cymophobia | percy jackson

𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑖

After Mr. D had given the council a good tongue-lashing on Grover's behalf, the satyr's friends watched on like proud mama goats as he began to direct his brethren in the quest to carry on Pan's spirit. Out of the corner of her eye Ash noticed the camp director stalking away and blinked out of existence, leaving behind a mildly panicked Percy.

With a quick pit stop to grab the ball of string she now held in her hand, Ash rematerialized in front of Dionysus just before he exited the woods.

"Astrid. You should know better by now than to sneak up on gods."

"Sorry, Lord Dionysus. I wanted to catch you before you, ah..." she trailed off, not really sure how to finish that sentence.

"Go drown in my own misery and sorrow? Yes." Oh, so the same as Ash, basically.

Heart sinking for the god, who compared to many of his peers didn't often have children, Ash cleared her throat. "I just, um... pardon me if I'm overstepping, but... I just wanted you to know that C-Castor," she choked up a bit on his name, "went peacefully. He didn't feel any pain. I made sure of it."

Just as she had for Lee, just as she had for anyone she knew would die or felt dying in the area. Unknown to Ash, later on, half-blood veterans on Kronos' side would murmur stories over the campfire to new recruits about the shadow of Death that followed them at the Battle of the Labyrinth. Ethan, who didn't participate in the fight, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing she was all right, but that's irrelevant information.

The god's bloodshot purple eyes burned into her as she let her words hang in the air. She took it as a good sign that she hadn't been smote on the spot and tentatively brought Ariadne's string out from behind her, having recovered it from under the pile of rocks that was once Kampê.

"And, um, I thought your wife might want this back. O-or not! If it's bad memories or something, she could, like, burn it or.... or I could put it in the attic. I don't know." Ash felt herself getting flustered and looked down at the ground, red dusting her cheeks. Did she really just try and comfort a god? How horribly presumptuous of her. What was she thinking?

After an awkward minute or so had passed in silence, Ash decided she was probably in the clear, and pointed a thumb to a nearby shadow before excusing herself with several unnecessary bows. Right before she fled, however, Dionysus finally spoke.

"Asphodel. Thank you."

She turned to him, blinking in surprise for a second before smiling softly and nodding. And as she melted into the shadows, she swore the god gave a small smile back.

₪₪₪

Nico didn't feel like eating in the dining pavilion with everyone, and Ash respected that, so they had a quiet picnic in the strawberry fields before she walked him into the woods. Despite her extensive begging and cajoling, Nico had decided to leave camp, so she'd asked Bianca if she would come to see him off as well, knowing his sister wouldn't feel comfortable with more contact until he figured things out more, got more stable. Plus, her plan to... well, nevermind. After Ash summoned the Huntress she gave them some privacy, leaning against a tree near enough to keep an eye on things but not near enough to hear. She was absently tossing one of her daggers like a coin when Percy emerged from the trees in the foreground, making her nearly catch the wrong side of her blade in surprise.

"Is Nico–" he asked and she nodded, putting a finger to her lips, whispering: "He's there. Give them a second, okay?"

Percy peered around the trunk of the tree to catch a glimpse of Bianca's silvery form raising her hand to Nico's face and did as she asked. As they waited for the conversation to end, Percy suddenly slumped forward. Ash let out a squeak of surprise when  his head hit her shoulder and his large hands came to rest lightly on her waist. "P-Percy?" she asked, voice slightly wavering. Dagger still in hand, she wasn't quite sure what to do with her arms in the moment.