Chapter Text
Leo's incessant chatter was rather annoying. Sure Lityerses had grown fond of the kid but Leo just seemed so unfocused today. Every step he took Lit had to make sure he didn't walk into the middle of the road. It had reached the point that even Lityerses had even started to zone out.
He was talking about something else now- some sort of modern animal. Lit was mostly focused on all the cars zooming past the road. He despised the vehicles with every bone in his body from his head to his legs. They felt so unnatural and it was only a matter of time before something happened.
That someday wasn't meant to be today.
Today was meant to be a normal day of going shopping with Leo.
Yet they exited the candy store to cross the road like usual. Leo was still talking about his favourite candy. Lityerses finally just sighed and leant against the pole while the red crossing light flickered.
"-but seriously I am huge sour fan, sour candy is just the best-"
Leo's voice droned on and on with the tick-tick-tick-
"-however not a big fan of sour patch kids. They just never seem sour enough-"
His voice got further away with the tick-tick of the red light.
"-But sour straps on the other hand those are...."
Lit couldn't hear his voice anymore. Not that he had stopped... he was too quiet. The ticking of the red light had beat him.
Lit turned around and there on the street- talking to no one and oblivious to the red light was Leo fucking Valdez. He was walking through a red light.
But that wasn't the issue.
No.
The issue was the slim red Car coming down the street at least 15 miles over the speed limit. Coming straight at-
"LEO-"
Lit's voice yelled out at his younger brother. He didn't even think- just ran. Ran so fast.
He needed to grab Leo and keep running.
He needed to get them both to safety.
"LEO MOVE-"
Lit reached out to grab Leo and turned to his left. The car was right there. It was almost slow motion. The speeding car was about to slam them both headfirst. The car was about to send Leo flying. With a frame like his he wouldn't survive- not at all.
So he did the only thing he could think of.
He pushed.
As hard as he could he shoved Leo down onto the footpath.
Nothing happened.
Leo lay a bit scraped on the footpath.
However when Lit turned to jump out of the way himself he saw something in the corner of his eyes.
Right there.
And right against him.
⚔️
The impact was sudden. Sending the swordsman flying across the asphalt. Blood spat out his mouth and a short pain short through his entire body- his hip down felt like a million needles stabbed through the skin. Sickening cracks created a sick choir with the choked yet guttural scream from Lityerses mouth.
He felt like he had died again. The pain was agonising but everything seemed to go fuzzy for a moment. He must of been in shock as he couldn't recognise the broken bone in his right leg.
If he could look down at himself as he crash landed on the asphalt he would see his knee was bent wrong. Fresh bright red blood was pooling through the fresh muscle, skin fallen away to reveal the layers beneath. The worst part was the ivory coloured bone stabbing through the muscle. It was a miracle his lower leg was hanging on if it wasn't for some of the muscle that seemed okay however the rest was brutally mutilated.
A pool of blood was already forming beneath his leg and cars stopped and honked at the sight. His head seemed relatively safe but everything else hurt- except his legs. He couldn't feel his legs. He must be in shock. He had to be in shock.
"-IT! LITYERSES!"
His blurry vision focused in on a figure crouching besides him trying to hold him still. The figures tan skin was messed with slight scabs and bruises, it was a miracle Lit managed to pick those up while he was actively bleeding out.
Leo
This was Leo. He was safe.
He reached out to try and close Leo's eyes, he didn't want Leo to see this. But the boy was too stubborn.
At least he was safe. It almost mustered a smile from Lit however he decided it might not be the right time for some sort of joy while blood was already drying around the broken bone in his leg.
He could imagine his other leg was also broken, however less visibly than the bone protruding near his patella.
A young boy, around Lit's age ran out of the slim red car a phone in hand. However his face didn't seem like worry from what Lit could make out. Some sort of rage. Strange people.
Muffled yelling occurred between Leo and the man, something about a lawsuit something something fatally injured something something skill issue something something.
Soon another sound added to the already chaotic setting. Sirens.
Leo knelt back down next to Lityerses, tears dripping down.
"Y-You're going to be okay Lit! I'm sorry- I-I'm so sorry! Please I can't- I CAN'T LOSE ANYONE ELSE."
Lit tried to smile and brushed a curl away from his little brothers face.
"Ow."
