New York City

@[G] Krystal Jung Sehun spent the previous night staying up late, barfing into his bucket (yeah, that's right, bucket because Sehun was feeling sort of festive that night) of sour cream and onion potato crisps as he watched a Cameron Diaz rom-com—something that seemed like a brilliant way to spend a school night up until he woke up the next morning at it's-too-early-in-the-morning am with four hours of sleep. That morning, Sehun attempted to multi-task within the span of fifteen minutes before he was late (and detention is something he would like to avoid for a change). He made it out of the house with stale toast held between his teeth, his black sweater half on, right sock barely touching his ankles and shoe laces undone. This resulted in Sehun tripping multiple times (all in front of a bunch of high school freshmen who laughed at his misfortune whilst he coughed up his lungs) as he weaved in and out of the crowd at the train station. Sehun's morning was a whirlwind of embarrassing accidents and so for the rest of the day, Sehun was a cranky teenager with temperamental, raging hormones so anything could easily anger the boy including the things that he wouldn't normally be offended by.

At the moment, he was stuck in an agonisingly boring class with a substitute teacher that never seemed to stop droning on and on and on about her many life stories. Sehun was the type of kid who genuinely tried to listen to a teacher but honestly, this was too damn boring and like damn, Sehun just wanted to bang his head against the desk enough times so that he'd die and not have to listen to her story about her failed marriage. Damn it, Sehun wanted so bad to knock himself out and sleep. So he did. Or at least tried to.

His luck being his awfully terrific luck, Krystal Jung entered the classroom and conveniently sat down next to him, proceeding to rant about the tardiness, eccentricity of Sehun himself. It got to a certain point where Sehun didn't know how to politely interrupt her and inform her that one, hello, his name is Oh Sehun, two, he's definitely not weird so eff you with a capital F and three, Sehun did not come up with three yet.

"Yeah, hi, _____ you too," Sehun wanted to say when Krystal finally shut up as she realised that she was talking crap about him /to/ him but instead, what came out was a highly defensive and shrill 'my nose is not big, your face is big, okay, my nose isn't big, you are'.

With his easily-offended nature coupled temperamental, raging hormones, Sehun was more like a 12.9 year old trashy princess capable of producing a salty, pathetic ocean of tears. Sometimes, Sehun was just really sensitive, just sometimes.

@[R] Oh Sehun Krystal was officially having a rotten luck.

Starting from how she overslept, to how her stepsisters pulled up another stupid prank early in the morning just as when she was ready to leave (really, having to be bathed with a bucketful of mud as you are to leave the house isn’t fun at all), this day was obviously not one of her best days. At this, she finds herself wondering whether she had done something stupid for the past few days for her to deserve such a luck. It didn’t even help knowing they were about to have a major quiz in math, and by the time she was able to finish readying to leave for the second time (apparently, before she opens the door out of her room, she had to double check whether there’s another prank those dumb duo pulled up once again), she was sure she already missed the quiz.

Great. Just Great.

The moment she arrived at school, she was unfortunately late even for her second period (as if being absent for her first period wasn’t unfortunate enough). And oh, she could just be thankful that the teacher had her back turned against the class; that way she was able to sneak in. Her classmates were either snorting or chortling—but she could care less, as long as the teacher doesn’t turn around.

With a sigh of relief, Krystal smiled in triumph.

It was short-lived, though, her happiness. Dang, was this class so boring. Gods, why didn’t she even think of going straight to the cafeteria instead of attending her class? Oh, gods. Arms crossed, she huffed. Might as well use some distraction. Looking around, she caught a glimpse of an empty seat. Her eyebrow arched; Oh Sehun, missing a day in class?

“Sehun didn’t go to school today? Hmm, I wonder,” she muttered, “Do you think he cut classes? That boy, seriously. He’s so weird, don’t you think? Well, okay, he’s kinda cute, but gods. He always looks like he’s been ran over by a truck or something…” Little did she know that the boy she’s talking about was actually her new seatmate, and that the one who wasn’t in class today was actually her previous seatmate. “And his nose is big, don’t you think—” she turned to the other side, and only then did she realize how Sehun was sitting just right beside her.

