cuz i do

I just stumbled upon these couple lines and they lowkey make Percy’s feats in Tartarus even more insane, if they mean what I think they mean:

So, while they are in the temple of Hermes in Chapter 22 of House of Hades, Annabeth sleeps, and Percy does not wake her, because he instead chooses to stay awake the whole “night” guarding her.

That means that the last time he slept was probably before the Argo 2 arrived in Rome.

(If we assume he didn’t sleep during their fall into Tartarus, which seems likely, considering that it’s very hard to fall asleep while freefalling under the conditions that they did.)

Meaning that from that moment on, from before the seven arrived in Rome, until the moment he and Annabeth arrive in Damasen’s hut in chapter 37 of House of Hades,  Percy might not have had an ounce of sleep.  

As a reminder, during this time, Percy

Entered the Nymphaeum together with Piper and Jason where the three of them almost drowned

Fought and defeated together with Jason the twin giants

Fell into Tartarus with Annabeth for, I don’t really know how many hours/ days

Controlled and then fell into the Cocytus, the literal river of wailing

Drank from the Phlegethon

Killed Arachne so fast, that even Annabeth was stumped by it

Traveled a rather big distance in Tartarus, where his and Annabeth’s condition were described like this:

Next to her, Percy coughed. ‘This place smells like my ex-stepfather.’ (House of Hades, Chapter 6, Annabeth)

The heat from the river baked Percy’s skin. Every breath was like inhaling sulphur-scented fibreglass. When they needed a drink, the best they could do was sip some refreshing liquid fire. (House of Hades, Chapter 13, Percy)

Percy’s body went on autopilot. His fingers cramped. He felt blisters popping up on his ankles. He got shaky from hunger. (House of Hades, Chapter 14, Percy)

Fought against a bunch of Empousai

Convinced Bob to kill Hyperion

And then fought against dozens if not hundreds of Arai basically by himself (because Annabeth was incapacitated after suffering Calypso’s and Polyphemus curses and Bob left) while suffering from dozens of deadly curses himself. To name just a few examples of those:

Percy cut her in two, but as soon as she vaporized the sides of his chest flared with pain. He stumbled back, clamping his hand to his rib cage. His fingers came away wet and red. ‘Percy, you’re bleeding!’ Annabeth cried, which was kind of obvious to him at that point. ‘Oh, gods, on both sides.’ It was true. The left and right hems of his tattered shirt were sticky with blood, as if a javelin had run him through. (…) The blood stopped spreading, but he still felt like he had a hot metal curtain rod sticking through his ribs. His sword arm was heavy and weak.  (House of Hades, Chapter 29, Percy)

Each time a demon disintegrated, Percy felt a heavier sense of dread as another curse settled on him. Some were harsh and painful: a stabbing in the gut, a burning sensation like he was being blasted by a blowtorch. (House of Hades, Chapter 31, Percy)

As Percy blundered towards her, a demon pounced and sank its teeth into his thigh. Percy roared. He sliced the demon to dust, but immediately fell to his knees. His mouth burned worse than when he had swallowed the firewater of the Phlegethon. He doubled over, shuddering and retching, as a dozen fiery snakes seemed to work their way down his oesophagus. You have chosen, said the voice of the arai, the curse of Phineas … an excellent painful death. Percy tried to speak. His tongue felt like it was being microwaved. (House of Hades, Chapter 31, Percy)

And he did all of that (probably) without literal days of sleep....

My insanely powerful, suffering, traumatized, enduring, sleep deprived son :(((((((

“I choose the prophecy. It will be about me.”