A/N: Dedicated to my grandmother, who I hope is resting well in the sky.

 

Yujin was worried.

Being the youngest among her friends, she was usually the one being taken care of. Yena and Chaewon would always be the people that kept her out of trouble. Every time she wanted to be the one to take a fight, those two would step in front of her. The only exception would be when they went out drinking like last night.

Yena was a light drinker and always needed to be carried home, and while Yujin was glad to be able to return the favor though, this particular night felt different.

After they went their separate ways with Chaewon, Yena had started rambling. Now, did Yena usually say weird things when drunk? Sure, but when put into context of the things that had happened that day, it made Yujin think.

~~~~

“Yah, Yujin, do you remember those Greek dances we had to learn for Seunggi-sunbae’s class?” Yena had asked.

“I remember reading about heroes from that era like Hercules and Perseus. I think I felt like them a bit today, you know?” Yena continued while giggling to herself.

“All right, I think you’re going to need a lot of hangover soup in the morning.” Yujin responded in an unserious tone.

“You don’t believe me! I have proof!” The older girl whined before taking out her pen and showing it off.

“That’s… a pen.” Yujin had said flatly.

Yena scoffed, and Yujin figured she might as well humor her after the rough day she’d gone through.

What followed, though, completely shocked her as the second Yena uncapped the pen, a shining light began illuminating the alley they were passing through.

“See? I’m just like them!” Yena yelled. It had taken a second, but when Yujin’s eyes adjusted, there was a part of her that wondered if she did need to go through the lasik eye surgery that her mother had recommended a couple weeks ago. The younger girl tried to rub her eyes, but the image in front of her didn’t change; Yena was waving around a long golden sword.

“What the…” Before Yujin could reach over, Yena chuckled, recapped the pen and promptly collapsed.

Yujin had to carry Yena the rest of the way, thoughts still churning to figure out what she just saw.

~~~~

Today, since Yena was technically an ex-student, Yujin let the older girl sleep in. There was another person who she had to worry about- Chaewon.

The two had met up at the front gate, and at first glance, Yujin could immediately tell something was off.

Chaewon looked oddly chilly despite the weather being much clearer than the day before. Her sentences were curt, and she wouldn’t make eye contact, just like the times when she’d first met her.

“Hey, unnie. Are you okay?” Is this about Yena-unnie? She’ll be fine,” Yujin said.

“Y-yeah. I know. Sorry, I’m not feeling super well today.” Chaewon replied before excusing herself and walking ahead.

What is going on with them? Yujin thought. She let her eyes follow Chaewon for a few seconds, but suddenly, in the corner of her vision, she noticed someone staring at her.

Yujin looked over, but the person was gone. Something about their gaze felt odd though. There was now this tingling feeling within her, as if sensing danger ahead.

~~~~

The oddities of the day didn’t stop there. Not that she was close with Sunwoo, but Yujin found it strange how in attendance, no one would mention his name. She understood Yena’s absence because she had been expelled. Sunwoo's, on the other hand, felt strange, especially after some of the things Yena had rambled about the day before.

“Hey, have you seen Sunwoo around anywhere?” Yujin eventually asked one of her classmates but was met by a confused look.

“Who? Never heard of him,” she had replied.

Even Minseo, who Yujin struggled to build up the tolerance to approach, was clueless. That raised some red alerts inside Yujin’s head as Minseo was head over heels for that guy.

Something else that bothered Yujin? All the new faces.

Every class she sat in, there were one or two new students who the professors treated as if they had always been there. It was unsettling, especially since she’d always catch a couple of them staring at her and Chaewon’s directions.

As the day went, the eyes on them only seemed to grow.

“Unnie… something’s wrong. You can feel it, right?” Yujin asked Chaewon after lunch. When the older girl looked back at her though, it still appeared that she wasn’t all there.

“What do you mean?” Chaewon replied.

Yujin looked around, and sure enough, she caught unfamiliar people trying to steal glances at them. “We’re being watched. I get that we helped Yena get away yesterday, but this is a bit over the top…”

Chaewon followed Yujin’s gaze, and it looked like she finally realized what the younger girl was saying.

“Is this what he meant…” she muttered to herself.

Yujin furrows her brows at this. “Who’s he? The principal?”

“No, something I heard… in my dreams.” Yujin waited for the punchline, but it appeared Chaewon was being very serious. The older girl’s eyes now began to dart around anxiously.

“Well, let’s talk more about it later with Yena. For now, we gotta get through the rest of this day in one piece,” Yujin said, likely not realizing what was to come.