“Oh. Hi.”

Looking at the two of them exchanging the item, it seems like Sunggyu is going to go for another way round and catch with them later on.

"Wait a bit. You guys should have some of those too... wait." Sunggyu's words snapped Yongguk from his own mind-talking, and looked at his cousin went to the room and bringing back two small pockets. "Drachmas?" He took a step and grabbed one small pocket and slipped it inside his jeans pocket. "You better get her back and catch up soon. But still, be careful." Yongguk looked back to Krystal and nodded his head towards the door. Without saying another words, he walked to the door and turned the doorknob open. "Which part of the east..? Long Island? That's the only place that popped up in my mind." He asked Krystal, unsure where to go next.

"Yeah, I know." Sunggyu nodded, knowing Yongguk was right. He didn't know how to get to Ailee, though, and unless whoever abducted her gave him a hint, he was as lost as could be. But considering how he was in a quest himself, even if he knew, he couldn't goㅡ

"You should save her," Krystal said, which made him look at the demigoddess' eyes hesitantly, even until she gave him the compass. Why was it hers, then, not his item? Was this the right choice?

But honestly, being familiar with prophecies, he already knew that whatever will happen, will happen. Everything will come into place... and taking a deep breath, he nodded.

"Alright... thank you, Krystal." He said, and suddenly an idea popped up in his mind. "Wait a bit. You guys should have some of those too... wait."

Disappearing back into his room, he took his belongingsㅡand when he came back, the small pocket containing the drachmas was in his hand, held out for any of the other two to take.

"Here. I took my share already, they're in my pocket. Hopefully this'll be enough."

[ What am I to do with my own item lol xD okay okay, noted though. I get a general idea of it already. xD ]

[ okay so just write anything guys like - read through our last posts and copy stuffs there so you have something to write???? lol idk but yeah if you get my point. I'm starting to lose my muse here as well - but because we have a quest, we must push through until we're done. hopefully we finish this soon. so i guess we'll have to skip through some parts and keep from blabbering nonsense. and uhm just get straight to the point?? lol yeah. yeah. ok i'll stop now. ]

Krystal was silent for a moment.

The way Sunggyu spoke—the way his voice sounded… she knew Ailee is important to him. She didn’t want to interfere between them. But sometimes, to do great and the right, you must do something wrong. And sometimes, you just have to follow your heart. Standing straight, she approaches the older and places a hand on his shoulder.

“You should save her,” she says, her face determined. “There is a reason why you were there to witness the scene.”

She didn’t even know what she was saying anymore. She needed Sunggyu, because he’s one of her supposed to be comrades. But Ailee needed him, too. Taking out the compass from Krystal’s pocket, she takes the lad’s hand and presses the circular metal into his palm. “Use this. You know what, I just actually found out the purpose of that metal. It’s no ordinary compass.”

“Yongguk and I will continue the journey to wherever Hecate’s sword is. If anything goes wrong, send us a signal.” What signal? She had no idea. But given the infinite possibilities they had as demigods, she doubted there won’t be any.

For once, she really felt like the leader.

[ uhm appa so you’ve watched the sea of monsters right?? Let’s just say the compass is like the teleporting thingy Luke had xD but uhm like—since you don’t know the abductor of ailee yet maybe you’ll take time before you use it or smth. Omfg what am I saying rlly ]

Yongguk checked the gun blade's magazine, whether he need to load another bullets. He looked at his cousin before moving to Krystal. He definitely had no idea where to go. "Krys, is the compass did something weird? Perhaps, hint?" He asked. He looked agh the clock, almost six in the morning which means day two will start soon. "The sun will rise soon," He slung his duffel bag onto his shoulder, shutting it close with a quick pull on the zip. "We better move."

"Cous." He called Sunggyu. "She's a strong one. I know it. We just finish this soon, and get her."

[ayyyy i really don't know what to write OTL]

"Ye—Ailee, I mean... aish. I don't know what's happening." Sunggyu sighed in frustration. "I just IM-ed her earlier before I went to shower and..."

The male demigod recounted what he had seen earlier, and tried to describe it as clear as he could—it wasn't hard though, when all of the pictures kept replaying inside his mind, each second of it bringing a new pang of pain and uncertainties. He didn't know what to do—all he could was just to continue.

