ARUNA

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leo and aruna both gasped, falling into the arms of frank and hazel respectively. leo coughed slightly as frank helped him stand up, while aruna heaved in breaths for air, the pain in her body suddenly returning.

"what- what was that?!" frank gulped as leo panted, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"nothing." aruna grunted as she stood on her own. "it happens sometimes. i can't control it very well."

i wonder if any of my sisters did.

"we're fine." leo assured as he draped one of aruna's arms over him. "i mean... not fine."

"i can move." aruna assured. she held her hand out and her swords came flying towards her, turning into bracelets again midair. her hair was down and messy, having become loose after being kicked in the head, which just made the hairpin fall off.

"the eidolons..." she trailed as she looked around at the carnage leo had caused. "are they gone?"

leo grinned. "my last command overloaded their kill switches- basically locked down all their circuits and melted their cores."

"in english?" frank inclined his head.

"or spanish!" aruna smiled.

"atrapé los eidolons dentro del cableado-"

"a language i can speak." frank groaned.

"i trapped the eidolons inside the wiring." leo said. "then i melted them. they won't be bothering anyone again."

"lit." aruna said. she brought a hand up to wipe blood from her chin.

"you saved us." frank suddenly noted, staring at leo. he seemed ridiculously shocked, almost like he'd doubted any of leo's abilities. all day, he'd been having doubts, even to something as little as aruna talking about minoan letters. he seemed extremely unsure of most things, which worried aruna.

the unconfident can be some of the most dangerous people.

"don't sound so surprised." leo scoffed as he glanced around the destroyed workshop. "too bad all this stuff got wrecked, but at least i salvaged the scrolls. if i can get them back to camp half-blood, maybe i can learn how to recreate archimedes's inventions."

aruna knew it wouldn't be maybe- it would happen.

hazel rubbed the side of her head, her body still twitching. aruna vaguely remembered her and frank getting shocked again while she was getting pummeled. "but i don't understand. where is nico? that tunnel was supposed to lead us to nico."

aruna nodded despite the pain. "yeah... i don't feel anything. there's nobody else here, not even close. i can only feel people up above."

leo suddenly paled and his shoulders went slack. "oh... hazel- um, how exactly were you tracking nico? i mean, could you just sense him nearby because he was your brother?"

hazel frowned and tensed, though her body was wobbling from the shock (literally). "not... not totally. sometimes i can tell when he's close, but, like i said, rome is so confusing, so much interference because of all the tunnels and caves-"

"you tracked him with your metal finding senses." leo cut off. "his sword?"

hazel blinked. "how did you know?"

leo gulped and wrapped an arm around aruna.

"you better come here."

he led everyone up to the control room, with aruna moving herself up the stairs as well as she could. leo stopped a few feet in and pointed to the stygian iron sword.

"no!" hazel shouted. if frank hadn't caught her, she would have collapsed. "but that's impossible! nico's sword was with him in the bronze jar. percy saw it in his dream."

"yeah, in a dream. a dream that was over twelve hours ago." aruna pointed out. "the first rule of having a hostage is to never let them have their weapons. this is a decoy, and it was a smart one too. they knew we'd be too caught up in this workshop."

"so this was a trap." frank said dreadfully. "we were lured here."

"yeah." aruna huffed as she looked at her feet. blood from her still-bleeding nose dripped onto the floor. if it didn't stop soon, she'd be getting lightheaded and faint. "they knew my stupid empath bullshit wouldn't be worth shit, and they knew that the tunnels were just going to throw us off. i hate to say it, but gaea's forces are smarter than i thought." she said forcefully. she tried to step away, but her legs felt like jell-o.

"take it easy." leo said softly as he steadied aruna.

"but why?" hazel cried. "where's my brother?"

a hissing sound filled the control booth. aruna felt all the blood in her body drain as she looked at the steaming bronze mirror on the table.

ah, my poor demigods. the sleeping face of gaea appeared in the mirror, her features cruel even in her slumber. as usual, she spoke without moving her mouth, a chill running through aruna's spine.

you had your choices. gaea said. her voice echoed through the room, like it wasn't just coming throughout the mirror- but like she was in their minds, whispering things, feeding all of the negative thoughts a person would ever have.

aruna looked around, realizing they were caught in the earth. of course they were. it was hazel's specialty with the tunnels and literally swallowing aruna whole- but she was no match for the primordial goddess of the earth.

i offered salvation to all of you, gaea taunted. you could have turned back. still, you have a sliver of possibility for peace. but it is too late to go back to what was. you've come to the ancient lands where i am strongest- where i will wake.

leo pulled a hammer from his toolbelt. his face was enraged, completely soaked in hatred and resentment. he whacked the mirror angrily- but, it being metal, it just quivered like a tea tray, but he still looked satisfied in smashing gaea in the nose.

