𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

02 - mabel certainly feels the rage

˖*࿐ •*⁀➷

AS REYNA LED THE THREE OF THEM INSIDE, Mabel eyes were dragged to the cluttered table, behind which sat two high-backed chairs. The remaining praetor sat in the one on the left, her dark eyes casting a weary glance at the empty seat on her right. 

Hazel and Percy stood on the other side of the table, the son of Neptune eyeing Argentum and Aurum nervously. Mabel walked to the edge of the table, climbing on top and curling her legs under her as she grabbed the bowl of jellybeans— a request made by her when she was thirteen. 

Percy looked uncomfortable and confused, which seemed to be pretty common for him lately. "So..."

The two metal dogs bristled, baring their teeth and causing the dark-haired boy to tense, watching the animals with wary eyes. Reyna held a hand out. "Easy, guys," she told the dogs, causing them to relax a bit. 

Mabel looked utterly unbothered by the situation, digging through the bowl to fish out a green jellybean and popping it in her mouth. Her only thought was of how long this would take, and how long until she could get out of there. Being so near that empty praetor's chair made her stomach hurt. 

"They won't attack," Reyna clarified, referring to the dogs, "unless you try to steal something, or unless I tell them to. That's Argentum and Aurum."

"Silver and Gold," Percy murmured, his eyebrows pulling together in thought. Again, the action sent a wave of strangely painful deja-vu through Mabel, like she'd seen that before and the memory wasn't quite a good one.

Reyna set her dagger on the table, a few feet from Mabel's leg, before shooting the daughter of Trivia a sharp look. Mabel rolled her eyes, setting the bowl of candy on the wood beside her and leaning back on her hands. She set her dark eyes on the son of Neptune, trying to search for any whispers of a haunted past surrounding him. 

Percy spoke up, staring at Reyna with his eyes filled with confusion. "We have met. I don't remember when. Please, if you can tell me anything—"

With his words, Mabel felt a tingle in the pit of her gut, puling her gaze to the air above the boy's left shoulder. She watched the faint outline of a tall girl with pretty box braids flicker to life, reaching for his shoulder like she was trying to grab him before the vision faded away, almost as if it was blown into the wind like lingering smoke. 

The brunette furrowed her brows when no one else appeared behind the son of Neptune, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Weird. Hazel must have seen something in Mabel's eyes, catching her gaze for a moment and cocking a brow. Mabel tilted her head in a eh motion, causing the younger girl to nod.

"First things first," Reyna shook her head, "I want you hear your story. What do you remember? How did you get here? And don't lie. My dogs don't like liars."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Spooky," she mumbled, extending one of her legs along the edge of the table and letting the other hang off the side. 

Percy clenched his jaw to hold back a grin, beginning his story. He told them his experience of his training with Lupa, which sounded just about the same as anyone else's. Fighting, blah blah blah, wolf-shit. Stuff that sounds like a deleted scene from the Twilight franchise, (Mabel was Team Edward). She could tell just from the boy's resting face that he too had perfected the same wolf-stare that she had. 

Reyna seemed to agree that the tale seemed pretty ordinary— apart from one fact. 

"No memory at all?" The praetor's lips were pulled down in a frown. "You still remember nothing?"