Despite wanting nothing more than to go curl up in bed and sleep for sixteen hours straight, I offered to help with the cleanup. The building was a mess, there could still be Empire capes or goons lurking somewhere, and I couldn’t imagine that any of the people that had been in the building when the Empire had arrived wanted to be here a minute longer than they had to. A lot of people had lost friends today; it was only right to lighten the load on their shoulders.

Armsmaster let me stay and help for about fifteen minutes––the time it took to get all the Empire capes present dragged into individual high-security cells. My ‘help’ mostly consisted of staying out of the way and keeping the defeated villains secured in watery bonds. Well, that and draining out all the water that had started to fill up the gaps in the walls. I probably saved the PRT a hefty repair bill by quickly drying everything out.

Once that was done, Armsmaster rather briskly told me to go home. Battery, who was nearby, quickly repeated what Armsmaster had said in a much more diplomatic tone, though honestly I didn’t really mind that much. I knew how the Hephaestus kids could get when they were really focused on something, and Armsmaster had had a very long day.

In any case, I barely even heard the words, my gut tight and my lightweight armor feeling like one of those lead aprons they gave you when you were getting an x-ray done. Something about PRT policy and appreciating my timely assistance? It probably didn’t matter, and I very deliberately ignored the mention of ‘coming in later to file a report’. Hopefully no one would notice if I just…didn’t. Or maybe I could just give someone a verbal rundown later? That was a problem for not-post-battle Percy to deal with.

Sometimes I really loved the Curse of Achilles. Like sure it's called a curse, but being mostly invulnerable has saved my life more times than I can count. Plus the extra strength, speed, and everything else was a damn nice bonus. I certainly couldn’t have fought Hyperion without it, and Kronos would have turned me into mincemeat before I ever had a chance to get through to Luke.

Other times, usually after a big fight, I remembered why it was the Curse of Achilles and not the blinging-bath-buff of Achilles. The fights against the two giantesses and the rest of the Empire capes had lasted a handful of minutes if that, and the run before that wasn’t really that long either. A year ago I could have taken a salty shower and been back on my feet in an hour or two. Now I felt like a walking corpse.

Despite my exhaustion, I was aware enough to avoid being sloppy. I found a blind alley, made sure there wasn’t anyone watching, then popped Annabeth’s cap onto my head and shifted my armor back to its harness form. The original plan was to find another corner to take off the hat, but by the time I did so I was already getting pretty close to my temporary home and just…didn’t bother doing so. I invisibly vaulted over the high hedge around the backyard, entered the kitchen through the back porch, and only then took off the Yankees cap.

The original plan was bed, but food was also really tempting. There were a few pieces of leftover french toast––the ones I’d burned just a little but didn’t want to throw away––and I scarfed those down in thirty seconds flat. I didn’t have the energy to cook, but I did find a bunch of packets of instant noodles of a brand I didn’t recognize in one of the cupboards, so that became the rest of my lunch and I washed it down with several glasses of milk. Not the healthiest or tastiest combination, but it silenced the grumble of my stomach.

I barely remember stumbling up the stairs, down the hallway, and then falling into bed. I was out like a light the moment my head hit the pillow. Obviously, that wasn’t the end of it. Apparently after a few days of good dreams, my sleeping luck had run out. My eyes opened and I found myself elsewhere and elsewhen, drawn into yet another demigod dream.

I stood in a sparse forest, the earth beneath my feet rocky and covered in feet-catching roots and unstable rocks. Taking a deep breath, I could taste the life in the air, moss and rain and pine sap tickling my nose. I took a single step and something drew my eyes to the sky.

The stars were oh so bright tonight, brighter than I’d ever seen them. Not even those days when I had slept floating in deep ocean miles and miles from boats or cities had I seen them shine quite so clearly.

My eyes instinctively sought out the constellations I’d learned from Chiron. Orion, Perseus, Draco, and Ursa Major. My smile faded when my eyes passed where Zoe’s stars should have shone and saw no trace of the young woman with her faithful bow.

I made to look away, then paused suddenly. There was a bright shine high above me, but it looked like no star or comet I’d ever seen before. With every passing moment it got bigger and bigger, and I cautiously drew Riptide’s pen form from my pocket. That was no star, nor even a meteor. I knew it in my gut the same way I knew the sea.

Far in the distance, a craggy hill, more a small mountain really, jutted out from the treeline. The object slowly became more and more defined, a writhing mass of silver and crystalline flesh that made my eyes hurt when I looked too closely.

With a thunderous boom that shattered trees and sent chunks of rock flying in every direction, the mass crashed down into the distant mountain. The earth shook, trees shattered, and I could feel as the Mist around me was shredded and torn until only scraps remained.

I blinked and suddenly I was on the mountain. It was daytime, and I could see the crater left by the impact, filled with twisted flesh and extending out in ways that I could not quite make out. It filled more space than it should, flesh and crystal moving in directions that could not exist in the natural world.

There were people around the crater, strangers milling around wearing a hundred different styles and including just as many complexions. A girl descended down into the crater, moving with surety and purpose, while a dark skinned woman followed cautiously behind her.

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At the bottom was a forest of unnatural growth, parts of human bodies stitched together in ways that they were not meant to move. Gentle heartbeats, breaths, and whispers tickled my ears and Riptide was suddenly in my hand, the blade thrumming in time to my own heartbeat.

