𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 | Freyja finally puts a name to the feeling she'd been burying deep in her heart - lonliness

SHADOW travelling was Freyja's least favourite method of travel. In fact, she'd take Layla's gods awful driving (as described by Zac) over this. She groaned, rubbing her head as she reappeared in Hades' palace, looking at her godfather with a frown.

"Godfather." She bowed her head, before accepting the nectar handed to her. Freyja sighed in relief as her headache abated. "Is this about your son? I didn't know you had one."

"I'd prefer that you had never known about him but, alas, that is not what I called you here to talk about." Hades smoothed out his robes, looking down at the young goddess. "There's a problem."

"There's always a problem."

"This one is more severe."

"What?"

"Luke Castellan." Freyja froze, looking up from where she'd been tying her shoe to stare at Hades. 

"What?" Her voice was breathy, a strange feeling welling in her stomach and throat that Freyja recognised as panic. "What are you talking about? Is he dead?"

"No. He's going to bathe in the River Styx."

"He wouldn't do that." Freyja protested. The Luke she knew would not do that. 

"Freyja." Hades cut her off, shooting her a sorrowful look. "I hate that I have to ask you this, and I wouldn't if I had any other choice but he needs to be stopped. I've been told that I'm not allowed to kill him, which means that you are my last hope here."

"No, no, no." Freyja shook her head, fingers digging into the dark strands of her hair as she began to pace.

"If he gets the curse of Achilles, it would make him invincible." Hades continued over Freyja's protest, watching the goddess pace and panic. "It would make this war unfair. People would be hurt. Innocent people."

"Don't ask me to do this."

"Please, Freyja. I need you to do this." She turned, finally meeting Hades' eyes as her resolve crumbled and she pulled her parka and circlet off. Her heart protested, begging her not to interfere with Luke, telling her that it was a bad idea but her brain kept her on autopilot as she placed Epilogue down and grabbed her bow.

She had to do this. She was a goddess, the daughter of Artemis and she was the gods warrior. Freyja couldn't argue with them. She had to try and stop Luke.

The shadows curled around her body as she walked, pulling her into the shadows and setting her down on the banks of the River Styx as Freyja's emotional side tried to pull her back. But as much as it struggled, Freyja continued. She was a goddess. She had to follow the rules of her elders.

What choice did she have?

Looking up, she faltered momentarily at the sight of a tall man standing at the edge of the banks. His back was to her, the ghost of Achilles beside him, trying to talk some sense into the man. Taking a deep breath, Freyja let her Asgardian magic run through her, her fingers tingling as she forced herself to become invisible. Loki would have been proud at how well it worked.

"Do not do this." Achilles was warning Luke, but the man did not listen in the familiar stubbornness that Freyja knew all too well. "It will make you powerful. But it will also make you weak. Your prowess in combat will be beyond any mortal, but your weaknesses, your failings will increase as well."

"I have to do this." His voice had got deeper, Freyja realised, and he was taller too. His hair didn't have the same, childish curls that they once did and Freyja felt her heart flutter at the sight of him. Her feelings betrayed her, but her mind remained strong. She had a job to do. "I must."

"Ke..." Now that she was here, the young goddess didn't know what to say. Her voice came out breathy and for the first time, Freyja was unsure of herself.

Luke spun around, faster than she had seen anyone do. He was looking for her, she realised, as Achilles began to explain what Luke had to do. 

"What are you doing, Ke?" She winced at the sight of a large scar, running down the left side of Luke's face and the sadness that was obvious in his blue eyes. "What are you doing?"

Luke shook his head, seeming to try and get her voice away from him. He wasn't listening to her, why wasn't he listening?

"Don't do this, Ke, please." He bent his head down, growling as he spun around once more to try and find her. "Come back to me."

"Stop trying to trick me." He hissed, glaring around him with anger in his eyes. "I know this is a trick. Leave me alone. You're not Freyja."

"I am!" Freyja protested, stepping closer as she watched him. "I'm Freyja Leto. I was on the quest to get the Golden Apples with you. You were my boyfriend, and I loved you."

Luke was shaking his head, turning away.

"You're not her. You're not my Bubbles." He whispered. "Freyja would understand what I'm doing. The gods failed her, they failed Thalia, they failed every single demigod that was ever left out on the streets. I have to do this, to make it better for all of them. She would know that."

"No." Freyja shook her head. "I stand with the gods, Ke. I always have."

"The gods left her for dead. Freyja knew this. So you're not her because Freyja..." His breath caught on her name, tears welling in his eyes as he walked closer to the river. "...Freyja would never stand with the gods after what they put her through."

The words caught in Freyja's mouth. She wanted to tell him that she would always stand with the gods, but the words tasted of honey on her lips, reminding her that she was lying because Freyja didn't know if she even wanted to stand with the gods anymore.

Luke took her silence as an answer, taking a deep breath and lowering himself into the river. She froze, her eyes going wide at the sound of Luke's scream of pain as he fell beneath the waves. She forgot every single bit of her reasoning, her Asgardian magic dropping as she rushed to the river side and dropped down by the edge. Freyja pulled her sleeve up, before sticking her hand into the water and grabbing onto the side of Luke's armour, her fingers brushing against his rib cage as she struggled through the pain.

"Come on, Ke. Stick with me here." Her arm locked into place, like a rod, as she held onto his shirt so that he didn't get dragged downstream. It hurt. Gods, it hurt like hell, but if she could save the boy that she loved, then it would be worth it. The pain would be worth it. Luke thrashed for a moment under the water, as life seemed to come back to him.

"That's it, Ke. You can do it." She smiled, leaning into her weight as she continued to pull Luke back up. Shadows curled around her, as Freyja panicked and gave Luke another tug towards the surface. "Come on, come back to me."

As Luke began to emerge, the shadows grabbed onto Freyja and threw her backwards into the darkness. Freyja tried to struggle, wanting to see her boyfriend's eyes one more time.

☾☼☽

Luke spun around in the water, before shooting upwards, his skin red as he crawled out of the channel and flopped onto the floor, his arms shaking beneath him.

Rubbing the dirt out of his eyes, he looked around, searching for Freyja. He had heard her, when he was under, heard her calling for him to come back to her. But now he was back, and she wasn't there.

He paused, leaning forward and shaking his head. He shouldn't have been so stupid to think that Freyja was back. It had been a trick, another test to see if he was ready. Freyja wasn't there.

She was dead.

Hiya,

So that was something. Not too sure what to make of it, so thoughts? Also, Hades and Freyja are about to get into an argument next chapter, which is gonna be something, let me put it that way. Anyhow, Luke's got the curse of Achilles even though Freyja tried to stop him. 

Question of the Day : If you could go back in time, where would you go?

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx