「017. nearly getting her groove back 」

GOLDIE WAS like cherry's own cheerleader, sometimes. though the golden mouse was allowed to rome as they pleased, they often resided in cherry's room. sometimes, they'd hum something random, and sometimes they'd just stay silent- usually squeaking and greeting encouragement in their own way. though goldie had been a bit more quieter than usual, he was a lovely type of company for cherry. when things got stressful, when she got upset or angry- goldie was there. when she got embarrassed or confused by leo (because he generally was a very confusion person) goldie was there. goldie might've been the only one holding her together as she tried to pave through and get herself and her friends back on track.

that, and boxing.

it had become therapeutic for cherry. the swinging and the punching. it was nice for her to have some sort of outlet. the punching bag itself was a green colour, and leo had installed it for her. to go with it, she'd had matching green gloves- almost a sage kind of colour. whenever cherry's chest felt tight, whenever she felt like her mind was spiralling- she'd talk it out... with her fists. that, and a lot of other things.

boxing was good for her. when she was mad she could punch it and all the anger would diffuse with each hook and jab. with each hook and jab every i hate you left her body in a healthier way. maybe she wasn't always comfortable verbalising her pain but with a punching bag she could. sometimes, embarrassingly, tears would slip out as she boxed. every hit and jab would shove out a painful memory that was resolved with a kick. every little worry would slip out of cherry's mind when she boxed. it was therapeutic.

it was nice.

but it wasn't her only way of venting out her emotions. since barbie's absence- leo had been another way. though she didn't just trauma-dump on him without warning. they'd usually schedule a time when they could just talk to each other. it was comforting. they'd sit and chat and their emotions would be washed away. but recently, those moments were harder for cherry. not because she felt like she wasn't being honest- but because this was leo. he was the one who grinned so brightly she thought she saw the stars, hair so curly that all she wanted to do was run her hands through it.

but still, she sat with him. the dead of night.

"we'll find them," he'd assured her, holding her hand. it was a normal occurrence now, but it muddled cherry's mind as she sniffled into her other hand. "you know that, right? it's okay to cry. it's okay."

"says ou," she managed through tears, looking at him with a watery sort of gaze, "why won't you say anything? i know how bad this is getting to you."

"somebody has to be the one to crack the jokes, right?" smiled leo in a comforting manner, though the smile looked stretch, "i'll loose my sparkle if i air out my emotions."

cherry wiped away a stray tear, frowning in the direction of him, "sparkle or no sparkle, you're still you. you don't have to always be funny-"

"are you saying i'm not funny, cherry baby?"

"you know that's not what i meant," she rolled her eyes, "you're a delight to be around, elfie."

"i sense sarcasm."

"oh well," she shrugged. she sighed, her hand slipping away from leo's as she held them both up and stretched, staring up at the ceiling of her room. she knew it was night, of course she did. though they couldn't exactly stay up deck, but cherry's room was just as good. in the dead of night, glow-in-the-dark stars twinkled on her ceiling. "i just want them to be back, now."

"so do i, cherry." sighed leo, lacing their fingers together again as they both lied down on cherry's bed, starring up at the twinkling fake stars in wonder. "but i guess we have to wait. besides, we know they're gonna be okay. i mean, we have the argo coming for them- and... well we all have-"

"spite and sheer will?" she offered.

"that, in a nutshell," he laughed quietly. his smile was soft now. it reminded cherry of home, a soft honey glaze across a sunset- it reminded her of the feeling of belonging in the strawberry fields. it reminded her of being loved and comforted. it sent shoots of butterflies into her stomach as she looked around, the simple gesture fiddled with her heart far too much to be deemed okay.

silence like this was sometimes peaceful to them. though there were times when there was never a dull moment, there were times like this where they'd just sit in silence for periods of time. she'd mull over how bold she was that night sometimes, wondering on a scale of one to ten how likely she'd just turn around and kiss him (most nights it never got higher than a five, so... not likely). she'd wonder to herself if she'd just be like this forever. if they survived and managed to make it through the whole of the prophecy, she wondered if for the rest of her life if she'd just be pining for leo.

