One Question Haunts and Hurts
My siblings helped me off the bridge before they started treating my arm. Thankfully it was only a hairline fracture, so it healed nicely and quickly, but it was still sore. I'd have to be more careful with it. Still, it was better than breaking it completely.
After that we figured out where the rest of the camp was stationed (by using a sleeping person's cell) and headed off to the Marriot. The walk was slow-going and agonizing. At least, it felt that way, but the Apollo cabin was probably going to be needed to help treat the wounded. Even with the loss of Michael still fresh in our minds, my siblings continued to push themselves forward for the sake of the others, and probably in Michael's memory, too.
When we finally arrived back we quickly set to work. Well, I tried to, but Cressida told me I needed to rest.
"No, I know I can't heal, but I want to help," I objected weakly.
"It's okay," Cressida said softly. "Your arm still needs to time to heal. Just sit for a little bit. Then you can come help. Besides…I'm sure they're be plenty more times we'll be needed."
It was a grim thought, but a true one.
"Are you absolutely sure?" I asked anyway. "I can gather supplies, that wouldn't jostle my arm too much."
Cressida put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me into one of the plush chairs of the Penthouse suite we'd overtaken for the time being.
"I'm sure." She gave me a soft smile before going to help the rest of our siblings. I glanced around at all the demigods and Hunters, all weary and tired from the long night. The Athena cabin clustered in a group near a set of balcony doors, murmuring quietly to each other. Even in a war, word traveled fast. When we'd called, instead of Annabeth picking up, it had been one of her siblings, so I knew that Annabeth had gotten hurt, taken a poisoned knife for Percy.
Silena suddenly burst from the balcony doors, making her way quickly past the campers and Hunters, her eyes determined. She passed right by me without a thought, but as she did it was like someone had zapped me. I found myself standing and reaching for her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.
She slowly turned to face me, glaring—her eyes were brown today, but they were cold and hard like the tiger's eye gemstone.
"Don't do this," I whispered, glancing around, hoping I wasn't making a spectacle. The others milled about, same as before.
Silena yanked her wrist out of my grasp. Her eyes went behind me, to the balcony doors, I assumed, before going back to me. Her dark eyebrows furrowed, the coldness in her eyes melting.
"You weren't—how did you—?" She broke off blinking. "I have to do something. Besides," her voice lowered, "if I'm gone, I won't have much of anything to report about."
She had a point, but I was getting a seriously bad feeling. Once again I spoke before my mind had time to process my words, "Doing this won't bring Beckendorf back."
Silena's eyes filled with tears and I instantly regretted bringing that up.
"I know," she choked, her eyes hardening. "But it will make things right." With that, she turned and exited the penthouse.
I watched her go, my breath not coming, her words replaying in my mind: It will make things right.
Right.
Everything suddenly seemed overwhelming. The walls started closing in and the noise of the murmuring became talking, which became screams—it was sensory overload. I needed air. I needed quiet.
Breathing hard I quickly went out to one of the other balconies to get some air and away from it all. As much as she hated me and I disliked her, I hoped Annabeth was going to be all right. I figured since Percy had taken Wil, she was in good hands. He was our cabin's best healer.
I looked out across Central Park, trying not to think about what happened on the Williamsburg Bridge too much. Tears pooled in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I couldn't mourn, I didn't have time to. I couldn't afford to. Not now.
The sun had just risen, illuminating the park with its golden rays. I closed my eyes and took in a big, shaky breath. The air was cool this morning with a breeze that felt good through my hair. I enjoyed the crisp air—it soothed my nerves, dulled the ache in my chest over Michael, over all of this.
I found myself enjoying the quiet. It was odd, but nice to not hear all the sounds of cars honking and people yelling. It gave me a strange sense of peace. Sadly, this feeling didn't last long. I heard Luke's name and my attention snapped to a conversation between two voices I recognized: Annabeth and Percy. Annabeth had been the one who'd brought up Luke.
