Scream till you're raw
Third-Person PoV:
Cedella strode through the jungle as she constructed her path to the exit of the castle; he hissed when she felt an arm barge past her, fingers instantly raising to the area of contact and scratching at it. The student backed up, an apology lay forgotten on their tongue, and they disappeared once more into the cloud of danger. Her lips pressed together as she ventured back forth into the unknown.
"Delly!"
Her arm swung back to elbow and dug her nails into the face who had dared to clutch at her arm; it paused before it made contact with the familiar sapphire eyes that stared up at her. Oh. It was Dana.
"What?"
"You're going too fast; I can't keep up with you in this crowd." She pouted at her older sister. Ah, that's what this was. Yes. A crowd of people. Right.
"Not my fault your legs are too short." Pivoting on her foot, she continued the journey through the moving maze, which was a difficult task with extra luggage attached to her arm but nothing she couldn't handle; it definitely didn't make her want to scrape and tear off the skin off her body every time a wall collided with her and would speak at her for some reason. The destination was right in front of her; a breath left her lungs, not realising she had been holding it in; the doors were already open, so she stalked through, tugging her baggage with her directing them to the edge of the Great Lake.
Water. Cedella had always found it soothing. The lake in the garden back home had one, too; it didn't look as ominous as this one. There would always be magical creatures around it; they provided a sense of comfort for her. She didn't need to speak or communicate like neurotypicals always expect you to; she could be quiet and rely on her instincts alone. There was no complexity whenever they did talk; it was straight to the point—no hidden messages. No implications. No expectations. No masking.
"What's wrong?" Salem hissed; he crawled out the back of her shirt, talons digging into her skin as he curled around to her front, pupilless eyes staring into her, her form shook as she stared back before allowing herself to be distracted by the lull of the water of the dark waters before her.
"Whatever do you mean?" A finger scratched at a scab left from earlier that week.
"You know exactly what I mean; I can smell it off you. What's distressing you? Is it the noise?" The hissing growl softened into a purr as the pearly dragon nuzzled its snout under her chin. The rumble in his chest buzzed against Cedella's flesh.
"You've been on edge this whole week. You're irritable, and don't think I see you scratching your arms again. Mum told you to stop that and find another way to stim that doesn't harm you. I thought the rubber bands were working." Dana furrowed her eyebrows at the fifth year.
Her lips curled, a snort leaving her lips. "I broke them all; besides, she just doesn't want me to bring disgrace onto the family name."
"You know that's not true. It never was; that's what he wanted, not mother."
"Sure as hell doesn't feel like it; it always stems back to how it may seem to the public eye."
"She's just looking out for you; we all know you hate social interactions. Not having to worry about what everyone else thinks should help."
"It's not like any of you understand masking or how exhausting it is to pretend to be another person?" Dana said nothing. Cedella let out a hollow laugh. "Of course you don't! You-you all assume that since it's so easy for you, it'll be easy for me. She doesn't want to deal with all the stresses of having an autistic daughter." She barked out laughing.
"Delly, you know she doesn't mean it like tha-"
"Like what? That she actually truly cares? You don't notice the looks that she gives the two of us when she thinks no one is looking. She doesn't see us as her children, as Cedella and Dana; she sees him in us no matter how she tries to hide it. She sees him in me, in the way I stare like nothing matters. In the way, I smile during a horror film. The way I walk. My love for tea. It's like everything about me is like him. But I'm not him. I'm me! I'm not like him! I'm not like him. I'M NOT LIKE HIM! I'M NOT LIKE HIM! I'M NOT LIKE HIM!" The Wyvern heiress shook from side to side, her head shaking wildly, her voice raised, and her hands began frantically pulling at her face. Burrowing into her skin and sinking into the supple flesh, her shouts shifted to a scream. Rattling Dana's bones as she stared in horror as her sister began scratching at her face leaving behind lines of red. The grass welcomed her squirming body, cushioning her fall as sobs choked through her wails.
The world blended into a kaleidoscope, mixing together like paints on a canvas. Salem's pearly scales merged into the pot of green that swirled with the blue around her.
Was she up or down? What was the direction? She must be down cause she was against something solid. Her skin felt like an inferno, she must remove these constraints from her body. Her hands left the wounds she created on her larynx to rip at the fabric.
Something latched onto her wrist.
It burned.
