ᴾʰᵒᵇᵒᵖʰᵒᵇⁱᵃ [ᴶᵃˢᵒⁿ ᴳʳᵃᶜᵉ]

ψ.

A/N: hiii :) that's it, that's the authors note lol. hope youre all doin well <3

Autophobia - fear of being alone or lonely

Aza felt the wind rush past her violently as they spiraled through the night sky in a free fall. They were still on Festus' back, but the dragon's hide had gone stone cold, and his ruby eyes were no longer lit. She felt herself being lifted slightly off the dragon by the rushing wind; naturally, a fifty-ton dragon fell just a bit faster than Aza would. The girl quickly gripped onto one of Festus' built-in handles so she would fall with the dragon.

"Not again!" Leo yelled. "You can't fall again!" Aza could hear the guilt that dripped from Leo's words, and she felt her heart wrench in sympathy for him; he must've felt so guilty.

Leo awkwardly clambered to the control panel on Festus' neck, desperately yanking it open and pulling on various wires and toggling various switches. Festus' wings flapped once, but the overwhelming stench of burnt bronze overpowered that small glimmer of hope.

Aza yelped when she looked down and saw the twinkling lights of a city below them as they plummeted in circles; they didn't have very long before they crashed.

"Jason, take Aza and Piper and fly out of here!" Leo shouted, not looking up from Festus' control panel.

"What?" Jason yelled back in alarm, his blue eyes widening at the suggestion - leaving one of them behind on the back of a plummeting dragon didn't seem like a good idea. Besides, the last time Jason tried to fly with them, they had ended up crash-landing in a warehouse.

"We need to lighten the load! I might be able to reboot Festus, but he's carrying too much weight!"

"What about you?" Piper yelled. "If you can't reboot him-"

"I'll stay with Leo," Aza yelled in response before Leo could assure the girl he would be fine. "Jason can't carry both Piper and I, and I can help Leo fix Festus! I used to help Beckendorf in the shop sometimes."

"That's a terrible idea!" Jason exclaimed back, shaking his head wildly. "You'll be of no help to him!"

Aza glared at him. She reached forward and yelled, "Sorry!" She pushed him and Piper off the dragon, forcing Jason to quickly grab Piper and shoot off into the air, hopefully to land safely in the city. Aza shuffled closer to Leo, holding precariously onto the side of Festus' neck as she peeked over the boy's shoulder. Truth be told, she never was good at helping Beckendorf; in fact, she really just kept him company. But she didn't want to leave Leo alone when he was panicking.

She placed her hands on his shoulder, closing her eyes and feeling the swirling storm of emotions in the boy - fear, panic, disappointment, anger. She grasped onto all of his fears and all of his anxieties, transferring them to himself so he could no longer feel the emotions and would be able to keep a clear head as he worked on Festus.

"Thank you!" Leo yelled back, understanding what she had done once he felt his mind clear, like a fog had lifted. His thoughts were no longer running at a million miles an hour; he was able to more closely focus on the task at hand, instead of allowing his emotions to control him.

Aza, however, felt the burden of his fears fallen onto her. She slouched slightly, like someone had just slung a heavy backpack on her, eyes closed as she tried to push back Leo's fears into her mind's Tartarus. She felt her thoughts race through her head, and she almost gave up to the sickening feeling crawling up her chest and to the tightness like something had been wedged in her throat.

The daughter of Phobos felt her breath begin to quicken, but she forced herself to slow it down, not wanting to scare Leo. In her mind, Aza grabbed each fear and anxiety she had taken from Leo - not being good enough, failing his companions, the earthen woman - and forced them back, further and further from the forefront of her mind until finally they fell into the deep abyss in the very back of her mind where Aza kept the burden of her fears, and the fears of those she loved. She wouldn't let Leo submit to his fears; she would carry the burden for him for as long as he needed.