or worse, pining whilst he dated somebody else.

the thought made cherry green with envy. she wasn't jealous. but it didn't sit right with her to imagine him taking another person, demigod or mortal, on a date. she couldn't do that. sometimes, at night she'd also wonder if there was just a chance that maybe leo might like her back. sometimes when he wasn't there. sometimes when he was. and then sometimes it was when he was right next to him and she'd have to explain it was just dark and he was assuming things.

sometimes she'd be giddy. wondering what he'd do if he took her on a date. wondering what type of flowers he'd give her (she loved wildflowers, and he basically knew that). maybe where he'd take her. maybe where he would show her their spot. where...

she sighed.

"leo," she spoke, voice wobbly, "the prophecy... it says-"

"later," he promised softly, the two of them staring face-to-face with each other, they were so close that there noses were touching. "we don't have to worry about it now. save tomorrow's problems for... tomorrow."

tomorrow came. and cherry had a bad feeling about it. the first thing she should've had a bad feeling about was that the mediterranean wasn't meant to freeze over in july- and well, it was now. two days out to sea from split, grey clouds swallowed the sky. the waves turned choppy. cold drizzle sprayed across the deck, forming ice on the rails and the ropes.

"it's the sceptre," nico murmured, hefting the ancient staff. "it has to be."

cherry didn't choose to bring up split. there was something going on, but she'd let them tell it themselves. however long it took, she wouldn't mind. even if they never told her. val had been quiet protective of nico for the past two days, just as much as he was about kenji. who... cherry was starting to forgive. but, she might as well focus on one thing at a time- or her mind would become too muddled for her to figure out.

either way, at the time, it had made sense that the sceptre might have caused the weather changes. the black orb on top seemed to leach the colour right out of the air. the golden eagles at its base glinted coldly. the sceptre could supposedly control the dead, and it definitely gave off bad vibes.

coach hedge had taken one look at the thing, turned pale and announced that he was going to his room to console himself with chuck norris videos. (although cherry suspected that he was actually making iris-messages back home to his girlfriend mellie; the coach had been acting very agitated about her lately, though he wouldn't tell anybody what was going on.)

so, yes ... maybe the sceptre could cause a freak ice storm. but cherry glanced at piper- the set scowl and confused glare told cherry that maybe it wasn't.

"we can't talk up here," jason decided. "let's postpone the meeting."

"i'm heading for a nap," kenji yawned, calling to val, "tuck me in, asshole."

"you're a mess."

"i'll hit you if you don't."

"with what? your lack of iron?"

"i-"

"just take him down," sighed cherry, "seriously val, stop being whiney."

"you're lucky you're you," val sighed, wagging a teasing finger at cherry before grabbing kenji by the back of his shirt and tugging him away, "get yourself some sleep, dipshit."

they'd all gathered on the quarterdeck to discuss strategy as they got closer to epirus. now it was clearly not a good place to hang out. wind swept frost across the deck. the sea churned beneath them. cherry didn't mind the waves so much. the rocking and pitching reminded her of surfing with her dad off the california coast. but she could tell hazel wasn't doing well. the poor girl got seasick even in calm waters. she looked like she was trying to swallow a billiard ball.

"need to –" hazel gagged and pointed below.

"yeah, go."

"i'll walk you down." frank put his arm around hazel's waist and helped her to the stairs.

nico frowned "i should put this thing away. if it's really causing the weather, maybe taking it below deck will help ..."

"sure," jason said. nico glanced at cherry,piper and leo, as if worried what they might say when he was gone.

leo pulled a screwdriver from his belt. "so much for the big team meeting. looks like it's just us again."

just us again.

it felt nice, actually.

cherry had connected with them last december. and sure, barbie had been with them and it was a loss she wasn't now. but it felt nice to be around them. they were all around the same age as her (not that anybody on the ship was drastically over or under) and she was just happy to be there. in the moment, of course.

looking back on it, she'd have probably tried kissing leo right then and there. but regrets are formed in different ways.

perhaps that was one of cherry's biggest.

