Come away little light, Come away to the darkness

Dimitri made a rapid evaluation of the situation. Sam, who looked absolutely pleading, wasn't screaming. Though, it looked like she was just about to pass out. It didn't make Dimitri cringe like it used to, thinking about the bear traps, but he wanted to get Sam out of there as soon as possible. He took a look at the stranger, who began to wave. He had the lack of the Roman mark on his arm, and for a moment Dimitri was convinced that it was just a mortal who happened to stagger upon the situation. Then one observation lead to another, the tattered clothes and the odd smile on his face were the initial clues. What finally made Dimitri make his choice was the light glimmer coming from the sheath on his side. It was celestial bronze, but this was no demigod Dimitri had ever met.

Before Dimitri said anything, the stranger spoke. "Thank God you're here!" He said, approaching the group. Jerry gave Dimitri a questioning look. Dimitri nodded, which resulted in Jerry rushing over to Sam. She was too panicked to speak, though for some reason wasn't making any pained noises besides quiet yelps. Dimitri had already made his choice though, and upon the stranger approaching him, Dimitri clenched his right hand and threw his fist into the side of the stranger's head. The stranger fell with a thud, though Dimitri couldn't tell if he was unconscious or playing dead.

"Are you crazy?" Jerry asked, looking back up from his task. Dimitri could tell the others were looking at him too, questionable as to if his judgement was even somewhat on par. In that moment it made him angry that people were questioning him as though he didn't know what he was doing.

"We don't know him. For all we know he ain't even human!" Dimitri argued. He took some para-cord from a Roman and secured the stranger's hands behind his back. Looks were still being thrown his way, and it was quickly welling up a pool of self-consciousness within him.

It was at that moment in particular that Sam cried out softly. "He-he's evil! He put me in this trap!" She cried out, though in an oddly hushed tone before her breathing started going fast. She passed out in Jerry's arms on the ground. Dimitri was almost satisfied in a sense, to know that he'd made the right choice with the newcomer. He was about to comment on it being better that Sam pass out than go into shock, but he didn't have time.

A bony skeleton-like creature suddenly grabbed Jerry by his shoulders. It stood about four feet tall, with the shape of a human skeleton though it was fully put together. Its eye sockets glowed with a low red hue. Its rib-cage up to its throat was covered by a strange black gel-like sac and it apparently had vocal cords under that sac because it was making sickly growling sounds. With its sun-bleached bones, it was clear that it was going to try to quite literally take a bite out of Jerry. Dimitri ran forward to plunge his knife into its skull, the mortifying Halloween decoration turned into dust. And in the close distance, there were dozens more approaching.

The group drew their weapons, and there was a clear air of uncertainty. "Stay in line, keep this formation. Let them prance t'you. When they get close, throw your weight into your weapon. Aim for the skull. Don't let too many get close at once. Watch eachother's backs." Dimitri calmly said, while the group of them formed into a line.

Things were working like clockwork, and with dozens of cliche Halloween skeletons sent back to Hades, Dimitri was finally pleased with how the situation was manageable. Then the cry for back-up came. It wasn't a sound noise for sore ears, but it was a call they had to answer regardless. Soon enough the ground was vibrating, something large was clearly approaching. "Hold the line!" Dimitri demanded. The group had already had a couple close calls, and one Roman had even ended up with a bite mark.

When other demigods made themselves shown, a massive monster wasn't far behind them. Dimitri turned for what he thought was just a moment, but in that moment he felt bony teeth dig into his left shoulder. A bone-chilling sound came from him, followed by a malice and pain-filled curse until he finally stabbed the skeleton who turned to dust. At least the wound wasn't going to get any worse. With two bodies on the ground, it wasn't like they were running anywhere.

"Jerry, keep the line held with the Romans. Just for now!" Dimitri said, now at full volume. There was no way to keep this quiet anymore. He turned his back on the skeletons, ready to figure out how to take out this next thing that was challenging them.

"They're starting to come from different directions!" Jerry yelled back, though he continued to hold the line. Each skeleton was a risk; one wrong move and you were being sampled. Although the supply was starting to run thin, they were moving more in bulk and in different directions. The situation was getting bleak.

We'll handle it! Just keep a lid on it, one problem at a time!" Dimitri's plan was desperate, but it boiled down to simplicity. Once they took down the hippo-monster they could focus on the horde and be done in no time. The pain in his shoulder was sharp, but he had no time to register the wound. Surround it! It can't attack multiple sides at once!" Dimitri called out to the other group. He wasted no time sprinting around the left flank of the monster.

