Lexa stormed out of her office yelling for Gustus. She was done sitting around doing nothing. Venus's words - that damned prophecy - was like a rude wakeup call.
However, instead of seeing the leader of her Praetorial guard, she came face to face with Luna. Surprise stilled her movement. The emotional aftermath of their argument came rushing back to Lexa and her surprise quickly morphed into a sinking guilt, which rooted her deeper in her place than the shock ever did.
"Luna." The name escaped her lips breathlessly.
The said girl looked up and they locked eyes. Lexa saw the unspoken apology in her eyes and knew that her own must look similar, the same look of remorse and gentle forgiveness. Lexa nodded once, a gesture which Luna returned in kind. There was no need for any other words. They understood each other, knew that the argument before only happened because they cared for each other and not because of the lack of it.
"What's wrong?" Luna asked instead of addressing their previous argument and Lexa could never be more grateful to have a friend such as Luna. "It's the scouting group isn't it?"
Lexa nodded once in confirmation as her brows furrowed in worry. "They're late. Very late."
Luna pursed her lips. "I know," she sighed. "I'm a bit worried too. That's why I'm here, actually." A look of understanding passed between them and Luna couldn't help the small upwards quirk of her lips. "I'll go ready the pegasi." She was already turning away when Lexa grabbed her, stopping her just before she could leave. Luna looked back expectantly and the words caught in Lexa's throat.
There were no words that could explain her gratitude towards Luna in the moment.
"Thank you," Lexa said for lack of anything more substantial. "I know you planned to leave-"
Luna waved her off. "I still am leaving tonight, but," she shrugged. "The night is still young. I told my mistress I'd be back when the moon is in the sky and it will still be in the sky for a couple more hours."
A sense of relief warmed Lexa's chest. "I see."
Then together, they ran out the praetor's building, Luna to the stalls and Lexa to gather whoever she could for an emergency rescue quest.
They met back up atop the hill near the stalls. Lexa had managed to gather Gustus, Ryder and Tristan in the allotted time.
"Remember," Lexa spoke to the group, mounting her pegasus. "Do not land unless you see one of them. We are to assume, given the time, that something happened during the scouting mission. Be on high precaution."
They all nodded their agreements and Lexa was just about to give the order for them to take off when she heard the unmistakable sound of beating wings fly past over them.
Lexa and Luna stared at each other. Then, without missing a beat, Lexa jumped off her pegasus and raced towards the sound, Luna hot on her heels.
The riders of the pegasi landed in the middle of the Field of Mars. By the Lexa and Luna ran over, a small crowd had already gathered.
Lexa quickly pushed through the crowd, adrenaline pumping through her veins, until she got to the front. Her heart dropped.
Only three of them made it back. Three of them were still missing.
She scanned the small group.
No Anya. No Lincoln. No Clarke.
Lexa pushed down the fear that bubbled in her chest and made her way towards the Greeks, paying Titus no mind. The fool was safe and unharmed, despite looking a bit winded from the pegasi ride. The same could not be said for the others, which was very telling and Lexa knew if she turned to Titus now, there was no guarantee she wouldn't hurt him.
"What happened?" Lexa demanded, not even bothering to ask if they were okay. If they were standing, they were fine. The same couldn't be said for Clarke, Lincoln and Anya.
"We were attacked," the Greek girl whose name Lexa recalled was Octavia, answered.
"By what?" Lexa demanded. She needed answers and she was not in the mood to go fishing for them.
"Gorgons," the other Greek girl, Raven, answered. "Two of them. We got separated."
Lexa narrowed her eyes. "How?" Gorgons shouldn't have been trouble for legionnaires as seasoned as Anya and Lincoln, and though Lexa didn't know Clarke as well, she knew the girl had faced worse and survived.
"This idiot here," Octavia hissed, shooting a glare in Titus' direction. "Ran."
Lexa thinned her lips into a displeased look. She slowly turned her head and directed her attention towards the bald boy. "Is that so?" she asked, barely able to keep a lid on her temper.
"The Greek lies," Titus denied, huffing. "It was her incompetence that caused us to separate."
"Dude, what the fuck?" Raven reacted, turning towards the boy with a look of utter disbelief. "Not cool man. We just saved your life and you pull this shit?"
Next to her, Octavia looked downright murderous.
Titus however, unwavered. "Are you going to take their word over mine? Who do you believe more? These... Graecus, " he sneered, "Or your augur," he said sending Lexa a challenging look.
Lexa's nose flared. She did not have time for this.
"That's it," Octavia spat, lunging forward. She managed to land one solid punch on Titus's face - a clear crunching noise echoed in the air - before she was grabbed and forced down by the other legionnaires standing by.
"Argh!" Titus screamed in pain, clutching his now bloody nose. "You broke my nose, you imbecile!" Titus pointed a bony hand towards the Greeks. "They deserve to be punished! I invoke Roman law!"