leo hadn't changed much since then, except he seemed more comfortable in his role as a child of hephaestus. he'd always had too much nervous energy. now he knew how to use it. his hands were constantly in motion, pulling tools from his belt, working controls, tinkering with his beloved archimedes sphere. today he'd removed it from the control panel and shut down festus the figurehead for maintenance – something about rewiring his processor for a motor-control upgrade with the sphere, whatever the heck that meant.

as for jason, he looked thinner, taller and more careworn. his hair had gone from close-cropped roman style to longer and shaggier. the groove sciron had shot across the left side of his scalp was interesting, too – almost like a rebellious streak. his icy blue eyes looked older, somehow – full of worry and responsibility. but the little smile he held, the scar on his lip- he was still jason. the one who was goofy sometimes, the one who still knew how to have fun no matter how much barbie used to tease him for being the old white dad.

as for piper, she wasn't the same person. well, sort of. she was more comfortable with her role. she was a whole lot louder and bubbly. a lot more confident and happier with the fact she was a child of aphrodite- she was comfortable. she was more open, spoke her mind. and even though barbie had teased her for months about how her fashion sense was only improving with the help of barbie- she was doing pretty good on that front too. they all were. cherry dressed in a cherry patterned dress (oh the irony barbie must've faced when she sewn it) and piper with a hello-kitty top tucked badly into ripped jeans.

the guys weren't bad either. jason had settled for a sky blue jumper and jeans, with leo a black t-shirt with flames at the end, paired with red-checkered trousers. the whole argo had gotten more stylish, really. maybe it was a side affect of barbie allen.

she gazed into the cold rain. she would have given anything to be back at camp half-blood, where the weather was controlled even in the winter.

jason squeezed piper's shoulder. "hey, it'll be fine. we're close to epirus now. another day or so, if nico's directions are right."

"yep." leo tinkered with his sphere, tapping and nudging one of the jewels on its surface. "by tomorrow morning, we'll reach the western coast of greece. then another hour inland, and bang – house of hades! i'ma get me the t-shirt!"

"leo," she laughed, "i don't think they sell merchandise at the house of hades."

"oh but they totally sh-"

"guys," piper interrupted after a moment, "i've been thinking about the prophecy of nine."

silence.

cherry tried steadying her breathing.

"what about it?" leo asked, placing his attention to piper's words, "like.. good stuff i hope?"

she readjusted her cornucopia's shoulder strap. sometimes the horn of plenty seemed so light she forgot about it.

"in katoptris," she started, "i keep seeing that giant clytius – the guy who's wrapped in shadows. i know his weakness is fire, but in my visions he snuffs out flames wherever he goes. any kind of light just gets sucked into his cloud of darkness."

"what about this giant? what are you thinking?" jason asked.

"i keep thinking about fire."

"fire?" cherry frowned, "how do we expect leo to bea thetis giant because he;s..."

"hot?"

cherry blushed, "flammable."

piper looked between the two, coughing, "anyway, that line from the prophecy bothers me: to storm or fire the world must fall."

cherry found herself going stiff.

"yeah, we know all about it," leo promised, subtly holding cherry's hand now. "you're gonna say i'm fire. and jason here is storm."

piper nodded reluctantly. cherry knew that none of them liked talking about this, but they all must have felt it was the truth. the ship pitched to starboard. jason grabbed the icy railing.

"so you're worried one of us will endanger the quest, maybe accidentally destroy the world?"

"no," piper said. "i think we've been reading that line the wrong way. the world ... the earth. in greek, the word for that would be ..." she hesitated, not wanting to say the name aloud, even at sea. "gaia."

jason's eyes gleamed with sudden interest. "you mean, to storm or fire gaia must fall?"

"oh ..." leo grinned even wider. "you know, i like your version a lot better. 'cause if gaia falls to me, mr fire, that is absolutely copacetic."

"or to me ... storm." jason kissed piper so suddenly. "piper, that's brilliant! if you're right, this is great news. we just have to figure out which of us destroys gaia."

