"He'll be fine," Aaron, the doctor that Bruce had called in urgently said, taking Tony's pulse. "He's pretty much in too much shock. Maybe take a week to recover."
"Nothing to worry about?" I asked, twisting the ring on my finger worriedly.
"Nope," Aaron said, smiling. "He's going to be in a short coma."
"Coma?!" I asked, standing up.
"Calm down," Aaron said. "I can promise it'll be short. Maybe ten days, max."
"Oh," I sat back down. The Avengers had left the building to find Thanos.
I already knew what would happen. The stones would be gone too. That's Tartarus.
Tartarus always has a plan.
I drummed my fingers thoughtfully against my knee.
"You're playing the piano," said Aaron, smashing a glass ampule open. "That's Fur Elise."
"I am?" I looked down. "Yeah, I am."
Aaron sat down after giving Tony an injection. He sighed, "So."
I raised an eyebrow at the guy. "What?"
"So," Aaron said, "what's it like being engaged to an Avenger?"
I had to think for a minute.
Tony and I had been engaged for exactly two hours when we had parted again.
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
Aaron raised an eyebrow.
I closed my mouth and looked at the ring that Tony had given me.
Tartarus.
Thanos.
Voldemort.
Alexandra.
Death.
The words rushed through my head over and over again.
Tartarus.
Thano-
"You okay?" Aaron interrupted.
I looked at him. Aaron was a blonde-haired man with incredible blue eyes and glowing tan skin. His hair almost ran along down to his neck, as though he'd been growing it out for months. It sparkled in the sunlight and was as smooth as silk.
I realized as I was staring at his hair and looked back down.
"Ariana?" Aaron asked.
"You're a doctor," I said, looking at him. "Are there cases where you must sacrifice something for the patients' better health? Some places, where you know that the patient wants something, but he can't have it?"
Aaron looked at me, confused. "Well, yeah," he said, scratching his head. "Course. Some patients don't want a procedure, but they need them.... at one point they need it so urgently that their consent doesn't matter anymore, because they don't have the capacity or the mental stability to do so."
I nodded.
"How is this relevant?" Aaron asked after a short pause.
I sighed, and stood up. "I've made a decision."
"Really?" Aaron asked.
"Yeah," I twisted the ring out of my finger and placed it by Tony's bedside table. "Tell him I've broken it up."
"What?" Aaron stood up. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Tell him I'm alive and well," I said, blinking back tears, "tell him that I will always love him, but this is a game I can't let him play."
Aaron stared at me, utterly confused now. "What?"
I kissed his forehead and the tears began to break and flow slowly out of my eyes. "Tell him," my voice cracked, "tell him to forget Ariana. Tell him that I hope he will forgive me."
"Hey," Aaron said, "I know I'm not some wiz, but I know what people feel. I'm a doctor. And I can tell there's some important, noble reason as to why you're doing this. All I'm saying is, your fiancé has the right to know why."
"Alright," I said, turning back from the door. "This game's getting bigger by the second. New players are constantly coming in, but only the old ones can defeat the true enemy. Unfortunately, I'm one of the old ones. Tony's personality is running to danger faster than I do. And I can never hold him back from doing that, because I'm running towards danger too."
I sighed. "Only one other person can truly control him. And she'll be here before you know it. And I know Tony loves her. Truly. Pepper Potts was the right choice all along."
"But he chose you," Aaron said.
"He made a mistake," I replied. "I'm not letting him get hurt for me."
I turned away before Aaron could ask me another question. I pulled the door open, when-
"So you're going to be a coward and run from the problem?" Aaron asked.
Blood roared in my ears. I grit my teeth and bit my lip so angrily that I could almost taste blood. I turned around.
"No," I said, fuming, "I'm running towards the real problem."
Without another word to talk, I rushed past Pepper - Cecilia - my sister - as she ran to Tony in a hurry, her face full of worry. We did not talk, but our eyes met. And I realized, she was neither happy nor sad for me. There was no anger, no hatred in those eyes of hers. She was worried- and she was only worried for him.
