Louise-Françoise couldn't remember precisely when she'd last visited Versailles. Long enough ago, it seemed, that she didn't recognize the place.
Sitting in the crowded RER car, she silently watched blocks of flats slide by. How depressing, she thought. Sure, there were a few pretty houses, but all those cables and urban buildings were always going to be ugly in her eyes.
France had changed so much in the last centuries. The sprawling nature in which she had loved to hunt and play in as kid had been eaten up by modern cities and polluting roads. It was only in the Dauphiné - sorry, the Hautes-Alpes - that she still felt at home despite the centuries. Her beloved mountains, at least, had not changed.
A voice announced the arrival at Gare Rive Gauche - the train station closest to the palace and the last one on the line. People started standing up and massing at the doors. Louise-Françoise stayed in her seat. She didn't like mixing with mortals. Both out of snobbery and habit. As the daughter of Zeus, her smell to monsters was pretty strong. After all, it had built up over the last three centuries... She kept to herself out of general security. (Not that she could always avoid it, though. The fact she'd made it this far in public transportation unscathed was a record.)
Several minutes passed before Louise-Françoise finally rose from her seat, walked through the empty train car, and landed on the platform. Dressed in a white t-shirt and comfortable grey trousers, she didn't look different from any other 17 year old. With a backpack slung over one shoulder and the headphones in her ears, she might as well pass for a student on her way to school.
Louise-Françoise put on her sunglasses and strolled down the street. She just needed to make a left to get to the palace of Versailles. The palace ... the rival of Olympus, her mother used to call it. Something in her throat caught and she stopped. Did she really want to see it again? What would she feel? She hated how the places of her times had been bastardized into tourist attractions - which was one of the reasons she hadn't been back to France in about a century. It almost made her want to turn back. What if it was as dreadful as Chantilly?
But even if it was, it didn't matter. She knew she had to go. She had to. Come on, none of this is ever going to erase your memories, she told herself. Just do what you came here to do.

Louise-Françoise decided to avoid the throngs of tourists massing at the main gates, and instead took a detour towards the Bassin de Neptune - one of the only areas in the gardens where people were allowed on the lawns. It was full of families, teenagers and friend groups sprawling on the grass, chatting, and watching the fountains dance in the sunlight. They all looked so carefree. Louise-Françoise briefly remembered how she herself had strolled through here with her friends, her family, and fellow nobles many... many years before.
Although the gardens were not the same ones she had known, they were still very familiar. She knew perfectly well which way she had to go. Out of habit, her hand stroked over the silvery fabric of her backpack. You're almost home. In just a few minutes, she would have fulfilled her promise. The mere thought of it made her smile.

She hadn't walked ten meters when someone hit her with full force, sending her backpack flying. "No!" she exclaimed, scrambling to get to it. She opened it breathlessly, hoping, praying that what was inside was alright. Carefully, she zipped it open to reveal a blossoming plant. She checked every branch, every flower of the azalea bush, running her fingers down the leafs and petals. She had taken such good care of the plant that having it crushed right before achieving her goal would have sent her into waves of anger and frustration strong enough to start a small tornado.

"Would it kill you to look where you're going?" she growled in French at whoever ran into her, eyes flashing with anger. But then her gaze fell on the ground. She frowned. By the gods- was that... imperial gold? That faint purple shimmer was unmistakeable.
She snorted, shaking her head. "Of course. Roman demigods still run wild around here. Why am I surprised?" she said under her breath and shouldered her backpack.

"I'm a demigoddess and a Hunter," Louise-Françoise said, eyeing the guy up and down. She got the vaguest sense of Underworld from him, something like a low scent she struggled to detect. She wouldnt be surprised if he had someone like Letus or Trivia in his parentage.
The daughter of Zeus dusted herself, a small current of air blowing the dirt away. "Be careful, monsters still roam these gardens," she told him as she started walking away.

OOC: Sorry it's so short!

OOC: Aaaaah I am so sorry for disappearing for almost a month!! I was super busy with work. Anyway, back now!

BIC:

Louise-Françoise power walked down an alley but the guy was keeping up. He was talking fast, breathlessly, his tone almost excited. She had to admit, modern French was always a bit difficult to get used to. Sure, she could speak it and pretty much pass for a modern person - albeit with an accent - but it was always... strange. A sharp reminder that she was out of her time.

