CHAPTER SIX

I GET LOST IN THE TUNDRA

We made camp just outside of a small farm town called Kenosha, Kansas.

It was still a long ride west to get to Las Vegas, but we were all beat.

Anyway, Nico was still with us and finally, they told me the story about Illya.

"So," said Annabeth, "like I was telling you, Percy, Illya was the most beautiful woman back in ancient Greece. And a daughter of Aphrodite. One of her first children, actually."

"Yeah," said Grover. "She fell in love with this Athenian warrior and well, you know the rest." He began to blush.

"Illya was born and she was a radiant beauty, taking after her mother." said Nico. "Hades told me her story before. She was great beauty, not much of a hero by half-blood standards. But anyway, she prayed to her mother everyday to give her more beauty and grace. She was hungry for beauty and with that came power. Power to sway people to her ways."

"She wanted to rule Athens with the might of the gods behind her." said Annabeth.

"So, what happened to her?" I asked.

"A male hero," said Grover, "was used to...sort of call Illya out, on her real intentions."

"Hercules," I said, remembering my dream of him and the beautiful woman.

"How did know that?" asked Annabeth.

I told them my dream.

"That's what happened according to the story." said Nico.

"He was able to convince her to tell him her deepest secrets." said Annabeth. "She claimed to be more beautiful than all of the goddesses and women of the world. And you know how Aphrodite gets. She got so offended, especially when the other goddesses began to taunt her about her daughter."

"What did she do?" I asked.

"First," said Nico, "she sent the monsters after her."

"What?!" I said, shocked. "But that's her daughter, couldn't she had just taken her aside or something and said, 'I'm more beautiful than you will ever be and get over yourself' or something?"

"Percy," groaned Annabeth, "the Olympians are proud beings. If you offend one of them, there will be retribution. And Illya made the fatal pick."

"Luckily, though, she was able to sway the monsters out of Aphrodite's grasp. But that only made her more angrily, so the goddess visited Illya, personally." said Grover.

"She turned Illya into a monster and cursed her so that would never know beauty or feel love ever again." said Annabeth.

"Now that she was a hideous monster, a hero and her own parent had betrayled her, she became vengeful. But she left and fled into the north with the remaining monsters she had convinced to spare her. Rumor has it, that she practiced dark ice magic, under Hecate's training." said Nico.

"And now she wants to kill all of her brothers and sisters to get back at her mother for taking her good looks away." I said.

"And love," said Annabeth, "don't forget about love."

"But, if that's all she's after, then why does she have to single out Silena?" I thought for a while.

Grover gave a stiff yawn.

Nico looked up at the sky.

"Its getting late," he murmured. "I should get going."

"Go?" said Annabeth. "You don't have to go, Nico. You can spend the night with us and leave in the morning."

"I have to leave now," he said, getting to his feet, "while the moon and shadows still roam free."

"Where will you go? The Underworld?"

Nico nodded.

"I have my own room, right there in the palace. Its the least my dad could do after I---we, I mean---got his stolen sword back from that half-blood and Iapetus."

The shadows around Nico seemed to bend, until he vanished into darkness.

The dream came back.

I was once again at the temple, but it was night now. The sky was full of bright stars.

I heard sobbing coming from inside of the temple. I followed the sound and came up behind someone bent over an altar, where a shimmering bronze mirror stood. In front of the mirror, was a figure wearing a hood and cloak. The figure raised itself to its fullest height and pulled off its hood.

Long stark white hair flowed down her back, her hands were old, with yellow fingernails. And when she looked up into the mirror, I flinched at the sight. It was Illya. This must have been right after Aphrodite cursed her. Her skin was pale and old, her once beautiful eyes had cataracts. Her bat-like ears had pearls dangling from them. Her mouth had pointed fangs and her face was wet.

"Why?" she hissed. Her voice was cold and full of malice. "Why mother did you do this to me?!" She sobbed harder. "I was the most beautiful thing to walk this earth besides you! Look what you have done to me! Change me back! Change me back!"

