Something Wicked This Way Comes (Mairin)

[PERCY JACKSON]

Percy walked up to the Poseidon cabin. Home sweet home. He grinned as he rested his hand on the door knob, an old wooden thing that could occasionally fall off. He pushed the door open and was greeted by the familiar sent of the ocean, always present in this cabin. Swinging his bag off of his shoulder, Percy dropped it next to his bunk. The bunk bed was familiar and he felt he didn't even have to look as he jumped up onto the top bed. He buried his face in the pillow and grinned madly. So perfect. 

He heard the door open again. At first, he was startled. No one else came in here... except Mairin. He sat up and shot her a huge toothy grin. 

"Hey sis! Are you ready for the worlds greatest sleepover?" He held his hands in the air as if waiting for something amazing to fall from the ceiling. 

@mairin

[Deleted]

Mairin was so glad to be back at the cabin she was ready for some sleep she had spent all day at the lake and wore herself out. She got to the door and it was cracked, that was weird she was the only one who lived here. Mairin cautiously enter the dorm, all the sudden someone popped out of the top bunk, jumping a she yelled "Percy you scared me! I thought you would be with Annabeth? wait sleepover.. you're staying here?" Mairins smile drew as she realized he was staying the night! "Are you sure Annabeth won't mind?" She didn't want to be in the way or make him feel like he had to stay with her, even though she really wanted him to.

[PERCY JACKSON]

"Well, yeah, I mean I would love to stay with Annabeth but 1: They won't let me stay at the Athena cabin. 2: I haven't slept here in ages. And 3: I spent all day with Annabeth and almost no time with my kid sister. I think a sleepover is in order!" He jumped off of the bed and gave her a huge hug, lifting her off of her feet. 

"So I had a few ideas." He let her go and bent down to grab his bag. He sat down on the floor and pulled things out of his bag. "Go Fish. Illegal s'mores. And...." With a flourish of his hands he pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. "We can play some M.A.S.H." He gave her a huge goofy grin. As he looked at her and then yawned, putting his fist up to cover his face. 

[Deleted]

"Ha ha ha" Mairin laughed that was just so Annabeth. "Then let's get this party started! I love smores but aren't we a little too old for M.A.S.H.? 
So much for coming back and getting sleep but oh well it will be worth it! Mairin didn't mind sleeping alone most nights but it did get pretty lonely in the cabin by herself. She was grateful for the company my importantly for Percy ever since they had met he had been a support to her and even though she didn't like it he tried to bring her of her shell. Mairin loved him for that, she wished that she could do something for him in return though.

[PERCY JACKSON]

"You are never too old for M.A.S.H." Percy reminded her, touching her nose in a friendly gesture. 

-- -- -- -- 

The hours drew on, and Percy and Mairin enjoyed each others company. 
Percy yawned a few more times. 
"We should probably go to sleep now. We do have to get up in the morning." He kissed her forehead. "Come on." he reached out to help her get up. He looked at the clock. It was almost one in the morning. At least they had a wonderful time. He loved spending time with his sister. Ever since they had met, he tried to be what he thought a good big brother should do. 

[Deleted]

They laughed and played for hours Mairin couldn't have been happier. It was about 1 a.m. when Percy finally called it quits "Do we have too?" she looked up at him giving him a puppy dog face. He kissed her forehead and she knew she wouldn't win that battle. "Alright......I guess we should" He helped her up and they headed to bed as they went Mairin turned around and gave him a big hug "I'm really glad you're here, I wish I could have done more to help you during the fight with Gaea. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help....." Mairin started to tear up holding it back because she really didn't want to cry, not in front of Percy. When Percy had left She worried about him non stop. What if he got hurt or got lost or even died, she would lose the only family she had. He had come back though and that was enough, she didn't know all the details but she knew that horrible things had happened, but you would expect that when you fall into Tartarus.

[PERCY JACKSON]

Percy hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing tightly. She was a wonderful sister, and he couldn't have asked for a better one. He loved her and was so thankful that she wanted to be in his life. Maybe he could invite her to come stay with him and Annabeth... or rather Annabeth. He didn't really live there. Just slept in the spare room nearly every night... yeah it was their place. 
He let go of her and then jumped onto his bed. He quickly got snuggled into his pillow. "Good night, Mairin. I love you. Sleep Well." He settled back into his mattress sighing in happiness. He might even sleep well tonight. That would be a nice change. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to ease him into sleep. 

