𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒༄ • Jᴀsᴏɴ Gʀᴀᴄᴇ

Chapter 36

As the sun began to set, the sky turned into a bizarre mix of purple and yellow. If the situation were different, Freya probably would of enjoyed the scenery of the beach at sunset, but because it wasn't, she became more and more jittery as they went. 

"How much farther?" She asked Hazel. 

"We're close," she promised. "Come on." 

Leo didn't seem convinced. "You sure this is a good idea?" 

"Positive," Hazel ground out, clearly annoyed. 

Just over the dunes, they saw the woman .She sat on a boulder in the middle of a grassy field. A black-and-chrome motorcycle was parked nearby, but each of the wheels had a big pie slicer  moved from the spokes and rim, so that they resembled Pac-Men. No way was the bike drivable in that condition. The woman had curly black hair and a bony frame. She wore black leather biker's pants, tall leather boots, and a bloodred leather jacket—sort of a Michael Jackson joins the Hell's Angels look. Around her feet, the ground was littered with what looked like broken shells. She was hunched over, pulling new ones out of a sack and cracking them open. Shucking oysters? Freya wasn't sure if there were oysters in the Great Salt Lake. She didn't think so. 

 Hazel forged ahead, the two of them following after .As they got closer, Freya noticed disturbing details. Attached to the woman's belt was a curled whip. Her red-leather jacket had a subtle design to it—twisted branches of an apple tree populated with skeletal birds. The oysters she was shucking were actually fortune cookies. A pile of broken cookies lay ankle-deep all around her. She kept pulling new ones from her sack, cracking them open, and reading the fortunes. Most she tossed aside. A few made her mutter unhappily. She would swipe her finger over the slip of paper like she was smudging it, then magically reseal the cookie and toss it into a nearby basket.

 "What are you doing?" Leo asked. 

The woman looked up. Freya's breath stuttered. She stumbled back so fast she almost fell- thankfully Hazel caught her by the elbow. Although she seemed distracted herself, staring at- well actually, she wasn't sure what Hazel was seeing. Leo didn't even notice Freya move. 

"Aunt Rosa?" He asked, sounding horrified. 

Freya didn't know who Aunt Rosa was, but it wasn't what she was seeing. Even looking at those features made her insides boil with anger, but also a bit of remorse that made her question if it was misplaced. It made no sense too see her ashy blonde hair and round face, her pale green eyes. Denisse was someone Freya tried to erase from her memory each time she went to bed but couldn't because she was stuck in her head.

 In the Titan war, Denisse had been one of Luke's allies, fooled by his petty lies and promises. She'd been convinced that Freya and her brother were the enemies, meaning that when it had come down to business, the two of them had one messy brawl. Other people had gotten involved- including Emeris who was a close friend of Freya's, and Thalia. Things started to get truly messy when Thalia was stabbed, leaving Freya no choice but to go to her and leave Emeris alone with Denisse. 

"See that?" Denisse had told Emeris as she cornered her, sword raised. "She's leaving you," 

"No! I'm not," Freya had yelled, trying to hold Thalia upright as she bled through her armor. She just had to get Thalia somewhere safe, then she'd come back and help her friend. 

"Lies," Said Denisse calmly, the point of her sword still aimed at Emeris's chest. 

"You're the liar!" Screamed Emeris. 

"I'm giving you a chance, daughter of Apollo. Join us. Join us and help us end the reign of those foolish gods. You will be spared." 

"No."