OnexOne with Mystikmage

Aria could hear what the others were saying. Though she was asleep, and her tired mind couldn't exactly comphrened what was going on. An illness...Sara had a fever...how? Did Demi-God's even get sick? The motel....Aria shivered, remembering the eerily feeling she had recieved from being at the place. The shudder woke her up and she sighed, rubbing her eyes.
"What could she have gotten from the motel that we didn't cacth?" Aria murmured then, massaging her temples gently.


Leo cursed quietly. An idea suddenly came to him and he took a small breath, willing the heat in his fingertips spread to his arms, his thighs, every part of him that was close to Sara. He wasn't sure how long he could keep it up, but he'd try. He could feel her shivering and shaking, and it was driving him insane. He had no idea what was wrong, and neither did she, therefor there was nothing he could do except try to keep her warm. Leo wasn't even sure if that was helping.

"Maybe it was something tageting just her" Keith suggested. Shaking his head, "I mean, I dunno, something" He shrugged, staring out at the grey expanse of highway, another day and a half of driving and they would be in Miamii, though, once they were there, they still had to find the place to start the hunt, and then more driving. He sighed, glancing at Leo worridly.
"Maybe we should try and get ahold of someone, see if they might know" He was thinking back to kids at camp.
"One of yoru siblings maybe?" Leo might have a way of contacting his family, a more advanced healer might be able to help.

As the warmth spread, Sara's body relaxed, she sighed, her spasming slowly, as she fell into a light sleep, her mind was racing, but her body was to tired to stay awake. She winced, something had happened to her, something that had happened to no one else. She was struggling to think, she could only remember being in the truck alone, and that guy touching her, but that was fine. She sighed, at the hotel, she was the last in the washroom? No, that didn't make sense, she had fallen out of bed, no nothing. It had to have happened while she was sleeping.

As Keith talked, Aria tried to rack her brain for anything. Minor details, scraps of stories. She shook her head after a moment.
"I got nothing. We all had subs, so it couldn't have been the food. She hardly ate." Aria murmured, counting off on her finger. "We were all in the same room. Leo was asleep next to her, and he's fine. You and me were the only ones who thought that place was creepy." she added, looking over at Keith for a moment. "That's it." she murmured, shaking her head again.


Leo sighed, forcing the warmth to stay as it was. "I'm using my healing warmth to keep her from shaking." he said, Aria thought his voice was a bit strained, but that made sense. "It's helping..." Aria glanced at Leo from the corner of her eye before back at the sky.
"How long can you keep it up though?" Aria murmured. Leo shook his head. Reaching for her phone, Aria sighed.
"Can't call anyone at camp if we wanted to." she muttered then. "No signal there...."

"Maybe something happened while we were sleeping?" Keit suggested, shaking his head. Besides that, he had nothing.
"Or she's starving herself to the point of sickness" He commented, the sub was the first thing he had ever seen Sara eat, which was odd.
"Though, maybe since both Aria and I felt something from the hotel, maybe there was some sort of thing there, and maybe it did something to her. Leo, does she have, I dunno, any marks, or anything, besides her injuries?" He asked, that would be where he would start, seeing if there was anything out of the ordinary, and then, they could always try and research it.

Sara shifted, her shirt pulling a bit, revealing a spot on her neck. Right there, was a small, reddish marking, almost tattoo-like, but it definately wasn't a tattoo, the skin looked irritated. Shifting, she covered it again, her restlesness in sleep odd, as Sara rarely moved about. Once again she could hear them talking, but she was to 'blah' to even manage opening her eyes, talking seemed impossible, her breathing was becoming more and more laboured, strained.

"I was up half the night." Aria murmured. "If someone came into the room, they must have been a ghost, cause I didn't hear the damn thing."
Once again, Aria tried to rack her brain for any bit of information she could that would help them. She sighed after a moment, muttering to herself and rubbing her forehead

"Hang on." Leo said, grabbing Sara's chin gently and turning her head back to where she was before. "Yea, damn, she's got something on her neck...." the girl shifted again, still asleep. Leo frowned, she was almost never like this when asleep. That or he was so out of it at the end of the day that he hardly noticed. That seemed unlikly.

Aria frowned. "What does it look like?" she asked. Leo shook his head, pushing Sara's shirt away to look at it again.
"No idea. It's red. Kinda looks like a tatto. Can't make out anything though..." he answered. Aria's frown deepened and she looked at Keith before shaking her head.

