Heart On My Sleeve [Elisa, pm to join]

[Warren Peace]

Warren slumped a little lower as his secret was made known. Embarrassment burned on his cheeks, and he blinked to let a few tears run down his face, his eyes red and puffy from crying.

The pyro looked up suddenly as Jim slithered out, and he flinched as the air echoed with the dragon’s shock and anguish. Elisa’s hand trembled in his, Maci couldn’t make eye contact with anyone, staring discouraged at the floor, Will moved both hands to his shoulders, squeezing them gently… Warren felt a few silent hiccups jerk his frame.

He concentrated on staying calm. He was here to talk about what happened, not mourn it, though he knew his heart would be grieving for a while. Warren closed his eyes and breathed deeply, his face relaxing. Ān. Peace. Forget the first syllable of my name, forget the war inside me. Just Wren, a little songbird. And Peace, my surname, my Zen, tranquility, warmth. That’s all.

Warren reached out with his consciousness to the human touch he received. He squeezed Elisa’s hand as she squeezed his, silently communicating his gratitude. Will had begun to massage his shoulders, and the pyro relaxed them, concentrating on releasing the tension inside him. Maci leaned against him, a hand on his chest. It was a sensuous spot to be touched; he wondered if she could feel his heart speed up and his stomach flutter as his mind concentrated on her warmth. She trembled against him, and he rubbed her waist as she placed her delicate hand on his.

He jerked his head back up as something big snuggled against him, and his eyes opened to see Jim nuzzling him with his snout. “I’m okay…” he whispered, half to everyone in the room and half to convince himself. “I’m okay…”

[somechick]

"That's actually pretty cool, you know, you being able to summon whatever you find appealing for certain occasions," Nani remarked to the youthful divinity, trying her hardest not to tense up as she primly sat in her dark, dismal seat. She pressed her knees together to avoid the horrible spikes that dared to poke her soft yet firm legs. Her shoes squeaked as she shifted, then, realizing just how loud they were, she paused her juvenile antics. Antics which were done out of anticipation and fear.

Nani listened to the horde in silence when a most alarming sound had her crawling up in her seat like a startled cat. It took only seconds to register that a familiar face had unhinged the feeble door with his remarkable strength, Will Stronghold being that person of course. And oddly enough Quasimodo followed behind him with his usual air of modesty. However, a face Nani had not anticipated, caused her to flinch and press her back against the chair with a loud gasp. "Will, Quasimodo, don't look behind you," she said, almost inaudibly, for fear had captured her common sense like a terrible illness.

She stuttered out the creature's title, but her in-bed friend failed to notice as the monster nuzzled his worn frame. If Warren had shown no fear, just as the others, then this thing of myth was a friend to them as well? Would she not be marinated with pineapple sauce and get roasted alive with an apple in her mouth? Would she still have her limbs in one piece? Apparently so. And, red-faced, Nani sank deeper into her seat like jello, melting into it from anxiety that had threatened to overwhelm her so. "I - I need a vacation," she stuttered, pressing a hand to her face, only to discover that she was suffering from high blood pressure.

"Elisa, you don't mind me getting some grapefruit from the kitchen? It helps balance my system out." Nani concluded before walking out, stumbling over things just to get to the fridge. After a few quick seconds, Nani was seen in the room happily munching on Elisa's precious grapefruit. It bitter-sweet taste made her sigh with gusto. The Hawaiian ate when she was nervous, but it helped her greatly, to ease her fearful compulsions. It was rare to see her so jumpy, but she'd been working full-time lately, so fatigue made her vulnerable to extreme moods.

As the attractive cop playfully scolded the dragon she mentioned something about a teenager. This made Nani's head spin. So, quietly, now in her own world did she speculate the meaning behind her words. Although the Hawaiian was not extremely intelligent, it was quite obvious who the scaly beast was. Nani rested her grapefruit upon the arm chair and ran to Jim, pressing a slender hand to his face. "What happened?" she asked hesitantly, looking into his eyes.

Confused, Nani looked around her. "This isn't helping my high blood pressure, you know," she half-joked, wishing for the death of this suspense. So many questions, so little answers. Whatever Warren had to say, she would support him through and through. Calming down, the Polynesian pressed her temple to Jim's cheek, listening to his adorable puppy-like whining. She hugged Jim's face gently while Elisa took the liberty of revealing the horrible truth.