"…came to see me in San Francisco," she said weakly. If it hadn't been so dead silent, I might not have been able to hear her.
"In person?" Percy asked, his voice tight. "He came to your house?"
"This was before we went into the Labyrinth, before…" Annabeth's voice broke. My heart squeezed and my chest tightened at her words. My mind flashed back to when I'd seen him bolt up from that horrendous golden coffin, his golden eyes, the shadow cast over his face.
"He came under a flag of truce," Annabeth finally continued. "He said he only wanted five minutes to talk. He looked scared, Percy. He told me Kronos was going to use him to take over the world." I gritted my teeth, more tears forming in my eyes. I had known about this. Luke had told me a little after his dip in the Styx. But the reminders, the painful memories it brought back was almost too much.
"Hey," Luke said, catching my attention. I was sitting at the dining table in the admiralty suite, staring at my plate of breakfast. I wasn't feeling particularly hungry though, thinking about too many morbid things, so instead I stared down at blankly as I thought.
I blinked out of my daze and lifted my head, looking over my shoulder to see Luke standing behind me.
"Can we talk?" he asked in the same soft tone he'd used to call my attention. He looked worried, slightly sick. Not physically, of course, but the expression on his face was that akin to one you had when your stomach churned.
No, physically, Luke looked as healthy as a twenty-two year old should be. Maybe even a little healthier than that. Ever since the Styx, the effects of holding up the sky had vanished.
"Of course." I gestured to the seat next to mine. Luke pulled the chair out and slid into it, sitting to face me. I turned to face him. He looked down at his hands. His eyes avoided mine, but I could hear him trying to figure out what to say. I reached over and took his hands into mine. Luke finally looked up and I gave him a reassuring, encouraging smile.
Luke let out a long sigh and looked away again. Finally he said, "I went to visit Annabeth."
I almost pulled away from him I was so shocked. When? And why? Before I could voice these questions, Luke continued. He told me about how, after he'd thought I'd left him, he turned to Annabeth. He was hoping she'd save him from having to prepare his body to host Kronos, but she turned him away because she didn't trust him.
I wanted to bring up that if he still didn't want to host Kronos, regardless of the fact that he had already taken on the Curse of Achilles, he didn't have to. But this was already taking a clear toll on him so I held my tongue and let him continue.
"I told her to kill me," Luke said in a blank voice, staring off at some spot on the ground next to me. My heart ached at seeing him so despondent, but I didn't know what to do, what to say. All I could do was hold his hands and hope he knew I was still here for him.
"I guess you can't count on friends," he finally said, bitterness filling his voice. His eyes had darkened along with his expression.
My eyes slid over to the coffin on its dais at the end of the room. It seemed to have started glowing more brightly. I looked back at Luke and removed one of my hands from his so I could caress his face and make him look at me. I hated seeing them so filled with shadow.
It was taking a risk, saying this now, with the coffin so close, but I didn't care at the time.
"Don't listen to him," I told Luke quietly, but firmly. "Don't let him convince you of that. Annabeth still cares about you very much."
Luke's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes didn't clear. "How would you know?"
I scooted to the edge of my chair so I could be closer to him. "Because Annabeth and I are alike. I know how her mind works. She may not trust you, but she loves you, dearly. Don't let Kronos let you think otherwise."
Luke frowned but didn't say more. I held his gaze as he worked through what I said. And slowly, slowly, the darkness faded from his eyes. The glow of the coffin dimmed to next to nothing. I let out a mental sigh of relief and stroked my thumb underneath his eye.
"Better?" I asked quietly.
Luke managed a small, weary smile. "Better."
I let out a shaky, quiet laugh and leaned forward, resting my forehead against his. He squeezed my hand and brought his other hand up to caress my cheek. I knew my work was only half done here, though. Luke may have been able to fight off Kronos this time, but next time might be harder. And it wasn't just fighting off his toxic words, he'd planted the seed. If Luke watered those seeds and let those dark thoughts grow, there wasn't going to be anything I could do to uproot them.
