Exam stress is suddenly getting to me so have a chapter :)

Chapter Quote:
"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds."
~Mistral's Kiss, Laurell K. Hamilton
___________________________________________

Chapter 4: I'm Not An Open Book

Luke

The air crackled with energy to the point where Luke felt that at any moment a lightning bolt was going to strike him down. Of course, then he remembered the joke he'd made earlier about being tied up and wondered if Zeus was getting ready to strike him down for that. Just as a precaution, Luke slipped Bryn's hand into his. Instantly the air calmed which meant either Bryn had been causing it or her dad knew striking Luke down with a lightning bolt would be relatively ineffective since he was holding onto Zeus's lightning-proof daughter. Either way, Luke felt safer.

When the two of them arrived at the infirmary, only Bradley and Brady were there, with the latter groaning on a hospital bed with a swollen face. Bryn asked, "How's he doing?"

"Dazed," Bradley answered. "Chiron determined he had a moderate concussion but with ambrosia and nectar, it should be gone by tomorrow as should most of the swelling."

"Where's Derek?" Luke queried.

"Chiron thought it best we keep him separated from Brady since he tried to kill him. Last I heard he was in the Hades cabin with Silena and Hallie."

"I'll go see him," Bryn said.

"You need to do something about that gash on your arm before you go anywhere."

Bryn glanced down at her arm. "It doesn't hurt."

"How in Hades' name does that not hurt? That's a least three inches long and a few centimeters deep!" he argued.

His sister dismissed his worry with a wave of her hand. "It's nothing. I've been through worse."

Bradley turned to Luke, silently demanding an answer to his sister's apparent obliviousness to the seriousness of her wound.

"Hey Cat Woman, you might not feel pain but your brother's right. It might have damaged some muscle and you really probably shouldn't be losing that much blood. I mean I'm no doctor but you've lost at least quart or a pint, most of which is a trail in the woods," Luke remarked. With a sigh, Bryn muttered she'd go get a bandage to put on. Bradley mouthed a thank you to the Jackson boy which he returned with a nod. Bryn tried putting on the bandage herself but gave up after five minutes and had Luke do it. She took a swig of some nectar and ate a square of ambrosia.

"I'll come check on you two later. I'm going to go see Derek. Luke, do you want to come?" Bryn questioned.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to Luke. Can he catch up with you?" Bradley requested.

"Uh, sure. Just don't kill him. I'll see you later." She gave Luke a peck on the cheek before leaving. Once she was gone, he turned to her brother, awkwardly waiting for him to say something.

"You two doing better?" Bradley questioned, leaning back in his chair.

"They better be," Brady mumbled. "I have enough of a headache from this concussion. I don't need one from sensing Bryn's distressed emotions."

"Go back to sleep. Or else you're not going to heal," Bradley stated. It looked like his twin made a face at him but the swelling made it hard to tell.

"We're better, thank the gods."

"How is she doing?"

"From what I know and from what I can tell, she's handling all this better than me. Silena appears to be doing just as good as Bryn. It seems as if Derek and I are the ones not handling this well."

"Did Bryn really not feel anything from that gash?"

"I don't think she did. She cried out when it happened but that was it. She didn't pay attention to it afterwards. Maybe it's because she was focused on her worry for Brady and her confusion by Derek's actions, but more probable is that she experienced worse pain in Tartarus and something like that, despite how bad it looked, it wasn't bad to her."

"She never speaks of Tartarus to us. She always tells us 'one day' but I don't think that day is ever going to come. I've even tried talking to Silena and Derek and I've noticed that's the one thing the three of them have in common after coming back from Tartarus: they refuse to talk about it. I have a feeling you'll do the same."

"It depends on what you ask me," Luke replied quietly.

"What happened down there that's so terrible that none of you can speak about it?"

"It wasn't just physical pain we endured down there. The mental abuse from the atmosphere and the nightmares and some of the monster encounters we had and just some of the things we did, it's indescribable. The worst attack was by the arai. That's when it all kind of went south for all of us. Bryn took on a paralysis curse early on in the battle along with a silencing curse. All she could do was watch me and the others try and fend for ourselves. Silena incurred a blindness curse, Derek went deaf. That's when the arai physically attacked them, biting them and slashing them with their whip-like tails. I-" Luke halted in his speech. His mind was going back to that time and it was a dangerous place for him to go to. Even now, two months later, he still shuddered at the thought of what he'd done, but more so at the feelings he'd felt when he'd done that thing.