"Slow down, I cant understand a word," she said as they turned into a lush alley lined with statues. "Im a Greek demigoddess, my father is Zeus. I became a Hunter because I didnt want to marry the smelly duke my parents picked out for me. And yes, I am from here... sort of."

It was probably a first for him to see another half-blood around here. If only he knew! Back in her day, this palace was brimming with demigods. The court of Louis XIV gathered everyone - children of Apollo and Dionysus, offsprings of Aphrodite, Hermes, the Muses.... Enough to attract the regimens of Tartarus.

OOC: She has short, choppy black hair with a white streak, sharp commanding features and vivid blue eyes. I dont really use a face claim for her but if I were to pick one it would be Alice Pagani :)

BIC: By the gods, this guy reminded her of her brother Charles. Asking questions and barely waiting for an answer. Louise-Françoise kept on walking, hoping her enhanced strength and speed would be enough to shed Adrien, but he swiftly cut her off.

"Did you say a duke? Your parents wanted you to marry a duke?" His look of surprise almost made her chuckle. Then it dawned on him. "Wait - how old are you?" he asked.

"As old as this place," she replied. "A bit younger, actually, I was born in 1650."

She resumed walking, making her way down l'Allée de l'Été. It wasnt too crowded this time of the afternoon but the simple sight of modern tourists here made her feel off. It just felt wrong seeing people walking these gardens in jeans and t-shirts. In fact, she realized as she stopped in front of the Grande Perspective, the entire place felt off. It was home yet it also... wasnt. She still recognized parts of it but it had been turned into an aesthetic, a tourist attraction, a distilled image specifically tailored for modern visitors.

She started looking around, puzzled, pointing out things. "This wasnt here before. And there were no fountains there. That roof wasnt gilded. Why did they do that?"

OOC: No worries! Life and inspiration got in my way too. I love them both too and can't wait to see where this goes :D

BIC: Louise-Francoise looked at him with a mixture of fascination and surprise. Was he really out here explaining - mansplaining, as the kids say - to her about the history of the palace? Like she hadn't lived it herself and followed it up until the Revolution of 1789?

"You're fascinating," she said sarcastically. "I was talking about all the things they added to the palace. Modern things, that have no business here."

Spoiler:

BIC: She shrugged her bag back up on her shoulder and carried on walking, still mouthing about the fountains. This wasn't like this before! What did these modern children do to Le Nôtre's beautiful creation? Was this really where she wanted to plant the blue azalea in her backpack? At least the fountain of Latona was more or less alright.
She glanced with disgust at a map of the gardens. The usual entrance to Les Rocailles had been moved, but it was easy to figure out. Sighing, she entered the elegant hedge labyrinth - her beloved bosquets. Despite the historical massacre around her, it was good to be back. Bittersweet... but good.

"Oh, you're still here?" she asked the Roman demigod. The guy was on her heels like an excited wolf pup. "Better get your gladius, son of Mors. This might not be a pleasant garden stroll."

OOC: One more reason to get into the witcher! I've been meaning to watch it ^_^

BIC: The tall hedges cast long shadows on the ground. Usually Louise-Françoise enjoyed the golden hour but today it made her nervous. She discretely unsheathed a silver hunting knife and moved forward in quick, measured steps.

"Monsters, mad cows, feral peacocks," she answered. "I don't know what the Queen of gods has in store for me today but it can't be good."

She turned left into a manicured grove strewn with fragrant, symmetrical flowerbeds. Would it not be better to plant her here, she mused? With all the other flowers, she might go unnoticed. But no, her mother deserved better. Grander. She had to rest in Les Rocailles, where she had danced so animatedly. Louise-François briefly flashed back to a ball back when she was 13, a masquerade, where her mother had dressed as a Roman empress. The way her purple dress caught the lights. Her golden wreath knocked back in her dance.  It was almost like her laugh still echoed around them. She smiled absent-mindedly, remembering the carriages massing in front of the gates, the shimmering costumes of silk and brocade, the towers of food... the familiar tastes and smells...
She sighed, silently collecting herself. Focus. Les Rocailles. Out of all the places in Versailles that had changed, at least this one still existed.

"Back in my time, there were often monsters in these gardens," she whispered. "So many demigods in one place. Many a ball here went awry. You should've seen how it was back then..." They entered another, smaller grove with a statue at one end. "Nowadays it seems to be much calmer. Olympus shifted, demigods moved away. You were never attacked here, were you?"

Louise looked over her shoulder. "It was the grandest thing in the world. And now look at it. A tourist attraction. A glorified museum in the service of the Republic of France," she said sarcastically and kicked a stone out of her way. "What a joke."

Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks. Something was off. She looked over her shoulder, absolutely certain there had been movement in the background....
...But nothing. She turned around. Just peaceful rows of hedges and statues. Frowning, Louise resumed walking carefully. Then, out of nowhere, she threw herself to the side and rolled back to her feet a few meters away.

At the spot where she'd been just a second ago was a white stone arrow, planted in the ground. And, at the far end of the alley, a statue of some mythological figure nocked another on his marble bow. So this was what Hera had prepared. She wanted an archery match, did she? Louise's silver hunting bow materialized in her hand, quiver on her back. She was just thinking how easily she could take that pesky sculpture out, but things got complicated when the other statues decided to get off their pedestals too. Their empty stone gaze rested on her and her backpack.

"Adrien. Run."

She fired two smoke arrows at once and backed up the way they had come, kicking up a trail of gravel. Although she was faster and stronger than regular demigods, her extra speed was not much use in the tightly winding lanes. The gardens had been designed like labyrinths, and they were doing their job: confusing and messing with people. Louise cussed and swore against modern garden designers, running from alley to alley and hitting hedges on her way. She was just doing a sharp turn into another direction when a gilded statue of Pomona jumped lightly off the small fountain she was resting in, blocking her way.

"Let me through," Louise said.

"Give me the plant," the statue replied in a raspy, mechanical voice and extended a metallic golden hand.

Louise tightened her grip on her backpack; her knuckles turned white. There was no way out of these gardens if every statue and sculpture and fountain was going to get in her way. She had entered a perfect trap.

"Come and get it," she spat, unsheathing two hunting knives.

That comment seemed to irritate the Pomona statue. Grabbing an ear of gilded wheat like a long dart, it threw it at Adrien with strength and precision.
But the dart never made it. A flash of electricity later and it was a pond of glowing metal on the ground, bubbling and smoking. Louise turned her eyes back to the statue and flicked the last few sparks off her fingers.

"Let us through," she said again.

The golden statue hissed in reply and threw itself at her. Louise evaded the first blow, ducked, then tackled it head-on with her knives bared. She was a blur of silver with her Hunter speed, darting around with agility, occasionally sending a bolt of electricity or two. The air around them crackled.
She was just about to slice into the fake Pomona when the statue grasped her neck and pulled her up, right off her feet. Her legs dangled as she grabbed at the metallic hands, trying desperately to touch back down. The statue raised another ear of wheat, ready to pierce her through with it.

Louise was red in the face. A forked vein bulged on her forehead. She tried to shock the statue but she could not summon a spark of electricity in her weakened state. She thought she was done for when the statue suddenly buckled on one knee and dropped her to the ground. Her vision blurred.
Retching and coughing, she heard Adrien's voice as he helped her up. By some magic, the son of Mors had grown completely invisible - but it barely registered in Louise's fogged-up mind.

"Par tous les démons des Enfers," she squawked, stumbling back and massaging her neck.

"They're after your plant, right?" Adrien's asked all of a sudden. Louise looked up distrustfully. "Give me your bag, they won't be able to see it then!"

"No. That plant is only safe with me," she said. "You have no idea what it took to get it here."

"Agh, Louise-Francoise, listen to me," Adrien said, nervously glancing at the fallen statue. He didn't know if this one would get up again soon, or if the others were close behind. Looking back at her, he was close enough that he could feel her distrust and anger, but also her fear. "You can't see me, right? Neither can they, so I could get away with it." He tried to make his voice sound soothing, cajoling.

Was it just him or was that a crashing sound around the corner? Impatiently, the thought came, unbidden, that he could just make her lose her distrust - and he quickly shook it off, horrified. He would never change someone's feelings like that. Focusing back on Louise-Francoise, he tried to look as earnest as possible. "At least long enough to confuse them - maybe they'll slow down or leave you alone when they see you don't have it?"

OOC: I don't think they ever exchanged names but I'm going to retcon that they did lol

Louise gripped her backpack protectively. The last thing she wanted was to give her plant over to a son of death. She had come such a long way and fought so hard... She couldn't let it leave her hands. She just couldn't.

"I can't," she hissed, looking at the place where (she imagined) Adrien was. "Even if it works... planting it requires a lot of steps. Protective spells. I have to be the one to do it."