"GET OFF ME! STOP TOUCHING ME! GET OFF! GET OFF!" Cedella shrieked at the thing wrapped tight around her wrists, through her cloudy vision she could make out the outline of a person. A hiss left her mouth as she struggled in their grip, legs kicking at their shins but they continued to hold on fast.
A growl escaped the curl of her lips, her teeth dug into their arm, breaking apart the skin like tissue paper, blood began to soak onto her tongue. A yelp of pain left the object over her but they just didn't let go.
"Stupefy!"
All she knew was darkness.
The Great Lake, Third-Person PoV:
The water lolled overhead, the winter English sun struggled to shine through the brackish waters. Percy leaned back into his arms and sighed. Tomorrow was school again. Which meant there were classes and homework. Some he had done others... not quite so. Reyna had badgered them on Friday to get most of it down so that they could spend more time going over what they had discovered and discussing their next moves. It was difficult to complete the work when he was sleeping less and having trouble concentrating, which was hard enough. Anything too sudden made him jump or reach for his sword.
Will said that it was Hyperarousal or just simply feeling on edge, it was common in someone with PTSD. The best he could do was take some melatonin tablets and find ways to destress the anxious energy. Which was why he was here now.
It wasn't the sea but it was the next best thing.
'You're useless, you might as well give up.' 'Why bother fighting? They'll kill you soon, it's a matter of when.' 'She's pretending you know. She's still scare-'
Too cold. Way too cold. He should get out.
The son of Poseidon rose from the waters and waded through to the shore, he bent down to fetch his cloak when a howl ruptured through the air nearby. His head whipped to the side, Cedella was rolling on the ground, tearing at her hair and scratching skin face and neck. She seemed delirious like she couldn't quite connect to the world around her and was panicking. Her screams chilled his bones, it was loud and full of agony, something he hadn't heard since Piper has sobbed at Camp Half-Blood when Leo's body was nowhere to be found.
Percy didn't realise that he had been running until his hand wrapped around her wrists, attempting to separate them from her reddening body.
"GET OFF ME! STOP TOUCHING ME! GET OFF! GET OFF!"
Cedella tried to get out of his grip but he held on tighter and kicked at his shins trying to shake him off. When this didn't work she grunted and clamped down onto his arm, teeth sinking in and tearing at his flesh. Percy let out a yowl as she retained her teeth in his skin.
"Stupefy!" A red light hit her and she slacked in his grip, teeth falling away from his arm revealing the deep marks embedded in his skin.
"Sorry, but she wouldn't stop until you let go." Dana wrung her wand round in her hands, shuffling her feet into the grass.
"This happens often?" He let out a dry chuckled as he manhandled the unconscious girl into a fireman lift.
The younger girl bit at her lips and shuffled around in the spot she stood. "Not that bad. Her meltdowns are usually just her screaming at a pillow." She said with a weak laugh.
"We better take her up to Will, he'll get her all patched up." The Slytherin nodded shyly and began to follow him through the field back to the school. "We should probably cast a Disillusionment charm so we're not noticed." The Hufflepuff fished his wand out of his pocket and waved it in the shape of an eye that came to the centre. "Evanescere!" They carried on to the door and walked through them, Percy dodged the incoming students, unaware that there were about to bump into them.
The ravenette led them down past the Great Hall, the students quickly thinning as they came over to a barrel, he rapped on it to a tune that Dana was unsure of, the barrel opened up and the warmth of the fire and Percy beckoning her welcomed her inside. The Hufflepuff common room was different from Slytherin's, it was cosy with black and yellow coaches overfilled with random blankets and cushions scattered across them. A few tables were scattered around with students speaking softly as they worked over parchments of paper. Percy walked over to a door that was unlabelled, pushing it open, Dana followed him up the spiral of stairs to another common room.
As soon as the door opened all the demigod's heads whipped around like a well-oiled machine, as if Percy carrying an unconscious Cedella was an everyday occurrence they went back to what they were doing.
"There you ar- is that a bite mark?" Travis asked, the rest of the occupants in the room turned around again to look at his forearm that was starting to steadily leak blood.
"Yeah, Cedella bit me, speaking of which got a new patient to you, Will." His tone was a tad bit too cheerful, the son of Poseidon marched over to a chair and deposited the Wyvern Heiress onto it.
Will hissed at the sight of her face, "Who scratched her face?" He stretched around Pollux to gather up the first aid kit under the coffee table.
