Percy's POV

Together, Annabeth and I walked back to the infirmary, ready to start the tests with Will.

I felt a sense of déjà vu walking onto the porch of the infirmary. Once again, these tests would determine the way I continue with my future. During the first round performed so long ago, I hadn't known what truly laid in the balance. Now, I am more than aware of what could happen if the antidote didn't work.

Will swung the door of the infirmary open with a flourish. "Percy! Annabeth!" He greeted, throwing a smile onto his face that seemed just a little too large to be real. "Welcome back. I knew I'm too awesome to stay away." While the gesture was appreciated, in theory, I wasn't quite sure how to feel about his casual, easy-going appearance. Will must've been just as stressed as Annabeth and I.

I rolled my eyes, attempting to play along. "As if, Solace," I teased. "I'm just here for the amazing view and free food." Of course, all the camp food is free, but it seemed like a good thing to say.

I was rewarded when Will barked out a stressed laugh. "Of course, by amazing view, you mean me."

Annabeth and I chuckled along with him. The son of Apollo cleared his throat as he ushered us through the back door of his infirmary, back to where I had performed the first tests seemingly so long ago. The sun was still up, thankfully, and high enough that it cast its light on nearly everything in the yard. I froze in my tracks as soon as the sunlight hit my face, taking in the entire yard. The full anxiety of the impending results crashed upon me.

I hadn't noticed that Annabeth and Will had kept walking until they turned around and were staring at me with concern. "Percy?" Annabeth asked, reaching out an arm to shake my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, I nodded, though I was unsure if I truly was. After all this, how could I be okay again? Annabeth seemed to predict what I was thinking about. Her tan, slim hand slipped into mine as she squeezed my fingers once, tightly. "We'll get through this," she whispered, loudly enough that I could hear but Will couldn't. "We'll get through this together. You're not getting away from me again."

I found it in myself to smile at her in relief. She returned it before facing back to Will. "We're ready now."

Will nodded once. "Ok!" He said with false cheerfulness. "Percy, you remember the drill?"

"Vaguely," I started, finishing with a hesitant, "not really."

The head of the infirmary forced out another nervous laugh. "That's alright. First, you're going to stand on that white line over there." He pointed to a line spray painted into the grass. I trotted over, eager to be done with this entire thing. I remembered this damn line now that he had called it to my attention. Oh, how I loathe it.

"Ok, care to read off these letters on the wall?" Will prompted. I turned to face the wall of the Apollo cabin, where the pyramid of Greek letters was still painted.

"I still think this is one of those school eye tests," I argued. "But you're not some elderly man wearing glasses that's testing me, so I guess it can't be."

Silence followed my statement. Will ended the silence by saying, "Just read the words of the wall, Percy." His voice sounded like a mix between exasperated and amused. I knew the combination well; it was the same tone my teachers in school had used. Either that, or one of barely concealed anger. Mrs. Dodds had always had it in for me, though.

"Reading the wall," I exclaimed with an enthusiasm that didn't match the task I was performing. Once I was done, ending about halfway through the triangle, as I couldn't read any after that, Will jotted down some notes on his handy-dandy clipboard. He looked quite official, I thought absentminded. Kinda like a professional doctor, not one for a camp of teenage delinquents/saviors of the world.

Will looked up at me once he was done marking up the paper I assumed was on the clipboard. "Awesome," he said simply, though he didn't tell me how I ranked. "You ready for the next test?"

"Never." I sighed. "But let's get this over with anyways."

"Great! That's the attitude, Perce." The son of Apollo cleared his throat before dictating what my next task would be. "You see that orange line in the grass behind you?"

"Is it camouflaged behind that neon orange one that's trying to burn out my eye balls?"
Will ignored my remark. "I want you to run from the white line you're on right now to that orange line. And then run back. I'll be timing you."

"But Will," I whined, "that line is so far away."

"It's only seventy-five yards away. You can do it."

"But I'm so weak... I was recently injured, remember?"

Annabeth interrupted Will before he could even speak. "If you're so weak and injured, you can go lay back on that thin hospital bed in the infirmary. Unless you want to get back the the isolated infirmary bed, I suggest you just man up and run the one hundred and fifty yards!"

I will deny that I quickly shut up after that. Will counted me down and I shot off into a sprint.

When I got back to that same, damned white line, I was completely out of breath.

Will had the nerve to laugh. "I guess if we want to see you run fast, Percy, all we have to do is get Annabeth to yell at you!"

I made a face in the son of Apollo's vague direction. I was still panting, slightly dizzy now from lack of breath. Was that normal? It couldn't have been. I guess I'm just a strange demigod.