"maybe." she felt uneasy getting their hopes up. "but, see, it's storm or fire ..." she unsheathed katoptris and set it on the console. immediately, the blade flickered, showing the dark shape of the giant clytius moving through a corridor, snuffing out torches. "i'm worried about leo and this fight with clytius," she said. "that line in the prophecy makes it sound like only one of you can succeed. and if the storm or fire part is connected to the third line, an oath to keep with a final breath ..."

she didn't finish the thought, all of them understood. if piper was reading the prophecy right, either leo or jason would defeat gaia. the other one would die.

there was silence. but this type was terrible. it was the kind cherry hated. the one where mystery and bad omens were strewn across it all. the one were everybody knew what was to come- even if they didn't. the one where everybody was sat uncomfortable, squirming because they knew something. the one like this. the one that gave cherry a terrible feeling, one worse than the one she'd experienced when she'd 'died'. her stomach was a pit of acid, burning and eating away at her. her bones were like iron, stiff and clashing with each other, she felt like she couldn't move. like she couldn't do anything. this was a prophecy, after all. what was meant ot happen would happen and she basically had no say in it anyways.

leo stared at the dagger. "okay ... so i don't like your idea as much as i thought. you think one of us defeats gaia and the other one dies? or maybe one of us dies while defeating her? or –"

"guys," cut in cherry, trying to make her voice steady as she squeezed leo's hand tightly, "we'll driver ourselves... crazy overthinking it. you guys know how prophecies are. heroes always got in trouble when they tried to find a loophole to it all. we just.... have to accept it?" she sighed, "that sounds... terrible."

"yeah," leo said, "i guess..."

"cherry's right," decided jason, "the final breath line might not be connected to the storm and fire part. for all we know, the two of us aren't even storm and fire. percy can raise hurricanes-"

leo added, "and cherry could be fire. man, when she's angry-"

"or coach hedge," snorted piper.

"oh totally," agreed leo, "die! scumbag!" he imitated, swingin an imaginary bat, trailing cherry's arm along with it.

the four of them laughed for a few moments.

but it died out.

just like a lit match does.

"i hope i'm wrong," piper said cautiously. "but the whole quest started with us finding hera and waking that giant king porphyrion. i have a feeling the war will end with us too. for better or worse."

"hey," jason said, "personally, i like us."

"agreed," leo said. "us is my favourite people."

"the best people," smiled cherry.

and thankfully, piper managed a smile.

unfortunately, it was hard to imagine a happy ending with all the dark thoughts in her head. cherry worried that the giant clytius had been put in their path to eliminate leo as a threat. if so, that meant gaia would also try to eliminate jason. without storm or fire, their quest couldn't succeed. and this wintry weather bothered her too ... she felt certain it was being caused by something more than just diocletian's sceptre. the cold wind, the mix of ice and rain seemed actively hostile and somehow familiar.

that smell in the air, the thick smell of ... cherry should have understood what was happening sooner, but she hadn't grown up with that smell ... the smell of impending snow.

every muscle in her body tensed.

"leo, sound the alarm."

perhaps piper didn't mean to charmspeak, but leo immediately dropped his screwdriver and punched the alarm button. he frowned when nothing happened.

"uh, it's disconnected," he remembered. "festus is shut down. gimme a minute to get the system back online."

"we don't have a minute! fires – we need vials of greek fire. jason, call the winds. warm, southerly winds."

"wait, what?" jason stared at her in confusion. "piper, what's wrong?"

"it's her!" gasped cherry, "she's..." she started ot panic, she let go of leo's hand, "i need to go- no, no, no-"

"but we need backup!" piper argued.

"it's too risky!" cherry cried in protest, "don't we remember last time? she-"

before she could finish, the boat listed to port. the temperature dropped so fast that the sails crackled with ice. the bronze shields along the rails popped like over-pressurized soda cans. jason drew his sword, but it was too late. a wave of ice particles swept over him, coating him like a glazed doughnut and freezing him in place. under a layer of ice, his eyes were wide with amazement.

"leo! flames! now!" piper yelled.

leo's right hand blazed, but the wind swirled around him and doused the fire. #

leo clutched his archimedes sphere as a funnel cloud of sleet lifted him off his feet. "hey!" he yelled. "hey! let me go!"

"leo!" cherry cried in fear, "let him go!"