I turned on the spot to find myself face to face opposite blue eyes and dark black hair.
"Thalia!" I exclaimed.
"You don't seem happy to see me," Thalia pouted, turning away from my apartment door.
"No, no," I pulled her back. "Sorry, I was-"
I sighed.
"Hey," Thalia said, looking to me, confused, "anything wrong?"
I opened the door. "You wanna step in?"
Two hours later, Thalia and I were discussing Tony Stark over a cup of tea and snacks.
"I mean," Thalia said, patting my back, "as long as you know that it's the right thing..."
"Yes," I sniffled, "but why does it always have to be hard to do the right thing?"
Thalia remained silent. She held onto my arm tight.
"Maybe I should just give up," I said finally, wiping tears from my eyes. "First there was Luke, and then Tony.... maybe I should stop. I should stop and probably join the Hunters."
Thalia laughed. "As much as I would love that Ari, this isn't the time to make such an important decision."
"So what if I make it now?" I asked, "I haven't got anything else to think about."
"Dude," Thalia said, "there are so many things. If you join the Hunters now, then who'll look after my bro?"
"Seriously?" I smiled. "That's your problem?"
Thalia shrugged, grinning sarcastically. "Among others, yes."
I rolled my eyes, and Thalia put her arm around my neck, almost choking me. "Don't worry, sis," she chuckled, "once all this is over, we'll get you safe into the Hunters.... did you know Artemis has been trying to get you for years now?"
"What?"
"Yeah," Thalia said, letting go of me. "Apparently she's been trying since you learnt to master the bow and arrow 'cause those are her favorite weapons. Who knows, maybe you'll be next lieutenant, considering the fact you'll also be the oldest girl on the team."
"Ha ha," I laughed sarcastically, "that's likely."
"No, seriously."
I raised an eyebrow at Thalia, and she shrugged at me again. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Thalia said again. "But she gave up after seeing you happy with Luke.... of course, that is, until you disappeared." She pouted. "I'm still angry at you for that."
"I'm sorry," I smiled. "I had to get away for a while. It's just that-"
Thalia smiled. "It's okay, I understand. But seriously, how'd you escape the gaze of every god out there? Like, that's top level."
I laughed. "Sure."
"No, even Athena wasn't able to find you, and she's your mom, for Hera's sake."
"Just luck, I guess," I shrugged.
"Luck, or good planning," Thalia smiled. "Athena always has a plan."
I grinned.
"But I'd keep on the lookout if I were you," Thalia said seriously. "Lady Artemis was telling me..."
"What?" I asked, alarmed.
"Well," Thalia fidgeted with her bracelet, "apparently... a few gods have been asking around for you... some stalking you.."
"What the heck are you talking about, Thals?"
"Apparently, some of them are trying to ask you out. Like, they're trying to ask your hand in marriage."
I blinked and looked down at myself. Black shirt, blue jeans, graying, platinum hair. Usually it's the redheads with red lips and blue eyes that gods looked out for. I was growing physically old at a rate faster than the fastest animal ever. "There's nothing special about me."
"Except for the fact that you're one of the strongest heroes that the Olympians have seen," Thalia said. "Alexandra favored you best. Dionysus literally considers you a daughter. You can hide amongst gods and hide from them too. You held up the sky for a whole month before Annabeth took it."
"And so Hypnos wants to call me over for a sleepover?" I asked.
"Well, it's not just Hypnos," Thalia shrugged. "Apparently it's Ares, Aphrodite, Thanatos.."
"Thanatos?" I smiled. "Well, I wouldn't mind him..."
"Oh, shut up," Thalia shook her head. "It'll be fun meeting Luke in the Underworld as you date literal death."
"That sounds wicked," I smirked.
Thalia rolled her eyes.
_______________________________________________