"Luke," Bradley said, bringing him back to reality. "What happened to you? With the arai? Did you get curses as well?"

Luke nodded. "The only one I remember is the Boomslang venom. It made me bleed out of different orifices of my body."

"How did you defeat them?"

"Don't ask me that."

"Why not?"

"What I did down in Tartarus to defeat those old hags... it's something I can't speak of. It's something I will never be able to speak of. But so you know the extent of how serious my actions were, in that moment when I did what I did, for that battle, Bryn looked absolutely petrified of me. I promised myself I would never make her scared of me like that again."

"Is it a power?"

"Yeah."

"You did it to save your friends. Besides using the power, you saw no other option but death."

"I promised Bryn I wouldn't use the power again. I'm going to keep that promise." What Luke didn't say was that he'd already broken his promise in Tartarus. Every time he thought about it, he wondered if his breaking the promise was the reason Bryn had really gotten killed. He'd been lucky enough to be given a second chance with her, and this time he was going to keep her promise to her.

"I'm sorry," Bradley said. "For everything you've been through."

"Thanks... my dad said it would get better with time but that it would take years for us to overcome it, and he said even then some fears and dreams will never leave us."

"It's terrible that your dad and mum went through Tartarus like you did, but at least you know someone who can tell you what to expect. Unlike your dad and mum, you have people who can tell you what's relatively normal for someone who's just come out of Tartarus."

"I can't tell them though. I've barely told anyone of what I'm feeling. I've barely even told Bryn which apparently is what started our fight the other night which I still have no recollection of."

"Why not?"

"Can't bring myself to do it. It's like the words physically won't come out of my mouth."

"Well when you do feel like you can talk about it, know that any of us will listen. We may act like we want to kill you half the time, and that's because half the time we do, but you're still a friend, and we're still here for you."

"I appreciate that Bradley. I truly do."

"I have a question for you," Brady grumbled.

"I thought I told you to get some sleep, idiot?" Bradley remarked in annoyance.

"I have a question," the twin declared. Turning his head to Luke, he asked, "In regards to your comment about being tied up, is it true you and Bryn have really-"

Luke burst out laughing, interrupting the question. Once he regained his composure, he responded, "No, we have definitely done nothing of the sort. I was just trying to embarrass her. Which it worked. We've only been dating two months and while yeah, some couples may've done it already, we're taking it slow. On that note, because it is actually kind of embarrassing talking about this with my girlfriend's brothers, I'm going to go find Bryn and make sure Derek hasn't killed her or vice versa. I'll see you two soon."

Luke hurried out of the infirmary, heading towards the Hades cabin. He'd just raised his hand to knock when Hallie opened the door.

"Is Bryn here?" he asked. His girlfriend's head popped up from behind Hallie.

"Hey, what did my brother want to talk to you about?"

"Making sure I wasn't serious about my being tied up comment. Derek in there too?"

"Oh my gods..." Bryn groaned, banging her head on the door.

"Derek shadow-travelled out of here a few seconds ago. He's really upset over what happened. We were trying to figure out where he was when you came up," Hallie explained. A sly expression settled on her face. "Have you two-"

"No!" Bryn said vehemently.

"Okay, just a question!"

"Wait, where's Silena?" Luke inquired.

"She grabbed onto Derek before he shadow-travelled so she's probably wherever he is."

"I hope she's okay," Luke said. "What if Derek-"

"Derek's fully sane again. He has no recollection of what happened, which reminds me, Hallie, I need to speak with you privately after we find Derek."

"Am I not allowed in this conversation?" Luke queried.

"Not quite yet, but I'll let you know soon. Now, since you're a grandson of Athena, would you like to help us figure out where the son of Hades is?"

"You know I've never been that strong with my Athenian powers," he said, stepping into the Hades cabin.

"You've proved adept at them on more than one occasion."

Luke rubbed his hands together. "Okay, let's see what I can come up with."
___________________________________________  

Bryn

It took four hours before they were finally able to find Derek, and in all honesty, it was more like Derek found them. They'd all but given up on trying to find him. Luke was laying on Derek's bed, his head hanging upside down off the edge and his legs propped against the wall. Bryn was using his stomach as a pillow. Hallie was sprawled out, face down, on her bed, banging her head in aggravation.

"See? I told you they'd be worried about you," Silena's voice piped up.

"Derek!" Bryn exclaimed, jumping from the bed. Hallie was suddenly standing too. Luke tried to roll legs over head onto the floor but ended up falling ungracefully onto the ground.

"I found him!" Luke said, pointing to the son of Hades.

