CHOOSE A QUEST MEMBER:

PERCY
ANNABETH
➤ CLARISSE
LEO

"We need to take a break." Clarisse finally relented, out of breath with a furrow in her brow.

Suhani nodded, glad to finally be done with the heavy lifting. They eased Chris Rodriguez, whose arms had been slung over each of the girls' shoulders, carefully against the stony labyrinth walls. Suhani brushed a strand of hair out of her face and sat herself down, humming with relief. She rolled her shoulders backwards to stretch out her aching muscles as Clarisse pulled out a bottle of water from her backpack and crouched in front of Chris to help him drink.

Chris's incoherent mumbling died down as he locked eyes with Clarisse. Suhani observed them with interest. From the soft, adoring look on her face, it was clear Clarisse cared deeply for the boy. Maybe it stemmed from the loneliness of being the daughter of a war god, having to put up pretences all the time, having to be the tough guy in the room constantly — but Suhani had never seen Clarisse with her guard down until now.

"He'll be okay," Suhani said, noticing the exact moment a sliver of worry went through Clarisse's eyes. "We're almost done."

Clarisse shot her a look. "You think this is over? We still haven't gotten the girdle, and he's barely holding it together."

Suhani jumped, startled by the intensity of Clarisse's displeasure. "I know that." She gulped, trying to sound soothing, "But we're doing the best we can."

Clarisse snorted. "What, you think you can charmspeak your way out of this?"

"Huh?" Suhani asked with a frown, "I'm not using—"

"Gods." Clarisse spluttered a bunch of curses Suhani couldn't quite catch. "This has got to be a joke. This is a test from the Olympians; it has to be."

Suhani decided not to say anything. She didn't want to get torn apart by Clarisse every two minutes. Every half an hour was enough, thank you.

"Doing your best?" Clarisse scoffed, "Your best? Down here, 'your best' gets us killed. You've been holding me back since we started this whole stupid quest."

Suhani couldn't argue. She hadn't been very helpful, that was for sure. And this was part of the game; Clarisse was supposed to get annoyed at how unhelpful the children of Aphrodite could be. It was one of the player's motives for joining Kronos.

"Listen, I know I'm not a very good demigod yet, but I'm still new at this."

The daughter of Ares rolled her eyes. "Monsters don't care if you're 'new.' One screw-up, and we're dead. You get that, right? You think that weird power of yours is gonna save us when you don't even know when you're using it?"

Suhani shrugged, "Fair enough. I just don't think you yelling at me right now is all that helpful, either."

Clarrise fumed, throwing her hands in Suhani's direction. "That. That's what pisses me off even more!" She inhaled roughly, startling Suhani. "You're sitting here like it's just another day at Camp. We're in a labyrinth filled with monsters and traps, and you're acting like we're on some picnic!"

Suhani sucked in a breath. She hadn't realised that her lack of fear would freak Clarisse out that much. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't been worried about the quest much. To her, the stakes weren't as real. For Clarisse, this was her whole life. She had taken on the burden of caring for both the useless rookie and her crush who'd been driven mad by Minos. Suhani was starting to feel bad. Her calm expression shifted to one of guilt.

"Listen." Suhani took a deep breath. "I already know all of that. I know I'm more of a burden than help to you. I know I don't have control over my powers. That's exactly why I'm trying to stay calm throughout all of this. So you don't have to deal with more than you already are."

Clarisse sighed, tired, but her gaze softened. "I just... I can't lose anyone else." Clarisse choked, turning to Chris, before making eye contact with her again.

"Hey, I'm bad, but I'm not that bad." Suhani joked, "You don't have to worry about me getting hurt. What do you think all of these are for?" She gestured to the variety of shield and sword charms on her tote bag.

Clarisse's moment of vulnerability was replaced by her signature unimpressed eyeroll. Before she could say anything, a sound echoed through the labyrinth. The girls exchange a glance, alarmed. Chris Rodriguez stirred, his eyes wide and unfocused. "No!" He yelled, staring down the hall. His voice broke as illusions took over his senses. "No, no, not again! They're coming! The walls, they're listening! They're telling them where we are."

Chris scrambled to his feet, and Clarisse shot up instantly, placing her hands on his biceps. "Chris, you're fine. You're safe now. Nobody is coming. It's okay. We're safe."

Clarisse turned to Suhani worriedly. Suhani gave her a determined nod, "I'll go check it out. You should calm him down."

"Are you sure?" Clarisse asked, searching Suhani's face for any sign of doubt.

"If there really is something there, he shouldn't get too close." Suhani said. She pulled off a tiny sword charm from her tote bag, and it expanded into a full sized Mycenaean bronze sword. "I'll scout the area, and we can figure out where to go from there."

