Percy

I didn't see at first when I woke up, I just heard. But really, there wasn't much to hear. I could hear distant talking and moving, but it was muffled, as if I was separated from the sounds by a wall.

I pried my eyes open, finding myself staring at the ceiling of a tent. It wasn't too bright, but I still squinted a little, letting in a minimal amount of light as my eyes got used to it.

Once my eyes allowed me to look farther, I studied my surroundings. I was laying on a small cot in the corner of a tent. The battle tent, the only one on the small island that Hazel made. The muffled talking became a bit more clear, but I still couldn't make out any words.

My head hurt, a pounding sound issuing from the base of my skull sounding like the rocks that had fallen in the cave during the battle.

The battle. My mind latched onto those words, freeing bunched up thoughts and letting them pour into me. What had happened? Where was everybody? How am I out of the cave? Last I remembered was blacking out while the cave collapsed. How was I still alive? Am I alive? Suddenly a lancing pain slashed through me, making stars appear and I desperately squeezed my eyes shut, anxious to rid myself of them. But the stars stayed in the darkness, turning a flashing yellow and blue and red.

Yep, I was alive. Unfortunately.

The throbbing in my head was relentless and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

Annabeth. Jason and Leo. And the Questers. Where were they? How did they get out? Were they okay? Oh gods, if they were hurt, and it was my fault because I started the earthquake and couldn't stop it...

Panic overtook me, and I tried to move. I heard a startle grunt at my thrashing, and my eyes shot to a figure sitting beside the cot in a chair. Leo stared at me with wide eyes when he saw me looking at him.

"You're awake!" Then he grabbed the arms of the chair, bolting upright and rushing out of the tent. "Stay put! I'll go get someone!" He didn't leave me any time to reply, disappearing outside. When the tent flap closed, I tried to sit up.

I managed to get myself off the bed, and instantly the stars returned, but they brought some new friends the birds. And more pain. The room started to spin, but slowly it settled. I waited, panting and sweating for a moment from the effort, then I swung my legs over the side of the cot, still sitting. Seeing Leo had sent a bolt of relief through me. If he had gotten out, the others might have too. If they hadn't, I would never forgive myself.

I put my head in my hands, as if I could draw away the splitting migraine by shielding my face from the still slightly spinning room. I heard the tent open again, and I glanced up. Three people entered, but the sun from behind them silhouetted their figures. I narrowed my eyes, trying to make them out, but not until the flap closed again could I see them fully.

Leo was leading Annabeth and Nico, and I had never been so glad to see their faces before. They all looked relieved at seeing me sitting upright and conscious. I tried to stand as they rushed over to me, but I decided against it when the room threatened to dance around once more.

Annabeth reached me first, throwing her arms around me in a tight embrace. It kinda hurt my head, but I was way too relieved and happy to see her safe to complain. I hugged her back as best as I could, hiding my head in her shoulder and breathing her in like much needed oxygen.

"Thank the gods you're awake," Annabeth exclaimed, leaning back. "I thought you'd never wake up."

"How long have I been out?" I asked, still moving slowly.

"About a day and a half," Nico said, sitting on the end of the cot.

My eyebrows rose. "That long? What happened? Where is everybody? Are they alright? Did everybody make it out?"

I saw the three exchange glances, and I looked back and forth between them, my heart sinking slowly. "Guys, what happened? Tell me!"

Nico took a deep breath, then he looked pleadingly at Annabeth, who was standing next to me. She bit her lip, then nodded once, still leaving me confused. I needed to know what happened. I had no clue.

"I'm going to go check on Jason," Leo said, and Nico quickly mumbled something about going with him. They exited the tent, leaving me and Annabeth. I stared at her, waiting for her to speak.

"What's wrong with Jason?" I asked, picking one of the hundreds of questions floating in my brain at the moment.

She sighed, then came around to sit down beside me. Her grey eyes were anguished. "Jason's fine, he just lost a lot of blood. But he'll heal up soon."

"And... everybody else?"