"Why thank you. I couldn't see without your pointing," Bryn told him. He nudged her playfully.

"Where have you been?!" Hallie demanded, throwing her arms around her brother. He didn't return it, more so because he looked too shocked to.

"Uh, I-"

"We were so worried about you!" Bryn added, hugging Derek once Hallie had released him.

"Dude, what happened to you out there? It's like you went all Winter Soldier on us," Luke said.

"Who would that make you?" Derek countered. "Captain America?"

"I'd like to be so but I don't think I'm as righteous as Cap. Now stop avoiding the question."

"I don't really know what happened. I barely have any memory of it. There's blurs of it and I remember trying to stop myself but then it ends and I wake up on the ground with Silena and Hallie carrying me. Who was I attacking?"

"Brady. Bradley and I zapped you in the chest at the same time although mine wasn't the one that sent you flying back. My brother kind of lost his temper."

"I'm amazed you didn't do the same."

"I know you better than they do. I know you wouldn't attack anyone like that without a reason."

"Tell Brady I'm so sorry. I really don't know what came over me."

"I will. Promise me if that happens again though, you won't disappear on us for a few hours without telling us where you're going."

"I'll try."

"Thank you." Bryn turned to Silena and Hallie. "Hey, could the three of us go for a walk? I want to talk to you about some things."

"What? We're not invited in this conversation?" Derek asked indignantly.

"Not yet. But you will be at some point. I will see you two later. As hard as it may be, try not to get into any trouble."

"I think the same could be said for you three. Especially you," Luke said, pointing at his girlfriend. She grinned at him. The girls said bye to Luke and Derek as they exited the cabin. Once on the beach, Bryn brought up what she'd been itching to discuss.

"Hallie, have you had any... strange feelings lately? Like something's off?"

The daughter of Hades stopped, turning to look at her friend. "Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"And here I was hoping it was just part of my PTSD." Bryn sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I don't know what it is but something weird is going on at camp, and I think it ties into the dead harpies. At first I thought it was just an after effect of my time in Tartarus which I further believed when Silena brought the topic up with me that she was experiencing what I was. I wasn't honestly expecting you to be getting the same sensations, but now that I know you are too, it makes me believe this is more than just part of my PTSD."

"What are we going to do?"

"I suggest we talk to Chiron. Maybe he has an idea, and certainly if we feel something is wrong at camp, he will too. He's more in tune to what's going on at camp than anyone else here. He will most likely know what to do."

"Then let's talk to him first chance we get tomorrow. I'd say today but dinner's about to be ready and I don't know about two but all the excitement has left me starved and exhausted.

"No, I feel you. Let's head back. We'll tell the boys tomorrow too."

"I'll head to the camp library to do some research on monsters, just in case. There's a few new books I haven't read and I'd like to."

"Sounds like a plan. Now come on, let's go eat!" As if on cue, the conch shell blared out in announcement of the meal. The girls dashed to the dining pavilion. The boys, with the exception of the twins, were already there.

Bryn scarfed down her meal in order to get to the library as quickly as possible. She wanted to get working on figuring out what was going on sooner rather than later. It was always better to be prepared. Before anyone could stop her, she scurried off to the library. Once she found the book she was looking for, Bryn curled up in an armchair. She had no idea how much time had passed until Bradley came into library, looking doggone tired.

"What are you still doing up? It's midnight," Bradley said.

"Is it?" Bryn glanced over at the clock. "What are you doing up? I thought you'd be asleep after watching over Brady all night."

"I fell asleep and came to get a snack. Luke told me you'd disappeared after dinner, said he hadn't seen you since. I got worried about you."

"Why would you get worried about me? I'm at camp, in a library. I'm probably the safest I will ever be."

"You had your arm gouged by Derek and didn't even bat an eye. You're waking in the middle of the night terrified of... something."

"How do you know that?" She asked, suddenly becoming defensive.

"Because Brady and I either wake up every time you do or our dreams shift to us seeing you sitting on the edge of your bed with head in your hands, shaking. Then you get up and go to Luke's. Or if he wakes up from a nightmare before you do, he goes and gets in your bed."

"Why didn't you tell me I was waking you up?"

"Because it's not like you can help it. The first time it happened we thought you'd tell us and when it didn't, we figured you would talk about it on your own time. But it's been two months Bryn, and you haven't said a word about the nightmares or what happened down in Tartarus and you can't keep it in-"

"I'm not. I've been telling Luke, Silena, and Derek."

"And what have they been telling you in return?"