"Oh Sh*t!" Dominika exclaimed as they came up on another group who was surrounded by some sort of skeletal army. It seemed like they were in a monster haven. How were they able to cope with this all. Nika saw Dimitri again, and he was looping around to the left side of the beast that was before them.

Slowly it began to rain, and Nika was just hoping the thunder wouldn't come unless she brought it on herself. Holding a defensive stance in front of the monster, and able to see it face to face. She saw just how terrifying it was. These creatures had no forgiveness or mercy, they were going to kill and be ruthless no matter what. In the reflections of the beasts eyes Nika could slowly see her life ending. Why did she think of it this way? All she could see was all her darkest fears of dying displaying in the orbs of the monster as it stared right at her.

Watching it trying to make a move at her she held her shield that she had with her and put on a good stance. It pushed her a bit but she managed not to get knocked over. Nika attempted to strike the monster with her spear but it only made a scratch in the beast and made him angrier. She tried to be a good distraction so the others surrounding could get some good hits. "Attack!" Nika shouted as she slowly walked backwards.

Heath made a few jabs in the side of the beast, making it cry out and not giving recovery time, Victoria dug her dagger into the beast and twisted it emitting more of a pain and the daughter of Jupiter couldn't be happier with their progress, although as she was backing up she decided to help out the others fighting the hordes of skeletons. Keeping her shield up and slowly backing up with the giant beast in front of her, she focused on summoning one of her powers.

After much concentration and focusing on the rain clouds already there she thought about it and soon something ignited within her and she called down a bolt of lightning and thirty of the skeletons perished to dust. Feeling a sense of victory for the other demigods so they could get stuff done. A lot of her energy drained from the lightning and the last fight she could feel a bead of sweat roll down her forehead and her heart was beating.

As the beast charged Nika again her former strength wasn't nearly as good as it was previously and the beast put too much force on her shield, forcing Nika to fall backwards. Before she had time to get up and regain her balance the beast had dug it's sharp teeth into the flesh of her leg, making her wince and trying hard not to scream out. The blood was trickling down from her leg. Soon she was moving with the beast as it retreated back into the forest.

In the first minute Nika lost her shield and she could feel the forest ground with all the roots that popped out of the ground bruising her back and just concentrating on holding onto her spear. A few times the broken brush on the forest floor would cut up her arms and back.

When the beast felt like it was good enough distance away it started to chew on Nika's right leg more and more, each new breaking of the skin due to the teeth hurt and Dominika would cry out in pain, but there was a pain that she never knew before when it started to take a chunk of her leg out and chew on it. The screams could then later be echoed out through the hills, and the tears wouldn't stop falling from her eyes. Was this was it felt like for Adrian? Was this how she was going to die too. The rest of her body was shaking so to get a steady hold on her spear was near impossible but she had to try, she tried thrusting her spear at its throat but it only pierced a little to let go slightly.

Unsure if she was able to stand she got up on her left foot, and trying to take a step with her right, she just crumbled down on the ground again, pain surging up her leg. Crying from the severe pain, this wasn't how she wanted to go. Nika tried desperately to get away from it, crawling and grasping on to anything she could to pull her a long the forest ground.

The blood loss was becoming more and more, and she knew that would be how the beast would find her again. Her heart beating so hard she felt it could come out of her chest, she could feel the ground shake and it was getting closer. Nika cried out in fear, but before it got to her the beast began to shriek, and go charging in the other direction. She hadn't realized it but she was clinging onto a root that had come out of the ground and crying heavily. The rain cooled her skin, but she was too scared to try and go anywhere. She could hear other demigods fighting the beast, Nika had just been with and she didn't want to be here anymore.

Dimitri's plan was to climb up the monster from the side and to get a clean cut into its skull. He'd hoped to take it down with one clean hit, if possible, so that the group as a whole could take down the skeletons. When he got to the backside of the monster, things were starting to come together. But as was common, Dimitri was in for a surprise. Just before he was able to get his footing onto the monster, a figure forcibly rammed into Dimitri's side, throwing him to the ground, as though he was a hockey player in possession of the puck. Dimitri barreled onto the ground, making contact with a nearby tree during his fall. He was just barely able to catch a vision of his attacker when his eyes darted up.

It was the stranger they'd found. His hands were no longer bound.