"I'm gonna pull over, maybe we can get a better look then" Keith said, pulling to the side of the road and flipping his hazard lights. Shaking his head, he dug around in the glove compartment, finding a flashlight, they could aim it at Sara's neck, then maybe they could see better. He handed the light back to Leo, turning in his seat so he could see what was going on. He frowned, "Didn't that guy at the subway touch her neck?" He asked, looking at Leo and Aria for conformation.

Sara shifted again, the mark was small, red, angry looking. It was a small mark, a letter in ancient greek, the equivalent of the english letter 'h'. Around it, flames dance, almost moving on her skin. She let out a painful sigh, her breath still laboured, her skin burning, yet she was shivering. She wanted to wake up, scream or something, but she couldn't. Her eyes roved madly beneath her eyelids, she tired to wake up again, her body nearly jerking off the seat, before, falling against Leo, heavy, though she was so light it made no difference. She winced, her fingers clencing and unclenching on the blanket again.

Aria unbuckled herself as Keith pulled over to the side of the road. Leo took the flashlight from Keith, pulling Sara's shirt away gently to point the light at the mark on Sara's neck.
Aria inhaled sharply then, eyes wide. Leo looked up at her, surprised. "What?"
"God of the Forge..." Aria murmured, not daring to say the Olympian's name. "Husband of the Goddess of love. That's his mark."

Leo looked from the tattoo on Sara's neck, to Keith, and then back at Aria. "Are you sure?" he asked. Aria nodded stiffly. "So he was the guy at subways?" he asked, skeptically.
"Can you think of anything better?" Aria asked as Sara trashed around in Leo's arms.
Leo kept his arms around Sara as she trashed and fell against him, her weight almost nothing she was so light. "Well, what can we do?" he asked. To this question, Aria had no answer, and she simply shook her head stiffly to say so.

"So, he was mad at Sara?" Keith said, shaking his head. Why? He frowned, shaking his head and sighing, he slapped his hands into the steering wheel.
"Well, we need to find out how to fix it, she only looks like she's getting worse" He said, watching Sara thrash, before settling. He sighed, starting the truck again, heading off down the highway, wondering where they could stop. Frowning, he shook his head, cursing lightly under the breath.
"We need to find a healer, or something"

Sara whimpered, her entire body stiffening, before spasming again. She wanted to wake up, she needed to help them. She didn't realize they were talking about her, she just thought someone needed help.

Children? A lovely female voice sounded in the truck cab, causing Keith to curse again, and slamming on the breaks.
Please don't be afriad. You all know who I am. The gods of Olympus are angry, my daughter has been a casualty of that war. Please, there is a healer near you, you must find her. She lives in a city, I cannot re-call the name. Watch the signs, they will be written in a tounge you understand. You must hurry, the mark she bears will kill her. Please Her voice faded out.
"Th-that was Sara's Mom" Keith said, starting the truck again.
"So we were right, the gods are fighting"

"Considering the fact that technically we're all illegitimate children, I would say yes.." Aria murmured quietly. She turned back around as Keith started driving, pulling her seat belt back across her chest. That last for all of three seconds before Keith slammed on the breaks again.
"Damn it." Aria said, getting choked by her seat belt. She was about the say something else, when the voice of a woman spoke to them. Aria's eyes went wide, and her body ridged. She glanced at Keith before the voice faded, and then she turned gently to look at Leo.

He was just as tense as Aria. Swallowing hard, Leo simply nodded to Keith. "Yea..it was." he whispered, shaking his head. Aria turned to look back at the road, and instantly, her eyes fell on what looked like an old mile marker. Keith passed it too fast for Aria to read it. She saw another one and nudged Keith gently.
"Look." Aria said, pointing as it passed them. "Those must be the signs. Weird, they look like mile-markers...can't see what they're saying, but follow them."

Keith sighed, glancing at Aria and nodding.
"Alright, alright" He murmured quietly. He slowed the truck a bit, making it easier to see the markers. Though, he couldn't read them yet. He swallowed, glancing back at the extremely still Sara and extremely tense Leo.
"Why do you think he hurt her though? I mean, Sara's like the nicest person ever" He swallowed again, angry. It was hard not being upset when someone you cared about was hurt, particularly someone like Sara.

