Chapter Text
When Rhea materializes within the borders of the demigod camp just past sunrise, the last thing she expected to hear was the sound of guttural screams.
In fact, the once ever stoic queen flinches at the abruptness of the scream.
It doesn't help that the other children seem to have woken up and were just starting their day. Some that notice her appearance the edge of the entrance frown and tilt their heads, others take several nervous steps backwards. But the Titaness spots one face across the expanse of the lawn that makes her smile internally. That had to of Zeus'.
Rhea is careful, she knows her husband had done irreparable damage and inconsolable pain to these children. She remembers the words of her sons and heeds them. Sure, at one moment in time she would take their nervousness and fear as an unforgivable insult, but times have changed.
She smiles gently at one of the children that she had a strong suspicion was Demeter's.
"Where is your mother, child?" Rhea questions softly.
Rhea noted that the small girl was too small if she were honest, the fragile and battle worn features were haunting on such a young face.
"All the gods at camp half-blood are divided between the mess hall, the big house, and the infirmary." The girl said softly, just loud enough to be heard over the echoing distant screams, "I think my mom might be in the infirmary right now."
Rhea nods softly, "Thank you, child."
As she makes her way through the camp she notices that the children are aware that something is wrong. Rhea can see it in the shifting eyes, the passing whispers, and the tense shoulders. These children were preparing themselves for another war if that was what was coming for them and it broke her ancient heart.
She follows the sound of the screams to the infirmary and when she walks in she is nothing short of horrified. There are three gods restraining a girl as she struggles in their grasp. The girls eyes are shut tight, and Rhea can't tell if that is a conscious effort of if the child truly is asleep while enduring this. Rhea notes that there are other children unconscious in the room but they had been left unattended, with all the other gods huddled around the screaming girl.
She wanders over to the small girl who has her son's essence and gently brushes the back of her hand against the girl's cheek.
"Dionysus, do something!" Athena wails as she holds the girls arms down.
"I can't help her! I told you this isn't madness, she's in some sort of mental trap! I don't know what I can do for her!" Dionysus snaps, clearly angered he is helpless.
Rhea frowns and gently uses her thumb to wipe away something from the corner dribbling out of the girls mouth, she inspects the substance and tips her head in confusion.
"There is poison in this girl's mouth." Rhea speaks up, startling more than a few of the gods surrounding the other girl before her words to sink in and her great grandson's head pops up in horror.
"Mother?" Demeter says in surprise, but it is practically smothered beneath the other sounds in the room.
"What?!" Asclepius shouts, racing over to where Rhea stood, "Hazel," Asclepius mumbles to himself, "What happened?"
Rhea frowns, "She is not in here for poisoning?"
"She vomited and passed out last night," Asclepius shook his head.
"Yes, well, poisoned humans tend to do that." Rhea points out.
"Oh no," Asclepius mumbled to himself, "I should have known! This ailment is undetectable by tests, poisoning wouldn't have come up that easy. I hate doing things the mortal way."
"Luckily it has not yet claimed her life." Rhea says softly.
"We can treat it," Hestia says in the same tone, but somehow her voice carries over the loudness like smoke lingers in a breeze.
"We can't treat Annabeth because it is mental, but this is physical." Asclepius nods in understanding.
"We have to identify the poison somehow." Demeter speaks as she draws nearer Hazel's bed, "if it is a plant I will be able to identify it."
Asclepius takes a tongue depressor and carefully collects some of the poison form her mouth before he wrinkles his nose in confusion. With one hand he passes it off to Demeter to test it and with his other he gently opens her mouth. When Demeter takes the tongue depressor he uses his free hand and picks up a flashlight to shines a light down her throat.
"What the-" Asclepius cuts himself off, "this is weird."
"Oh no," Demeter mumbled, "that is a form of water hemlock I have never even seen before. I don't understand how she is still alive."
Asclepius looks at Demeter, Hestia, and Rhea, swallowing nervously, "That's because... she is the thing creating it."
