Sunflower

8

Tw for talk of pain

Aelia gets up carefully after Will leaves for the night. Her legs shake underneath her as she turns the lock on the door. She goes back over to her bed and pulls out the books she'll need. She reads through it once more in her head before taking a long breath. She snaps her fingers and the vial of Apollo's blood appears in front of her. She dips her fingers in the blood and draws a circle of the golden blood on the floor. She then carefully draws a series of runes at her feet. She puts it back down and taps her chest over where her heart is, "Industria auxilio."
    Instantly she holds herself higher. Aelia can feel the adrenaline flowing through her body. She flicks her wrist down and her scythe comes into her hand. She places it to the ground and begins her spell. When she finishes she looks up and sees the familiar ghost of one Jason Grace. She smiles, "Hello again."
    He returns the smile, "Hey. You know the glowing eyes suit you."
    "Thank you. I don't have much time for small talk right now. We can catch up all you want after you're back. Stand in the circle please." She points behind him.
    He moves inside of it and watches Aelia carefully. She starts chanting in Latin, and Jason loses track of what she's saying almost instantly. It keeps getting faster and faster until he can't even tell when one word starts and ends. Beside him he sees a spark that turns into a blinding light. He looks away until someone comes out of it. He glances at Aelia as she stares at the god that came out of the light. "This... will require punishment." Thanatos mutters to the girl.
    "Just do what you came to do." She replies coldly.
    Thanatos stares at her a moment longer before turning to Jason. He walks toward the ghost and Jason takes a step back. The god was creepy. Where his eyes should be, there's nothing but black holes. Jason had already met the god back when he died but he still didn't like him. Thanatos touches his chest and instead of his hand going straight through, it stops when it touches Jason's chest.
    Aelia mutters in Latin again watching as her friend fades and the god goes back through the portal. Her breathing is getting more labored as she continues. Somehow she can sense Jason coming back, and a small smile creeps onto her face. She kneels down and swings her scythe over her head. It comes down loudly, creating a split in the floor leading to the portal. She watches the black fog come up from the crack. The ground starts shaking beneath her as she stands up. She slowly strides toward the portal that has gotten brighter. She touches her hand to the surface and mutters, "Facti sunt vitae."
    She's blown backwards into the wall at the back of the cabin. She falls to her knees, feeling her energy completely drain. She watches as a body collapses out of the portal. She sighs in relief before laying down.

