ARUNA

~•♡•~

aruna didn't know how to feel after that. she'd been called pretty a few times, though she didn't exactly believe it. even when the literal goddess of love and beauty said it to her, she didn't really process it until leo had said it, and her viewpoint changed.

it wasn't that she was reliant on a man to feel confident in herself. that wasn't it at all. but it was like when piper called her pretty; when it's someone close to you, someone who know your personality, your flaws, the bad things you've done, and they still find you pretty? it's different.

and with leo, it was especially different because he knew more than anyone else. for him to still find her pretty even after watching her (probably) kill that roman, or break that daughter of mars's jaw, or when she blew up at him the night prior, it was different. he knew that she was a terrible person. she felt like a monster. and still, he managed to find her pretty.

what was not pretty was the massive shrimp attacking the ship.

"SON OF A BITCH!" hedge yelled.

aruna sprouted to the top first, her eyes widening in shock at the sight of the monster.

it looked like a mix of lobster, catfish, and shrimp in one monster. it had a chitinous shell, pink like most shrimp, though it was kind of hard to tell in the moonlight. a flat crayfish tail ducked under the water and millipede type legs undulated hypnotically as the monster scraped the hull of the argo II.

its head surfaced, and massive, pure black eyes bore into aruna's soul. it was a slimy, pink face like a catfish, with a gaping toothless maw and a forest of tentacles sprouting from each nostril, making the bushiest noise aruna had ever heard.

leo whimpered next to hazel. he and the girl looked uneasy as they stared at the monster. aruna ran out, her eyes wide in horror.

"come on, valdez!" hedge yelled. "take the wheel so i can get my baseball bat!"

"a bat's not gonna help." leo frowned, but he ran for the helm anyway.

everyone else made it up the stairs as well, as gazing at the monster.

"what's going- gah!" percy yelled. "shrimpzilla!"

aruna spawned both of her swords, but she wasn't exactly sure what to do. 

"we can kill it." aruna assured herself confidently as frank ran to hazel's side. she was clutching the railing, clearly dazed, but she gave a signal that she was okay.

the monster rammed the ship again. annabeth, piper, and jason tumbled to starboard and almost rolled overboard until aruna reached out a hand, and set their gravity straight. she was standing normally, unaffected by any of the lurching of the ship.

leo's hands flew across the panel, and aruna could hear festus crackling and squeaking over the intercom. she stared at leo, and he finally looked up at her before giving her a simple nod.

aruna looked away, please with knowing leo was stable.

"how did it get so close?" annabeth yelled.

"i don't know!" hedge snarled. he looked around for his bat, which was rolling around across the quarterdeck.

"i'm stupid!" leo scolded himself as he worked the control panel. "stupid, stupid! i forgot the sonar!"

the ship tilted further starboard. either the monster was trying to give them a hug, or it very much wanted to kill them.

"sonar?!" hedge demanded. "pan's pipes, valdez! maybe if you hadn't been staring into hazel's eyes, holding hands for so long-"

"what?!" frank yelped.

aruna froze. "what?" she asked softly.

something about that felt traitorous. her heart pounded in her chest, her head throbbing like a million hammers had been set loose. she saw leo's entire face fall as he, too, froze, and locked eyes with aruna.

"it wasn't like that!" hazel protested. aruna shook her head and frowned, hardening her shell.

"whatever." she shook off.

"jason, can you call some lightning?" piper asked.

jason struggled to his feet. "i-" he managed to shake his head, summoning the storm earlier had taken too much out of aruna's buddy. aruna doubted he could pop a spark plug with how he was.

"annabeth!" aruna called. "do you think that things shell is blast-proof?"

annabeth froze. "why... what kind are blasting are you gonna do?!" she shrieked.

aruna shook her blades. in the middle of the crescents, to swirly balls of white-hot, pale blue and purple energy formed, ready to cause some serious damage. frank and hazel stared as aruna focused on the monster.

"uh, hopefully the helpful kind?" aruna offered.