Annabeth was sitting on the beach, her blonde hair blowing in the wind. Percy grinned, walking toward her.
"Annabeth." he called out, reaching toward her. She turned around but her face was not the beautiful face he had always adored, no it was arae's face.
"To lose the face of the one you love." It said. Percy fell backwards, scrambling away. His eyes went wide. The peaceful ocean scene burst into flames and he cried out in fear. Another arae came up behind Percy, but didn't touch him. He grabbed his sword, which was oddly behind his head. He opened the lid of Riptide and the sword extended. He swiped it through the creepy lady. She screamed out and then dissipated into dust.As she vanished he heard the words "A thousand needles." Percy's eyes grew as wide as they could go. His skin was on fire... no, it felt as if a million knives were driving into every inch of him. He crumpled to the ground and felt a scream rip from his throat. He looked around, eyes blurry from the pain. He saw Annabeth wandering away from him. No... She wouldn't be able to find him over there. He stumbled to his feet, grabbing riptide and running toward her.

(What is happening while he is dreaming)
The cabin was quiet as they fell asleep, the wind rustling through open windows. 
"Annabeth." he muttered in his sleep. 
Percy cried out in his sleep, his arms flailing through the air. A few moments passed  then his sword was out. He swung wildly in front of him, chopping off the top of one of the posts of his bed. He screamed, dropping the sword over the side of the bed. He lurched over the side, dropping from the top bunk onto the floor. 

[Deleted]

Mairin went to sleep thinking of her family, how grateful she was for Percy and Annabeth. She woke with a start Percy was yelling, no screaming with so much pain and fear, all the sudden riptide fell off the top bunk and soon after so did Percy. "Percy!" she yelled "What's going on?." Confused she looked at him and realized he was dreaming, demi-gaods usually had bad dreams but this was another level he had chopped off the top bunk post. Still screaming Percy rolled on the floor still yelling for Annabeth in between the screams. She got over to him and started to shake him "Percy! Percy! wake-up your dreaming! Please the things you're seeing aren't real! Come back please......PERCY!!!" The thunder outside crashed outside as she spoke, rain came crashing down matching the tears streaming down her face, Mairin was panicking she didn't know what to do She cradled his head as praying to the gods "please.....please help him he's been through so much please help him........" her voice was hoarse as she sat crying cradling her brother.

[PERCY JACKSON]

He was surrounded by arae, each on jeering at him. He tried to swipe at them, but his sword was suddenly gone. They were separating him from Annabeth. He could see her, just over the heads of the arae, wandering down the beach. Could he hear her call his name?
"Annabeth!" He couldn't get to her. They were all around him and each time one of them touched him, he felt a new curse settle on him. That seemed strange. But he didn't know why. He writhed away from them, trying to get some distance between them, trying to get to Annabeth.
"...Aren't real." a voice echoed throughout the dream. Percy looked up in alarm. Not real? How could this not be real? He swiped one of the arae away from him, screaming as another curse settled on him. It's not real. If it was not real, why did it hurt so much? He pushed another of them away and then crashed to the ground, unable to move through the pain in his limbs. It is not real. It is not real. It is not real.

Percy crawled across the ground, army style, but only made it a few feet before he collapsed, screaming again. Annabeth's name was mingled with the screams. Then arms were around him. Cradling his head, rocking him back and forth. Thunder shook the cabin and Percy felt a drop of liquid on his face. 
His eyes shot open. His breathing was ragged and his face sweaty. His wild eyes darted across the room, looking for more arae. When none were to be found his eyes landed on the only thing close to him. Mairin's tear stained face. Realization sank into him. It was a dream. Just a dream. 
"Did I hurt you?" his voice croaked out of his rough throat. He studied her eyes, his own full of terror at what he may have done. 

[Deleted]

Mairin couldn't bear to watch she closed her eyes as she rocked him. Percy grew calmer and the thrashing started to stop. She opened her eyes once more, through her tears the first thing she see is his beautiful sea-green eyes looking up at her. She couldn't believe the joy she felt she started to cry harder but this time with relief the rain still pouring down outside. Gently Percy spoke asking her if he had hurt her, she was taken aback at how he could worry about her at a time like this. She sat up straight and tried to wipe the tears from her face as she spoke softly "Ha you couldn't if you tried, don't you know I'm Percy Jackson's little sister?" She smiled trying to lighten the mood a little hoping to see him smile.