    Percy was just finishing getting ready for the night when the ground beneath him started shaking. He instantly senses the earthquake. He rushes out of the bathroom to where Annabeth was in the main part of his cabin. She's already on her feet when Percy grabs her wrist, "Earthquake?" She asks.
    Percy nods as he drags her away from the cabin. Everyone else is out of their cabins with worried looks. A loud crash alerts everyone, and they all look over to see the Aphrodite cabin has collapsed. They both rush over to where Piper is standing there staring at the cabin. "Are you okay?" Annabeth asks her.
    Piper nods, "Yeah I'm okay. Thank gods no one was in there."
    Around them people are whispering and then the shouting starts. The three friends turn around to look at where everyone is pointing to. Coming from the medical cabin is a bright yellow light. Instantly they start over, knowing full well Aelia is in there. When they push the door open they see Aelia on the floor, with someone kneeling next to her. The boy looks up and Piper squeaks in surprise. "What's wrong with her?" Jason asks quickly.
    Annabeth forces her eyes off of Jason and she sees the portal. "That must be what's causing the earthquake."
    Jason nods without glancing back, "It is. Now answer me, what's wrong with her?"
    Piper kneels down across from him, "That's a long story that we don't have time for. Someone needs to find Will and Nico."
    "There's no need. We're here." Will says quickly.
    He reaches Aelia and picks her up. He carefully puts her into a bed and Nico seems frozen in place as he stares at Jason. "She brought you back."
    Jason nods, "She shouldn't have. Not now at least."
    Nico nods before going over to the portal. He touches it and mutters under his breath. The portal shakes and closes. The ground freezes again underneath them. "Sorry about your cabin by the way." Nico says to Piper.
    She shrugs, "It's fine. We needed to update it anyway."
    Jason looks down at her, "What's wrong with your cabin?"
    Nico stops Piper from talking, "You might as well go show him. None of you will want to be here for this."
    Piper grabs Jason's wrist and drags him outside. They almost run into Leo as he runs up the stairs, "Jason!"
    The two hug each other as Piper goes off to the porch. She glances back when Leo yells, "What was that for?"
    "For dying and then not coming back before I died!" Jason says.
    "Dear gods," Piper sighs, "You've been back for what, five minutes? And already you two are fighting."
    "I missed you too, Pipes." Jason smiles.
    "I did miss you. I messed up so bad before..."
    "Nah you didn't." Jason waves his hand.
    Suddenly he's tackled from behind and he looks behind him to see a grinning Percy on his back, "Dude! You're back!"
    "Dude! I'm back!"
    Behind them stands Annabeth and Will, who are also both smiling. Annabeth walks over when Percy gets off of Jason. She drags him into her arms and mutters something in his ear. He turns to Piper and holds his arms out. Piper bites her lip trying not to cry. She practically launches herself into his arms and they stand in each other's arms for a few minutes.
    Meanwhile inside Nico is staring wearily at Aelia. He still wasn't sure what kind of curse it was, but he had run out of time. Him and Will told her not to bring Jason back, they told her to wait until they figured it out. Of course she didn't listen and now she's on the verge of death. Nico can feel her slipping away as he starts going through the different curses he had yet to eliminate. Each time it doesn't work, her body contorts in pain. More than a few times Nico was scared to go on in case it was hurting her more than he thought, but he kept going. He went through his entire list, and right before he reached the last one he started panicking. None had shown any sign of working and he was down to the last one. He took a deep breath before whispering, "Inspirant."
    His breath stops as he watches her back arch in pain. He hits the bed frame with his hand in anger before rushing out of the cabin. When the door slams open everyone turns to look at Nico. His eyes are burning as he walks right past them. Somehow he'd missed one of the curses, he needed to go to his cabin and look for it.
    "Nico! Woah slow down." Jason jumps in front of him.
    But the look on his face, everyone had caught him up on what happened over the past few days, "Where are you going?"
    "Move Grace. I need to find something." Nico says sternly.
    He pushes past Jason and Will catches up with him, "What happened?"
    "It's what didn't happen. Nothing worked. I missed something, and I'm out of time." He growls, plowing straight into his cabin.
    Books are scattered all over, and Will doesn't know if it's from the earthquake or just Nico being Nico. He watches Nico go through the books before picking up one of the bigger ones. "None of them? You had like ten!"
    "I know! I need to figure this out." He flips through the pages of the book before throwing it aside.
    He keeps doing this until he finally nods. He keeps the book open,and he reads over it as he walks back to the medical cabin. Just before they get there Aelia stumbles out the door. Nico's heart jumped in his chest thinking he had in fact done it. But it quickly sinks again when he sees how much effort she's putting in just standing there. "I thought you said it didn't work." Will hisses.
    "It didn't." Nico whispers. He closes the book and tucks it under his arm.
    The couple makes it close enough to hear her whisper something, "I had to make sure it worked."
    Jason steps forward quickly when she falls to her knees. He reaches her right before she hits the ground, "It worked. I thought I told you not to do it if it would hurt you!"
    She smiles slightly, "I only agreed if it didn't kill me. Gods I'm so happy you're back."
    Jason frowns at the state of his friend. Before he can say anything else Nico comes up behind him, "Lia. We're out of time."
    "I know." She hums.
    "I have one more to try."
    She shrugs, "Go for it. It's not like it can get much worse."
    Nico nods, he hands the book over to Jason as he stands up. Nico kneels in front of Aelia before putting a hand out in front of her. Just a few inches away from actually touching her. He closes his eyes and mutters the words, "Venenum e flexibus egredientem."
    Aelia closes her own eyes before doubling over. She curses, "I was wrong. It got worse."
    Her body shakes as she coughs. Nico watches with glee as her life latches back onto her. "It worked." She whispers, her voice scratching.
    "You're sure?" Nico double checks.
    She nods weakly, "I'm sure."
Nico glances back and nods his head. Piper puts her hands over her mouth before launching herself at Aelia. Aelia holds Piper tightly as she cries happily. She looks at her other friends with a weak smile. Everyone else looks extremely relieved. She pats Piper's back, "I think I'm about to pass out now."
    Sure enough when Piper pulls back Aelia slumps into her arms. Will assures everyone that she should be fine now, just that she was probably just beyond exhausted.
    "She's not the only one who needs a nap." Nico mumbles.
    Will looks at his boyfriend, "Go sleep. I'll help you pick up your cabin tomorrow." Then he turns to the rest of the group, "All of you should go sleep. Don't make me send Clovis after you all."
    None of them move, they're all staring at Aelia as Will picks her up. "I'm not kidding, go. She's not going to wake up, trust me."
    Finally they all start moving back to their cabins. Both Jason and Percy open up their cabins for the Aphrodite cabin since theirs collapsed. Will took Aelia back into the medical cabin and made sure her vitals were better than they had been. Already she looked a lot better than she had. He sat down at a bed and sighed. For the first time since she was attacked, his mind wasn't racing. He takes this time to say a short prayer to his father. A few seconds later Apollo appeared in front of Will's bed. He looks around before his eyes land on Aelia. "You weren't lying."
    "Why would I lie about the camp being attacked?" Will asks.
    "Doesn't matter. She's not in good health." He frowns.
    "You should have seen her earlier."
    Apollo looks at Will, "You should have said something earlier. I could have helped."
    Will shrugs, "We just barely figured it out. My mind has been racing for days, calling on you may have slipped my mind."
    "You can call on me whenever. I'll be there for you all." Apollo whispers as he puts a hand to Aelia's forehead.
    Will watches as she visibly gets better under the touch of the god. "I know."
    "What was it that came here?"
    "A Ker. Spirit of death, or something like that."
    Apollo shakes his head, "That's against their rules. Coming here I mean. Hades set that rule with them thousands of years ago."
    "Nico was saying something about that. Do you think Hades would be willing to reiterate that with them?" Will nods.
    Apollo thinks about this, "I have no idea. We've been having trouble up in Olympus, even Hades is feeling the wrath of it. Hades is also dealing with Thanatos about a punishment for a soul. At least according to Nemesis, so I don't know if that last part is true or not."
    "Do you think it will happen again?" Will asks quietly.
    Apollo looks at him, "What did you do with it?"
    "Lou Ellen and the other Hecate kids banished it to Tartarus. I just have a bad feeling."
    "If it's in Tartarus, it shouldn't be back." Apollo stands before Will, "She'll be a lot better by tomorrow morning. I sped up the process."
    "Thank you." Will whispers.
    Apollo smiles, "You're strong. That's a good thing. If you've gone through the past few days without folding, you'll stay that way."
    With that Apollo disappears once again leaving his two children alone in the cabin. Will looks over at his sister, before falling asleep himself.
   
