Chapter Text
Percy’s lungs were burning. His eyes were watering as he suppressed a fit of coughing, pushing through the pain to keep his sword raised. In only a few more hits, he was disarmed, and bent over double, hands on knees, desperately trying to draw breath.
“Dude. You good?” Nico lowered his own sword and took a step back, watching with concern as Percy began to cough.
Percy tried to answer, but could only manage a weak wheeze. He raised a hand in a so-so gesture instead as the coughing fit subsided, leaving him gasping and wiping his eyes.
“‘M fine” he croaked at least, gulping water down and feeling energy return to his limbs as some splashed down his chest and arms. One last shuddering breath, and he was on his feet again with sword ready.
“Do you need a break or something?” Nico asked. Percy shook his head. “Monsters won’t give me a five minute break. I’m just out of shape or something.”
Percy felt the same burning feeling and air hunger return in the next few sparring sessions, but none so bad that it stopped him. Finally, after winning five bouts to Nico’s four, the boys shook hands and walked out of the arena together. Percy was panting, but the pain was minimal, it didn’t feel that much worse than being out of breath before all the events of the summer. And besides, Nico was panting just as hard, if not harder.
Percy didn’t begin to become concerned about his breathing until a few days later, when the wind changed directions during the campfire, blowing smoke into his and Annabeth’s faces as it passed by. He’d covered his mouth with his shirt but even so, just a few shallow breaths had left him doubled over, coughing until he was gagging. Beside him, Annabeth was having an attack equally severe, head buried in the crook over her elbow as her whole body shook.
When Percy finally straightened, throat on fire, Will was standing in front of him.
“I’m fine,” he wheezed, wiping his face on his shirt.
“You’re coughing up blood,” Will said, pointing at said shirt. “Come on, you and Annabeth are coming with me. Away from the smoke."
He passed Annabeth her cane, which had fallen to the dirt, and helped both demigods to their feet. Percy felt lightheaded, still unable to draw enough air into his lungs, and he found himself leaning on Will’s shoulder as the edges of his vision went dark.
Will helped Percy up the stairs to the Big House, and had him sit on a bed. Annabeth sat a few beds away, gulping a glass of water.
“I’m going to use my powers to run a diagnostic,” Will started, “Are you comfortable with me touching your hands?”
“Dude, you walked me here over your shoulder,” Percy said, holding out his hand. Will took it, and his own hands seemed to glow for a moment.
“Right, well, thankfully, you do not have Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Typhoid, or a very bad flu,” Will said. “You do, however, have lung damage, and I can’t tell the cause just from this. You don’t smoke or vape, do you?”
Percy shuddered. The smell of tobacco was synonymous with Ugly Gabe in his head, he would never in a million years consider smoking. “No way.”
“Have you recently inhaled large amounts of wood smoke? Not the campfire, that wasn’t nearly enough smoke to cause lung damage,” Will continued.
“I don’t think so,” Percy said. “I was around Greek Fire on the Argo II but that doesn’t smoke.”
From a few meters away, Annabeth spoke up, and Percy turned to face her. “What about the air in Tarturus?”
Percy’s eyes widened, and his face was identical to Will’s.
“Of course,” Will murmured. “That would also explain why both of you are having trouble breathing.”
Annabeth groaned. “I can’t leave that fucking place behind, can I?”
Percy immediately stood up to comfort her, putting an arm around Annabeth as she sunk into his side. Will followed, sitting down on an empty bed to face them. “I’ll have to treat this the way I’d treat toxic chemical inhalation - not that I’ve treated that before. I need to do some research. For now, I’d say avoid the campfire - I’m surprised it hasn’t set you off before - and avoid activities that will make you out of breath. Percy, Nico mentioned you had breathing problems the other day while fighting him.”
Percy muttered a curse under his breath. “I was fine, just out of breath.”
“That’s a symptom of lung damage," Will said, “Also pain when breathing, feeling like you can’t get enough air, coughing… all things you’re dealing with. I’m going to research this more tonight, both of you come back tomorrow and I’ll see what I can do.”
Percy nodded. “Thanks, doc.”
“I’m just a medic,” Will said. “Oh, here.”
He hopped back down off the bed and pulled open a drawer, riffling through it for a minute before withdrawing two plain blue surgical masks in their plastic wrappers. “These aren’t designed for blocking out bad air, but I don’t have any N95 masks handy, and they’re better than nothing. Wear them when the campfire’s burning, or there's anything else in the air that could cause issues.”