Nani modestly backed away the moment Jim decided to yawn, then returned to hugging him for comfort. Her eyes narrowed, the girl now rolling her eyes at Death's silly antics. "Hades can kiss my big, round...," she muttered under her breath for only her ears and no one else's.

"He's got some nerve," she growled, but her breath got caught in her throat. She feared the worst, asking this question inwardly, there's more to this? The story thickened, like the dark clouds of a thunderstorm. Nani pressed a hand to her chest, her other hand covering her mouth to suppress a gasp. Macaria's mother did this? Of all people!

The tame Hawaiian released the dragon and perched her bottom on the bed near Warren and the goddess with a blank look in her eyes. She stared at the young woman with luscious blonde hair steely. But something odd happened. For once, Nani pushed aside the fact that she was the daughter of the man she despised (not as much as Tzekel-Kan) and pulled Warren, his beloved girlfriend, Jim, Elisa, and Quasimodo into a heart-wrenching hug. She did not make so much as a sound, only her tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Aw, baby," she told Warren, warmth lacing her tropical accent with unadulterated compassion. "That doesn't make you anything less nor does it lower your value to society's expectations. In fact, it makes you stronger than any of us ever could ever hope to be." She broke away, tilting her head with a heart-wrenching smile.

"Besides, you're still a virgin," she said quietly, touching upon personal subjects; "You only lose it when you decide that you really want it, and because you're in love." She looked to Macaria warmly, then to Warren, hinting that they were indeed the said lovers she was implying. No, she was not encouraging sex; rather, she was indicating that the losing of one's virginity was not merely blunt intercourse. The losing of one's virginity was something more than just a few pelvic thrusts, it involved powerful emotion, the experiencing of love at its purest.

Nani touched the topic lightly because it was obvious the emotional conflict pertained more to the loss of one's virginity rather than physical pain. Warren could handle physical scars, but emotional ones came at great impact, and she hoped that her words offered some support, even if faint. At this thought, she turned her eyes to the blonde teenager who hid her face in shame. Sympathy crossed her sun-kissed features. "Honey, I may not know you very much," she began softly, "but just know that none of this is your fault. In fact, just you being here seems to give Warren the ability to move on...."

She pushed aside her grudges against her father and saw Macaria as her own person - not as a spawn of the devil. She placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"And I thank you for that."

To lift the mood, she rolled her eyes playfully. "Yes, the fat one has feelings."

[Quasimodo]

Noticing Nani`s terrified reaction to Jim`s new form, Quasi offered a sympathetic half smile. It was not to deny it was quite a shock if you weren`t aware of it the first time.

As he`d came to stand right beside her, coincidentally or not, the hunchback gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
It`s alright, he reassured her quietly. I doubt Jim`s going to turn against us this suddenly, he added with a ever so slight humor glimpsing in his eyes.

He could understand, and even relate to her fear of dragons though. naturally enough, the bellringer had learned about those kind of creatures from the old stories about the saints whose main quest was to battle about terrorizing dragons and vanquish them. Te dragons themselves was always devil spawn that kidnapped and\or ate poor maidens and burned down cities with their firey breath, among other cruelties.

But off course, Jim was a dragon only in appearance, not in spirit.
Besides, much of what he`d been teached through Frollo had proven more or less wrong..

In fact there was hardly a less intimidating dragon than the one laying whimpering like a lost puppy on Warren`s bed.

Due to his emphatic and much innocent nature, he found it hard to believe the cruelty that Elisa revealed Warren to be the victim of. First the heartless attack, though perhaps it wasn`t that surprising, the god of death or whatever he was, had always acted hateful, not to mention spiteful.
Then, appearently, this "Persephone" had taken advantage of his weakness to rape the teen.

The word sounded strange to him, how could a soul as innocent as a child`s fully take in the consequences following rape..
But the sight of the pyro`s current state was proof enough that such cruel deeds were possible, and someone apparently had such an ill will against the young boy.

Silently, Quasi seconded every wail, every sob and whimper emerging from the dragon that was Jim.
Not having the slightest idea of what words might help regain Warren`s spirit, he could only hope his silent message of his own sympathy and friendship was received, as he let Nani did the speaking. A speech better than any he`d might come up with.

