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So.
Thalia is going to kill him.
According to the plan, Percy and Annabeth were supposed to infiltrate this school dance, meet up with Grover, help him smuggle out the demigod he’d found. Except one demigod turned out to be two, a pair of siblings, and then Percy kinda got distracted when Annabeth grabbed onto him so they could mingle on the dance floor, which meant he was slower to react when the di Angelo kids vanished and then lost sight of his friends and-
Well. If Thalia had come in with them, instead of waiting outside with their ride, she’d just go ahead and handle things.
And like a lot of people at camp like to say, Percy is trying to be more like his cousin. So he tried to do what she'd do, and handle it.
Except, he’s pretty sure Thalia wouldn’t mess up badly enough to be hit by a poison dart and get taken prisoner along with the kids they came to save.
“Walk faster,” Dr. Thorn snapped, as Percy staggered out of the school hall and onto snowpacked ground. Bianca and Nico walked just ahead of him, clutching at each other’s hands, darting scared glances over their shoulders every so often. “That way, on the path.”
Crap. If they went towards the parking lot, then Thalia would see them for sure - but deeper into the trees? Probably not.
Maybe if he could make some kind of commotion, without risking the younger kids... Percy feigned a bigger stumble, dropped to one knee, let out a yelp hopefully loud enough to carry on the cold winter wind. Didn’t reach for Riptide in his pocket or the shield disguised as a watch on his wrist, just so Thorn wouldn’t have a reason to get stabby again with those darts that came out of nowhere.
Which worked. And yet. “What are you doing, Jackson? Get up!” A hand seized the back of Percy’s suit jacket and hauled him back onto his feet, then threw in a hard shove for good measure. “Keep moving!”
“My shoulder,” Percy tried next, throwing an extra whine into his voice. “It burns-”
“Bah! My poison only causes pain, it will not kill you. Walk!”
The more time he spent around this guy, the less Percy could hold onto his patience. Still. Nothing for it but to shuffle along, trying to look as reassuring as possible for the di Angelo siblings, mentally poking at one of the pendants he wore along with his camp beads, the peacock feather from Hera that matched one Thalia always wore. Last year, separated while he and Annabeth and Tyson went to the Sea of Monsters, it had worked as a sort of radio between Percy and his cousin, altering Thalia to Luke’s imminent arrival with an army of monsters.
This was kind of the opposite problem. But it sure would be nice if Percy could figure out how to trigger sending a message again, just a simple ‘I was stupid I’m in trouble please come help’.
Thorn marched the three of them deeper into the woods. Percy’s shoulder really did ache and burn, no exaggeration needed. As an extra treat, the wind blew straight through his ripped clothes, cold enough to turn his bare fingers into popsicles.
“There is a clearing ahead,” the man said. “We will summon your ride there.”
“What ride?” Bianca demanded. “Where are you taking us?”
“Silence, insufferable girl!”
“Don’t talk to my sister that way!” Nico’s voice quivered, but the fact he’d raised it at all to Thorn was impressive.
Dr. Thorn made a growling sound in return that definitely wasn’t human. It made the hairs on the back of Percy’s neck stand up, and mentally yell louder for Thalia.
“Halt.”
Oh boy. The woods had opened up. Right next to a cliff overlooking the sea, which should have been cause for relief - Percy could hear the waves churning, smell the salt in the air - but the view went ground, ground, then sudden drop and mist and darkness. He breathed in deeply, hoping at least the somewhat close proximity to his dad’s domain would help ease the pain in his shoulder, maybe clear his head a bit, but no luck.
Thorn gave another harsh shove, and he tripped for real this time.
Bianca caught him, at least, saving Percy from a second knee soaked with snow slush . “Thanks,” he murmured.
“What is he?” The girl whispered back, scared, but willing to do something about it. “How do we fight him?”
Yeah. Uh. “I’m working on that.” Which would be easier if Percy could figure out what he was working with, except he’d never seen or heard of any kind of poison-dart-launching creatures like Thorn. Monster memorization was more up Annabeth’s alley.
Gods, she was probably going to kill him right along with Thalia.
