WAR GAMES -- connor stoll

III. Eyes on You

Malora hummed 'Charlotte sometimes' to herself, hoping that it would calm her nerves, but deep down she knew it wouldn't.

It was just after dawn and the group met up at Zeus' fist. Malora was still eager to go, but the line about her in the prophecy kept echoing in her head.

She pushed these thoughts aside as her brothers came over to her. The last thing she wanted was to let any of her troubles show and worry her loved ones. Besides, she was doing all of this for Chris. It would be worth it.

Her brothers engulfed her in a group hug. She hugged them a little tighter than necessary for good measure.

Unfortunately or maybe fortunately — she wasn't quite sure — she barely had time to speak to them before she was whisked away to say goodbye to Katie and the Demeter cabin.

She had already said goodbye to Clarisse earlier that morning, where she was looking after Chris. This farewell had been even harder for her, because Clarisse knew exactly what Malora was expecting. This time, however, they would not be together to face it.

The daughter of Ares had even hugged her.

If that wasn't a sign of how bad the situation was, Malora didn't know what was.

That thought was questioned as soon as she noticed the younger Stoll brother approaching her.

"Hey?" she greeted him, though it came out more like a question. "What do you want?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but seemed to change his mind again. He was silent for a moment, but then ended up saying, "Just don't get yourself killed."

This angered her. Here he was again, implying that she was useless.

"I'm more than capable of handling myself, Brainless." Malora snapped, wincing when she heard how harsh her voice sounded, even to herself.

Connor was staring at her in a way that made her feel bad.

Maybe he was just worried about her. It would explain why he had wanted to stop her from going back. She didn't understand why he was worried about her, but there was no mistaking the tired, upset look on his face.

"Sorry." she apologized to him, shifting her weight to her other leg.

He sighed. "If I looked up the word 'complicated' in a dictionary, there would be a picture of you in the definition section."

"Then it's a good thing that you don't read." Malora shot back, a little miffed by his remark.

However she couldn't conceal her smile when Connor threw his head back with a laugh.

The tension was diffused, which put her at ease. For a fleeting moment she forgot what laid ahead of her.

"I'm not going to die any time soon." she promised Connor, a little surprised by that action. She valued honesty, but suddenly the desire to reassure him was stronger than that.

"You don't know that, Madwoman."

"I need you to trust me." Malora replied, looking up at Connor's face.

It was hard for her to read him, but she thought that the look on his face was one of yearning. He probably wanted to get out of this uncomfortable situation, which she couldn't blame him for.

It was time to stop delaying the inevitable.

She had just turned around and started walking over to Grover and Tyson, when she heard Connor speak up again.

"I do trust you." he mumbled, which caused a small smile to spread on her face.

She stopped in between the satyr and the cyclops, and put an arm around Grover's shoulders. It gave her some comfort and she only hoped it did the same for him. The trio waited for Annabeth and Percy in silence.