"...and they're gone. Just like that."

Shaking his head slightly, he sat down on a couch, looking down. He honestly had half a mind of going to look for her, but... where? And yet with every second he spent, the more danger Ailee could be in—and he couldn't take it either.

"I... don't know what to do now."

As soon as Yongguk walked away, as much as she needed more information, she had to move quickly. Of course, something negative is bound to happen sooner or later, she should have known it much earlier. But never had it occurred to her that whatever might happen would be /this/: camp being breached and someone being abducted. She expected if there’s something bad to happen, it would happen to them, the quest takers themselves—not to anyone who’s not even anywhere close to their current location. But then again, there must have been a reason why. Perhaps, some… connection.

Shouldering her bag, she walked out of the room, her hair pulled up into a pony tail and her bag slung on her shoulder. In the living room, she spots Sunggyu and immediately approached the other.

“What happened?” she asks, pertaining to what Yongguk had recently told her about. It was barely even dawn – yet here they were, trying to figure things out. Or at least, about to figure things out, considering how Krystal just woke from her own nap. She didn’t intend to tell her comrades about what she had seen in her dreams, knowing how they had nothing to do with it.

The dream was from the goddess, she knew. From /that/ goddess—the same goddess who had them leaving camp for three days to do her a ‘little’ favor. And once before she had promised Krystal the information she seeks—and the girl figured this may be a part of it. So she chose not to tell anyone about it. At least, not yet. Not for now that the information is not anyone’s concern but hers.

"Who got what?" That question escaped from Krystal and before he could answer that, she bombarded him with another more few questions. He gritted his teeth and turned his head to the side as he saw Sunggyu's shadow walking closer to them. "Myungjae took her. Go ask Sunggyu." He said, then rushed to the room where he put his stuff. He quickly packed his stuff inside his duffel bag and reached for his weapon then placed it on the strap holder right on his side.

"I don't know whether the camp knows about this." He walked pass the rooms and went to the toilet, grabbing all the medicines he probably need for the next two days ahead. "And I also don't know if this is the part of the quest or not, but we better finish this soon and help the camp to get her back."

Ailee was still parrying the attack, but the question was still stuck in her mind.

"What in Olympus' power are you saying, Khione?!" The demigoddess asked, staring into the other female's eyes while doing so. In return, the icy stare preceded her answer. "Revenge, demigod. Is that not what you hold?" A smirk followed. "I want you to avenge me from those demigods who disrespected me and defeated me. I want to get even."

As more words came out of the female's lips, the weaker Ailee's resistance became.

"You of all people - of all demigods - know about this. This is what you are made of." Khione continued, and with her words, she gradually pushed against the younger female.

And try as Ailee might, Khione's next words had sealed her doom.

"And right now, I ask you, Ailee. Child of Revenge. Have revenge on those quest takers for me. Because I won't rest until a death is served equating to my own."

The next moment, Ailee was down on the icy grounds of the room, unable to move. Her weapon returned to being a brooch, and her eyes were glazed but unfocused. Myungjae had moved towards the female and picked her up to make her lie again on the bed. At this, Khione just smirked before saying "I will make her rise at the right time." and turning to Myungjae, she leaned over and whispered soft and smooth words into his ear, but turning her back on the two, she lowly said before striding away.

"Myungjae, do what you want with her."

Really, people think that only Aphrodite has charmspeak.

When in fact, the ice is just as deceptive.

[IMPORTANT NOTE: I shall be ending Ailee's entries here so that you guys can proceed with the majority of your quest already. I will just start replying again should I needed be - just notify me. Best of luck to everyone.]

[@Yongguk: Cous, chill. I'm not breaking the wall of your friend's apartment. I don't have iron skin. Lmao. xDD ]

Sunggyu went out from the bathroom refreshed, but he hung his head low as he walked back to the room he decided to occupy for the night. After dumping his used clothes in his bag, he inhaled a breath as deep as he could and stared blankly out of the window.

Where are you, Yejin?

If something happened—if she was... no, he didn't want to think of that possibility.

She'd be fine, wouldn't she?