"We should've never saved your fucking life," Octavia growled, looking like a feral wolf. It took three grown up boys to hold her down. Two others grabbed Raven in case the other girl tried anything like her counterpart.
"Get your hands off of me," Raven warned darkly. "I'm too hot for you to handle." The eyes of her captors widened as the skin beneath their hands began to heat up.
"Enough!" Lexa shouted and everyone stilled. "Let them go," she commanded. When the legionnaires hesitated, she raised an eyebrow. Fearing her wrath, they immediately let go of Octavia and Raven.
Lexa then shot Titus a dark look. "I'll deal with you later. Another word and I'll have you banned from quests forever, you understand?"
Titus sputtered, his face going red, but unable to form words.
Lexa ignored him and crouched down to where Octavia kneeled, too tired and injured to stand up.
"I need to know what happened," Lexa said softly, knowing that force would not work on a girl like Octavia. "Anya, Lincoln, and Clarke… they still haven't returned yet."
Lexa watched as Raven and Octavia both winced at that. Was it guilt? No, Lexa realized. It was worry. They were concerned for their friend. Lexa took that as reassurance that whatever happened, they had no part in it.
The Greeks had not purposely sabotaged them.
"We were attacked by two gorgons," Octavia began to recount. "That coward ran and Lincoln ran after him. His back was turned so one of the Gorgons managed to overwhelm him but the idiot continued to run after Titus, something about Legion loyalty or whatever. I ran after them since I knew Lincoln would need help and Raven came with me. Clarke and Anya took the other Gorgon."
"So you got separated. What happened next?" Lexa urged, desperate to find out anything, anything that would lead her to Anya. She couldn't lose Anya. Anyone but Anya. She didn't have anyone else left.
"We eventually beat the Gorgon," continued Octavia. "But Lincoln and Titus were gone. We went to look for them and found Titus running away from this...thing."
"A Reaper," Raven clarified. "In our haste to chase after the Gorgon we didn't realize we had gotten so close to the Mountain."
Though worry filled Lexa's body, she refused to show it. A Reaper was bad news. She was surprised they'd managed to get out with all their limbs intact. Few legionnaires fared as well as they did.
"Octavia beat it, but barely," Raven continued, eyeing her friend with concern. Octavia had her eyes closed and was starting to sway from blood loss, Lexa realized.
Lexa stood up, motioning for Raven to hold on. "Medics! We need healers here!"
Three legionnaires quickly came into the clearing and carried Octavia off. Raven shot Lexa a grateful look.
"You're injured too," Lexa noted. There was no worry in her tone, just a statement of fact.
"It's nothing some ambrosia and rest can fix," Raven waved it off. She continued telling Lexa what happened. "With Octavia in this state, we decided it was best to come back first. So we went back to the place where we put the pegasi and we came here. We left two pegasi for Clarke and Anya...if they ever made it back," Raven trailed off.
"You never found Lincoln?" Lexa asked.
Raven shook her head. She delivered the next news as delicately as she could. "Titus said….Titus said Lincoln was taken by the Mountain."
Lexa's face barely changed at the news. Years of being praetor allowed her to skillfully mask her emotions in times like these.
"Then he's as good as dead."
Raven was taken aback by the coldness in Lexa's tone. "That's what Titus said so too," Raven muttered.
"No other news of Clarke and Anya?" Lexa asked, just managing to keep the desperation she felt from seeping into her voice.
Raven shook her head. "No."
Lexa fought back a sigh. She stood up. "Go, you need to rest."
Raven however reared up angrily. "If you think I can just go sleep while Clarke is still out there-"
Lexa placed a comforting hand on Raven's shoulder. "We'll find Clarke," said Lexa, giving Raven a heavy look. "I promise."
'And hopefully, Anya too,' Lexa added mentally. She prayed to all the gods out there, anyone who would listen, that Anya was alright.
Raven nodded reluctantly before trudging towards her bunker. "If anything changes," she began to say.
"We'll let you know immediately," Lexa reassured her.
That seemed to do the trick and Raven left, tired, exhausted, and in pain.
Lexa felt Luna walk up behind her. "We're ready to leave whenever you are," Luna said quietly.
"We leave now," said Lexa, determined.
Luna nodded and they ran back to the pegasi.
"Alright, Dante," Clarke said in a dry tone, shooting the old man a disinterested look. "I'll humor you for now. Go ahead, rant about all the misgivings you have towards the gods. The moment I get bored though, I'm breaking out of here and if I have to," she gave him a pointed look. "I'll go through you too."
Dante however, only laughed at her veiled threat, which irked Clarke. "You can try, and you will fail, young demigod." He eyed Clarke gleefully, akin to a predator watching a helpless prey. "Here in this forsaken mountain, even the gods cannot help you." He punctuated his sentence with a sly little smirk and the previously dangerous feeling she'd felt from before in the forest was back.
