Going Under... {Q} (Avery/Deimos)

[Avery Reynolds]

If there was ever a time when Avery felt like crying, this was it. She'd never felt this kind of pain before, not even in training when she had first come to camp and had no idea what to expect. Even as she rushed the giant, her head felt like it was about to explode into a million pieces. She was sore absolutely everywhere, and the giant totally hadn't expected her to come charging at him out of nowhere. The pair of them went tumbling to the ground, and Avery stabbed him right in the chest as they went down. The giant melted beneath her and Avery crashed into the ground face-first, and she panted as she rolled over onto her back. Everywhere hurt. Her head, her back, her legs, her stomach... everything. She felt like everything was wrong with her, and things only got worse when suddenly the empousa was over her, baring its fangs.

"Sssssstupid little Hermesssss girl. Thossse giantsss were foolsss. I will finish you off." The empousa lounged down at her, but she too fell over when Avery shoved her away and used her leg to trip the empousa. The monster screamed as it tumbled to the ground, and Avery stumbled to her feet, panting with tears running down her face. She'd never felt so terrible in her life, and just wished that everything would stop. Surely being in the Underworld would be better than this, doomed to this amount of pain in a world where nobody really cared about her. Her eyes flickered to Ryan and Deimos, but she could barely see her little buddy. There were other people there, no doubt illusions that Deimos had somehow managed to conjure up. She didn't know what he was the god of, but he sure as hell wasn't the god of roses and daisies.

The only thing she saw was Ryan charging Deimos, something wild in his eyes. "Little buddy... no..." she managed to wheeze out before being totally caught off guard by another shriek from the empousa, this time as the monster came at her again with dirt in her fiery red hair and something malevolent and evil in her eyes. Avery stumbled backwards, trying to avoid the attack, but ended up falling. She reached out with one of her hands to stop the fall, not daring to turn away from the empousa. But the second her hand touched the ground, something snapped. There was a crunching sound, and then an unbearable pain the shot up Avery's arm. Unable to stop herself, she let out a scream that shook the trees around them, and tears poured down her cheeks, partially washing away all the dirt and blood on her face.

She rolled to her side, crumpled like she was already dead, cradling a wrist that was turning the wrong way. Avery sobbed, clutching the single throwing knife she had out right now. The other was where she'd landed on her hand, and the hand connected to the broken wrist had blood splattered all over it. But Avery felt nothing but her wrist. Her wrist and her head, and it was making everything unbearable. Death had to be better, more merciful, than this. The empousa loomed over her now, its fangs now bared in what could resemble a very nasty smile. "Sssay night-night. Not that anyone will missss you." The empousa bent down over Avery with her fangs ready to sink into Avery's flesh.

The daughter of Hermes closed her eyes, crying and helpless, and she saw the people she cared about. Ryan, whom she'd failed, Luke, her brother, Delia and Sami, her sisters, even Az. She'd never see them again. This was it for Avery Reynolds, she was fairly certain.

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Yes, this was working brilliantly. Deimos was perfectly aware that the Hermes girl was suffering behind him, but what really got his blood pumping was the pain on the Ares' boy's face. He wasn't exactly aware of the boy's past, because what did he care? Deimos wasn't the god of history, he was the god of terror. And the terror around him was giving him enough energy to last for at least another week. If only he could be getting this all the time. Once he and Phobos defeated Mount Olympus and sat on its thrones as supreme gods, Deimos would be able to experience this kind of power all the time. Mortals would be screaming day in and day out, and he'd torture demi-gods until his heart's content.

But something happened that he had not anticipated. The boy suddenly seemed to snap out of it, and was coming at him with a sword. Deimos sidestepped the attack easily with a smirk and reached out to snatch the boy's right arm. Leaning in, he murmured, "Then, let it be known, Ryan Simons, that you threw the first punch, if that's what you like to call it. Let it be known that war has been waged on Camp Half-Blood, and you all. Will. Die. And your precious little daughter of Hermes will have been the first official casualty. Good luck getting her body back to that pithole of a camp." And just like that, Deimos, the god of terror, co-leader of the forces against Mount Olympus, vanished in a poof of yellow smoke.