Though he couldn`t see why he should, if the younger boy should ever need him, Quasi wouldn`t hesitate to be of help and assistance to whom he considered a friend..

[~Elisa Maza~]

Elisa felt a deep pang of guilt that she knew she didn't have to feel. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had just betrayed Warren by revealing something so terrible, and even the rationalization that he had wordlessly asked her to didn't ease the pain.

Her heart twisted even more as the air itself trembled with Jim's anguished roars. Embarrassment and shame had covered Warren's face, and tears were falling down his face again. Macaria trembled, her amethyst gaze fixed on the floor, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Shock and anger twisted in Nani's eyes as she started ranting about Hades, and even someone as innocent and naive as Quasimodo knew that Warren was going through something terrible.

Her eyes filled with tears again as her frame tightened. It was hard to breath, she felt as though someone had wrapped their hands around her throat. A wave of nausea passed over her, but she fought it back. She looked towards the pyrokinetic teen as Warren's warm hand tightened around hers. There was no anger in his eyes, and quiet gratitude was etched on his face. She managed a shaken smile through her tear soaked face, and as Nani pulled everyone into a group hug, she clung to whoever she could reach, knowing that everyone was drawing strength from the people in this room.

She silently agreed with the words of comfort Nani offered to Warren. Warren went through so much in a matter of days, and aside from working through his pain, he was still the same teen she had grown to care for so much. Briefly, she marveled at the fact that so few people knew this side of Warren. If people just took a few minutes to talk to him like he wasn't a delinquent, it would be so easy for them to see that he was nothing like the person they believed him to be because of his father.

She also fully agreed with what Nani said to Macaria. She was truly his rock, his shelter during the storm. She was afraid to think of what kind of shape Warren would be in if she weren't there to hold onto him.

Nani's final comment was so random and unexpected that Elisa couldn't stop the sudden laugh that burst out. Shaking her head, she gave the Polynesian a playful shove.

"How many times have I told you not to call yourself fat?"

Becoming serious again, Elisa reached out to squeeze Maci's hand in gratitude.

"Nani's right." Elisa managed to whisper, though her voice was hoarse with her tears. "None of this is your fault. And I know that if it weren't for you, Warren would be much worse off than he is now. You're helping him so much just by sitting there next to him, and... thank you."

[Warren Peace]

Group hug.
The pyro squeezed his eyes shut as he sobbed quietly, hanging onto Nani’s words as if his life depended on them. It didn’t matter if he believed them or not; it was what he needed to hear. He looked back up at Nani, then at Elisa as she echoed the Polynesian’s sentiments about Maci. Warren sniffed once and stared at them in wonder, letting his gaze travel to the pink goddess beside him. Was it that obvious that he loved her? Their words shocked him a little, since they implied that he needed her so strongly. Warren had never imagined himself in love, or at least in this kind of love he felt for Macaria. It completely depended on her for its strength, but rewarded him with even more potency and fiery warmth than before, his heart swelling and threatening to burst from the sheer volume of comfort and power she gave him.

Warren closed his eyes and smiled. True love. Who’dave thunk?

“I just wanted to talk about what happened to me… Just in case if you wanted to know, or wanted leverage for yelling at certain people…” he playfully elbowed his girlfriend.

The pyro opened his eyes, a smirk playing around his features. “And Nani, if you were actually the fat one, Elisa recently stole your title.”

[Macaria]

The woman who had looked at her with distaste upon arrival pulled Macaria, Warren, and the others into a hug. It was just a bit awkward, considering she barely knew anyone here, but the comfort offered to her, she welcomed gladly. Macaria was feeling quite miserable at the moment....

Her eyes were still focused on the floor when the woman spoke and Maci glanced upwards with wide eyes, a bit startled, once she realized that she was talking about her. Macaria swallowed and took a breath, squeezing Warren's hand and biting her lip. She said nothing....and then blinked as Elisa agreed with the woman, whose name was apparently Nani. She allowed herself a tiny smile directed to the two of them.

