Anthízo, Percy Jackson

I. things will never be the same

KARINA DOESN'T REMEMBER a single thing that happened after percy and annabeth fell into tartarus.

she didn't remember how leo had suspended grappling ropes down into the chasm, wrapping around her body and lifting her out of the cavern.

she didn't remember the cries of worry, and tears of distraught that came from her other crew mates at the sight of her condition, and how lifeless she was. how broken. her arm was nearly completely severed off, and her face was scratched with hundreds of cuts and bruises. her eyes held no emotion whatsoever, and her body was limp as they pulled her up as quickly as they could.

her eyes never left the dark, endless hole that had sucked up percy jackson and annabeth chase. even as jason flew down and secured her in his arms, getting her up onto the ship as quickly as he could, rushing to the med bay in a worried panic, noticing how cold she had suddenly become, and how she hadn't uttered a single word since they'd gotten her.

leo yelled orders at everybody on the ship, making sure they took off as soon as possible, and followed behind jason with a lifeless karina in his arms, hurriedly getting to work on her arm as soon jason had laid her down.

leo was forced to have to remove her shirt with how crucial her injury was, and how badly it was bleeding. a deep gash ran from the top of her armpit to the base of her collarbone— the skin completely gone, and it was so deep that leo could see the bone poking through.

he resisted the urge to vomit, taking a deep breath through his nose, and made a silent vow that he would do everything he could to heal her. he owed it to her. he owed her everything. they all did.

karina was already losing her vision, and leo and jason's voices were foggy in her ears. she saw jason looking down at her dying figure, and she could faintly see the outline of his lips moving— yelling something incomprehensible to her. the pain was ice cold at this point, becoming so bad to the point where she could hardly feel it as leo began to hastily stitch the skin back as best as he could— his hands covered in blood, and tears pricking at his eyes as he tried to keep his eyes off the slowly dying form of karina ashwood.

"stay awake, karina. come on!" jason said as he grabbed her face in his hands, keeping her head upright. "don't fall asleep! please!" his voice cracked on the last word, tears falling involuntarily down his face as he watched his best friend fall apart right in front of him.

karina couldn't form a single word to say to him. but, if she could, she'd tell him how much she loved him. she tell him that she was so proud of him, and how far he'd come in his life. coming up from being the parent-less boy who didn't know anybody at camp jupiter, to being one of the most respected demigods there was. she had watched him grow confident, and powerful in himself, and now as she watched his face go in and out of her vision, she couldn't help but see the little twelve-year-old jason walking up to her at sparring lessons, and adjusting her grip on her gladius with a small blush on his face. the first interaction they ever had with each other.

"don't you dare die on me, karina," leo said through gritted teeth as he worked to finish up the stitching on her arm, his hands shaking profusely. "not after i just pulled your ass out of a black hole."

through the corner of her vision, she saw hazel and frank staring eyes-wide in the entrance of the med-bay, both of them looking at karina with utter shock and despair. hazel's hand as placed over her mouth, her body going rigid at the horrific sight.

hazel turned her body into frank's, sobbing into his chest at the sight of her best friend dying right in front of her. frank, despite having tears in his eyes as well, forced himself to stay strong for her, and turned her away from the scene, rushing them back out, and away from the med bay.