".........are you ok?" not sure of what else to say, she realized that was a loaded question. "I wasn't sure what do do all the sudden you started screaming and swinging your sword then you fell off the bed and kept screaming....." the more she spoke the faster she went as she related the events of just a minute ago ".......and then you stopped all the sudden and i didn't know what to do, do you need anything should I go get someone? what can I do? Tell me anything you need." she looked at him eagerly, waiting unsure of what to do next. 

[PERCY JACKSON]

Her voice trembled as she spoke frantically to him, recounting the last few minutes. They were very different than the memories he had of the last few moments. He sat up, glancing away from her. Who did he need? Did he need someone? Annabeth... he needed to see her. No. She was fine, it was only a dream. Only a dream. She was fine, fine, fine. His breathing started to increase. Short shaking breaths, in and out. He clenched his fists. This dream had been... more than the others. He had never been so violent while sleeping. Sure he talked, occasionally screamed (probably why his roommate hated him.) But he had never used his sword. He had never.... Annabeth. 
His hands came up to his head and he clutched it. He couldn't get the images of her, of what the curses did to her out of his head, he couldn't get the pain out of his mind. 
Suddenly he remembered Mairin. He turned toward her, his eyes wide, tears welling. 
"Mairin, I..." But he couldn't say anymore. He had never felt this fear before, never felt the terror of what his mind could come up with. It wasn't that he was scared of dreams, he had had scary dreams for years, but it was that his dream was so realistic, like he was back in Tartarus. 
He tried to get his breathing under control, to calm himself down. But he couldn't, tears started to fall. He didn't want to be so weak in front of Mairin. He hated this new feeling. Hated that she had to be here to see it. 
"Sorry." he choked out. 

[Deleted]

"You never have to apologize to me" Mairin looked at him trying to think of what to do next. She hugged him tighter as he tried to hold back his tears. She had never seen him like this so unguarded and scared. The Percy she knew was strong and loyal but also a knuckle head."You don't have to pretend to be so strong you know, not all the time, its ok to be afraid Percy. You have been through something most people can't even fathom." No one was suppose to survive Tartarus yet Percy and Annabeth had and now he was receiving the consequences of entering the land of the dead.

 "Do you want to talk about it? You can if that would help." She wanted at least to be able to listen if he wanted to talk.

[PERCY JACKSON]

Percy clutched to his sister, holding her closely as if she were the only thing holding him to this world. She told him he didn't have to be strong, she told him he could talk about it. Could he? Could he talk to her about what he had seen and experienced? He could talk to Annabeth about it, but she had been there with him. He couldn't scar her mind with the terrors he had seen, because she had seen them too. 
He shook his head into her shoulder. His tears spilled out, even though he tried to pull them back in. He realized, holding them in was futile. He let them go, let his terror leak out through his tear ducts. 
The minutes passed, he didn't know how many. He only knew that he was so thankful for his sister, who was so willing to just sit there with him. 
He didn't know how much time passed, but eventually his tears stopped coming and his breath slowed. His head pounded with a headache and his whole body ached. 
"Thanks." he said sitting up and wiping his nose with his hand. "I guess I needed that." he tried to put a smile on his face to lighten the storm cloud in the room. 

[Deleted]

Mairin just held percy as he cried. It broke her heart to see him this way. It had seemed like ages before he stopped. She smiled at him "Anytime" The rain was barely drizzling outside as the weather started to tone down. "Should we try to recovered whats left of the night and get some sleep?" She was exhausted and so was Percy! They still need to be up in a few hours but a couple hours of sleep were better than none. As terrible as the night had been Mairin was almost happy, Percy had shown how much he trusted her and she got to feel like the big sister for once. She had gotten to take care of him even if it had only been for a few hours. She would never forget this.

[PERCY JACKSON]

Percy nodded, to her, keeping the smile on his face.
"Yeah, sleep will be a good thing." He pushed himself off of the floor and helped Mairin up with her elbow. He climbed back up to his bed, leaving Riptide on the floor. Better safe than sorry. He laid down on top of his blankets and stared at the ceiling. 
"Sleep well, Mairin." he whispered, his face solemn. He wouldn't get any more sleep this night, but there was no reason for Mairin to know that. 
He put his hands behind his head and spread his elbows wide, only three hours till it was time to get up.