“Stop talking!” The man himself snapped. “Face me!”
They turned.
Backs to the cliff, Thorn in-between them and the woods, only a few faint lights visible from the school buildings and absolutely no sign of back-up. While Thorn pulled out a phone and spoke into it, Percy glanced behind himself, debating options. No idea what the cliff looked like at the bottom, if there’d be sharp rocks or not, but: he could probably call the tide up higher to catch him. Probably.
Dr. Thorn suddenly laughed. “By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea, you can save yourself!” Yeah, that did not sound encouraging.
“What did he call you?” Bianca muttered.
“I’ll explain later.”
“I would kill you before you ever reached the water,” Thorn continued, taunting. “You do not realize who I am, do you?” A flicker of movement behind him. Another missile shot out of the dark, whistling so close it tugged one of Percy’s curls. He squinted, trying to make sense of what had sprung up behind the monster, too flexible to be a catapult, more like- a tail... “Unfortunately, you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise, you would already be dead.”
“Who wants us?” Bianca demanded, taking half a step forward, putting herself further in front of her brother. “Because if you think you’ll get a ransom, you’re wrong. We don’t have any family. Nico and I, we-” Her voice broke a little. “We’ve got no one but each other.”
Percy swallowed. Thalia, please, I really need a hand here.
“Aww,” Dr. Asshole cooed. “Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand new family.”
“Luke,” Percy guessed, the name coming out sharp and bitter. “You work for Luke.” The other person he spent five years thinking would always be there if he or Annabeth needed help. Luke and Thalia, steadfast and comforting and always with a good word of advice, until apparently that wasn’t enough for the son of Hermes anymore. Until his anger at the gods outgrew his love for the three of them.
“You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson,” Thorn hissed, lips twisted like he had a bad taste in his mouth. “I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service, tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you.”
Oh that really didn’t sound good.
“Ah, here we are. Your transportation has arrived.” Thorn’s head dipped towards a light in the distance, further out along the cliffs rather than back towards the school. A moment later, the sound of helicopter blades cut through the night, growing louder and closer.
Leaning around his sister, Nico asked, “Where are you taking us?”
“You should be honored, boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls.”
“They’re not dolls! They’re figurines! And you can take your ‘great’ army and-”
“Now, now,” Thorn warned, “You will change your mind about joining us, child. And if you do not, well... There are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed.”
Both di Angelos went pale, Bianca grabbing onto her little brother. “Okay. He’s completely nuts.”
“We have to jump off the cliff,” I whispered. “Into the sea.”
“Oh, super idea. You’re completely nuts too.”
Percy didn’t get the chance to either explain or protest, because a split second later an invisible force slammed into his back.
Voices drifted in and out.
...useless like... adapt... new plan. Is he conscious?
Soon. The poison sapping... hesitate to... ambrosia-
Water. Just splash a little...
A cool touch spread across his face. Percy coughed, eyes squeezing tightly shut until he reluctantly peeled them open. His shoulder still ached, but mostly just felt numb and- useless. Useless? Who had he hear saying that word?
Groaning, he rolled over onto his side. Stayed put for a minute, as the nausea in his stomach settled, then looked around. Or. Tried to. Couldn’t see much of anything, surrounded by dark mist-
Darkness. Mist.
The cliff.
A weight slamming into him- Annabeth, hidden by her magic Yankees cap, knocking him and the di Angelo kids down out of the line of fire. Thalia bursting out of the trees with lightning crackling off her spear. Thorn, the manticore, launching into a furious fight, Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes
The sound of hunting horns.
Percy knew about the Hunters of Artemis, remembered Thalia thinking long and hard about them when her sixteenth birthday and the Great Prophecy were looming. But then Luke got his quest to the Garden of the Hesperides, and asked her to go too, and that was that.
He could also remember a girl with auburn hair giving permission to fire, and Thorn leapt towards Annabeth helping Nico di Angelo to his feet, and Percy-
Ah.
Right.
Arm on fire and Riptide knocked out of his hand during the fight, he leapt onto Thorn’s back. Just as the Hunters let loose a volley of arrows, and off the cliff both he and the manticore fell.
