Sunflower

9

Tw for blood

It's been a week since Jason left to go tell everyone he was alive. Over that week Aelia had gotten most of her strength back, although Will was still concerned about her breaking open her wound. "It's only been two weeks! And the fact that it took so long to even start closing worries me." Will tries to tell her.
    "I feel like half the time you forget I'm a doctor too." She leans back against the wall behind her. "Look, I know my limits. Let me do this."
    "If you tear it I'm not going to help you."  Will threatens.
    Aelia shrugs, "You say that now. I promise it won't tear."
    Will stares at the younger girl, she came to him asking if she could start sparring with Piper again. She was showing off how much she could move around trying to get him to say yes. He sighs, "Don't push too far."
    "I wouldn't dare to. Thank you." She rushes off to find Piper before finding her with Annabeth.
    The two are discussing the finishing plans for the new Aphrodite cabin. Aelia bounces on her heels as she waits for them to notice her. Annabeth notices first and waves the girl over, "What do you think about this?"
    She points to a design above the door to the cabin. "I like it! Now I'm going to steal Piper from you if you don't mind."
    Without waiting for an answer the girl starts dragging Piper over to the sparring mat, "What are you doing?"
    "Will said I could spar again. And I feel bad that I missed the last two." Aelia says happily as they reach the mat.
    Piper laughs, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
    "I'm ready. And if I catch you going half strength I will flip you off the mat instantly." Aelia warns her.
    "I- alright. Just say if we need to stop." Piper folds.
    The two stretch out as a crowd grows around them. One of Aelia's brothers steps forward, "Alright, well we're doing this again."
    Aelia grins at him, "Admit it Liam you missed this."
    He shrugs, "I guess I missed watching you kick Piper's butt all the time."
    "Hey!" Piper complains.
    "Only joking. Are you both ready? Ready... set... SPAR!"
    The two girls circle each other, "You still never taught me that move." Aelia says as she makes a move at Piper.
    Piper grabs her leg and stops it, "Other things came up."
    Piper kicks out Aelia's other leg and she lands on the mat. She bites her lip and kicks herself back up. When Piper goes for a high kick Aelia slides underneath her and climbs onto her shoulders. She loops her legs under Pipers arms and leans backwards, flipping Piper flat on her stomach. She barely landed on the mat. She wastes no time on getting back up again. Aelia smirks, "How'd that feel?"
    "A lot better than this will." She replies and does the exact same move Aelia had wanted to learn. Aelia wasn't as fortunate as Piper had been. She lands in the grass outside of the mat but manages from smacking  her head on the ground again. Piper helps her to her feet and Liam starts the second round.
    Aelia goes to flip Piper again instantly, but Piper dodges aside and does her own flip on Aelia. She lands on her feet and tackles Piper back onto the grass. Sadly her own feet weren't touching the mat, so it was a tie.
    Again they line up and Liam starts the final round. Piper rushes forward and does a spin kick. She hits the center of Aelia's chest and knocks her down. Aelia struggles to breath for a second but she gets to her feet. She stays low and flips Piper over her shoulder. She hears her land softly on her feet. She kicks Aelia's legs out from underneath her and Aelia falls to her knees. She listens as Piper approaches her before rolling backwards. Piper stumbles but gains her balance. Aelia swings and her fist catches Piper's arm that she put up to block her shot.
Piper readies herself to do the move Jason had taught her again. She lunges at Aelia and loops her legs through Aelia's. But Aelia had a different plan. Instead of flying forward like she was supposed to do, she bent over backwards and pulled Piper along with her. Piper stops herself from falling off the mat. She tries it once more and this time succeeds. Aelia goes flying off the mat, and falls into the grass. She sighs and Piper helps her up, "Told you I'd win."
    "Yeah, yeah." Aelia mutters, "Good job."
    "You weren't too bad yourself." Piper says, "Hey isn't Jason coming back today?"
    Aelia smirks before cracking her stiff back, "Why? You miss him?"
    Piper makes a face at her friend's teasing tone, "Shush. But yes I do, don't you?"
    "Of course I do." They start walking back over to where Annabeth was standing, "Nice job." She says to Piper.
    Aelia leaves the two to continue with the cabin plans. Aelia takes her time off to wander around camp. By the time she loops around and comes back to the main hill, she notices Jason and Reyna at the top. They seem to be engaged in a very animated conversation as Aelia goes up the hill. When she gets half up, Reyna freezes in her tracks. Aelia can see her eyes are closed. She races up the hill, taking out her scythes, "Jason get back!" She yells as Reyna opens her eyes again.
