The pain in my abdomen started out quick and blunt but it instantly began to spread within seconds. Soon enough, my entire body felt as though it was on fire. My legs became wobbly and  I reluctantly to dropped to my knees before collapsing onto the asphalt ground altogether. 

I wanted to cry out more than anything in the world but I couldn't open my mouth. It felt as though all of my energy was being drained through the piercing hole of fire in my stomach. The battle surrounding me raged on as though nothing had occurred. I watched helplessly from the ground as Percy continued to wipe out enemies with water while Nico hurled balls of fire into the forest by his side. I could make out Paris's silhouette as she charged a fleet of monsters by herself.

Everything in sight was either going up in flames, being sucked up by the cyclone or drowning. I began to see flickers of black in my vision as I slowly fell in and out of consciousness. There was a slight ringing sensation in my ears, and the slight echo of yells and cries. I could still make out the distant glow of fire through the black wall threatening to shut me out of the world.

      I knew I was a goner the moment I hit the ground. but the expectations of death were not anything near the realities of it. I expected be numb to the pain once it hit me – that once I had felt the intense burning sensation in the pit of my stomach, it would just stop and let me go. But it did't. 

If anything, my body was giving into the pain with each second that passed. The reality of dying was simple; it was complete and total all-consuming agony. Every vein in my body felt as if it were being soaked in battery acid. Each individual one of my nerve endings was blinking like a broken neon sign, "Help me, help me!" But my mouth still wouldn't move. No one knew I was being torn apart from the inside out – or rather, the outside in.

      "Orion," suddenly I was in Percy's arms, "Oh man, you're hurt."

      "You say that...a lot," I tried my best to lighten the mood, remembering back to when I was maimed during capture the flag. Percy was there to heal me that then but I was afraid this time would be different.

I looked down at his hands, now covered in dark, sticky warm blood. My blood.

 "Guys, get over here. Now!" Percy frantically cried out for our friends.

 I was able to roughly make out their individual shapes in the warm glow of the forest fire raging on behind them. Their voices sounded distant.

     "It's a poisoned arrow," Paris studied the wound, her brows furrowed in both frustration and anger. "Elder Python Venom."

  "The same venom that was used to poison Thalia's tree years ago."

"Percy, that venom is going to spread to her heart in minutes. She doesn't have much time," Nico spoke gently.

 I knew what was coming and I didn't care. I was tired of fighting. I just wanted to sleep. My vision began to go dark.

    "Hey, hey, hey. Stay with me! Orion, do you hear me? Don't leave me," Percy softly shook my head. I slowly studied him in a desperate attempt to memorize his face. The way his lips became a deep shade of pink when he was upset, how his shaggy black hair fell in front of his eyes. He was my first friend in my new life as a demigod. Now he had to let me go.

It took every ounce of energy to try to open my mouth. I wondered if the gargled noises I was making even made sense. But the raging fire in my abdomen was getting worse.

       "Hey, it's okay. Everything is going to be okay, you're going to make it out of here and we're going to go home, alright? We're going to go home."

       Everything in me wanted to believe him. But there was no getting out of this one. I tried to smile or shake my head but I could feel my muscles giving out one by one. Everything was going by so slow.

      "Go," I managed to get one word out.

      "There has to be something we can do," Nico said. It sounded like he was underwater. 

My hearing was fading. With each second that passed my eyelids began to feel like fifty pound weights taped to my face.

      "Oh my gods. We have our most powerful antidote right here! The Gorgon's blood!" Paris yelled out in panic.

 "Blood from the left side of a Gorgon can kill you." Percy said. "But the blood on the right side will heal any injury," Percy said. 

"It's worth a shot," Nico said.

Unsure of whether it was a trick of the light or my eyesight failing me, he evaporated into a shimmering dark shadow. He came back just as quickly as he had left, or maybe it was my brain falling asleep. Nico had a small vial in his hands. Inside was the dark green substance I had seen on Euryale's lips earlier.

      Percy placed the vial on my lips and lifted my head up in an effort to force me into drinking the blood. It tasted like metal and spoiled milk. On any normal day, I would've punched him straight across the jaw. But I let this slide.

    Nothing. Pain still consumed every vein and every nerve ending in my body. I forgot there was a time before this, where I wasn't in pain. The fire began to pulsate faster and faster inside of me. The pain continued to intensify until it reached an almost unbearable peak. 

Then out of nowhere, the fiery pain stopped. Nothing was pulsing or hurting anymore. 

      "Am I dead?" I opened one eye and began to touch my body in a panic. Every part of my body was covered in sticky sweat, my limbs felt like rubber and the front of my black t-shirt still had blood on it from the arrow that had pierced me only minutes ago. I pulled my shirt up to check the wound, but it had completely healed. There wasn't even a scar.

     "Not today," Nico smirked.

      "It worked!" Danny yelled in pure delight. He jumped up and clicked his hooves together. "It really worked! You are absolutely brilliant, Paris."

      Paris sighed in relief next to Percy. "That was close." She placed her hand across my forehead and checked my pulse to make sure I was okay. Paris rose to her feet and began to walk towards my car alongside Danny and Nico.

      Meanwhile, and much to my surprise, Percy was still holding my clammy, sweat drenched body in his arms.

His expression was neutral, as if he had a million thoughts racing through his mind. I could hardly read his expression through the glow of the fires. 

      "You're not getting rid of me that easy, Wonder Boy. Relax." I met Percy's eyes and felt goosebumps running through every inch of my skin. 

Even though we had managed to kill off Annabeth's army, he couldn't hide what he was feeling deep down. It was a look I'd never seen on his face before. The look of pure fear.

 He was scared of losing me and I had no idea why.