CHAPTER NINE:
MELT THE ICE QUEEN

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MUCH LIKE THE OTHER two Boreads, Annais immediately disliked this new woman. She stood at the top of the staircase in a white silk dress, her skin so pale that it was almost translucent. Her black head of hair was curled in a way that reminded Annais of Piper after she was claimed by Aphrodite, her dark eyes analysing the group while she sneered. Nobody trusted her in the slightest — well, except for Leo. He stood taller as her gaze flickered towards him for an instant, a bright and cheesy grin tugging at his mouth as he adjusted his oily hair hopefully. Mel frowned at him, dagger loose at her side, but said nothing while they waited for the woman to speak.

"Father will want to see the one called Jason."

"Then it is him?" Zethes' eyes gleamed.

"We'll see," she said. "Zethes, bring our guests."

Before anyone else could so much as breathe, Leo had grabbed the handle of Festus the Suitcase and bounded up to her eagerly. She glared back at him, baring her blinding white teeth. "Not you, Leo Valdez."

His expression wilted. As did Mel's, but Annais had a feeling it wasn't because her heart had just been broken by this woman. "Why not?"

"You cannot be in the presence of my father," she said simply. "Fire and ice — it would not be wise."

"We're going together," Jason insisted, squeezing Leo's shoulder in support. "Or not at all."

She pointed her nose in the air, lips flattening. Annais almost laughed out loud at the affronted look on her face. It was clear she wasn't used to people refusing her orders, but Annais thought it high time that someone did. This woman had authority, that much was evident by the way Zethes and Cal bowed their heads towards her and lost their independant attitudes, but it seemed to have gone to her head.

"He will not be harmed, Jason Grace. Unless you make trouble."

The air vaporised, leaving Annais with an empty ache in her lungs. Jason Grace. His last name was Grace. She would know that name anywhere. But that could only mean...

"Calais, keep Leo Valdez here. Guard him but do not kill him."

Cal pouted. "Just a little?"

"How do you kill someone just a little?" Ezra questioned, but rather than the usual sarcastic tone she took when it came to the boy's stupid remarks, she genuinely seemed intrigued.

Annais couldn't find it in her to be amused. Had Ezra and Mel not heard what this woman just called Jason? How was she the only one who noticed?

"No," she told her brother with an impatient scowl. "And take care of his interesting suitcase, until father passes judgement."

For a moment, nobody moved. The demigods looked towards Leo for reassurance, not wanting to leave without him. Mel looked more than happy not to leave at all, shivering as the frost walls continued to close in on them. How the Boreads lived there, Annais would never understand; even she struggled with the stinging bite along her skin under layers of clothing.

"It's fine, guys," Leo sighed. "No sense in causing trouble if we don't have to. You go ahead."

"Listen to your friend," the woman advised. "Leo Valdez will be perfectly safe. I wish that I could say the same for you, son of Zeus. Now come, King Boreas is waiting."

She turned on her heel, eager to leave, but the others remained rooted in place. Splitting up was a terrible idea. Every horror movie in existence was proof of that. But five of them going one place and leaving one on their own, that was even worse. Leo didn't know how to defend himself no matter how much he joked around. One of the Mins would need to stay with him, the thought crossed each of their minds and made them gravitate towards each other.

Or maybe two Mins, Annais thought with a sly glance at Ezra. Who knew what she might say to Boreas? She wasn't the best with thinking before speaking...

"I'll go," she decided. "Mel, would you be okay here with Leo?"

"Of course," Mel nodded, idly passing her dagger from one hand to the other. She wasn't the best at fighting, but she'd have no problems if she needed to stick a dagger through Cal's eye.

"Good," said Annais. "Then Jason and Piper, let's go."

"Wait," Ezra stepped forward. "I can come."

But Annais only shook her head. "No. You'd need to be tethered and we don't have time to teach Jason and Piper."

