𝙣𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 ,, 𝙟𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚 (slow updates)

chapter three

RECAP——

      "i'm afraid i can't explain, my boy. i swore on the River Styx and on all things sacred that i would never..." chiron frowned. "but you're here, in violation of the same oath. that too, should not be possible. i don't understand. who would've done such a thing? who—"

———

      seymour the leopard howled. his mouth froze, half open. the arcade game stopped beeping. the fire stopped crackling, its flames hardening like red glass. the masks stared down silently at tason with their grotesque grape eyes and leafy tongues.

      "chiron? daphne?" jason asked. "what's going—"

      the centaur had frozen too. but daphne had not? she was shot out of her seat and waving her hands in front of her beloved activities directors face. still, chiron's mouth remained open and unmoving.

      daphne turned towards jason, tears of fear and frustration welled up in her eyes. "what happened to—"

      she was promptly cut off by a different voice. the same one as before.

      jason and daphne, the voice said.

      for a moment, the two of them thought that the leopard was speaking. then dark mist spilled out of seymour's mouth, and an even worse thought came to their minds: storm spirits.

      jason grabbed the golden coin from his pocket. with a quick flip, it changed into a sword.  then daphne tapped the gem on her ring and it changed into her beautiful sword (she suspected that it could also be a different weapon if activated differently but she was content with her jeweled sword for now). 

      the mist took the form of a woman in black robes. her face was hooded, but her eyes glowed in the darkness. over her shoulders she wore a goatskin cloak. jason wasn't sure how he knew it was goatskin, but he recognized it and knew it was important.

      daphne froze, she knew that women. where did she know her from? why did she know her? a thousand thoughts raced through her already scrambled mind. "who... who are you?" she asked shakily. "what have you done to chiron?"

      would you attack your patron? would you attack your queen? the voice chided. her voice echoed through their heads. lower your swords.

      "who are you?" jason demanded. "how did you—"

       our time is limited, jason. my prison grows stronger by the hour. it took me a full month to gather enough energy to work even the smallest magic through its bonds. i've managed to bring you here, but now I have little time left, and even less power. this may be the last time I can speak to you. the voice said. and you daphne, it is hard enough to penetrate the mind of muse child. your thoughts are constantly flowing. heed my previous warning, the sake of the world depends on it. and your memories do as well.

      "you're in a prison?" jason decided maybe he wouldn't lower his sword. "look, i don't know you, and you're not my patron."

      "and you haven't told us who you are." daphne said. "please stop speaking in riddles."

      you know me jason, she insisted. i have known you since your birth. and you daphne? you know me as well. maybe not in this form but we have been acquainted. 

      "but i don't remember you." jason said, exasperated. "i don't remember anything."

      no you don't, she agreed. that was also necessary. long ago, your father gave me your life as a gift to placate my anger. he named you jason, after my favorite mortal. you belong to me.

      "whoa wait," jason said. "i don't belong to anyone. most of all not you. i don't even know you."

      now is the time to pay your debt, she insisted. find my prison. free me, or the king will rise from the earth, and i will be destroyed. you will never retrieve your memory. and dear daphne, help him, free me. free me or the world will burn. and you will never know why you two are bonded.

      "is that a threat? you took my memories? and what do you mean by bonded?"

      "lady what do you mean by bonded? how will the world burn? what's going on?" daphne asked, silently fuming because of all the riddles and threats.

      you have until sunset of the solstice, jason and daphne. four very short days. do not fail me.

      the dark woman dissolved, and the mist curled into the leopard's mouth.

      time unfroze and seymour's howl turned into a cough like he'd sucked in a hair ball. daphne let of a shaky sigh of relief and fear, retracting her sword and running a hand through her already messy hair. the fire crackled to life, the arcade machine beeped, and chiron said, "-would dare bring you here?"

      "probably the lady in the mist," jason offered, his mind still comprehending what had happened as daphne just nodded and sat back down, looking more confused than before.

      chiron looked up in surprise. "weren't you two just sitting? jason why is you sword drawn?"

      "chiron i think seymour just ate a goddess." daphne said. "and if she wasn't a goddess she was still very creepy." 

      daphne and jason took turns telling chiron about the 'frozen-in-time' visit, the dark misty figure that had disappeared into seymour's mouth.

      "oh, dear." chiron muttered. "that does explain a lot."

      "then why don't you explain to us?" she said. "please, chiron."

      before chiron could say anything to either of them, footsteps reverberated on the porch outside. the front door blew open, and annabeth and another girl, a red-head, burst in, dragging piper between them. piper's head lolled like she was unconscious.

      "what happened?" daphne rushed over, jason a step or two behind her. "what's wrong with her?"

      "hera's cabin." annabeth gasped, like they'd run all the way. "vision. bad."

      the redheaded girl looked up and they both saw that she had been crying. daphne looked over with severe concern. 

      "rachel what happened?" daphne asked the redhead (rachel, jason's brain supplied).

      "i think..." rachel started, before gulping. "i think i may have killed her."

———

that concludes the third chapter...

ugh i'm sorry it's so late guys

i lost motivation and the plot for a little bit but i'm back!!!

i hope you guys enjoyed it

it's a tad bit shorter than the last chapters but i hope that's okay...

uhhh also if you didn't know i like kpop and stuff so i might recommend some songs from groups that i like, so you can listen to them while reading the book. love you guys!!!