    The same red haunts her eyes as it did Leo. Aelia tackles Jason to the ground as Reyna swings her sword toward him. She feels it cut into her back. She bites her tongue and instantly gets to her feet, trying not to get stabbed again. She remembers what Nico had said to the last time it was here, "Ipsum revelare."
    Reyna smiles, "You're looking better demigod. It's a pity it won't last long."
    In her hands the sword starts to smoke and Aelia jumps back, nearly knocking into Jason, "Don't let the sword touch you."
    He nods, and pulls out his own sword. Reyna launches herself at them. Aelia is trying to figure out what Nico had said when he got rid of her poison. "What did Nico say? When he saved me?"
    "I think it was Venenum e flexibus... I can't remember the end." He replies, dodging a swipe from Reyna. He swings his own sword at her and catches her side.
    "Be careful! I remember the rest of it..." She warns him.
    "You're as stupid as you look if you think that will work witch. I said I'd be back, and I am. I'm here to finish my job." Reyna hisses.
    "Venenum e flexibus egredientem." Aelia shouts.
    The smoke dissolves off the blade just as it comes at Aelia. She has no time to raise her own weapon, but Jason steps in front of her.
    The sword slices across his chest, level to where her neck is. He stumbles back and Aelia quickly steps forward, "You idiot!"
    Reyna makes a quick swipe at her arm and walks past her, "If you don't mind, I have a witch to kill. I'll be back for you girl."
    Aelia looks at Jason who is now sitting and staring at his chest, "Gods you're an idiot!"
    He looks up, surprised, "What are you doing? Go after her!"
    "But you're hurt-"
    "Go!" Jason pushes her.
    She does but she sends a beam of light into the air. She chases after Reyna down the hill and into the slew of cabins, "Dam it Reyna. Why do you have to be so fast?" She mutters.
    Just before they reach the Hecate cabin Aelia yells out to warn the campers, "Lou Ellen!"
    When Reyna pushes the door open, she's met by half a dozen swords all led by Lou Ellen.
     Reyna growls at them, "I told you I'd be back."
    "And now you're going to leave again." One of the boys says from the back.
    Aelia quickly summons the same cage she had for Leo. Reyna simply laughs, "You failed last time. I will be back, I'll bring more of me. Maybe then you won't be able to stop us."
    "You underestimate us Ker. We're a lot stronger than we look." Aelia mutters, stepping right up to the cage.
    "You're weak. You're nothing. I noticed how long it took them to heal your wounds. That was nothing but a portion of what I could have done to you."
    "Then why didn't you?"
    "I have my reasons." Reyna snarls.
    "Of course you do." Lou Ellen sighs, "You monsters always have a reason."
    Almost at the same time, all of the witches and wizards begin the spell to banish the Ker once more. She leaves Reyna in a fit of coughs, just the same for Leo. She recovers a lot faster though and she notices all the weapons surrounding her, "How did I-?"
    "You were possessed." Aelia says, lifting the cage away from her.
    Reyna stands up and slides her sword back away and the rest of us do the same. "Like Leo?"
    "Exactly like Leo." I grimace.
"What did I do?"
"Not much. You only attacked me and Jason." Aelia says with a shrug.
     They leave the cabin, and Aelia glances up the hill, seeing Jason is gone from where he was. She changes directions to the medical cabin and she hears Reyna say something from behind her, "You're back..."
    "I know. I'm pretty sure we're both okay. You don't need to worry over that."
    Reyna nods as they walk into the cabin. Wyatt, another Apollo kid, is trying to help Jason but he keeps pushing him back claiming he's fine. He jumps to his feet when he sees Aelia and Reyna walk in. Wyatt tosses his stuff down with a sigh. "Maybe you can help him." He tells her as he leaves.
    Aelia looks at Jason, "Did you really have to scare him off?"
    "I didn't scare anyone off. I'm fine, that's that. What about you?" He looks at the two girls.
    Reyna nods and Aelia shrugs, "I will be. That needs stitches Jason."
    She pushes him back into the bed and puts her hand to his chest, trying to absorb some of the pain from it and tries to close it further than it already was. That was something her and Will shared in common, whenever they were healing someone they could absorb some of the pain from them. Only that her or Will would feel the pain themselves. Neither of them ever told anyone about, not really seeing the point.
    "It's going to hurt." She told him before stabbing the needle into his skin.
    He barely even flinches, "My pain tolerance is pretty high. I tried eating a stapler when I was young. Got hit with a brick at Jupiter. Got stabbed twice and then died. So I think I'm fine."
    Aelia laughs lightly, "You seem prone to accidents."
    "Or they could be on purpose and just be disguised as an accident." He smiles.
    She rolls her eyes as she finishes the stitches. "Don't tear these."
    "I won't try to." He slides off the bed.
    Reyna comes up behind Aelia, "Want me to do yours?"