Sara shifted, hearing her mother's voice. She almost laughed, she must be hallucinating at this point. She winced, her body beyond sore at this point. Her fingers clenched on the blanket, she sighed, it hurt, why did it hurt so bad? She wanted to cry, but she couldn't, her body wouldn't produce the tears. She shifted again, burying her face against Leo, practically hiding against him.

To Keith's question, Aria had no answer. "I don't know..." she said, shaking her head, watching as they passed sign after sign. One had an arrow, and Aria pointed to the turn that Keith almost missed. "They're taking us off the turnpike..." she muttered, suddenly curious about this healer, and where they lived.

Leo blinked, looking up at the dark sky. "Damn.." he murmured, blinking again to try and clear his head. He was getting tired, and it was getting harder to keep Sara warm. Slowly, he could feel the heat diminshing, retreating back into his fingertips. Leo swore, taking Sara's hand in his, holding her firmly but gently.
He leaned down as she hid against him, kissing the side of her face gently. "Listen, hang in there alright? You're mom's leading us to a healer." he whispered, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. He wished, now more then ever that she would talk to him, open her eyes, look at him, something.

"Well, we'll have to find out way back" Keith scanned the road, slowing as they came to a sign, nothing.
"Keep watching, I can't see them that well while driving" He glanced at Leo, listening to him speak to Sara. He sounded nearly desperate, and he felt awful for his friend, seeing your girlfriend lying there, nearly dead could not be healthy.
"Anything?" He asked Aria, trying to keep the tension out of his voice.

Sara heard Leo, a small smile appeared on her face.
"Mkay" She stuttered, half awake, before she was out again. She could barely function, she felt awful, her entire body felt as if it were burning up. She shivered, despite the burning, the burning was cold. She was so cold, and Leo's heat was retreating. She felt him take her hand, squeezing it tightly, her mom? She sighed, everyone was talking above her head again, loudly, then quietly, was she dying? She shook her head, she wasn't sure, everything was so confusing, it hurt.

Aria nodded gently, glancing from Leo out of the corner of her eye before back at the road. She could see the markers clearly, which confused her on why Keith couldn't see them since they were on his side of the truck.
"Turn left there." Aria said then, pointing to the road just a ways ahead. She was worried now, tense, and she tapped her knuckles against the doorframe.
"I got a bad feeling about this..." Aria murmured, seeing a small shop at the end of the road, guessing that was the healers house.


Leo kept Sara's hand in his. At least he could still keep his hands warm. Bringing her hand up, Leo kissed the back of it lightly before lowering them gently.
"Just hang in there..." he said, looking up for the first time now. Aria was murmuring something as the truck turned again. Leo blinked away exhaustion, shaking his head and sighing.
"Are we almost there? She's shaking again..." Leo said, sounding worried.

"I-I think we're here. Leo, wait in the truck, please. I wanna check this place out" He said, turning it off, he slipped out of the cab, leaving the keys on the seat, just in case. He nodded at Aria, gesturing for her to come with him.
Sighing, he knocked on the door, wincing as it creaked open and a voice called out.
"Yes?"
"Uh, hello?" Keith slipped inside, Aria close behind him.
"Ah, demi-gods, it's been years, years since the last of you lot were here. Achillies, though, I wasn't in America at the time"
"Ah, good, we were told you could heal?" He asked, shaking his head.
"Yes, yes, but you are not the injured one. Son of Posideon, and I believe you have a daughter of Hermes with you"
"Yea, our friend, daughter of Aphrodite is in the car" He said, shaking his head.
"Well, bring her in, I won't bite you, your father wouldn't take kindly to that"
"Kay, Aria, go get Sara" He nudged her.

Sara winced, she wasn't sure what was going on, was she dying? She felt like she was dying, she heard that dead people were cold. She let out a pained breath, no, she was breathing, breathing meant life. She shook her head, confusion lancing through her, translating as pain. She gripped Leo, shaking her head, she could hear more voices, fading, then Aria was back, talking, she didn't know what was going on.

Aria nodded, out of the truck the next minute. She walked to the back of the truck, taking her sword up, releved by it's familiar weight in her hands. The next moment, she was in stride with Keith. She frowned as Keith opened the door and walked inside. Aria jumped lightly, hearing the voice. She spun around then, watching Keith's back as the voice continued to speak with them.
"Fantastic." Aria murmured, shifting her weight uneasily. She didn't exactly want to leave Keith by himself but if Sara could be healed...