They were right, nothing that had happened was her fault, and she was such an anchor to Warren, but there was still the nagging voice in the back of her head that couldn't help but pipe up. Hades and Persephone wouldn't have given Warren a second glance if he hadn't been involved with her, it was her fault for hanging near him, for putting him in danger like that.....he loved her, needed her, but still, she was a hazard to him, they hadn't met, he wouldn't have been hurt -

Macaria silenced the voice in her head by biting down harder on her lip, drawing dots of ichor. She clung tighter to Warren's hand and smiled in a bit of sympathy as he sniffed and cried again. She grinned at Warren as he calmed down and elbowed her gently, and then blinked as he renamed Elisa as the new fat one.

"That's real nice," she remarked sarcastically.

[~Elisa Maza~]

Elisa's eyebrow's shot up at Warren's comment.

"Bite me, pyro. You really wanna piss off the emotional pregnant lady? Cause let me tell ya, right now, your temper doesn't have anything on mine."

"Heck, the way I'm feeling, I'd even make Hades cower." Elisa thought, a part of her wishing she could have Hades and his wife here so she could take Warren's suggestion and start yelling.

Though the indignation in her voice was clear, Elisa's face quirked up in a smile. It was nice to hear Warren's sense of humor come out again. (However twisted it may be.)

She glanced around the room, knowing that there were still a lot of questions to be asked. It all needed to come out, even if the details that only Warren knew would be hard for him to say. Still, she didn't want to be the one to restart the painful conversation.

"Someone else..." She thought "Please..."

[Will Stronghold]

Will giggled, the tension in the room thankfully broken.

“Smart, Warren…” he said and rolled his eyes as the pyrokinetic edged away from Elisa. “Why don’t we all tell fat jokes to the emotional pregnant lady?” Will smirked and bounced off the bed, floating over everyone’s heads for a second before landing in one of the freaky black chairs.

“Go easy on him, Elisa.” He turned his smirk to the detective. “That’s about as mild as his sense of humor gets.” Will quite suddenly put on a seriously weirded-out expression, accidentally recalling one joke Warren had told over lunch. Zach, who naturally didn’t get it, had been asking for them to explain the joke for the rest of the week.

The young superhero shook his head. Warren was the kind of guy that would point and laugh if you happen to trip down the stairs. Especially when you accidentally flew a good ten or fifteen feet when you tripped, and then crashed into Larry, who crashed into Ethan, who crashed into Serge, who crashed into Coach Boomer…

He leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his knees. The room had faded into awkward silence. Will glanced at the floor at Warren’s black feline, who appeared to have stolen the rest of Nani’s grapefruit. He pulled the cat onto his lap and stroked her, glancing between the purring Corbie, the floor, and the gathering of nearly everyone who cared for Warren. Will took a breath, sighing. He broke the silence.

“Hey, um… Warren, I…” he began, trying to phrase the hard question. “If you’re ready, do want to… just, talk about what happened?” Will gave his best friend a sympathetic look. “I know it’s hard, but we need to know. We care, and we want to help… and I want you to get better. But only if you’re ready to talk about it.”

[Warren Peace]

Warren edged away from Elisa, staring at her warily.

“But she is fat. She’s pregnant, you’re supposed to get huge…” the pyro protested, not taking the hint that he should shut up, lest he evoke Elisa’s hormonal wrath.

He fell silent with the rest of the room, and pulled away from Macaria for a few moments to wrap himself in the bed’s covers. He was a bit chilly, wearing only sweatpants and a Metallica T-shirt, rather than his usual layers. He wished he could flare up, just for a second to warm himself, even though using his powers hurt his arms.

Will spoke as Warren snuggled back against his girlfriend. The pyro’s face fell as the awful subject resumed, but he knew that it needed to happen, for everyone’s sake… especially his own.

“No, Stronghold… I want to talk about it. I… I just don’t know where I should start… Just anyone can ask me anything, and I’ll try to answer you. I wanna get better, too.”

[Macaria]

Macaria hugged him as tightly as she dared, hoping not to hurt him. She shook her head at Warren, rolling her eyes.

"Listen to Will," said Macaria warningly, "Pregnant women are not beings you want to piss off." She nodded matter-of-factly. "It's like signing your own death wish."

She let him wrap the blankets around himself, then resumed her clinging to him. Macaria bit her lip as Warren spoke.

There was silence for a few seconds. She decided to break it, hesitantly.

"You can, um....just..." She took a breath, and winced, glancing at the floor. Awkward moment, anyone? her monologue said flatly.