"Pardon?" Rhea frowns, "Why would this child-?"
"She shouldn't be able to." Demeter says with a matching frown.
"So this is her variation of the ailment," Hestia hums to herself as she digests the information.
"I have to go get Persephone, she stopped to the big house with Chiron," Demeter excuses herself.
"How would Water Hemlock liquidize like this, she is secreting it through the glands in the back of her throat, it's like a paste." Asclepius shakes head in deep confusion.
"If that is the case than it should have killed her, it is a very deadly plant," Rhea points out.
Asclepius opens his mouth to respond but he is cut off by the screaming words, "Let me go!"
All of their heads whip toward the scream to see Annabeth still unconscious and writhing.
"That's the first time she has said anything coherent in a while," Asclepius sighs and shakes his head before he turns his attention back to Hazel.
Persephone came into the infirmary with Demeter, fast tracking to Hazel's bedside.
"What happened, what's going on? She's been poisoned?" Persephone asks Asclepius.
"Sort of?" Asclepius sighed, "She's creating the poison. We believe this is what her ailment is."
"Well how do we get her to stop making it! How is she making it?" Persephone asked worriedly.
Hestia looks at her sympathetically, "we're going to try to administer an antidote, perhaps intravenously?" Hestia offers to Asclepius before turning back to Persephone, "but the ailment is not curable, just like it is not curable for Annabeth or Rachel. Hopefully we can keep her somewhat stable."
Persephone frowns and gently reaches for Hazels hand, "she has already been lost once to horrible circumstances, I do not know what my husband would do in his grief of losing her so horrifically again."
Another terrible scream erupts from the other side of the room, "Please don't hurt me!"
~```~~a~~`n``~~~n``a```~~~~b~````~e~~t~`~~h~
Annabeth woke up feeling quite disoriented. She couldn’t remember what had happened, or where she was, but she remembered her fear.
“Annie! You’re awake, finally,” a male voice called in relief from her bedside.
Annabeth froze, she was certain the blood had stopped circulating in her veins. She rubbed at her eyes and turned her head hoping she wouldn’t see who she thought she heard.
There he was with his blonde hair, mischievous grin, blue eyes, and a striking scar: Luke.
“L-luke?” Annabeth breathed out in shock, her eyes flitting around the room in confusion.
“Annie, surely you aren’t surprised to see me? I told you we have a meeting this morning to discuss our next steps,” Luke raised an eyebrow, “Surely one night at sea can’t have you this turned around.”
“I don’t understand,” Annabeth muttered, pulling at her curls as if to assure herself this was real.
Luke tilted his head, “You okay? You promised me you wouldn’t get seasick.”
“Where am I?” Annabeth questioned Luke.
“The yacht, more specifically about a hundred miles off the coast of Virginia,” Luke supplied before leveling Annabeth with a fond smile, “I’m really glad you’re here, Annie, I was worried that you wouldn’t come.”
Annabeth’s mind spun out of control with thoughts. Luke was dead, she had watched him die. Then again, she had never had a dream that felt so realistic. Annabeth met Luke’s eyes and made a decision at that moment that it would be best to gather more information before saying anything incriminating.
“Luke, I think I’m still half-asleep. What was this meeting about exactly?” Annabeth questioned carefully.
Luke chuckled, “Oh Annie, no matter how old you get, I can always count on you not being a morning person. We are discussing our next steps to overthrow our parents? That’s like our whole thing, remember? Oh also, Kelli said she would bring you those donuts from Monster Donut that you love.”
At the mention of the name Kelli, Annabeth suddenly felt a suffocating dryness in her lungs and irritating blisters on her arms that when she looked down, were not there.
“Kelli?” Annabeth whispered, she knew that she knew Kelli but the reason why she knew her was just out of her reach.
“You can’t still be mad about your first meeting, can you? She apologized, Annie. You’ve gotta let go of your grudges,” Luke rolled his eyes in amusement.
Annabeth blinked a few times and shook her head, trying to clear the fogginess in her brain, “Sorry, I guess I just don’t like boats and I think I had a weird dream.”