Dimitri scrambled to his feet, though was only standing for a sheer moment before he was tackled to the ground once more, his assailant on top of him now. Dimitri pushed and fought back, but his wounded shoulder worked against him heavily. The pair rolled down parts of the hill, frustrated grunts came from both of the boys, though Dimitri's were much more violent. "You're going to be nothing but food!" The stranger scowled to Dimitri in an enraged tone, just before he struck Dimitri right in his wounded shoulder. Dimitri cursed out in pain. Things were beginning to look bad for him, he might not be able to get out of this one alive. Even still, no fear entered Dimitri's heart. He'd been waiting his turn for some time now.

But suddenly, as though the heavens had a message for him, he received the message that it wasn't his time to go yet. He still had work to do, and as incentive, the message came in one of his greatest allies:

A rain drop.

The rain started coming down, fast too. Dimitri bolted his head into the person on top of him, delivering a staggering headbutt. The water made him feel invigorated, and while it didn't truly restore energy or heal wounds without him willing it to, it made him feel stronger. The boy on top him staggered off of him. Dimitri rose as though he wasn't wounded, and although the pain was piercing, he felt invigorated enough to continue on. Dimitri threw his weight into a hook to the boys face again, apparently it was more than enough to draw blood. The pair was soaked at this point; Dimitri didn't have enough focus to will the water off of him. The boy fell down, and Dimitri thought him defeated. Dimitri slowly approached, he was ready to finish this.

But the boy wasn't done, which was made apparent by his sudden lunge into Dimitri. The boys left hand pushed into Dimitri's shoulder wound, causing an immense pain. And although Dimitri didn't see the boy draw his dagger, it was now only millimeters from Dimitri's right shoulder. He used his left arm trying to kept the boys left arm away from his wound and his right hand to hold the boy's wrist to keep the dagger from piercing his skin. The pair was slowly moving backwards, though with each second the dagger was inching slowly closer into Dimitri. If that knife entered him, that was going to be it. Each moment seemed more bleak than the last, Dimitri couldn't get the knife away and they were too far from the cliff to try and push the boy off. Dimitri looked at the boys face, his throat was exposed. And with Dimitri's teeth bared, a sick thought entered his mind. Maybe the way the skeletons fought could save his life...

And then, the familiar metal clang sounded. Dimitri was taken back from the bloody nightmare that was about to become reality, when the boy in front of him screamed and fell. A bear trap had clamped onto the boys leg, who was now in agonizing pain. Dimitri saw skeletons slowly coming for him in the distance. He took a look at the boy, his choice was made, this boy had to die. And when Dimitri raised his knife, a sudden scream sounded. But he recognized the voice, and his expression turned into a horrified one. "You're lucky you'll die without me here." Dimitri said, with malice filled in his voice. He turned and ran towards the scream. Dominika needed him, and now.

He spotted the monster before long, rage and emotions had filled him along with his battle instinct. His judgement was now clouded, and he ran into combat from the side. His knife entered the side of the monster's head while it was focused on another demigod. The monster wailed, clearly in a state of agony from the blow. Dimitri, however, didn't stop. In that instant he continued to stab and hack at the monster's head. Relentless in his efforts, he didn't stop, even when the moster bared it's teeth at him, he stabbed it in the jaw. With it being distracted in the following moments, golden dust erupted between his attacks and the other demigods attacks. It was made apparent by the looks he was being given that he either looked unhinged or badly wounded. People were giving him looks rather than cheering for their victory.

"Fan out!" Dimitri demanded, his voice now hasty and coarse. "Take down the rest of the skeletons and move the wounded back to the outskirts with the others! We're getting out of this." He said, not wasting any time before darting off into the forest. It hadn't occurred to him that he was bleeding from many areas at this point. His shoulder in particular wasn't looking good, and his body was bruised. He only had one thought on his mind, and it was to if the daughter of Jupiter was alive. If he'd just killed the monster when he'd had the chance, they wouldn't be in these shoes.

Dimitri ran and ran, until he came across what he could hardly identify as blood. The body was close by. And when he spotted it, the well of emotions in his chest became dangerously close to bursting. His previous fear of being cold to her before she died was coming true. Dimitri darted to her, his knees not hesitating to land on the hard wooden roots. His arms crossed under hers so that he could hold her upper body and head up. "Dominika! Hold on! Please!" Dimitri pleaded to her, with intensity in his voice. He was terrified of watching her go. It was clear that her leg was the problem, but she was losing blood, and quickly. "I'm gonna get'ya out've this! Just please, hold on!" As reality began to set in, he finally felt the tears pool in his eyes.