Annabeth looked at me, then back at the wall of the tent. "I'll start from the beginning. Well, from when you passed out. You had managed to calm the earthquake, but the damage was done, and the cave was still unsteady. Hazel managed to bring us up to the surface before the whole thing collapsed, and we met the Questers up top. Turns out Luke was telling the truth, and he did have drakons. But Iris was set free, and she helped us to defeat the drakons pretty easily. She went back to Olympus to tell the gods everything."

"I was out during all of this?" I asked incredibly.

She nodded. "Yeah, you were out. Percy, you used up almost all of your energy starting and stopping the earthquake. That was huge. You almost broke off that part of the island, crushing it into the sea. That takes an amazing amout of strength, and it's almost impossible you were able to do that and still live. I mean, Nico said you were so close to losing every ounce of energy. And you looked horribly pale and your heartbeat was faint, as was your pulse, and your breathing was so shallow and... Gods, Percy, for a moment I thought I'd lost you and- and I-" She chewed her lip again, her eyes distant as she remembered. I put an arm around her comfortingly.

"I'm right here, okay?" She nodded at my words, talking again.

"After that, Hazel managed to hold the part of the island together until the hippocampi made it back to us. She's been out for a while too, but she woke up this morning."

"So, did everybody make it out?" I asked, hoping for the best.

Annabeth didn't meet my eyes. "No, Percy. Not everyone." My breath caught and my jaw clenched as I waited in agony. "Silena wasn't able to make it out in time. The earthquake had damaged the stability of the island, and in that part of the land there were so many caves that it just all collapsed. So then Charles Beckendorf tried to go get her and... we had to leave. We waited, and did everything we could, but there was nothing we could do. And Nico... he confirmed it." Annabeth's voice cracked. I knew she was pretty good friends with Silena, despite the girl betraying her.

"And also, Micheal and Lee, they fell while killing a drakon together. Then Castor also went. I saw from a distance that Ethan Nakamura died, and most of Luke's men did too."

"And Luke?" I asked, barely managing to croak out the two words. My mind was refusing to wrap around the fact that they were gone. Beckendorf- big, friendly, gentle Beckendorf, and Lee and Michael. They always were some of our best friends and fighters. I was ashamed that I didn't know Castor that well. I mean, he was my friend, but he more joined my group because he and his twin brother Pollux knew some of the other Questers.

I didn't know Silena that well, but even though she betrayed Annabeth, she had turned out pretty good in the end. She didn't deserve to die. None of my friends did. My throat felt clogged, and I made a fist with my hand, squeezing hard.

"Luke was in the group that Hazel brought up from the cave, and he made it out. He's outside right now, on a constant watch. We're bringing him to Olympus when we get enough strength to make the travel back."

I thought about when I last saw Luke. I was just about ready to kill him. "Thank you," I said to her. "For stopping me. With Luke, I mean." If I had killed Luke, that would've just put a bigger weight on my shoulders. Yeah, he deserved it, and I believed that. He had made my life a living Hell for the longest time. But killing wasn't the answer for me. Killing anybody, friend or enemy, just made me feel worse. And Annabeth understood that.

She put her hand up and rubbed my arm. "You've watched out for me plenty of times before."

I smiled lightly, but it was hard to hold it. Soon I was back to brooding. Those five friends of ours were gone, because of the earthquake mainly. I know, you could argue about how Lee's and Michael's deaths were from the drakons, but during these times, I tended to blame myself.

Annabeth saw my face and guessed what I was thinking. "Percy, it wasn't your fault, and nobody blames you." I leaned into the embrace she gave me then, still not convinced.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't bring them back," I replied bitterly.

She stroked my unruly hair, saying, "Don't think that way. It won't help." I took a deep breath, but complied with her wishes.

For a while we just sat there with each other, each of us lost in our thoughts, remembering friends. I knew I should go outside and see the others, but I couldn't bring it in myself to do so. At the moment I was content. The battle was over, and most of my friends were okay.

