𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒༄ • Jᴀsᴏɴ Gʀᴀᴄᴇ

Chapter 24

When she'd look back on this, she'd say she was paying attention. That her ears suddenly hadn't emptied of all sound, and that her vision hadn't narrowed down to one small object that lay in the palm of her hand.

She could faintly hear Jason, Piper and Leo talking to Aeolus, but it was as if there was glass panel separating Freya from her friends. Their voices where muffled, and instead, all she heard was a faint static noise.

It sounded like; Percy Percy Percy Percy

Was he ok? Was he alive? Oh please let him not be dead.

A gentle nudge against her shoulders made her look up. Leo was looking at her, his eyebrows pulled together in concern. She knew that this couldn't have been easy for him either- whatever that paper that he got from Aeolus meant, it couldn't be good if it bothered Leo. So, she appreciated that he was making an effort to see if she was alright. Maybe he was repaying a debt from that time when Festus had broken down and Freya had comforted him.

The thought made her smile weakly.

"Alright?" Leo whispered.

"Yeah, uhm" She swallowed. "Yeah, fine."

He sighed, and Freya knew he didn't believe her. He himself looked resigned. "This is all shit, isn't it?"

"No kidding," She huffed out a laugh.

Now that the world around her was staring to form once more, she remembered that she was one of the quest leaders. Which meant that she should be probably be talking to Aeolus too. She turned towards the god and saw that Jason and Piper had that covered.

"-Yeah," Jason was saying. "We need to find the lair of Enceladus. "

Aeolus's smile melted off his face. "The giant? Why would you want to go there? He's horrible! He doesn't even watch my program!"

Piper held up the photo. "Aeolus, he's got my father. We need to rescue him and find out where Hera is being held captive. "

"Now, that's impossible," Aeolus said. "Even I can't see that, and believe me, I've tried. There's a veil of magic over Hera's location—very strong, impossible to locate. "

Freya cleared her throat. "She's at this place called the wolf house, we think."

"Hold on!" Aelous put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "I'm getting something! Yes, she's at a place called the Wolf House! Sadly, I don't know where that is. "

"Helpful," She muttered.

"Enceladus does," Piper persisted. "If you help us find him, we could get the location of the goddess—"

"Yeah," Leo said, catching on. "And if we save her, she'd be really grateful to you—"

"And Zeus might promote you," Jason finished.

Freya grinned, a flicker of hope burning inside of her. "Wouldn't that be nice?" She told Aeolus trying to sound as appeasing as possible.

The god's eyebrows crept up. "Why yes that does sound- a promotion? And all you want is the giant's location?"

"Just one teensy little address," Added Piper smiling sweetly, the charmspeak in her voice felt from a mile away.

"Well, if you could get us there, too," Jason amended, "that would be great. "

Mellie clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh, he could do that! He often sends helpful winds—"

"Mellie, quiet!" Aeolus snapped. "I have half a mind to fire you for letting these people in under false pretenses. "