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Jason ran, trying to ignore each sharp piece of rock that cut through his bare feet as they hit the ground, propulsing his body forward, fast as his heart faced even faster.
Rain fell all around, quick and heavy on the earth as it turned into mud, thirsty of slowing down his path in squelching steps; a loud alarm to even the deaf, a beacon for the monsters to hunt… for that thing to follow with its intangible limbs and cold cold essence and its senseless, endless dangerous dangerous dangerous enchantment.
Whoever it was, whatever it was, Jason knew he could not, would never stand up against it, the being creating such a primal fear, bringing up the deepest desires to run; a fight wouldn't ever be possible, all he was beside it was prey.
Trees flew by so quickly he couldn't discern bark from passage, so far it was, so wild his mind acted, so Jason closed his eyes and guided his feet by air currents, following the streams and their path to open space and always, always, forward - (away away away from that thing please).
He couldn't fight, couldn't even run from it.
Away.
And as cold, offsetting tendrils perched on his ankles, roamed around his flying strands of hair, always a few inches behind his back, his beating heart for how long? His mind, key to b etter that broken world.
Come here, come here-
And be.
Away.
Safe.
COME-
Danger danger pleASE-
“AAAAAAAHH!” away away ple- (come here little godling), tendrils dominant, everywhere around his chest, lungs, mind, bidding tight and then, “PLEASE!”
As if scared by something, repulsed by his endless prayers to Zeus, Hera, the gods, whoever would listen, the tendrils shot back, burned and oozing of putrid…
…Ozone. Jason felt it, in the air, could feel the tyrant, pungent taste in his tongue and electricity in his hair, playful, worried, ired.
But it was too far, safe and unsafe, unfamiliar, ancient, danangerous.
Cold crept in his panicking heart, beating so hard Jason felt dizzy and weak and just then he realized: he wasn't running, not anymore (the clouds were gathering near, lower, angrier, furious,) his feet had been still all this time (how long? How long? Keep running, kEEP RUNNING!) and his eyes were dropping, heavy.
From afar he could hear an anguished call, a rumble of thunder in the throat of a bull, his muscles aching with the need to answer its call, its promise of safety- (the ozone grew stronger. What was it? Familiar, yes. Was it dangerous?) but the tendrils kept him still - when had they gotten to him? - growing stricter around his body (his soul) and warm. Enchanting vows of protection and love and family and Jason closed his eyes, smiling with its parental voice-
CAAHBOOOOM!
*****
White.
Everything was white, and all his ears captured was white sound.
Ozone.
Safe. Familiar.
Danger danger come here little one darling one, with me, danger, danger, whispered a voice inside his head, and as Jason tried to see beneath his blinded eyes, frightened, terrified with everything (he wanted to sleep. He wanted to lie down and wake up from this nightmare) he saw who- what had caused the explosion.
Ozone. Unsafe. Dangerous. Run, run-
Come back!
And Jason ran. Ran from the cold tendrils with its warm promises and from the electric being, a formless cloud his eyes could not begin to decipher, refused to focus on, too many wings and horns and lightning and ire, a sentiment so strong it could almost overpower the ozone in his tongue.
Dangerous, dangerous (please, please) Jason prayed on his mind, thoughts drifting to a familiar unfamiliar being of thunder that felt so near far away, sobbing under his breath as the ozone grew stronger, desperate and forceful, a firm hand cradling his very soul (warm horrible familiar help) and.
Pulled.
All at once lightning cracked, and Jason could only smell roasted flesh, burned clothes around him as it finished its path into the earth, through him, burning and caring and hurting.
That's it. Please let it be it, it's too much-
But I will clear your pain, little goddling, co me with-
The earth felt cool to the touch, a gentle, comforting barrier on his raw, blistering skin, as if Gaea herself pitied the vagabond figure as he fell face first on muddy ground.
Lightening.
Someone was screaming. Crying. Unsuccessful gulps of air entered their lungs and were banned just as fast. Mud and stone cut into their naked bodies as they writhed, bodies moving in response to the electricity within.
Someone was hit by lightning.
Oh, I'm the one screaming.
Ozone
I'm the one moving.
Ozone
I am the one hit by lightning. Jason realized once he tried to move, mind screeching to run but muscles too fried, scorched past the humane capacity to move (but he was alive still. Any other human would have been well into Erebus by now).
Ozone.
Danger
And now the god of thunder itself was closing in.
Jason felt the being more than he saw it (eyes burned from the light, the lightning, all too painful, scorching, why, wHY?); felt it in his bones, in his nature itself as his remaining soul longed to join its creator, all the while his insides churned at its hasty proximity, terror growing (dangerus whispered the cold voice in his head. Jason wasn't so sure anymore it wasn't his own) stronger but limbs refusing to respond, to flee, as big, newtonian fluid-like hands touched his shoulders, his neck and face, scratching open blistered skin and prying open his scorched lips as the pain urged a screaming opposition, but the being took it as chance to force something liquid and sweet down his throat.