Some people might think that when the battle is done, everything is awesome and okay, no problems. But the aftermath is almost just as bad as the battle itself, I think. You have to deal with the death, cleaning up, and getting back in your right mind. A battle doesn't leave you without scars. Many times nightmares and injuries will follow. Overall, the battle isn't done when the fighting is over. You're just in the middle of it, past one stage.

Annabeth inhaled, then leaned up and kissed my forehead. "Come on, let's go see the others." She got up and went out of the tent, beckoning for me to follow her. I stood up shakily, waiting for the room to start turning around and around again. It did slightly, but I took a hesitant step forward and found that I could stay on my feet. I took another, reaching the entrance to the tent steadily.

When I stepped outside, brightness greeted me. At first it was just the sunlight that made me wince, but then the relentless glittering of the reflections on the sea joined in. It took me a little while to get used to it. The Questers were strewn about on the small island, some laying in makeshift beds and others chatting or tending to hurt friends. I saw Piper talking with Jason, who was sitting up in a bedroll, looking a little pale but otherwise fine. When he saw me, he smiled and lifted a hand. I returned the gestures, and was about to steer myself towards him when I heard my name being called.

I glanced over to see Annabeth beckoning me over. She was next to Nico and Thalia, and they were standing around a demigod that made my blood churn. I took a deep breath, making my way to them.

Luke sat chained to a rock jutting out of the surface of the land. He didn't look too good. His clothes were tattered and bloodstained, and his leg was wrapped up, which made no sense. Why didn't he get ambrosia? Not that I wanted to make him feel better, I was just curious.

Annabeth noticed my gaze and she told me the answer to my unspoken question. "We thought there wasn't really any need to heal him. Plus, it's another way to make sure he won't escape. We've just got to bring him to Mount Olympus now."

I nodded. "Have we heard anything from the gods yet?"

"Yes, kind of." Annabeth turned to me. "Your dad sent a message through Adrian, saying that he and the rest of the gods were waiting at Mount Olympus for us. We're supposed to be there in two days."

I scoffed, "They sound so grateful that we just saved their whole country."

Annabeth shrugged. "Hey, at least they said that they would send enough pegasi for us all to travel to their home. The pegasi are actually coming today, and we're hoping we could get going soon."

"Yeah, okay," I replied. I turned to my second-in-command and Thalia. "Can you guys tell everybody to get ready? We'll head out as soon as the horses get here. And make sure the injured have a partner with them during the ride."

They bobbed their head in assent, then started walking towards everybody else. It was about midday, and the Questers were all relaxing. The sun was hot above us, and many of the demigods had attempted to set up a makeshift tent for shade. They all looked up and listened as Nico told them what I said.

Then Luke said something to me, and I turned back to glare at him. I never really looked normally at him, it was always a glare.

"I bet you're so happy you won," he started, his tone bitter. I noticed a thin cut up the side of his face, parrallel to his scar. "Now you can just go back to Greece and be the country's little hero." Luke practically spat that last word, his eyes glittering with malice.

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth demanded, coming to stand by me.

"I'm talking about," Luke said, struggling to a standing position, favoring his injured leg, "about your boyfriend here. He probably just did this all for the glory."

I raised my eyebrows, "Oh, really? That's what you think? I didn't do it for, oh, I don't know, to save everybody's lives?" The last part was dripping sarcasm. When Luke was standing, we were basically eye to eye, the same height. Now we both glowered at each other, our eyes portraying more hate than we could possibly ever put into words.

"Oh, now you're acting selfless. But you really don't care about the others, do you?"

I shouldn't have let him get to me. I knew he was just spewing ridiculous words, trying to make me angry, but he was succeeding. I was exhausted, and this was pushing me over the edge. Not exhausted physically- after all, I had practically just slept for a day and a half. But exhausted mentally, what with the war just finishing and all the stress that followed it tormenting me. And don't mention the deaths of my friends, which I had really been the cause of.

"Just shut up, Luke. I should've killed you when I had the chance," I said, clenching my fists.

Luke sneered, "Oh, but you had to have your little girlfriend stop you, because you're something I would call 'weak.' You can't kill anybody without feeling the awful repercussions and regrets, can you?"

