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Percy was already tired of his new sibling. A week had passed since Levi was claimed. Percy was already exhausted of his antics. He rubbed his eyes, groggy at the restless sleep. He had been struggling to sleep more recently, and kept finding strange pains in different places he’s never had before.
His ears, eyes, tailbone, and teeth hurt almost constantly. His head throbbed. He groaned, resting his face in his hands. He heard a snicker from across the room. Percy looked over at his half sibling.
“Why the long face brother?” Levi taunted. Percy’s eye twitched, and he snatched the headband Apollo had given him from under his pillow. He quickly put it on, tying it around his head. The pain in his teeth and ears faded, but the headache remained. He grumbled a bit, standing and heading to the bathroom.
He went through his usual motions of brushing his teeth, changing, and washing his face. He slipped on some jeans and a grey sweatshirt. Percy walked out of the bathroom, looking at where Levi was sitting.
Levi was laid back on his bunk, humming softly. Percy just sighed and left the cabin. He walked over to the pavilion, feet dragging with fatigue. He collapsed at his table, resting his head. He heard a small pop and looked up.
Apollo was sitting in front of him, staring at Percy with narrowed eyes. “I have you been sleeping Percy?” Percy blinked slowly. “No, not really. I can’t sleep. Weird pains here and there. Dunno why.” Percy’s words slurred, and he rested his chin on the table.
Concern flashed into Apollos face. He pressed a hand against Percy’s forehead. “No fever, which is weird. I don’t even know if you’re sick. Hmm.” Apollo picked up Percy’s head by his cheeks, looking into the dull green eyes staring back at him.
Apollo took note of how tired Percy was. He started watching Percy everyday to make sure he was fine. His fatigue getting worse. He looked exhausted all the time, and whenever he fell asleep, he would jolt awake. Apollo was concerned. Very concerned. He’d never seen this happen to a demigod.
Days continued to pass, and Percy got worse and worse. His head constantly hurt, a migraine always throbbing behind his eyes. He was cold, but hot at the same time. He was constantly shivering now, and could barely sleep. He lost his appetite, and his sleep got worse.
“Yay. No sleep again.” Percy said sarcastically as he watched Levi move around and do his thing. Levi stopped, turning towards him. “I have medicine for sleep and headaches if you want.” Percy raised an eyebrow.
Since when did Levi want to be best buddies? “Are you joking?” Narrowed his eyes, observing Levi. “Nope. Here, take the headache one. It will help.” He handed a small white pill towards Percy. He took it, staring at it. It looked like any other kind of drug.
Percy sighed, grabbing a water bottle at the foot of his bed and took a gulp of water, then chucking the pill into his mouth, he swallowed. It went down smooth, which he found at least somewhat good. He sighed again, standing and going through his morning motions.
His head still throbbed. He grabbed his grey sweatshirt, pulling it on. He tied on Apollos headband once again, and slipped on some thick grey gloves, trying to warm up his freezing hands. He dragged himself out the cabin, sluggishly walking to the pavilion. Apollo was already at Percy’s table, watching the son of Poseidon expectantly.
Percy flopped down at the table, closing his eyes. The sun gods hand immediately shot across the table to feel Percy’s temperature. “Whoa. Dude, you are hot.” Percy face flushed. “Thanks. I know.” Apollo snorted and went around the table, sitting down next to Percy.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Percy nodded, not wanting to worry the sun god. “I don’t think you are.” Percy rolled his eyes.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully, Apollo constantly trailing behind Percy. Finally, capture the flag arrived. Percy gulped, dreading having to work with Levi again.
This time, Hermes, Demeter, Ares, and Dionysus cabins went up against Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus cabins. The teams were greatly balanced this time, due to the large size of the Hermes cabin.
Jason, Percy, Leo, Piper, Annabeth, Apollo, Nico, Will, and Levi all stood together, talking in hushed tones. “Nico are you participating?” Percy asked the child of Hades. Nico shrugged, grabbing Wills hand and holding it. Apollo smiled, then turned to Percy. “Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Percy rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m fine Apollo.” Apollo just raised an eyebrow.
Percy yawned, covering his mouth. Apollo yawned right after. “Are you sure y’all will be fine? I dunno if we should have a sleep deprived son of Poseidon and tired god of the sun out there.” Leo was fidgeting with one of his popcorn bombs, checking if everything was working.
“I’ll be fine, Leo. And Apollo will also be fine. Again, he’s a god. He doesn’t need sleep.” Apollo nodded. “Percy won’t be fine but I will. Yawns are contagious.” Apollo shrugged. Leo yawned. All of them snickered.
Chiron sounded out that they were about to start. All the campers moved out, heading to their spots. Annabeth gave a brief explanation of the plan, guiding Percy and the others to the flag. It was set next to a river, which Percy thanked Annabeth for. Leo clapped him on his back, wishing him good luck. Then going and sitting near the flag. He sat down next to the river, watching Jason, Levi, Piper, Annabeth, and Apollo sit. Apollo settled next to Percy, lying back against a rock behind him.
Percy waited for the other cabins to come and attack them. The sound of distant swords clashing and battle cries filled the air. Percy tensed. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his own. He turned to see Apollo staring off into the distance with concentration. His hand was resting Percy’s gloved hand. Percy slipped the glove off quickly, and Apollo grabbed his hand and held it.
A red blush spread across his cheeks. Then, some of the enemy team burst into their small clearing. Leo immediately threw a popcorn bomb, hitting right above the other team’s heads. All of them were standing now, preparing to fight. Percy drew up some water from the river to circle around him and Apollo.
Apollo had let go of Percy’s hand, and Percy felt a tinge of annoyance that his small moment with Apollo was gone. He hurtled water at the enemy team, soaking them and pushing them back. They stumbled, then shot Percy a withering look. He gulped. These were Ares kids, and by the looks of it, they were same ones from last time.
