Blessings from Khaos

|There is always madness in love.|

Lea raised a brow. "You're not dead?"

"He probably has a concussion," Medea said, leaning in closer to him.

Magnus groaned once more, sitting up a bit. Lea reached out to steady him. "Do you know first aid or something," Medea asked.

The only first aid Lea knew was how to clean a cut and slap a band aid on it. Why would she need to know first aid? And be around needles? Ha! Lea would rather die. She was terrified of needles and blood made her squeamish.

Lea ignored her. "Hey, Magnus. My name is Leaneira. I'm a—" Oh, great. If she would never hear the end of this. "—friend of Annabeth. Your cousin?" He looked a whole lot different than the picture. His hair had grown out a bit and he was in desperate need of a retwist. He was a bit scrawny, with a concave chest, sticking-out ribs and very pale skin, to the point that his blue veins were clearly visible. He had definitely been in the maze longer for weeks, but... why was he still alive?

Unless Lea's theory was correct and Luke was trying to break him so that he could join the other side which... well, Alabaster liked to claim that Lea was dramatic and would do well in theatre but sometimes even she didn't believe the bullshit she spewed.

He also had a scar of his left palm; or well, he had a soulmark from the way that Medea choked the moment she saw it.

Which... was she using the wrong pronouns? She thought Magnus was a dude, but maybe he was secretly trans and hadn't come out yet? Only females got their marks at twelve and males got theirs at fifteen and Lea was sure that Annabeth said the boy was a year younger than them.

"I..."

"Medea?"

"What's your name again," Medea asked, looking up at the person. Lea's breath caught in her throat as she saw the look in her eyes. It was like like her world just tilted and focused like not dissimilar to a camera lens focusing on a target. She saw that look every time Hermes looked at her and when Drew and Ethan started acting as if they were only two people in the universe.

"Magnus," he coughed. Lea fiddled with her bag, wishing she had the forethought she bring a few healing potions that were suited for mortal consumption. "Magnus—"

"—Chase," Medea finished. There was something filled with longing in her voice. "I thought...Mother... she has a deal." Her voice was thick as she stared at his hand. "My siblings and I... we're not supposed to meet our soulmates until we're twenty-one."

Lea heard that before. She was just thinking about it... "Unless they're about to die."

Medea flinched, turning her eyes onto Magnus.

"I don't have my soulmark though," Magnus stated, but there was something in his voice that sounded like he wanted to believe her. "And how can your Mother do that?"

"She's a goddess," Medea stated absently, pulling up her shirt showing a very large image of a Witch's Knot against the side of her ribcage. "I've met some of mine already though. They don't know it but you..." There was a name on each point. Danielle Campbell. Pranjal Gupta. Medea Williams. And one Magnus Chase.

"Gods aren't real," came the immediate denial.

I'm witcha when you're right, buddy Lea thought, but aloud, she said: "What do you know about the gods and mythology?"

"Uh, not much. My mom had a picture book she used to read me when I was little. And aren't there a couple in some comics and tv shows? Like Thor and Wonder Woman?"

Lea snorted. "Those shows... ridiculously inaccurate. The real gods of Olympus are much more powerful, much more terrifying than anything Hollywood could concoct."