16. The Quest

Ari's pov

Ari pushed through the crowd. Who knew, clubs were so crowded and sweaty? They had figured out somewhere in the middle of their quest that the place Apate would be was Las Vegas. They had crossed paths with a former servant of Gaia who had defected at the last moment and now lives in the mortal, hiding from the gods. They promised to help hide him in exchange for all the information he had on Apate's plan or as they learned Gaia's plan. Even in sleep, she managed to make Percy's life hell.

He told them that it was Gaia's plan B, to defect Percy from the gods. She gave Apate the mirror of Peirasmos. It wasn't much that they didn't already know nut he was able to tell them that Apate would be staying in Las Vegas, preferably behind a loud club or bar in the shadier part of the city.

This is the third club they've been to and so far, Diana has done a good job making them look older than they are with the mist but, Ari could tell that she was tiring quickly. This had to be the one or else they would have to continue their search tomorrow. Ari really did not want to stay here longer than necessary, this place disgusted her thoroughly. Taz signalled that he found something. She and Diana went over to him and immediately felt a malicious aura, around the area.

"Do you feel that?" Taz whispered to them. Ari nodded and Diana said," Yeah, her lair has to be here somewhere. I hope she isn't in it though, fighting a goddess is definitely not on my wish list this year."

Ari agreed, fighting a goddess is something they should avoid. Even though Percy trained them a bit in fighting, they are in no way good enough to fight a goddess.

Taz brought her out of her thoughts by pointing at a seemingly normal metal door at the corner of the corridor and said," There, the energy is coming from there." She questioned how he knew that but he only shrugged and walked toward the door. She exchanged a look with Diana, then ran after him as quietly as possible.

When she got there, Taz was fiddling with the handle. " It's locked," she pointed out. "No shit, Sherlock," he said, sarcasm oozing out, and went back to inspecting the door and fiddling with the handle.

"Stop doing that," Diana said annoyed. She lightly shoved him out of the way and hovered her hand over the handle and muttered, "Alohomora". Streams of rid magical light flowed through her hand and wrapped themselves around the door handle. Then with a 'CLICK', the metal door swung open to reveal a dark room. Ari and Taz looked at Diana in surprise," How did you do that?"

Diana looked sheepish," Just a trick I picked up. It was nothing."

Ari did not think it was nothing but let it go anyway. "We need to find a flashlight or something. The darkness is giving me the creeps."

Diana nodded and muttered something that sounded like,' Lumos.' A ball of light started growing in her hands and it levitated up to the centre looking like a tiny sun.

The features of the room could be seen as much more easily now. The walls were completely black except for the fact that it was filled with mirrors of all sizes and shapes. It was as if they were in a House of Mirrors except there were much greater stakes this time. Taz screamed in frustration," How are we supposed to know which of these is the mirror of Peirasmos?"

No one dared to answer him. They moved in different directions in the room. I observed the mirrors, a few were circular, oval, others were rectangle, some had thick borders, a few were as tall as an adult. Ari really hoped that it wasn't one of those mirrors. She stopped in front of an oval mirror with a thick gold border. Her reflection looked pale and sickly, then it lifted its head and she could swear she saw its eyes turn red, and lunge out of the mirror.

Ari let out a scream and scrambled away from the mirror. She was horrified, the creature was out of the mirror halfway and thrashing about. It looked exactly like her except its skin was sickly pale covered in wrinkles and red glowing eyes.

She looked back and saw Taz and Diana with disgusted and horrified looks on their faces, gawking at the creature. She knew her own face must look the same. The mirror started rippling and pulled the creature back and silence ensued once again as if nothing had happened.

"Wh-what was that?"

"I think the mirrors are somehow enchanted to keep the monsters in, if anyone gets close though, they will try to jump back out," Diana theorized.

Ari shuddered to think what might have happened if it had gotten out fully or even gotten a hold of her. "Are all the mirrors aside from the mirror of Peirasmos ... enchanted?"

"I'd rather not find out, thank you very much."

After that, they were careful in investigating the mirrors, never venturing close to them or staying in from of them for too long. They were halfway across the room when Taz gasped," Dad!"

Ari turned to look at him in surprise, Taz had told her that his dad had died when he was eight. She saw him staring bewildered at a silver square hand mirror hanging on the wall. She saw Diana run to him, as she was about to the same, a glint of shining gold caught her attention.

On the opposite wall, a circular gold mirror hung. It was as big as her face, a hand mirror. It was fairly plain, yet looked elegant. She was enraptured by its beauty as she stepped in front of it, peering at her reflection, throwing caution to the winds.

Her reflection rippled; the image changed to the day of the monster attack of her house. She stared in horror unable to look away as it showed her of the day her mother died protecting her to her last breath. The image then went slack, showing her horror-filled face and wide eyes.

She jerked forward when she felt a hand lay on her shoulder but it was only Taz looking at her with a concerned expression with Diana staring at the gold mirror, she was staring at, then looking at Ari, then looking at the silver mirror and once again, looking at the gold mirror with a frown. "Ari," she hesitated," what did you see in that mirror? It was clearly not enchanted like the others, but it has some type of power."

Tears formed in Ari's eyes as she spluttered," I-it was th-the day m-my m-mother di-died." She sobbed on Taz's shoulder. Taz rubbed her back awkwardly, so she let go and wiped her tears. Diana then hugged her; her eyes filled with sympathy. "I'm so sorry," she said quietly.

"Well, isn't this a touching moment," a mocking voice called from the entrance. A beautiful woman stood at the door. She had layers of dark hair and purple eyes with a glint that made her seem insane, which she probably was. She wore a violet clubbing dress. "Apate," Taz whispered.