Quite poetic genius from the man who just jumped in front of a car for someone he wanted to kill about two or three years ago... whenever it was. He was twenty two now... how old was he when he worked for Commodus...
The sirens closed in more as Paramedics ran out of the ambulance. A police car also pulled up and was questioning the man who had drove into Lit while he was taken into the ambulance.
Bystanders had to hold Leo down, he wasn't allowed in the ambulance since Lit's case was too urgent.
But for someone so small he had a lot of power. He cried out so loud for his brother who was getting taken to a hospital- he couldn't lose anyone else because of him.
Yet the sirens were getting further away and all Leo could do was collapse on the floor and cry.
Wait-
Emmie.
Jo.
Apollo-
None of them knew.
He'd have to tell them. No no no no no-
⚔️
Leo had ran all the way back to the train station. The waystation knew something was up as the door opened without Leo even knocking. Staircases formed down to where everyone was. Apollo was here- why was Apollo here!? Emmie was chopping carrots for dinner while Georgie sat with Jo and the TV.
Calypso was watching the live news in the background.
"Breaking news."
Everyone turned to the TV.
"Down on the corner of ***** and ***** a wanted criminal was caught speeding down the street. Not fatalities have been recorded however an unnamed boy was found brutally mutilated due to the car. He was with his brother who was unharmed luckily however the brother fled the scene after the injured man had been taken to hospital."
Emmie looked at the scene in pity while Leo's heart was racing more. Apollo caught onto the speed but Emmie spoke before he could.
"Poor boy..."
Then the screen switched the a photo of a mutilated face. Just a bit of blood splatter and covered in scars. Leo gripped onto the red bandana he grabbed that should be on his head right now.
There on the screen was Lityerses.
There was a shattering of plates and a dead silence as everyone turned to Leo.
Leo started crying.
Weeping.
Collapsing onto a heap of tears on the floors.
Apollo was frozen.
Emmie screamed.
Jo was already calling the hospital and Calypso ran over to distract Georgie.
On the screen was Lityerses.
He was bloody.
Who knows what was going on right now.
The screen shifted to a recording of when they were taking Lityerses into the ambulance, his leg on full view.
"The man was taken to ***** hospital and if anyone has seen this man or his family please contact them immediately."
Apollo glowed slightly and Leo's crying turned into uncontrollable weeping.
⚔️
Fourth day.
Fourth day of sitting outside room 307.
Fourth day of little sleep.
Fourth day of relying on vending machines in the hospital.
Fourth day of him being asleep.
Leo was still outside room 307.
Emmie had begged him to go to school but he refused.
Apollo promised to stay with him at least. Both of them were scared. Apollo was a good comfort. He had bought mountains of flowers. Vases of Marigolds, lit's favourite, lines the hospital room. Apollo had even gone out of the way to buy Georgie, Leo and Lit matching animal hoodies. Georgie had a bee one with a fluff exterior, Leo's was a weighted lion one with fidgets built into the sleeves. Lit's was a plain elephant hoodie and it lay unused at the end of the hospital bed.
Everything in the room was unused.
The only clarity they had was the steady beat and breathing they could hear through the door as doctors passed and went.
The crash was old news, the man had been put in custody and charged. Not that the money was needed, Lityerses had taken Midas' credit card long ago but they only used it in dire times, however Lit's medical bills turned out to be very dire times.
But the worst part wasn't the waiting.
It was when the doctors approached them.
This time it was when Emmie was staying with a sleeping Leo and a stressed Apollo. Jo had taken Georgie to a movie to distract her, Leo and Apollo refused. Calypso had volunteered to stay with her friends but Leo refused, saying she should go out with Jo, maybe grab lunch. Hypocrite.
A young female doctor approached the trio. A stack of papers in her hands as she crouched down to Leo.
Leo had volunteered to look through all results even though he wasn't as knowledgable as the others. He wanted to be the first to know anything and the doctors seemed to have caught onto that, immediately going to Leo when needing something.
"We were finally able to scan his leg. Metal rods have been put to try and stabilise the bone however there is a much more pressing issue."
She grabbed a scan of Lit's leg that had strange lines above his right leg.
"This was the best we thought we could show it to you but after extensive scans we were able to locate main points of injury. The impact shattered lots of bones and it's a miracle he's still alive especially with the head trauma... The point is many nerves here- here and here were severed from the crash. His left side was luckily less damage and with physical therapy there's a chance he could have decent mobility in it however..."