No one provided an answer, though, not even the voice that guided him like earlier. Sunggyu never met his deity father himself, but he figured it might be him; the voice was warm, and with the fact that it only appeared in the moments he really did not know what to do...

There's always that possibility, right?

His thin fingers had unconsciously traced the pattern on his bracelet, and he closed his eyes.

Appa. Can you watch over her, please?

Sighing, he shook his head and walked out, intending to look for his two companions.

"Who got what?"

To hear from Yongguk the news of how the camp had been breached, she was far more than surprised. How could the camp be? It was, by far, the safest place for their kind. Why in the name of Hades would someone be kidnapped inside camp restrictions? Not unless this person was kidnapped outside the camp borders.

"Wait, wait," she raises a hand, "so you're saying that someone from the camp took her away?"

She had known that demigoddess, and one encounter was enough for her to familiarize herself with the name. Ailee was the child of Nemesis; the daughter of balance. Knowing her who had kept a low profile inside their haven, who could have possibly took her away? "And what does it have to do with our quest?" It was a stupid question, she knew, and it wasn't that she didn't care. Of course she did. Heartless as she may seem, she did have a little concern.

"I don't get the reason why you seem distressed. Does the camp know about this?"

Yet as she said that, she was already gathering her things, stuffing almost whatever she had taken out of her bag.

As soon Krystal opened the door, Yongguk diverted his eyes from the floor to the young female in front of him. He cleared his throat but then a sound of wall cracking was heard from behind. He ignored the noise and re announcing the bad news to her.

"Ailee got kidnapped by Myungjae." He said, he let out a short sigh before continuing his sentence. "Sunggyu told me. I don't know how he know that but yeah, that's the news." He said.

"We need to move fast.."

"You are not the boss of me." Ailee all but snarled at the female deity, her frame bent on her knees due to her spikes - made of ice - avoidance. Myungjae had assumed another attack stance at this, only for Khione to stop him with a hand.

"Oh, right now, I still am not. But when you finally get to know exactly what I want you to do, you'll swallow your words, demigod." was the response Ailee got, along with the female's icy smirk. The demideity only growled.

"Over my obliterated soul."

Ailee had touched her brooch at that moment, deciding to screw the environment she was in, and put her weaponry to good use. But amidst this, Khione had started to speak. "Daughter of Nemesis..." She began, and while a flash of white light had introduced a familiar double-edged spear in Ailee's possession, her attack was easily blocked and parried by a swipe of pure ice at the area where her spear struck.

"... have revenge for my sake."

And just like that, the demigoddess's movements froze in mid-air. Ailee can only widen her eyes and let one question escape her lips.

"What?!"

The moment Yongguk went out—Sunggyu only nodded at him before he did—the Apollo demigod punched the wall, not enough to break his own bones nor the wall but at least he managed to vent out a little of his frustration. Surprisingly, the pain was quite helping.

Hissing slightly, he locked the door again and took the shower he had planned to take initially. He nearly didn't feel the cold water—too many thoughts were running around in his mind, but he didn't know what to do about it. This was by far one of the worst situation he was in... as long as he could remember, that is. Having to leave on the first day of his relationship and then his girlfriend got kidnapped somehow the moment he was not in the camp... can things get any worse?

But somehow, he felt that this was only the beginning of it all.

Krystal woke up catching her breath, like she had a very bad dream. It wasn’t even clear enough to be considered a bad dream, but it had been enough to give her chills. The unknown woman seemed to know her. Her face showed no familiarity from Krystal’s memories, but the way she spoke sounded so… familiar. Like she had heard that voice from before. But she didn’t had any time to ponder more about it as she heard a knock on the door. Good the door to the balcony was open, or she wouldn’t have heard the knocking from the door of the room. Standing up, she softens out the creases formed in her denim jacket and, with one last glance to the other houses and buildings, she left the balcony.

“Yes, I am,” she replies as she ran a hand through her hair, hoping that it wasn’t too obvious that she fell asleep. Well, she /did/ say she’d at least stay up. To think it was barely even dawn when she woke up, yet it felt as though she had slept all night watching the visions in her dream.

