......
AELLA-MAE WANG. Knife to the back. (1)
MARIE SANTOS. Dagger to the throat.
THALIA GRACE. [EXCLUDED: Hunter of Artemis]
JASON GRACE. Spear to the back.
AELLA-MAE WANG. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ (2)
End of List.
✸
Percy stepped out of the showers, (thank god they'd added individual ones to each cabin, having to run outside just to wash his hair was his least favorite part) hair still wet and his shirt practically soaked from the water. A glimmer of light remained outside, casting parts of the cabin with a lazy golden hue. "Gods, I didn't expect you to be so quiet. Where's the music?" He saw her figure lying one on of the upper bunks, trembling ever so slightly.
" . . . Aella-Mae?" he asked tentatively, as if he didn't want to hear the answer.
Hoisting himself up on the rungs, careful not to drip water everywhere, Percy nudged her every so slightly. He was about to ask again, when she made a strangled, choking noise, hands reaching for her own throat. Percy leapt forwards, almost bumping his head on the ceiling in the rush, taking her hands in his. She clawed at his hands, nails digging into his calloused palms, but he held on.
"Let go of me!" Her eyelids flew open, not quite looking at him. She twitched, one palm facing upwards, and for a split second, Percy swore he saw something trickling down the side of her mouth. Something dark, spilling onto the bedsheets. Her hand twitched again, trying to reach for whatever was erupting out of her mouth.
Whatever it was, it vanished in moments.
She flailed around, searching for something he couldn't see. "It's in my throat . . . get it out! Please, please." Percy slowly lifted her chin up, peering at her neck, expecting something to be sticking right out of it. There was nothing. Aella-Mae shrieked, eyes rolling back into her head.
Her hands went limp as the the tremors stopped and Aella-Mae's eyes closed again. Percy held his breath.
Aella-Mae grasped his hand impossibly tight as she squinted at him, so tight he felt she was cutting off his circulation. "Aren't you, uh, supposed to be showering?"
"Already finished," Percy said. "You were screaming."
"I was?" Aella-Mae feigned ignorance. Percy gave her a look. She sighed, "it was just a nightmare. I'll be okay. You know, dying and all that." There was the forced smile he'd seen so many times.
"Sure you will," he replied, not buying a word of it.
She slowly let go of the hand she hadn't realized she was holding, propping herself up in a sitting position, and reaching for her throat. Her fingers trailed up and down, eyebrows furrowing. "It's . . . there's nothing there."
"Is there supposed to be something?"
Aella-Mae turned to look at him. "There was something. I could feel it."
"That's, it's a nightmare. What you said, right? You were just remembering it. Someone, um, killed you with a knife. To the throat, I guess," Percy reasoned.
"I didn't die by a knife to the throat," Aella-Mae felt her neck. "It was to my back. Or I would have seen them coming."
"Well, your mind twists things."
"It wasn't a knife. It was . . . I was drowning. In something." She looked up to meet his eyes.
Percy saw a sort of subtle apprehension that sent a chill down his spine. "I promise not to kill you?" he tried.
She gave a weak laugh. "As if you could, fisher boy. I'll go shower. Probably just hallucinating." Aella-Mae jumped to the ground, looking for her luggage. "Did you put my stuff anywhere? I could've sworn I placed it by the door."
He shook his head. "Why would I?"
Aella-Mae lay down on the ground, crossing her arms over her chest. "Christ, I probably left it somewhere. I'll just wear this for now." She shivered, "but can you change the temperature in here?"
"Tyson added like twelve different settings a while ago. I'm," Percy gave her pleading look, "not in the mood to figure them out just now."
She rolled her eyes endearingly. "Fine, give me your pillow."
"What? No!" Percy gasped, "it has sentimental value. Just wear the damn hoodie."
"You're such a great friend," Aella-Mae said sarcastically, getting up and pulling it off the upper bunk. She held it against her frame. "Isn't it going to be a bit big?"
He gestured with his hands. "It'll keep you warmer?"
"Whatever you say, genius. Also, get off my bed, I don't want to sleep in sheets full of your shower water," Aella-Mae hollered, not looking back as she stepped into the bathroom.
✸
She turned off the water, hastily wrung out her hair, and tugged the hoodie over her head. It smelled extremely Percy, the girl thought to herself, rolling up her sleeves. Which included the everlasting ocean smell, obviously, but also a faint vanilla scent. Actually, that was most likely hers. Who else had vanilla-scented everything? Not Percy, that was sure. Probably just her shampoo, she reasoned.
Out of the blue, she felt a stinging blow to her neck, almost knocking the wind out of her. Instinctively, Aella-Mae glanced in the mirror, expecting to see some sort of bruise. Nothing.
I'm just getting old, she reminded herself as she left. Having my joints hurt is a normal part of being elderly. Even so, Aella-Mae couldn't ignore how much bullshit she was sprouting.
Percy was messing around with a poker deck. He waved her over. "Wait, wait, pick a card."
She obliged, tapping a random one. Aella-Mae sat down on his bed and crossed her legs, waiting for the next part of the trick.
He handed it to her soundlessly. Ace of Spades. "Okay, I want you to think of another card. Done? Sure, sure, keep that card to yourself. Make sure I don't see." Four of Hearts. Percy kept speaking as he re-shuffled the deck. "Now . . ." he took a card from the top of the pile and waved it at her.
Ace of Spades. She blinked. "How the fuck—" Percy pressed a finger to her lips, effectively silencing her. Then, in the blink of an eye, it became the four of hearts. Aella-Mae reached for it, somewhat awestruck, but he snatched it away.
"No, no, I'll teach you later. But pretty cool, right?" he grinned at her. "Nico taught me it."
"So advanced," she laughed. "I can't even build a card house that has more than, like, three cards."
A look came into Percy's eyes. "It's not too late yet, and besides, you sleep at like two, usually. I have two more decks somewhere. Why don't we build one together?"
Aella-Mae pretended to consider his offer, but she'd already made up her mind. "Okay, but if I knock it over I'm saying it was your fault."
He grinned roguishly. "Whatever you say, Maesie."
✸
Aella-Mae gave up long before Percy put the final cards in place. She lay on her stomach on his bunk, chin propped on her elbows. At the very least, she didn't knock it over. Improvement! Percy agreed.
"Wanna knock it over?" Percy offered.
She looked at him like he was crazy. "No, of course not. This is a monument, a testament to our journey and labors."
"Five bucks it's knocked over in the morning?"
Aella-Mae considered the odds. "As long as you don't mess with them, sure."
He gave her a playful grin. "Well, you'll never know if I do."
That was she ended up sitting cross-legged next to him, keeping a watchful eye, as Percy attempted (not really) to sleep. Eventually though, as he knew she would, Aella-Mae dozed off. He smiled to himself, moving over and slowly sliding the pillow under her head. Percy himself climbed up to the top bunk, and somehow fell asleep.
a/n: i'm actually DYING why are these two so cute. personal head canon that aella-mae leans on his shoulder sm that her shampoo smell (vanilla!!) lingers on his hoodie LOL.