There was something very off about this mountain.
Feeling the beginnings of panic and fear whirling in her gut, Clarke knew she had to act soon, before whatever danger it was she sensed manifested itself.
She concentrated on the bindings on her body and summoned forth the dark energy.
Only nothing happened.
Clarke blinked, a moment of surprise before it quickly gave away to anger. "What did you do to me?" she demanded. She tried again but got the same result.
She was powerless.
"Nothing the gods haven't done to us," Dante answered, eyeing Clarke with an analytical glint. There was a cold detached inflection to his voice that ticked off the alarms in Clarke's head.
She eyed the man warily, sensing for the first time since he stepped in, that he could be a potential threat underneath his helpless appearance. "What exactly did the gods do to you?"
"What didn't they do?" Dante suddenly growled. It was as if a dam had burst. The calm facade of his demeanor barely hid the deep resentment he held inside of him. "They took everything away from us. Our freedom, our parents, our future. Because of them, we are forced to hide here in this mountain like helpless sheep. We may be alive but we are cursed to never live. We cannot leave this place, lest we are to suffer a fate worse than death."
Clarke had absolutely no idea what the man was talking about, but she didn't like the unhinged look he was starting to get in his eyes. And though the gods were her family, she knew they were not perfect. An unfortunate fact she was intimately aware of. Another thing she knew about the gods was that they rarely ever owned up to their own mistakes unless it was too late. And even when that mistake threatened to destroy the very foundation of their existence, they still would never acknowledge their role in it. No, the downfall was always deferred to the others.
Clarke had the dreadful feeling that she was going to have to pay for their mistakes. Again.
"If they knew we still existed, well," Dante grinned manically at the captured demigod. "I doubt they'd be merciful. We've been so careful, so painstakingly careful to avoid detection. Do you know what it's like? To live like a shadow? To barely exist? Years went by, and then hundreds more. Waiting. All we could do was wait. And then, hope. Our parents were back, like we knew they'd be. The time for revenge had finally come!"
Clarke watched as his face lit up with unbridled joy before the expression crumpled darkly into one of what could only be described as pure hatred.
"And we thought it was finally our time. After hundreds of years." Dante glared at Clarke. "Everything was so perfect. The plan was working perfectly! The gods, such old fools they are, were so easily tricked. They could never see past their humongous pride and we used it to their advantage. Their demise was basically in the palms of our hands, until...until it wasn't."
Clarke gulped. An epiphany on the cusp of being realized poked at her conscious, like waking up, slow but insistent yet unclear and still a bit fuzzy. She could almost see the whole picture, could almost understand what the man was talking about, but she was still missing a piece of the puzzle - the biggest piece. The answer was right there on her tongue but she lacked the right language.
Then, it hit her. Like diving into the cold unforgiving sea, clarity washed over her.
The epiphany of who was standing in front of her, of what Lexa and the Romans have been facing all these years, of what Clarke's role was, albeit unknowingly, in all this, was followed by a stilling unease.
"You, Clarke Griffin, ruined our chance of living," Dante snarled. "It is only fitting that you bring us back to glory."
"You're-" Clarke's breath hitched. She didn't think it was possible, but that had to be what the man was implying, wasn't he?
'They took everything from us,' Clarke recalled Dante's words. 'Our parents.' The last word echoed around Clarke's mind like a broken tape recording.
"Your parents," Clarke stumbled over the words, apprehension rising up to her chest as Dante approached her, a giant unfriendly looking needle in his hands.
"That's right," Dante grinned evilly, and the effect was absolutely jarring. Clarke had seen that exact smile before, on Finn's face.
Finn.
Finn and Kronos.
Something deep inside Clarke broke. There was no denying the reality any longer.
"You're a demititan, " she muttered, feeling like her strength had been sapped from her. So many questions. All of them jumped at her brain, but she couldn't find it in her to voice a single one. How could she even attempt to put into words what she was feeling right now?
Dante smiled approvingly at her. Clarke felt the sharp prick of a needle enter her arm and watched completely frozen as it drew her blood, a deep angry red filling the small tube.
"With your blood and the blood of other demigods, we'll be able to roam the earth free again at last," Dante grinned, holding up the vial of blood to examine.
Clarke could suddenly feel herself getting artificially drowsy even though she fought against the feeling. There must've been an anesthetic coating of some sort on the needle. She mentally cursed. Not again.
"The Titans will rise again, Clarke Griffin," Dante whispered into her ear and Clarke wanted to scowl in disgust. "The Golden Age will return, and the gods and their children will pay. "
"I stopped you once," Clarke slurred, fighting the need to sleep with everything she had. It was as if Hypnos himself had descended on her with the way her body begged her to succumb. "I will...stop you again."