For all she knew, it could be another vision send by no other than the goddess who sent her to fulfill this task. Last time, the night before their departure, she had also received a vision—but it was nothing like what she saw earlier. She could barely even remember anything about that other dream except for the fact that there were two people arguing about something. Yet she had a feeling that it wasn’t anything far from what she saw this time. It was linked, that was for sure. The goddess seemed to know much about her to have her wanting for more information. Hecate did promise her the information she seeks. Every bits of her dream seemed like new versions of trailers for the film itself.

Opening the door, she nods in acknowledgement of the other’s presence. “Any news?”

Yongguk's eyes widened as he heard what just happened in the camp from Sunggyu. the camp was breached, Yejin has been taken from one of the campers there. No wonder why he have this gut feeling about something would happen. Does his Father knows about this? Is this the reason why Ares decided to cut off their somewhat called 'pep talk' before this? He gripped the bottle of painkillers on his hand, worried about what will happen next if they don't move faster.

"How come Myungjae took her.." He muttered in his breath, then looked up to Sunggyu. "Bro, we're going to take her back okay. We should inform this to Krys." He said, grabbing a towel next to him and placed on his wet hair. "Dry up, we don't want you to get sick during the quest--" He took a short breath and sighed as the pain in his head excruciating him. "Just remember, you got our back." He said and gently patted Sunggyu's arm before leaving the bathroom.

Quickly opened the bottle and gulped down 3 pills of painkiller, he walked to Krystal's room and gently knocked on her door. "Krys. Are you still awake?"

For a second or two, Ailee could only stop and stare at the beautiful - but absolutely ruthless - woman, taking everything in. In return, the deity only looked back at her just the same - her eyes cold but seemingly triumphant as early as then. Myungjae was still aiming to strike at the demideity then, and if it wasn't for Khione's instruction of "It's alright, Myungjae. You can stop now, she's listening." he would not have broken from his stance on Ailee's frame.

"Finally we have met." She said afterwards, beginning what seemed to be a litany as icy as her stare.

"The daughter of revenge. Quite... /convenient/ you are. I did not expect that his son would favor you instead of any other. And I thought I would never get hold of an ace. It seems finally, I got my chance."

"What do you mean?" The demigoddess snarled her reply to the other female, meriting her a harsh look from Myungjae but a smirk from the female herself.

"You're the perfect pawn against he who goes against me, Ailee, is it?" Her cold voice had an edge in it. "And whether or not you refuse... you will work with me to kill that child of Apollo."

Only a smirk from Khione was the answer to Ailee - who had immediately charged against her - only to be stopped by tall spikes suddenly appearing through the floor of the room, which she again narrowly escaped.

"Never." Ailee reiterated under her breath.

With a smirk, Khione replied.

"Soon."

Holy gods, let this be a dream, Sunggyu prayed mentally, but deep inside his heart, he knew it was wishful thinking. Yejin's gone, taken by that bastard Myungjae - he would not refrain from using the word anymore now - and he knew not where to look for her.

Staring at Yongguk's face blankly at first, he shook his head.

"No. Not here," he said, "the camp was breached. There's been an... abduction."

Well, he did not answer the question about his condition, but certainly he was not okay. His girlfriend could be anywhere, and he... what, in the name of the Underworld, could he do about it?

"Guk... Ailee's gone. Myungjae from the Nemesis cabin took her."

Suddenly, Krystal was in deep thought all over again.

What could Hecate possibly do if she won’t be able to retrieve the certain weapon the goddess entrusted her to retrieve? Most probably the goddess would be enraged, and most probably it will be the end of Krystal. And the goddess killing Krystal would most probably offend the god Hades, which will cause a civil war among the gods. The thought was twisted, yet it did make sense. The gods tend to get easily offended if their pawns get turned down without them knowing a thing about it. Well… that is, if her godly father actually cares about her whole existence. Come to think of it… with all the trouble Krystal caused Hades, the god may even no longer care if she gets pulverized by the goddess of magic.

Tomorrow is their second day. They only had a few more hours to reach whatever place they needed to reach. Honestly, the daughter of Hades had not a single clue as to whether they’d survive or not. But she did promise her cousin she will. The odds however can never be in their favor at all times. They made it today with a single obstacle yet they barely had enough strength left. What more if they had to face worse challenges ahead of them the next day? That, she wouldn’t know.