"cherry-"

a voice in the storm said, "oh, yes, leo valdez. i will let you go permanently.2

leo shot skywards, like he'd been launched from a catapult. he disappeared into the clouds.

"no!" screamed cherry. cherry raised her sword, but there was nothing to attack. she looked desperately at the stairwell, hoping to see her friends charging to the rescue, but a block of ice had sealed the hatch.

the whole lower deck might have been frozen solid. she needed a better weapon to fight with – something more than her sword. as much as she hated to admit it. she might need her powers. even with the limited amount she could control with gaea, she needed more. with all the snow and sleet she's hardly be able to control anything. but there were plants... some plants that could grow under extreme temperatures. if she could get them to grow-

"so good to see you again, ma chère," said khione, the goddess of snow. "it's time we had a very cold reunion."

she turned to cherry, "how lovely to see you once more, my dear."

"no," she muttered out, cold tears freezing on her face, "no-"

"now," she smiled cruelly, "awake."

cherry decided she hated winter.

being possessed was becoming a chore for cherry. it was a familiar yet foreign feeling. she felt in someways like she was being pushed in the backseat. it was like being kidnapped of cognitive control. she was shoved in the back, pushing her control away. it was like gaea was grabbing her away from her own body. she could see what she was doin, but she couldn't control what she was doing. it wasn't like it had never happened before. because it had, several times. this was perhaps her fourth time now? she was unsure, but it had happened a few times already. and as she stared at her hands, daisies growing from them she cursed herself.

why was it always when she was nervous?

she glared at her hands, then back at khione. she tried to control herself. she looked at khione, back at her hands. then, to jason and piper. they were both shocked, but stood in their places. they didn't know what to do, which was kind of good of them. if cherry didn't fight away her powers would kill them without a thought of reconsideration.

no, she repeated in her mind, i'm strong! i can do this! let go of me! gaea, i'm warning you! let go of me!

oh but why should i, young one? you'll eventually succumb to my power. i am the earth mother, gaea laughed in her mind, i am all powerful. no demigod on this field of existence could stop me. i am eternal, i am-

cherry stared at her fists, sharp poison thorns were wrapping around her fists, she was walking towards khione. khione smirked at her, "what a lovely little puppet." she turned to her brothers and then back to cherry, "roughen your friends up a bit, will you? i'll let my brothers have the fun."

"don't hurt the pretty girl too much!" zethes argued.

"don't ruin the boys face, either." khione mused.

"cherry!" yelled jason, "fuck- look this isn't you!"

she knew that, obviously.

she stared at her hands, the thorns were sharp, very sharp. if she punched jason they'd most likely impale him and cause him to bleed out to death. suddenly they were slackening, the thorns traveled to her feet, following her like a salute of death. everywhere she stepped, poison ivy was growing. hemlock followed her trail like a simepring puppy. snakeroot slithered around her like a second-in-command, not even affecting her.

"we can't let her touch us!" piper shouted, "those are poisonous plants!"

"attack, will you?" khione sighed, "goodness, are you resisting. there is no use, child of demeter!"

the foolish goddess is correct, gaea voiced in her mind, you will leave control to me, fully. now.

cherry stared at her wobbling fist, then at piper and jason. hemlock was curling closer to her friends, snakeroot not far away. she stared at her fingers once more. her hands were twitching. she stared at them, glaring hard at them. she needed to gain back control. she needed to gain it back. she glared at her hands, coarse with little scars from thorns.

in a fast and swift motion, leaving no room for arguments from gaea, she slipped her hands to the back of her neck. her dad had always loved star trek.

mr spock's vulcan neck-pinch.

ironic, the first thing leo had questioned about godly parents was why jason had called his dad vulcan. she pinched hard, feeling her consciousness drop.

fuck you, gaea. she hissed to her brian, you're not gaining control of me that easily.

and with that, it faded to black.

rosie speaks!

ahah hi there we back this
is so fucking late dude um.
i guess we are here and yeah
this was the chapter if you're
wondering. this is the one where
i was excited for ahah. i'm so
excited  for the next few
chapters.

headcanons? thoughts?

word count: 4,257 words