It was hard to watch as this old woman craved for her beauty to be restored. She cried harder and began to pound a pillar into rumble with her bare fists.

There was a soft rumble and she stopped.

The bronze mirror glowed, faintly and Illya walked over to it. She saw herself as she use to be---beautiful and alive. She smiled for a second, thinking her wish had been granted, until she looked down at her hands and began to cry again. The Illya in the mirror began to speak and when she spoke, I knew that voice.

This is your punishment for disgracing me. It was Aphrodite. I gave you beauty and life and this how you repay me? Invoking the spirit of yourself upon the world....to claim that you are the most beautiful thing to ever live. Well, look at you now, dear Illya. Look at you, now. And this is how you will be forever.
"Mother, please!" cried Illya. "I'm sorry! Change me back! Please! I'm your daughter! Please!"

Your no daughter of mine. Aphrodite's voice was colder now as she said that. My children are the most beautiful inside and out. You show only disgusting vanity, which I have reflected on your outside. Know this, Illya, being my child made you special and now, this is all you will ever be. A monster. An ugly and dispictable monster, awaiting the day a hero destroys you.

"No, mother! No!" Illya said, tears flowing down her old cheeks. "No. Don't do this to me!"

It is done! Aphrodite said, finally.

The image of the young and beautiful Illya vanished, leaving behind her ugly reflection. Her eyes became suddenly cold.

"Ugly on in and ugly on out. Ugly on in and ugly on out. Ugly on in and ugly on out. Ugly on in and ugly on out." muttered Illya, repeating the phrase.

Suddenly, there was a cold draft, even in dreamworld and five Artecans appeared.

They all began to repeat the phrase Illya, herself, was saying.

"UGLY ON IN AND UGLY ON OUT!" roared Illya, smashing the bronze mirror. It shattered to the ground and her face reflected in the broken glass.

"I shall have my revenge, Aphrodite." she spat, scornfully. "Yes. I will."

"Weird dream," said Grover, picking at the early morning fire, with a stick.

"Yeah," I said, rubbing my head.

We slept in sleeping bags on the ground, with plenty of cover away from mortals and monsters.

Annabeth was already dressed and typing on Daedalus's laptop.

"According to this," she said, "Las Vegas is about 3,000 miles northwest of here."

"That thing has a navigation system?" I said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Duh, Percy. Anyway, I think we should try and hike to the next town. Maybe we can catch a bus or train further west."

"How far is the nearest town?"

"About five miles," Annabeth groaned, checking the laptop screen, again.

"You'll never get there," said a glossy voice from above us.

We looked up and there were about a dozen Artecans, hovering above. Lissa in the front of them.

"I see your more resourceful then I thought," said Lissa, with a grin. "But I wonder what you all would do, if you didn't have each other."

I uncapped Riptide and Annabeth pulled out her bronze knife.

"NOW!" yelled Lissa, holding out her hands. The other Artecans followed.

The ground got hard at first, and then cold. Ice cold. Sheets of ice began to rise up about thirty feet all around us.

"What's going on?!" I said.

The ground shook violently, exactly where we stood and a sheet of thirty foot ice rose up between Annabeth and I. I looked around and saw Grover vanish from sight as well. I could hear their yells and the sound of more icy walls rising, slowly shifting and moving, seperating us from each other, until a sheet of ice slid over the top like a domb, casting the sun out and putting me into totally darkness.

I uncapped Riptide.

The faint glow from my sword came me little light, but it was enough to see. I was standing a corridor that looked like a Labyrinth tunnel. Each direction went off into darkness.

"I'd like to see you get out of our Tundra Maze, son of the Sea God!" laughed Lissa. "You'll never come out alive!"

I knew that this was a bad idea, but I also knew I had to find Grover and Annabeth and get us out of here. I had this feeling that I would get lost along the way, but that didn't matter. So, I started off down the tunnel, not knowing what danger it would lead me into next.