Dominika could feeling the rain hitting her skin and mixing in with the blood that had been trickling down her skin too. No one ever told you what it was like to lose a lot of blood. The demigod felt even more pale than she had been, and her stomach felt upset and flipped upside down to the point she felt close to upchucking all the contents in her stomach at the current moment. Her hair was now soaked and sticking to her skin, and she was cold, wet, scared, and nauseated all in one. Her body quaking from both the loss of blood and the cold but still she held onto the tree root.

She wondered about how peaceful it would be to just go now. As much as she started to fight for her life and the extent to which she was afraid of staring death in the eyes. Would it be better to just bleed out and decompose into the ecosystem? Could she just close her eyes and everything would be all right? There would be no more pain. No more pain of her past, no more pain from her leg, and no more pain of feeling so lonely.

The one regret she had was the fact that she couldn't open up to people, or feel comfortable with them. Life was incredibly lonely when you lived among a ton of people but yet knew none of them. Even more so when your only true friend lived across the country and they also happened to be the only person you cared for. It was a strange feeling to feel. When all she knew in life was hatred, misery, and loneliness. When she felt the first time someone had embraced her with actual care it was the first time she had actually felt something positive, and the first time she actually felt someone that cared for her, it was so different, the warm embrace and the closeness, it really was different. He showed her not everyone in the world was bad, and for that she couldn't thank him enough. "Thank you." She whispered softly as she clung onto the root.

She could hear footsteps coming closer and closer, she felt like if she moved any inch of her body she'd snap and break all together. The daughter of Jupiter was expecting the sound to be death coming to get her, so she just closed her eyes and imagined the embrace she felt with Dimitri that one day and was prepared for her life to fade slowly. The slightly terrifying part was that she could feel herself fading slowly and she was hanging on by a light grip, and all she had to do was let go, and it'd be over, her pain and suffering would be done. The tears rolled town her face, the thumping pain in her close to being numb leg.

Feeling someone hold her up it made her feel even more sick, but when she heard the familiar voice she gave off a weak smile. She managed to open her heavy lids and look up at the boy who was all too familiar. "It. It's just so nice isn't it?" She asked weakly as her she tried to extend her arm shakily to point up but her arm hardly lifted before it collapsed down again. The canopy of the trees was quite the pretty view.

She saw the pools in his eyes and she gave him a weak smile again, "Don't cry, shh." the daughter of Jupiter said softly to him and she had her hand resting on his arm and she lightly stroked it with her thumb. "I give permission for people to carry me." a small chuckle came from the blonde as she made a small joke, despite being serious. "I want help.... I, I can m-mak-" Her words were cut off from her inability to have enough strength to speak but she still looked up at him and she was content and comfortable just having him there, she felt significantly less alone than she had previously. This was what it was like to have a friend.

Dimitri felt a sense of desperation and hopelessness. He wanted to tell Dominika so many things, but more importantly, he just wanted her to live. Even to be alive hundreds of miles away there was some comfort in knowing that someone lived who understood him. He felt comfort in knowing Dominika, and he'd never told her that. When she'd told him not to cry, it only make the tears that were peaking out to start flowing out like full waterworks. He could feel himself shaking, unable to remain calm in his emotional distraught. He couldn't even begin to understand how Dominika was so at peace. But it frightened him, that there was the possibility she was so calm because she had accepted death.

Thankfully her words indicated otherwise.

"I can help. I can." Dimitri said, desperation seeping through his coarse voice. He knew his own wounds weren't looking so good, but it wasn't nearly as bad or urgent as Dominika's leg. He would live, but she might now. "Just hang on, don't leave me behind Dominika." Dimitri pleaded with her. He kept his grasp on her, water from the rain now flowing onto her body, all of it focused on her leg. It visibly pained Dimitri; he'd already been healing and using his powers earlier on top of his current wounded and exhausted state. But it didn't mean a thing to him, he'd already decided that he would rather go into a state of life or death himself if it meant he was going to be able to give Dominika a better chance.

He pushed and pushed his mind to continue healing. His breathing paced unevenly, and soon was pained and short. Shortly after he started coughing and when his head ached, he couldn't take the strain anymore. The bleeding hadn't stopped, and the leg didn't look any bit good, but he knew it was in a better state than before. He could save her. He changed the position of his arms so that he could lift her and carry her, a task he wasn't willing to trust anyone else with.

