Please read the A.N! Important stuff to discuss ;)

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Saturday, 7-14-18

Around one o'clock on Saturday morning, I was shook awake by Nico. I immediately sat up, curious as to why my little cousin was in the Poseidon cabin.

"What? What's wrong?"

He stared at me wide eyed. "It-it's Bianca. She's hurt, and the girls don't know what to do."

"Bianca got hurt?"

He nodded frantically. "You've got to come and help. Zoë told me to ask someone I trusted, but not Chiron. You can't tell Chiron, or else all of us will be in trouble. Please, Percy."

I nodded absentmindedly, climbing out from my bed and throwing on a Camp Half-Blood tee shirt. "Let's go."

I followed my youngest cousin out of my cabin and into the woods, which were pretty far from the cabins. He was wearing grey cargo pants and a plain black tee shirt, which wasn't his usual attire. He almost always had jeans or jean shorts on, with some sort of quirky graphic tee and a jacket. I supposed he wanted to blend into the darkness as to not be seen, and the scariest part was that the little eleven year old did.

Eventually we found ourselves at a large cleared out area just about smack in the center of the forest. There was a small huddle of girls, all cloaked in silvery-grey clothes.

"Whoa," I said.

One of the girls, Zoë Nightshade, stood and stalked toward us. Her long brown hair was in a braid, pinned back with a silver headband, and her dark eyes intimidated me, even though she was only fourteen. She shifted her gaze from me to Nico, then back to me, and finally rested her heavy stare on him again.

"You chose him?" she asked, dumbfounded. "Percy Jackson was your trusted advisor?"

Nico scrunched up his face. "Yes. Do you want his help or not?"

She ran her eyes over me from head to toe, before sighing and turning back to Bianca. I followed her, as did Nico.

"We were practicing archery," Zoë hastily explained, "and a stray arrow managed to hit her arm. We aren't sure if an artery was punctured or not, seeing as we are more similar to Artemis, and not her healer twin. I was hoping that you'd grab an Apollo kid, but Percy will have to do."

"I can go grab Will," Nico piped helpfully.

"Although that would have been greatly appreciated ten minutes ago, we need to do something now. We may be running out of time," Zoë admitted.

He nodded sadly, staring at his big sister.

"Why can't you just ask Chiron?" I asked. "This seems really serious."

I kneeled down and gently inspected Bianca's arm as Zoë told me why. "We're already breaking the rules, and we have no idea what the consequences could be. We should have been using the safety arrows, but we thought we were skilled enough. Also," she admitted, "we're an independent group of young women. We thought we'd be able to handle this without any help."

"Right." I looked into Bianca's eyes. "The arrow isn't in a vein, just pure muscle tissue. I think we need to get to the nearest stream or river, where ever there is fresh running water. We need to rinse this thing out as soon as it's open. Can you stand?"

Bianca nodded, so I tenderly pulled her up by her uninjured left arm. She couldn't really walk quickly, so I lifted her up and cradled her against my chest.

"Where is the nearest stream?" I asked. "I typically know the woods pretty well, but I have know clue where we are."

"That way," another camper, a ginger haired girl named Phoebe, answered, pointing northeast. "It's the Zephyros Creek."

I nodded. "Alright. Zoë, Phoebe, and Nico can come, but all of you other girls need to head back to your cabin. It's unnecessary."

Some of them tried to protest, but one stern glare from Zoë had them on their way. The five of us began the painstaking trek to the creek.

After what felt like a millennia, I gently laid Bianca by the bank of the creek. "I really hope you guys have bandages," I muttered.

Phoebe whipped something out of her pack - a first aid kit. I accepted it and opened it up, taking out the supplies I would need. I warned Bianca of what was to come and slowly removed the arrow from her arm. She sucked in a breath, but other than that didn't show much reaction. I rinsed her arm in the creek and applied some ointment. I finally wrapped her arm in the bandage.

I smiled warily. "All done."

Bianca bit her lip. "Thanks, Percy."

I nodded. "No problem."

I stood up with Bianca in my arms and gestured with my head that we could go ahead. Zoë gave me a strange look before starting to head back. Phoebe filed behind her, then Nico, and I trailed behind in the back.

Eventually we made it back to the cabins. I helped Bianca stand and Phoebe led her inside. Nico rushed in after her. Zoë, however, leaned against the doorframe and stared at me skeptically.

"What?" I asked quietly.

"I was wondering how you knew so much about healing and wrapping. It's an acquired skill that not many people have, including us Artemis kids."

I stared at my battered black Vans, scuffing the toes against the ground. "It's a long story."

"I have time."

I closed my eyes and sighed. "My old stepfather abused me. I had to figure out how to fix myself, because I couldn't tell anyone, including my mom."

I peered at Zoë through my eyelashes. She had a solemn, almost sympathetic expression on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said after some time. "I shouldn't have asked."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. It shouldn't be that big of a deal for me to share something like that with people."

"No, I get it. It's because you were so used to keeping it a secret, I bet. It was a habit, a poor one at that, but a habit none the less."

I smiled sadly. "Yeah, I guess. Tell Bianca I hope she feels better, and try not to break too many more camp rules, yeah?"

She rolled her eyes. "Good night, Jackson."

I waved, turning around and heading up to my cabin. As soon as I opened the door, Tyson's snores must have been heard throughout the entire camp. I smiled amusedly. That guy could sleep through anything.

I shut the door softly behind me and treaded over to my bunk. I shed my sneakers and tee shirt and collapsed on top of the covers, falling asleep almost instantly.

What a long night.

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Y'all probably know what this is about already...we are (as of 3:08 PM on the eighth of January) at 2,937 reads! By the time this chapter is read by all of my consistent readers, we will have reached 3K! You know what that means! BONUS CHAPTER! The options are still the same...

- bonus chapter about a minor character

- rewrite a previous chapter in another character's perspective

- add a scene from Percy and Annabeth's childhood

...or you can suggest anything of your own! Please comment which one you want, and who or what about :)

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DISCLAIMER: I AM PERSONALLY NOT A DOCTOR NOR DO I HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD. I DO NOT KNOW THE PROPER WAY TO TAKE CARE OF AN ARROW WOUND.

Moving along....

Seriously, though. What a long night. Did you like that chapter? It wasn't super important, although there were a few key points that I hope you caught. 

Question: was the title too clickbait-y? I think it's funny/ironic, but what do you think? 

If you enjoyed, be sure to leave a like and comment if you ship Percy with anyone beside Annabeth. Obviously Percabeth is my otp, so I don't really have any other pairings for either of them.