Ezra's face shuddered for just a moment before her eyes hardened. The silent message was clear. Even if the situation came to it, Annais wasn't sure she'd let Ezra in anymore.

"Are you coming or are you going to stand here and chitchat?" the woman scowled.

Annais scoffed, though she bit down every insult that came to mind as she trudged her way to the stairs. Jason followed close behind and Piper hesitated before doing the same.

The upstairs section of the penthouse was just as eerie as the foyer. The hallways expanded for miles cloaked with a light layer of mist to block out the fading sun as it seeped through the cracks they had as windows. The floor was slippery and reminded Annais of an ice-rink, forcing her to occasionally grab onto Jason's bicep to stay upright. He didn't seem to notice at first, but eventually he slipped his hand into hers and held on tight. Annais paused but he didn't look at her. He simply pressed his palm to hers and linked their fingers together. It didn't make sense, it wasn't reasonable, but Annais admired how they fit together with natural ease.

She was forced into walking again when Zethes huffed and pushed the blade of his sword between her shoulders, shoving her forward and forcing Jason to pull her in close to keep her from falling. Annais didn't like it one bit, her cheeks flushing (from the cold!) as she stared ahead pointedly. One glimpse of Jason and she was pretty sure her heart might burst out of its chest, but if she were to look at Piper, it might stop altogether.

Hand-holding didn't mean much to Annais but it definitely did to her friend. Piper was frowning but trying her best to seem unphased as she stuck to Annais' other side, using their close proximity for warmth but wishing to be anywhere but there.

The ice princess stopped suddenly, bringing Annais from her thoughts as she turned to face them. In an instant, her smile faded into a glower. Annais wasn't sure why until the palm of her hand burned, like licking a block of ice and your tongue sticking to the surface. She hissed, dropping Jason's hand to rub her palm against her thigh. What was this bitch's problem?

"Warmth is not a good idea here," she said. "Especially when I am your best chance at staying alive." They kept quiet, simply allowing their hands to linger in the space between them instead. She seemed satisfied with this, turning on her heel and continuing on her way. "Please, this way."

Annais couldn't shake the anger in her chest. Once she was sure the ice bitch wouldn't look back, she inched back into Jason's space and linked her pinkie with his. His footsteps faltered but he didn't pull away. Neither of them were sure why she did it. Maybe it was the comfort of knowing someone else was there, or even just to spite the woman ahead of them, but there was no going back and neither of them particularly wanted to.

Finally, they arrived outside of a set of double oak doors.

"This is the throne room," the ice bitch declared. "Be on your best behaviour, Jason Grace, my father can be chilly."

"Good pun," an unfortunately familiar voice spoke up from behind them.

Before Annais could turn around, Zethes had yelped in surprise and stumbled into the wall to their right. Piper followed suit, though the figure seemed more gentle with her as she knocked her shoulder hard against Annais' own instead. Annais gritted her teeth and dug her heels down, glaring at the back of Ezra Min's head. What the fuck was she doing up there?

"Well, are we going inside or not?" Her smile was devious.

"I would hold my tongue if I were you, Ezra Min," the woman snarled. Ezra merely blinked, and she eventually turned back to Jason. "I will translate for you and try to encourage him to hear you out. I do hope he spares you. We could have so much fun."

Annais' nostrils flared in a way that reminded the group of Festus. But at the woman's smirk, she said nothing, tongue kissing the back of her teeth. He was much better at diffusing tense situations than she was.

"Um, okay," he stammered. "But really, we're just here for a little talk. We'll be leaving right afterward."

She let out a breathy sigh. "Oh, I love heroes. So blissfully ignorant."

Slowly, Piper rested her hand on her dagger — when she found herself a dagger, Annais had no clue — and forced her face into the fakest smile the Min girl had seen from Piper McLean in the months that she'd known her. Piper wasn't a fake person but it seemed she was already getting the hang of Aphrodite's charm. The woman in question would be proud. As would Hea.