"in case you haven't noticed, dirt face," he said. "your little ambush failed. your four eidolons got melted in bronze, and we're fine."

not true, really, but aruna didn't want to say that.

gaea laughed softly. oh, my sweet leo. you four have been separated from your friends. that was the whole point.

the workshop door slammed shut.

you are trapped in my embrace, gaea sneered. meanwhile, annabeth chase faces her death alone, terrified and crippled, at the hands of her mother's greatest enemy.

the image of the mirror changed. aruna felt her eyes water at the sight of annabeth sprawled on the floor of a dark cavern, holding up her bronze knife as if warding off a monster. her face was gaut, her beautiful hair now caked with grime and dirt, her leg wrapped in some sort of splint. aruna couldn't see what she was looking at, but she didn't need to. for a long time, she'd had a suspicion of what it was; who it was. she could practically hear the scattering of a million spiders, the sharp tap of eight legs on stone. she couldn't imagine the fear annabeth was feeling in that moment.

the others, gaea said. jason grace, piper mclean, and my dear friend percy jackson- they will perish within minutes.

the image changed again. percy was holding riptide, the dim glow leading jason and piper down a spiral staircase into the darkness.

their powers will betray them. they will die in their own elements. i almost hoped they would survive, but i see now that it will benefit me in more way than one. the failure of your dear friends will determine which way the prophecy of the stars will go- my favor, or the favor of those olympians. she said it like it was an insult. aruna felt herself trembling at the thought of her friends dying.

it is a shame they must die. they would have made a better sacrifice. but alas, hazel and frank, you will have to do. my minions will collect you shortly and bring you to the ancient place. your blood will awaken me at last. until then, i will allow you to watch your friends perish. please... enjoy this last glimpse of your failed quest.

aruna fell to the floor, her breaths more like heaves. her ribcage throbbed and her head felt like someone had taken a bowling ball to it. she brought her shaky hands to her face as she cried, and leo stepped forward. his hand glowed white hot and the others took a hasty step back. with a blank face, leo pressed his palm against the mirror and melted it into a pile of bronze goo.

"sorry." he mumbled. "she was getting annoying."

"what does she mean?" aruna cried, her tears hot against her cheeks. they stung her open wounds, mingling with crimson blood. leo kneeled next to her and brought her hands away from her face, holding them in his own warm hands.

"she means a lot of shit, is what she means." leo assured in a calm voice. "you'll be fine. everyone will be fine. evil dudes always tell lies to make us feel bad, and them feel better. it's like- the evil dude law, okay? she's just trying to throw you off course because she knows that when you get mad, a whole lot of fucked up shit happens and you save the day, so i think we'll be fine."

aruna looked at leo and nodded. gently, he wiped her tears as aruna took calm and shaky breaths.

"you're right." she nodded slowly. "you- you're right. i'm just breaking down because i got whacked in the head and my brain is all wonky. it's fine. doctors used to diagnose women with hysteria all the time, so i think i just have that. classic case of female hysteria!"

"attagirl." leo smiled. he held a hald out and aruna took it, allowing him to pull her up. hazel and frank managed soft smiles at the two as aruna wiped more of her tears away.

"what do we do?" frank asked. "we have to get out and help the others."

leo scanned the workshop and aruna looked towards the painting in the corner. it was simple- the moon before a field of flowers. she knew lena had painted it two millenia ago, and still it was intact.

as she observed it, she thought about lena, lizabeta, and ayaan. all were her sisters. sisters, despite coming from such different backgrounds. lizabeta lived in russia, ayaan down in africa, and lena in ancient greece. they all experienced different cultural norms and upbringings, and while they were all so vastly different, aruna knew they were each and the same.

they all fell in love with the sons of hephaestus. and they all died protecting him, their friends, and their families. they all fought until the very end, when they simply could not fight anymore, but even still, aruna felt like they were fighting. their spirits were living on in her own memory, urging her to keep going, to keep fighting. she knew her friends needed her just as their friends needed them. and she wanted to be like them- strong, unrelenting, passionate.

"i've got an idea." leo said. aruna took her first steady breath and turned to leo, looking at him closely. "but it's going to take all of us."

he started telling them the plan.

~•♡•~

short chapter so ya get 2