"Keep your eyes on me. I need you to hold on. We'll get back with the others and I'll carry you all the way home if I have to. I promise. Just don't let go. Please don't let go."

The amount of care Dimitri had towards the daughter of Jupiter really did make her feel happy. She was capable of being liked and people were capable of being good. There truly was good out there and she was more than grateful Dimitri was able to show her. Despite her brain being cloudy and her vision not so good for the given moment she noticed how exhausted he was but the fact he was still trying made her have so much appreciation for him.

Shaking a bit, she watched how concentrated he was on trying to heal her with his power. He was already so worn that she couldn't stand to see him suffer, but there wasn't much she could say, even if she could find the strength to talk. The water made her feel her wounds a bit more, but she was sure that was just the healing process going on. The fact she could feel a bit more, was new and gave her some hope.

Before long, she could feel Dimitri pick her up. She felt weightless and like she was mostly just a sack of bones by this point. She wasn't capable of holding her body up enough so she ended up slumped against him, and she did as he said, and kept her eyes on him. He said he'd carry her all the way home if he had to. A word she hadn't heard or defined for a really long time but she knew what he meant. She knew her goal was to hold on, even if it physically pained her. She could tell that he needed her just as much as she needed him, especially in this moment.

As they walked they eventually made it back to the base that everyone else had been at from the first monster they had fought, and they all had fires going. The flames licking the night sky. As far as Nika could tell, majority of the people she knew were in the forest had come back already and Nika and Dimitri were one of the last two to show up. Her mind went back to Adrian, and she hoped someone had gone back for his body so he could be put to rest properly. Her eyes were still fixated on Dimitri, trying hard to desperately hold on, and not just for her sake, but also for his.

"Dakota!" Dimitri yelled, echoing through the hills. She was a healing demigod, the first one that came to his mind. He needed more power to keep Dominika alive. He couldn't bring himself to say it, but he was beginning to think Dominika wasn't going to be able to walk on her leg again. He was glad she hadn't asked how it looked, because he knew he wouldn't be able to lie to her about it. When all the dust settled, she'd be able to judge it for herself. For now, it was his job to get her to safety. And from there, to Camp Jupiter, in hopefully one piece.

Despite being back near friendly and familiar faces, he didn't feel any more at ease with Dominika's life hanging off the edge of a cliff. Things were only looking more and more bleak; there were definitely some people that weren't going to make it back to camp alive. It didn't change Dimitri's mind any though, Dominika needed further care. She was under too much injury for him to decide to take her straight back to camp. Dakota looked exhausted when Dimitri spotted her, but it didn't stop her from looking especially disturbed when she saw the pair approach her.

"Dakota. I need your help. We need your help. Dominika, she's gonna... please, do you have anything left?" Dimitri pleaded with the younger demigod, who looked nothing short of shell-shocked at the sight of them.

"Dimitri, I'm drained. I'm sorry. We didn't come prepared for... this." She said, her voice clearly expressed sadness towards her current state of inability to help others. "I don't even know that we could save everyone if they magically teleported to the Apollo cabin..." The girl's final gesture was to hand him a small square of ambrosia, something Dimitri knew all about but had only ever tasted one. Apparently Dimitri's expression was full of gratitude, because Dakota returned a small smile before leaving to help in any way she could.

"I know it's probably gettin' pretty hard to focus on anythin' right now. Just please keep on pushin', you're doin' great. I need you to eat this ambrosia. It's gonna help make you feel better." Dimitri spoke, gently finally. She was going to live, and that counted for everything.

Dimitri had so much he wanted to say to the daughter of Jupiter. But he decided it would be best to wait. His plan was to take her back to Camp Jupiter and at least stick with her until she was healthy enough to be on her own again. He'd say what he needed to before they separated again.

As they were making it back to the others, when Dimitri called out for someone else, it seemed very faint from where Nika was. She literally felt like she was floating now, and she was hardly attached to her body that lay in the arms of the demigod carrying her. The only thing keeping her from slipping entirely was the fact she forced her eyes to stay open and look up at Dimitri and the sky above her. Nika had come to terms long before Dimitri had found her that she was going to do die tonight, but once again, the Greek demigod had given her hope that things could and would be better.

When a girl had shown up in front of them she saw the somber look on the girls face and that worried Nika a little bit. Did she look like she was on the brink of death? Was everything that bad? Despite quite the limp body she was rather lively in her thoughts, but everything felt miles away. She was just about to go off into her thoughts when she heard Dimitri's words and she tried to process them.