"Such loyalty," Dante spoke above her sounding disappointed. Clarke blinked furiously to keep the image of him clear but he only got blurrier until there were three Dante's standing over her, all wearing that same maniacal smile.
"You will see, Clarke Griffin, that the gods do not truly care for you, that they are blinded by their own selfish desires. They only need you because you are their weapon. And weapons, as you know, are replaceable," he grinned widely. "The titans will usher in a period of peace and you will see that the world will be a better place because of it. You are fighting on the wrong side of this war. Cooperate with us and you will be heavily rewarded for it."
'Never!' Clarke wanted to snarl but darkness welcomed her eagerly into her awaiting embrace.
They'd spent the next three hours searching the forests near the Mountain.
Nothing.
Ryder found a clearing covered in blood, only inches from the entrance of a safety bunker and for a second Lexa had hope that they were alive, injured perhaps, but holed up in the bunker. They wrenched the bunker entrance open only to find the bunker empty and untouched.
Clarke and Anya never made it inside.
Lexa stood, staring at the dried blood on the ground. Some of the splatters belonged to Anya, no doubt. The image of Anya bleeding out somewhere inside the Mountain made Lexa's blood both run cold in fear and burn hot in anger. She could feel herself crumbling on the inside. The praetor facade was the only thing still holding her upright at this point.
She'd lost her friend.
Another one gone.
Lexa would not cry. She refused to.
A warm touch on her shoulder jolted her out of her thoughts. She turned to see Luna staring at her with sad eyes. Lexa looked away. She did not need pity.
With a tight voice, Lexa ordered them to retreat. There was no point in pursuing this any further anyways. It was clear where the three missing members went, what their fates were.
Lexa turned and glared at the top of the Mountain in the distance. Hatred burned inside her, unrelenting and all consuming.
'You will fall, ' Lexa vowed.
'Titans,' Clarke thought to herself, chuckling with dark humor. 'Demititans.'
She had no idea they existed, though she supposed it made some sense. If the gods could have children with mortals, why couldn't the titans?
At least this explained the Mountain Men's so called 'magical abilities' that Lexa mentioned. Not godlike at all, no, but titan-like. A different breed of half-blood altogether. That explained why the Romans were having so many troubles facing them. Even a strong demigod like Lexa wouldn't be able to do much when her powers were nonexistent. And that was the secret to the Mountain. It was a fortress. A fortress the gods couldn't reach. Their powers were useless there.
This was not at all what she'd expected when Chiron told her about this joint quest with the Romans. Clarke found herself thoroughly unprepared.
Why had the gods not said anything? Had they truly not known or had they just kept them in the dark just like they did about the existence of Roman demigods? But why? Was it truly to protect them? Or was it just, laziness. The can't see and forget tactic.
Clarke opened her eyes and found herself in a familiar setting. She was standing in her bedroom in the apartment where she and her mother lived in Manhattan, New York City. She looked to the window which was covered by her drapes. She couldn't hear the ever constant sounds of traffic outside. It was eerily quiet.
So a vision of some sort then. Clarke huffed and turned around, wondering which god or goddess it was this time that decided to visit her.
To her surprise, sitting on her bed was none other than her father, Hades, god of the Underworld, dressed to the tens in a crisp black suit looking like a Fortune 500 CEO. At his feet sat a large slobbering three headed dog that was half the size of Clarke.
"Dad?" All of her previous annoyance melted away at the sight of him. She hadn't seen him since the battle last summer despite her many visits to the Underworld since then. Hades was a busy god (probably the only busy god who took his job seriously), and he took no breaks, not even for his only daughter.
Something really important must've brought him here then.
"Clarke." He nodded at her in greeting, shooting her a small smile. Despite having only hung out a few times, Clarke knew her dad well enough to know that the smile was restrained. Something was bothering Hades, and if the god of the Underworld was bothered, it was probably a very big deal.
"What's wrong?" she asked, jumping straight into business.
Cerberus had other ideas however. The three heads barked at her excitedly and he immediately ran over, circling her feet, asking to be petted.
"And hello to you, Ros," Clarke grinned, acquiescing to his demands. She made sure to give each head the same amount of attention. "Who's a good boy?" she cooed. Three heads yipped back in response. "You're a good boy!"
Hades let out a sigh and Clarke looked up worriedly, her hands on autopilot as she made sure Cerberus got all the rubs he deserved.
"I'm guessing this wasn't a social visit," Clarke stated, her lips thinning.
"You have questions and I will try my best to provide answers. I can't stay for long though," said Hades. His dark eyes held a rare look of concern that Clarke knew he reserved only for her and well, his Queen, Persephone. "My powers are weak where you are. Even doing this much is...difficult."
Right. Clarke recalled the last conversation she had while conscious. She sighed. "The demititans are holding me in their hideout. Mount Weather, I think it's called? Dante mentioned that the gods have no power there."