~~~~

It was now hip hop class with Professor Youngjoon, and just like the other classes, there were a couple new students that Yujin didn’t recognize, one of which was tearing up the dance floor with her smooth moves.

Yena was usually the best dancer in the class, but Yujin had to admit this new girl would give the duck a run for her money.

The session went on for about an hour with the new girl stealing the show the whole time until the bell rang.

“Great job today class! Especially you, Lee. I might have to hire you for my actual dance team.” Youngjoon complimented before heading out.

Lee, huh? Yujin thought as someone’s voice snapped her back to reality.

It was the new student Yujin had been fixated on. “Hey, Yujin, right? You got some moves. So does your friend over there.”

Yujin gingerly shook the girl’s hand. “I could say the same about you. I must say though, I’ve never seen you around before.”

At this, the woman’s face becomes guarded. “What do you mean? I’ve always been in this class,” she tried to explain.

“Well, so have I. What’s with the act?” Yujin argued.

“Shoot, I really need to work on my espionage,” Lee muttered to herself.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Yujin asked confusedly.

“Listen, since my cover’s already blown, I need to know. Are there any others here besides you two?” The woman said quickly.

“Us two? You mean Chaewon? I don’t know-“

“You trying to replace the duck already, Yujin?” The voice of Minseo interjected. Behind her was her clique which had two new members, both of which were staring daggers at her.

Yujin sighed. “Not now, Minseo.”

“Yah, you can’t tell me when I can or can’t talk. I got your friend expelled, Don’t think I won’t do the same to you,” she replied angrily.

“So you admit it? You set her up!” Yujin was angry now, and with Yena not around and Chaewon away in the restroom, there was no one to hold her back.

Before Yujin could land a punch though, one of the new girls jumped in the way and caught her hand.

“What?” Yujin was shocked, and to add to it, the girl jabbed her right in the stomach.

“Yujin!” Chaewon’s voice yelled from behind. Yujin had been hit before, but this pain was on another level. How someone with such a petite figure had such power was beyond her comprehension. In her daze, Yujin’s vision began to flicker and for half a second, it looked like the girl who’d struck her had flaming hair and two different types of legs- one made of copper and another that looked like a donkey’s.

“Serves you right,” Minseo chuckled before walking out of the room.

Chaewon was about to give chase, but the Lee-girl held her back.

“Yah, who are you anyway?” Chaewon asked in an irritated tone, somehow unable to shake the mystery girl’s grip.

“Someone who can get you two somewhere safe before the others start smelling you. The fact that I’m even talking to you about it right now is dangerous enough.”

Yujin was still a bit winded, so she wasn’t sure if she’d heard any of that correctly. “Who’s going to smell us? What does that mean?”

Chaewon, on the other hand, seemed to understand the message, her eyes widening in what looked like a mixture of fear and shock.

“Yujin, I don’t know who she is either, but maybe we need to trust her,” Chaewon said, pulling Yujin up to her feet.

“Okay, let’s get out of here before-” Lee stopped mid-sentence, eyes gazing at the exit where a rather tall and muscular man with tattooed arms was looking through the glass.

“Laestrygonians… new idea. You two run out the emergency exit. I have a friend scouting around the perimeter who can meet you.”

“What’s wrong? Who’s that?” Yujin asked, still unable to process everything. At this, the man slowly opened the door and entered. Again, Yujin wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating, but with every step, it seemed like the man grew in size.