[Ryan Simons]

All Ryan felt now was unbearable pain and rage. There was no logic, reason, rationality or thought in his mind track right now. He was doing things off his emotions, which was another big no no in fighting. He felt rage at Deimos for setting the monsters on Avery. Rage at Kath for lying to him his entire life. Rage at himself for... well, pretty much everything. Including, but not limited to: being a failure, a monster, a murderer and being born. His arm was in physical pain, but everything the mirage said was nearly ten times as painful. They said everything that cemented things into place. The sword aimed at Deimos failed, just like the coconut had; why had Ryan ever thought it'd turn out different? He was Ryan Simons: son of No One, demigod failure, and whom no one cared about. Gods, Kath was right, why couldn't she of just killed him while she had the chance?! For one, he wouldn't be on this quest and ruining lives at every corner turned.

He felt the iron grip that Deimos had on his arm, and at the same time, heard Avery's gut wrenching scream. Yet another thing that snapped him out of it. It practically shook the entire place. Ryan felt like knifes were being thrown through his body, a sickening feeling started to spread through his body and he gave an involuntary grimace. "AVERY!" he yelled, his eyes flashing in panic. No, no, no, no, no... She was about to- no, he wasn't going to entertain that though. He had an unspoken promise to her as a quest partner. He started to try and tug away from Deimos. He needed to get to Avery. Now. "Let me go!" he snarled, full out fire raging in his eyes. No matter how hard he tugged though, Deimos grip was stronger than his. He was a god, after all, and Ryan was already weak as it was. The god's face was in the demigod's and it was talking in a low voice. This was wasting precious time... Ryan wanted to look over at Avery and rush to her side, but Deimos' eyes were staring straight into his. The words were clear enough, but Ryan's brain had half a hard time wrapping around them. "I... wait, what?" Ryan asked, confusion entering his voice even though his eyes remained deadly.

Then the god was gone, just like that, in a poof of yellow. Stupid gods and their ability to... Ryan's head was left spinning, going a million miles an hour. Thoughts rushing into his head; last time he felt liket his, he had gotten sick over the edge of the boat. But time wouldn't let him get sick this time. What did he do?! Then it crashed on him. YOU IDIOT! WHAT THE HADES WERE YOU THINKING?! he screamed at himself, giving himself a few mental punches. Well, Deimos was no moron, that was for sure. Shoot, gods darn it, Ryan snarled at himself. He had made the first move. "The first punch" as Deimos had said. Exactly what Kath had always told him not to do. He had made the first move and it had resulted in something much worse than a fight. It had started a war. An entire war. It was going to be pretty bad when that reality crashed onto him. He started a war. That was the message, and Deimos knew that it would happen all along. If there was any time that Ryan wished he wasn't alive, it was now.

A nanosecond later, a more important matter was tugging at him. "AVERY!" he yelled. He ran over the stretch of land that separated them; probably one of the fastest he had ever run in his life. One of the many times adrenaline and ADHD became useful. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Something shiny on the ground, glinting in the sun. His staff a few inches away. Shiny thing or staff? He scooped up the hilt of what seemed to be a knife without really registering what it was with his left arm without breaking stride. Even though it was pretty much mangled, he still had control over his hand and he'd stubbornly hold onto something if need be. Something shiny could mean a weapon. He kept running full out. In his rush, he accidentally kicked the staff so it rolled nearer to Avery. All he felt was something roll underneath his foot. He jumped, trying not to loose his balance and waste time. The monster was leaning over, ready to... "NO!" He charged the monster with his sword and went to stab it straight through where its heart would of been. Unlike the first two things, it made contact. The empousa shrieked and then burst into a million pieces of dust. He quickly flipped it back in and it shrank into a pocket knife, which he hastily jammed it in his pants pocket.