"you'll just anger it!" leo warned. aruna glared at him and his face went red.

just then, the monsters tendrils lashed the deck so fast, nobody had time to react. before one managed to slam percy in the chest, aruna blasted it with both balls, igniting a shriek as the monster pulled that particular tentacle away. however, more attacked the deck, wrapping around the masts, encircling the crossbows, and ripping down the rigging.

and, one managed to grab piper's legs and lift her up. she screamed and aruna charged in.

she teleported right onto the monsters tentacle. and sliced the tendril clean off. piper screamed as she dropped back down and aruna carefully navigated the tendril she was standing on. piper was cushioned my frank, who grunted as she fell on him.

"SHE CAN TELEPORT, TOO?!" frank screamed as he helped piper stand upright. at that moment, aruna avoided one of the tendrils coming for her by teleporting back onto the boat, right next to frank. without missing a beat, she spun twice, throwing a sword at the monster with each spin. they bounced harmless off the shell, and rebounded right back to aruna.

"yeah, so i guess the shell is blast-proof." aruna remarked. jason drew his sword and annabeth her dagger, and both began swiping at the tendrils attacking the ship. aruna teleported back overhead, and summoned another moonblast to get three tentacles at once. frank pulled out his bow and sent a volley of arrows, but they only lodged in the chinks of the monsters shell, enraging it further.

it bellowed, rocking the ship.

aruna teleported next to leo, her breathing heavy. she stared at the monster, and realized that shooting the shell would be pointless.

"what are you doing?!" leo yelled over the shrieking.

wouldn't you like to know? aruna knew she was being irrational, but in the moment, she didn't care.

she summoned several blasts, all back-to-back, in her bare hands, shooting them at the base of the monsters tentacles as fast as she could. it shrieked and pulled away.

"we need more firepower!" aruna yelled at everyone. her blasts were working, just not fast enough. even as she took a few extra seconds to form bigger ones, it didn't matter. the moonblasts just weren't enough.

leo shot up. "hazel! that box!" he pointed. "open it!"

aruna gaped. she knew what box he meant, but she couldn't bother looking at him as she focused all of her energy onto the monster. "i don't think we need tha-"

she was cut off by her own scream. before she was able to react, a tentacle wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her body. it lifted her upside down and shook her twice, scrambling up her brain.

"GET OFF HER!"

aruna felt a whiz of heat and the tentacle dropped her. she was dazed, but managed to teleport away before her head slammed into the boat.

instead, she dropped on the monster's back.

"SHIT, SHIT! WRONG PLACE!" she screamed as she spawned her swords, navigating the monsters back. it screamed and aimed tentacles up at her, the way a human might smack a fly from their back. hazel screamed loudly from the boat as aruna screamed loudly from shrimpzilla, running up towards the head and slicing away tentacles.

the deck lurched forty-five degrees. shrimpzilla shrieked once more, making aruna's ears ring loudly. even still, she ran away.

aruna couldn't hear what her friends were saying. she was stuck on the monster's head now, rapidly fending off tentacles as her friends below fought off more. tiredly, she managed to teleport again, this time mid-air above annabeth. she sliced a tendril before it hit annabeth, and managed to land on her feet.

she stared at leo and hazel in horror, with the former holding too bottles the size of an apple, both swirling with a poisonous green liquid. the greek fire made aruna's stomach feel like it was melting, even though it was several feet away and not yet lit. leo shouted something at hazel, and tossed her a bottle.

jason screamed. this time, he was lifted up into the air. aruna threw a sword, severing the tendril, and jason fell down. aruna screamed as she ran with her hands outstretched, and miraculously, she caught him.

he looked at her, embarrassed.

"hey..." he smiled awkwardly as aruna held him bridal style.

"hey, buddy." aruna offered an awkward smile. they stared a moment longer before aruna put him down, and went back to defending the ship.

horrified, she watched as leo and hazel were swooped into one tentacle, both screaming loudly as they rose. aruna tried to teleport again, but before she could, a tendril smacked her over.