"J-just...start at the beginning, I guess...like...what happened? She got in your room....somehow....and...then what happened?" Her words were spoken almost shyly.

Persephone was twisted, and it was making her nervous thinking about it....her mother, her own mother, her flesh and ichor for Zeus' sake....sheesh.

For Warren's sake, she'd try to keep the embarrassment to a minimum, though.

[Warren Peace]

He nodded, shivering, but not from being cold. Warren edged a little closer to Macaria, crossing his legs in a lotus position and idly wishing he’d paid more attention to the calming exercises his mother had once shown him for his temper. He wondered if they applied to keeping himself from crying as well… he supposed it didn’t hurt to try as he deepened his breathing.

“Um…” he began, swallowing. “I-I’ll just start off when I slipped up with Hades. It was sort of a freak thing, I guess. Jim and I” -the pyrokinetic nodded to the olive-green dragon, who emitted a melancholy sigh- “We volunteered to do a quick mission for the war effort, just to create a diversion at Mala Hide to keep Maleficent off of Elietta and her group’s scent while they were getting the Clear Water… Esme said it’s really the only thing that can kill her for good.”

“Jim flew us over on his solar surfer, we made some noise, broke stuff… everything was fine for the most part until we ran into Maleficent herself, so we figured it was time to leave. I was trying to melt a lock to get us out, and my back was turned, so I couldn’t really see what was happening. I remember that Maleficent led Jim away, sort of like he was hypnotized, and Hades showed up with Maleficent and figured he could incinerate me. So yeah, that didn’t work at all, but then he pulled this move that looked like he was holding me fast with smoke… except it didn’t feel like smoke. It was solid, sort of, and it kept squeezing me until I couldn’t breathe…” Warren stared at the floor, pursing his lips. “Things start to get really hazy after that. I can’t remember much, only bits and pieces.”

“I remember that I heard my arms snap, and they hurt… I kept on powering up, but I couldn’t really stop my hands from burning. I guess the breaks messed something up, and I couldn’t power back down. Hades let go of me for some reason, and then I was on the floor with Jim over me… I guessed that Maleficent had done something to him, because he was changing into a dragon while he was trying to get me on the surfer and out of there. I got away, but I had to leave Jim behind, and I was having trouble flying that thing and staying awake and stuff… My arms really hurt.”

Warren wrinkled his brow, chewing on the inside of his lip while he tried to sort his thoughts. “I really don’t remember much after that. Everything’s kindave blurred together. I just remember my arms hurting, trying to power down, my head hurt, I felt really dizzy and sick and just tired…” He shook his head. “Will and Esme and Merlin were there, and Stronghold here filled me in with what happened when I was asleep.” he added, tilting his head in Will’s direction.

“Yeah, I can pick up where you left off.” Will piped up, graciously cutting his best friend a break. “You made it all the way to Camelot, and you crash-landed right when we were having a council for the war.” The youngest of the assembled group frowned, worry flooding into his round eyes. “You looked pretty bad. Esmeralda and Merlin and I took you to another room to take care of you, since you couldn’t put your flames out… Esme and I used this scrying thing to figure out who hurt you, and Maleficent tried to get in through it or something… I don’t really know what happened, but Merlin took care of it. Esmeralda patched you up, and you sorta woke up every now and then to talk and stuff like that. You were pretty much sleeping for a couple of days, and you kept getting up and wandering off when you got better, generally annoying everyone who was trying to take care of you.” Will gave a small smirk and rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

Warren returned the smirk. “So you finally let me outta there and took me home.” the pyrokinetic cut back in. “Stronghold all but joined himself to my hip. The f****** casts make nearly everything way harder than it needs to be, so he’s just sticking around to help with stuff I can’t do. We’d hang at his house or wherever, he’d drop me off at my place for the night, come back in the morning to get me.” He shrugged and threw a subtle but thankful glance in Will’s direction.

“…Stronghold had dropped me off at my place and just helped me get ready for bed and everything… I stayed up after he left, just trying to draw a little, even though these things sorta wreck it.” He gave his bandaged hands a nonchalant shrug, his expression annoyed. Stupid casts. he thought for the umpteenth time.

