𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇, Clarisse la Rue

𝐢𝐢. saving little boys from dragons

STRENGTH
━━ act three, chapter two.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

   NABI DIDN'T KNOW HOW LONG SHE HAD BEEN WALKING FOR. Her feet were really sore, and she felt like she was getting absolutely no where—the myths really weren't joking when they said the Labyrinth was endless.

At first, Nabi had wandered around aimlessly, and then when that didn't work, she placed a hand on the left wall as she continued travelling along. But the walls began to shift, and what was once solid concrete had turned into long corridors. So, she gave up on that entirely. But through her aimless traversing, Nabi had stumbled across a few random rooms, too. A room with a table and an abandoned tea set, with butterflies floating about; an odd room with a singular bed and a carousel; and there was a bunch of other bizarre and wacky things. Sadly, no exit, it seemed.

Now? Well...

"Hello?" Nabi called out, "Uhm, anyone?"

Oh, who was she kidding? Nobody would be here, apart from Luke's men, supposedly, and she did not want to bump into them. Nabi made an aggravated sound, the anger bubbling past her throat. What was she meant to do? Clarisse was probably waiting for her, and she was really wanting that spaghetti. Gods, she was really fed up with...

   There was a faint, shimmering image of man, almost translucent, the same way the ghosts that Nabi would summon seemed. His back was facing Nabi, and she mustered out a hesitant, "Excuse me, sir?"

When he shifted around, Nabi could see that he was short and stubby, with scrawny legs and arms that were the colour of a sickly orange, and a big loincloth worn around his waist. His hair was a little... ratty, sticking up in multiple directions.

"Eh?" He blinked, and then his eyes widened.

"Sir," Nabi said, "do you know a way out of here? I don't know— hey!"

He turned on his heel, sprinting off. What in the Hades? Nabi huffed, and decided to chase after the man.

   "Come back!" She cried.

   Somehow, though, whilst chasing him, he had swivelled past a corner and disappeared. But Nabi had collided with something else—stumbling and rolling onto the ground.

   She groaned, lifting her head up.

   "Watch where you're going!"

   A boy snapped at her, having been the thing she had barrelled into. He was... really, really emo. He had shaggy, messy black hair and eyes that were even darker. It didn't help that he seemed pretty pale, and that he was wearing dark clothing too—black jeans and a slightly oversized aviator jacket.

"Woah, sorry?" Nabi blinked, getting up.

Suddenly, there was a roar behind them.

It was a giant, watchful serpent that glared menacingly at the two of them with piercing, yellow eyes, baring giant claws. When it opened its mouth, Nabi could see that it had three tongues, with teeth as sharp as razors, and scales of a polished obsidian colour. Nabi's eyes widened. It was the Colchian Dragon—the original guardian beast who protected the Golden Fleece. She had wondered why it wasn't protecting it on Polyphemus' Island, and now, with it in the Labyrinth face to face with her, she knew why.