A/N: I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for reading my story so far. I'm so glad to know that so many are enjoying my story so far. It really means a lot to me. On an extra note, I'm going to start dividing up the parts in the chapter with lines so it's a little easier to read. I thought that if I put a couple of spaces in between parts it would show, but something closes the spacing for some reason.

III

Welcome to Hell

"Ah, this is nice. Just a simple walk with my son. What could be better than this?" Poseidon sighed leisurely at his comment, one that almost sounded as though it was made to be comical.

"You and I both know that there are a lot of things that could be better than this," Perseus snarled as he glared at his father. They strolled through the street, and despite the negative feelings he harbored towards his father, Perseus almost felt like they were on a normal walk. As much as he wished it was, he knew full well that it wasn't, and that he needed to get his head out of the clouds. Perseus was joining the military today. The blood spilled in wars flowed constantly from people of all ages, no matter how young or old you were, no matter how wealthy or poor you were.

"As right as you are about that, you still have to admit that this is nice in some form." Poseidon replied quietly. Perseus almost bought his father's supposed sincerity, but he knew him too well to think that he would suddenly become kind. His father's heart was a cold stone, if he even had one, that is, "But never mind that. We should hurry, if we are going to get to the caves before dark." Silence fell between them afterwards, which Perseus didn't mind at all. His mind was occupied with more important things. Like whether or not his friend would truly manage to escape his father's iron fist he held around the city. It was something that was going to toy with his mind until he at least got a message from his friend, or personally saw to it he escaped, meaning that he himself would have to cross the borders. Something that Gruev had told him not to do. But what if Perseus did? What if there was some glorious city or sanctuary on the other side where they could live freely and away from Poseidon's prying eyes? A place, perhaps, where Perseus could settle down with a wife. One that the king had no say on. One that he really, truly loved. He sighed, exhausted of thinking of the many possibilities on what could be on the other side of the mountain. Though he knew he could dream, he knew they would never come true. Not even in a million years…

"Damn this heat!" Poseidon spat, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his palm. Even though Perseus himself knew that it was blistering hot, he kept a stronghold on his complaints, unlike his father, who was whining like a child.

"Maybe you should go back," Perseus jeered, "It would be a lot nicer going by carriage, don't you think? Not only that, you could spare me from your ever so painful crying."

Poseidon waved him away, grabbing his knees and huffing, "Bah, there's no point! By the time I got back to the palace, I could have already been inside the caves." Perseus's shirt lifted slightly, revealing the canteen of water he had strapped to his belt. Poseidon eyed it greedily,

"So, you've had water all this time, eh, boy?" He sneered, flashing his sniveling personality.

"You'll be fine, I'm sure you won't waste away in this heat quite yet." Perseus muttered before cautiously hiding his canteen again under his shirt. To help both his father and himself from thinking about the heat, he mustered up what he could say without his throat becoming too parched, "So…what are they like?"

"Be more specific-about the what you're talking about, boy." Poseidon gulped, red-faced, "What? Do you mean the caves?"

"Yes."

Poseidon laughed before coughing loudly, "They let you escape the heat, and that's about the only positive thing about them."

Perseus nodded weakly, "That's good news for a change. But what of the negatives?"

"There is one thing," Poseidon looked over, using the small bit of strength he had left, "There is no light…only darkness." He panted a few times before continuing, "Many go in, few come back. Let's hope you are one of the small remaining who submerges from the caves sane enough." Poseidon, spotting an old sun-bleached log, dragged over and took a seat on it, as if talking of the caves drained him of all his energy. Perseus, feeling the smallest hint of pity, strode over and handed his father the canteen.

"Drink," He ordered, "Just not too much. We need some for the rest of the way." Poseidon knocked the water back, taking several massive gulps before handing the bottle back to Perseus. It was already half gone in just one sitting from his father.

"Well that was," Poseidon paused, drying his lips, "Refreshing. As far as warm water goes." Perseus looked up over his father's head at the caves. They didn't look that much further away. But after his father's remark at how the caves could make most anyone lose their minds, he almost felt as though he would rather wander in the desert until he dried up under the sun.

"You fear the caves, don't you, father?"

Poseidon's eyes rolled down to the grains of sand beneath his feet, "…Yes. I have only been inside twice. The first, for military training, as you are. The second, well, the second was to battle."

Perseus tipped his head, frowning, "Battle who? The Dark Men?"

Poseidon hesitated for a moment, as if he didn't want to truthfully answer his question, "Yes. Of course it was the Dark Men," The king said with finality, almost as though he was trying to convince himself of that, "Who else would it be?"

"Nobody, father. Obviously it would be the Dark Men." Dancing away from the conversation. He knew his father wasn't being truthful about something, and he had full intention on figuring out what it was one way or another, "Get up. We need to keep moving."

By the time the sun had started its descent and the moon itself was beginning to rise, the father and son pair had made it to the mouth of the cave. On either side of the cave's entrance was an unlit torch. Perseus removed one from the wall,

"Well? How are we going to light it?" Perseus inquired, searching around for something.

"Don't worry, there will be a guard inside who can start it," Poseidon reassured, "Let's just get inside, I'm roasting like a pig here." Perseus led the way down the dark cavern. The rock was the strangest color he had ever seen. All around them, the walls and floors were made up of thick slabs of glossy rock.

"What type of rock is this father?"

"I'm not entirely sure." He replied, "Now get a move on and stop wondering about these old things." At this, Poseidon kicked the wall with his heavy boot.

Up ahead, Perseus could see a faint light glinting off the curious rock ceiling. Before he knew it, they were face-to-face with one of the two guards from the kingdom. One of them was facing their direction, the other facing towards another cave entrance. But for some outlandish reason, there was a third cave entrance besides the one they had just entered through and the one that a guard was not posted by. No light could be seen inside, just a pitch black core. The guard took the dead torch from Perseus and hovered it over a live one welded to the wall. As he did this, Perseus pointed towards the cavern,

"Father, what's down there?" From the corner of his eye, he spotted the two guards look at each other with unease.

Poseidon also glanced at the guards, "Nothing. It's a dead end, and nothing more. An awful accident that happened down there, a horrifying explosion." Perseus frowned, not knowing what to say. He knew it was yet another lie. It had to be. But the thing he was pondering more was what his father could possibly be covering up.

"If you say so, father." Perseus took his torch back from the guard before continuing down the next cave. As he passed the dead end, he could've sworn he heard voices and laughter of the faintest sound that could possibly be heard. Were the caverns already getting to his mind? Slowly unraveling it and creeping through the crevices like a small worm writhing through the dirt? He hoped it wasn't this, but instead simply a figment of his imagination.

A/N: I hope all of you have an awesome weekend and/or Easter Sunday to any of you who celebrate it! Oh, and quick quiz-Any of you have an idea on who "Gruev" is? It's a pretty easy question to answer.

Until Next Week,

~Leaded-Pegasus