Clarisse hesitated for a moment before nodding. "If you don't come back in two minutes, I'm coming to get you." Her voice was firm but anxious.

God, she's such a tsundere. Suhani smiled at Clarisse with assurance before creeping down the dark tunnel until she came across a break in the wall about fifteen feet ahead. Her heart hammered strongly as she inched closer to the source of the sound. This was it. She was almost done with the prologue.

Suhani was a bit scared to come face-to-face with Kronos. To meet the Titan Lord himself, to see a deity whose existence was older than she could even comprehend... Sometimes Suhani wondered if it was a waste that it was her in this world ( a silly fangirl ) and not a mythologist or historian.

Suhani could hear hints of conversation now, but the words were coming out garbled, so she pulled out her Nintendo to see if she could read the lines instead. She wasn't quite ready to expose herself to the Titan Lord yet.

Success! Suhani grinned as text flowed smoothly on and off the screen.

"She found out too quickly." Kronos growled. "She has sent her silly band of heroes to retrieve the girdle."

"My Lord," a woman spoke. She was kneeling before the Titan, her figure hidden in the shadows.

Suhani had played the game enough times to know that the unidentified woman was Nemesis, the goddess of revenge.

"The girdle is her symbol of power. Did you really truly believe she wouldn't notice the moment it went missing?" Nemesis said. Though she kneeled before the Titan, and her tone was polite, her words were laced with sharpness.

"You are out of line." Kronos glowered. "I told you to bide your time. Now those demigod brats are on the loose. The Olympians will have their suspicions."

Nemesis chuckled softly, unbothered by his anger. "My Lord, you fret over nothing. The Olympians suspect nothing beyond their petty squabbles. Times have changed since your reign — they are blinded by their own arrogance."

Wow. Suhani thought. This was intense. She wondered if she should step inside when a hand on her shoulder made her jump. She turned around to come face to face with a furious Clarisse.

"What is wrong with you?!" Clarisse hissed. Before Suhani could react, she snatched the Nintendo from her hands and threw it into the darkness, where it clattered. The sound was so loud it echoed. Suhani heard a faint whimper come from Chris in the void behind Clarisse.

"You're playing video games while Chris and I—"

"Clarisse!" Suhani flinched before bringing a finger to her lips. She glanced nervously beyond the corner. The faint voices she'd heard were gone. They'd definitely heard that. "We need to get out of here!"

Just as Suhani warned her, the whole labyrinth pulsed, like it was breathing. The walls shuddered, like they'd collapse at any moment. Clarisse and Suhani's eyes went wide milliseconds before a shockwave of some sort of invisible energy hurled them both against the stony wall.

Suhani gasped, the impact knocking the air from her lungs. Her body ached from the blow, and she must've bit the inside of her mouth because she could taste this coppery tang on the left side of her cheek. "I told you to stop..." She wheezed.

But there was no cutting retort, only silence. Suhani tried to blink through her dizziness and forced herself up, scrambling to the daughter of Ares.

"Clarisse? Clarisse!" She tried shaking the girl by her shoulder, but Clarisse was limp. For a moment, Suhani was still, her blood freezing. She put a finger under Clarisse's nose, muttering, "Oh, thank God..." when she confirmed the girl was still alive.

This is supposed to happen. Suhani reminded herself. Nemesis knocked Clarisse out, took Suhani to Kronos and they gave her an offer she couldn't refuse. This was all meant to be. She managed to somehow steady herself. Her hands stopped trembling, and she got up, ripping a charm off her tote bag. It grew in size until she had a dagger ready, stepping in front of Clarisse's body just in time.

Her ears stopped ringing, and she heard footsteps echoing from the hall as a figure emerged from the shadows. Tall, regal, and sinister, Nemesis stood before her like a lion ready to hunt. Her dark, curly hair and sunken golden eyes evoked a sense of fear from somewhere deep inside Suhani's body.

Nemesis took her time. Revenge was never afraid. It struck at its own pace — but even that brought chills down Suhani's spine. She felt like a mouse toy in a cage with a bored cat. It was scarier than the feeling of being prey — she wasn't being hunted for sustenance — this was far, far worse. She was a roach in Kronos's kitchen, and Nemesis was the exterminator.

"Well, well..." Nemesis purred, "What do we have here? A pair of lost little demigods."

Suhani's mouth went dry. She held onto her dagger tighter, knowing it wouldn't make a difference. "Oh, no, we're not lost." She forced herself to say. Her voice trembled. "I mean, we were at first, but now we know where we're going. It's the opposite of where you came from, actually. We'll just be on our way..."

It was a miracle she'd even managed to get her line out. If she hadn't known what the player was supposed to say at this moment, she wasn't sure she'd have managed to say anything at all. Maybe she should have tweaked the level of sassiness, though... That kind of impertinence worked better for people like Percy.

