The Extinction of Heroes

Chapter 22: Mason Accidentally Makes a Death Pun

Brace's POV:

"When you play it hard, and I try to follow you there.
It's not about control but I turn back when I see where you go."

"Oblivion" ~ Bastille

I'm pretty sure I almost went into cardiac arrest when I saw Elena. I looked her over to make sure it was her. She had the same hair, but now the colorful streaks were gone. her eyes were the same hazel color they always were. The girl in front of me was definitely Elena but it was like she had been cleaned of everything. The piercings she once had were gone as with all the heavy make up she usually wore.

Assuming it's a dream, I roll back over in the cot. I've had dreams many times where Elena is alive and, I'm not going to fall for it again.

"I come back from the dead and you don't even acknowledge me? Maybe I should've gone to Nico first," she grumbles.

Maybe it's the tone of her voice, maybe it's her trademark sarcasm, maybe it's the fact that she brought up Nico, either way, something possesses me to look at her. This really is Elena. She wraps me in a hug as I turn around, and I nearly melt at the human contact. It's so cold, and I've never felt as lonely as I have now. Without Mason.

I choke back tears, because how selfish would it be to cry in front of Elena, who literally died. Finally she speaks up.

"Go get Nico and Cayson so I can have a welcome back party," she says it as a joke, but she doesn't know what happened to Mason and I just hours earlier.

"I don't think that will be happening anytime soon." I grumble. She looks at me questioningly and I explain everything to her. I finish off by crying at how pathetic I am, and she pats my back. After a while she goes and talks to Nico, but I fall asleep before they get too deep in conversation.

+++

Training the next day is awful. The demigods working for Gaea force us to run, and when we're not fast enough they beat us with a long stick. As if that'll make me run faster. After about three hours we begin the push-ups. Three hundred of them. I'm exhausted by the time we get to partner sparring. I sigh as I realize my partner, as it has been for the last four months, is Mason.

We throw lame punches at eachother, as we usually do. Our usual talkative training is silent, and our punches get harder and faster as we realize how angry we are with eachother. I land a solid one to his nose that begins to bleed and he lands a rough one to my jaw that I can already feel swelling.

He stops and we both apologize quickly. We lock eyes for a second, and it makes me wish the fight was over, that we were normal again.

"So uh, I see Elena is alive again," he says, nodding towards Nico and Elena.

"Yeah, she came back last night," I say.

"How?" He asks, almost doubting it's really her.

"She didn't say," I shrug.

After training is officially over, we get an hour to ourselves before Percy's and Mason's training begins. Elena, obviously upset over the extra training, gripes to Percy and Mason.

"Well would you rather be dead?" Mason asks, and then he and I share an 'oops' look. I look down quickly, not really wanting to share a moment.

"I am so sorry," he apologizes to her, buy she waves it off.

I shake my head with a wry smile on my face.

+++

My body aches as I lie down in my cot. My stomach aches with hunger but I try to shove it to the back of my mind. Elena is already snoring in the bed next to mine, and most people around the room are.

I hear Percy tapping on the side of his cot. I think it's a nervous habit he's developed since being separated from Annabeth. They've been through a lot together from what I've heard. I think it's a type of separation anxiety.

My eyes drift closed as I wander in thought. I feel myself fading away, but snap my eyes open as I hear shouting and see a bright light.

I look to the door and see Annabeth' silhouette. I see her mouth move but I don't hear her words. Someone grabs my elbow and pulls me up. I think it's Mason, I almost jerk my arm away, but then I hear what everyone is saying.

"We gotta go, if there's a time to put our plan to action, we gotta do it now."

+++

A/N:

Question of the Chapter:

Should Brace and Mason get back together or stay broken up?