"Well, how about you enlighten us? You say you're going to translate and we don't even know who you are. What's your name?"

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you don't recognise me. Even in the ancient times, the Greeks did not know me well. Their island homes were too warm, too far from my domain. I am Khione, daughter of Boreas, Goddess of snow." In time with Khione's declaration, a miniature blizzard swirled around their feet and spun up around Khione like a bird attempting to take flight. Annais had seen greater things in her time as a demigod but Jason and Piper stared with wide eyes, pleasing the woman. "Now come. Hopefully, you will survive your little talk."

The doors flew open with a wave of her hand, allowing cold blue light to pool out of the room and invite them inside. Annais' first instinct was to search for a way out but the only exit upon first glance was the doorway they stood in. There were no windows in the desolate room, purple tapestries instead showed scenes of snowy forests, barren mountains and glaciers. Much like the room beneath them, ice hung from the ceiling so low that it could almost touch their heads. It made Annais' stomach twist.

To make it worse, while the room was spacious, there were dozens of ice sculptures — some in Greek armour, others in medieval dresses and cloaks, even in modern day army uniforms — that stood around the room like guards protecting the man seated in the centre of everything. He stood at the sight of them, and Jason went to greet him before two of the sculptures sprung forward and crossed their spears to block his path.

Annais grabbed at the back of Jason's jacket, yanking him back as the icy pricks stopped only inches before his face. Two seconds in and they were already close to death. Just great. But rather than ordering them to complete the killing blow, the man exclaimed something in French and they stepped away.

"It's fine," Khione told them. "My father has ordered them not to kill you just yet."

"Super," Jason muttered, lingering in place even when Khione crossed the room to join the unknown man.

"Keep moving, Jason Junior." Zethes prodded him in the back with his sword.

"Please don't call me that."

But the request went ignored as Zethes turned his weapon to Annais. "You too, Daughter of Death. My father is not a patient man, and the beautiful Piper is losing her magic hairdo very fast. Later, perhaps, I can lend her something from my wide assortment of hair products. Ezra Min too. She looks like she could do with some help."

"Say that again and I'll rip your tongue out," Ezra retorted.

Annais scowled but stayed quiet, reaching for Jason subconsciously as her boots clunked awkwardly against the slick floorboards. She despised the sudden dependency she had on him, but she knew it would fade once she was away from the off-brand set of Frozen. Annais and ice just did not go well together.

Boreas, on the other hand, was in his element. He sat back in his throne and waited for them to approach. Dressed in a stylish white suit that seemed to be woven from snow, he had dark purple wings that spread out on either side of his sturdy frame. Hair as white as his sons', it was encrusted with frost and chunky bits of ice, evoking an almost disgusted look from Annais. She didn't understand how he could sit there so comfortably with water droplets dripping from his beard, but each to their own, she supposed.

"Bienvenu," the king greeted. "Je suis Boreas le Roi. Et vous?"

Khione went to speak but was interrupted as Piper suddenly stepped forward and curtsied. "Votre Majesté. Je suis Piper McLean. Voici Jason, fils de Zeus. Ezra Min, fille de He— Eris. Et Annais Min, fille d'Hadès."

While everyone else gaped at her in shock — or anger, in Khione's case — the king just smiled with pleasant surprise. "Vous parlez français? Très bien!"

"What just happened?" Ezra breathed out as Jason quizzed Piper, "Piper, you speak French?"

The girl in question frowned at him. "No, why?"

"Girl, you just spoke it. What are you on about?" scoffed Ezra.

"... I did?"

Listening to their exchange, the king started to chuckle to himself before saying something else that no one else understood but Piper, Khione and Zethes. The former nodded at him, smiling nervously. "Oui, Votre Majesté."