The girl walked with utter confidence and then I was beside her, my feet moving on their own as the flesh around me changed. Each tree was a body, each just slightly more perfect than the last. And, at the center of it all, a woman. Naked and marked with the unnatural beauty of a goddess but none of the awe that the divine should have inspired. She was slowly pulling herself from the ground, shapeless flesh taking form with every passing moment.

The girl raised her knife, then faltered. I took a step forward, Riptide raised for a blow even as I knew that this was all nothing but a dream. The black woman joined the girl and they exchanged a few words. The woman took the girl’s knife and, with a single firm stroke, severed the wretched thing’s spine.

I felt a sense of rightness. The earth and the trees and the wind sighed in relief. The girl and the woman spoke, but I only really heard the girl’s final words. “There is one more of these things somewhere out there,” she whispered.

And then…

…I woke up.

“Percy? Are you awake?” Crystal’s soft voice whispered from the doorway.

I groaned softly and half sat up. “Probably?” I mumbled back. I waved my hand in the general direction of the desk and the glass of water I’d left there the night before flew into my hand, a few drops of room-temperature water splashing down onto my bare chest and sending waves of clarity through my muscles.

I took a long drink, nearly draining the cup dry, then poured the rest out onto myself. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m awake,” I said, louder this time.

The door creaked open and I turned towards Crystal, finally opening my sleep-encrusted eyes. It was dark in my room, the only light the pale shine of the moon, stars, and street lights trickling through the half-open curtains.

I had half expected to find Crystal naked again, and I wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or not when I finally blinked the last dregs of sleep from my eyes and realized she was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. On one hand, the obvious. On the other hand, maybe going right back to bed after I’d just woken up wasn’t a great idea. And that dream…

“Oh, sorry! Did I wake you up?” she asked apologetically.

I shrugged. “Sorta? Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay. Um, how are you feeling?”

I considered the question. “Uhhh,” I stretched my arms out above my head and twisted my shoulders back and forth. My neck was a little stiff, but my muscles felt alright and my head was no longer stuffed full of cotton. “Pretty good I think.”

Crystal was staring at me.

“Do I have something on my face?” I brushed a hand over my cheeks and forehead, then scratched my neck. There was something kind of weird about the feeling of indestructible nails trying to scratch indestructible skin but at least it got rid of that phantom itch I sometimes felt. It would be a real curse if I couldn’t scratch my back properly when my shirt got bunched up just wrong.

Crystal jolted, “N––no, uh. Sorry!”

“You’re fine, it was probably about time for me to wake up anyway. Actually, what time is it?” I groped around for my phone, but I was pretty sure I’d left it in the pocket of my jeans, which were thrown haphazardly over the chair in the corner. Unfortunately, unlike cups of water, phones were not filled with water, so I couldn’t just make it fly over to me with a thought. They really ought to get on that. A water powered phone would be pretty sweet if I said so myself.

“Right, yeah. Uh. That. Sorry. I mean, uh. It's like a little after eleven?” The last few words came out as a sort of squeak, an absolutely adorable sound from the typically confident and composed Crystal.

I kicked the sheets tangling around my feet away and clambered out of bed. I was still a little tired and my legs were a tad sleepy, but that was easily taken care of by a quick stretch. I leaned down and touched my toes, then shook my feet out and bent my body over to the left and then the right.

“Ah,” I sighed softly, “much better.” I turned back to Crystal, who was patiently waiting by the door. “Sorry about that, I’m sometimes a bit stiff when I wake up.”

“I noticed!”

I grinned at her, though I doubted it was really visible in the barely lit room. “That’s why I like training in the mornings, or maybe just getting in a bit of a workout,” I told her sagely, “It doesn't have to be much, just whatever you have time for, but it always gets me going for the rest of the day.” That tip from Chiron had been a real pain for the first few months, but once I’d buckled down and finally got used to waking up before school for a jog or some sword drills, it had really borne fruit.

I cracked my knuckles, rolled my neck, then squared my shoulders and bent backwards, feeling a satisfying shift in my spine. Suddenly my stomach growled and I blushed a little. “Oh right, uh. Is there something I could eat? I’m starving. I promise I’ll pay you guys back once I get some money, I know I eat a lot.”

Crystal considered the question for several seconds before answering. “Yeah, mom put some of the chicken and rice aside for you in case you woke up hungry. There isn’t much of the rice left, but we’ve got a rice cooker so I can make you some more.”

“Oh gods bless! You’re a lifesaver Crystal.”

Crystal laughed softly. “From what I heard on the news and PHO, I should be the one calling you that.”

I waved her off. “Eh, I was in the right place at the right time. It happens.” I’d have to look up what people were saying later. Having a phone was so convenient.

“That’s not what I heard,” Crystal said doubtfully. I walked over to where I’d left my pants and started rifling through the pockets for my phone. “I’ll, uh, go set the rice to cook!” she said quickly, and I heard her reopen the door.

I grabbed my phone and turned back around. “One sec, I’ll come with you,” I called out, but Crystal was already gone. I was nearly out the door when I stopped and looked down at myself. All of myself.

Ah. “Maybe I should put some pants on first,” I mumbled. And maybe a shirt and underwear while I was at it. Ugh, Crystal was right, I really did need some new clothes.