Sunlight Dies A Little Every Winter, Before Coming Back As Beautiful As Before After [Saph <3]

“

The sight was a surprise, to say the least. Jonathan stilled as he assessed the scene. His eyes swept over the clearing, noting how some uneven patches of ground peeked out under the blanket of snow. With the scent of burning still present in the air, it didn't take him long to realize what had happened. What took him a while, however, was trying to come up with a response to the blonde girl who... um... had a less-than-perfect face at the moment.

He cleared his throat, turning instead to his companion - a cherry blonde girl looking equally surprised at the scene as he was. "You can go on ahead, sis. Better get Ray some nectar asap," he told her, looking at the barely conscious young boy clinging to her neck. The boy couldn't have been older than seven. Around his head was a hastily tied scarf, a patch of red just visible by his forehead. The girl exchanged one last anxious look with Jonathan before mumbling consoling words to Ray and disappearing off to the path they came.

"So... um..." Jonathan alternated glances between the two girls. This didn't look like an outcome of a scorpion attack, quite unlike the situation that involved the boy they had just rescued. Coming to a stop between them, he tried not to think about his last encounter with the monster. Absently rubbing the fresh cut running from his left temple to mid-cheek, Jonathan said, "A fight... okay."

He scooped some snow into his scarf, offering it to the blonde girl. "You should get some ice on your nose. It doesn't look too good."

Kneeling down beside the brown-haired girl he recognized all too well, Jonathan felt for her pulse, only to receive a slurred response he assumed to be 'go away'. As he sighed and looped her arm around his shoulder for support, he looked back up at the blonde girl and tried to ignore the holes on her skirt. "Besides your... um... face, are you hurt anywhere else? We just ran out of ambrosia so I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait a while until we get to the infirmary. I'm Jonathan, by the way."

“

Jonathan started to walk, much to Raziel's annoyance. Turning a deaf ear to her incoherent mumbles, he couldn't help but give Aphrodite a warm smile. "Nice to meetcha. You share my mother's name." He almost tripped at that, but only because he was practically dragging his eighteen-year-old friend across the snow. Was the girl just that exhausted? Or was she doing it on purpose? He chose to believe the former.

"Well... I don't think it's a good idea to stay here. I'm not looking forward to meeting them giant scorpions again," he slightly winced at the memory of blood running down the side of his face. Still, being a son of Aphrodite himself who lived with a lot of kids who shared that kind of attitude, he could somehow get where the blonde girl was coming from. "I'm going back to camp to get Raz to the infirmary so at least you'll have company. Would be less unbearable than if you went alone."

Jonathan paused a few steps in front of her, ultimately ending up readjusting his hold on Raz until she was completely on his back. She had tried to protest, but given the circumstances, she wasn't in any position to bargain. While letting his offer hang in the air, he gave Aphrodite an apologetic look. "Sorry for whatever my friend did. Raz can get a little... hostile at times." No kidding. Jonathan had heard rumors regarding the demititan's backstory but he kept his trap shut, not wanting to end up in flames. "Guess you just caught her in a bad mood."

“

Jonathan raised his eyebrows in concern. "Oh? You got attacked too?" He felt Raziel shift a little on his back - did she just laugh? - but didn't pay it much heed. "Suppose you can say that. It's a nickname, see. Her name's Raziel."

He didn't appear to realize that Raz was already muttering death threats in his ear. Well, the fact that he couldn't make out her mumbling didn't help.