Thalia is so going to kill him, and Percy will absolutely deserve it.
Eventually, he clambered to his feet, and for lack of anything better to do, started wandering. Mist thickened into fog pretty quick, making it hard to see too far ahead. The odd broken black marble column looming up out of nowhere did not help with the creepy vibes, but even so, when Percy found something that seemed like a path, he started following it.
“Hellooo,” he called out, voice raspy. Water would be good, both for a drink and some healing benefits. Water would be downhill. But each time Percy tried to orient himself that way, it felt like the ground shifted under his feet, and he found himself staggering up the hillside again in short order. Fantastic. “Hey, Doctor Thorny-Butt, what gives? Too scared to fight one lone demigod without your mortal goon back-up squad?”
Looping around a section of broken wall brought him to a slightly clearer area, the crest of the hill, and Percy pulled up short.
Luke.
That was Luke.
And he was in pain.
Two years of betrayal almost went out the window in a heartbeat. Almost. Percy dropped to his knees just out of arm’s reach of the older boy, not that it would make much difference: Luke lay crumpled on the ground, stuck underneath a churning column of gray clouds. His clothes were in tatters, his face scratched and drenched with sweat.
“Percy,” he gasped, “Help me, please!”
“What happened,” Percy demanded, his good hand raised but not reaching, torn between that’s my friend, he’s part of my family, that’s Luke, versus he betrayed us, he hurt me, he’s hurt Thalia and Annabeth and all of us-
Luke groaned, shoulders shuddering as he tried to push himself even just a little off the stony ground. “They left me- I failed, with the Fleece, and now- Percy, please, it’s killing me-”
A refusal lurked on his tongue. He wanted to say no, to walk away, to show what happened when somebody hurt the people he cared about, except- except. Luke still counted as one of those people.
Despite everything, he did.
So when a terrifying rumble made the vortex shake and start to splinter, Percy ducked forward, braced his knees and his good arm and tried to take at least some of the weight. Just enough that Luke wouldn’t be crushed to death right in front of him. Just to share the load-
Luke rolled free. He panted for breath, chest moving rapidly, before managing a faint, “Thanks.”
“Help me hold it,” Percy choked out in response. He could barely say that much: forget his shoulder, his entire body had turned to fire, bones melting, air turning to ash in his lungs. The massive weight pressed down closer and closer, turning the world fuzzy.
Even so, he could see it as Luke unsteadily rose. As he started to walk away. “L-Luke! Help me!”
“-knew I could count on you,” muddled in his ears, like Percy was hearing the words from across a chasm rather than just a few steps away. “Loyal little Perseus. Don’t worry, your help is on the way. All part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die.”
Spots swam in front of Percy’s eyes. He couldn’t feel his injured shoulder at all any more. Tears spilled down his cheeks, the best his body could manage when screaming with rage wasn’t an option.
Somewhere in the awful wait, he absolutely started hallucinating.
His dad’s big hands, cupping his face. His mom’s steady voice, telling him to hold fast and brave the storm. Thalia stroking his hair, like she always did after a nightmare. Annabeth calling him Seaweed Brain and demanding that he’d better be okay so she could kick his butt herself. Luke, pressing the back of his hand to Percy’s forehead, then saying over his shoulder, “He’s fading. We need to hurry.”
Another voice boomed, demanding something. A figure in silver, small but dangerous, suddenly standing in front of Percy. “My mortal sister will never forgive you for this act of torture, Luke Castellan.”
“That’s her choice. Yours is whether or not to let him die.”
“Free my hands.”
Huh. Percy figured, if his delirious brain was going to envision a rescue, it would be Poseidon plucking him out of danger just like when he was seven years old cornered by a monster. Or Thalia catching the back of his shirt and yanking him into her side, so she could wrap an arm around his shoulders and level her spear or a knife at the threat.
Instead, a girl he could only call vaguely familiar lifted the monstrous weight from his shoulders, and as Percy collapsed, he thought she whispered to him, “Live, little cousin.”
Then Luke reached for him again, and everything faded into nothingness.