Nemesis raised an eyebrow, and she hummed with amusement.

"Hmm, I don't think so." Nemesis curled her lips up into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She took a few steps closer, as if trying to suffocate Suhani with her presence alone. "You see, I don't like liars. But you are brave; I'll give you that. For that, I'll give you a choice. You can die here."

She let her words hang in the air for a moment, observing, waiting for Suhani's fear to show on her face, displeased when it didn't happen. "...or... We can discuss things inside."

Finally. Suhani waited for a beat and turned to look at Clarisse to make it seem like she was considering it. "Inside?" Suhani's words came out as a whisper.

🅰🅵🅵🅴🅲🆃🅸🅾🅽 🅻🅴🆅🅴🅻

♥️ ・・・ 𝘼𝙉𝙉𝘼𝘽𝙀𝙏𝙃 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙎𝙀 (🧢 )

♥️ ・・・ 𝙋𝙀𝙍𝘾𝙔 𝙅𝘼𝘾𝙆𝙎𝙊𝙉 ( 🔱 )

♥️♥️ ・・・ 𝙇𝙀𝙊 𝙑𝘼𝙇𝘿𝙀𝙕 ( 🔥 )

💔 ・・・ 𝘾𝙇𝘼𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙎𝙀 𝙇𝘼 𝙍𝙐𝙀 ( 𐃆 )

The only thing Suhani could make out in the cavernous room was Kronos's glowing golden eyes, and they were terrifying enough on their own. Seeing him in Luke Castellan's body... Luke was the best swordsman of this time — even Clarisse had respected him. It was better Suhani didn't focus too much on him and how he could probably snap her like a twig.

The atmosphere wasn't helping either. The icy cold air, the slow drip of water from stalactites — Suhani could sense the cave was much larger than it seemed from how much the sound echoed.

"My lord." Nemesis lowered her head briefly before rising. "This foolish thing is the daughter Aphrodite sent to retrieve her girdle. She has the power of charmspeak. She may be of use."

"No..." He mumbled. "She's useless. But this is strange."

Huh?

Suhani blinked.

What happened to 'We already have the other one, kill her' from Beckendorf's route, or 'We already have the power to turn more trusted pawns into temptresses'?

She'd gotten all prepared to say her line, too. 'You don't have to do this. Whatever you're planning, I can help.'

Nemesis followed Kronos's gaze, which was fixed upon Suhani's tote bag. Her eyes widened, and the golden energy binding Suhani's hands together fluctuated, momentarily weakening. Oh no. A growing sense of anxiety balled up in her stomach.

"How is this even possible?"

"Not another word." Kronos cut her off with a sharp glare.

Suhani's stomach dropped. What's going on? Suhani peered over at her tote, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Just what had gotten Kronos so interested that he went off script?

"Bring me the bag." He commanded.

Nemesis complied, taking Suhani's tote and passing it through Suhani's shackled hands without anyone needing to undo them. She then presented it to Kronos as if it were some priceless relic. He rummaged inside her bag like she'd hidden Zeus's bolt in there.

No, no, no, this was going all wrong! Why would Kronos care about her inventory of all things? It didn't even have anything important, just her sketchbook, water bottle, and some first aid supplies from Camp; that was all.

Suhani's mind went blank, but panic surged in her chest as Kronos pulled a glittery pink device from her tote. Her heart seemed to stop, her breath caught in her throat. How on earth had her Switch ended up back in the bag?

"What is this?" he demanded, directing his gaze back to Suhani. She hiccuped.

He'd noticed something was different about her switch? How?

This was so so bad. Suhani's breathing quickened, and her vision blurred. Why had she ever thought this was a good idea? Traveling dimensions? That was literally the best way to paint a target on her back! The Main Character life wasn't for people like her; she was always voted most likely to die first in horror movies!

"Speak!" Kronos commanded, his voice shaking the cavern, and a squeak escaped Suhani's lips. She opened her mouth without meaning to.

"I... It's a Nintendo Switch, sir." Her voice trembled pathetically.

Kronos stared at her, utterly bewildered, and for a second Suhani felt like she'd spoken in brainrot to her grandparents. Wait — had she just called the King of Titans, sir?

"It's a device I use to play video games. Oh, video games... Uh... How do I explain those?" Suhani trailed off, her words stumbling over each other as her panic intensified.

Kronos gave Nemesis a look, and two big fat rolls of tape appeared in the air before they criss-crossed over her mouth and stamped it shut. She'd never been that silenced in her whole life before, and she was literally a person of colour living in the United States. Suhani was failing to process this situation so hard that she'd forgotten to be afraid.

The deity twisted and turned the device in his hands. His eyes narrowed. "This carries the same magical signature as the girl who has been traveling between realms."