"He said he wanted to run away, like the old days," Annabeth whispered. "He wanted me to come with him."
"But you didn't trust him," Percy supplied in a low voice.
"Of course not," Annabeth continued. "I thought it was a trick. Plus…well, a lot of things had changed since the old days." Her voice changed ever so slightly and I had to wonder what she was thinking about. "I told Luke there was no way. He got mad. He said…he said I might as well fight him right there,"—her voice rose—"because it was the last chance I'd get."
"It's okay," Percy said soothingly. "Try to get some rest."
"You don't understand, Percy," Annabeth continued in an almost desperate-sounding whisper. "Hermes was right. Maybe if I'd gone with him, I could've changed his mind. Or-or I had a knife. Luke was unarmed. I could've—"
"Killed him?" Percy finished. "You know that wouldn't have been right."
There was a pause. "Luke said Kronos would use him like a stepping stone. Those were his exact words. Kronos would use Luke, and become even more powerful."
I swallowed hard and closed my eyes, more tears forming. I bowed my head not wanting to hear the rest of this conversation, but I couldn't get my body to move, to go back inside. Almost as if I was punishing myself for all the pain I'd caused.
"He did that," Percy said. "He possessed Luke's body."
"But what if Luke's body is only a transition? What if Kronos has a plan to become even more powerful? I could've stopped him. The war is my fault."
I opened my eyes and blinked in surprise at that. That had to be the first time she hadn't blamed something on me. It almost felt nice to know someone else knew at least a little how I felt. Not that I wanted anyone to feel like I did, to hate themselves as much as I did, but maybe it would make Annabeth hate me a little less. Maybe it would help her empathize and realize that what I was trying to do here, now, was make amends.
These thoughts only brought me back to what I'd trying to avoid just a moment ago. This war, all the deaths that had occurred since two years ago, since I became the reason Luke became Kronos, were my fault.
Castor's death was my fault. Lee's death was my fault. Clara and Thomas. Aaron and Melody. Beckendorf. Michael.
My knees hit the floor of the balcony painfully, but that pain compared to the pain I currently felt in my chest was nothing. I gripped the railing, putting my head into my arms as tears pooled in my eyes and spilled over.
"I'm sorry," I sobbed quietly. "I'm so sorry." I couldn't afford to mourn for Michael now, but now it wasn't even a choice anymore. If I just hadn't been so selfish! If I hadn't listened to Luke. Why did I love him so much that I was willing to let so many innocent people die? Why did I love him so much that I let him be possessed by a titan all because he told me he couldn't live without me?
I wanted to scream!
The doors behind me sounded and I quickly stood, wiping away my tears, looking over my shoulder to see who it was. Jake Mason, newly appointed head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin. It was like the Fates were just messing with me at this point, seeing how many hits I could take before I lost my mind.
"What?" I asked in a hoarse voice, only looking at him through the corners of my eyes, afraid that they were red and puffy. I didn't want anyone to know I'd been crying.
"Percy wants to talk to you," he told me in a hard voice, glaring at me.
"Right now?" I asked. Jake nodded. "Give me a minute." I told him before turning to face Central Park again. I took a deep breath through my mouth, my nose kind of stuffed and wiped my cheeks again. I didn't think that was going to do anything, but I did it anyway, convincing myself that it might help me not look like I was just crying.
I turned and followed Jake into the living room. Demigods and Hunters were still milling about. Some were crashed out on the beds. The Demeter kids had used the hotel's kitchens to make a whole buffet of food.
Percy was with Grover and Thalia, waiting as Jake and I approached. The demigods who were awake were gathered around the small group, waiting, too. For what, I wasn't quite sure.