"RUNA!" annabeth screamed. the blonde tried to lunge, but was stopped by a tentacle. she stabbed and dodged, yelling in both english and greek at the monster to go away, among other things.

aruna groaned, holding the back of her neck. she'd used up so much of her energy in trying to fight off the romans, and again in fighting off shrimpzilla. and she wasn't a "big three" kid, or even a child of an olympian. she was considerably weaker than just about all of her friends.

she wanted to sleep. she was exhausted.

she looked up, her ears ringing. she felt her head wound from earlier split open again, blood leaking down her back. her vision was wobbly, and the screams of her friends all blended together. fearfully, she got up, dazed and confused. it was a similar feeling to when she'd fallen through aeolus's palace.

she saw a shimmering light. she stared at it, squinting her eyes and tilting her head to try and focus. the world was spinning in the most vile way, only making her head feel a thousand times worse. her lips quivered and she felt something hot and wet race down her cheek, but she didn't know if it was tears or blood.

her hearing went out completely. all she could hear was a dull ringing noise as she tried to figure out what the bright light was. she stared at it. it seemed like a star, getting brighter and brighter the more she stared at it.

"m-mom?" she asked in confusion. she felt like she could make out the shape of the familiar woman.

she felt a hand on her shoulder. annabeth suddenly appeared in front of her, yelling something, her lips moving but no sounds coming out. her stormy grey eyes were suddenly electrified, her face horrified as she shook aruna's shoulders.

piper appeared next to her. the girl's curved nose seemed to twitch, her lips parted in concern. her choppy brown hair was messy and she, too, said something, but her face was much calmer. still, aruna wasn't able to hear a single thing.

coach hedge appeared behind them. aruna's vision was fuzzying up more, his features unable to be deciphered. she squinted again, staring at him as he said something that made the other girls angry, because they turned and said something to him.

aruna's ears stung, almost like bees were getting at her, and she winced. she burrowed down, tucked her head and knees to her chest and holding her neck. her hearing came back, and she heard everyone left on board stare.

"i-is that-"

annabeth shushed percy. "she... she should be okay. hedge, nature magic? piper, go get some nectar and ambrosia. jason, get medical supplies. percy, start looking for the others."

aruna heard footsteps thunder off, and then a splash in the water. she was definitely crying now, the pain in her head so intense, she felt like a little kid again. annabeth gently stroked her shoulder, shushing her softly. hedge sat down, pulling a few things out of a pack.

"it hurts." aruna whimpered, her voice high pitched and childish. she felt like she was six years old again, scraping her knee at the playground. she imagined her dead kneeling next to her, giving her a bandaid and singing the song he always used to sing to her.

"ay, de mí

llorona, llorona, lloronade un campo lirioay, de míllorona, llorona, lloronade un campo lirio

el que no sabe de amores, llorona

no sabe lo que es martirioel que no sabe de amores, llorona

no sabe lo que es martirio."

his  voice was always so gentle, so melancholy, yet powerful. she could hear his faint song softly in her ears. she felt his hand, hard yet gentle against her cheek.

and she blacked out.

~•♡•~

"you had a concussion." hedge explained as he rubbed more of the nature-magic goop on the nape of aruna's neck. she was sitting up now, her head still pounding, but she was at least lucid. "the shrimp monster split your neck and scalp open. we could see your bone-"

"coach?" piper sighed. aruna looked at the exhausted daughter of aphrodite. "maybe not."

hedge shrugged. "whatever. you'll have a nasty scar again, by the way."

"i'm just gonna be all scar tissue one day." aruna grunted as annabeth laid down bandages on the same spot. hedge began chanting in ancient greek as annabeth did her part, and piper held aruna's hand for moral support.

both girls were still crying. leo, frank, and hazel had been taken to the bottom of the ocean, nowhere to be found. percy was currently scouring for them underwater, despite his own energy being depleted, and jason was soaring above like tinkerbell, also searching for them. aruna knew piper felt useless, but right now, piper was one of the only people she wanted to see.

from what aruna could tell, it was a little past four a.m. aruna prayed leo, hazel, and frank were safe. she felt like she'd been dramatic before they had fallen, what with being somehow hurt by leo holding hands with another girl. it wasn't like aruna had much with leo. he had his own free will, and if he could do something like that with a girl, she couldn't stop him. leo had rarely been given a second glance by most girls.

"you should sleep." piper said softly. aruna shook her head and wiped her tears before they could fall.

"i can't. i won't be able to sleep until i know he's- they're all right." she quickly corrected. piper frowned and nodded.