A sudden roar came from the labyrinth, interrupting her. She turned around, squinting in the golden sunset. Wait a second... she knew that roar. Her face paled, gradually taking on a bit of a greenish tint. No. It couldn't be. Hera wouldn't do this. She couldn't.
Her heartbeat pulsed in her throat.
There was no time to lose.

"Adrien? Where are you?," she asked urgently, trying to rely on air currents to locate him. "Listen. I'm going to give you the bag. Make absolutely sure nothing - and I mean nothing - happens to that plant or I swear to all the gods of Olympus I will make your life a living hell." She glared around the area to make sure he got the message. "Now get out of here. This monster has a storm coming - literally."

She closed her eyes and spread her arms, a low vibration filling her body. Barely noticeable, less than a hum, it expanded trough the air around them like subtle shockwaves. She inhaled sharply. The temperature dropped. Humidity drained suddenly from the air around them, sucked upwards, leaving the soft down on her arms standing on end. The sunset's glow started dimming as the clouds thickened and gathered in darker and darker shades. Her hands curled into fists. Almost there. Cold droplets started falling from the skies, hitting the ground around Louise. It took only a few moments for the soft rain to turn into a shower. Her frown deepened as she concentrated, sliding the clouds against each other with strong gales, cycling the air up and down inside them to build up the electric charge. She had to take her time - if she rushed it, the storm would be over in three lightning strikes. And she needed it to be powerful. As powerful as possible if she wanted to stand a chance.

Clouds filled every corner of the sky. Flashing and rumbling, they circled into a dark spiral above Louise-Françoise's extended arms. Sheets of rain swept through the gardens. Streaks of icy water ran down her face. The storm was picking up but it was not enough, not nearly enough, not yet. A burst of lightning escaped, stabbing a nearby tree with a crackling tendril of electricity. Thunder rumbled almost immediately afterward. But despite the howls of storm, wind and rain, her well-trained Hunter senses picked up on the sound of crunching gravel, just a few alleys away. It was subtle, but growing louder. Her nose twitched unpleasantly as a sour smell mixed with the refreshing petrichor. She'd recognize it anywhere. Acid. The monster was nearby, drawing closer. She had what, a few dozen seconds left? Maybe a minute if she was lucky.

Louise tried to control her panic. This was not the moment to let her fear get the better of her. Concentrate. She screwed up her face in effort, pouring every ounce of willpower she had into this storm. The clouds burst with lightning, illuminating the dark sky with sudden flashes. She let out an elated laugh at the sight, feeling the electricity tingle in her skin. A few more like that and it would be ready. She was just thinking she might have a chance when a sudden growl echoed closeby, messing with her focus. That half-second of panicked inattention was enough for the storm to slip from her grasp and feed off her fear. A few moments later, it had grown tiers like an upside-down wedding cake. The spiral of clouds tightened, sucking up dust and gravel. Of course, that didn't help her calm down. She thought of all the people in Versailles, and of Adrien who was off Zeus knows where.  She could not let this turn into a tornado. With a snarl, Louise clenched her fingers in the crashing rain and pulled the column apart into a whirling vortex. Still dangerous, but controlled. She had had plenty of training nipping dangerous aerial phenomena in the bud over the centuries, which usually started thanks to her anger issues. But with the storm around, it had taken more strength than she realized. And as she rested her hands on her knees, wheezing, a giant shadow fell over her.

She looked up.

Even if she didn't get nightmares about this monster semi-regularly, she would never have forgotten what it looked like. A gigantic snaking body, mottled greenish-yellow scales hard as titanium, four glowing eyes, fangs as large as the garden's statues. Acidic smoke curled out of its mouth in copper tendrils.

The drakon of Thebes.

Louise's mind flashed back to 1667. She was back on that horse she stole, her ill-fitting men's clothes already in tatters from the Laistrygonian attack. Face smeared with dirt, hair hastily cut with embroidery scissors. In broad daylight anyone would've seen she was a girl, but in the dark she easily passed as a young boy. Which was all she needed. As she rode her horse into foaming exhaustion, her mind rang with the words of her sister, of her mother, of the Dauphine. She still couldn't believe it all. No wonder the drakon managed to sneak up on her, consumed as she was from the inside.

It crashed into her out of nowhere, sending her flying along with her horse. The poor thing broke its hind legs on impact and the drakon swallowed it whole. She remembered how she had picked up her sword and shield, feeling confident that this was just one more monster she had to kill. But that changed quickly. With a spit of acid, it melted her sword right there in her hand. She had to drop it on the ground and watch it turn into a bubbling puddle of molten celestial bronze. Her precious spear ended up in a pile of steaming splinters soon after. She hit the drakon with a lightning strike, which bounced off the scales harmlessly and hit a tree, sparking a fire.

