𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊 - a Leo Valdez slowburn

Chapter nine

Chapter nine.

[Blackout when I'm an insomniac]

"Out of all the stars you could've chosen,

you chose little grubby me."

Leah was tired. 

Well, she was always tired, except for the random bursts of energy she'd get around some of her friends. Her eye bags were there for a reason. But today, she was incredibly tired. As in, can't-stand-without-leaning-on-Aiden tired. She'd slept approximately an hour and a half last night, and a total of nine hours throughout the week. 

It was Friday. 

This is why her body had given up and just forced her to pass out. Leah actually would've broken her nose if Aiden hadn't caught her, so? Her body was not a-okay with Leah forcing herself to stay up because she didn't want to have nightmares. 

Well, it wasn't exactly nightmares. 

Leah was a lucid dreamer, but she couldn't control her mind - or her body - when she was in the state of remedial sleep, dreamless sleep some call it. And when she couldn't control her mind, her walls went down, and when Leah's walls went down, everyone could access her mind. That's why she slept a few hours at a time at most, so this couldn't happen. 

But now that her body had shut down and Leah was unconscious, the wall had crumbled down, and her mind was open to all forces to enter. And they sure made use of it. 

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"And so, I-" 

Aiden didn't know what happened. All he knew was that one minute Leah was talking about how she had once twisted her ankle when her body once collapsed at Camp from lack of sleep, the next she was doing just that. Thankfully, Aiden had fast reflexes, or Leah would've definitely broken her nose. He checked for a pulse. Imagine if Leah had dropped dead? That would have been horrible. Oh, how would he explain this? 'Oh, yeah, Leah dropped dead today-

There was a pulse. Okay, no more overthinking, he thought to himself. Next thing Aiden did was take hold of her slumped body bridal-style. It was the easiest way, he thought to himself. 

He was lucky that she collapsed this early in the morning, or they would've had to carry her back for who knows how long of a distance. He made their way to the hotel they were staying at. They had been planning to leave today, but it seemed like the duo wouldn't be. He walked through broad streets and narrow alleys, careful to not accidentally hit Leah with an open door or a sharp corner. He looked down at her face. Usually, it had either a scowl [read: her resting bitch face] or a warm smile, but now that Leah had no input in her expression, it was relaxed. Aiden was happy it was. They loved her smile, but it was nice to know that she wasn't stressed for once. He was so entranced, he didn't notice the tear that slipped from Leah's eye. 

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Porphyrion hadn't heard from or about Leah for months. 

He had been surprised at the display of her new power - geokinesis, was it? - at the battle at the Wolf house. She hadn't developed that skill yet when they first met. He knew she was a strong specimen; she had survived him, of course she was. Her new friends seemed to be too. He wasn't afraid of them, but they were smart. That boy - Leo, Gaea had called him - had almost figured out how to beat them. Porphyrion couldn't let him survive the summer. Or anyone of Leah's group, to be honest. They were all incredibly powerful and, knowing that he couldn't sway them to fight for Gaea, Porphyrion knew he had to obliterate them.