This time around, the king let out a fully fledged laugh, his hands coming together in three booming claps of obvious delight. Annais shifted nervously, unsure what to make of him. He seemed nice, but so did a lot of their enemies at first glance. Boreas said a few more sentences that Piper easily responded to, prompting him to wave his hand in Khione's direction in a dismissive gesture. He didn't need her to translate. Just the thought had Annais suppressing a smirk.

She looked miffed but still tried to save face. "The king says—"

"He says I'm a daughter of Aphrodite," Piper said. "So naturally I can speak French, which is the language of love. I had no idea until now. His Majesty says Khione won't have to translate for us."

"Oh, how the tables have turned," Ezra cooed.

Annais looked over at her, noticing for the first time that she'd taken off her sunglasses. She was so used to seeing the dark-haired girl wearing them that she barely paid attention to them, but now she had to quickly school her expression as Ezra's blank eyes swept around the room on the defence. Now wasn't the time to question her cousin's motives. The king was busy sizing up Jason, prompting the blonde boy to release Annais' pinkie and bow before him.

"Your Majesty, I'm Jason Grace. Thank you for, um, not killing us..." Annais closed her eyes and shook her head. Could he be any more awkward? "May I ask... why does a Greek God speak French?"

The man tilted his head, looking to Piper for an explanation. The two had a quick exchange, the man eventually nodding and giving Piper his response.

"He speaks the language of his host country," she explained. "He says all Gods do this. Most Greek Gods speak English, as they now reside in the United States, but Boreas was never welcomed in their realm. His domain was always far to the North. These days, he likes Quebec so he speaks French."

Jason nodded, but before he could ask anything else, the king was speaking again and Piper's face turned pale. Annais frowned, nudging her side, but she refused to tear her eyes away from the king. "The king says... he says—"

"Oh, allow me," Khione grinned with pleasure, prowling around them with the eagerness of a lion. "My father says he has orders to kill you. Did I not mention that earlier?"

"No, you didn't," Annais bit back sharply, already itching to draw her sword.

"Not to worry, Annais," Ezra hummed before the girl could make her move. For someone who usually thrived off chaos, she seemed eerily calm as she smiled in Boreas' direction. In the time it took Annais to blink, she had Penelope's hairpin in her hand again. Annais' breathing hitched as she twisted the edge to reveal a blade. Ezra was threatening a God so easily, even for Annais, who had no qualms with doing what she had to do. It was nerve-wracking. But Ezra had never been in the majority, she didn't care who she hurt to survive, that much was obvious from him. "He won't be killing us."

"You seem so sure of that," Khione scowled, though there was something about the way she still smiled, like she knew something they didn't and took great pleasure in keeping it a secret.

"I am."

The king observed them for a moment before turning to Piper, asking her a question that seemed to take the girl off guard. She glanced nervously at the Mins before nodding, responding in a faint whisper. "Ezra, enfant d'Eris."

"You lie to me."

Annais' eyes went wide. The king had sat up straight in his seat, smiling pleasantly but with fire in his eyes. All this time, he'd asked Piper to translate, but he knew what they were saying since they walked through the door. Her stomach twisted nervously, and before she knew it, she had her ring in her palm. A seemingly permanent spot lately.

"Why do you want to kill us?" Jason asked, glancing between Boreas — who was still watching Ezra with unmasked interest — and Ezra, the girl with her dagger still in hand.

"Because," he said, accent thick. "My lord, Aeolus, has commanded it." As he spoke, he rose to his feet, towering above them in all his glory. Khione and Zethes dropped into hasty bows, prompting the others in the room to do the same. "I shall deign to speak your language, as Piper McLean has honoured me in mine. Toujours, I have had fondness for the children of Aphrodite. As for you, Jason Grace, my master Aeolus would not expect me to kill a son of Lord Zeus... without hearing him out first. However, the same can not be said for a daughter of Hades or—" A faint chuckle of amusement. "Eris, as this one claims is her mother."

"Is that so?" Ezra hummed, for once refusing to fall for the jab.