Hades didn't say anything. He didn't reassure Clarke that she'd be safe, or give her tips on how to escape. He merely sat there, watching her. For all the effort he put in for this visit, he wasn't really saying much.
Clarke wanted to be irritated. There was a slight hunch to his shoulder however, that gave away his true feelings. So she stayed quiet. She knew that the gods couldn't interfere, at least not so directly, in their children's lives, no matter how much they wanted to at times.
"Did you know?" she asked instead, choosing to focus her attention on Cerberus.
"About?" Hades asked back, choosing to be difficult.
"The titans," said Clarke, shooting Hades an unamused look. She did not come here for riddles and half answers. "That they had...children."
There was a beat of silence as Hades refused to answer. That was enough for Clarke.
"You did." Clarke deduced, keeping her voice steady. She didn't know exactly how she felt about this revelation - that her father knew about the demititans and didn't think to inform her when they'd fought an entire war against the titans last summer; didn't bother mentioning this potentially very dangerous group of enemies - but she knew she wasn't particularly too happy about it, that was for sure.
"Why-" Anger rushed forth from her voice, but Hades wisely didn't let her continue. He knew just how devastating her anger was. She got him from him after all.
"I was the only god that knew," said Hades, coolly. His voice was like the whisper of death, the dying words of a loved one. "Or at least the only god that cared," he clarified. "Being in charge of the dead, you learn many secrets."
Despite sunlight covering every other inch of space in this room, shadows clung to Hades' face, hiding his features in the dark. If Clarke looked closely, she would see his eyes shifting, as images of his past danced inside them. It made Clarke wonder what other secrets her father knew but kept to himself. Perhaps he shared his burden with Persephone.
"The other Olympians, they refused to see the truth," Hades continued. "They did not believe - no I think they did not care about the fact that the titans had children with mortals. You see, this was not the first attempt Kronos made to return to power. He'd tried once before, many many lifetimes ago, before America was even a nation, when Olympus was further East. Kronos had planned to use his children, the demititans, to rise to power and topple the gods. As you know, half-bloods, though not as strong as gods or titans are strong in their own right. They can go places and do things that gods and titans cannot because we are bound by the ancient laws."
Hence half-bloods were often treated as glorified errand runners. Clarke was very familiar with this concept. Even since she found out she was a demigod, she'd been used as a tool by the gods. Retrieve Zeus's lost lightning bolt. Find Aphrodite's scarf. Fight our war.
"After Kronos and the titans failed in their rebellion, they were thrown into Tartarus, and Zeus punished their children. He cursed them, imprisoning them to a mountain, which once the gods came to America, became Mount Weather. If they ever left the mountain, if they ever took a single step outside, they would perish. Of course, the way my brother framed it was different. He claimed that he was protecting them as much as he was punishing them. They've been trapped there for lifetimes. Surely, you can see why the other Olympians pay them so little attention."
"Because they haven't been a problem," said Clarke. "But that's changing soon. They're doing something, something they need demigod blood for. They took my blood. I think they're trying to use it to break the curse."
Hades frowned. "I warned my brother not to take them too lightly, but he wouldn't listen. He and the other Olympians never really listened to me," he stated with a bitter grin before his face softened. "I fear I knew this day would come. I am only sorry that you are the one to deal with it. Again."
Clarke tried her best to refrain from frowning. At least Hades was sympathetic.
"How have they survived for this long?" Clarke asked. "If Zeus trapped them so many years ago, how are there still so many of them? Even with inbreeding…" She made a face.
"That would be Kronos' doing. Before he was stopped, he'd given them all immortality in hopes of strengthening their numbers. My brother saw no point in taking away their immortality when punishing them. To him, it made no difference whether they were punished in life or in death." To Hades, however, the distinction was everything.
"They're freaking immortal?" Clarke huffed a laugh. This just kept getting better and better. But Clarke suddenly found herself understanding Dante a little more. The hatred she'd seen in his eyes, it'd taken lifetimes to brew and take form. To suffer for eternity...and all because they carried titan blood and sided with their parents in the war. Clarke didn't like how conflicted this made her feel. She suddenly felt a lot less righteous, waging war against these people.
"Yes, but only as long as they aren't killed," said Hades calmly, as if killing an immortal were an easy task. Clarke had only seen one god die, and that was Pan, the god of the Wild. Pan's power was directly connected to nature, so as the wildlife slowly withered away, so did his entire existence.
"How many are there?" Clarke asked. The thought of killing suddenly made her queasy.
"I believe around three hundred," answered Hades.
"Three hundred?" Clarke balked. Even with the entirety of Camp Jupiter and Camp Ark combined, they would still be fifty people down. They would need outside help.
"And many of them have lived through several lifetimes," Hades reminded her. "They have been preparing for this, not twiddling their thumbs as my brother had hoped. I'm afraid this is not going to be an easy war."