The more Krystal’s thoughts wandered off, the more she got exhausted. Eventually, even how she actually said she’ll stay up for watch, she ended up being completely consumed by sleep.

And boy, were her dreams not friendly.

For a few moments it was nothing but pitch darkness she saw. But the next moment, she saw herself standing in the middle of a mansion. Honestly, was everything so fancy she felt like she was standing in the middle of a home for royalties. Everything was designed in an old fashioned way. Walls were of vintage colors. Whoever lived here must have been someone filthy rich, she thought.

Suddenly, a woman—probably in her thirties—descended from the stairs. She was beautiful. She had stormy gray eyes and a perfectly chiseled face any living celebrity would die for. She was like a living replica of human belief—a vampire. The way the author of Twilight described the Cullens would be a perfect description of the woman herself. But there was something in her expression that showed sadness and pain—like whatever was in her mind was torturing her.

“Where is she?” A voice behind Krystal suddenly speaks, and the demigoddess abruptly spun around in surprise. Seeing the man behind her, she swore was already agape. It was her father.

“In her room,” the woman replies, her voice strained with agony. “She doesn’t deserve this. She’s just a child.”

“I know,” her father replies, “but you know I cannot do anything. I cannot interfere. This had been her curse from the very beginning.”

Confusion was all that was written in Krystal’s face. Who could this woman possibly be? And what were they talking about? Krystal tried to ask, but to no avail. She couldn’t even hear herself speaking. It was like any sound she made has been muted for her to hear the conversation of the woman and her godly father.

“Yes you can,” the woman interjects, her voice weak. “I will take the risk. A soul for a soul.”

And Krystal woke up with a start.

A few minutes passed and Yongguk stood there waiting for Sunggyu to open the door as he slowly massaged the temples of his head with his fingers. He heard a click and let out a faint sigh of relieve and slowly waltzed inside the bathroom. He walked pass Sunggyu next to him and quickly reached the cupboard to search for painkillers. "Dude, sorry to barge in when you're showering-- Sunggyu?" His word was cut off and he stopped on opening the painkiller as he saw the reflection of pale, and drenched Sunggyu behind him, leaning against the wall as he saw a ghost in front of him.

He turned around and approached his cousin slowly and looked around, holding the bottle of painkiller on his grip. Yongguk's eyes focused on Sunggyu, completely forgotten about his aching head. "Dude, are you alright? You didn't see any monster here right?" He asked softly. "Yo. Talk to me, cousin."

White.

Everything was white.

For a moment, Ailee was seemingly blinded by how white the scenery that her eyes took in was. The moment her eyes finally opened, it was then that a chill once more ran down her spine... and she sat up.

Everything was white. Nothing was distinguishable because of its whiteness. What was this place? The demi-deity couldn't help but ask mentally as her head warily turned from side to side in an attempt to know where this place was. It was futile, but as the seconds passed, more details of the place - such as spikes of some sort along her environment - began to get prominent and another color began to appear.

Blue.

Bluish-white? Why this color?

And more importantly, why was it so cold there?

She tried to look towards her right side, only to find that she was lying on what seems to be a bed made entirely of a bluish-transparent crystalline material... and a very familiar dagger was lying calmly. The same dagger which went through her stomach just moments before she blacked out. She immediately felt through her side... but there was no trace of a wound, nor blood.

Where was she really?

Another look, but this time to her left, yielded a vision of what was seemingly an orb full of jagged spiked which seemingly had powdery white substance on it. Out of curiosity, she reached out to at least feel through one of the spikes...

"Ah!" Came Ailee's exclamation of pain. It felt as if it was burning, like... fire?

But why was everything so cold?

"I see you've awoken."

Not three seconds had passed when a blue dagger met another in a swift strike that could only be of two demigods.

"What the hell is this all about, Myungjae?" was Ailee's heated question, her grip on the dagger growing tighter and tighter... hotter and hotter.

It wasn't until another voice resounded in the room that...

"... Well, I won't do that if I were you."

