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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"sit, madelyn."
maddie curled up on the corners of a sofa and looked at the centaur. chiron had approached her after grover's meeting and insisted they talked, so leaving her brother to deal with the cabin inspections, she followed chiron to the big house, where they now sat in the living room, a small room with a fireplace and several sofas that surrounded a coffee table. the sun cast a golden glow in the room that made it look even homelier.
"how are you?" chiron asked kindly.
after sharing her problems with silena, maddie felt much better, now that she no longer felt the burden on her shoulders. so, she smiled at chiron. "alright, i guess."
"good. percy has, ah . . . informed me of what happened at goode."
maddie felt her stomach drop. "oh . . . that."
"how are you feeling?"
"what?" maddie asked sharply. she had expected a telling-off, not a checkup.
"well, percy told me how you stayed behind to put out the fire, and how you were coughing the entire way here . . . would you like to go to the infirmary? i'm sure lee, or kayla could help you."
"oh, uh . . . sure, i'll pop in later. is there anything you needed, chiron?"
the centaur suddenly grew serious. "yes, actually. well, when percy told the events of today, he mentioned how you . . . did something."
maddie furrowed her eyebrows. "uhm, what?"
"he told me that while you were fighting the empousa, you seemed to . . . make blood come out of her mouth, is that correct?"
"oh, that," maddie said, sitting up straighter. "chiron listen, i don't know what happened, i just—"
"it's alright, i'm not berating you for anything, i promise."
"oh."
"madelyn, are you aware of what exactly it was that you did?" chiron asked her.
maddie twisted a strand of her hair nervously. "not really. all i remember is kelli— the empousa going to attack me, and i just sort of . . . panicked. i raised my hands and then it just kind of happened."
chiron studied her for a moment, then sighed. "i'm sure you must know by now that being a child of the sea god has a lot of advantages, with your abilities to control water."
"er . . . yeah, they're . . . cool, i guess?"
"but know this maddie," chiron said, the tone in his voice slightly scaring the girl. "it also comes with it's cons. the power you possess is strong beyond words, dangerous when lost control of. what you did back at goode, that was something we call blood-bending. the act in which the person can manipulate the water inside the blood of another, and bend it to their will."
