The Promise Path

~ Chapter Four ~

Suddenly, Lucy hears a light pattering on her window. Startled, she jolts out of bed and looks towards her window, only to see Daniel floating in front of it. Confused, she slowly walks over and opens it, leaning out to speak with him.

"Daniel, why are you here?" She questions, not fully trusting of him. He doesn't bully her and Avery, unlike most others at school, but he doesn't do anything to help either. Also, it might be a prank or a dare, or some sort of other trick. Lucy feels like she can never be too sure.

"I'm here because I was just at Avery's house to check up on her since she wasn't at school, and I found her at the bottom of the stairs in a heap with her arm bleeding heavily. I cleaned and put clean bandages on the wound, but she's passed out and I didn't know what else to do or even if I should do something else so I decided to come here and ask you." Daniel rambles, speaking almost too quickly for Lucy to understand him. But, she understands his point.

Avery is hurt.

"Move, air boy." Lucy commands. Daniel moves back, a bit alarmed, and watches shocked as Lucy jumps out of her window. She lands with a soft thud onto the ground, then starts running off in the direction of Avery's house. Daniel follows from above, staying above the trees. When he lands in front of Avery's house, the door is already wide open and Lucy is nowhere to be seen. She has already charged up the stairs and is standing at Avery's bedside, which is where Daniel finds her a few moments later. He decides to join Lucy during her silent vigil watching over Avery, since his powerful concern for Avery overpowers any irrational thought.

Not long later, Jason comes home only to discover his front door wide open. Concerned for the safety of his injured daughter, he immediately sprints upstairs and bursts into her room only to find Lucy and a boy he does not know standing next to Avery's bed. He clears his throats to get their attention, causing the boy to jump whereas Lucy simply turns around.

"What is going on here?" Jason asks in a booming voice that leaves no room for protest. Daniel immediately starts stammering out an answer, explaining what happened,

"Well I wanted to check up on Avery since she wasn't at school so I came over and I knocked on the front door and waited patiently outside but then I heard Avery fall down the stairs so I opened the door using my powers, sorry about that by the way, and rushed in when I saw her at the bottom of the stairs passed out with her arm bleeding heavily. I changed her bandages and then left here and went to go get Lucy and then we came back here and have been watching her since. Hi, by the way, I'm Daniel." He takes a deep breath in, having spoken so quickly that he lost his breath.

Jason nods in understanding at the nervous boy and walks around him to take a closer look at his daughter. He observes her, taking note of her paler skin tone, the dark bags under her eyes and the skinniness of her face and her whole body in general. His heart hurts looking at Avery, since she is obviously suffering. He feels so helpless. A lone tear trickles down Jason's right cheek as he picks up her right hand, holding it gently in his own. He takes a deep, shuddering breath before releasing Avery's hand and stepping back. In a cool, collected voice, Jason states,

"Thank you for caring for my daughter, Daniel. It is much appreciated. However, you and Lucy should be getting home now. Again, thank you for your help, both of you." Lucy debates on whether she should protest and demand to stay, but taking a look at Jason's eyes, she decides against it. He looks so... broken. Lucy can tell that he needs to be alone with Avery right now, and decides to go back home hopefully before she gets caught for sneaking out to see Avery.

Lucy leads the way downstairs and out of Avery's house, where she and Daniel linger on the step for a bit, the both of them obviously fighting the desire to stay. Lucy musters up the courage to say something she has wanted to say to Daniel the whole evening and finally says,

"Daniel, I just wanted to say... thank you. Thank you for taking care of Avery. But, don't tell anyone about this, okay? Not even Cassius. Just... don't mention it. At all. If anyone asks, Avery is sick." Daniel nods in understanding, looking a bit nervous, before launching himself into the sky and zooming off, using his powers to carry him home.

Lucy walks through the forest, reveling in the calming feeling it gives off. The forest makes her feel more at home than her actual house does. The sweet chirp of passing birds, the slight sway of trees as the wind filters through it's dark green leaves, the dappled sunlight on the brown forest floor. If only the peace could last, perhaps it could free up the worry surrounding her thoughts at the moment.

Sighing once she sees her house, Lucy starts to go around the house to a tree that she can use to get to her bedroom window. She clambers up it expertly and swings into her room, landing softly on her bedroom floor. Lucy lifts her head only for her slightly good mood left over from the walk in the forest to dissipate.

Her parents are standing in front of her, glaring down at their rebellious, oldest daughter. Lucy groans and stands up, wondering what her punishment will be this time. It's not like it can get any worse.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note:
Hi guys! I'm sorry we haven't posted a chapter in a few weeks, we have just been quite busy with school and some family stuff. But, this chapter is the longest yet at over 3,000 words long, so I hope it compensates for the long wait! Also, sorry for the upsetting chapter, but it was all planned a couple weeks ago. It just took awhile to write. Anyway, as usual, I hope you enjoyed!

Question:
Do you ship any characters in this book yet? If so, what's their ship name?

For us, gotta be #Hadena (Hades x Athena). You gotta love those sexy fun times 😉😂

~Nia and Sophia