ᴾʰᵒᵇᵒᵖʰᵒᵇⁱᵃ [ᴶᵃˢᵒⁿ ᴳʳᵃᶜᵉ]

ακ

Her father growled lowly under his breath, "What is it with demigods and constant questions? Fine, yes, whatever."

"Why? What's happening to me? Why am I being given this power?"

Phobos shook his head. "It's hard to explain, Aza-Everett. A child of Phobos is a rare force. You will learn more when you are ready."

"I fucking hate it when you're cryptic."

"Yeah, well, deal with it. Don't forget which one of us is a god. I've got to go, Aza-Everett. I assume you'll wake up... soon enough."

—

It had been three days since Annabeth Chase's dinner was ruined by Leo Valdez's extremely dirty sneakers. One moment she had been talking to her half-brother, Malcolm, about her next expedition to search for Percy and the next, Leo Valdez stood on the dining pavilion table with his sneakers half in her olive-and-pepper pizza.

Her best friend, Aza-Everett Malin, was less graceful with her body slumped over the table of the Ares cabin, a monstrously sized spearhead lodged in her abdomen. It took the Camp several stunned seconds to understand that Jason, Leo, Piper and Aza had come home from their quest in relatively good condition - save for the daughter of Phobos.

"Aza!" Annabeth leapt to her feet, launching herself over towards the table her friend lay on. Beside her, Leo jumped off the table and scrambled towards the girl, followed closely by Piper and Jason.

"Gods of Olympus!" Sherman Yang pushed away from the table, falling over the side of the bench and landing on the dirt. "Aza!"

Chiron was there within an instant, and the girl was shuttled off to the infirmary, where she had been ever since. Annabeth had visited every couple of hours, hoping she would finally wake, but without any luck. Aza had missed so much - they had found the blueprint for a new ship, one they would use to confront Porphyrion, and Aza was one of the demi-gods they needed for the quest. Eight demigods were to confront the giants - but with the daughter of Phobos unconscious for the third day in a row, nerves were heightened.

Annabeth sat in a small wicker chair beside Aza's bed, fiddling nervously with her dagger. Chiron had called for a head counselor's meeting, and she was already pushing the time. But it didn't feel right to Annabeth, to go to that meeting without Percy, or without Aza.

Annabeth felt like she was losing her footing; like her two supports were gone, and it was just her navigating the world - sure, she had the Chiron and Jason and the others, but none of them could compare to her two best friends.

She hated to admit it, but Annabeth relied on them; she needed Percy's humor, and his comforting touch, and she needed Aza's strength and her brashness - without the two of them, Annabeth didn't feel whole; she was unbalanced.

"Hey," Clarisse hovered in the doorway of the infirmary, and she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Chiron's waiting for us." Her brown eyes flickered over towards Aza's unconscious body, too quickly to show any emotion. Annabeth hesitated, and she shook her head, reaching forward and placing a hand on Aza's, "It doesn't feel right."

"I know," Clarisse took a few steps forward, and Annabeth watched as the daughter of Ares finally allowed her gaze to linger on her half-niece; the girl she had loved like a sister for as long as she could remember. It was unbearably painful to see her that way - so weak, and so lifeless; so different from the girl Clarisse was used to.

And Clarisse had heard, too, from the new son of Hephaestus, that Aza-Everett had finally begun to come into herself, and had begun to learn how to channel her powers. Of course it was then, when the gods decided to tip the scales of fate like this. Why hadn't her father, or her uncles done anything? Why had they sat back and watched Aza sacrifice herself?

"Will said she might be able to hear us," Annabeth said pointedly, and she turned to fix her stare onto Aza's relaxed face, "You wake up right now, Aza-Everett! I am not doing this without you."

Annabeth wished her best friend would open her eyes, but a few moments later Clarisse put her hand on Annabeth's shoulder and said, "We have to go, Annabeth. This is urgent."

Annabeth sighed, "But someone has to watch over her," She allowed Clarisse to guide her out of her seat and out the door, assuring her that a child of Apollo would keep a close eye on Aza whilst they were gone.

–

Aza decided once more that she hated the transition from unconsciousness to consciousness. It was hazy, and she didn't quite know when it happened, but soon the voices of her friends became intelligible to Aza, and she strained to open her eyes and talk to them.

"Quit looking so mopey, hombre," Leo's voice wasn't entirely clear, but she was able to tell from the slightly high pitch that it was him. "She'll wake up soon enough."

"It's been a week," Aza knew it was Jason in a heartbeat, and her stomach dropped at the pain that resonated in his voice, "And still, nothing's happened."

Didn't know I was on a time crunch to heal, Aza thought, and she wanted to roll her eyes, but they were far too heavy for her to move. She wondered if they gave her a blanket this time - she felt relatively warm, but she couldn't tell if that was just because of the regulated temperature of Camp.

"Should I hit her?" Aza wanted to smile - she had missed Clarisse so much, but her lips felt like they were made of lead, and they were impossible to move. "It couldn't hurt, could it?"

"Yes, it could," Annabeth's chiding voice came next, and she heard a slight scuffle between the two as Clarisse scoffed, "Shut it, Wise Girl."

I'm right here, Aza wanted to say, but it felt like no amount of effort in the world would get the words to slip past her lips. She wanted to tell her friends she was okay, or at least she thought she was, and she somehow managed to roll her eyes lightly in their socket.

Okay, Aza thought, motivated by the small achievement, If I can do that, maybe I can wake up. And Dad said I might... soon...

"She'll be okay, right," Jason's voice cracked slightly, and Aza's heart ached - her eyes rolled again in her sockets, and she tried to pry open her eyelids but they were impossibly heavy weights. She wanted to see her friends - she was tired of having this impossible barrier between them.

"She'll be okay," Annabeth's tone was firm, but Aza could hear the slight waver in it - the slight show of anxiety that so few people would be able to pick up, and Aza was one of those rare few. She tried to pry open her lids, and a slight murmur of effort slipped past her lips.

"Gods of olympus," Clarisse's rough voice grew louder, and she heard several footsteps approaching her, "did you hear that?"

Aza tried to open her eyes again, but they were too heavy - they were so heavy, and part of her wanted to go back to sleep, too. But she fought against it, and her eyes rolled around in their sockets - several gasps sounded around her, and she heard several people shout for Will.

Finally, Aza managed to pry her eyes open for a moment - they fluttered shut soon after, but it was enough to give her friends hope. They called words of encouragement for her, and Aza felt a hand lay on her bicep. A familiar spark ran through her body, and Aza jolted slightly, her eyes fluttering open - her lips felt less heavy, and they managed to pull into a small smile, "Hey, bolt-boy."

Her eyes fluttered shut again, but she kept forcing them open, and soon her vision became hazy enough to make out the shapes of her friends around her bed - Annabeth, Jason, Clarisse, Piper and Leo.

"Hey," Aza managed weakly, and she closed her eyes again, allowing her friends to raise her head and elevate her pillow slightly, encouraging her to stay awake. She opened her eyes again and smiled lightly, "So, what did I miss?"

A/N: One more chapter for Lost Hero, and then the next book will begin :) I think I'm going to keep it part of this book, instead of making a separate one.