“And… I guess she just knew where I lived, and then teleported inside my house, because she knocked at my bedroom door and just came in. I didn’t really understand what she wanted at first. We’d met before, back when Persephone was on earth for spring and summer, and I’d showed off my powers a little. I just… I didn’t think that something like… Um, something would happen. Macaria never mentioned Persephone as someone like that, and she seemed fine when I met her… But… I…” Warren swallowed, flushing with embarrassment and frustration. He’d been fine up until now… The pyro admitted to himself that Persephone’s attack had somehow hurt more than Hades. She got inside my mind and hurt me there… he thought miserably.

“She said that she knew that I’d been hanging out with you- with Macaria.” he corrected himself, barely catching that he’d involuntarily started talking to her, rather than the group. It was comforting, in a way, more like he was talking privately to her… he could get lost in her eyes and pretend she was the only one there.

“So she knew that we were friends, and she said that she wanted to get to know me for that reason.” The pyro swallowed again, lowering his head as his cheeks reddened further. “And she… she also knew that I had feelings for you. I don’t really know how, but she knew that… I love you… and that I hadn’t told you yet, and I was trying to keep it a secret and try and talk some sense into myself. I didn’t really think it was right, or that you’d love me back… Just since I’m a mortal and I don’t really measure up to someone like you. But I didn’t want to make things awkward by saying anything, so I just… didn’t.”

Warren stared at the floor, trying to ignore the tightening in his throat. “I didn’t really feel comfortable, like something in my gut was trying to warn me, so I told her that I was tired, that maybe we could talk later. But she didn’t really listen, sort of said she’d rather be anywhere than with Hades, that she didn’t want to go, and she asked if she could stay the night… Things kindave clicked there. I told her to get the hell outta my house again, and I let my temper run away with me…” Warren pressed his lips together and took a shaky breath, his voice hoarse when he spoke again. “I… god, I should’ve just run… I was so stupid, I should’ve kept her talking, gotten away… s***, I was stupid…”

“Persephone said that you’d never even consider me as someone to love because I was mortal… I stopped for a second and listened to her, and it was probably just all lies, but she said that you’d never consider me as someone to love, since I’m mortal, and I’ll die someday, just be dust in the wind, and I’m not worth that kind of trouble, since my life is so short compared to yours… B-but Persephone offered to make me immortal, a-and I don’t know why I believed her, but I was so scared that you’d never like me if you knew how I felt about you… and with immortality, at least I could wait for you to change your mind, even if it was for eternity…”

He wiped his eyes with the blankets, tears freely spilling out of them. “But she wanted me to sleep with her in return for it.” the pyro croaked, trying to keep his voice under control. “And I couldn’t… I didn’t want to, it would spoil everything… I told her to leave again, but…” Warren sniffed, stopping for a moment. No, not now… Please, I don’t want to cry… It’s over! I’ve been raped, there’s nothing I can do, so stop crying, goddammit… He choked back a sob as his shoulders trembled. The distraught pyro buried his face in his hands, his messy hair falling over his features like a curtain.

Warren spoke through his hands, trying to finish his monologue before completely falling to pieces. “P-persephone wouldn’t leave, a-and she s-started kissing me and yanking m-me back by my hair…” He sniffed again. “She called up vines r-right out of m-my floor, and they grabbed me and tore off m-my clothes and just kept squeezing me… it hurt so bad, a-and I couldn’t do anything when she…”

He hiccupped a sob, wiping the tears from his face with the blankets again. “…She said that I was just her leftovers, and that you’d never look at me again. I didn’t want to do it, I wouldn’t do it, s-so she kept me bound and- god, I was struggling to get out, but I j-just kept hurting, a-and I made everything that Hades did worse…” Warren squeezed his eyes shut, barely speaking above a whisper. “I closed my eyes for most of it. I didn’t want to see.” He sniffed again, shaking. “I felt s-so… damn, I couldn’t think… I c-couldn’t do anything. I didn’t want to m-move, I ached so b-bad, but I felt so s-sick and awful and I went to the b-bathroom and purged… I couldn’t even get d-dressed by myself, I… I…”

There was a hand on his shoulder, and the pyro stopped his disjointed speech to jerk his head up. It was Will, silently urging him to relax. His schoolmate’s cheeks were streaked with tears, too. Warren gave a hiccupping sob and snuggled against Maci, blinking his eyes to clear them. Will plopped Corbie down on the floor, who retreated under Elisa’s chair, and he crossed over to join the sobbing pyro on the bed. The youngest of the room sat behind him and produced an elastic from his pocket, tying Warren’s messy hair out of his face.