Luke offered her a hand, “Come on, Annie, we’ve got much to do.”
The second Annabeth felt his hand grasp hers, the room around her melted into entirely new surroundings. She couldn’t help the scream that escaped her as she landed on the hard ground.
“How the hell…?” Annabeth trailed off as she sat upright, taking in the plush green forest that surrounded her.
.”You okay? That looked like a bad fall. You’ve gotta watch where you’re going if we are going to make it,” Thalia frowned.
“Where are we going?” Annabeth rubbed at her head where it had hit a tree root.
“How hard did you hit your head? We are going to go get my dad’s lightning bolt!” Thalia said with an unamused tone.
“Wait, what?” Annabeth squinted in confusion, shaking her head as she tried to make sense of the situation.
“We’re on a deadline here! I can’t explain everything just because you have a concussion! Eat a bite of ambrosia so we can keep going, we only just escaped those hell hounds.” Thalia huffed as she reached into her bag.
“But… that wasn’t, that was- that was,” Annabeth grasped at memories that weren’t quite there, grunting in frustration when nothing else came to her.
Annabeth shrugged gently in acceptance and took the ambrosia square from Thalia, but the second Thalia’s finger brushed against the palm of Annabeth’s hand, she was falling again.
This time, it was burning, she was burning, she was dying. That was all she knew, hot, pain, dry, death. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t see. Finally, Annabeth screamed, flailing her arms and trying to get away from the excruciating pain.
She clawed against the burning terrain, unable to see and unsure why, screaming gutturally. Annabeth struggled against an invisible force, as if her arms were in invisible restraints until finally after what felt like forever, this scene faded too.
Then, when the dark gave way to the little light this new place provided, all it did was highlight the monster it was emitting from. Because what was in front of her was a monster- it surely must have been.
The being was tall and wrapped in shadows. Not to mention what it was doing: torturing a goddess. The area around Annabeth was illuminated by the green glow of poisons that encased the goddess and the haunting glow of the monster’s eyes. She screamed and cried in horror as she watched helplessly. The goddess begged for mercy as the monster brought her to her knees. Finally, when he finished, the goddess lay motionless and unseeing on the dark ground. The monster, done with the lifeless goddess, turned abruptly and aimed a shark-like smile at Annabeth, who promptly screamed in horror as she focused on his green glowing eyes.
“No, please, please, I don’t know what I’m doing here. Please, just let me go! Who are you?” Annabeth sobbed as she took tentative steps backwards.
“Oh, Annabeth, don’t make me laugh,” The monster chuckled, “I did this for you. You liked this, you thought she deserved this. You liked watching her beg for me to spare her and you liked when I didn’t listen and I drained her of her domains and left her for Tartarus.”
“No, no! That’s not- that didn’t- I hate you! You’re a monster! Get away from me! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” Annabeth sobbed brokenly as he approached.
“You love me.” The monster insisted with a knowing grin.
“I don’t even know who you are!” Annabeth cried, shaking her head stubbornly.
“Aw, don’t be like that. After everything we’ve been through? I’m just a monster to you?” The monster smirked so widely that his sharp canine tooth peaked out from his lip.
Annabeth shook her head, taking another few steps backwards. “Who are you?!” Annabeth cried.
The monster matched her step for step.
“I am Perseus. I am destruction and I am yours.” The monster whispered.
“No, no… Perseus was a demigod of Ze-”
A cackle cut her off, “C’mon princess, cut the act. You can’t lie to yourself like this. You’re too smart for denial.”
“This is a dream,” Annabeth insisted with a huff.
“Perhaps. Is that what you wish it to be?” Perseus tilted his head.
“I saw Luke; Luke is dead,” Annabeth mumbled.
“Yes, I was there.” Perseus nodded.
“I don’t know you,” Annabeth insisted again, seething as she glared at the being.
Perseus scoffed, “Bullshit! This is bullshit! So you’re just going to give up? Let yourself fall victim? Wake up, Annabeth!”