Annabeth took a mask and ripped open the packaging, securing the loops of the mask around her ears. Percy took the mask more hesitantly, and stuck it in his pocket. Annabeth tapped him slightly on the arm and gave him a pointed look until he withdrew it and also put it on.
Will stayed up into the early hours of the morning, pouring through medical textbooks and using the one computer at camp to search the internet for information. The next morning, powered by caffeine and determination, he asked Nico, who spent nearly as much time as Will helping out the infirmary now, to go get Percy and Annabeth. Nico summoned his Wheelchair of Darkness, as he’d dubbed it, and disappeared into the shadows of the supply closet before Will could finish saying ‘I meant walk to get them!”
Percy was fresh out of the shower, standing barefoot in jeans in the middle of his cabin, towelling his hair off, when Nico appeared out of nowhere, rolling forward slightly in his chair.
Percy screamed and leapt back, summoning Riptide before he could fully process who had just appeared in his cabin.
“Zeus! You can’t just do that to a man!” Percy sword, returning Riptide to its pen form and trying his best to catch his breath.
“Will’s ready for you,” Nico responded, grabbing a camp shirt off the floor and tossing it to Percy. Percy caught it instinctively and pulled it on, still glaring at Nico. Nico grinned, and rolled backwards, back into the shadows.
He was a little less alert when he appeared just outside the Athena cabin. Two shadow-travels back to back had him blinking spots out of his eyes, and feeling grateful to be sitting down. Shaking his head to revive himself, he knocked on the door.
Malcolm opened it, giving Nico a questioning look.
“Is Annabeth up?” Nico asked.
“Annabeth!” Malcolm turned and shouted back into the cabin.
“Coming!” Annabeth’s voice responded, and a second later she appeared, already clearly ready for the day. “Oh, hey Nico. Did Will send you?”
Nico nodded. “Percy’s on his way too.”
“Good,” Annabeth said. “You look tired, did you shadow-travel here?”
“Yeah, but I’m going back the normal way,” Nico replied, turning his wheelchair towards the Big House. Annabeth fell into step beside him as he rolled. She wasn’t using her cane today, but was walking with a barely noticeable limp.
They met Percy halfway to the Big House, and Percy shot Nico a dirty look. “How come you knocked on Cabin 6 but appeared in the middle of mine”
“Annabeth's not the only person in the Athena cabin,” Nico responded.
“What if Tyson had been with me?” Percy demanded.
“Tyson’s with your dad in the ocean,” Nico replied.
Percy muttered something unintelligible.
They reached the Big House, and Nico steered a little to the side to use the ramp with Percy and Annabeth took the stairs, now hand in hand. Will was waiting, in his scrubs and holding a clipboard. He would have looked almost professional, had he not also been in Flip-Flops and 15 years old.
“Right,” He got right into it, gesturing for Percy and Annabeth to sit. “You stay too, Nico, I don’t trust that you don’t have the same issues.”
“I’ve done some research,” Will started, flipping through the pages on his clipboard, “and there are some treatment options we can do here at camp. First, while this isn’t Asthma, an inhaler would probably still help with coughing fits, due to the medication it contains. I can get Chiron to order some inhalers, he has the ability to write prescriptions. I have no idea if they are legitimate, but pharmacists believe them. I can give you information packets on this treatment, I know Annabeth at least will read it.”
Annabeth took the paper and immediately began thumbing through it.
“I’ve also ordered some proper filtration masks, to avoid irritants to your lungs,” Will continued, “Keep using the surgical masks until they arrive, it should only be a few days.”
Percy raised a hand. “I lost the mask.”
“There’s more in the drawer,” Will gestured, “take a few. And Nico, take one as well.”
Nico obliged, shoving it in the pocket of his jacket.
“Now, if things get really bad,” Will continued, “You feel like you cannot get enough air, you’re in pain, or you get really dizzy, we can give you an Oxygen treatment. We already have an oxygen machine in the infirmary, although it's been a while since it’s been used. Basically, I’d put a mask over your face and you’d be breathing in concentrated air, to avoid oxygen depletion in your blood.”
Nico wrinkled his nose.
“Now, I can’t tell you not to exercise, we are demigods after all, but try not to push yourself to the point of not being able to breathe. Hopefully as the medication works, you’ll regain function in your lungs, and also learn to adapt to your limitations,” Will finished.
“Will Ambrosia or Nectar do anything?” Percy asked, after a long pause to process all the information.