No no no no-
No this can't be happening!
He was going to be okay!
"While we have stabilised him and removes all fatal wounds or risks... the chance of him using his right leg again is close to zero. His arms were mostly untouched but again he will require extensive physiotherapy."
Leo turned away. There was no way this was true. Lit was the most physical one here. He was strong- he always worked out and his sword fighting...
Lit... Lit when he woke up he wouldn't know. Would he still be Lit? Would he cry?
Leo sniffled slightly and wiped his tears away. He had lost too many people close to him, he would help Lit no matter what. Lit would make it.
"-ee him if you want."
Leo snapped back to the doctor who was next to him.
"H-Huh...?"
"I said you can see him if you want. His condition is fairly stable at the moment and I think it's cruel we keep you out here."
Leo nodded quickly followed by Apollo. Both of them quickly following her in.
The room was full of Marigolds and plushies. The hoodie still lay at the end of the bed. Lit was still but not motionless... just still.
He was scarred before, it was his trait but there were so many fresh scars and stitches. Apollo stood at the edge of the room trying not to cry but Leo approached Lit's sleeping body. He had fresh scars all down his right leg, so many stitches.
"His leg hurts..."
Leo started tearing up, grabbing onto Lit's cold but not dead hand.
"Where is his sword he can't fight without his sword!"
Tears dropped down onto the hospital bed as Emmie approached Leo.
"Give him his sword- put his sword on! He was going to be a swordsman..."
He cried more as Emmie let him burry his head into her shoulder. It was all his fault. He had ruined everything for Lit.
⚔️
It had been weeks... he was still asleep.
Leo sat in the chair next to Lit's sleeping body. The son of Hephaestus at completely unease. He was happy that they'd let him sleep in Lit's room now that his condition was much more stable than it originally was... which albeit wasn't very stable at all.
The red bandana was tied around his wrist as he played with the ends. He had a camera with him this time.
Lit rarely wanted to be filmed but it didn't stop Leo. He was listening to his brothers voice. These last few weeks Leo had fully cemented that Lit was his brother, his family member. And he missed him so much.
"Valdez I still don't understand this tradition."
Lit asked as they walked down on Christmas to open presents. It had taken a lot of roping to get Lit to join them but they promised him Apollo would be there. It was Lit's first Christmas after all it had to be special!
"Oh come on Litty just have some fun!"
Leo grabbed a big box wrapped in paper and handed It to Lit.
"Open it!"
The swordsman looked at the box strangely. The paper was red and a little note was written on the top, adressed to Lit.
Lit looked around for a bit as if looking for instructions before deciding to carefully seperate the taped together paper that was so delicately done it must of been Emmie.
When he opens the box he's met with a beautiful sight. It's a gorgeous sword, carved beautiful out of celestial bronze with a small ancient greek saying on the side with calligraphy so neat it would of been Apollo or Emmie easily.
"Ἀφίησις;" (forgiveness?) He asked, running his hand over the engraving when Leo spoke up.
"We thought it suited you with the whole- redemption and all!"
A small but rare smile crept of Lit's face as he carefully put the sword into the new holder it came with.
"Thank you."
He didn't speak much. Didn't then and rarely now. Only if he was close to you though Apollo is convinced Lit can go on rants long enough to rival Leo.
Leo found himself leaning towards where Lit was still unconscious.
He looked up to Lit. He wasn't fully healed yet... it would probably take a while.
However...
In these camera rolls he smiling... what would it take to make him smile.
The way his eyes roll but are still upwards, somewhere in those eyes...
In the reflection was the person holding the camera.
No matter what happened Leo was on his side.
His brother.
"I miss you Lit..."
The words came out soft and tired as he leant against Lit's arm.
But...
Something brushed his hoodie. Something small touched it.
Small enough to have Leo look around at Lit's arm which had fallen off the bed.
He grabs his hand to put it back when something twitches.
Lit's thumb.
It moved. back and forth for a bit,
He moved.
"Lit...?"
His thumb moved again and Leo dropped his hand. The doctor- where was the docot?!
He ran out to find the lady and spotted her.
"M-Miss I-! I-I think he's awake!"
⚔️