Percy addressed me as soon as I came into view, "Are you absolutely, positively sure you don't know anything about the spy. Anything at all. Not even the smallest piece of information?" His green eyes were hard and scrutinizing, like he was still trying to figure something out.
"I'm sure," I enunciating carefully and slowly, feeling more horrible every time I denied not knowing. I was glad he still wasn't blaming me, but was annoyed that we were having this conversation again.
Jake snorted.
I glared at him. "Stop asking if you're not going to believe me." I snapped. If only they knew.
"I think she's lying," Thalia said. I looked over at her and tried not to panic. Her electric blue eyes were sharp and piercing.
"I'm not," I told her, meeting her gaze.
"There's no way you didn't hear anything after being on the ship for two years," she explained. "Just no way. Unless you've got selective memory. Why protect the spy anyway? What do you gain from that?"
"I'm not—" I tried.
"Beckendorf died because of the spy!" Jake snapped, taking a step toward me. "If you know who the spy is…his death is your fault—" He broke off, unable to finish. His hands furled and unfurled as he glared at me.
My alarm bells started to go off and I took a nervous step back. I drummed my fingers against my legs and fought the urge to unsheathe my sword. His words echoed in my ears: my fault, my fault.
"Jake," Percy warned quietly. Jake looked at the son of Poseidon, his glare lessoning a little.
"Aren't you even a little bit mad? This spy is killing our friends, our family! Lee. Castor. Beckendorf. Michael. And she"—he pointed angrily at me—"might be protecting them!"
Percy's green eyes warily slid over to me.
Jake turned back to me. "You shouldn't have even been on that mission. It was for Percy and Beckendorf alone! Why were you even there?"
I took another step back, my hands trembling and twitching, my arms aching as I restrained them from grabbing my sword.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more," I said in a low voice. "I just…wanted to help."
"Well, then, stop," Jake snapped. "Because you're just making things worse. The mission might've been more successful if you hadn't been there. If you really wanted to help us, you'd tell us who the new spy is."
I wanted to object, once again, that I didn't know who the spy was, but his tone of voice and his choice of words brought me back to the Aphrodite cabin, when Silena had told me she had wished I had died instead of Beckendorf.
I looked around at the gathered demigods and Hunters, back at the group in front of me. I felt anger and hurt and pain well up in my chest. I felt the self-loathing. I felt the agony of losing so many of my friends, two of my siblings, because I couldn't make a simple choice to die.
"Go ahead," I finally said in a surprisingly level voice for how tumultuous I felt on the inside, looking at Jake. "Just say it. I know you're all thinking it." My voice started to raise as tears formed in my eyes and the emotions started to spill over. I looked around at the demigods. "You wish it had been me." I choked out. "You wish I had died instead of Beckendorf." I looked back at Jake, ager lacing my voice. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I wish it had been me, too."
I ran off then, like I usually did when I let my emotions get the best of me in a situation. Only, I had a destination in mind, I knew exactly what my next move was going to be.
I jammed my finger on the down button for the elevators. The doors slid open almost immediately and I slipped inside, hitting the button for the ground floor. Just as the doors were closing, Will slipped inside with me. I tried not to take my anger and frustration and pain out on him.
"What are you doing?" I asked in a tight voice. Will reached across, to the panel with all the buttons, and pressed one that shut the elevator down, stopping it completely in its tracks. I looked at him incredulously and took a step away. "Will?" I asked, my heart pounding. I didn't think he'd hurt me, he was one of my siblings after all, but my alarm bells, like they always did nowadays, started going off at the slightest notion of danger or trouble—or what my brain perceived as danger or trouble.
"Whatever it is you're thinking about doing, don't do it," he told me in a low voice.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I snapped, reaching to press the button he'd just pressed, only Will jumped in front of me and blocked the panel with his whole body. His blue eyes were dead serious, and even though he looked a little pale and shaken, possibly still recuperating from healing Annabeth, he stood with his shoulders back and chin held high.