“What are you talking about!? And why should I even trust your word? You just murdered a goddess! That shouldn’t be possible.” Annabeth crossed her arms.
“Exactly, Annabeth. Is that what happened? Did I kill a goddess?” Perseus stared at her harshly.
“I just saw you do it!” Annabeth exclaimed looking back at the body only to find that it no longer occupied the space it had previously.
“Are you certain that is what you saw? What about what you remember? Don’t give up so easily, Annabeth. What is the truth? Don’t let yourself be thrown around like this,” Perseus scowled.
“Are you my subconscious? Am I just dreaming right now?” Annabeth blinked in confusion at the beings words.
Perseus looked down at the dark ground, his glowing eyes illuminating their shoes, “I already answered that, Annabeth. You’re not even trying! You’re giving up!”
Annabeth jumped as he yelled, his tone gravely and rough, suddenly sounding less than human.
“I- I don’t understand what you want from me!” Annabeth cried.
“Come on, Chase! You’re one of the wisest demigods to exist, don’t give up now! What is the last thing you remember!” Perseus demanded and after a moment of silence he stomped his foot, tremors shaking the ground beneath them, “Think damnit!”
“I was with Thalia!” Annabeth blurted out as she recalled the forest and the tree root.
“No! No, you weren’t with Thalia. God fucking damnit, THINK! Where were you really!?” Perseus yelled again.
“I- I was- I don’t know! I can’t remember! It’s all foggy, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me!” Annabeth begged the monster before her.
“I would never hurt you. Besides, I thought you said this was all in your head?” Perseus adjusted himself so he was mere inches from Annabeth.
Annabeth takes a breath, looking into his glowing eyes as she desperately clings to the frayed edges of her memory.
“I- Camp? I was at Camp.” Annabeth bit her lip in fear after answering as she was unsure of her answer.
Perseus grinned so widely, Annabeth was shocked he didn’t split his face in two.
“Good, wise girl. Now think. Why were you at camp? What happened? Why are you here now?” Perseus questioned.
Annabeth breathed in deeply, “I was- it was awful. I was afraid. It was horrible. I couldn’t think, my head was so foggy. I was confused, I couldn’t- I couldn’t face it.”
“Couldn’t face what?” Perseus pressed.
“He was leaving me. I left so he couldn’t leave me. I ran.” Annabeth’s hands formed fists as she tried with all her might to recall the information, her nails digging into her palms and drawing blood.
“Who? Who did you leave?” Perseus prodded.
Annabeth blinked in realization before she whispered, “You.”
“No, it’s not me. Who did you leave, Annabeth?” Perseus’ eyes were glowing more intensely.
“Percy. I left Percy.” Annabeth choked on a sob.
“Why?” Perseus continued to question.
“I overheard Dionysus, Percy’s ascending. I knew he would’ve hated himself for it. I’m not ascending, so I left; told him awful things so he could move on.” Annabeth mumbled a bit incoherently as the thoughts and memories rushed through her head.
“Good, wise girl, come on, you can do this. Now, where are you?” Perseus smiled gleefully.
“I’m- I’m… Am I in a trap?” Annabeth gasped.
“That’s my wise girl.” Perseus nodded.
“I’m not your wise girl,” Annabeth scowled at the figment in front of her.
“Catching on now, are we?” Perseus raised an eyebrow.
“How exactly are you helping me?” Annabeth questioned.
“Where did you think we were in the first place, Annabeth?” Perseus ignored her question.
“In a dream,” Annabeth exhaled in realization, “I’m trapped in my own head?”
“You’re too smart for others to play mind games on you, and look what form of a person you chose to assist you,” Perseus gestured to himself cockily.
“But you aren’t him,” Annabeth grumbled.
“Well, no, but my form is rooted in an aspect of reality. You perceived him as this, even if only in your nightmares,” Perseus countered.
“My nightmares don’t mean that’s who he is,” Annabeth frowned defiantly.