“I have no idea,” Will said, “I don’t think eating or drinking it will, because you’ve all had nectar and ambrosia since the quest, and still have lung damage. Maybe it will mitigate the effects, but I don’t think it will heal it outright. However, maybe breathing it in… it would be entirely experimental of course, but putting some nectar in the inhaler medication might work. Or it might make you burn to a crisp. Hard to say, and I’m not sure we should risk it.”
“I’ll risk it,” Percy offered.
Annabeth smacked him in the head. “No you will not.”
“I’ll let you know when the stuff I ordered arrived,” Will said finally, “Until then, come see me if you’re having real trouble breathing, but you’re free to go. Nico, stay a minute.”
“I wasn’t planning on leaving," Nico said.
With Annabeth and Percy out of the room, Will turned to Nico. “Nico, have you had any trouble breathing or coughing fits?”
Nico shrugged. “Coughing fits? Nope. But I have lost my breath quicker than I used to. I figured it was just more consequences from the jar, I’ve been training a lot to get back into condition.”
“I didn’t see lung damage when I was looking after you earlier,” Will said, “But also, there was a lot wrong with you and I was more focused on keeping you from fading away. Do you mind if I check again?”
Nico held out a hand, flushing slightly as Will took it. Will concentrated, then let go. “The damage isn’t as bad as Percy’s,” he said, “But it is still there. I’ll make sure to get you an inhaler as well. And let me know if it gets worse.”
“Okay, Will,” Nico said. “Do you want any help here today?”
The inhalers, medication and masks arrived at the Big House two days later, and Will decided to do a house call. Helpfully, Percy and Annabeth were together, in Percy’s cabin, which was technically against the rules but Will wasn’t about to snitch. He showed both of them how to use the inhaler, then watched as they both tried it out to make sure they’d be alright. Percy’s eyes widened a bit and he took a deep breath. “Wow, okay.”
“It works?”
“It feels easier to breathe, yeah,” Percy said.
“It should keep getting easier as you take more of the medication,” Will said, “take a couple puffs before bed and in the morning, and anytime you’re feeling really out of breath or coughing. These inhalers are temporary, I’m getting Lou Ellen to help me enchant a couple to never run out and also to return to your pocket at all times, like Riptide does, but it's complicated magic.”
“You’re the best, dude,” Percy said, grinning.
“Also, masks,” Will held out the filtration masks, “Wear these to the campfire tonight. Try to avoid the smoke, but hopefully these will help. If you start losing air, though, leave.”
“Yessir,” Percy saluted.
“Thank you, Will,” Annabeth added, “For this, for the cane, for everything.”
“Its what I’m here for,” Will responded with a half-smile. “Anyway, I’m heading back to the Big House. See you around!”
Alone in the cabin, Percy leaned his head on Annabeth’s shoulder. “It sucks, doesn’t it.”
“Hmm?”
“All this! I mean, it's great that Will’s doing this, but the fact we need it! Ugh, I wish we’d never fallen into Tarturus.”
Annabeth’s face fell a little, and she turned away.
“Wait, no!” Percy sat up, “Annabeth, I would choose to fall with you every time, this is not your fault. I just wish we’d never been in this position in the first place. That you didn’t have to go after the Mark of Athena, that I’d noticed the web around your leg sooner…”
“I wish the same thing,” Annabeth admitted, “And I hate that I’m glad you were there with me.”
“I would rather walk through Tarturus a thousand times than have lost you there,” Percy promised Annabeth. “I’d rather be on an oxygen tank for the rest of my life than have lost you there. This isn’t so bad, I’m just complaining. I mean, how many demigods can say they walked through hell and made it out with just some lung problems and a bad ankle.”
Annabeth smiled again. “And a bunch of trauma, but we don’t have time to unpack that now.”
“Oh, I am never unpacking that. That is staying thoroughly packed and shoved out of sight,” Percy joked humourlessly.
Back in the infirmary, Will was going through a checklist. In the last month, he’d identified over a dozen campers with chronic conditions, and he needed to write it all out to keep the treatment straight. There were prescriptions he needed to keep filled, notes of who was using what mobility aid and how often, notes of who needed physiotherapy or to see a mortal specialist. Notes of what conditions were entirely magical, what were mundane but were caused by the mythological world, and what were entirely unconnected to being a demigod.
It was a long and complicated list.
At least Will was finally feeling on top of things again. Until some new problem came up for him to deal with, he’d given solutions and management plans to everyone who needed one. Maybe, for at least a few days, he could take a break.