"She did that herself, she was having a meltdown you said." Danna nodded at him, wringing her hands together, Salem crawled up onto her shoulder releasing a puff of smoke from his snout and a low rumble from his chest, Dana wrinkled her nose nuzzling her cheek against the top of his head releasing a comforting purr between her lips. The dragon licked her chin, he lifted a hind leg to scratch his scaled neck.
"A meltdown?" Reyna furrowed her eyebrows, "Is she stressed about school or perhaps something else?" She set down some sheets of paper that she was going through with Frank.
"Uhhh yes? Well no I ummm I don't think it was that this time."
"She has them often?" Jason moved one of his pawns two spaces forwards, Annabeth pursed her lips, her fingers drilling against her knee.
Dana shrugged. "Depends, sometimes she can have multiple in a week and then they could be weeks or a month or two in between."
"A meltdown...." Will approached the comatose girl and set the kit down on the floor, his blue eyes lit up, "Does she have ASD?"
"Yeah."
"Hey isn't ASD on the spectrum like ADHD?" Leo snapped his fingers. Dana dipped her head.
"What triggered her meltdown?" The son of Apollo took out a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and wads of cotton wool.
"...I'm unsure, I don't know if it's w-what we were discussing beforehand that resulted in it or if that was just the tipping point. She's been angsty and on edge all week. Oh, I uhh cast the Stunning Spell on her, I don't know the counter spell for it though..." She trailed off sheepishly.
"They teach the Stunning Spell in the first year?"
"They don't."
Will took his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at Cedella. "Rennervate!"
Her body flinched, her lungs wheezed as they grasped onto the air, her limbs shook as she curled into a ball, she whined, shivered, a choked sob working its way out her throat.
"I'm so sorry." Dana's voice quivered, her head was facing the ground with her hands clutched tight in her dress.
Cedella stilled, one of her arctic eyes peeked through her hands, Dana raised her head to nervously lock eyes with her sister. Her lips pulled back into a vicious snarl, her teeth all too sharp, too sharp to be natural at least, some blood was smeared across her teeth and lips, the growl seemed to echo throughout the room.
"Cedella." A hiss escaped her as she scrunched up tighter on the chair. "Would it be alright if I tended to the wounds on your face?" He smiled at her, it was sunny, it made her feel safe, happy almost. She unfurled herself, she looked exhausted, slumping in the chair as she gave Will a slow nod of her head.
The other occupants in the room have gone back to their previous activities, they kept an eye or an ear open, just in case. Nico stood next to Percy who was rinsing and healing the bite mark under the sink by the kitchenette. His eyes shifted between the two sisters.
Will cleaned up at the scratches on her face, the Heiress barely acknowledging his presence. "It's a good thing the wounds aren't deep enough for stitches, I can give you a potion to speed them along so they at least close." Cedella shrugged.
"Do you have anything else that needs healing?" She shifted in the seat then sighed like she was saying 'fuck it'. She shrugged off her cloak and held out her arms. The blond frowned at the scars on her arms. "Some of these are old and new, do you often stim like this?" Cedella opened her mouth but nothing came out, she tried again, she tilted her head like it had a crack in it but it was still no use.
"Don't force yourself to speak, you do need to look at better ways to stim other than scratching and biting yourself..."
"How about a stress ball?" Racheal piped up.
"Rubber bands?" Piper suggested.
"Or maybe one of those fidget spinners the no-maj's are obsessed with." Clarisse finished polishing her set of daggers, setting them back in a leather-bound box.
"If she bites herself then maybe chewable jewellery would be better," Annabeth growled as she glared at the chessboard.
"Does this mean I win?" Jason quirked an eyebrow.
The blonde retaliated by whipping the pieces off the chessboard. "You didn't win because you clearly cheated!"
"You were watching me like I was your next meal, there is no way I could have cheated Annabeth."
Katie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Don't bother Jason, when it comes to board games Annabeth is a sore loser."
"Yeah, everyone knows the Great Monopoly Tantrum of '04." Connor chuckled as the daughter of Athena turned her glower to him.
"You stole my pieces and you know it Stoll!"
"For once we didn't steal anything."
"Shocker," Hazel mumbled.