It took awhile but she began to respond. It strained her to move, she shakily and slowly brought her hand up to grab the ambrosia. It took a bit but she reached it up to her lips and like trying to move something sturdy her jaw slowly opened so she could at least nibble at the piece of ambrosia. It tasted oddly sweet but very familiar at the same time. It tasted a lot like maple syrup. It reminded herself of the first time she came to America and the home stay family she was with, was so kind as to make her a breakfast, which had the syrup. It was one of the best things she had ever tasted, and it was tradition while she was there, every saturday morning she'd have pancakes and syrup, and it really was one of her happiest moments in her life prior to camp.

Feeling a little bit more alive, she was more confident in her ability to last until she got back to camp, if that was where they were even going. She looked back up to Dimitri, "Thank you." She said softly knowing that he was doing all that he could and she was grateful out of everyone he had found her. She felt bad that he had to carry her all this way, but she knew even if she was super stubborn the moment she tried to even stand on her own, she'd fall down again, and be as miserable as last time she tried.

It wasn't long before they were mobile again. Many demigods carried bodies, some wounded and some dead. Many of the demigods were exhausted; they had faced a threat much larger than they could have ever expected. Dimitri was still wounded pretty badly in his shoulder, and his body was bruised and banged up. But he was still standing, carrying Dominika. They weren't far from Camp Jupiter now, but Dimitri was just happy that they were away from that hellish hill. Dimitri had kept Dominika up all night, telling her things like it wasn't safe to fall asleep yet and that they were close to home.

"You look tired. And kind of dead, actually. Do you want me to carry her for a while?" Jerry suddenly asked, coming up from behind Dimitri. The demigod knew it was said with best intentions, but his response came without a thought.

"No." Dimitri shot down his friend without even thinking, it was simply an automated response. "Thanks, but uh, I got this one." Dimitri replied again, fixing his short response. He didn't trust anyone with Dominika in such a fragile state. He continued walking ahead after Jerry had nodded to him. Camp Jupiter wasn't far now, and they'd had scouts sprint ahead to warn the camp to be ready for wounded: both Greek and Roman. It was good to have allies. "Hold on, we're close." Dimitri whispered.

Within a matter of minutes, they were in the camp. Wounded were being rushed into the medical bay of the camp, but Dimitri felt he had to tell Dominika before the professionals had a chance. "Dominika, before we go in there... I need to tell you somethin'. You leg ain't lookin' so good. I don't know what's gonna happen, but, I just wanted to be the one to tell you."

The whole walk there she had heard Dimitri telling her things and all she could do was look up at him and listen. She was a sack of bones that Dimitri had to carry, he was already hurt and she could tell but she knew if she tried to protest he'd deny it. The walk didn't seem so bad and she could tell they were getting closer. She assumed the Greeks would stay over night despite it getting nearer to day by now. The sun was just behind the mountains and a little bit of light was out.

When they were almost within camp, Dimitri began to tell her something about her leg and a saddened and pained look was place upon her face. He told her that her leg wasn't looking good and she could see what he was getting at. It wasn't like she hadn't had thought it wouldn't happen, but she was just really hoping it'd be fine. Truth was she knew deep down the moment she had clung onto that root in the rain thinking she was on the brink of death, she knew then that it was less than likely she'd keep her leg if she managed to live, but it was still hard to hear.

Nika teared up a bit and looked at Dimitri, "Please don't leave me alone when we get in there." She didn't want to feel the emptiness of his presence until she was more stable and could endure it.

Dimitri had finally caught his first smile for as long as he could remember. "If you think I'm goin' anywhere, you're crazy." Dimitri replied, some light peaking through in his heart for the moment. He felt joy that it was all finally over, and that they made it back. He'd taken it for granted that Dominika would always be alive. He'd never once worried about her dying until the night prior, thinking that she was near invincible. It saddened him in a way to realize that there was no such things as being strong enough to face anything. In a way, he would always be too weak. But at the moment, he didn't think about that. His thoughts were with the daughter of Jupiter.

"No matter what happens, you'll be able to close your eyes soon. And when they start openin' again, I promise I'll be the first thin' you see. You can rest now. You made it. Don't spend time worryin' 'bout me bein' gone. They couldn't get me to leave even by gun point." Dimitri spoke his words softly, entering the medical bay. Immediately, people began to surround the pair. Dimitri didn't hand her off though. The demigod carried the daughter of jupter over to a patient table and layed her down. He finally let go of her body, but took her hand and his and squeezed it.

