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"Percy!" Grover dropped by the demigods side. He pressed his hands to the wound in Percy's stomach, trying to stop the heavy blood-flow. The satyrs hands shook and the crimson liquid steeped through the gaps in his fingers. Earlier, Percy had came to save Grover yet, Polythemus had gotten to him first and managed to stab Perseus with a spear. He had left to chase Luke who was holding Annabeth and the fleece. "Just hold on! I'll-I'll-! I'll get some help I will go- water! You need water!" Grover stumbled over his words. Jackson's breath was heavy and quick. "It's... okay Grover. Go... find Annabeth and... help her." The demigods words were slurred and painful. Underwood shook his head, his furry legs on either side of Percy's thigh as he pressed harder on the wound. "No! I can't leave you! Percy!" The goat whimpered with fear. He ripped off his blue tattered jacket and attempted to wrap it around the other boys mid-section despite the weak hands trying to stop him. "No... stop..." Poseidon's son moaned in pain as he tried to stop his friend. "Percy! Just- the ocean isn't too far from here! We just need to-!" "No... Tysons dead... Luke just took Annabeth and the fleece. There's no reason to-" Percy explained with suicidal intentions. "there is! You have me! Don't talk like that Percy! Please don't give up yet!" Fearful tears started to stream down Grovers face, mixing with the blood leaking from the cuts on the satyrs face
Underwood tied the blue cloth into a knot and wrapped an arm around Jackson's shoulder, shoving Percy's arm on his own. His goat legs shook as he hauled the taller boy up. Sweat dripped from the brown haired boy as weakly pulled Poseidons kid up. Grover whimpered and his legs buckled and he stumbled before catching himself. "Grover... leave me..." Percy mumbled, blood still gushing out at an alarming rate. More tears spilled out of fearful Grover's eyes. "I couldn't... I can't do that! I'm your protector!" Underwood's voice was shaky and strained, from both exhaustion, excretion, and from the unstoppable waterfall's pouring from Grovers eyelids.
"MAIA!" The satyr yelped and tightened his grip on Percy's body as wings sprouted from his converses. The two boys were put off balance as they got lifted into the air. The goat boy yelped, mumbling promises to his demigod friend. He pressed their bodies together and started to steer towards the hole in the caves ceiling. Thank gods for Hermes suppling them with new shoes after he heard the others fell into Tartarus. Underwood wrapped one arm around Jackson's shoulder, and the other on the back of his head, as if cradling a porcelain doll. The water boy, unable to fight back against Grover's persistence to save him, rested his head against the dark skinned boys collarbone. Grover could feel the life spilling from Percy along with the red substance. His gut was doing flips and his heart was pounding against his ribs. They reached the top and Grovers head slammed against the branch of the tree above. His grip on his friend loosened and he whimpered painfully. The goat tried to haul Percy back into his arms as he felt the demigod start to slip. Grover used the floor under him to steady his grip on Perseus. Underwood sniffed the air and once the quickest route to the sea was found, he kicked his goat legs towards it. "OOF!" The goat groaned as he stumbled and the two slammed against the grass. The winged shoes started to pull both boys towards the ocean. Percy nuzzled his face in his friend's hair, like he was preparing to take his last breath. "Percy! Just hold on!" Underwood mumbled through thick tears as he tried to balance himself up right and fly towards the water.
Once blue came into the view, Grover used his draining strength to crash into it. Water hit the satyr like slamming into a wall. While his body went limp, Percy's gained strength. Jackson's open wound started to slowly heal. The blue eyed boy started to finally gain his conscious back and once he did, he felt underwood's grip on his waist loosen. "Grover?" Perseus mumbled. The browned eyed boys face started to relax. Percy's breath hitched and the roles switched.
Once the demigod notice his satyr friend inhaling water, he jumped into action despite the faint ache still present in his stomach. Grover's shoes flapped uselessly in the blue ocean. A faint silhouette caught Percy's attention but it didn't matter to him when his best friend since 6 grade was in this situation.
