Fragile Heart [Completed]

14

Annabeth stumbled for an answer. She hadn't seen Leo this angry since the war with Gaea. He was just glaring at her.

"I need an answer. What. Happened. To Rory?" he demanded, his voice shaking.

"What do you mean? We were in the woods, she fell asleep, woke up gasping and left. She didn't even say a word to me," Annabeth countered. Leo's gaze softened slightly.

"Ok." He took a deep breath. "I'll talk to her. See if she'll say anything this time." He turned to leave but Annabeth stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"What do you mean, 'this time'?" she demanded. Leo shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but, I asked her what happened and she didn't say anything. Don't rush her, please. She has a lot more on her plate than she likes to admit. She doesn't like help." Annabeth let go of him and he jogged back to the cabins. She stood in stunned silence. What did he mean? What more was Rory actually dealing with? It made her feel slightly sick, not being able to help her. Why didn't Rory feel like she could talk to her?

Annabeth brought her mind back but it wandered again. Her dream. The others weren't there. That made her feel even worse. It could mean anything. They could've been dead or even deserted them all. Despite her and Percy's breakup she couldn't stand the thought of him hurt. Unfortunately that one thought lead her mind into a spiral. Jason would be devastated, too. If he were hurt Piper would do Gods knows what. Leo was her best friend. It was like one big spider web, everything was connected. And Annabeth hated spider webs. If one bad thing happened it would just start a butterfly effect.

She sighed and rubbed her temples in an attempt to cure the oncoming headache. Stupid spider webs. She turned around and saw piper walking towards her.

"That looked intense. What happened?" she asked curiously. Annabeth shook her head.

"I'm not even sure I know." Piper smiled in support.

"Well whatever it is, I'll be here. That's what friends are for, like you said." Annabeth thought the situation differed slightly from what they had discussed previously, but was grateful nonetheless. The two hugged and Piper walked away in the direction of the Aphrodite cabin.

Annabeth turned to go back to her cabin but was stopped when an Iris message flickered in front of her. Reyna was staring dead ahead, but she didn't seem to comprehend what was happening. Dark circles had formed under her eyes, and her hair was put up in a messy pony-tail.

When she spoke, her voice was hoarse. "Annabeth, are you and the rest of the Greeks okay?"

"What do you mean? Has something happened?" Reyna nodded and sighed.

"There have been attacks. Five have been hospitalised. They're in some sort of coma. No-one can figure out what's happened." She took a deep breath. "I thought it was medical but none of the healers can do anything." Her voice cracked slightly with emotion. The description reminded Annabeth painfully of what happened to Rory. The memory stung.

"Keep everyone inside. It's not medical, definatly. It happened once here. Rory. It was a little while ago, the day after the truth or dare game. She was asleep for ages but she did wake up. Just let them rest." Reyna nodded.

"Thank you for your help. I'll keep you updated if anything changes." With that, the Iris message faded from view.

Annabeth's shoulders slumped with exhaustion. She wanted to check on Rory. She wanted to be helping at Camp Jupiter. She needed to be there for her friends. She needed to be in a million different places at once. But the place she actually needed to be was in bed.

That night she slept very little, and when she did her dreams were filled with short scenes, impossible scenes, of her and Rory. When she was awake she tried to analyse them, but to no avail.

*   *   *

When Leo came to check on Rory again, she seemed to be a bit better. She had stopped shaking and crying and her breaths were evening out. But the bruising on her neck had not gone; in fact it had become an even darker shade of purple than when he had left.

He handed her a sheet of paper and a pen. "Can you remeber anything? At all?" he asked again. Rory shook her head and scribbled something on the paper.

Where am I?

The words felt like a knife to the heart. His own sister, who he had teased and laughed with, couldn't even remeber her own bed. Leo felt tears prick in the corners of his eyes. Rory saw and wrote something else.

Did we know each other? Were we close?

Leo sniffed. "Yes. You're my sister." Rory looked at the piece of paper.

I'm sorry, I don't remember.

He tried for a smile. "It's okay. We'll get Chiron and the Apollo kids and they'll sort all of this out. Okay?" Rory nodded. Leo took a deep breath. "Just sleep, for now, and maybe something will come back to you in the morning." He was saying it more to try and comfort himself. Rory put the paper on the side table and lead down underneath the sheets.

Leo walked over to his own bunk and sat down. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't let Rory know that he was this worried. He had to be optimistic. Fake it 'till you make it, he thought to himself. 

Sorry for such a long wait for this part. It has been a while in the making and hopefully things will start to come together soon. Enjoy your day wherever you are.