Percy pulled out Riptide, waiting for them to charge. And charge they did. Apollo had puffed into thin air, disappearing off to seemingly nowhere. Percy parried one of the enemy’s attacks, then kicked another one away. He thought he was doing pretty good when one came up behind him and tackled him to the ground. He thrashed, trying to roll away.
He looked over to see the rest of his teammates defending the flag. He growled, elbowing the guy above him. The kid stumbled away, grasping their stomach. Percy shot to his feet immediately blocking another attack. He backed away from the three who had circled him. Then suddenly, two campers burst through the trees. They carried the other team’s flag and smacked it down right next to their flag. Everyone cheered except the other team.
The horn sounded, signaling that it was time to turn in for the night. Percy looked at the three in front of him. They scowled, then stalked off. “Hey Percy ya coming?” Jason looked over at the son of Poseidon who was wobbling slightly on his feet. “Yeah, give me a second to catch my breath.” Percy knelt over, hands on his knees. He felt faint, light headed. He was cold, but was sweating at the same time.
Jason nodded at him, then joined the rest of the group. The only one who was still there was Levi. Percy looked at him. He smiled. “You really shouldn’t take medicine from people you don’t know.” Percy inhaled sharply. He backed up a couple steps, grabbing Riptide. Levi walked a few steps forward.
“My job will soon be done, once you start to develop.” Percy gulped, his throat dry. He was shivering noticeably now, and his face was flushed. Levi grinned devilishly. “Just going to wait ya know? Any second the effects will truly start.” Then Percy started to feel it. A pounding migraine hit him, and he groaned. His knees hit the forest floor, and he dropped Riptide.
His vision was blurry and he looked up to see Levi standing right above him. Percy panted, his body shaking. Fatigue was starting to affect him bad. He shot a withering glare at the man above him. Levi smiled.
Then Levi started to change. Percy didn’t know if he was hallucinating or if it was actually happening, but he didn’t like the idea of either. He grew a long eel-like tail, his nails turning sharp and his pupils turning into sharp slits. All of Levi’s teeth turned shark sharp, and his ears lengthened. Percy backed away, eyes wide with fear.
In front of him stood a monster. A tail swishing back and forth, sharp teeth gleaming in Artemis’ moonlight, fingers flexing claw-like nails, horse-like ears perked up, and worst of all, sharp pupils staring at him. His green acidic eyes glowed, lighting up a bit of his face. Percy shivered harder.
Levi moved a bit closer to Percy, and Percy scooted back a bit closer to the river now right behind him. Then, the sound of tree branches snapping notified them both of someone or something being around. Levi whipped around to see Apollo standing in the clearing with a cold glare set across his usually happy features. His eyes were narrow, pupils penetrating into Levi’s soul. Levi let out a literal hiss, and suddenly jumped into the water behind Percy.
Percy yelped, covering his head. He turned around to see Levi was gone. Apollo ran over and crouched next to him. Percy stared. They looked at each other. Percy’s body then decided that it was a good time to go limp.
He slumped over, panting hard. Apollo caught the demigod before he could fall into the river, and teleported away with him. They appeared in the infirmary, Percy now being held bridal-style in Apollos arms. He was unconscious, his body shivering violently and his face flushed. His brow was furrowed in discomfort.
Will looked up from where he was treating another camper. The other camper in question, was Leo. He was in the same condition. “Oh no… another? Do you think it’s a sickness?” Will gestured to a bed next to Leo’s cot. “I don’t know. It might be a spell.” Apollo replied, laying Percy down.
“A spell?” Will asked, looking at Apollo. The sun god nodded. “This isn’t natural. I know that for a fact. This is… off putting”, Apollo continued “By the looks of it, said illness is contagious. Leo possibly caught it from Percy. Which means other campers are also at risk.” Just as Apollo finished, there was a faint knock at the door.
Will stood and opened it, only to be knocked to the ground by one Jason Grace. “Oh my gods. You look… dead.” Apollo said unhelpfully. “I know.” Jason rasped out, rolling off Will. Jason was helped to his feet by Will, and brought to a cot next to Leo’s.
“If it’s contagious, then that means I’m most likely going to catch it. Who was near these three today?” Will turned towards his father. “Uh, I’m pretty sure Piper, Annabeth, and Nico.” Will nodded, his face grim. “Can you go grab them?” Typically, asking a god to do something would result in a divine smiting, either turning said person into some kind of plant, or just turning them to dust. Luckily, Apollo isn’t like that.
Apollo nods, vanishing in a small flash of light. Will get’s back to treating the three, now rushing back and forth. Apollo appears in front of Piper and Annabeth, and both jump at the sudden gods appearance. “We need you guys to come to the infirmary. And fast. Have you came into close contact with anyone today?” They blinked at the god.
“Uh, no. I haven’t.” Piper replied, standing up. “I haven’t either.” Annabeth followed. Apollo suddenly grabbed both of them, and teleported them over to the infirmary. They stumbled, disoriented from the sudden change. Apollo just as quickly vanishes appearing in front of Nico. The demigod doesn’t so much as flinch.
“What?” Nico blinks at Apollo. “Have you come into close contact with anyone today other than Will?” Nico sighs and rolls his eyes, standing. “No I haven’t. Warp me there. Let me guess, some crazy sickness?” Apollo nodded. “Sadly yes.” They warped to the infirmary. Nico didn’t react. “Wonderful.”
Piper and Annabeth were sitting on a bet together while Will did a checkup on them. “Awesome. Thanks dad.” Apollo nods, immediately going to Percy’s side. He sits down in a chair and places a gentle hand on his forearm. “You’ll be okay, Seashell. You’ll be okay.”