"When is it ever?" Clarke grumbled. "I'm guessing we shouldn't expect any help from the gods?"
"We can't interfere in the dealings of half-bloods," Hades told her. Judging by his frown he was just as displeased as she was. "Especially since we don't rule over the Mountain. But..." He gave her a gentle look. "You are favored by the gods, Clarke. So is your new friend, the Roman girl." He shot her a knowing look that Clarke did not want to read into.
"Lexa?" Clarke was surprised her father would mention her.
"Yes, I believe that is her name." He looked at her intently and Clarke fought the sudden questionable urge to shy away. Why was he looking at her like that?
"What about her?" Clarke asked, masking her uncomfortableness with annoyance.
"I doubt the gods, Greek or Roman will just sit by if our children were truly in danger of being wiped out by demititans, but, you two especially...have a long way to go," said Hades cryptically.
Clarke frowned at his words. She didn't particularly like how that sounded. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"There are many things I'm not telling you," Hades confirmed and hey, at least he was honest about it, Clarke thought. "But you are-"
"Not ready," Clarke interrupted. "Right." She filed away that bit about her and Lexa for more analysis later. She was lucky she was his daughter. She knew not many people had the guts to interrupt the god of the Underworld, dead or alive, mortal or immortal.
"I'm afraid my time is up," said Hades, standing up from her bed. Clarke had the sudden urge to call out, to grab onto him and ask him to stay but she restrained herself. He was a god and he had things to do. She'd kept him for long enough. She cherished moments like these where she could spend even a few moments with her dad.
Instead, she stood up and held his gaze. "See you then," she breathed out with an air of finality. It was unsure when their next meeting would be. If it would ever come.
"Stay safe, my daughter," said Hades. Then the god of the Underworld disappeared into the shadows, Cerberus trotting at his heels.
Clarke woke up.
She opened her eyes and was attacked by the bright lights. Before she could groan in displeasure, she heard a shift to her right. Immediately she stilled and closed her eyes, pretending to still be unconscious.
She wasn't alone.
Whoever was in the room with her was busy messing with the equipment. The quiet clinks of glass gave away their position. Risking a quick peek, Clarke opened one eye and did a sweep of the room, her vision zeroing in on her current visitor. His back was turned to her so Clarke cautiously opened both eyes. He was a young boy, though Clarke now knew that the demititans' appearances were deceiving. He could've been anywhere between fifteen to several lifetimes old. Clarke could not tell.
There were several vials of blood on the table he was working at and Clarke fought back a scowl. Was that all her blood? No wonder she felt so drained.
She quickly surveyed her surroundings. Now to escape. She had to do it now. Who knew when she'd be awake again? If there even was a next time.
Clarke took a deep breath and dislocated her left thumb. Swallowing the groan of pain, Clarke slipped her left hand through the binding and then quickly and silently went to work on the rest of the bindings with a dangling thumb.
Free at last, Clarke glanced at the boy. He still hadn't noticed her. Clarke smirked. His mistake.
Hopping off the bed without a sound, Clarke cautiously creeped up behind him. A quick tap to her bracelet and there was a Stygian dagger in her hand.
She was now right behind him.
He began to turn, and Clarke took the opening. She grabbed him, pinning his arms behind his back before pushing him against the table, a dagger held to his throat.
"Scream and I will cut you," Clarke warned darkly.
The boy made a scared sound that sounded like a whimper, which Clarke caught with satisfaction. The boy was young then, if this was how he reacted. This would be much easier than she'd thought.
"I don't want to hurt you," she said as soothingly as she could. Contrary to her words however, she pressed the dagger deeper to his throat and felt the boy gulp in fear. "I'm just going to ask you a few questions. All you have to do is answer them and I'll let you walk away with your life, demititan. Am I clear?"
The boy nodded nervously.
"Good," cooed Clarke as if she were talking to a frightened animal. "What's your name?"
"R-roy."
"Okay Roy," said Clarke, gearing up for the hundreds of questions she had. She only had time for a few so she had to pick them wisely. "Now that we're done with the pleasantries, let's skip to business. Who's in charge here?" she demanded.
"D-dante."
Clarke raised an eyebrow surprised by his answer. She hadn't expected that weak looking man to be the alpha demititan here. "Why do you need demigod blood?"
Roy hesitated to answer.
Clarke pressed down the blade harder, drawing a thin line of blood. She could feel the Stygian Iron trying to suck his soul and wondered if he even knew what this blade was capable of. "Why do you need demigod blood?" she repeated, putting a bit more force in her words.
"We can't leave this Mountain," Roy stammered out in a fearful rush, reinforcing what Clarke already knew from Hades. "But we think there's a way to harvest demigod blood and create a serum of some sort that will allow us to leave."
"I see." So it was as Clarke suspected. "And how are you doing this?"