Nectar. He was sure. But it was too much, Will's voice hammering the known warning: never drink too much.
Ozone.
Dangerous
“C-...nt- an't-!"
“You can, it is okay,” answered an ethereal voice, rumbling all the way to his core with something primal and ancient; Jason tried to fight off the being, a cool voice embedded, hidden in his mind willing him to run, as it gathered his wounded, burned form in its arms, but it kept whispering (warm, electric and deep, unlike the silken, alluring cold voice), chanting like Will would when performing the stronger type of healings, still pouring the fatal drink through his lips, still nudging the demigod with too many wings like an animal preening its newborn.
“It is okay, my child, my love, you are mine, and I am your father, your safety, stay still-”
Eyes fluttering open as his skin and tissues recovered at startling speed, Jason blinkered, several times as his eyes yet again tried to make sense of the figure.
Zeus. Father.
Ozone (unsafe), safe.
Zeus, with rapidly changing features, its form adapting to better fit into its offspring’s mind as a vaguely human mask shaped itself around it, thick and thunderous clouds springing from its face, mimicking hair and beard and spreading everywhere, black and spluttering gold every second with lightnings so strong Jason would flinch if he had enough force.
Zeus, with a pained, suffering glint embedded in the two orbs of electric energy which pierced and roamed frantically all over his healing body, as blinding or even more than the sun itself, but somehow Jason could peer into them and not feel the burn, but only warm as it spread into his being, hurt but safe.
“I am here, I will not leave, stay still, it is okay, stay here, you are okay,” Zeus, his father, who had just hit its son with its very own thunder - charred, scorching flesh, pungent torture and burning smell - Jason fistfought the terror away. He wasn't charred, his skin not burned.
Not anymore. He could feel it recovering, weaving tissues back into their place under the force of nectar and the spell of the Healing God’s father.
But he could feel it burning still. Why?
Ozone. Safe. Unsafe. Why?
“-y…hy?
Hands grabbed for his body again, more physical than before, frantically but not ungentle as they caressed his rapidly growing hair, his shoulders, his back, his cheeks with too many hands; not that the god cared for the human disparities as his numerous great wings, each with numbers of anxious eyes, kept them hidden from the world, his eyes and hair the only source of light.
“It had you- I felt it, I sensed your soul fading into nothing alongside it as you ran-” the being- Zeus stopped, fury coming and going, too fast to notice but too strong to ignore. Jason shivered, the God’s emotions too alike his electric nature (safe unsafe safe); Zeus tampered down, finally allowing Jason to push away the nectar. The cup disappeared from its hand and it quickly gathered Jason closer to its head, holding and cooing like one would to a baby.
A very fucked up baby.
The God then tilted its head, a million eyes turning hard and threatening as they glared into his soul, “You ran. From me. Why?”
Because something told me to, because you felt wrong, because you hurt me, Jason tried to mutter, but his vocal chords were still torn, its healing process slower, much more delicate than the superficial skin, and he did little more than grunt.
Without waiting for an answer, or perhaps sensing his distress, the God continued, “I am safety, I am home, you do not walk away from me, boy, my boy, my blood.” It thundered, rageful and patient and everything in between, some primal instinct messing with its head and making it forget its own rules.
Jason nudged it in answer.
The God was warm, comfortable, soft like the moment you start falling into sleep. Jason sighed, feeling his whole body being covered by the protective aurea of his father as he continued, “It would get you-”
Jason closed his eyes, the image of his father towering above, englobing the whole world with safety, finally acalming his racing heart - for surely, what safer place to be than in the God King’s arms? - and luring his body to follow the promise of nest and safety the God's call from earlier had made.
“I had to.”
The warmth started again. A strand of icy cold, a silken thread slowly wrapping itself around him, but Jason ignored it. He was safe.
“Still, I am sorry.”
He nuzzled the humane skin, enjoying how despite sinking his face into it, he could still freely breathe, searching for that peaceful nest its heart deep inside promised; he could taste more than ozone and ire this close: love and devotion and protectiveness sparkled in his tongue, all unfamiliar tastes he could get drunk on.
“It is okay-”
Warm.
Cold
“-ay.”
Co me
“-sleep.”
Sleep
Someone was whispering. Was it father?
Probably. Jason knew no one could try to approach them, not now, not with the God King being so winded. It promised pain worse than death for any who dared intervention.
It promised protection and love and family.
Zeus was still frozen, a marble statue of chaos and death and loss, fatal to any mortal whose eyes fell upon, when Dyonisius found him, hugging the air as he stared down at the vacant space between his arms