"if you can't sleep, at least lay down." she said. "your body is tanked right now, runa. even just a little bit of quiet might make you feel a lot better."

"i'll lay down out here." aruna offered. piper sighed and agreed.

annabeth and hedge brought up a cot from the very bottom of the ship. aruna knew it was the same cot leo had in the storage room, where he occasionally laid and took naps when he was busy working on projects and needed a break. aruna laid on it, face down, burying her face in her arms. she'd spent a whole hour showering after the roman attack, and now it was all wasted. all she could smell was raw fish, blood, smoke, and disgusting nature goop with components in it she didn't want to know about.

for the most part, she was left alone. occasionally, hedge and annabeth would pass by, checking on her. jason and percy came back eventually, checked to make sure aruna was okay, then went away. the last time anyone bothered her was annabeth, who removed the nature goop.

"it's healed well already." she said as she gently looked over the stitches. "just go easy."

"y'all tell me that all the time."

and that was that.

suddenly, a few hours later, aruna shot up. she felt hot and sweaty, but she ran to the side of the ship. piper joined her, both girl confused, and they watched as three bubbles suddenly popped up, ejecting frank, hazel and leo.

aruna wasted no time. she jumped straight in the water, ignoring piper's pleas of protest. a few seconds later, though, piper jumped in as well.

despite the current, aruna swam straight to leo, fighting off her tears. he brushed his curls away and suddenly seemed to notice aruna as she threw her arms around him, holding him close. in an instant, she kissed his neck, feeling the heat of his skin on her lips only for a second before she buried her face in his shoulders. piper swam over, quickly chattering with frank and pulling hazel back to the ship.

leo cleared his throat and forced a laugh as he hugged her back. "miss me?"

aruna pulled away, staring at him angrily. leo's entire face fell as aruna's hand struck him, the slap reverberating throughout the ocean. piper, frank, and hazel turned, staring in shock as aruna pushed leo away, both floating in the water.

"you dick!" aruna yelled, her eyes full of tears. "greek fire? what the fuck is the matter with you?! i thought you were dead!"

leo held a hand to his cheek, but he somehow didn't look hurt. his eyes were soft and he glanced back at piper, hazel, and frank. the three suddenly swam away quickly, leaving leo and aruna in the ocean.

another bubble popped up. leo and aruna both turned to it, watching as a little basket of brownies bobbed up. leo pulled it close, and looked back at aruna.

"i had to protect you." he shrugged.

aruna splashed water at him. leo closed his eyes as the front part of his hair got soaked. he brushed it away and opened his eyes again, though little droplets of water remained on his eyelashes and eyebrows.

"with greek fire?" aruna hissed. "for the love of- do you realize how dangerous that was? how reckless? gods, leo. i knew you were stupid, but i didn't know you were a total fuckin' idiot."

"well, now you know." leo shrugged. "wanna yell some more?"

aruna glared at him.

"i mean, i didn't think you'd care, 'cause you seemed pretty pissed at me before i blew up the monster and saved your ass." leo bounced back, though he still didn't look nor sound very angry. "you didn't even give me a chance to explain- which, really, i don't think i have to."

resentfully, he looked away, and added, "it isn't even like we're dating or anything."

aruna got ready to say something, but percy interrupted her.

"HEY! HURRY UP AND COME ABOARD BEFORE I HAVE TO COME GET YOU!"

aruna sighed and turned around. her hair swirled in the water, moving to the side, accidentally revealing her injury.

"woah, woah, woah, woah." leo surged forward, now swimming next to aruna as she hurriedly tried to cover it up.

"it's nothing."

"that doesn't look like nothing." leo muttered. ignoring him, aruna climbed aboard, and didn't bother to help leo up. instead, she took the brownies, and marched to join the rest of her friends, her socks and athletic shorts squelching comically as she did so.

"where were you?" annabeth asked. "how are you guys alive?"

"long story." leo muttered, a hint of resentment still on his tongue. he gestured to aruna.

"want a brownie?"

~•♡•~

leo: iT iSnT EvEn LiKe We'Re DaTiNg
me, writing chapter 86: damn. he dont got a clue in the fuckin world.