... the dagger Ailee was holding swiftly melted into nothingness and Myungjae's dagger would have pierced her heart if she hadn't avoided in time and fallen to the ground. The dagger then reformed just beside her as if nothing happened.

And looking where the voice came from, there slowly appeared out of a familiar mist and whirl a beautiful woman with black hair, piercing eyes, and a wickedly beautiful smile.

And her appearance was... cold.

"Does a child of balance not know that heat does not survive in a balanced area of cold?" said the woman.

And everything fell into place.

That's the reason why it was cold.

That's the reason why the dagger melted.

That's the reason why Myungjae looked icily at her.

"I know who you are." Ailee began. And she definitely will not be mistaken when she mentioned her name.

"Khione."

Because the woman simply smirked.

[post deleted by owner]

Too slow and yet, too fast.

Sunggyu had not the time to properly process what was happening—except that he was suddenly overpowered by both fear and hatred, and he didn't know which to feel more. The bathroom was still, only the sound of running water remaining as the proof of the Iris message. Which was real. Or maybe it wasn't... oh, how he hoped.

Calm down, he willed himself, and the moment he closed his eyes Ailee's shocked face sprang into his mind, followed by Myungjae's triumphant expression. And then, how Ailee's features were seemingly getting frozen all over... then, nothing.

"Sunggyu. Yah. Are you done yet? I kinda need a Tylenol right now.." A few knocks had been what made the male turn his head to the direction of the bathroom door, and after releasing a shaky breath, he stood up and opened the door wordlessly. Yongguk would find him drenched by water—which was still running, by the way—and sickly pale, though it has nothing to do with sickness this time. He stepped back to make way for Yongguk to enter, still wordlessly, and leaned against the bathroom wall afterwards.

Myungjae. He has to find him no matter what.

But that leaves him with the question.

How?

Despite the fact that they only had three days to accomplish this one task, every second felt like an eternity. How could this be? It was as though he who must not be named (not aloud, at least) was messing with them, even though his remains had been scattered around only-the-gods-know-where.

Krystal pockets the gift from the god of madness, occupying the empty seat on a chair in the balcony. Six years and counting, and until now she hopes she’d find out the truth about her past. As much as she tried to remember, everything was too obscure. People with no faces to recognize (honestly did it look creepy), and voices that sounded much like that of someone she knew of, yet not a single idea of who it could be. Strange. Then again, she couldn’t be the only one who possesses a highly weird past, right? Each and every demigod had his or her own share of tragedies. Not that she knew of—but the feeling that there was someone else like her out there was there.

For all Krystal knows, she had always been cursed. That of what she sees as a mere inheritance of power from her father had always been the curse she carried ever since she had a renewed life.

That was the one, little thing she needed to know – and maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to grasp the rest of the information.

Hugging her knees, she gazed up the stars.

'Yongguk.' A male voice rang inside his head, and he definitely know who it is. As always, his Father. Ares. He sighed and brushed his hair to the back as he covered his face in his hands, while his elbow resting on the black steel railing. He let out a soft groan and inside his mind, he replied his Father's calling. 'What is it, dad? I thought you had enough good-byes for me before I go on the quest.' He said.

'Shut up, son. You better be grateful that I do care about your situation. I just want to say that you have to be careful from now on, even though the Hydra on the first day might not be a pleasant surprise for all of you three, but after the sun rises, everything will go way more than your expectation.' Ares told him. How could he be so wise, after all the mess his Father created? Amazing.

'Dad, I--' A sound of harsh wind was heard behind him. He turned around but saw no one. Maybe it's just his feelings or his ears are now become super sensitive. 'Dad, I don't know whether I want this kind of life or not. I've been questioning about myself, my fate. I'm still guessing who killed /her/.' He gritted on his teeth. Gosh, he really want to clear out the past he's been through, he want to find out who's guilty behind this dark past of his.

'I can't give that answer to you, Yongguk. Even though I know who did that-- Something just happened. I have to go. Be safe.' All of the sudden, Ares's voice was gone from his mind and changed with a ringing noise inside his head. Gradually becomes harder and headache hits him. "Dammit, Dad." He mumbled and walked to the bathroom. Probably there's an aid box inside.