[Macaria]

Macaria managed to stay silent throughout Warren's description of what had happened to him. It was pretty easy to keep her voice under wraps, actually. Shock and horror had disabled her vocal chords.

As Warren started to sob again, Macaria sniffed and then started to cry herself, hugging him as he hugged her for comfort. As Will moved behind Warren, Macaria wiped at her tears with the back of her shaking hand. "Warren, oh, gods," she whispered, her voice cracking as she struggled to gain control over her misery.

I can't believe I'm related to these people, Macaria's thoughts screamed in her head, How could they be so cruel?! How could she....

Unable to look at anyone else in the room, Macaria shrank back, her gaze falling to the floor. Trembling, Macaria squeezed Warren's hand tightly.

"I hate this," she spoke, wincing, "I hate them. How could anyone....I don't....my own parents, for Zeus' sake..." Her voice ended with a sniff and another quiet sob.

"Warren, I'm sorry," Macaria winced again, still not able to pick her head up and meet the eyes of anyone else present.

"And you know that everything my mother said isn't true," she added, looking up to focus on Warren, "She was just trying to....to get to you, to bother you. It's not true, none of it." Ignoring the mini-crowd around them, she added in a whisper, "I love you no matter what species you are....no matter what my mother says."

Macaria sniffed again and buried her face in her hands, in a miserable, embarrassed way.

"Gods," her voice was muffled under her hands.

As she sat in silence, trying to control her sobs, Macaria replayed what Warren had said....something didn't sound right....

Wait....

Persephone had said that she ddin't want to be anywhere near Hades?!

That was WEIRD. No matter how much any of the other gods protested, or said otherwise, it was a fact that Persephone loved her husband, very much. So why was it that all of a sudden she didn't wanna be anywhere near him?

Little warning bells went off in Maci's head, but she ignored them, assuming her senses were just....off because of being hit with the sudden knowledge that her parents were sicker and twisteder then she had ever imagined.

[~Elisa Maza~]

Elisa tried for Warren's sake to keep control of her emotions, but as the pyro continued to tell the story of what Hades and Persephone did to him, it was proving to be more and more difficult. Warren was completely helpless, his body broken and bruised from Hades' abuse, and wearing a power cuff that kept him from using his powers. He was absolutely defenseless against Persephone. And while Hades had wounded Warren physically, Persephone damn near broke him completely mentally. Hearing a repeat of the cruel words she had spoken to Warren regarding Maci fueled her anger towards her former friend. It wasn't enough that she had to rape him. She had to try and tear him down by telling him the woman he loved wouldn't want him. Elisa knew the feeling of despair it had to have left him with. She watched as Maci held Warren, and she smiled inwardly. "You were wrong, Seph." she thought. "You'll never break these two apart."

Elisa frowned when Warren mentioned that Persephone said she didn't want to be with Hades. That didn't sound at all like the Goddess she had once found sobbing in her cabin because she was so desperate to see Hades. She took a quick glance at Maci, who likewise, seemed puzzled, but didn't seem to dwell on it.

Elisa shook her head. It wasn't important. Her heart ached as she gazed at the sobbing pyro clinging to Maci as if his life depended on it. Tears streamed down Will's face as he offered what little comfort he could as well.

No one knew better than her the feelings of guilt and self loathing that came with being raped. Warren's words had brought her back to the night of her own attack, and the feelings that threw her into turmoil. Though what happened to Warren seemed so much worse.

"It wasn't your fault." Elisa told Warren again vehemently. "Do not blame yourself for what she did. Nobody in this room is to blame."

Elisa glanced up at Jim as she spoke the last sentence. She could only imagine the guilt the teenage dragon felt. But just because he and Warren had gone to Mala Hide together didn't mean it was his fault either.

She stood up and went to the closet, pulling out another fleece blanket for Warren, seeing that he was still shivering. She knew it had little to do with him feeling cold, but still, it might make him feel better. She draped it over his frame, allowing him to adjust it as she sat down on the bed next to Jim. She absentmindedly stroked him as she looked at Warren.