At that moment, she really started to panic. Her weapons were gone, her powers didn't work, and the corrosive acid oozing into the air made it impossible to breathe.

So she did the only thing she could do. She ran.

Louise had never really run before. Her inflated ego liked to believe she could meet any challenge. She was so used to feeling above the world that anything threatening her superiority complex had to be squashed immediately. Including monsters. But if she fought this thing, she would take more than a well-deserved dent to her ego. And she knew it. So she ran for dear life.

Praying to the gods under her breath, muttering desperate pleas to her father, Louise bounded through the forest. She willed the air to scatter her scent to confuse the drakon but it was tracking her down anyway, spitting acid through the undergrowth. She jumped and zigzagged, evading it as best she could, but even she knew she could not keep this up for long. She was exhausted and injured, and the demigod haven was still many miles away. Even if her horse was still alive, she doubted she could make it. A frustrated sense of desperation filled her. She didn't want to die this way. She had fought so hard to get to safety. To live. And now she was going to die here, alone, away from her family, away from her friends, because Hera had decided to personally mess up her life. The goddess had given her an unthinkable choice, and Louise realized now that this was her endgame. Watching her die for the crime of being Zeus' bastard child. She would bet every jewel she owned that the queen of the gods was up on Olympus right now, with pyramids of macarons and candied fruits, watching her and enjoying the knowledge that she had sent her a monster she couldn't defeat.

The forest around her felt unreal, glossy. A tree crashed next to her, its trunk consumed by acid. She barely heard it. Everything was slow and silent and distant. She felt like she was running through invisible molasses, every step heavier than the last.

That's when she noticed it. The acid on her leg. Steaming, bubbling, dissolving her skin. Tears of frustration and pain streamed down her face, tracing grimy lines through the dirt she had smeared there hours before. She started screaming - screaming in agony, in fear, in anger. The drakon closed in on her, baring several rows of fangs. She knew she was about to die. She could sense it like the blood on her skin. Still, Louise let tendrils of electricity run along her hands. Just to feel it again. One more time. If she was going out, she would go out with a bang.

A whack of the drakon's tail sent her crashing into a tree. Her vision blacked out. Blood seeped over her eyes. Half-conscious, she pulled herself together just enough to retreat a little bit more, drag herself a few inches away... Her leg was steaming.... was that bone? The white colour swam in front of her eyes. Her forehead felt so heavy... Why was it so heavy? she wondered. The ground suddenly hit the back of her skull. White still swam in front of her eyes. Instead now it was... turning... silver? It darted above her like... like arrows... A single spear, elegantly carved, sprang out right over her... She didn't quite see what was happening but flames ignited somewhere to the left and a gust of wind swept chunks of golden dust over her tattered, steaming shoes. Then two moon-colored eyes appeared over her face and everything faded to black.


Louise shook herself from her memories.

"Hello, old friend," she breathed as the drakon lifted its head over the garden hedges. "I think you owe me a re-match."

Okay, okay, so this wasn’t totally the end of the world, Adrien thought to himself. With a quick glance down at himself, he confirmed that he was still invisible and more importantly, so was Louise-Françoise’s silvery backpack. He looked back up at Fake Hercules - the statue was smacking its gnarled club menacingly against his open palm, but it was also looking around slowly, which was good news. It probably sensed Adrien and the backpack but definitely couldn’t exactly see him.

As quietly as he could, Adrien slipped his arms into the backpack straps while still keeping the bag in front of him, not unlike a kangaroo pouch. This way his hands were free to firmly hold his spear. The statue wasn’t the biggest, so although it was standing right in Adrien’s way, he could probably squeeze past it if he was stealthy enough.

Adrien took the quietest deep breath he could, and started creeping towards the statue. The unnaturally strong wind whistled around him, covering the sound of his steps. As he tip-toed past Fake Hercules, he was just looking at the empty path ahead of him and thinking how lucky he was, that the wind whipped a small thorny branch from the hedge - and it whacked Adrien soundly across the face.

“Ow,” he let out, surprised, nose stinging from the branch, and froze. Almost comically, the statue turned towards him the second Adrien’s camouflage dropped, and he flickered into the statue’s vision. “Oops,” Adrien said, and lunged forward to attack Fake Hercules.