He knocked the door a few times, calling his cousin's name. "Sunggyu. Yah. Are you done yet? I kinda need a Tylenol right now.." He called from outside.

Another tear fell from Ailee's eyes as she looked on at Sunggyu, but the dark orbs widened when she saw that tears fell from his end as well. For a moment, even in her shock, another tear rolled down her cheek and she almost couldn't breathe. She had only seen Sunggyu cry when they bid each other goodbye... and even by then she had expected that he wouldn't cry again. What is this?

Ailee spoke not a word from that moment, but with each deep breath she took, every hard swallow she had, she knew nothing but pain... and the sad fact that even the love of her life knew that a dark possibility still loomed above the both of them. She couldn't wipe her own tears even as she saw Sunggyu wipe his own - it felt as if her strength had just been zapped out totally.

The moment that she was supposed to say something...

"Gyu-yah... I---"

Her eyes widened, but it was no longer because of anything from the male demigod's end. She looked down to her stomach...

... only to see a blade piercing her skin, and a hand which was not hers holding it. Ailee still managed to divert her shocked gaze back at the male on the other hand of the iris message, as well as a final breath of stealth recognition, before her eyes closed and she fell...

... into familiar masculine arms.

The eyes that soon stared at Sunggyu were piercing eyes of a young male who was just as wordless as Ailee, but reflecting a proud triumph.

Myungjae.

Just beneath his gaze, Ailee was seemingly turning bluer and bluer, as if a cold chill was seeping into her features. She looked like she was getting frozen over.

And with a flash of blue, and what seemed to be like a freezing of the night air... the message was cut.

And Ailee was just... gone.

[Okay. So sorry for the late reply. >.< And since I have never read the books - because I am not allowed to - and just based on how I read at the wikia, I hope this doesn't go too much out of canon. Thanks. :)]

[post deleted by owner]

Okay, Sunggyu took it back.

He mentally had promised himself not to tear up, since he was a believer of the boys-don't-cry statement, but it seemed that even if he tried, he could not. Just by one syllable of his name coming from her, his tears fell - just simply because he now knew that every word might be his last, and his last chance to hear it from her.

Away from his own eyes, Sunggyu's ring made its mark on his skin again as he pressed against it. The only real, physical thing connecting him to her... and he couldn't put it away, nor did he want to.

"I... know." His voice seemed to be caught in his throat. There are still so many things... so many things he would want to say, so many more things he would've wanted to do, and he knew his time was not enough. Even if he kept telling himself he would come back.

He shook his head and wiped his tears. "Don't worry though... I'll come to you when it's time."

One day or another, one life or another.

But it seems as though the vines were only mere decorations of the certain piece of special metal within the female's grasp, as the moment she opened the compass it seemed likely to be the normal compass mortals could take possession of. Nothing special, she thinks dejectedly. That was, until it shone a faint glow of white, and Krystal had to squint in order to take a clearer view of what was in the compass.

From the angle she looked at it, it seemed highly normal - too normal you wouldn't believe the normalcy, given that it was from a god of madness. But it indeed have it's own special quality. She knew right away the direction to where it points was legit. Usually, compasses would be unsure - not unless you really know how to read it. But the compass showed the right way. Or at least, she figured. The arrow was not moving, anyway.

She tried to turn around, and the arrow slowly turned to the opposite direction - the direction where she was turning to before.

Not highly something without a use, she decided. At least this could be of big help anyway... if, it leads them to the right direction. Dionysus was of no god of direction (and honestly, she had a feeling the arrow either leads to a path of dementia, or a party), but maybe this time she could put her trust into the wine dude. He deserves a little faith in him, anyway. And if he'd be reading her thoughts right now, he should hell be thankful that she's actually praising him. Oh, Dionysus, god of madness. How could she ever repay you?

With renewed hope, she flips the compass close and sits on a chair. Tomorrow's the second day of their quest. Two more days before the deadline.

"May the odds be ever in our favor," she manages a dry chuckle, quoting a certain fictional character from a movie she had watched (she actually wanted to read the book - but it seems that Greek translation for the certain book wasn't yet available. Oh well.)