"One last test," I heard Will say. "Do you remember this one? All you have to do is-"

"Listen," I finished for him, glancing up from my misery. "All I have to do is listen." I saw a flash of white, meaning Will must've smiled at me.

"Bingo," he said. I watched him through rapidly clearing eyes as he strode out of the yard and back into the cabin.

I spared a glance at Annabeth, who was staring at me with wide, nervous eyes and a flushed face.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

She nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. I'm just... I'm just nervous. About what this might mean for us. I'm tired of it being you. Why is it always you?"

"I'm a hero, Annabeth. It's who I am, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm nervous too," I confessed.

She smiled softly at me. "If you weren't you wouldn't be human. But I'm going to be here for you, Percy, no matter what."

"Love you, Annabeth."

"I love you too, Percy."

Will stepped back out into the yard at that moment. "Anything?" He asked. I let out a sigh of
relief.

I didn't hear anything. "I didn't hear anything, Will!" I was beginning to grew hysterical with glee. "I didn't hear anything!"

Will was thrilled as well, if his beaming smile was any thing to go by. "Awesome!" He cheered.

Annabeth was smiling widely, staring at me with happy eyes.

We all stood in our ecstatic bliss before Will had to go and ruin it. "Not to be a Debbie Downer," he said, the smile slipping off his face, "but we still have to get through the next round before we're in the clear."

The smiles slipped off my face and Annabeth's face as well. I nodded, understanding, while Annabeth just stood there grimly.

"Where do you want us to go while we wait for it to get dark?" Annabeth asked after a moment of silence, being the Wise Girl she is.

Will considered this question for a second. "Why don't you guys just wait here? Unless there's somewhere else you want to be. Or need to be. But it might be easier for you to just stay here. It shouldn't be that much longer. Maybe only an hour, hour and a half?"

I shrugged when Annabeth's questioning gaze fell to me. "I don't care. I'm fine with staying here, if you want to."

For the next hour and a half, Will, Annabeth, and I sat inside the infirmary on swivel chairs around a bed, playing intense rounds of Uno. Needless to say, what happens in infirmary Uno stays in infirmary Uno. It was a sight even the most battle hardened of soldiers would quiver at.

Finally, the sun set and it grew dark. Once the stars were beginning to pop into the night sky amidst the clouds, Will led Annabeth and I back outside for the final round of tests.

Annabeth's face was flushed, pale as death, as she stared at me with a mix of apprehension and anxiety. Will tried to remain neutral, but I could see his nervousness in the way his hands shook as he clutched the pen.

"First, back to the white line," Will commanded, pushing me towards the line that I had grown to hate so dearly.

"I hate this white line," I muttered under my breath. Will heard me.

"Don't hate it cause it's beautiful," Will snarked before stepping away from me and retreating towards Annabeth. In a clearer voice, he said, "You ready to read from the wall? And please, this isn't some kind of school eye test, Perce."

I pouted, rolling my eyes. "I wasn't going to say that, Will."

"Sure you weren't. Now just read the letters before I send Annabeth over there."

Saluting the son of Apollo mockingly, I said, "Aye, aye, captain. Reading the letters." I began to recite the letters from the wall, picking off the Greek symbols until I was about halfway down the wall. Finally, I was squinting so badly that I couldn't carry on.

"That's it," I said. "I can't read any more."

Will nodded, silently jotting notes down on his clipboard. Annabeth had me pinned in place with her stormy, anxious gray eyes.

"Ready for the sprint?" Will finally asked, gesturing for me to spin around.

I groaned. "I hate the sprint, too."

"Hopefully, this is the last time you'll have to do it. So suck it up and just do it."

Will counted me down, and I did the sprint. At the end, beads of sweat were dripping off my brow and I was panting. "How did I do?" I breathed, desperate for an answer.

Will ignored me, continuing to scribble mysterious characters and medical jargon onto his clipboard. Finally, he spoke. "One last test."

I held my breath as the son of Apollo hurried inside. Annabeth and I locked eyes as I waited for some kind of ear-splitting, chilling sound of agony to reach my eyes. I didn't look away from those twin pools of stormy gray.

After an eternity, Will stepped back outside. I heard the door slam behind him. I didn't hear a sound of ear-splitting, chilling agony.

A smile spread across Annabeth's face like a wildfire as she glanced between Will and I. With a laugh, she launched herself at me, flinging her arms around my neck as she pressed a kiss to my lips. I smiled into her lips, a laugh bubbling up inside me. When we pulled apart for a much needed gulp of air, Annabeth gleefully said, "You're cured!"

"I'm cured," I breathed, blissfully breathless. "I'm cured."

Notes

One more chapter!! :D