Leo julted as Aria opened the door. He hadn't even seen her walk out of the house. "How are you so fast?" he asked her then, frustrated that she had scared him.
"No time. Bring Sara." Aria said, holding the seat back so that Leo could climb out before picking up Sara once more.
He kissed her forehead gently as Aria lead them back. "Just a little longer..." he said quietly before frowning. "You two sure this is the right place?" he mumbled then, looking around skeptically, still holding Sara in his arms.

"As sure as we can get" Keith peered into the darkness, the woman had revealed herself at this point, she was old, grandmother-ish.
"Ah, Daughter of Aphrodite, and Son of Apollo" She smiled nodding at a couch.
"You may rest her there. I will not harm her" She smiled. "I assume one of your parents informed you of my whereabouts. I am, regretably, hard to follow" She smiled at Keith, who rolled his eyes. Despite the appearance of this place, she was nice enough and didn't make him feel uneasy.
"Thanks" He said, watching Leo and nodding. If anything went wrong, Keith had a water bottle filled with water, and that could turn deadly in his hands in a moment.

The old woman inhaled, wrinkling her nose.
"She's been touched by the Smith God, has she not?" She glanced at Leo, "I'm suprised, healer, that you do not know how to handle this. Though, Charon keeps much magic hidden from his young charges"

Sara winced, hearing Leo, then she was cold again. She heard one voice, clearer then the others, ringing in her ears. A woman, someone she didn't know. She jerked, her body shuddering under the blanket. She was in Leo's arms, she knew that, but she had no desire where she was anymore.

Leo smiled at the woman, looking more relieved than his two friends who stood behind him. "I haven't been at camp long enough to learn." he said, lowering his gaze then. He walked over to the couch, setting Sara down somewhat reluctantly. Leo sighed, kneeling next to her, making sure the blanket was still wrapped around her though at this point, Leo wasn't sure if it was helping.

"She was. Just yesterday." Aria answered. She swung her sword once before sliding it gently into the sheath that was clipped at her back. Aria flexed her fingers, watching Leo and Sara carefully. Glancing back at the old woman, Aria sighed, her anxiety dying down a bit. She passed around though, walking over to the couch to look at Sara before walking back over to Keith, then turning around to gaze into the darkness that surronded them before glancing back at Leo and Sara.

Keith listened to the woman, but instead, he focused on the rest of the house, making sure nothing snuck up on them. He took a small sip of his waterbottle, careful to leave some in the bottle, not wanting to use it all. He frowned, shaking his head and sighing, he glanced at Sara, once, before returning his gaze to the rest of the house.

"Ah, well, watch carefully then young one" She murmured, "You see, symbols like this belong to each God or Godess, they can be used many times, to harm or to hurt anyone. It seems, the Smith god has taken a dislike to his wife's daughter" She commented.
"They are very powerful, and can kill, particularly ones like this" She closed her eyes, stirring some herbs together, before gently rubbing them on the wound.
"You use a mixture of wormwood, forkleaf, and powdered ivy. All from our home land. Rub it on the burn, or mark, as the mark fades, she will heal. Though, she won't be one hundred percent. For the next couple days, twice day, morning and evening, make her drink this. It will repare the internal damage" She handed Aria the bottle.
"One teaspoon" She sighed, "The mark will take the most of the day and night for her to improve, but she will" She stretched, leaning back.

Leo watched intently, making a mental note of the herbs the woman mixed together and rubbed into Sara's neck where the mark was. He nodded as he listened. So Aria had been right about the mark after all, not that Leo was surprised.
He nodded sighing with relief, glad to hear that Sara would he alright. He was still holding Sara's hand, as he had been the whole time the woman had been working. Gently Leo kissed the back of her hand then, sighing. "Thank you." Leo said, looking back up at the woman, relief clear in his face.

Aria nodded, taking the bottle from the woman. "Uh huh." she murmured, looking at the mixture skeptically before over at Sara and Leo. She glanced at Keith then, glad she wasn't the only one apprehensive at the moment. "If you don't mind my asking..." Aria said then. "Who are you?" at this point, her curiousity was unbareable; she had been racking her brain this whole time, trying to find a name for the woman, but nothing had come to her.