Suhani's mind raced in confusion. What girl? Chubby's words came to her mind then. 'That slimy thing stole my prey!' or something like that. The girl who'd been saved by Doctor Strange the day she'd travelled to this dimension for the first time... Was this her power all along?

That made so much more sense than Suhani just being the chosen one. That girl's powers must have gotten transferred when they'd been supercharged together on the street.

Nemesis didn't seem to look all that pleased with the Nintendo in Kronos's hands. The goddess was all about balance after all... Maybe she didn't like the idea of a random variable throwing off their plans. Suhani wasn't sure if that was good for her or not. If Nemesis didn't need her, she could probably think of a billion gruesome ways to end her life.

Okay, okay. Suhani exhaled slowly. Somehow the tape was helping her think better. Probably because it stopped her from saying nonsense in her state of panic and then overthinking the nonsense she said. She would be able to get out of here the moment Kronos dropped the question.

It was supposed to have ended already. Kronos was supposed to ask her if she would join the Titan army, and then it ended the episode there for dramatic effect. So she just had to prove her worth to him, and he would make her the offer, right?

Suhani tried to speak, but the tape muffled her words. Kronos and Nemesis didn't so much as give her a glance.

Her brows furrowed with frustration. Okay, so first she had to get the tape off her mouth. She couldn't feel that hot and cold sensation on her mouth the way she did on her wrists, so she assumed the tape wasn't magical. As she brought her tied hands to her mouth, Kronos began pouring golden energy into the Switch, attempting to activate the portal.

It was weird — Suhani was seeing everything go down in slow motion — was her brain faster than her body? But though she had all the time in the world as a sharp crack! resounded throughout the cavern, she couldn't get her legs to move. The blast caused some stalactites to break off from the ceiling, and Suhani counted the seconds before they crashed to the floor. Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve... Was gravity always that slow? And why was it pulling her backwards?

Because it was happening so slowly, she hadn't realised that it wasn't gravity pulling her from behind — it was Kronos' power pushing her backwards.

The moment a singular stalactite connected with the ground, time caught up again. Suhani slammed into the cave wall ( at this point, it was odd her internal organs weren't failing ). Kronos and Nemesis were thrown in the opposite direction, their hair looking like they'd been caught in a hurricane or like they'd gotten their fingers stuck in an electrical socket.

No. Suhani's heart dropped. This was exactly what had happened when she'd bumped into that other girl! Kronos hadn't gotten the power to go to her world, had he? They'd just managed to get rid of Thanos, for god's sake!

But the star-shaped portal that always sucked her in hadn't appeared, and their cave hadn't spit them out onto New York traffic yet. Suhani sighed in relief. Her hands lost their binding when Nemesis lost her footing. Suhani quickly ripped the tape off her mouth and stumbled forward. Her legs shook a little, but she grabbed her Nintendo, which somehow hadn't shattered into a gazillion pieces despite the abuse it'd been subjected to, and looked down at Kronos triumphantly.

"Only I can use it," she said, her voice surprisingly steady. "This device — you can't activate it. Only I know how to control it."

Kronos's eyes flickered with suspicion. He rose, brushing dust off his clothes. He took a step toward her, his expression dark. "You expect me to believe you? Why should I trust a mortal?"

Suhani smirked, "Because you have no other choice. If you want to cross dimensions, you need me. I'm the only one who can do it. Still think I'm useless?"

Say it. Say it now.

Kronos's eyes narrowed, but after a long moment he said, "Fine," his voice dripping with menace. "Prove your loyalty. Join me, and we'll see what you're truly capable of."

Her smirk widened into a grin. There it was. "You didn't say please." She said, laughing wholeheartedly, before doing something she'd never even think of doing back home — she held up her middle finger at him.

"So I won't be joining you." She pressed the save button on her Nintendo, and the portal appeared. "In fact, I'm never coming back."

Suhani's vision dimmed as she got sucked back to reality, leaving behind a fuming Kronos and Nemesis — but the portal wasn't fast enough — Suhani couldn't hear what Nemesis was saying, but her mouth was moving as she glared at Suhani fiercely. A golden stamp appeared and tattooed itself onto Suhani's collarbone when Nemesis extended her hand towards her. The moment they were branded, Nemesis's low whisper appeared in her ears in a language Suhani couldn't understand.

But it was fine. Nemesis couldn't reach her in a world where she didn't exist.

AUTHOR'S NOTE ✸꙳⋆

LOL ok i was very upset at how this chapter was going at first but now its kinda funny we're ok with it now. this took 9 months again 😭 it'll probably take long again next time fhdkfhakfh but its fine we're fine everything's fine

hope you enjoyed, would love to hear your thoughts and thanks for reading!

esme