madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

- sorry about your burger-

"Jason! Teqi!"

Teqi didn't open her eyes, instead she chose to go back to sleep. 

Whatever awful thing had just happened to her poor body had obviously scarred her brain, and she felt like Leo. As in hot, physically [get your head out of the gutter] it felt like she was burning up, too close to the atmosphere. It was worse than the lasers on her face, and her mouth was so dry the dentist would be removing cactuses.

"It's no use, child." Someone said from around her, but Teqi continued to ignore her surroundings. Her lagging and incredibly hot brain registered her prior thoughts, and then Teqi felt like throwing up. Leo. He was crushed underneath a pile of rubble somewhere, and Teqi knew he was dead. No one could survive that. Unless they were made out of metal or destroyed everything that touched them.

"This is your fault. Do something!"

"Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen—"

"Fix them!"

"I did warn you all. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told them to close their eyes before I revealed my true form."

"Fix both of them you ass hat!"

Now that was an original insult, Teqi had to admire it. Unfortunately, she was still reeling inside, and her foggy brain was in no condition to start grieving anyways, so she just let the uncomfortable hotness surrounding her, pull her into sleep.

"Um ...True form is bad, right? So why did you do it?"

Mother fucker. Who did this 'ass hat' think he was, running around hurting himself and using the fact that Teqi liked him, her powers, and her fatal flaw, for his own good. Ok, for the good of the world, but it was still annoying.

"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried, Teqi finally recognising the voice that would certainly make a reappearance in future nightmares. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."

"But mortals can't look upon you in that form!" Thalia shouted, and Teqi relaxed slightly, knowing that someone could be angry at Hera for a while, until she woke up from whatever was happening. "You've killed her!"

"That's what our prophecy meant. Death unleashed, through Hera's rage. Come on, lady. You're a goddess. Do some voodoo shit on him! Bring them back. Bring Teqi back!"                                                          When Teqi heard Leo's voice crack at the end, she decided it was probably time to announce that she was actually alive. She had let him panic for long enough now, but when she tried to open her aching eyes, they didn't. Well that was a complication.

"He's breathing!" Piper announced, from somewhere next to Teqi. "Impossible," Hera stated, almost sounding proud. "I wish it were true, child, but no mortal has ever—"

"Jason. Listen to me. You can do this. Come back. You're going to be fine. Teqi, get the fuck up!" Well, it was nice to know she was appreciated, but the girl was more focused on the fact that while she could feel the pain in her limbs, she couldn't even twitch them. It was like she was floating above her body, just to watch what was happening. But she also couldn't see.

"Healing is not a power of Aphrodite," Hera said regretfully, at least trying to sound sad about it. "Even I cannot fix this, girl. His mortal spirit—"