"Percy!" A voice, that sounded a lot like his dad, called out to him. Jackson turned a blind eye, he wouldn't risk Grover's life for Poseidon any day of the week. Perseus kicked his weak legs till his head bobbed out of the water. Instantly, Percy pulled Grover up beside him. His whole body ached, but Grover's unconscious spread adrenaline in him like Percy just drank 3 energy drinks. Jackson swam to shore, making sure the Satyrs head wasn't beneath the surface, and finally arrived on the sand. The water boy instantly pushed Grover onto his back. The sand clinging to the satyr. The goats shoes and fake feet fell off and rested by the island shore.
"Grover? Grover! Can you hear me?!" Percy called, worry flooding his veins. He just lost Tyson and Clarisse, and Luke just carried Annabeth away with no saying on what was going to happen. He couldn't loose Grover too!
Jackson put his hands on Underwood's chest and pressed down a couple times. He had no clue how to properly perform CPR, but he was willing to try. "Come on!" Percy murmured, his voice fearful. After a few seconds, Grover's chest spasmed, then he coughed and a trickle of water escaped his mouth. Perseus rolled him onto his side and more drowned coughed escaped the satyr. "Grover!" The demigod yelled. Underwood vomited up the remaining water left in his throat. He dry heaved and clutched his stomach. Percy rubbed his friends back, trying to be reassuring. The satyr groaned as he curled in on himself. Jackson lifted the goat boy into a sitting position and patted his back like a baby. "Are you...okay now?" Percy mumbled, a nervous grin on his face. Grover glared at him "I don't feel okay!" He groaned. The water boy nodded and looked away from his friend "makes sense..." "I'm sorry Percy" Grover sighed. Perseus raised an eyebrow "what? Dude sorry for what?" Jackson searched in his mind for something that would make underwood apologize. "I'm supposed to be your protector! Yet, I couldn't stop Polythemus from attacking you!" The satyr exclaimed, his eyes already starting to water. "Hey hey! Calm down! You saved my life Grover! By yourself too!" Percy smiled and grabbed his friend's shoulders gently. "But I couldn't stop you from getting hurt in the first place-!" "That doesn't matter anymore! I'm just glad both of us are alive. I almost had a heart attack when I woke up and saw you not moving beside me in the water." Jackson laughed, trying to add a bit of humor to the sad atmosphere. Grover sighed, feeling a little lightheaded. "We should probably go find Annabeth..." Perseus replied and stood up, helping Grover up as well. Jackson wrapped the satyrs arm around his shoulder and gripped his mid-section to help him stand. Feeling awful, underwood rested his head against the demigods neck, sighing painfully. The water boy looked down at Grover's face and frowned. His other hand came up to hold Grover's that was wrapped around his shoulders. The two walked, Percy calling out for Hermes and Athena's kids.
"LUKE! ANNABETH!" The demigod yelled, the noise jolting the satyr. Percy tightened his grip on underwood's waist to keep him from stumbling. Jackson studied Grovers face: his eyes were closed, eye brows furrowed, and a small bit of blush dusted on his cheeks. *"he must be in a ton of pain... wish I could help him... he could be sick!"* Percy thought.
Out of the corner of Perseus's eye, he saw a boat: The Princess Andromeda! Aka: Luke's ship! Jackson noticed a figure boarding the ship holding something in their arms, it had to be Luke with Annabeth! Percy tried to walk faster, resulting in Grover having to wake up a bit more so they didn't crash into the dirt. The goat boy kept stumbling over his hooves, tripping on rocks and roots, and leaning all his weight back onto his water coloured eyes friend. While Perseus didn't mind, willing to scoop the satyr into a bridal carry if it meant getting to Kronos brainwashed servant faster, but underwood was much more keen on Jackson just leaving him behind. Being stubborn, obviously poseidons son refused to do that. The two got to the boat just as it started to drift away from the shore. Percy looked to the back of the Princess Andromeda and saw a metal ladder hanging down near the back of the ship.
