeth let it go, believing that Percy would always find a way out of everything that bothered him, that even the Son of the God of Sea needed time to heal himself. Percy would be fine in the end.
This time, Annabeth's thinking was one hundred percent wrong.
Instead of getting better, Percy's condition became more and more worrisome to Annabeth. Percy hadn't told her anything since the war ended, but she could see that something had been bothering her lover's head for some time. Percy started to look different. His face looked tired, losing its luster and becoming as pale as alabaster. His eye sockets were blackened, as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep for the past month. His cheeks tapered, followed by a body that slowly became thin.
The other kids didn't notice, but he knew that Percy was starting to skip breakfast more often. At first it was just one or two times, and Annabeth had reprimanded him a few times, but now it was getting too much--Percy hardly ever ate breakfast anymore. Even now, Percy was skipping dinner together. Supposedly after all the work his girlfriend did as a counselor and helping out as an instructor in the sword class, Percy would be hungry more often. However, he wasn't. It was as if there were too many things bothering him that made Percy have no appetite for food.
On top of that, Percy now often had a fever. It seemed trivial, but it was a bad cycle, much more frequent than Annabeth could have expected. Percy could get a fever almost three times a week. It wasn't a high fever, but it still worried Annabeth. Two weeks ago, her boyfriend had even spent a week in bed with a high fever that went up and down. Will said there were no dangerous diseases in his body, but the Apollo Cabin's counselor mentioned that Percy's metabolic system was very unstable due to the stress.
Fever, insomnia, stress, and eating disorders were one thing and another, but what worried Annabeth the most was Percy's troubled battle instinct. Her lover was one of the most reflexive fighters among the demigods, but now it was different. For some reason, Percy was now often very passive, he was even almost stabbed by one of the campers during a sword class. Another time, strangely the opposite happened, Percy almost slashed the head of a visiting Jason just because Jupiter's son surprised him from behind.
Percy was not well, and as a lover, Annabeth couldn't help but care. Even though Annabeth tried to take care of him, Percy still didn't want to open up. Annabeth knew that this was the time she needed someone's help. However, the daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom was troubled. She knew contacting Percy's parents would be better, but contact with Sally would obviously make the woman frantic and agitated, and Annabeth was sure Percy wouldn't let her.
There was only one way left.
Annabeth decided to contact Percy's father, Poseidon.
The brief conversation Annabeth had at dawn that day after visiting Percy at least eased some of the burden on her heart, and Annabeth could only hope that her lover would recover and return with his usual sweet smile.
***
The waves of water roared, then swirled into a furious whirlpool. The lake water was bluish-green, glistening in the sunlight that radiated warmly from behind a small bank of clouds. The sky was blue, and the weather was better than ever, as if nature was welcoming the arrival of a great and powerful being. A perfect day for canoeing.
In the midst of the raging whirlpool, a wave of water seemed to rise out of it, its waves skimming the surface of the water and moving towards the side of the lake that was filled with solid ground and short grass. The wave of water stopped, its ripples miraculously moving vertically from bottom to top, and from behind it, emerged a man with black hair and sunburnt brown skin, clad in a blue summer shirt with short sleeves and black pants that made him look fashionable. His bright green eyes revealed a brilliant luster, a unique aura of majesty emanating from his face that was like a sculpted statue of a Greek god, as if exuding his boundless power and strength.
The God of the Sea Poseidon announced his presence on the warm lake side of Camp Half Blood.
Even in Camp Half Blood, the arrival of one of the Big Three of Olympus was not a sight commonly seen even in a few hundred years. Moreover, the god came in his human form, not in his true form raging like an endless storm, dressed in summer clothes that looked casual yet elegant. The gods rarely visited the camp, let alone the Big Three--their arrival was often called impossible by the campers. This was because their own children were almost non-existent on modern Olympus, and even if they were, there were only a handful of mighty demigods whose names were familiar. Roughly speaking, there was almost no business for them to come here.
Yet, here Poseidon was, open-handedly coming to the territory of Camp Half Blood to visit his beloved son, his Percy.
After getting contact from his son's girlfriend some time ago, Poseidon rushed to find the most appropriate time to visit Percy. It was no easy task, considering that as the Ruler of the Seas, he was preoccupied with restoring his castle that had been devastated after the last two major wars. Poseidon had to repeatedly negotiate with his wife Amphitrite and his subordinates to get time to visit Long Island. After a hectic month, Poseidon was finally able to fulfill his promise to Annabeth.
Poseidon stepped out, walking deeper into the center of the camp that had long been one of Olympus' main pivots in maintaining their civilization. To be honest, it was still early in the morning when Poseidon arrived, but the activities at the Half Blood Camp seemed to have already begun. The demigods were practicing combat, the satyrs were busy harvesting in the strawberry fields, the naiads were singing in the forest, and the harpies were flying around keeping the camp clean.
However, that was not his priority. Poseidon's main destination was the area of the cabins that housed the demigods, where the Cabin Three were both his altar and the space for his son to rest. He stepped quickly. None of the campers realized that Poseidon was passing them by. The god had deliberately disguised himself, choosing not to announce his arrival to the camp's inhabitants. Dionysus and Chiron certainly sensed his presence, but as long as it was demigods and other beings below the level of gods, Poseidon did not want his presence to be known. Because really, Poseidon didn't want to be bothered by anyone right now. He just wanted to see Percy.
The door to Cabin Three that morning was still firmly closed. There was an ornament made of snail shells and seashells in white, blue, and lustrous green there, hanging so beautifully on its surface. Its luster somehow reminded Poseidon of Percy's brilliant sea-green eyes, revealing a ray of honesty and sincerity that always managed to make Poseidon unable to look away.
Just like Percy, Poseidon thought.
The God of the Sea raised a hand and opened the door. The door was not locked. Besides, even if it was locked, as a god Poseidon could always enter. A refreshing smell of sea salt mixed with citrus wafted from the room as the god entered, moving inside to where his son's bed lay.
The sight he found when he arrived at his destination brought him to a halt.
Percy, his son, lay limply on the bed with his body half curled up, a bright colored blanket covering almost half of his not-so-big body. A white handkerchief was attached to his forehead which looked wet from heavy sweat. Percy's face was pale but also flushed, for some reason his cheeks looked thinner than Poseidon remembered from their last meeting. Percy's chest rose and fell, panting slightly, a slightly disturbing heat emanating from him that the sensitive God of the Sea could feel even from afar.
Poseidon's stomach felt like it was wrapped in invisible ropes. Apparently Annabeth's words were true. Percy was not okay. Even a month after his communication with Athena's daughter, Percy was still in the condition mentioned by his blonde lover. His son was sick and needed him.
The god stepped closer, approaching Percy's wooden bed and standing beside his son. His green eyes stared intently at Percy's handsome face. The face of the boy who had long been his pride as the Ruler of the Seas. The blush that always adorned his son's cheeks was fading because of his pallor, but for Poseidon, no matter what condition he was in, Percy always looked beautiful in his eyes. His son was too precious a figure not to be sincerely adored by him.
Poseidon's fingers lifted. He stroked Percy's black hair that was slightly damp from sweat, sending as much warmth and comfort as possible to his sick and helpless son.
The soft stroking of his head seemed to disturb Percy's short sleep. A weak groan escaped his pale lips. The boy woke up, slowly opening his eyes, revealing sea green eyes that were exactly the same as his father's before looking away.
Two pairs of sea green eyes met, and Percy immediately jumped in surprise. "D-Dad!?"
Poseidon's soft smile was etched uncontrollably. "Good morning, my son."
A bright morning that felt heavy, the blue sea came bringing infinite warmth to Percy.