A mutual chuckle resonated in the common room, a calm conversation went on between the teens (Annabeth scowled as she took out a book on British Architecture to fume in silence) as Will disinfected and snipped bandages onto Cedella's arms. She stared on disinterestedly as her forearms and wrists slowly began to be covered in beige. Dana shifted on her feet, eyes flickering up every now and then to try and meet her older sisters eyes. Salem purred on the armrest next to the girl releasing comforting purrs. Cedella began to release deep purrs back.
"Remember to change your bandages every day and disinfect them until they're healed, check in with me every- oh. She's asleep." Will stood back up, packing away the medical kit and putting the bloodied balls of cotton into a small disposable bag. Salem stood on all fours and nudged at the sleeping girl, she released a growl of annoyance and slid onto her side, curling uptight, the dragon climbed on top and walked in a circle a couple of times before he flopped down and curled up on top. He spread his wings to cover her like a blanket.
"That's kinda cute." Lou Ellen cooed at the two.
"Must be cosy to sleep with a dragon..." Piper murmured.
Dana giggled. "It's not really, they're lizards so they're often as warm as it can be outside, so they dogpile a lot."
"That sounds like it from experience," Pollux noted.
"Yeah... we used to sleep with them a lot when we were younger."
"How come? Is it a bonding thing or something?" Leo leaned forwards.
"We just felt safer there." She shrugged absently, a small smile on her face as she stared at her snoozing sister.
"Safer?" Nico furrowed his eyebrows.
Dana's eyes widened and her smile stiffened. "Uhh I-I umm I mean-" she was cut off as a hand came and ruffled at her hair, another settled on her shoulder and guided her over to the sofas.
"Sheesh is this an interrogation session?" Percy laughed as he made the younger girl sit down. "Do you want some tea, this country seems fucking obsessed with it." He huffed. The younger girl snorted and brought her knees up to her chest and held them there.
"At least we're dignified and don't warm up our tea in a microwave." She retorted.
"I'll have you know that my mother owns a kettle." Dana relaxed into Percy's hold as he massaged her head, a pleased purr slipped past her lips.
"Just out of curiosity has everyone finished their homework?" Everyone groaned as Reyna started tidying away the papers that she and Frank were working on, sliding them into an envelope and sealing it off. She whistled for Depreda, the falcon chirped coming down from the bannisters that most of the other birds were resting overhead. "Take this back to the Legion precioso." Once the letter was attached to his leg he bobbed his head up and down before flying to a dovecote and disappearing into the skies.
"Let's finish it later, mmm comfy." Clovis scowled.
The Praetor tightened her lips, "I suppose so, but no one is going to bed unless their work is finished."
Dana had fallen asleep, she was half curled up on Percy's legs, deep rumbles resonating from her body.
"What was all that about?" Hazel raised an eyebrow at the son of Poseidon.
He paused, his hand stopped sticking Dana's hair, she let out a grunt which prompted him to continue again. "I just-" He looked down at the content face on the youngest Wyvern. "Just recognized some stuff and figured some shit out is all." Annabeth peeked over the edge of her book and peered at him suspiciously.
"what shit?" Nico narrowed his eyes.
"I was at the lake when she had a meltdown, I know that meltdowns can happen from overwhelming stimuli but I never realized how overwhelming they can be. She sounded like she was being tortured or something and she kept screaming that she wasn't 'like him'". Annabeth closed her book and placed it on the table.
"Not like who?"
"I don't think their father just randomly disappeared."
Frank looked at him with wide eyes. "You mean they killed him?"
Salem purred, he gave a large smile with all teeth and a tongue run along the pointed ends.
"Uhhh we don't speak dragon." Travis looked at the lizard and spoke slowly to him, Salem rolled his eyes and turned to Will.
"He said he'd eat his own tail to do it again."
"So the dragons killed him then." Connor slowly nodded, Salem chirped and licked his talons, Will snorted and looked back at the demigods.
"Yeah, they tore him apart and ate him. Apparently, it was a satisfying end but not a satisfying meal, human flesh doesn't taste nice."
Katie shuddered at the thought. "That is not a way I'd like to go, just give me an instant death thanks."
"Ok but imagine like 10 dragons ganging up on you, you'd be fucked." Rachael grinned.
"Definitely, you know what that inspires me, Prissy it's time to see how well you are at dogs, go train some more Hellhounds for us will ya?"
"I'd like to see you try that La Rue, can barely get one word out before they decide to try and make me their new chew toy."
"You think Peleus has any siblings we don't know about?"