G o n e

Having spotted the figure from some distance away, Summer glided towards the person--she hoped--with her knife raised. At first, she felt a prick of anxiety. What if it was a spy from Gaea's army? Had they been sent out to search for the camps? If she was lucky, maybe Summer could take care of them before they could report back to Gaea. The thought of 'taking care' of someone made her stomach flip nauseatingly. She had learned from her days with Gaea that a life was not to be played with, tossed away uncaringly.

As she got closer, she saw it indeed was a person, a demigod, to be more exact. A certain demigod Summer knew. The voice, though lacking its usual confidence, confirmed her suspicions. Could it really be…? Her heart pounded in her chest in anticipation, and she could hear the throbbing her in ears. "Fern!"

Her electric eyes widened in surprise and astonishment. On top of that, joy flooded her chest, and Summer darted forwards, decreasing the distance between her and her old friend. She made sure to slide her blade in its sheath, strapped to her belt, before she ran, though, because accidents happened. “You’re alive! I though you were…” She trailed off. Summer had not seen Fern at all during the battle, and had been worried about her friend. When the last of the campers had arrived at the Airspace, she had realized the daughter of Hades was missing.

“I’m just glad you’re okay now,” Summer continued, beaming at Fern. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” She gestured with a hand for her to follow, filled with unspoken questions. Summer decided she would ask Fern later since she didn’t want to overwhelm the girl, but a certain one made her eyes darken, nagged at her. “Were you followed here? With the exception of the hellhound,” Summer added, eyes flickering for a second to the dark beast, then back to settle on Fern’s face. Her eyes were filled with intensity and urgency, and she hoped Fern would realize how important it was. One slip up, and it could ruin everything.

Summer was startled by the look in Fern’s eyes, the intensity almost as urgent and crazy like a wild animal’s. It’s gone…don’t you understand?” “Erm, what’s gone? I-I don’t understand!” she frantically responded, forcing herself to fight the instinct to take a cautious step back. She had been in situations with…mentally unstable people before and whenever they started freaking out or saying weird things like this, it was best to agree and nod, or just talk quickly. She really had never seen Fern like this, and wasn’t sure what to do. “It’s…it’s okay…?”

“Sorry, I’m not myself.” Summer stared at her, shock evident in her features, before she recovered, blinking. “Uh, yeah.” She hoped Fern didn’t turn all bipolar like Willow or something. Everything was just so messed up, it was frustrating. Scary, even. Gods, what would happen to the camps?

“Yep,” Summer replied, popping the ‘p’ out of habit. The daughter of Zeus’s eyes flickered down to her shoes, losing some of their sharpness. “On the most recent one, Gaea drove us out, and a lot of people died. So, yeah, we’re staying here, thanks to Terry. This place belongs to his friend.”

She was silent for a moment. It just felt right, like she was having a moment of silence for the dead demigods. “Someone else can probably explain better than me, though.”

Summer stared into the space before her eyes, a patch of tattered grass and ground, though her glazed pools of misty blue showed she wasn't really seeing anything. So many dead... what in the name of the gods are we going to do? The thought ran through her head once again. Events had often led her up to think it again and again, until it was a constant reminder, etched into her brain. The more she thought about it, the more difficult things seemed to be.

The slight whisper from Fern snapped her mind back into focus, eyes sharp again. "Hmm...?" It took a second for her to realize what Fern had just said, and immediately felt like a dumbass for reacting so slowly. "Oh, um, you don't have to thank me."

Summer couldn't help but let sympathy flood her gaze as she glanced at the daughter of Hades. Poor Fern. She had probably seen worst things too, but without the companionship the camps had, even as they suffered. Her mind immediately started working, trying to think of a way to cheer Fern up, or at least make that sad air about her dissolve. It was hard to imagine herself as the bright and annoying girl the daughter of Zeus had been years ago, though it felt like a lifetime. How foolish she had been, to ignore all of the clues of Gaea's rising. She regretted it deeply now, but of course, regretting was no use.

"Hey, you want me to give you a tour of the place?" Summer offered, a bright smile popping back on her face, trying to take her mind off the less pleasant things.