I stepped away from him, trying not to get panicky. I was starting to feel slightly claustrophobic.
"I know you're angry, but doing rash things will not help the situation," Will told me in the same quiet, measured voice. It was very soothing. My fluttering heart stopped fluttering so much and settled as his words washed over me. Will had always been good with words.
Still, I wasn't going to let this words convince me not to do what I wanted, no needed, to do.
"It might end this war sooner, it might save more lives from being lost—" My voice got hoarse and cracked as I thought about all the friends we'd already lost. I blinked away the tears that formed in my eyes.
Will's eyes widened as he put two and two together. "You're going to give yourself up to Kronos," he whispered, deflating a little. "Tori—"
"I have to at least try to make things right!" I interrupted. "This is all my fault. I'm sure you're heard—this camp can't live without gossip—but Luke only did all those things because he was protecting me. Kronos held my life for leverage to get Luke to continue doing his bidding. And I just…let him. I could've sacrificed myself, but I couldn't abandon Luke, I just…couldn't…" I trailed off and quickly wiped away the tears that'd formed and slid down my cheeks.
"But now, now I can make things right," I continued. "If I go to Kronos, he'll kill me, which might snap Luke out of it enough to take control and get rid of Kronos before he can do any more damage, before he can hurt anyone else we care about."
Will was silent for a long time. I was almost tempted to push him aside and push the button to get this elevator going again, but finally he spoke.
"You know, the Apollo cabin cares about you. They don't wish you had died instead of Beckendorf. I don't wish that, either," he said softly.
"I know that." I sighed sharply. "I wasn't including you guys. It was heat of the moment."
"Don't do this, Tori," Will said again. "You don't know what Kronos wants from you. And you've got to take the Great Prophecy into consideration. It's never good to mess with them or try to change them, bad things happen. You and I, being children of Apollo, know this more than anyone else at camp."
"…I have to try," I whispered. "I don't care about the prophecy. I'm tired to seeing my friends die. I'm tired of being blamed for every single bad thing that happens to us. I don't want any more needless deaths."
Will's eyes looked tired and he slumped even more. "I don't want that, either. But…I don't think this will end well. Please…if not for me, then for Michael…" His voice trailed off and his eyelids slid closed.
"Will!" I gasped, stepping forward to catch him. I quickly checked his pulse. It was fine, perfectly strong. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, shifting him so that he was half-standing, half-leaning against me. He was exhausted from fighting, from healing Annabeth, and used the last of his energy to tell me not to go turn myself over to Kronos. Figures.
I pressed the button to get the elevator going again, but when we got to the first floor, I let the doors close and pressed the button for the penthouse suites. I looked down at his sleeping form and sighed, staring at the doors blankly. I couldn't believe he was only thirteen and having to go through all of this.
Then again, I'd only been thirteen when my mom had been attacked by a hellhound. Demigod lives really sucked.
When the doors slid open again, I was bombarded with the rest of my cabin. They saw Will and flew into a panic, but I quickly assured them he was all right.
"He just needs sleep, he's worn himself ragged," I told them, handing him over to Austin, who pulled one of Will's arms over his shoulder.
"I'll find a bed for him," he said. "Kid's going to work himself to death." Austin muttered, shaking his head as he headed off. The rest of the cabin exchanged glances in agreement.
"Speaking of sleeping, Tori," Cressida chimed. "You should be resting to."
"Guys, I'm fine," I promised, holding up a hand. "You guys should rest. You're going to need it."
"We're all going to need it," Alex commented. He was leaning against the doors on the left side so they wouldn't close, his arms crossed. "Come on." He gestured inside the suite with his head. I looked at my half-siblings, waiting for me and realized they weren't going to budge.
I sighed and trudged back into the penthouse, following them as they went to find a place to crash.
