𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

sunshine lollipops and ― oh, lasers

ERITH JAY
ERITH FELT INCREDIBLY awful. She wiped the blood from her forehead. It made a streaked red line on the pale peach of her palm.

"Hey," Jason said gently, tapping her shoulder. She half-turned. He was holding out his canteen of nectar. "Drink."

She took it with shaking fingers and almost dropped it. She was still clutching onto the disc like it was her lifeline. So Jason took the canteen instead and held it up to her lips. She sipped a bit, then pushed it away with trembling fingers. Her head cleared. Her hands stopped shaking quite so badly. "Thanks."

"Yeah," Jason said with a smile. "How do you feel?"

"Better."

But still, Jason frowned at something just above where she could see―probably the cut on her head. "We'll have to clean that up next time we get a chance."

"I have medical supplies." She pulled her satchel up into her lap and rummaged through it, coming up with a water bottle, a cloth, a disinfectant smear, and bandages. She tried to pour water on the cloth, but her hands were shaking too bad, so she turned back around to Jason. "Do you mind?"

He shook his head, taking the cloth and the bottle. With surprisingly steady hands, he poured a few drops of water, then returned the bottle to Erith. As she slid it back into her satchel, he wiped the cut in her head gently. She winced and he pursed his lips. "Sorry."

After smearing the disinfectant on her, he stuck the giant bandage over the cut. "Good as new," he said with a grin.

Erith rolled her eyes but smiled. "Thanks." She took her supplies back and stuffed them into her satchel, then let out a shaky sigh. 

She noticed Leo kept looking back. He'd lock eyes with her after looking off into the distance and then quickly turn around. Erith couldn't blame him. But eventually the smoke from the burning department store faded. The suburbs of Chicago gave way to snowy fields, and the sun began to set.

"Good job, Festus," Leo said, patting the dragon's metal hide. "You did awesome." He paused, then said, "I'll give you a tune-up next time we land. You've earned some motor oil and Tabasco sauce."

"Leo." Piper's hand appeared on Leo's shoulder, and Erith turned. Somehow, Piper and Jason had switched places. Jason flashed her a peace sign as Piper continued in her worried tone. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah... not bad for a brainwashed zombie." He sounded embarrassed. "Thanks for saving us back there, Beauty Queen. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell―"

"Don't worry about it," Piper replied.

Leo quieted. Erith could tell he was pretty worried. His shoulders were tight. Without turning around, Erith said, "Seriously, thank you, Piper. Without you... we probably all would've died, honestly. You saved us."

"Erith, really," Piper said, but her tone was less burdened. "It was nothing."

Erith shook her head. "Whatever you say, Beauty Queen."

Piper laughed. "Not you, too."

They rode in silence for maybe ten minutes, before Leo said, "We're going to have to put down soon. Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."