CHAPTER 1

She was never coming back. Petty hunger for power, which the Queen Pasiphae possessed, had taken her from him. He felt it, felt her pain and despair in the emptiness that had spread through his heart like a poisonous disease. He had failed her. He had failed to protect her though he'd done so much to protect many since he'd come to Atlantis. But as he watched the sun rise over the rooftops of the poorest parts of the city, painting the world in sharp beautiful colors as it was just another day, he realized he wouldn't be able to live in a world where she did not exist. For some reason he felt cold and it reminded him the chilly, gloomy winter days in London. The cold he felt was actually in the blood, in the bone. It could never be vanquished unless he does something to save her.

His love was sentenced to be executed by the nightfall today, and if he knew the evil Queen and her nephew one bit, they would want it to happen in front of all the citizens of Atlantis. Since the Queen now held the autocracy of the powers of judge, jury and executioner, it would be pointless to ask for a fair retrial. All he could do now was coming up with a cunning battle plan worthy of Athena which is capable of beating all the odds.

"Up already." Pythagoras' words yanked back to the ground. Not expecting a coherent answer from Jason today he opened the food cupboard and started digging into the pots searching for something to make for breakfast. After that embarrassingly awkward incident with Hecate, a very tasty piece of meat and furry nights stalking goats and pigs through vacant streets, he'd decide to leave cooking entirely to Pyth and Hercules.

"We are going to rescue her." Jason muttered even without realizing that he'd catch the bowl Pyth had tossed at him. Those amazing battle reflexes are becoming kind of a second nature to him.

"You mean you are going to save her….." Hercules said walking into their shared flat's kitchen\ dining area\ living room, looking a little delirious around the edges. Well, not a surprise considering the amount of liqueur the man had poured down his throat last night. "And who are we talking about?"

It seemed he had completely given up on trying to save Medusa because saving poor damsels in distress was all he would talk about during last two months. Maybe it was his handover addled mind talking right now.

"He meant princess Ariadne you big idiot. You do remember her right, the very beautiful girl with long black hair and big brown eyes?" Pyth asked, his face quickly shifting into the mask of a school teacher teaching geometry to a week student.

Hercules presented them with one of his smug smiles and poured hot soup in to his clay bowl. "I just happen to know many beauties with black hair and brown eyes. wait…what do you mean we are going to rescue her, she's sentenced to a public execution. We can't crash into the place and save her in front of everyone. I for one am want to keep my head attached to my body until I find a cure for my Medusa."

"I'm not going to wait until the last moment to save her. Where do you think they'll keep her until it's time for the execution?" He asked Pyth, ignoring the comment Hercules muttered about the naivety of youth.

" Palace cells I guess. Now…. The palace of Atlantis has its own unique structure. If we are doing a prison break….." Pyth muttered almost to himself and started digging into his collection of parchments, rolling some open and off and tossing them over his shoulder all around the room.

Jason knew he'd found the right one the second it happened because Pythagoras made whistling sound through his mouth and started jumping up and down.

"There's an underground tunnel leading up to the palace from the Arena, it ends few levels below the palace cells. A long time ago they used it to store hungry lions so they could be used for both protection of the palace and fighting gladiators in the arena. They stopped using it after Poseidon became our patron god. I don't think anybody knows of its existence anymore."

He cleared a space on the small table and laid the parchment over it. Since Jason couldn't read ancient Greek, all he could do was stare blank facedly at what he assumed was a map of the palace.

For the first time since he heard the news of Ariadne being imprisoned and sentenced to be killed, he felt hope spreading through his body. He hoped with every vibe of his body that he'd be able to save her.

Meanwhile at the palace of Atlantis,

Pasiphae paced in her room, her long blue dress sweeping the ground with her movement. In the matter of few days she's going to be crowned Queen again, not just some lowly Queen consort to a king who held all the reins of power, but a Queen by the literal sense of the word. Highly addictive overwhelming feeling of Power surged through her veins. She could even taste it in her mouth. A long time ago, while crying her heart out over this same cold marble floor she'd made a promise to herself that she would become the most powerful person in this kingdom so that no one would be able to come close enough to cause her such heartache. She had begged her godly mistress to grant her with her wish for more power. At that moment it reminded her of another wish she'd made that day, the only wish Aphrodite hadn't been kind enough to grant her with yet and maybe never will. Her barely- there soul still wept for loss of that little bundle in her arms, she feeling of being link to a child as only a mother could.

She stopped pacing when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." she ordered knowing who would dare come to her room at this late hour in the night. She had archived the ability to read her nephew's face like a open book, so she knew just looking at him what he'd come to say.

"My Queen, our spies have no information on the identity of the assassin. It's a mystery to them as much as it's to us."

Heptarian stated as he slowly walked into the Queen's chambers looking exhausted with dark circles under his eyes.

"I thought as much." Pasiphae muttered and went to stand beside the huge floor length windows.

"You disappoint me nephew, you handpicked those spies as well as my guards and yet, some assassin managed sneak into my room without anyone knowing about it. If I hadn't woken up the moment I did…" Heptarian's posture stiffened, his fingers stopped playing with the hilt of his sword. She was not blind. She knew her nephew didn't give a drachma about her safety.

If only her son was still alive…

Perhaps it was because she had been selfish. She had wanted to stay Queen and not stay married to a man who only came to her bed with hopes of ensuring the prevalence of his royal blood line. And when the opportunity presented itself, she had plotted against her husband the late king Aeson , afraid he would take it as he had taken so much else. Her whole plan backfired when he realized that he's been backed to a corner with nobody to help. The insolent bastard had flee the city with her newborn son in the middle of the night. That's why she got scared so much when someone broke into her room at night. She still had nightmares about waking up to see her son's empty cradle beside her bed.

He had taken everything that mattered from her that night. And she grieved, afraid it was her sin that took her babe from her. She had lied to head priestess of the temple of Aphrodite and lain with her sister's husband. She had given herself before the marriage was sanctified by her godly mistress. There was no warmth left her heart. No hope. No love. Gods had taken her baby from her. And so, it had created this heartless woman who's only reason for living is to gain more power.

"Increase the security detail of Ariadne's prison cell. If she's ready to go to the executioner than give us the name of the assassin he or she must mean something to her. Certainly enough to try to save her."