All sorts of healers, scientific and magic, roamed the bay. Children of Apollo began doing whatever they could with their healing magic to make Dominika's leg better. Dimitri stood next to her, he was hopeful she would get some rest soon.

A smile was placed on Nika's tired face, as all she wanted to do was sleep now, but to hear that Dimitri was going to stay meant a lot to her. Soon she saw a bit of his former self come out, and Dimitri had carried her into the medical wing and soon, lots of people would swarm them and it overwhelmed her a little bit to be so close to so many people. It sent her paranoia up quite a bit but Dimitri still had a hold of her.

When she was finally placed down she looked up at Dimitri with fear, she had felt at ease with him, and now she was laying on the table and people were going to be looking at her and touching her, to fix her leg but could she trust others? Nika wasn't sure. She then felt Dimitri hold her hand and she was eased a bit more, he was going to be around until she woke up, and she was certain that he'd be able to keep her safe even when she rested.

With those thoughts Nika had eased up and many people told her she'd probably lose her leg, she fought and struggled against it but she realized that there was no use because if she wanted to live, she had to get rid of her leg. It was a sad reality but she was too tired to fight on it and she just closed her eyes and soon she fell asleep at last.

It felt like Nika was out for days, sleeping and dreaming, it was when she could feel herself stirring that she was horribly confused on what was going on. Bright lights seeped into her vision and she was confused on where she was. Blinking her eyes a bit more she regained her vision. Nika looked around and soon saw his hand still in hers, and a weak smile was placed on her face, as she looked over and saw Dimitri. "Have you slept at all?"

Amputation was what was decided on across the board by all the healers. Nobody was happy or excited about it, but in the end, it was the only option that made sense. The leg was just simply never going to walk again. Too many muscles and tendons were missing, to the point where healing wasn't going to cut it. The best case scenario would be that she would never walk again and would have random sever leg pains, but the realistic scenario would be heavy infections which could plausibly cause death. To amputate meant she would be spared the infection chance, spared the pain, and with some luck and a good prosthetic, be able to walk again. Reluctantly, it was decided that amputation was the only way to go.

There was a long struggle between whether or not Dimitri would be allowed to stay during the amputation. He put up a fight though, and made his ground clear; he wasn't going anywhere. With deep hesitation, he was allowed to stay with her during the amputation. Watching it was bothersome, but much less brutal than the things he'd seen lately. They wrapped her former leg up with clean bandages and had the wound dressed with medical supplies and magical healing in no time. It was almost like a miracle to watch. When he finally sat back down in his chair, he was left with nothing but time to think.

Dimitri thought about all the things he'd seen out in the hills. The boy that had been feeding the monsters with demigods, and the bite that was still visible in his shoulder. The bruises were starting to hurt a pretty penny, though he was beginning to wonder what the scar would look like from the bite mark. He'd have to go back to camp and face the friends of people who had died with him, and the thought was a bleak one. He thought long and hard about everything that had happened to him, but also everything that had happened to his friends. He was grateful that the one next to him was still here.

"No. Not yet. I will later tonight." Dimitri replied to her, happy to see her awake. There were still things he wanted to say, but for now, he didn't want to put anything else on her mind. He gave the hand he was holding a gentle squeeze. "How're you feelin'? Do you want me to get anythin' for you?"

Taking a deep breath in for the first time in what felt like a long time, she felt less pain than she had before. A lot of what she had been through had played through her head, and the monster she faced was going to haunt her for years to come. She had never seen anything as vicious as it before. She still had the very distinct memory of the teeth that had sunken into her leg and the blood that had trickled out of the puncture marks. Nothing was as terrifying as the beast had taken a chunk out of her leg.

With all the thought of her leg she looked down to see what her leg was like, if it was gone or if it had been healed in some sort of miracle. Looking down and not seeing her foot gave her enough indication that her leg was gone. It caused a sad expression to flutter her face, she understood why it had to be done but, she lost a limb. With her freed hand she felt her leg that had been amputated, and she noticed she didn't even have a knee anymore. She almost choked up and began to cry but she didn't want to.

"I am in less pain now, thank you for everything you've done." She said looking back over to him trying not to focus on her leg. When he asked if there anything she needed she shook her head. She did feel the need for water but she didn't want him to get up and leave just yet. "You could have slept, Dimitri." Nika spoke softly.

