Keep the pace just in case all the magic dies || Para

Skyler age 12, Isabelle age 13, Blythe age 10

The cold hit Blythe like a ton of bricks as she sat up in bed. It was as if someone had left the door open, but Blythe knew that wasn’t possible. Her mother always locked the door as soon as she got home from grocery shopping - as if there was much that the Carstairs could afford. She swung her legs to the side of the bed, glancing down at Jeremiah’s figure curled beneath a thin blanket. He did not shiver, but his fragile figure (for an 8 year old, Jeremiah had always been small) looked so pale in the light of the streetlamp. Bly stepped carefully over his small form and glanced around the room. There, on the floor, was an oversized sweatshirt. Quickly grabbing it, the girl slipped it over her shoulders, letting it rest like a cloak on her back.

Bly tiptoed across the narrow hallway, her stomach growling even though it was almost 11 pm and she had eaten a mere 4 hours ago. It seemed strange to her that she was hungry - the Carstairs were used to not having a lot of food. Entering the dank and bare room that served as both a living room and a kitchen and an entrance, Blythe pressed her shoulders closer together, hoping it would keep the cold out. The only other person in the room was Skyler, her elder brother by two years. He was hunched over a book, but his head gave away the fact that he wasn’t actually reading. Skyler was probably stuck in his own world. He did that a lot, and Bly had to call his name twice to get his attention.


“Skyler? Skyler.” Her voice said it twice automatically. Bly was used to this.

”Huh? Oh it’s you.” Skyler frowned, although Blythe was pretty sure that it was his neutral facial expression. Her mouth fell. Skyler never called anyone by their real names. Come to think of it, Blythe wasn’t actually sure he knew her name. Some brother.

”Is there any food?” She asked timidly, even though in her head Blythe knew the answer. She hoped that for once, the answer would be different.

”What do you think?” Skyler said, clearly annoyed. ”There never is.”

Bly frowned, but she knew not to whine. She never did. ”Go to sleep. I’ve homework to do.” Skyler said, turning his head towards his younger sister. For a 12 year old, Skyler was awfully scrawny and tall. Blythe suddenly noticed a drop of blood dripping from Skyler’s lip. It was bleeding. He bit his lip a lot, she realized, when he was spacing out.

”Okay fine. Goodnight.” Bly said, suddenly irritable. Skyler seemed to be staring straight ahead, already lost in his own world. He was probably just faking it to ignore her, she thought, angry that there was no food. She turned on her heel and headed towards her bedroom, ignoring the growling of her stomach.

Balancing the phone on his palm, Quell walked to the side of Half Blood Hill, a knife in his belt. Crossing the border of Camp Half Blood, Quell walked halfway to the end of the road, sitting on a rock on the side of the paved road. The cool metal and glass of the borrowed android  felt off in Quell’s hand, but he pressed it to his ear. It rang, twice, three times and then a voice sounded into the phone.

“Hello?” At first Quell didn’t recognize the voice - it was so high, but then the familiarity sank in. It was Selinia, his little sister. She sounded so much like Liv at that age - she had to be what, 10 now? Quell couldn’t remember. She sounded older though, and Quell felt a pang of guilt for not knowing his own sister’s age.

“Hi Sel.” Quell said softly, using the nickname he had called her so many years ago.

“Who is this?” She asked. Although Selinia had no idea, Quell frowned, furrowing his eyebrows.

“It’s me, Quell.” He said, sounding more confused than he wanted to come across as. “Your brother.”

“Oh, hi.” Selinia’s voice, while not elated, didn’t seem disappointed and Quell was thankful for that much.

“So um...” Quell paused, unsure of what to say. He had not spoken to her in months - almost a year now, and so much had changed since then. Quell used to visit all the time, but after the ZA he stopped contacting his family. In fact, he doubted that Selinia even knew that he could barely walk anymore. She didn’t know what happened to him, to Liv, to anyone. She didn’t know him anymore. “Hey.” Quell finally forced out. “How are you?”

“I’m good.” Selinia’s answers seemed uncharacteristically short - she could babble on for hours, Quell knew. Had she changed as he had? As Liv had? Quell shuddered at the thought.

There was a pause. “Hey um Quell, listen... I gotta go. Megan is coming over for dinner.” Selinia said finally and Quell’s heart sank.

“Megan?” He made out slowly.

“Yeah, she’s dad’s girlfriend. She’s really nice.” Selinia seemed to be okay with the fact, but Quell felt betrayed. His father had a girlfriend? What happened to them? Had he moved on from being their father? Had he given up on them? Quell wondered if his father thought that he was dead. Ethan knew how dangerous being a halfblood was. He hadn’t heard from Quell or Livia in several months. Quell pushed that thought out of his head. The image that Livia had painted - of a zombie version of himself, scared Quell. But he’d never let anyone know. Fear wasn’t a well known concept to a halfblood. Or at least well expressed.

“Oh okay... Can you tell dad I say hi?” Quell said, his voice faltering slightly.

“Yeah sure.” Selinia said, then she added, “Bye.” Quell heard the phone click off as she hung up.

“I love you too.” Quell said into the phone, before turning his phone off himself. He sat with it in his hands for several seconds, and a single tear trickled down his cheek. It landed on the phone, and Quell wiped it off quickly, blinking before more tears came.