"Can you climb?" Jackson asked despite the obvious answer. "No I can't climb!" Grover tried to sound annoyed but his voice was mostly whiny from how light headed he felt. "Just go on the ship. I'll stay... here... with polythemus..." the satyr started to say but zipped his lips when he saw the demigod shaking his head "no" with an absolute distraught expression on his face. "No, no you are not" was all that escaped from Perseus' lips. "Percy... I can't climb, can barely walk right now, how do you expect me to get up onto the boat?! I'll just.. slow you down..." Grover mumbled before being slung onto Jackson's back. "Woah! What are you doing?!" Underwood exclaimed, voice raspy. "Piggy back ride!" Percy's voice was almost a giggle as he crouched down. "Percy I don't think-" "just get on! We don't have time!" The demigod rushed. Despite still feeling conflicted, the satyr obeyed. Being almost the exact same height meant it was to say, a very awkward piggyback ride. Percy stumbled as he grabbed onto the ladder that was almost out of reach by now.
With a grunt, the demigod pulled himself up, Grover's legs wrapped weakly around him but his arms clinging for dear life. "G-Grover-! You're choking me-!" "please don't drop me Percy! Please!" The satyr shrieked, looking below them as Jackson slowly and shakily started to climb the ladder. Perseus stumbled on the ladder and almost sent both of them plummeting into the water: not so bad for Percy, bad for Grover.
The demigods hand gripped the railing to the deck of the ship, and hauled himself and Grover up. They landed against the floorboards of the Princess andromeda finally. Percy stumbled upwards, looking around for monsters or Luke. "Smell anything?" "I smell monsters-" "yeah but like are they close?" The satyr sniffed the air, his face pale. Underwood scrambled to his hooves, adrenaline pumping through his veins despite being lightheaded. "Percy we have to go! They're-!" Percy got the message, moving to loop his arm around Grover's waist and start to haul both the goat and himself over to the first door he saw. Yanking the doorknob open, showed that it was a closet. Heavy and fast footsteps started approaching along with voices. The satyr made a quiet shriek and pushed both himself and Percy into the small closet, closing the door behind them.
"Hey-!" Perseus protested but his goat friend covered his mouth and shook his head. "Quiet..." Grover mumbled, his ear twitching as he listened to what was happening outside the door. It sounded like an argument between two or more people, most likely part of Luke's rebellion. While only two people were talking, Underwood could identify at least four pairs of feet, two of those four being heavier. "Laistrygonians..." the satyr mumbled. The demigod mumbled something behind Grover's hand causing the goat to realize he still had his hand to Percy's mouth. "Oops..." he muttered, blushing and taking his hand off his friend's mouth. "Thanks..." Percy mumbled "you don't expect us to just hide in a broom closet, right?"
"Of course not! B-but..." the satyr looked nervous. "There's too many monsters right now-" a creak was heard. Light flooded into the broom closet and a human shaped shadow loomed over the two. "Looks like I'm interrupting something..." a familiar voice startled the two before they felt a hand on both of their shoulders. Both Grover and Percy got yanked out of the closet except Grover was more shoved to the floor. "Ow-!" He whimpered, landing hard on his wrist. Perseus was luckier, well... not really.
"Luke-!" Percy yelped as he suddenly felt a rush of pain in his wrist: effects of the empathy link. Jackson's eyes jolted to Underwood on the ground. He grabbed the pen out of his pocket and uncapped riptide. "Put the sword away. We both know you aren't going to use it. You see, I have the Fleece. I have your quest. And more importantly... I have Annabeth." Castellans grip on the other demigod's shoulder tightened
"Where is Annabeth?! Is she okay?!" Percy asked, his sword glistening in the sunlight. "She's alive, if you're wondering. Barely. She took a nasty hit back at the island. But that's not the important part" Hermes' kid turned his head and snapped his fingers towards some nearby Laistrygonians. "Take this one." He ordered, pointing to Grover who was staring at Luke in horror despite the purple bruise forming on his wrist. "Grover!" Perseus yelled as the satyr started to get dragged away. "Don't worry. He might be fine" Castellan said. "Back on track, you aren't getting in the way. Thanks to you, we now have the fleece and Kronos's return is coming soon. If you try to defy me, remember who's being kept hostage." Luke's voice was calm. "I will not let you continue this!" Percy exclaimed, clutching riptide. "I would calm down if I were you. Unless, you want something bad to happen to you. And I know you wouldn't let that happen, especially since your satyr friend would feel everything..."
