no matter how many times a snake shed its skin, it would always be a snake. no matter how hard kit dempsey tried to prove he was no longer a traitor, camp half-blood would always view him as the boy who betrayed them for kronos. but not leo valdez...
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PRELUDE: RUN BOY RUN ( trigger warning; death )
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Run...
There was a monster in the woods and it wanted Kit dead. It tore through the trees with surprising speed, branches snapping and crashing to the floor like roaring thunder. Rain was spewing from the sky like the Gods of Olympus were weeping their sorrows, causing the dirt beneath his feet to dampen into mud. The soles of his shoes slid across the slick surface as he pushed himself faster, chest panting harder with every second spent running for his life.
Run...
Kit tripped over a piece of uneven dirt and landed face-first into the shrubs. He coughed and spluttered, bloodied hands pushing his body back up and into another sprint. He couldn't afford to stop. Stop and die, run and survive. The monster gained momentum, nipping at his heels as a frantic hand shoved against his shoulder blades.
RUN...
His mother had found him again, her eyes alight with untamable panic. Like Kit's t-shirt and sweatpants, her jeans and blouse were ripped and covered in stains. They weren't expecting the monster to attack them that day, they were simply going for a stroll in the woods by his mother's family cabin and then it appeared, lusting for Kit's blood with determination in its veins. It wouldn't stop until his heart stopped beating.
RUN, KIT...
There were screams as the monster howled behind them. Kit's whole body lurched with hope at the sound. There were people nearby. Surely they would help them get away from whatever this thing was. Kit was so tired, he didn't know how much longer his legs could hold him up. His mother seemed to feel the same way, her strides beginning to slow as the monster turned the corner and snarled again.
"Mum," he cried in terror as it finally gained on her. "Mum, hurry!"
But it was no use. The monster was there in a blink, his mother struggling against its hold with no way out. There was pain in her eyes, endless agony that had Kit screaming his lungs out.
RUN, KIT, RUN...
They were his mother's last words to him before the monster dragged her away and several people only just a bit older than Kit (who, might he add, was a whopping eleven years old) came rushing out of a gateway with swords and bows knocked with arrows. A blonde boy came over to where Kit was hidden behind a tree, reaching a hand out to him with soft eyes.
"It's okay," Luke Castellan had assured him. "We'll take care of you."
After a moment's hesitation, Kit reached out and took the older boy's hand. He hadn't realised he was crying until then, but when the other people came back with bloodied weapons and no mother in sight, they came flooding down his face.
And ever since, Kit hadn't stopped running. He wouldn't. His mother had told him to run and that's what he did. If he wanted to live, he had to stay on his feet, act first and think later.
Even if that means he becomes the monster instead of the boy...
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