    "Why not." Aelia says handing over the supplies. "When did you learn to do stitches?"
    "I lead a group of teenagers that like to stab things. You learn after a while." She mumbles.
    A few seconds later the door bursts open to all of their friends.
    "It came back?" Leo asks.
    Jason nods, "Yeah it did."
    "Don't worry, I stopped her before she could do much damage." Aelia adds quickly.
    "That's not what we're worried about! What about you? And Jason apparently, due to the fact his shirt is ripped about." Piper says.
          "We're both fine Piper, it's okay." Aelia tries to calm her friend down.
           "No. Don't you even start with my Aelia. You keep claiming your fine, but I know you. I know you aren't fine. I've seen you this entire week. I've seen you talk to Apollo, nearly everyday!" Piper practically shouts.
         "You weren't supposed to see that." Aelia whispers, looking down at her hands.
"Well I did. Aelia, there's no way in Hades you can shove all of us out of your life. We want to be there for you, to help you." Piper's voice calms down.
"You shouldn't have to. Piper when I say I'm fine, it means I truly am fine. You need to trust that." Aelia mutters before looking back at Reyna who is only about half way done with her stitching, "Thank you Reyna but I think I'm okay. Make sure blondie here doesn't rip his own stitches.
Aelia leaves the med cabin despite the protest from her friends. Her back still aches from where Reynas sword had touched her skin, but Aelia was barely paying attention to it. She was going over the Ker last threat in her head. It had said it would bring more of them. Aelia doesn't doubt that the demon was telling the truth. It will be back and it will bring more of its kind. All she can think about is how lucky they are that it hasn't been one of the big three kids that have gotten possessed.
She finds herself standing in her cabin in the main room. The cabin is abandoned, the only sign that leads Aelia to believe she should be somewhere. The soft music plays in the background as it always does. The many couches are covered in a mix of instruments and weapons. She pushes things off of one of the couches and lays down on it. Her back screams in protest, but she again ignores it. She closes her eyes, zoning everything but the music out.
She must have been there for hours because when Will came back into the cabin with the rest of the Apollo campers, she was in the same position as she had when she came here. He frowns and walks over to her, "Aelia?"
She doesn't move as he calls her name out. Will would start panicking but he can see the steady rise and fall of her chest. "Aeliaaa."
He reaches out and tugs lightly on her hair. She startled awake and looked confused for a moment before noticing Will. He smiles at her form over the back of the couch, "Sorry didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"
She sighs before laying back down. Her face scrunches up in pain. "Yeah I'm okay."
"Oh so getting nearly stabbed again is okay now?"
"Ah so you finally heard about that."
She shrinks down under her brother's glare, "You thought I wouldn't?"
"I never said that. It was more I was hoping you didn't find out about it. Besides it wasn't a huge deal, I stopped the Ker before it could do much damage."
Will sits down on the couch where Aelia had moved her feet, "I just don't understand why it seems to be targeting you. I don't like whatever their reason is."
"Personally I'm glad it's me rather than poor Percy, I'm telling you that kid needs a break."

"I need a break." Percy groans, falling back onto his bed.
Annabeth frowns, "Don't we all? But care to tell me why you need one?"
"I swear to all the gods ever since I came to camp bad things have happened to either me or my friends. And I'm sick and tired of it."
Annabeth moves toward him and sits on his bed, "If you're telling me that you think this is your fault-"
"I'm not. It's just... irritating. Seeing all of my friends constantly in danger is not good for me." His arm is thrown over his eyes, he doesn't even look at Annabeth when she runs her hands through his hair.
"I know. It's not good for any of us. A lot has happened and it's been extremely hard on all of us."
Percy loops his arm around his girlfriend and pulls her down to lay next to him. She squeaks lightly, clearly not prepared for him to do that. "I know something that you could do to make me feel better."
"Anything. I hate seeing you like this." Annabeth moves closer to Percy, enjoying the smell of oceans that seemed to follow him everywhere.
"Marry me."
Annabeth looks back at him. His green eyes are looking at her with extreme love. He said that so easily, like he'd wanted it his entire life. "You don't have to answer. We don't have to if you don't want to. I don't want to push you to do something you don't want to do. Of course I'd understand-"
Annabeth cuts him off by kissing him, "Don't be ridiculous, Seaweed Brain."
He looks confused, "About what part."
"Of course I'll marry you. I'd do it right now, but I'm not exactly dressed for the occasion."
"I don't care what you're dressed in as long as you're there it will be perfect."
"That is how a wedding works, Percy. Both people have to be there." Annabeth laughs lightly into his chest.
"Thank you." Percy whispers and hugs Annabeth the best he could while they were both lying down.