Sanctum

On Callista's Past and Anxiety

The hospital was silent.

"It's seven o'clock. Go to bed." Dionysus instructed, scaring Callista half to death.

I was startled back into reality by a choked noise from Nico, then a muttered stream of curses. A glance at him made me take a closer look, and suddenly I was next to him, a hand on his shoulder.

"Deep breaths," I whispered, knowing not to speak too loudly. He raised a hand to his head, trying to ease the vice like grip that clenched around his brain, hissing in pain. "Focus on me," I coached him back to us, gently rubbing his shoulder.

"Don't work yourself up." Callista advised, laying a hand on the shoulder unoccupied by my worried fingers.

"What is going on?" Percy demanded, worry flashing in his eyes. Nico took a deep breath, and then his gaze sharpened, coming back to the present.

He swore under his breath again, and Callista rolled her eyes.

"Its still not all here. There's more I haven't seen." He admitted, looking sheepishly up at me.

I looked away, my expression dark. "Nico's been watching my past for the past couple days." I explained. "He's still absorbing the shock. It looks like he's rather sensitive to any mention of my past." I noted.

"Your father." Piper remembered, nervously picking at her fingernails.

"And Callista's." I reminded them.

Callista glared at me.

Look at how evasive you're being, Boldan muttered, probably rolling her eyes.

"Do you remember your father at all, Jordan?" Athena asked.

I pondered this.

"Tall, sharp lines- business suit, that's what it was," I remembered, "Dark eyes, analytical, never smiled," I continued, fishing for the fuzzy images that were left over from that last time I had seen him.

"You have the same dark hair." Nico said, his tone grudging, as if he didn't want to speak up.

"And you, Callista?" Athena asked.

Callista shook her head quickly. "I don't want to talk about him."

Athena opened her mouth, then closed it. "I heard stories," she trailed off, still watching Callista.

"I don't want to talk about it." Callista repeated desperately.

"Callista," Annabeth spoke up, reaching out for the girl that was beginning to shake.

"I don't want to, I don't want to!" Callista cried, curling in on herself, away from Annabeth's hand.

"Excuse us," I spoke up, swinging my legs off the bed and standing. I reached out, gently pulling Callista with me, walking down a couple more beds.

When I turned to see everyone watching us, I raised my eyebrows and pulled a curtain in between us and the eyes.

Callista was still having a panic attack.

"Hey," I spoke up. "You remember that time when we snuck into the file room and shredded our old files?" I helped her sit on the bed we had stopped by, and I sat next to her, an arm around her shoulders.

"Y-yeah," Callista breathed.

"You told me that I could feel better, because we had a fresh start, and no one could judge us about our pasts anymore." I remembered.

"You- you remember that?" Callista queried, her lip trembling as she met my eyes.

"Of course I remember that." I scoffed. "Anyways," I continued. "That was the night that I saw your past." I explained. "I thought it was some sick joke, that even after we had buried the evidence, I had become the vault, that I had to forever carry the secrets we had just tried to get rid of." I sighed, rubbing my forehead.