"I don't know!" said Roy, helpless in Clarke's tight grip. "I only collect the data. I don't know any of the details. Only Dante and Dr. Tsing know."
Dr. Tsing. Another name for Clarke to remember.
"Please," Roy whimpered. "D-don't hurt me."
"Well that depends on how you act, Roy," said Clarke, knowing better than to promise something she can't go through with. "I've heard you guys have been capturing demigods. Where are you keeping them?"
"L-level five," answered Roy.
"And how do I get to level five?" Clarke asked, slightly easing up on the boy. It seemed that she'd terrified him quite a bit.
"Y-you can't," he answered. "Not without access," he added.
Clarke hummed at the information. "And do you have access?" she asked with false softness.
"I-" Roy shut his mouth, horrified that he'd said so much.
That was all Clarke needed to know though. Without another word, she slammed the butt of her dagger into the back of his head and he slumped over, knocked out.
"Thank you, Roy." Clarke dropped his limp body unceremoniously onto the floor. She searched his body and found his identification card in his lab coat pocket. "Perfect." Grinning, she tapped the card against the scanner and the door slid open, beeping twice.
It was time to do some good old fashioned creeping around.
It was surprisingly easy to get to level five. The hallways were relatively deserted, though a quick glance at a clock on a wall explained that easily enough. It was nearly two in the morning. The demititans were all asleep. Roy must've had the night shift.
All Clarke had to do was find an elevator, swipe her card (Roy's card technically) and she was here.
The sight that greeted her horrified her.
Cages. At least a hundred of them, by the looks of it. All stacked up haphazardly to the ceiling and lined up one next to the other. And inside each one, were two or three demigods.
And they were in terrible condition. Clarke didn't have to have medical training to know that.
Many of them were stick thin, malnourished, and pale, barely clinging onto life as it was.
Clarke wanted to throw up.
"Clarke is that you?" she heard Anya's familiar rough voice from somewhere to her left. "Thank the gods."
Clarke whirled around at the sound and relief flooded her body. There was a gaping bloody wound in Anya's shoulder where she was shot and her skin was eerily pale, almost yellow in illness, but she was alive and judging by the fierce scowl she was sending Clarke, quite spirited too.
"Anya!" Clarke quickly rushed over. But Anya's voice had acted like a trigger. Suddenly, multiple people were calling her name.
"Clarke? No way, as in Clarke Griffin?" She heard a boy say.
"Clarke! Is that you? By the gods! It's me! Harper!"
Clarke turned her head around so fast, her neck almost snapped off. Her eyes zeroed in on a cage in the corner. "Harper McIntyre?" she said in disbelief. "We all thought you'd died last year in the battle. What are you doing here?"
"It's a long story," Harper said, a look of crazed desperation in her eyes. Clarke was broken-hearted to see it there. Harper had been one of the most composed people she'd ever met. "You have to get us out of here. Monty is here too-"
Suddenly the previously lifeless demigods all sprang to life. They clawed at their cages.
"Me too!"
"Get me out please!"
"Please, save me!"
"I will die if I stay another day in here!"
"Please, stay quiet," Clarke tried to calm them down. "We can't be too loud or they'll hear us," she warned to no avail.
At their first sight of hope, the captured demigods all thrashed about wildly. Only desperation to live drew them from their limp states.
"Guys calm down!" Clarke shushed them again but no one listened.
She turned to look at Anya with helpless eyes. The Roman girl gave her a hard, judging look. "Legionnaires! Hold your tongues!" Her authority rang through the air. Even Clarke was rendered speechless for a few seconds. The demigods all quieted, suddenly thrown back to their senses.
"We can't save them all," Anya stated plainly. "Not now."
Clarke shot her a dark look. "I know," she muttered bitterly. And as much as she hated it, she knew Anya was right. There was no way she'd save them all.
Suddenly the lights blasted on and an alarm began to sound.
"Maláka," Clarke cursed. "They know I'm here."
"Save yourself," Anya muttered resolutely. "Both of us can't be trapped here. Go back to Lexa. She needs to know."
Clark shot her a stubborn look. She broke the lock on Anya's cage with her dagger and hoisted the girl up, grunting from the rush of weakness that suddenly hit her.
"We're leaving," Clarke retorted, as she supported Anya towards the exit. She stopped and turned to the rest of the caged demigods. They all looked at her. To her.
Resignation. Hope. Fear. Desperation.
"I'll come back," she promised, feeling the heavy weight of such a promise sink into her. In that moment, she knew deep down that this was a promise she'd die trying to fulfill. "To save you all. The demititans will pay."
Before she left, she turned to look at Harper who smiled sadly at her, nodding once in understanding.
"Until then," Clarke continued, her eyes never straying from her friend. "Stay strong. Survive. Their days may be numbered, but yours aren't."
"Clarke," Anya hissed in her ear. "We need to go, like yesterday."