"About the same as I am."

"Even Luke?"

"No," she admitted, closing the book. "Why?"

"Because he told me a little bit of what happened in Tartarus. About how you were paralyzed while you watched your friends be attacked by arai. How you were unable to speak, that Silena went blind, Derek went deaf, and that Luke used a power so terrible that he called it unspeakable."

"I'm glad he's finally told someone a little something."

"Yeah, I'm glad he is too. But that's not the point of why I'm telling you this. My point is that what you went through is not something that most people can't even fathom, yet you're bottling it all in like you were doing when we were fighting Hannah."

"Bradley, don't start this again. I'm fine. I'm not bottling it up. I told you, I'm telling things to Luke and Derek and Silena."

"You're obviously not telling them enough or else you wouldn't be-"

"You don't know that!" Bryn finally snapped. "None of us know that if talking about what happened to us down there or what is happening to us now is actually helping us get through it! So I'm sorry if I'm not telling you or Brady anything but there's nothing you can do to help with what I'm going through."

"Well that's something."

"What is?"

"That you actually feel something about what happened. I know we've only known each other a year and we haven't been through the same things that you've been through with Luke, Derek, and Silena-"

"That has nothing to do with it."

"Then what is it?"

"Because I don't know what can help me right now. But if you really want me to tell you something, then I'll tell you this. Silena, Hallie, and I have been getting a... strange feeling. We don't know what it is. It's why I've been so distracted lately. I thought it might've been an aftereffect from Tartarus but after talking to Hallie, I'm thinking differently. That's what I'm reading this book. It's a new one in the library along with some others. I'm reading them to see if any give me an insight into what the girls and I are feeling... you wouldn't happen to be feeling anything weird would you?"

"Can't say I have. But whatever it is, I'll help you figure it out. We're in this together."

Bryn smiled gratefully at her brother. "Thank you. I'm going to go shower and then get to bed. I'll probably just go straight to Luke's. I know I'll end up with him at some point in the night, whether that's my bed or his. I'll see you tomorrow. You get some sleep too, okay?"

"Yeah. Good night big sis." Bryn hugged her brother tightly, still amazed that she'd been given a second chance at getting to know him, at getting to experience having her family with her again. She left the library and went to her cabin, grabbing a pair of pajamas. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, dried her hair, and made her way to Luke's cabin. Surprisingly he was still up, doing something on his computer.

"What are you still doing up?" She queried, sitting on the bed next to him. Luke wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him. Bryn rested her head on his shoulder.

"Not quite ready to fall asleep. Don't want the nightmares to come any sooner than they have to," he replied. "What about you?"

"I was researching stuff in the library. Silena, Hallie, and I have been getting these strange feelings. I was wondering if any books could give me insight."

"Did they?"

"Not the one I was reading, although there's a few more for me to check out. I'll see you in the morning. I'm going to get some sleep. Kind of exhausted from today."

"I'm going to turn in too. There's only so much sleep procrastination you can do." Luke placed his laptop on the floor and turned off the lamp. The two demigods pulled curled up next to each other. Bryn had closed her eyes for only a few seconds when Luke asked softly, "Hey, you're doing okay right?"

She opened her eyes. "Yeah. Why?"

"When I was talking to Bradley earlier, he brought up some stuff that made me wonder if you were doing as well as you say you are. I know you're badass and kickass, but not feeling the gash in your arm, even that had me worried," he confessed, fiddling with her hand.

"The stuff that we endured in Tartarus changed us. For me, I feel pain differently. When it comes to physical pain, it's like I barely feel it at all anymore. But when it comes to emotional pain, it's like I suddenly feel it a hundred times worse. It's what makes the nightmares so terrifying. Because before Tartarus, when I had nightmares, I could always rationalize them and almost always block out the pain. With these I can't. With these, no matter how much I rationalize them, I can't stop feeling the pain from them. And honestly, I don't know how to deal with all this new emotion. It's not like I was exactly an open book with what I was feeling before then."

Even though it was dark, Bryn could still see the smile that formed on her boyfriend's face. "You're still not much of an open book."

"I've gotten better though. Besides, I wasn't open about how I felt about you for years. At least that's changed."

"Oh yeah, you're very open about how you feel about me," he laughed. "And it's certainly something I'm not complaining about."

"Shut up," she said lightly, poking him in the chest. "Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Luke kissed her between her brows. "Good night. I love you."
___________________________________________  

Okay, last chapter before everything goes to shit (pardon my French but there's no other way to put it). Reviews would be lovely :)