“Then why did you say those things to him, huh? You called him a monster didn’t you? Said he scared you? That you could never be with something like him- like me,” Perseus said tonelessly.
“I told you I only said those things to him so he could live on without me guilt free.” Annabeth defended.
Perseus laughed, “Annabeth Chase please do not fool me. Your words, just as my form, were based in truth. Your words cut him deeper than any knife ever has. He would never be guilt free when you say he is horrific and a monster, like me.”
“Stop! I didn’t mean it!” Annabeth blinked away tears, shaking her head in panic.
“But would you have been able to love him, even without the knowledge of his ascension? After everything he has done or thought in order to survive, could you forgive that? Could you have continued to love him if he walked out of there just a little bit more like me?” Perseus interrogated, his eyes dimming slightly.
“I- of course I would,” Annabeth said teary eyed.
Perseus nodded and exhaled as he looked away, “Annabeth, why do you think you are trapped here? Why do you think you couldn’t remember him?”
“I- I don’t know?” Annabeth mumbled, biting her lip as she desperately tried to come up with an answer.
“Think, Chase, don’t make me yell again.” Perseus grumbled.
“Is he in danger?” Annabeth whispered, “Did I abandon him when he needed me most?”
“I do not know, I only exist within your brain. The depth of my knowledge is the depth of your subconscious. I am a mere figment to help you break free, your own way of devising a plan to escape a seemingly impossible trap. If you weren’t one of Athena’s most strong-minded children to ever exist I would be impressed.” Perseus shrugged.
“He is in danger. I know it. I can feel it,” Annabeth rubbed her arms as if she were cold.
“How are you certain?” Perseus asked.
“I just am. I know he is in danger and that I am also in danger. They wanted me out of the way,” Annabeth frowned.
“Who wanted you out of the way?” Perseus leaned closer.
“I don’t-” Annabeth started.
“Bullshit, Annabeth! Who? Think!” Perseus yelled again.
“Stop yelling at me, it’s not helping! I don’t know anyone who could pull this off without being caught,” Annabeth sighed.
“You have plenty of enemies,” Perseus commented.
“Yeah, thanks, but that’s not helpful,” Annabeth bit out irritably.
“You need to wake up, wise girl,” Perseus said seriously.
“I know,” Annabeth huffed.
“You need to fight,” Perseus instructed.
“Fight what?” Annabeth frowned.
“You need to get out of your own head, Annabeth, this is like a labyrinth of your own design. You need to find a way to navigate through whatever your mind is throwing at you. You’re waking up,” Perseus said tentatively.
“How?” Annabeth shook her head in confusion.
“Can’t you feel it? You need to kick and scream your way back to reality. No matter what this curse is going to throw at you, you fight and you claw to get back and if it happens again you do it all over again. Remember this isn’t real, so if you need to take a note out of my book and be a ruthless monster, then you be a fucking monster. Do you understand me?” Perseus instructed.
Annabeth nodded with tears in her eyes as Perseus leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, “good luck, wise girl.”
Annabeth felt herself slip away from Perseus and this time when she reappeared she was standing on the shore, staring out into the ocean.
“Ready, Beth?” A voice called to her right.
Frowning at the nickname she turned to see Connor Stoll in full battle gear and looking several years younger than she remembered.
“What’s going on?” Annabeth questioned, wanting to figure out this illusion as quickly as possible.
“Don’t worry! We are holding camp. Poseidon’s army hasn’t broken through yet,” Connor informed.
Annabeth scrunched her brows, “Why is Poseidon attacking?”
Connor looked at her worriedly, “Uh… because Thalia’s dad and the King of the Underworld murdered Poseidon’s son, remember?”
Annabeth felt sick, “right.”
“Hey we’ll make it through, Luke promised that he has back up on the way, I’m not sure who though.” Connor tried to reassure her.
Annabeth turned to fully face Connor, “This isn’t real. Percy didn’t die.”
Connor looked at her like she was wearing a clown suit, “are you okay?”
“Connor, if this were real... why would we be the only one’s here?” Annabeth questioned.