"No, Luke!" I bolted upright, breathing hard. I looked around the room, disoriented for a moment at all the nice beds and fancy curtains, the other demigods (aside from my siblings) and Hunters giving me strange or hateful looks. Then I remembered where I was. I looked at the bed, at the spot between my feet and pressed my palms to my temples, closing my eyes and trying to get my breathing under control.
The nightmares were getting worse. The ache in my chest lasted longer and longer after I woke up. Not even the sun could ward off my visions anymore. I heard the clip-clop of hooves and looked up to see Grover enter the room with one of the Hunters behind him. She was only probably about twelve, but she stood tall and proud, like the rest of the Hunters. It was always so strange to me to see such young girls look so timeless and full of wisdom. For all I knew she had lived thousands of years, or had just joined.
The satyr headed straight toward me, giving me a weary look, nervously twisting the edge of his shirt in his hands. The Hunter followed like a body guard.
"Prometheus wants to speak with you," Grover said in a quiet voice. "Come with me, please."
I blinked. "What?"
"Please, just…it's hard to explain," he said. "Just follow me." He turned without another word and clip-clopped out, leaving me no choice but to follow if I wanted to know what this was all about. A titan summoning me?
I strapped my sword to my waist, my dagger already in its sheath, and quickly grabbed my bow and quiver of arrows before following Grover out. We exited the penthouse suites and took a long, silent, tense elevator ride down to the ground floor. From there we headed into Central Park.
It wasn't a long walk and I saw where we were meeting long before we got there because of the big blue Hyperborean giant that was tromping around the park.
I was surprised to see Percy and Thalia at a picnic table, waiting with another man who was dressed in a tux and had thick-framed glasses on. Resting on the picnic table was a Greek jar. I didn't fail to notice the empousa, dressed to the nines in a black evening gown, sitting off to the side. A giant white flag rested against a tree, nearly crushing it.
Grover, the Hunter, and I walked up to the table. Thalia nodded to the Hunter before she took off, quick and silent like a gazelle. I looked at all of them before turning toward the man in the tux, assuming he was the titan, Prometheus. Now that I was closer to him I could see the scars on his face from where the vultures had picked at him.
"What's this about?" I crossed my arms, but I was very aware of where everyone was standing, including the empousa. Especially the empousa.
Prometheus smiled kindly, friendly. "Why don't you have a seat, my dear?" He waved his hand across from him. I looked at him carefully before slowly going up to the table and taking a seat. Prometheus looked at the three behind me. "You are free to go, now, if you wish. This is just between me and Miss Williams."
I looked over my shoulder to see what they'd do. Thalia and Grover had already taken a step or two back. Percy stood where he was, looking at me intently. I could see the questions and wonder in his eyes—what this was about? His brow was furrowed.
Thalia grabbed his arm and pulled him back a step, murmuring something in his ear too quiet for me to hear.
Percy looked over at Thalia, then.
"It's fine," he said, pulling his arm from her grasp. "I want to know what's going on. This could be important. You can go if you want to." Percy came up to the table then and took a seat next to me, on my right. I tried not to look too stunned as Thalia and Grover went to stand behind Percy, on either side of him.
I turned back to Prometheus who was looking amused at our mortal antics.
"Well," I prompted, bringing his attention back to me.
"Right, then, I'll make this quick and easy," he said smoothly. "Kronos would like to have a word with you."
I looked at him for a long moment before turning around to look behind me. I turned back to face the titan.
"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong person," I said.
Prometheus smiled, but he wasn't amused. "He said you were fiery, not a comedian," he remarked.
"Oh, it's good to know titans gossip, too." I remarked. Prometheus opened his mouth, probably to get this conversation back on track, but I rolled my eyes and continued, "Can he take a message? I'm kind of in the middle of a war."
"Only kind of?" Prometheus asked, raising an eyebrow. "See, I can do it, too. And no, my dear, face-to-face were his orders."
I scoffed. "And what if I say no? I know how much he hates me. I know how much he was love to torture me for all the hardships I've caused him. You honestly thought you could ask me to come and I'd go?"