Clarke swiped her stolen card against the door and with Anya's weight half atop of her, turned her backs on the demigods.
"What's your plan?" Anya asked as they maneuvered through the hallways. It was a miracle they were still undiscovered, but the shadows seemed to conceal them every time someone ran by and a part of Clarke wondered if she did have her abilities after all.
"I don't know," Clarke grunted back. "Trying to think of one. I don't see any ways out, do you?"
"No," came Anya's bitter answer.
They eventually came to a large open room. There was nothing in the room save for the large gaping crater in the floor directly in the middle of the room.
Both Clarke and Anya eyed the crater warily. Clarke pulled Anya closer to her and away from its edges.
"I have a bad feeling about that pit," Clarke murmured, unable to fight her curiosity as she craned her neck to look in it. It didn't seem to end, at least there didn't seem to be one as far as Clarke could see. The inside of the crater was impossibly dark, as if a blackhole had sucked all the light out. Worse still was the way it seemed to draw Clarke and Anya in, inviting them to fall into its cold, unforgiving depths.
Something was down there, Clarke could feel. Something sinister and dangerous.
Clarke couldn't help but feel as if it were familiar somehow.
Clarke felt Anya shiver against her. "Agreed," Anya murmured, unsettled. She pushed Clarke away from the pit. At least they could agree on something.
They continued to hurry away when they came to a dead end. A closed door stood in front of them, but Clarke's ID card did nothing to open it. Behind them, Clarke could hear the closing in of several footsteps.
They were trapped.
Anya pushed off of her. Clarke looked at her surprised, as the girl took on a defensive stance.
"Are you-" Clarke stammered in disbelief. "Do you plan on fighting your way out of here?" And Anya called her the stupid one.
"There's no other way." Anya's eyes were hard and her shoulders were set.
"You're unarmed," Clarke hissed, trying to get Anya to see reason. "And hurt. Not to mention, there's hundreds of them."
"Couldn't have asked for a better way to die."
"Unbelievable," Clarke muttered. They only had a few seconds left now. She forced her mind to think. If only she had her powers. She could shadow travel them away in the blink of an eye.
She stared at her hands in concentration and to her surprise, saw the shadows accumulate there.
No way.
She concentrated.
It was minimal, but she could feel some of her powers, returning to her. Clarke wanted to laugh in relief. She didn't have time to wonder why she all of sudden had powers or how. She'd just have to trust it. After all, being half god, miracles were nothing short of a bit of luck.
Clarke grabbed Anya's hand and focused. Hopefully, it would just be enough. She closed her eyes and prayed to all the gods she could think of, Greek and Roman.
'Please, please, please let this work.'
"HALT! Catch them! Do not let them get away!"
She pictured Camp Jupiter in her mind, the rows of barracks, the open field. Next thing she knew, the familiar coolness of the shadows washed over her.
Lexa couldn't sleep. She'd lost yet another one close to her heart.
It seemed Pluto was insistent on claiming everyone she loved. Now she had no one. Costia was gone. Anya was gone. And Luna left. Gone to her family.
Leaving her all alone.
So no, Lexa wasn't asleep. She allowed herself this one night to grieve before she went into full war planning mode tomorrow. She'd take down this Mountain if it was the last thing she did. It probably would be, if history proved to be right once again. But the Mountain took everything from her so now she was willing to give everything to destroy it.
Lexa wasn't asleep. And she was grateful. Otherwise she wouldn't have been sitting atop the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus staring at the stars as grief overwhelmed her.
Otherwise she might've missed their return.
The sound of something heavy hitting the ground alerted her senses. Tensing, Lexa crept towards the direction of the sound, her dagger tight in her hand. There were not supposed to be any patrols here. Everyone should've been in their bunkers, asleep.
In the dark, she could make a lump. No, two lumps. Both moving slightly.
Lexa squinted to get a better look. It was only because of her heightened nighttime senses that she could make out the two shapes.
Blonde hair glinted under the moonlight and Lexa's heart seemed to jump to her throat.
It couldn't be.
Lexa rushed forward, caution forgotten.
At the sound of her hurried footsteps, the blonde figure turned around, bringing into sight both her and her companion's faces.
Lexa could've cried in relief. Later, Clarke would claim she did shed a tear, but Lexa denied it.
"Lexa?" Clarke's tired voice sounded in the darkness. "Thank all the gods."
"Clarke!" Lexa rushed forward just as the blonde fell unconscious. She caught the blonde in her arms. Anya's weight fell on her immediately afterwards, and Lexa quickly stabled herself. She checked them both for pulses and almost laughed in relief when their heartbeats pulsed back against her fingertips strong and steady.
"You're back," Lexa whispered into a head of blonde hair. "You managed to make it back."
And just like that, Lexa wasn't alone anymore.
Pluto had been forgiving that night.
AN: Did anyone see that coming? O.O Also, Cerberus is the goodest boi