ᴾʰᵒᵇᵒᵖʰᵒᵇⁱᵃ [ᴶᵃˢᵒⁿ ᴳʳᵃᶜᵉ]

ο.

ο. Automatonophobia - fear of human-like figures (statues, mannequins)

The King spoke English for the first time, only to tell the three demi-gods why their death was necessary. "Because my Lord Aeolus has commanded it." Aza hoped that perhaps with King's thick French accent, perhaps she had misheard the god, but she knew that wasn't the case; gods had a penchant for killing demigods. This hadn't been the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last (unless, of course, this time the god actually succeeded).

Boreas rose from his throne, causing small, delicate snowflakes to flutter from his body and coat the icy floor. He stepped down and furled his wings against his back, approaching the group. Khione and Zethes bowed as he grew closer, causing Aza to quickly follow their example and silently urge Jason and Piper to do the same.

"I shall deign to speak your language, as Piper McLean has honored me in mine. Toujours, I have had a fondness for the children of Aphrodite. As for you, Jason Grace, my master Aelous would not expect me to kill a son of Lord Zeus... without hearing you out." Boreas turned to Aza, and studied her closely. "And the young Aza-Everett. Ah, my Lord Aeolus knows of you. The young hero who aided the Olympians last summer."

Aza nodded warily, hoping that Aeolus favored her and appreciated her helping save Olympus, but she knew that was most likely not the truth. Gods rarely ever favored the demigods for their help, instead using them like pawns on a chessboard.

"May I guess that Lord Aeolus knows of me and wishes for my... lack of existence?" Aza-Everett asked, raising her dark brows at the god before her. He gave a heart chuckle and nodded. Small snowflakes fell from his beard at the motion, landing onto the icy floor like dust. "The Lord Aeolus has sent out... specific orders for several demigods. A young Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase and yourself."

"Fantastic," Aza grumbled, shuffling sightly and crossing her arms defensively over her chest.

"Aeolus is the master of the winds, right?" Jason asked, brows furrowing slightly. "Why would he want us dead?" Aza rolled her eyes at his naivety - he wasn't used to he life of being a demigod yet, clearly. Any demigod worth their salt had at least two gods who despised them for some reason or another. For Aza, it was Hera, the Queen of the gods, for her adventures with Percy and Annabeth, and the run-in the three had with the goddess. As well, Annabeth's mother, Athena, had never liked the girl, for reasons beyond her understanding.

"You are demigods," Boreas said with a tone of finality. Aza shrugged, used to vague answers from gods - she didn't particularly care why they hated her. But Jason pressed further, and asked for clarification. Boreas sighed, and gave a look to Khione as though irritated with having to explain. "Aeolus's job is to contain the winds, and demigods have always caused him many headaches. They ask him for favors. They unleash winds and cause chaoss. But the final insult was the battle with Typhon last summer."

Boreas waved his hand, and a long, thin sheet of ice appeared in the air. Images of a battle appeared on the surface, as though playing on a flat-screen TV. A giant waded across a river towards Manhattan, wrapped in dark gray storm clouds. The world around him shook with every step he took. Small, flowing figures of the Olympians swarmed around him, hitting the giant with lightning, fire, arrows and flashes of light. The monster had gotten dangerously close to Manhattan on the other side of the river when a massive whirlpool swirled around Typhon, and the giant slowly sunk beneath the waves.

"The storm giant, Typhon," Boreas narrated as the the battle played. "The first time the gods defeated him, eons ago, he did not die quietly. His death released a host of storm spirits - wild winds that answer to no one. It was Aeolus's job to track them down and imprison them. The other gods did not help, did not even apologize for the inconvenience. It took Aeolus centuries to track down all the storm spirits, and naturally this irritated him. Then, last summer, Typhon was defeated again-"

Jason interrupted. "And his death released another wave of venti. Which made him even angrier." Boreas nodded, his eyes twinkling, as though he were happy with all this. "C'esst vrai."

"But, Your Majesty," Piper argued. "the gods had no choice but to battle Typhon. He was going to destroy Olympus! Besides, why punish the demigods for that?" Boreas shrugged, and in a rather blasé tone, explained. "Aeolus cannot take his anger out on the gods. They are his bosses, and very powerful. So, he gets even with the demigods who helped them in the war," Boreas looked to Aza, and everyone's gaze followed. "He issued orders to us: demigods who come to us for aid are no longer to be tolerated. We are to crush your little mortal faces."

As Jason and Piper exchanged nervous glances and fell into a deep, slightly unsettling silence, Aza just sighed and rolled her russet eyes. "It's always crushing our little mortal faces. No offense, but most gods don't particularly tolerate us even in the best of circumstances. Lord Boreas, I know you merely view us as little vessels to run your errands for you and to lead through the maze with pieces of cheese."

"Yes," Boreas mused, nodding his head. He seemingly didn't sense the hostility in Aza's statement - or he simply didn't care - because he said, "You demigods do particularly well at running our errands for us."

"You aren't going to crush out faces, right?" Jason asked when yet another silence settled over them. "You're going to listen to us first, 'cause once you hear about our quest—"

"Yes, yes" Boreas agreed. "You see, Aeolus also said that a son of Zeus might seek my aid, and if this happened I should listen to you before destroying you, asa you might - how did he put it - make all our lives very interesting. However, I am only obligated to listen. After that, I am free to pass judgement however I see fit. But I will listen first - this Khione wishes as well. It may be that we will not kill you."

Aza nodded - honestly, this was a much fairer take on a demigod-god relationship than Aza had before. Many gods were far more active in wanting to kill you. "Thank you, that is very generous," she offered, hoping to sweet talk the god into not killing them now that she knew there was a chance he wouldn't.

"Do not thank me!" Boreas smiled, showing his glimmering white teeth even more. "There are many ways you could make our lives interesting - sometimes we keep demigods for our amusement, as you can see."

Boreas gestured around the room to the various ice statues, and Aza's blood froze when she realized why they looked so hyper-realistic.