Dimitri wasn't fond of the sight of Dominika's lower half. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to no longer have each of his limbs. His recent state had him facing a reality where he didn't wish to depend on anyone. He'd turned away from all of his friends, the people that had taken him in as though he was family. Although he was still so far away from what he once was, he felt a piece of him feel temporarily how it used to.

"No, I couldn't." Dimitri said, though he had a smile on his face. "I couldn't go to sleep until the nightmare was over." The demimgod felt exhaustion, pain, and a feeling of sleep deprivation. However, none of these feelings stuck to him as much as the relief did. His wound had stopped bleeding on its own, but he hadn't changed clothes and still looked pretty banged up. He hadn't left Dominika's side since he'd put her down. He'd made the promise that he'd be there when she woke up, and he fully intended to keep that promise. That, and, he would have never forgiven himself if she died and he wasn't there for it.

He took her other hand from her leg, he didn't want her to think about it anymore. He took both of her hands in his, much like she had to him just the night before. "I never had the chance to tell you how grateful I am. Just to have you 'round still. I was scared that I wasn't gonna have another chance to talk to you again. It's all that's been on my mind since we split up back on that hill. You held on though, I don't know that I woulda. So, thank you. I don't know what I woulda done if you were gone."

Nika felt so confused, it wasn't an everyday thing that someone lost most of their leg, how was she supposed to get around without it? She knew eventually she'd have to get a prosthetic but she almost felt ashamed that she'd have to get one. People would know it was her weak spot and try and take her out. To have such a weakness deeply saddened the blonde and her lower lip began to tremble, but before she could even cry she felt him take her hand that had been on her right leg.

Looking over to the demigod that sat near her she tried biting down on the inside of her lip to stop the tears from coming. She just tried to focus on his face instead, trying to observe the little details. Seeing both her hands in his, it reminded her of what she had done for Dimitri the previous night. He started to speak and her attention went directly to what he was saying.

The words evoked an emotion in Dominika that gave her a sense of relief and peace of mind. Nika was very thankful for having him in her life. He had been someone she was able to count on and it appeared that when one was down, they needed the other to help lift them back up. Tears began to pool up in the daughter of Jupiter's eyes again but this wasn't the same as the tears previously. This were tears of happiness. She never thought it possible to have such an act happen but here it was, not all things were impossible and the whole world really wasn't all that dark.

"I was close, at one point I was numb and felt at a strange peace of mind, that all my worries could just be left there and I'd slip away, but, life has slowly been getting better, and I felt I owed it to myself to see what kind of possibilities I could end up with. Besides that," She paused taking in a deep breath she looked at him. "I couldn't leave you yet, you needed me then and you'll still need me later. I told you, life is easier when you find people who matter to you." Finished up what she said with a smile on her face, she felt slightly embarrassed by what she had said but she wasn't going to let onto it.

Dimitri noticed the tears welling in Dominika's eyes, but she fought hard against them. It caused images to flash into his mind of the last time they had met outside of Camp Jupiter. She'd cried and then swore that it would never happen again. So much had happened since then, he almost couldn't believe it. Both of them were different people, but their bond hadn't changed in the slightest. "Shhhh." He gently gestured when tears came to her eyes, as she had done for him. Even when her leg was mutilated, she still looked out for him. When he saw her smile, the world may not have felt complete again, but it felt like maybe it could be fixed.

It all became a reality in his mind. The bond he shared with her wasn't one that could be destroyed, he decided. His head titled, and he spoke without any hesitation, unlike while he was in the hills. "I didn't just need you then, I need you now." Dimitri admitted, though he didn't feel any less strong for it anymore. "But the thin' is, you need me too. Right now, more than ever. I promise, I'll do whatever I need to to make sure that your life finds some happiness."

Dimitri rested his forehead against Dominika's. It was an odd gesture, one he hadn't even bothered to think about in his current state. "Even when I found you on the muddy floor've that hill, bleedin' and fadin' away from me, you still told me not to cry. You still cared." Dimitri could feel the earthquake of emotions in him, when he himself began to cry. The soreness, exhaustion, pain, and sleep deprivation had started to catch up to him the second Dominika awoke, and they had finally caught up to him now. The emotional outbreak was upon him. He was crying while he whispered to her, but only short moments later, his head fell onto the pillow Dominika's head was resting on. Only his weary head was buried in it.

"If you need me, don't ever be 'fraid to wake me up." Dimitri whispered, before his eyes shut, and he finally collapsed into a sleep in his chair.