Prometheus sighed and shook his head sadly. "Then I'm afraid we're going to have to resort to more…persuasive tactics."
I leaned to my left as an empousa's claw swiped down between me and Percy, her nails embedding into the table. Grover grabbed Percy's arm as Percy leaped away and pulled his sword. Thalia's bow appeared in her hands and she had notched an arrow, ready to fire at any second. I grabbed the she-demon's wrist to hold her in place as I stood and turned, bringing my knee into her stomach before using my free hand to grab her neck while she was stunned and slam her down against the table as hard as I could, finally letting go of her wrist.
She didn't disintegrate, but she hissed in pain and her clawed hands came up to grab my wrist. She didn't scratch at my arm yet, though.
I looked back up at Prometheus, who didn't even flinch.
"Nice try," I told him. "But you're going to have to do better than that. I've lived with these things for two years. I know their tricks."
The titan sighed again, looking genuinely disappointed and sad. He looked away and shook his head. "I was afraid it would come to this," he said. My grip tightened on the empousa's neck. What was he talking about? He looked back at me. "I didn't want to have to resort to this, but you've left me no choice. I'm afraid if you don't come with me today, your brother will die."
My grip tightened even more as panic washed through me. How could I have forgotten about Dan? He wouldn't be under the spell like the other mortals. He must have wandered out, wondering what was going on. If he was confused enough, monsters could've easily snuck up on him. My head reeled.
He'd found a life. He'd escaped this. He couldn't die. Not like Beckendorf.
Then something occurred to me. I glared at Prometheus.
"How do I know you're not lying?" I asked him carefully. Without missing a beat, he straightened up and reached into his jacket pocket. My blood ran cold when he pulled out a Celestial bronze letter opener, fashioned like Godric Gryffindor's sword, and set it gently on the table in front of me.
"Where did you get that?" I asked in a whisper, tearing my eyes away from the letter opener to look at the titan.
"Where do you think?" he responded in a quiet voice. It struck me as odd that he sounded genuinely regretful he was telling me this, that they'd kidnapped my brother and were now using him as leverage against me.
"How do I know he's even still alive," I managed to choke out, dread filling every pore of my body. I had to ask it. If he was—gods forbid—already dead, then this was still a trap to lure me into Kronos's waiting scythe.
Prometheus waved his hand and large prism appeared at the edge of the table, creating a large, vibrant rainbow on the surface. He then pulled out a golden drachma and flipped it into the rainbow. Instead of making a hard landing, it dropped into the rainbow like it was falling into water, except it made no splashing noise.
"O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," the titan said. "Show me Daniel Williams, please."
The rainbow shimmered and an image formed. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach when I saw Dan. His hands were bound behind his back and he was being guarded by two empousai. His mouth was duct taped. He sat on the ground, against a wall, but he was slumped. He looked sleep deprived, his eyes half-open. There were also cuts on his arms and across his chest. His face was bruised, a black eye already forming. I don't think they'd fed him, either.
I reached forward with a shaking hand, slowly sitting back down, folding my left leg underneath me, and letting go of the empousa's neck. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the image. I felt tears pool in my eyes.
When he noticed me, his eyes opened fully and brightened. He tried to call or say something, forgetting he couldn't speak.
"Let him go," I said in a weak voice, looking up at Prometheus. "Please…"
"Only if you come with me," the titan responded in a light voice. "If not, then I'm afraid…" He trailed off and his eyes strayed to the image again. My eyes followed his gaze. One of the empousa went toward Dan and put her bronze leg on Dan's thigh. The motion was quick, but the snap of bone rang through the image loud in clear. Dan cried out, his screams muffled by his gag, and fell onto his side, trying to get away from the empousa, his arms straining against his binds. On his side I could also see more cuts on his arms.
