north

xv, graves

Jason feels even worse than he looks, which is saying something.

The Death Mist enveloped them both while he was fighting to keep conscious in the mansion. Now, bathed in the sick orange hue of Tartarus that he's grown accustomed to, he notices how pale and green his skin is. The skin itself sags, loose, struggling to stay melded to his bones. His thin limbs shake with effort to keep himself upright. He's still coated with bits of flesh, blood, and feathers from the arai, which have uncomfortably dried onto him. The curses the arai left him with have mostly faded. Akhlys drew out most of the poison flowing in him, but he's still weak. He takes a shuddering breath to steady himself.

All that's keeping him going is Nico.

Gods, Nico.

Nico looks horrible. Perhaps it's a trick of the light, but Jason is almost certain that his actual skull is working to break out from under his skin. Dark flashes of empty bones strike against his pale flesh. His sallow cheeks are smeared with blood in lieu of tears. His small frame is shaking, wracked with intense pain. Jason wants to wrap him up in his arms and shield him from the mansion, from his confession, from Akhlys, from Tartarus, from everything.

Beyond the mansion is a field of sickly-looking flowers. The prairie slopes into a valley obscured by thin fog. The mansion still seems huge, and years may have passed while they were inside, but it's behind them. Now they just have to run. He's still hazy, they're both in horrible shape, but Jason takes it upon himself to lead them. He hears Akhlys, still wailing, and his blood boils with anger.

He can still feel the traces of the curses. A great sleepiness overtook him back there. He could hardly breathe, hardly move, but he was painfully aware of everything happening around him while the scent of pomegranates tickled his nose. Disgusting and sweet.

Jason feels all too responsible for leaving Nico behind, for questioning him, lacking important memories to dispel his doubt. Taking on that death trance from the curse of an arai only solidified Jason's guilt.

And despite it all, the pain and the smoke, Jason is so glad to be here with Nico at his side. He's so glad to remember even when it hurts them both so much. So glad to know someone as brave and kind as Nico, moreso than anyone he's ever met. No one else could have gotten them both through that mansion. His heart burns to witness Nico's torture when all he can do is give a hand to ease the pain. And Nico takes it.

Jason laces their fingers together and they brave the field of flowers. Unlike the fog they went through earlier, the field has a lighter haze, but a haze nonetheless. Some sweet aroma fills his nostrils. He hears a clambering, heavy breathing behind him, and whips around.

Akhlys is dragging herself on the ground in the flowers behind them. "Don't leave--" she hisses. "Don't leave me..." Her true form makes Jason's stomach churn. Her body is little more than bones tangled together, tripping over each other, and thick tears streaming down her gaunt face. She's starved, he supposes, of any positive emotion, and it's more obvious than ever that her only sustenance is the misery of others. Her hands claw at the grass. She hooks her nails into Nico's shoelaces. Percy's voice pours from her mouth, "Nico, please..."

Jason wastes no time. He kicks Akhlys in the face, hard, letting out a satisfied grunt when he hears a loud crack. The goddess wails louder. Nico takes a few frightened steps back. Jason lets his anger swell. How dare she treat Nico that way, hurt him like that, use Percy, his identity, against him. "You think we made a mistake trusting you to take us through the mansion. I have news for you. You're the one who made the mistake crossing us."

The haze around Jason solidifies and he narrows his eyes. He channels it, funnels it towards Akhlys, forming a circle of that saccharine fog around her head. Gods don't need to breathe, really, do they? Her choked cries fall upon wilting flowers. Jason clenches his fist and the air current intensifies, closing in, suffocating her further, faster, more--