"Aeolus is the master of winds, right?" Jason cut in nervously. "Why would he want us dead?"

"You are demigods," the man shrugged. "Aeolus' job is to contain the winds and demigods have always caused him many headaches. They ask him for favours. They unleash winds and cause chaos. But the final result was the battle with Typhon last Summer..."

Annais' jaw clenched so hard that the joint began to throb. Boreas had created a flat-screen TV out of a sheet of ice. It hovered before them, flickering images of a battle appearing across the surface. The giant wrapped in storm clouds, wading towards the Manhattan skyline. Tiny figures running from the chaos as several swarmed around him angrily — the Olympian Gods. Finally, the river erupted into a massive tsunami-like whirlpool, and by the time the water began to fall back to earth like rain droplets, the giant had erupted into ash, sinking beneath the blue waters and disappearing seemingly for good.

"The storm giant, Typhon," Boreas explained, watching carefully as Ezra approached Annais' side. Jason and Piper didn't understand, but they did. "The first time the Gods defeated him, eons ago, he did not die quietly. His death released a host of storm spirits, wild winds that answered to no one." Annais huffed, thinking of Dylan and his smug smirk. "It was Aeolus' job to track them all down and imprison them in his fortress. The other Gods, they did not help. They didn't even apologise for the inconvenience. It took Aeolus centuries to track down all the storm spirits, and naturally this irritated him. Then, last Summer, Typhon was defeated again—"

"And his death released another wave of venti," Jason concluded. "Which made Aeolus even angrier."

"C'est vrai," Boreas hummed. Annais could only assume that meant yes.

"But, Your Majesty," Piper frowned. "The Gods had no choice but to battle Typhon. He was going to destroy Olympus. Besides, why punish demigods for that?"

The king shrugged carelessly. "Aeolus cannot take his anger out on the Gods. They are his bosses, very powerful. So he gets even with the demigods who helped them in the war. He issues orders to us — demigods who come to us for aid are no longer to be tolerated. We are to crush your little mortal faces."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Ezra growled. "What were we supposed to do when Kronos came back? Just sit there and accept it?"

There was uncomfortable silence at the pain in her voice, at the way Annais inhaled like someone had stabbed her. Kronos, Kronos, Kronos. It didn't sit right with her but she still pictured him as Luke Castellan, smiling eerily as he tore their home down. She looked to the floor, silent when Jason spoke again. "That sounds... extreme. But you're not going to crush our faces yet, right? You're going to listen to us first, 'cause once you hear our quest—"

"Yes, yes," Boreas conceded. "You see, Aeolus also said that a son of Zeus might seek my aid with the presence of three daughters of the Underworld. And if this happened, I should listen to you before destroying you, as you might... how did he put it? Make our lives very interesting."

"Well, that's one word for it."

"I am only obligated to listen, however. After that, I am free to pass judgement as I see fit. But I will listen first. Khione wishes this also. It may be that we will not kill you."

Jason gave a sigh of relief. Annais wanted to tell him not to let his guard down so quickly. Boreas might've sounded reassuring but Gods were known to be manipulative. "Great. Thanks."

"Don't thank me. There are many ways you could make our lives interesting. Sometimes, we keep demigods for our amusement, as you can see."

Told you, Jason.

But when Boreas' words finally registered, Annais' head shot up. Boreas was pointing around the room at the different ice sculptures. Suddenly, the expressions of pure terror on their faces made a lot of sense. These were real people encased in ice, stuck there for millennia. The thought of never leaving this room made Annais' head spin. She would rather die than serve this family with no choice.

"You mean..." Piper gasped in horror. "They're all demigods? Frozen demigods? They're alive?"

Boreas didn't seem to notice her fear, simply stroking his beard in thought. "An interesting question. They do not move unless they are obeying my orders. The rest of the time, they are merely frozen. Unless they were to melt, I suppose. Which would be very messy."

Well, shit.