He was exhausted. For the last 5 summers, he'd done very dangerous quests, lost people he'd loved, even almost died many times. whenever he got a quest Percy was determined to succeed, though his exhaustion. Chiron never noticed, his campmates never cared, time never seemed to slow for him.

Sitting in the arena, petting Ms.O'leary when you walk in, Percy didn't notice you, but you noticed him. His eyes were red and puffy, as if he were crying. His shirt and cheeks were tear-stained, too.