I took a deep breath. Questers had started to notice this verbal fight, and they were gathering around, whispering and watching nervously. They stood a distance away, however. Annabeth was the only one who stuck by my side.

"But I'm not weak," Luke mused, almost as if talking to himself. Except there was still that smug little smile on his face. "When I kill, I do it because it needs to happen. Take your sister for example."

I sucked in a sharp breath, along with everyone else watching. They knew what had happened, and they knew what it mean to me. Annabeth said coldly, "Luke, stop it."

But the demigod standing in front of us continued mercilessly. "Oh, I felt nothing there. Except maybe some amusement. You should've seen the look on your face when I swung that sword. And you just sat there, watching it all happen. You did nothing for your sister. You could've saved her, but you just sat and watched her bleed. You-"

He got no further. My hand, almost without my knowing it, shot out, my fist connecting with his jaw. He wasn't in a very good position, seeing as his hands were tied up behind him. The unexpected punch threw his head back, and I was sure I heard something crack as he stumbled back, almost tripping over the tree-like rock he was tied to. When he looked back at me angrily, I sent my other fist up, slamming it farther up on his face. I felt a deep satisfaction as I felt his nose give, and blood started streaming down his face.

The Questers around us were silent for a moment, then they started yelling, most of them urging me on.

I advanced for another attack, rage tinting my vision, making my breathing ragged. I was going to kill him for real this time.

"Percy!" I heard Annabeth's desperate cry as she threw herself between me and Luke, who was now cowering on the rock, clutching his nose and cursing. "Stop it, Percy!"

I tried to push past her, but she wouldn't let me. She put her hands on my chest, holding me back.

"Percy, calm down!" She said, her grey eyes trained on mine forcefully. "You're making another earthquake, you need to calm down!"

I paused, realizing she was right. The Questers seemed to notice it as well. The ground had responded to my anger, and it was starting to shake a little. I needed to stop- stop before it got out of my control again. I backed up, trying to put some space between me and Luke so I could loosen my fury. But it was so hard, seeing that sniveling little face. I almost charged back again, uncaring about the consequences, as I recalled his words to me just earlier. But Annabeth wouldn't let me past her. She actually shoved me a little, anxious to get me under control once more.

"Percy, stop." I heard her voice tremble a little, and I looked more closely at her. What I saw in her eyes I wasn't expecting. She looked almost... scared. Scared of me? That made my anger shoot down a lot.

I looked at my hands. They were clenched, my knuckles aching and bruises starting to form from the punches I just sent. We were next to the water, and I almost jumped at my reflection. The water had stilled at a split-second thought from me, and I saw someone there, staring back at me, who looked angry. Angry and wild, hair mussed up and clothes battered and worn, a cut with dried blood on the side of my eyebrow. The eyes staring back at me looked untamed and mad and powerful. Like a beast let off its leash and now wanted to tear down everything in its path. I looked scary. Like I was about to do anything at the moment, and it would probably end up being bad.

I glanced back at Annabeth, losing sight of my own reflection. She wasn't really near me anymore, just staring at me, her eyes wide but her expression determined.

I hated thinking she was scared of me. I hated anyone thinking that. As quick as it came, the earthquake vanished, and the wild waves soothed once more.

"I-," my voice stuttered, and everybody was silent. They were all watching me, including Luke, who's nose was running freely, and a purple spot was already growing on his jaw.

The silence grew, but thankfully the perfect distraction presented itself. We heard neighs, and everybody's eyes turned toward the sky. A couple dozen pegasi were flying, circling the small island. Not all of them could land at once, there wasn't enough room. We'd have to do it in turns.

"Let's get ready," I said. At my stern look, they all dispersed, running to get their belongings.

Soon it was just me and Annabeth and Luke. Annabeth and I stared at each other, none of us speaking a word. Luke watched us both.

I couldn't read Annabeth's expression, but I wanted to know what she was thinking so badly. But then she turned abruptly, heading up to collect her own belongings. I took a long, shaky breath, still gazing at the spot she had just been in.