“No time, Yujin! Let’s go!” Chaewon then grabbed Yujin’s arm and pulled her along. The younger girl looked back once only to see Lee unsheathe a bronze sword and charge towards the large man.

~~~~

“Chae, can you please explain to me what’s going on?” Yujin asked desperately as the two ran towards the courtyard. It was still all the way across campus from where they were though.

“I-I don’t know…” Chaewon stammered when they stopped to catch their breaths. “Again, i-it was a dream, but it felt so real, like a warning.”

“That girl we left back there pulled out a freaking sword to fight a giant. I’m going to need a lot better than that,” Yujin replied, feeling an equal level of confusion and fear.

Before Chaewon could attempt to say more, a new voice interjected. “Excuse me, you two. What seems to be the trouble?”

Judging from his uniform, the man looked like one of the campus security guards. He had broad shoulders but also had a lumpy looking figure to him. His facial expression also seemed to be a little stiff for the tone he was speaking with.

“S-someone’s in danger. I saw a sword, giants, donkey legs!” Yujin said quickly.

“Hmm, is that so?” The guard replied, a crooked grin slowly forming on his face. “You must be the half-bloods then.”

Chaewon held her hand in front of Yujin, taking a step back with her as the guard stepped forward.

“Half-blood? I think you got the wrong people,” Chaewon said nervously, not really understanding what the man was implying.

“Just my luck then. It’s always easier to kill a demigod before they realize their strength.” The guard, with the swiftness you wouldn’t expect from such a stocky build, then reached out and grabbed Chaewon by the neck.

“Unnie!” Yujin yelled, closing the distance and throwing punches at the guard’s stomach. Each swing seemed to hurt Yujin more than him though, as if she was hitting a brick wall.

“Don’t worry, girl. You’re next,” the man said, and despite him still staring at Chaewon, who was quickly running out of breath, it felt to Yujin like his gaze was fixated on her.

Just when it seemed all hope was lost for Yujin and Chaewon, a piece of metal suddenly protruded from the guard’s stomach. With a groan, he let Chaewon go and fell to the ground, which revealed a short foreign looking girl standing behind him.

“Ew, it’s going to take days to clean that blemmyae gunk off my spear,” she complained, pulling the shaft of the weapon out of the fallen guard’s body, which began to crumble to dust shortly after.

When the new girl noticed Yujin and Chaewon still staring in shock, she huffed. “Yah, what are you still standing there for? Do you have a death wish?”

Instead of waiting for their response, the diminutive girl turned and walked ahead, spear still in hand. Yujin and Chaewon looked at each other, nodded, and quickly followed.

As per usual, it was Yujin who began peppering their new acquaintance with questions. “Who are you? Do you know someone with the last name Lee? How are you carrying that spear around without anyone noticing?”

“Yabuki Nako, yes, and the Mist. Happy? We don’t have time to talk right now. It’s bad enough we don’t have enough satyrs around this corner of the world to bring half-bloods to camp. Now, I am being told to play pickup instead of one of the other kids at camp? I can do without the yapping until we’re out of here.” The girl replied, not mincing any words. Like earlier, Yujin could see all the eyes on them as they walked to the exit. This time though, it seemed that the presence of this Nako girl was enough to keep them at bay, at least for now.

When they finally reached the gate, Nako let out a whistle.

“Our ride should be here soon,” the short girl said.

“Wait, where exactly are we going?” Chaewon questioned.

“A safe haven for people like us. Hopefully your other friend makes it too.” Nako replied absentmindedly, keeping her eyes alert for any danger.

“‘Other friend’? You mean Yena? Is she in trouble too?”

“Depends. Yuri is usually dependable on assignments like this.” Before either girl could ask who this Yuri person was though, the sound of hooves clopping on the asphalt road began echoing in the distance.

“What in the world?” Yujin, for the nth time today, couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Speeding past cars and trucks was a blood-red chariot being pulled by skeleton horses.

“Cars are a bit overrated, you know?” Nako chuckled, stepping in once the vehicle arrived in front of them.

Yujin glanced back towards the school, a crowd of people inching closer to them. Every time she blinked, their form would change from regular students and guards to what she could only describe as monsters.

“You seeing what I’m seeing, Chae?” Yujin asked her friend.

“Yes, but I’m not sticking around to get a closer look.” The older girl replied, getting on the chariot.

Yujin followed, and when everyone was strapped in, Nako whistled again. The horses immediately picked up their pace, leaving campus in the dust. All the while, Yujin and Chaewon could only worry about one thing.

Where was Yena?

 

A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for the delay on this chapter. As I mentioned, work has been hell the past week, and I had a family member pass away. Writing has always been an escape of some sorts to me. I thank everyone for being patient with me, and I hope to get back in the rhythm once I go home on Friday. I was actually supposed to go home last week, but this project I got deployed to was extended.

Anyway, focusing on the story, if you are familiar with Greek Mythology, you'll know the monsters I'm referencing in this chapter, and if you don't, I hope I did a good enough job describing them. There's a lot of research that goes into those references and inserts.

Thank you for all the support on the first few chapters! I appreciate all the likes and comments. If anyone has questions, especially the ones who aren't as familiar with the greek stuff, feel free to ask!

Have a nice day, and I'll see y'all in the next one!