Ryan fell to his knees beside his quest partner, physically and emotionally exhausted. Several emotions continued to fly around his head and he unconsciously picked up the staff that was a few inches to the right of him with his good arm. As he looked down at Avery and at the lingering golden dust, he reminded himself that he shouldn't be complaining. He felt relief for a nanosecond, then dread for the next few. Avery was curled in to a fetal position and for a few gut wrenching seconds, Ryan feared the worse. She looked horrible and her wrist was twisted in a way that was not normal. That worse would probably drive him over the edge if it was true. Her face was bloody, but clear in the places were her tears were streaming. He found himself thinking almost the same exact thing from when Aria had gone overboard. Please be alive, its my my fault if you're dead... just hang on... please...

After a second or two of agony, he saw that she was breathing and he was able to breathe easily again. "By the gods, Avery..." he groaned, half in guilt and half in relief; half of him felt like he was hyperventilating or something from shock and everything else that was going through his body. Shoot, he couldn't of gotten here any sooner? There was no point in asking if she was okay; it would of probably of been the stupidest question to ask in his life. All he could do was stay by her and pray for her to keep hanging on. Pray that they could get out of here and hope that no one would be around for a very long time.

Character Name: Ryan Simons aka Little Buddy-Son of Ares No One
Mood: Upset, Guilty, Angry
To: Avery "Ave" Reynolds-Daugher of Hermes
IC Word Count: 1,127

Legend:
"Ryan Speaking"
Ryan Thinking

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[Avery Reynolds]

Never in her nine years at Camp Half-Blood had she ever felt this much pain. Not even at the Battle of Manhattan, when she'd gotten slashed by a cannibal giant in the shoulder, from which she still had an ugly scar that hardly anyone ever got to see. Her wrist was screaming, practically, her heart was pounding, everything stung or burned or just hurt, and her head was unbelievable. Avery knew that pain was a mental thing, but this didn't feel like she could control it. Tears continued to stream down her face as she bit her lip to keep the sobs in as the empousa bent lower towards her, and suddenly its shadow was gone from the corner Avery's eye, and she peeked up to see Ryan kneeling over her, and dust from the remains of the empousa scattered around them. She tried a smile, but it probably came out as a grimace. "Th-thanks, little b-buddy," she managed to get out through gritted teeth. "You s-saved me."

Avery curled further into a ball, clutching her wrist even harder when all of a sudden the pain shot up her arm all over again. Probably an aftershock. She tried to keep the cries in, but she only half-succeeded. She let out a whimper, and tried to turn her face away so Ryan wouldn't see how much pain she was in. But that only hurt her head even more. Everything felt like it was getting worse.

But then, she realized something. Ryan was here beside her, and nobody was anywhere. Had that meant they won? Deimos was gone, wasn't he? Her eyes flickered around wildly to look around them, and it indeed looked like they were alone. All of that for nothing, huh? She wondered if the god had even passed a message along to Ryan, but she'd ask later. Right now, the only thing that was surging through her was pain and a small hint of relief. It was over. Their quest was finished. There was a feeling of completeness in the air, like whatever they had come for had been given. Once again, she'd have to ask Ryan about that later. For right now, all she was concerned about was that she felt like hell, Ryan was alright, and she had to try and get him home before that arm got any worse.

The only way to get them back was by teleporting, and Avery wasn't sure how she could do that. She wasn't exactly a fan of teleportation, in fact the whole idea kind of freaked her out, but it was the only option they had right now. There was no guarantee that a boat would come by to pick them up, and Avery was pretty sure she never wanted to step foot on a boat ever again. Not after what had happened. So yes, teleporting was the only way back to Camp Half-Blood and the only one of the two of them that could do it was currently on the ground writhing in pain and exhaustion. But Avery knew she had to try. She had to get through for her little buddy, if nothing else, even if something went wrong.

Weakly, almost like a child, she held out her good hand and kept her bad one cradled to her chest. "G-Grab a hold of my hand, little buddy. Time to go home before y-your arm gets any worse," she said, forcing herself to say all of this. "Now I want you to listen. I don't know how far I can get us, but I have to do this. If we land in water, deep water, I w-want you to remember what I told you about swimming and g-go for any land you can find. You leave me, got it? I can't swim like this. Understand, little buddy?" Avery didn't even wait for a response. As soon as she felt his hand grasp hers, she closed her eyes, focused as hard as she could on Camp Half-Blood (even though her head screamed in protest), and just like that, they were gone.

