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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CHAPTER EIGHT: ATONEMENT
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OUT OF ALL THE ways a monster like Kit Dempsey could die, falling hundreds of feet through the air off the back of a giant malfunctioning dragon was not the way he thought he would go. At some point after Jason and Piper fell asleep, Kit had followed. What seemed like mere seconds passed by, and the next time he opened his eyes, Festus the dragon was shuddering to a stop, letting out one final wheeze before the four demigods dropped like weighted bricks. Somewhere to his right, Leo's scream was careening up to the stars, worsening the ringing that echoed in Kit's disorientated ears.
"Not cool," he managed to make out, the final syllable dragged out as the wind took hold of him.
Kit was afraid, and for once, he couldn't hide it. Fear crawled across his face as his mouth tore open in a scream that rivalled Leo's. The ground got closer and closer, the Underworld seeming to open up below him, a sneak preview into the torture that awaited Kit Dempsey. He'd crash through the cement, one almighty blow that shattered his bones and smeared blood and brain through the dirt. The only grave someone like him would get was a shallow one, a mere afterthought for a boy who would spend the rest of his life repaying an endless list of sins.
Above him, he heard Piper and Jason screaming. He couldn't make out what they were saying at first, but the answer came to him in the slam of two bodies against his taunt back. Kit screamed again, a fierce hand wrapped around Jason's neck in warning. The blonde boy just huffed, face red from the strain of holding up not just one person, but two. And if they got there in time, a third would be added on.
"Can you stop struggling?" Jason snapped as Kit's legs flailed around, failing to steady out when he knew just what domain he was in. He was surprised Zeus hadn't taken this as an opportunity to scald him with a good lightning bolt, his son's presence be damned. "I'm trying to help you here."
"Why?"
"Is this really the time to be fighting?" Piper retorted before Jason could reply. She had her arms wrapped around his waist like the classic damsel in distress saved by the resident hero. Kit simply rolled his eyes at her, but bit his tongue as they collided with a cursing Leo.
With one arm around Piper's waist and the other trying to keep up both Kit and Leo, Kit had no choice but to grip onto the other boy for himself, Leo's trembling arms circling his waist and clinging on tight. The group were way too close for comfort, but Jason had managed to slow their fall -- or, at least, he had for the moment. Kit was seriously doubting the extent of the blonde boy's strength.
"My dragon," Leo wailed as the group hovered awkwardly. "You've gotta save Festus."
"Are you crazy, Valdez?" Kit scoffed. "Fuck Festus! There's no saving him!"