"You wouldn't know me dear, not from the mythology you've studied. I'm a dryad, a tree spirit, but well, I'm a healer. An old friend of Apollo's, he taught me healing, but I'm not one of those remembered by history. I move around a lot, my tree, as you know, Drayd is only alive as long as my tree is still alive. So, I keep it here, just in the corner" She sighed, suddenly realizing how dark it was. She clapped her hands, the place was illuminated, jars and jars stood on shelves, and there was a few low chiars about the room. Dominating the corner, was a small, yet elegant tree, brenches bowed with age.

Keith watched the woman carefully, sighing.
"Ah" He stepped away from the tree, he had heard of Dryads before, and she seemed alright. He poked around, awed by her amout of things.
"Wow" He said, shaking his head.

Sara winced, shaking her head and sighing. She was begining to wake up again, she hurt, but she was begining warm up again.
"Mmm" She whined, shaking her head, thrashing a bit.

Leo nodded as he listened and smirked at Aria, who simply said "Uh-huh," after the woman announced that she was a Dryad. Once the room was alighted, Aria busied herself by roaming around and looking at things, making sure to keep her hands in her pocket. She was still holding the vial of liquid that Sara was supposed to drink.

"So, she'll be alright?" Leo asked, just for good measures, smiling as he saw that Sara was starting to wake up. Relief washed over him then and he sighed, suddenly exhausted. Aria smirked, pulling herself away from her roaming to walk over to the couch. She pulled out the vail, looking over at the healer woman.
"Should she drink this now? Or not until morning?" she asked, glancing back at Sara.

"Not until morning. Let her sleep properly for the night" The woman said, sighing.
"Alright, you are free to leave" She smiled at Leo.
"She'll be fine, let me make you up a healing bag, son of Apollo" She busied herself, finally handing Leo a bag, "Here, there's a list inside, in Ancient greek, explaing what each item can be used for and mixed with" She smiled.

Keith walked over, smiling at Leo and picking Sara up.
"Leo, sit in the back and I'll put Sara with you, Aria and I can handle driving" Keith said, smiling at the woman.
"Thank you" He smiled, before heading outside. Carefully, he placed Sara in the back, before lying her down, keeping her covered in the blanket. Leo could sit at her head, placing it in his lap, and then, they'd be good"

"Oh." Leo blinked, standing up and accepting the bag from the woman. He smiled kindly and nodded. "Thanks." he said, slinging the bag over his shoulder. He glanced over as Keith picked up Sara before nodding.

Aria flexed her fingers gently before shoving her hands back into her pocket. "Here, keep it in the bag." she murmured, handing Leo the vial of liquid that Sara would need in the morning. Leo followed Keith out, and Aria gave one final look around before smiling at the woman. "Thank you." she said, bowing her head slightly before following Leo out.

It was dark now, the sun having been long gone. Aria smirked, putting a hand on Leo's elbow to guide him gently towards the truck. He slid into the back with Sara, placing her head in his lap gently, the bag beside him on the floor. Aria unclipped her sword from her back, keeping it on her feet as she slid into the passanger seat. Looking over at Leo, Aria smirked. "Five bucks says he'll be out before we get back on the turnpike." she murmured quietly, pulling her seatbelt across her chest.

"He's already out" Keith laughed, shaking his head and glancing at Leo in the rear-view mirror. "Sadly, he'll be up in a few hours" He sighed, starting the truck and heading back towards the highway.
"Well, what did you make of that?" He asked her, sighing and shaking his head. He wasn't sure, he liked the woman, she was interesting, but he wished the circumstances had been better. He frowned, poor Sara, her mother's husband appeared to have a great dislike for the girl, which he found so hard, considering that Sara was one of the nicest people he knew.
"God damn, poor Sara" He glanced at the girl, she was asleep now, normal sleep, no thrashing, she already was breathing better, but he was a bit freaked that it would happen again.

"Wha-" Aria glanced back at Leo before sighing. Keith was right- the son of Apollo was out cold, his head leaned against a window, one arm wrapped loosely around Sara. She 'tched' before turning back around and sitting back in her chair. Looking down at the map, Aria gently pointed to the turn Keith had to take to get them back on the highway. Maybe by the end of tomorrow they would be in Miami.
"I dunno..." Aria muttered then. "She healed Sara. For that I'm grateful." she said simply, massaging her bad shoulder and letting her eyes closed.
"I'm more worried about why we had to go to her in the first place...." after a moments thought, Aria added. "And what we'll find in Miami..."