“You have to come with me, Beth. I’ll take you to the others,” Connor smiled, reaching out his hand.
“No! I want to leave!” Annabeth demanded as she ripped her hand away before he could touch her.
Connor’s smile dropped, “but we could never win this without you, you can't abandon your family, Annabeth.”
“You aren’t Connor.” Annabeth narrowed her eyes challengingly.
“Beth, what is wrong with you! Of course I am!” Connor scowled.
“Kicking and screaming,” Annabeth mumbled softly before taking a few steps toward him.
“Come on, Beth. We’ll see what Lee can do about your confusion,” Connor said gently as he held out his hand again.
Annabeth continued to walk towards him, “Hey Connor?”
“What?” Connor asked in confusion.
Annabeth grabbed him by the arm and flipped him over on the hard sand, pressing her knee into his throat harshly.
Connor’s eyes darkened as he glared up at her, pulling a knife out of seemingly nowhere, he stabbed Annabeth in the thigh.
Annabeth screamed, partly from the pain and partly in frustration at letting him get anything past her.
“Let me go!” Annabeth screamed as she tried to gain the upper hand.
Connor scoffed as he flipped her, his knee pinning her chest as she struggled in his grasp.
“He’s gone.” Connor said definitively.
“Who? Percy?” Annabeth choked.
Connor said nothing else, instead bringing his blade up to Annabeth’s throat.
“Even if Percy is gone, you can’t take my memories of him from me,” Annabeth retorted in anger, bringing her leg up sharply to knock Connor off of her.
Connor, not having expected her to overtake him, sprawled out on the sand.
Annabeth looked around her to find something to incapacitate him, biting her cheek as she quickly debated the options. Reaching for a somewhat hefty rock, she turned back to Connor who was getting back to his feet.
“I’m sorry, but I have to,” Annabeth cried out, tears pouring down her cheeks as she threw the rock at Connor’s head.
Annabeth watched with sobs as he crumpled to the ground unconscious, his head bleeding from the impact. She waited for the familiar feeling of her surroundings changing but there was nothing, instead she still stood over Connor’s body.
“No! No, oh no, Connor? No, that was supposed to work!” Annabeth cried as she frantically looked around the beach.
“Well, I certainly think that worked.” A deep voice called from over her shoulder.
Annabeth spun back towards the water to see Poseidon standing at the edge of the shoreline.
“Poseidon?” Annabeth scrunched her brows.
“You knew my son,” Poseidon commented.
“Yes,” Annabeth said hesitantly, trying to make sense of what was happening as this is the first time there was more than one person interacting with her in one illusion.
“Then why do you fight for them, the ones who betrayed him?” Poseidon questioned, one brow raising.
“I- I’m not. I wouldn’t betray him,” Annabeth said, certain that it was better to err on the side of caution when it came to even a fake version of Poseidon.
“He is gone,” Poseidon said, “I want him back but I cannot get him.”
“Hades doesn’t let anyone leave his realm,” Annabeth agreed with a whisper she didn't mean to say.
“He is not with my brother. Don’t disappoint me Annabeth, have you learned nothing?” Poseidon crossed his arms.
Annabeth blinked, trying to clear the fogginess in her brain that started to confuse her.
“Annabeth, you mustn't stay in any illusion too long, can’t you see what it is doing to you? If you continue like this your mind will fracture,” Poseidon instructed.
Looking closer at the god in front of her, Annabeth tipped her head, “This is just my subconscious telling me something I already know.”
Poseidon looked at her for a moment, tipping his head, “Come along, I’ll bring you to my son.”
Annabeth smiled in relief, taking Poseidon’s now extended hand.
Annabeth felt as the surroundings started to warp around her and she recalled what Perseus had told her. While she was in this in-between state, she screamed. She used every bit of strength she had to flail around and scream and thrash and fight against something that wasn’t there and then finally she blinked against harsh hospital lighting and she knew she had won.
Holding her hand and hushing her was her mother.