"It's... it's gonna take some... time... to get through this." Elisa said. "Just... you can't try and... hold it in. If you need to cry, then... it's okay. Don't... hold it in, because you think you're... you're weak if you don't. You've gotta let your heart heal and work through it... No one here will judge you for crying, or yelling, or making mean jokes."

She smirked, trying to ease some of the tension before continuing.

"Just... We're all here for you, Warren. No matter what."

[Jim Hawkins]

Warren...

Jim whimpered miserably, jumping on the sobbing bandwagon. Everyone was crying for the pyrokinetic, hardly caring if they were girls, boys, adults, teens, dragons, humans, superhumans, Greek goddesses... it didn't really matter. Sorrow was a common emotion.

It was just so hard to watch Warren himself cry. He deserved to, with everything and everyone who had kicked him around when he could barely plead for them to stop, but it simply looked disturbingly wrong on him. Jim hadn't ever imagined what the pyro would do if he was miserable: he was always so strong, one would think it was nearly impossible. But now Warren was drowning in his own tears, clinging to Macaria like a child would cling to a teddy bear. Perhaps that was why the pyro's sobbing looked so out-of-place: Warren always acted so mature. When he cried, it was like he turned the clock back on himself, becoming a child again, if only for a moment.

Just why did it have to be Warren? He hadn't done anything. Sure, his temper was like a ticking time bomb, and he could be a bit of a bully when he was annoyed, but he hadn't ever crossed that thin blue line with a calm and rational mind. Had loving someone suddenly turned into a crime?

Jim whined in his throat as he looked at Warren and Macaria. He'd suspected some hidden emotions on his friend's part at Will's sleepover, but nothing like that. He was head over heels for her. The young dragon silently mused that if Maci told him to jump off a cliff, he'd do it with a smile. He needed her like air. Anyone could see that. And it was so sweet and wonderful that Macaria felt the same way for him...

But why'd it have to happen like this? he thought sadly, letting a large and steaming tear roll down his face. Warren, I'm so sorry... I should've never asked you to go with me, this thing's my fault... It's not fair for you, you don't deserve this! No one deserves this... It's just cruel, it's sick...

The dragon closed his eyes as Elisa petted his nose, trembling under her touch. Thanks... he thought, silently showing her his gratitude. At least Warren had her and Maci and Will and Nani and Quasi... heck, he could lean on whoever he wanted until he was better. Even though he was a loner, Warren had more friends than he thought.

[Quasimodo]

Quasi honestly had no idea what to feel. Off course the whole situation, and the knowledge of what happened to Warren was saddening, to put it mildly.
Yet the clear affection and love he could observe between the teen and the pink goddess made it oddly sweet. To see how she helped him through his misery, how they helped each other, made the hunchback`s heart ache in a different, bitterly sweet way.
Somehow it reminded him of that night so many months ago when coincidence had paired him up with the Atlantean beauty, Kida.

Or had it really happened? he was starting to think it a mere dream. Their time had been so short, and now, months had passed without any sign of her. Oh well, what`d he expected? he let out a small sigh.

His mind returning to the present, Quasi`s heart held no jealousy, despite his own broken dreams. The two lovers were a heart melting sight, and the ever so tiny hint of a smile appeared on his face for a short second, glad for his friend`s sake, to have her support.

The redhead shifted uncomfortably as Warren and Will told the whole story, from the attack in Mala hide, to the events when Persephone had appeared in Warren`s house,

..And there was nothing he could do other than at least attempting a smile smile through his own tears, to assure the pyro he as well stood entirely on his side, and wished nothing more than help ease his pain.
And Quasi could clearly see the only one who truly was capable of this task was Macaria.

Quasi`s innocence danced on the windowsill, threatening to flutter away with a teasing smirk on its lips as he thought all the information over.
Not only had some creep attempted to take Warren`s virginity away somehow, but Macaria kept referring to both attackers as her parents.
How twisted was that?

What parents could do such a thing, he questioned silently to himself.

Himself, he had been emotionally and mentally abused and humiliated as long as he remembered, yet somehow, as a miracle, he managed to keep his innocence, even after he discovered the truth about Frollo and his hatred towards his people. And him.
Even after facing this evil, he still had no idea of evil true nature, and how it was capable of.. this!

It was not only Warren on Macaria that had their inner demons to fight after this.