    The next morning Aelia wakes up and nearly smacks her head on thebed frame. Jason was sitting next to her bed, with his feet propped up on her bed. She'd honestly forgotten that she actually brought him back and that it wasn't a dream. Jason sits up when Aelia sits up, "You okay Sunflower?"
    She nods, "Yup, never better Lightning boy."
    "Are you feeling any better?"
    She swings her feet over the end of the bed and stands up, "I'm fine. What about you? Any side effects from the thing last night?"
    He shakes his head, "Nothing yet. You did a good job with it. I still don't think you should have."
    Aelia gives him a look, "You had no say in it. I did it, and it worked. What does it matter?"
    "Because you hurt yourself."
    Aelia forces Jason to his feet and puts her hands on his shoulder, "Friends help friends. That's how it works. I brought you back to life Lightning boy, you had better be grateful."
    "I am grateful. I'm glad I'm back, it's just weird. Everything's changed since I left."
    "This change wasn't even bad. Your family is still here and we've barely changed much. You got lucky Lightning boy. Speaking of family, you need to find Thalia!"
    "It sounds like you're talking from experience." He says, "Have something you need to tell me, Sunflower?"
    "Let's just say I have more in common with Nico than just being short." She pats his shoulders, "But I'm being serious. You need to find Thalia soon. Let her know you're not dead anymore."
    "I will. Answer something for me, what year?" He asks following her out of the cabin, still not sure she's good enough to move around so much.
    "1895."
    Jason whistles, "That's a long time."
    Aelia shrugs, "It wasn't too long."
    The two walk side by side through camp, staying mostly quiet. "You should go tomorrow. You could go to Jupiter. I can ask my dad if he knows where Artemis would be." Aelia finally speaks, "And before you say anything about how you just got back and all of that. I know, all the more reason to go."
    "You're right, I did just get back and I don't want to leave you all again." He mutters.
    "You'll be back. And if not I can always bring you back again." Aelia says half joking.
    "I'll leave after I know you all are okay. Especially you."
    "Then you might as well leave now, because I'm okay. You have no reason to worry about me."
    "I've always had to worry about you Sunflower." Jason laughs, "All those times you jumped off the ship when we were in the air."
    "That's fair. But I had to learn how to travel like Nico did. That was the next step." She smiles.
    Ahead of them at the training area they see Meg and Apollo going head on. Aelia takes the chance to go up to him and ask about the Hunters. "Apollo!" She calls when the two stop fighting for a moment.
    He looks back, "You're up."
    She nods, "I have a question for you."
    "Shoot."
    Meg takes the opportunity to make a finger gun and aim it at him. "Do you know where your sister and her hunters are?"
    He nods, "They're actually really close to here. A few miles west. Pretty sure she said something about hunting down a few monsters."
    Aelia smiles at Jason, "There you go. Tomorrow you go to them, reunite with Thalia, and then go to Reyna and them. They deserve to know you're alive too."
    They start walking away after a quick thank you to Apollo but he calls after Aelia. She falls back, telling Jason to go ahead. She walks back over to Apollo, "Yeah?"
    "You must be in a lot of pain if you're already trying to send him away." He says, keeping his eyes focused on his sword.
    She brushes her blonde hair out of her face, "I just don't see why his sister has to stay in the dark. Same with the Romans."
    "But I'm right."
    "Of course you're right. You're the god of medicine, have you ever been wrong about that kind of thing?"
    Apollo laughs, "You have a point. You hide it well."
    "I have to." She replies.