“Mom?” Annabeth cried in relief.
Athena gripped Annabeth’s hand harder and leaned in to press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead.
Annabeth relished in the feeling of her mother’s embrace.
“Well done, Annabeth, I’m very proud of you,” Athena smiled.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Annabeth whispered teary eyed.
“Everything is just a mess right now, sweetie,” Athena pushed back Annabeth’s curls gently.
“What do you mean?” Annabeth asked softly.
“Don’t worry your head with it, child, I'm here now.” Athena soothes.
“It was so awful,” Annabeth choked up.
“I’m just glad you returned the Parthenos,” Athena smiled warmly, “I knew you were my favorite for a reason.”
Annabeth’s mind came to a screeching halt at those words, “What?”
Athena shushed her softly, “rest daughter, you must be exhausted. I’m so proud of you.”
A tear escapes Annabeth’s eye, “Mom? Where is Percy?”
“Who?” Athena frowns.
Annabeth swallowed back a sob, “you’re not my mom, are you?”
“Sweetie, what are you talking about! Of course I am!” Athena smiled.
Immediately Annabeth was brought back to when she was a naïve child, letting herself throw herself to the sirens to get an ideal version of her mother.
“No, you aren’t.” Annabeth whispers through tears, "I just want to go home. Please! Please, I want to go back. I can't, I can't do this!" Annabeth's voice raises as her breathing becomes erratic.
"Shh, just rest child, I've got you." Athena smiles sweetly and Annabeth can't help but let the words wash over her as her eyes flutter shut and she gives in to her exhaustion. Maybe she was safe here.
~```~~a~~`n``~~~n``a```~~~~b~````~e~~t~`~~h~
Dionysus and Athena sag in relief as Annabeth seems to stop her thrashing once more.
Athena looks across the bed side to Dionysus, "We can't keep doing this, we're not helping her. We're just watching her suffer."
"She is strong, Athena." Dionysus says in a gentle tone that was rare for him.
It startles the both of them when she trembles slightly and vomits.
Acting quickly, Dionysus undoes the restraints and turns her onto her side so she doesn't choke.
Athena looks down in horror at the substance that her daughter just expelled, "Dionysus is that?"
Dionysus nodded with a sigh, "Recovering from The Pit is a process, Athena. When Apollo was still here, he explained that is safer for them to expel it over an extended period. Otherwise they would run the risk of permanent damage to their organs or death."
Athena wrinkles her nose and banishes the mess, "They didn't deserve this."
"None of them ever deserve their fates, Athena. Their existences are often closer to curses, take it from me, I was one." Dionysus grumbles.
Athena pauses for a moment to truly look at her brother, "I forget that sometimes."
"Yeah, so do I," Dionysus says under his breath, leaving Athena at her daughter bedside, looking out the infirmary window.
He moves further down to an awake Rachel Dare, "Rachel?" Dionysus says gently.
Rachel was staring blankly across the room, with a constant nosebleed. The bleeding had gotten so bad that Asclepius had to go find the nearest blood bank and swipe blood from their storage to hook her up to a transfusion. When Rachel woke up, it had been clear to everyone that there wasn't all of her actually there.
"Rachel?" Dionysus says again gently.
"Grapes." Rachel laughed.
Dionysus blinked, tipping his head, "Yeah, I- I guess that's me."
Rachel was holding a plastic container that one of the gods had given her to occupy her mind that wasn't at risk of hurting her. She put the top on and took it off in a dazed repetitive motion.
"Sister secretly sees sibling sometimes, somewhere, some-when, somehow." Rachel laughs.
Dionysus frowns, "What?"
"Pop's pearls perfectly precious." Rachel begins responding with a smile.
"Right." Dionysus sighed, shaking his head as he goes to turn his attention elsewhere.
"-protecting Percy." Rachel finished.
Dionysus froze, in fact, it was as if the entire room froze at the name that slipped from her lips.
"Did she?" Athena asked from over his shoulder.
"Yeah." Dionysus whispers in shock, "she did."