[Ryan Simons]

From the twelve years of training, at Kath's house, and at Camp combined, Ryan had gotten a lot of scars and a few broken bones. . Some of them wouldn't of been there if Ryan had any sense and let them heal. He didn't have the patience at all and his ADHD would go wild if he stayed still. He usually just ripped up off the bandages and didn't let it heal properly. Did it hurt? Like Hades it did, but he wasn't going to tell Kath that. Besides, if he didn't rip them off himself, they'd get ripped off next day of training. Kath would push him to fight, even if he was in no condition to do so. The only exception had been for a week after Edmund hit him in the back with a sword. Even then, through all the pain, Ryan didn't want to keep still. She had practically tied him to the bed and then had injected something into him.

Kath had just cut him up without mercy, Edmund had done it by accident. The only person, or goddess really, who had ever seen his scar on his back was Nike. She had gotten rather curious about his... abusive life. He didn't really care, he had scars and they were going to be there for the rest of his life. Getting his hands practically covered with scars was no picnic, but it taught him to catch daggers pretty well. Half of him was really wishing that one had gone straight through his chest, but no, reflexes, ADHD and adrenaline did amazing things in life or death situations. Ryan had been faced with many of those when living with his aunt/mom. He gave a sigh of relief, hearing Avery's voice was so alleviating, her words weren't though. He just shook his head miserably. Ryan didn't feel like he had saved anyone at all. If Avery hadn't saved him first, there would be no him. Plus, he "saved" her, only after he nearly got her killed once or twice. If anything his irrational actions had probably just led to death. A lot of them. He started to feel sick again.

Avery seemed to be in so much pain, and in a sense, Ryan felt it; he knew pain. Maybe not the same as Avery's, but he had been there. He remembered how if felt when he had gotten his arm ripped open: again, and again; got knocked out, got used as a punching bag and dummy combined... He longed to show her comfort, any sort; half of him wanted to just hug her. Whoa, step back there. Hug? Ryan couldn't really explain it, but yes, hug. The only thing holding him back was the prospect that he may hurt her more if he did it. It felt like something was ripping through him every time she cried out. He jammed the knife up his right sleeve like a dagger, it didn't look like they'd be needing it soon. Or that's what he hoped for anyway.

The daughter of Hermes turned her face away from him and Ryan felt something wet go down his face and for once, Ryan didn't even try to stop it. "I-I'm s-sorry..." he said softly, his voice cracking again. For everything. For dragging her along on the quest, for her dragging him through an entire ocean, for her head, for her fight with the monsters. Just... for everything. He reached out his left hand, wincing as it hurt, but kept going, no matter how much it hurt. Ryan placed it with as little pressure as possible onto his quest partner's shoulder, looking down and watching tears land on the ground. He took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together again, but the reoccurring images in his head was making it hard. The voices just kept repeating everything in his head, over and over.

Ryan stared at her incredulously, half his mouth opening in protest. "B-before my arm gets-gets worse?" he asked incredulously, his voice going up half an octave. How the heck could she be worrying about his darn freaking arm?! And she was going to try and get them back? How the-? Oh, right. Hermes. Teleporting. "A-Avery, you've got to be-" then he just shut his mouth and listened to her. If she felt so determined to do this, then he wasn't going to stop her. It was so great of her to even try, even with all her physical pain. The prospect that they may be landing back into water freaked him out a bit, but he had to keep it together as much as he could. He merely gave a slight nod; yes he understood. Ryan agreed to everything except the last few statements. If they did get into that water situation, there was no way he was going to leave her. No way in Hades. If she went under, he was going right along with her. Grimacing, he made his left arm move down to her good hand. His right arm clutched his staff tighter. With his nerves and muscles in full protest, he made his scarred left hand grasp onto Avery's hand.

OOC: Sorry for not having this coded before!
Character Name: Ryan Simmons- Son of Ares No One
Mood: Sad, Guilty, Upset
To: Avery "Ave" Reynolds-Daughter of Hermes
IC Word Count: 895

Legend:
"Ryan Speaking"
Ryan Thinking

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