Chapter Text
Celebration was over
(They had won the war!)
Time for mourning.
(But at what cost…?)
Shrouds were piled, side by side, different hand-embroidered designs made by loving hands, gleaming in the setting sun.
Together in life as campers, together in death as bodies, together in soul as children.
Because that was what they were.
Children.
All around Reion, people grieved.
For their family.
For their lovers.
For their friends.
For what else could they do but cry?
What else could they do but shout, stomp, wail, and gnash their teeth?
What else could they do but destroy, just as the war had destroyed them?
It was interesting to see how different people grieved for different people in different ways.
Some wreaked havoc, destroying anything and anyone in the path of their rage. Rage at the unfairness of it all. They’d scream, they’d shout, they’d rage.
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“Rei, you should probably close your eyes. They’re bringing someone in again.”
Will Solace, Reion’s younger brother, advised. The young boy’s voice was shaky. Reion couldn’t blame him. Someone being brought in meant…
“A camper or…?” The words stuck to the back of his throat, he couldn’t bear the thought of the person being another one of them. No, he chided himself, that’s selfish. Every life matters!
He couldn’t help but wish.
Will shook his head.
“I don’t know who it is. But I saw some Aphrodite kids crying near the entrance. I don’t want to assume but…”
Another one.
Rei felt like throwing up.
Another camper.
Another kid.
Another life taken so prematurely.
But no, he had to stay strong. He was now in charge of the Apollo cabin, there was no time for breaking down, not in front of his baby brother. Not when Michael wasn’t here to comfort them
Gods, Michael.
Hope rose in Rei’s chest. Will didn’t mention if the camper was beyond help!
“I’ll go check. I need to see if I can still do something…”
Rei sat up from his make-shift cushion of stolen pizza boxes and bandage scraps. He was starting to stand up when Will caught his arm and shook his head once more.
“Shroud.” Will whispered silently, eyes refusing to meet his.
How could one word hurt so badly?
“Oh.” Rei sat back down. Hard.
Will gulped. Rei could feel his hand shaking from how tightly he clutched his arm.
He was scared.
“I’m sorry.” Will mumbled.
“Hey. Hey, now. None of this is your fault, kiddo.” Rei rushed to reassure. It was true. None of this was Will’s fault. The poor kid was self-blaming for something out of his control.
Sadly, this was a habit that Rei watched his younger brother develop.
That hurt.
‘Stop being so much like me’, he wanted to say.
“Don’t call me kiddo. You’re like, only two years older than me.” The kid protested, shimmering blue eyes filled with tears now conveyed annoyance.
Good. At least it wasn’t self-blame anymore.
“Nah. Still a youngster to me. Go tend to the injured peeps. Check if Annabeth’s resting like you ordered her to. The gods only know how jumpy she is.” He ordered. Will nodded, then timidly spoke up.
“Will you still check in with the… uhm.” Will hesitated.
The shroud. Right.
Rei’s mood instantly soured, but he let out a noncommittal noise. “Eh. I’ll see what I can do. There’s more to healing than healing, y’know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean??” The blond tilted his head, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
“I actually don’t know. Just a quote I got from Lee.” He answered, voice almost breaking at the name.
Will tensed at the mention of their other older brother, who had unfortunately not survived last year’s battle. His shroud was a bright, golden color, embroidered with little arrows and flowers, most of them from Will.
Gods, mentioning Lee had only made this worse. He was a son of Apollo! He should be smooth with his words, not slipping up and triggering hidden sibling trauma.
But he didn’t have enough time to deal with this. No one did. Because in a war full of children, there was only so much comforting he could do before he was the one who had to be taken care of.
And he couldn’t be weak, not now, not ever. Not when his younger siblings looked up to him as their leader after Michael.
His head hurt.
“Will, just get to work.” He mumbled, rubbing at his head, ignoring how Will’s eyes widened in worry before he turned his back on Rei.
Why did that feel so symbolic?
Rei scoffed. He was overthinking things. He shouldn’t be doing that. He should save his thoughts and brain capacity. He stood up shakily, legs gone numb after sitting on them for so long. Which reminded him that he had been stagnant for the last 2 hours.
Which meant he was just sitting there, doing nothing.
Being useless.
He hated that feeling.
Well, time to make use of this ‘aged’ body.
He headed towards the entrance of their ‘base’. Sobs echoed through the place, Alberta Ramos (a newer Aphrodite kid) was red-eyed, cheeks tear-streaked, hands rubbing the back of Drew Tanaka.
Drew looked wretched, make-up worn and hair a mess, which she would never allow in a 100 mile radius around her unless…
Oh gods, this was going to be a long night.