madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-real estate's selling caves now-

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Teqi didn't understand why characters in films always jumped up when they were woken abruptly, and had that whole 'where am I? what day is it? what happened?' spiel. As if they couldn't remember the day before. Or maybe they just didn't think they'd ever wake up again. She could understand that.

At least for her, waking with the cold hard ground digging into her poor bruised hips, and the smell of smoke, it was more of a... 'oh. Here I am. Something's happened.'

Her attention was turned to the dull throbbing of her fried skin before any conscious processing could actually happen. Not quite as sharp, just a bitter reminder of the mess between her lips and her right eye she would have to face.

Ha. Face.

Murmurs of speech, lilting tones and all that, assured her the company she was in wasn't planning to A: turn her into an ice statue, B: dip her into salsa and eat her, C: contract her to a lifetime of customer service, or D: turn her into a gold statue.

Some part of her must have recognised the scratchy material she was using as a pillow. It was like canvas and smelt of spilt soft drinks and sleep. Two of her favourite things.

She rubbed her eyes and propped herself up on her elbows, squinting around the crowded little... hole? ... they were in.

Firelight flickered against the dirt and stone walls, and everyone who should be accounted for was scrunched up around the fire and looking particularly scruffy and cold.

Jason smiled weakly at her. "Hi."

"Hi," she said, pushing her messed up hair out of her face with numb fingers. Half of her very low view was blocked by someone's legs. She didn't have to wonder who's. She just sunk back down into her makeshift pillow, squashed against Leo's thigh. "We're alive."

She didn't look up at him, not that she would have been able to handle his dark soul seeing eyes anyway, but she didn't feel like she needed to. They were both aware of the soft contact points between them and the-

"Yes," Leo said, almost forcefully. His wrist was limp on her shoulder, like a pretend hold. Or a shy one. "We're alive."

And the last conversation. The 'you don't get to die' conversation. There was a lot of something in the air around them. She couldn't see it, she couldn't even name it, but it was the closest she'd come to experiencing something like a hive mind.

They both knew. They were both there. They were both alive.

Okay. Here she was. She lay back on Leo's jacket. Something had happened.

There were a lot of questions to ask. What had happened to King Midas and his servantly son? Where were they all? What day was it, and more importantly, how many days left until the solstice?

But she was tired, and cold, and sore, and they would be answered. She shifted, and closed her eyes again. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Piper has hyperthermia, but Coach gave her some sort of... stew," Jason said. "And she looks a bit better now. He put leaves and stuff on your..." he waved in her direction vaguely. "Face, too. We're fine."

"Speak for yourself," Leo said with a shiver. Teqi didn't know if it was from the cold, or the subject of conversation. "I never want to see gold again."