Chapter Text
Percy Jackson could usually tell the difference between the bad days and the normal ones—they smelled different. Bad days smelled like rain on asphalt, like the metallic tang of monster blood, like panicked breaths underwater. Today, Camp Half-Blood was alive with shouts, laughter, a game of capture the flag, and the usual summer chaos. But to Percy, the air felt heavy, each inhale a little too much, like he’d been swimming the length of Long Island Sound on a dare from Poseidon himself.
He shrugged it off, bantering with Annabeth as they cut through the mess hall.
“You’re slow today, Seaweed Brain. Tired from all that night patrol, or just sulking that the Athena cabin beat you in strategy twice in a row?”
She nudged him with that classic smirk. Normally, he’d have a comeback, but he just grunted.
The world tilted. The noise seemed to blur, all the laughter and the clatter of plates stretching into a distant tunnel. Percy reached for the back of a bench but caught only empty air.
He collapsed.
The concrete floor was cold and hard. Voices surged—Annabeth’s panicked yell, Chiron’s hooves. Shadows moved, and then everything faded.
—
Consciousness came soft and slow, like surf washing over a broken shell. Percy blinked at sterile lights, the unfamiliar white ceiling making him frown. Was he in the infirmary?
The room smelled of herbs and antiseptic. At the end of the bed, a familiar mop of blond hair shifted—Will Solace, his expression tight, blue eyes shadowed and tired.
Percy forced a smile, suppressing a wave of nausea. “Hey, Will. Guess I gave everyone a scare, huh?” He tried to sit up, but Will placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Easy. You need to stay lying down for now.”
Annabeth appeared by his side, her face pale, as if she’d spent the whole night not breathing.
Percy swallowed, a thousand jokes dying in his throat. He could tell by her posture—by the way Will was twisting his Camp Half-Blood bracelet—that something was wrong. Really wrong.
Will cleared his throat, voice trembling just a little. “Percy, we need to talk.”
A clammy wave of dread rolled down Percy’s spine. “Okay… about what?”
Will’s eyes met his, impossibly blue, impossibly sad. He glanced at Annabeth, who squeezed Percy’s hand, her lip quivering.
“I—I got your test results back.” Will’s voice cracked, and the world seemed to go silent except for the pounding of Percy’s heart.
“There’s no easy way to say this, Percy. You—”
The door slammed open, and Chiron’s voice boomed down the hallway: “Will, it’s urgent—there’s something you need to see—”
Will flinched, torn, the unfinished sentence hanging in the air like a storm cloud ready to burst. Percy felt the world lurch with sick anticipation.
Outside, thunder grumbled—a fitting soundtrack for a life about to change forever.