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Percy’s head snapped up at the sudden light and heat coming from Festus, except- no. It was coming from Leo and something tugged at Percy’s core. No. Nonono! Not again!
Suddenly all Percy could see was the Princess Andromeda and Beckendorf, standing across from him and held in the giant's tight grip. Beckendorf, reaching for his wrist, for the detonator . The image warred with the one in the present, Leo sacrificing himself and Percy once again helpless as the explosion rocked the area.
"No! Beck-" Percy's screamed sob cut off as the present image solidified and guilt flooded in along with the grief.
Percy felt like he had just lost Beck all over again, but it was so much worse because he lost Leo . He lost Leo and he had called him Beck. Another of Hephaestus’ children he had lost to an explosion. Percy’s chest collapsed into heaving sobs as the world around him flickered once more between that awful ship and his Camp.
—————
Percy was rooted in place as a familiar face slipped off of Festus' back. Leo. That- That shouldn't be possible. Nico felt him die. But they were demigods, and fates be damned if they didn't defy the impossible.
The rest of camp melted away as he focused on the boy. Percy could hardly believe he was alive, that he was whole. Before he could truly stop himself, he had rushed forward and wrapped himself around Leo, willing his brain to process the heartbeat against his chest.
"Uh, hi? What's happening?" Leo asked as he tentatively wrapped his arms around Percy's back.
"Oh shit, mom’s got you! Sorry Leo, I don't think he's gonna let go for a while. I mean, none of us have sacri- uh done what you did and he's held on for hours before. I'd come closer, but I'm afraid I'll get sucked in." Percy lifted his head from where he had it tucked into Leo's hair at the sound of Jake's voice.
Whining, he reached for the boy, pleading with his eyes, unable to talk around the lump in his throat. "No, mom. Don't make those eyes at me!" Tears welled up and Jake sighed, stepping close enough for Percy to grab him and tuck him under one arm.
The conversation washed over him, unable to focus on anything other than the two kids in his grasp. Whole. Alive. He let out a content sigh and buried his face back into Leo's hair, tangling his fingers in Jake's. He was not letting go anytime soon, and they could deal with it.
“What’s going on?” Apollo asked.
“Don’t question it, just back away slowly.” Will whispered harshly.
“Well, maybe it's just for the Hephaestus cabin right now? I mean, I'm pretty sure this is Be- uh you know who trauma” Kayla tentatively suggested, unsure.
“Yeah, and how well did that work out for you last time you thought we wouldn't get snatched?”
“Fair enough. Let’s just-” Percy reached out and snagged Apollo as he tried to walk past.
The ex-god yelped but quickly sunk into the embrace. When was the last time he had been hugged?
“See? This is why I told you to back away. Oh he spotted me uh oh” Will sighed, resigned as he was also pulled into the hug, quickly followed by Kayla.
“Seriously, what is going on? I’m not complaining, but-” Leo’s voice was muffled and Percy whimpered, tucking his face back into the boy’s curls. Percy was still in that liminal space after a flashback where he couldn’t talk, so he just clutched everyone tighter.
The smell of moon lace and ozone made Percy’s head snap up as a sound erupted from his throat. It was somewhere between a growl and a rattlesnake’s warning. “Oh, shit. Don’t get any closer, back way up. He will bite or stab you if you don’t.” Will’s voice caused the girl, Calypso , to back away and the sound died in his throat as he clutched Leo closer.
“Percy?” The melodic voice made him turn and green eyes met blue. Just for a second. Before they shifted back to their natural brown. Piper quickly got sucked into the group hug as a constant stream of Silena Silena Silena chorused in the son of Poseidon’s mind.
“Do you know what's happening? No one’s explaining anything. I just got latched onto without any warning.”
“Not a single idea, glad to see you're alive though. Never do that again.” Percy whined at the mere thought of losing Leo Beck Leo again and tucked his face once again into his hair.
At some point they move to the Poseidon cabin, but Percy isn’t coherent enough to process or register anything except for the constant stream of Beckendorf, Silena, Michael Beck, Lena, Mikey running on a loop in his head.
————
Percy sat on one of the couches in his cabin a while later, Leo still tucked into one side, Will tucked into the other. The rest of the kids he had dragged into his comfort pile, minus Apollo and Piper, had already filed out, much to Percy's disappointment and mild panic. He understood, though, that they didn't want to be here for this conversation. He didn't want to be here for it. But, well, they deserved an explanation.
"So... are you finally going to tell us what that was about?" Piper's voice was softer than normal, though lacking the melodic quality it took on when she used her charmspeak.
Percy sighed, clutching Will and Leo tighter. "During the Titan war," Percy took a deep breath before continuing, "we lost a lot of people. I watched a lot of my campers die." He threaded his fingers through Will's curls in a calming motion, soothing both of them.
"When you did what you did, Leo, I got forced into a– flashback, I guess. One of your brothers, Beck– Beckendorf," his voice cracked on the name, tears pricking his eyes, "He– He died in an explosion during one of our raids." The tears leaked out, streaming down his face. "I– I couldn't save him. I watched him hit the detonator, knowing he was g‐ gonna die, and I couldn’t save him."
Percy pulled Leo impossibly closer, tucking into his curls again. "Then– during the final battles, Michael–" he chokes on a sob, and he can hear Apollo's whimper as Will draws closer. “I should’ve made sure he was off of that damned bridge .” Will clutched him tighter, tucked into his neck and dampening the skin there.
When Percy locked his teary eyes on Piper’s, he sobbed as they flashed blue again. “‘Lena-” He looked away, unable to bear seeing the eyes of someone he considered his sister who he had lost. “Silena- she sacrificed herself right in front of me while I could do nothing to stop it. The reason I can’t look you in the eyes sometimes, why Clarisse can’t ever, is because your eyes– sometimes they’re blue. Silena’s blue.” He looked down, ashamed that he was once again comparing his very alive friends to their dead siblings whose blood is on his hands.
“The-” Will cleared his throat as it cracked from his tears. “The cuddle pile thing helps ground him, helps ground all of us really. It reminds him that we’re alive and brings him back to the present. He’s typically good after an hour or two. Though, none of us have died and come back to life before, so I doubt he’ll let you go anytime soon.” Will teased, but Percy’s breath hitched at the reminder that he almost lost Leo and he pulled the boy closer, practically pulling him into his lap. “Shit. Sorry, mom.” In response, Percy clutched him tighter, running his fingers through the blond’s curls again.
Needless to say, Percy did not let go of Leo for a long while. Not that Leo was complaining, he was perfectly content with the affection.