"Dan!" I cried, reaching out, but the connection was cut, the image disappeared. My whole body was shaking, my heart pounding. My hands went to the table as if I could bring the image back by sheer force. "Dan! No! Dan!" I looked frantically at the edge of the table to see the prims had vanished. The sound of his leg breaking played on repeat. My heart squeezed painfully.
My eyes flew to Prometheus. "Don't hurt him!" My voice shook. "Just let him go, he has nothing to do with this."
"I will let him go once you have agreed to come with me," he repeated in the same calm voice.
My anger flared unexpectedly, burning away the pain at seeing my brother tortured. I stood again, leaning toward Prometheus, but the empousa grabbed my upper forearm with a clawed hand. I ignored her completely.
"Fine," I growled through gritted teeth. "But this is going to be an exchange. Me for him. He can't be hurt anymore in any way, shape or form, or the deal's off."
"I promise, I won't harm a single hair on his head," Prometheus told me.
I scoffed. "Only you?" I asked bitterly. "No," I snarled, "I need you to guarantee, really promise Kronos and anyone under his command will not harm him. No loopholes, no backdoors. We make the exchange in one hour at this spot. Dan is safe, alive and unhurt, in any way—shape—or form. Don't play games with me." My voice shook with barely contained rage.
"I'm afraid I can't guarantee—"
I leaned forward even more, getting in Prometheus's face, my voice lowering to a dangerous level. "Then you tell Kronos if he kills Dan, if my brother doesn't come back unhurt any more than he already is physically or otherwise, he won't get me. He'll know what I mean."
Prometheus looked at me for a long time, his eyes sharp and calculating. His calm demeanor was starting to chip away, piece by piece. He wasn't used to be being challenged. Not as a titan and not by a mere half-blood, I'm sure.
"And if he does happen to die?" he finally asked.
"Then I'll kill you."
The titan's lips pulled up in a smirk and he scoffed, "You can't kill a titan—"
Quick as lightening I grabbed the letter opener still lying on the table and spun, using the fact that the empousa was still holding my arm against her, pushing her back up against the table before plunging the blade into the hollow of her neck. Her form disintegrated and I looked back up at Prometheus, gripping the letter opener and met his eyes challengingly.
"Watch me."
Prometheus's cool slipped away completely and he glared at me. His face was devoid of emotion, but his eyes glowed dangerously behind his ridiculous thick-rimmed, hipster glasses. Finally, he stood—I straightened up, too, squaring my shoulders and lifting my chin—buttoning the jacket of his tux and straightening it out by patting it down with one hand, carefully, like he was trying to control his anger.
He was much taller than I was, at least seven feet, but I met his gaze evenly, not going to back down now.
"I've never been threatened like that before from someone like you," he stated quietly, his voice dripping with contempt.
I straightened my own shirt, only I pulled the edge down forcefully to do so. "Get used to it." Without another word, I snatched up the letter opener and then turned to exit the park. I heard quick footsteps following me, but didn't have to look back to know it was Percy, Thalia, and Grover. The clop of hooves from Grover was enough to tell me so.
All right, here's the next chapter! Also, heard the great news about Trials of Apollo! I don't know about you, but I'm seriously excited. He's one of my favorite Olympians, so… also, needless to say, I'm excited to know about his punishment. I was hoping that he would be human again, if I'm being completely honest.
I'd like to credit BBC's Sherlock once again for the small exchange between Tori and Prometheus at the end there. It's reminiscent of when Moriarty went to Sherlock's flat in The Reichenbach Fall, where Sherlock stands and tells Moriarty he never liked riddles and Moriarty stands too and tells him to "learn to." I just really liked how, even though Moriarty is noticeably shorter, he still holds command of this interaction and has a lot of presence. I also really loved how they showed that height difference. Cinematically, it was a great choice. Anyway, yeah, gotta give credit where it's due.
Title taken from "No Good Deeds" from the musical Wicked.
Thank you for reading,
TheBrighestNight