Jackson's eyes widened. "H-how did you-?" "How did I know about the empathy link? It wasn't that hard, Percy. On this ship, there are not just monsters and demigods, but also many others. Including satyrs. Satyrs who have explained such things to me, and after seeing how both you and him seemed to get hurt despite him being the one falling, means you and Grover... have something special going on. In which case, if you're little friend tries to interrupt our process, you won't like what'll happen to him.." Percy gripped riptide tighter at the explanation. He grit his teeth before swinging the sword up. His actions were too predictable and Castellan caught his wrist. Just like what he did to Grover, Luke shoved Percy to the ground. Jackson grunted and by the time he got to his feet, Luke was already down the hall.
The thing on the demigods mind was getting Grover, getting Annabeth, and getting the fleece back before anything bad happened. Perseus ran in the direction Luke went, stalking him. This lead him to where the satyr was being captured. Though, this left Percy to hear something he wished he didn't.
"What do we do about the Satyr? He won't join our cause and has already tried to get some of the other satyrs to follow his lead!" A Demigod asked. Luke shook his head and sighed. "Kill him. The ones who don't join need to be eliminated." The demigod nodded and walked to where Grover was captured, a few Laistrygonians and other demigods following. Underwood was on his knees and tied at the hands.
"Let me go! Please!" He begged, his eyes wide with fear. Percy gripped his sword and attempted to run at the people hurting the person he loved but, something stopped him.
"I told you, Percy. If either you, or one of your friends tried to interrupt us, bad things would happen." The Hermes' kid sighed, gripping Percy's wrist. "Grover!" Jackson yelled, smacking Luke's hand to no avail.
The Demigod spun their spear before aiming it at the defenceless satyr on the ground. A sharp cry filled the room. Percy wasn't sure who was making the sound: Grover, or himself. His feet scrambled uselessly on the ground: they were hurting his friend, killing him! His riptide clattered to the ground as Castellan tightened his grip. Blood trickled down the spear and down the demigod holding its hands. Another stab and another.
What's worse than seeing your longest friend being stabbed?:
Feeling all of it
Every stab sent a jolt through both Percy and Grover. "Enough" Luke muttered to the demigod and dragged Percy over to Grover's dying body. He quickly untied him and threw Perseus at his best friend. Blood stained their clothes and tears fell from their eyes.
"P-Percy im... I'm sorry..." Grover coughed out, choking on his own blood. Jackson cradled the satyrs face. Pressing their foreheads together. "Don't be... don't be sorry, Grover..." Perseus mumbled. "No... I'm sorry for being a failure... for getting you in this mess. Now... you're gonna die... because of me. I was supposed to protect you, and now... my best friend is going to die..." underwood cried, his voice cracking. "At least... I'll see you in the after life...right?" "No... you'll... go to the underworld. Satyrs get reincarnated... I'll never see you again, Percy..." tears flowed between them like a broken dam. They were both getting much weaker. Nothing could save them. They had no fleece, no hope, no nothing. All the two had were eachother as blood gushed out of Grover's wounds. "Grover?" "Y-yeah?" Percy took a deep breath as his hand started to slowly slip from the other boys cheeks. "You were always more than... my best friend." "W-what do you mean, Percy?" The two slowly started to fade. "You've always meant so much to me... I would give my life to protect you, even if that's no longer possible... I'll never forget you..."
And as their eyes started to close, as the last of Grover Underwood and Percy Jackson started to fade. "I love you, Grover..." Perseus mumbled.
"...love you too..."