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Leo blinked his eyes open. They felt too heavy, just like his hands, and his feet. Chains clinked as he sat up, not really paying attention to anything.
Wait. Chains?
Eyes now wide, he glanced down at his hands still in his lap. Sure enough, two metal bands wrapped around his wrists, connected by a chain to his ankles, also shackled. He followed the chain to a concrete wall. Another set of cuffs sat empty beside him, not close enough to reach as they were, but still close.
On to the next question. Where was he? Based on what he could see, that would be a question left unanswered until someone came by.
Shivering, Leo realized the temperature in the room was lower than he thought, and dropping rapidly. Then he got his answer -- Khione. She must have captured him, though he couldn’t recall much of what had happened. An attempt to melt the chains would be entirely useless at this point; it would take ages and more energy than he had to produce that much heat. He was already using what little consciousness he had to keep himself at an acceptable temperature.
All he could do now was wait. Cold, stripped of his toolbelt, and restrained, Leo was stuck with the one thing he hated most. The only thing that could make it worse was if that poor excuse of a goddess, Gaea, decided to show her face.
After what felt like much longer than it actually was, the door across from Leo opened. A menacing shadow loomed in the doorway. Leo was sure if it was at all warm in the room, he would be sweating buckets at the nervousness that gripped him. Though his heart threatened to leap out of his chest, he lifted his chin at the silhouette, feigning confidence. Fake it ‘til you make it, he supposed.
The figure shifted closer, terrifyingly tall in contrast to Leo’s sitting position. As it got closer, it got bigger. And bigger. And bigger.
Finally he could make out a face in the dim light. Pale features stuck out amongst long, black hair, two dark eyes breaking up the near-white skin. Either they weren’t breathing, or their breath was somehow cold; despite the low temperature, no puffs of warm air rose from their face. Yes, this had to be Khione. Leo remembered in vivid detail how beautiful she was, and from what the unforgiving dark allowed him to see, the picture in his head matched the girl in front of him.
“Khione,” he rasped, the name scratching his dry throat on the way up. “I’m not surprised that you couldn’t resist me. Everyone melts at the sight of me, even the goddess of snow herself.”
Unphased, Khione took a final step, and stooped right in front of Leo. “Funny.” She lifted a hand and tapped under his chin, the small touch chilling him in a different way than the unbearable cold of the room. “Because I make everyone freeze at the sight of me .”
Had they not already been flushed with red from the cold, Leo’s cheeks would have blushed at Khione’s words.
The pretty smile that filled the goddess’ face was laced with vice. Distracted with Khione’s close proximity to himself, Leo missed the red flags. Behind her, almost out of sight to the love-stricken demigod, Khione’s brothers Zethes and Calais entered with their bronze swords unsheathed.
“Now,” the goddess continued, “I suppose you want to know why you are here.” She stood and walked to her brothers, much to Leo’s disappointment. The fun part of being kidnapped had ended.
“I’m more concerned about why they’re here, really. It’d be much better if it was just me and you.”
“You know for a fact I do not like you. I am not sure why you keep trying to flirt with me, but it would be much appreciated if you stopped immediately.”
She’s just as metaphorically cold as she is physically, Leo thought bitterly.
“ Now, as I was saying. You may not recall, but two nights ago you were on the deck of the horrendous ship you call the Argo II . You were alone and entirely unguarded, which shows how terribly stupid you are, so I took my chance and captured you without any struggle. Only now have you awoken.
“What I want from you is something to test my abilities on. As you are difficult to freeze, proven by the fact that you are alive in a room that is -40 degrees Celsius, I feel you will make an excellent test dummy.”
Test dummy? No, no. Leo had to get out of here, now . However, the hand- and ankle cuffs said otherwise.
“Let me go,” he said instinctively. Of course she wouldn’t just let him go, but it was worth a try.
“Oh, Valdez,” she cooed, crouching once more to his level. Panic-stricken eyes desperately met her sweet coffee-browns. “Do not plead for such foolish things. Instead, ask for mercy, for if you ask nicely enough, one day you may get it.”
And with an icy breeze that made Leo’s eyes squeeze shut from pain, the snow goddess and her demigod brothers were gone.