❛ I had a feeling so peculiar, this pain
wouldn't be for 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. ❜
⎯⎯ ⠀ㅤִㅤ ୨⠀♡⠀୧ ㅤִ⠀⠀ ⎯⎯
𝓗wang eunji, who also goes by iana, felt her world stop. it stopped the day she le...
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↳ chapter eighteen ₊˚.༄ [# are we still friends?]
FOR A MINUTE, THE CAVE WAS QUITE. THE TWO LONG LOST SIBLINGS took their time, staring, taking in the new reality. Then Thalia rushed forward and hugged him.
"My gods! She told me you were dead!" She gripped Jason's face and seemed to be examining everything about it. "Thank Artemis, it is you. That little scar on your lip— you tried to eat a stapler when you were two!"
Leo laughed. "Seriously?"
Hedge nodded like he approved of Jason's taste. "Staplers— excellent source of iron."
"W-wait," Jason stammered. "Who told you I was dead? What happened?"
At the cave entrance, one of the white wolves barked. Thalia looked back at the wolf and nodded, but she kept her hands on Jason's face, like she was afraid he might vanish. "My wolf is telling me I don't have much time, and she's right. But we have to talk. Let's sit."
Iana did better than that. Her knees buckled as her body finally gave into the exhaustion and collapsed. She would've cracked her head on the cave floor if Hedge hadn't caught her.
Thalia rushed over. "What's wrong with her? Ah— never mind. I see. Hypothermia. Fatigue." She frowned at the satyr. "Don't you know nature healing?"
Hedge scoffed. "Why do you think she looks this good? Can't you smell the Gatorade?"
Thalia shot Leo a glare, as if saying why would you let a satyr be the doctor?
"You and the satyr," Thalia ordered, "take the girls to my friend at the entrance. Phoebe's an excellent healer."
"It's cold out there!" Hedge said. "I'll freeze my horns off."
"Come on, Hedge." Leo said as he stepped toward the exit. "These two need time to talk."
"Humph. Fine," the satyr muttered. "Didn't even get to brain anybody."
• ────── ✾ ────── •
PIPER WAS WORRIED FOR IANA, BECAUSE SHE KNEW SHE WAS KEEPING something from her, which was a rarity because she distinctly remembered how almost every night the two would sneak out and talk about how much they hated everything except each other (and Leo, but he had his moments).
The short haired girl kept glancing around their surroundings, stumbling over her own feet every now and then as she leaned against Coach Hedge. But Piper had a feeling she was avoiding her, purposefully. It started as simple paranoia, but the more she thought about the small tell-tale signs, like how she would tense whenever their hands touched or how they could go from being vulnerable with each other to sitting in awkward silence.