She smiled wickedly and her eyes looked even more maniacal," It has been so long since a demigod has come to visit me. Especially questers." She wore a triumphant smile before it was replaced by a frown. "But I won't let you get the mirror. You see I am having quite a bit of fun with it. Playing with emotions in your pathetic camps is so easy. It's laughable how much damage a few lies and a well-placed betrayal can do. Now, without the Jackson boy on your side, the next war coming will be nigh impossible for you to win. The amount of deceit is only strengthening me." Ari discreetly started looking for ways to exit. "It is cute that you think you will leave this room alive." Maybe she wasn't so discreet.

Another voice echoed in the room and a blur of black jumped down from the ceiling. "Oh, yes they will get out alive and finish their quest." It was a man wearing a dark green cloak. The man's voice was very familiar but she couldn't place it. "Who are you?!" The goddess shrieked in indignation.

Armor appeared on her body replacing the fancy dress she wore. She pulled out an electric whip and a short black sword from somewhere and lunged at him. The man dodged her attacks and replied, "No one you'd know." Shouts of anger could be heard from the two as they moved, clashes of metal and a blur of movements were all that could be seen. The three questers were now staring in shock with their mouths agape. He looked back at them for a moment before giving all his attention to the battled. It was a deadly dance. "Find the mirror and get out of here." The shout from the man filled Ari with newfound determination and broke them out of their stupor.

"Taz, what did you see in that silver mirror?" Diana asked. Ari did not understand why that was important but she trusted her with magical items as they were her specialty.

"I saw my dad, my mom, and me." he gulped. "We were a family living together. We were...happy."

"So, it was tempting you to get it," Diana guessed.

"Yeah, but why does it matter?" Taz asked confused. I was confused too. So, it was tempting him, maybe it was enchanted to tempt people to do things or something. Then it hit her. She exchanged a look with Diana and could tell that she had also reached the same conclusion.

"Spill. What is it?" Taz asked again.

Ari looked directly at him and shook him in excitement. "Taz, think. This mirror tempts you to do things. It is the mirror of temptation or the mirror of Peirasmos in Greek." I see as realization settles in. "Oh. Oh, we have to get it." They both nodded and start towards the mirror on the other side slowly making sure that Apate can't see what they were doing. But the glint of gold behind her made her hesitate, she felt like she needed it too.

Suddenly, they see that Apate's eyes fall on them. She laughs maniacally before dodging a blow from the man. She snaps her fingers and yells at them while fighting the man, "Kill them! I am handling this one." The man curses in Greek but continues fighting the goddess.

The mirrors start rippling and the creatures from inside lunge out making their way towards. The three friends unsheathe their weapons and start fighting the zombie-like monsters. Ari twists her charm and a bronze sword appeared in her hand. She slashes at the monsters and cuts through the monsters. Then a monster scratches at her drawing blood. She hisses in pain but continues slicing through the enemy.

Suddenly the clang of a weapon breaking drew her attention to the battle in the front. There they both stood panting. The man's sword was at her neck drawing ichor and her hands were tied in the back. Her sword laid beside her broken. "You may have defeated me in combat now, boy but if I cannot keep the mirror neither can anyone else. This building will topple very soon, preferably on you, destroying the mirror and killing all of you. It may free them from more influence but they will always have doubts about the hero and some will never accept that they were wrong," she hissed in pain and flashed out.

Another being then flashed in; Ari closed her eyes as the light flashed and died down. When she opened her eyes, the monsters were all frozen in place, so was the man and her two friends. The god that flashed in had two heads and a tall body. The only god who had two heads that she knew is "Janus. Why is everything frozen?" she asked.

The right face said," A demigod's choice. It has been a while since we had to come personally for a choice."

The left then said," This will impact her life and all other demigods a lot."

The right rebuffed," Or it might not at all."

"It will all depend on the choice."

"Even we cannot estimate the outcome most likely."

They both looked at her and said in unison," So, daughter of Poseidon. What shall you choose? Right or left? Gold or silver? Square or circle?"

"What does that mean?" she cried in desperation.

They looked at her as if she was a fool. "Simple. You can save a mirror and make it back alive with all your friends. But you can only save one mirror."

This confused her," What? There is only one mirror."

They shook their heads," There is one mirror which shows you your temptations, which lets you influence emotions but the other the mirror which shows you the hard truth, which projects the truths no matter how cruel or cold it is. You have seen both. Which is more precious to you?"

What are they talking about? She has not encountered the mirror of truth. Then the gold mirror captures her attention. Of course, it shows the truth, it showed her the hard truth that her mother was dead. She is dead and she could do nothing about it. The mirror was in front of her the whole time but her quest was to retrieve the mirror of Peirasmos. She gazed at the other silver mirror. The parting words of Apate echoed through her mind, the mirror of temptation will release the influence on other's thoughts but the damage is done. If they don't see the truth, they will never believe it for long. She looked at Janus and said in a confident voice," I have decided." They nodded and time once again continued.

The ground shook full force and rubble started falling from the ceiling. The monsters once again started attacking them. Ari somehow kept her balance and gripped her sword, when the monster coming at her dissolved into ashes. The man stood in front of her, his sword stretched forward where the monster had been. He proceeded to slice through the monsters surrounding her. "Go, all three of you. Get out of here while I take care of these."

She saw from her peripheral sight that Taz and Diana started racing for the door while struggling to keep their balance. Ari turned and raced to the other side towards the golden mirror. She heard them calling her name and telling her to go to the door but she ignored them. She reached the mirror and took it off the wall. She was so concentrated on the mirror that she didn't see the monster lunging at her until it was inches away from her. She let out a small scream and waited to be torn to shreds but it never came. The man was at her side, his sword impaling the monster. "Thank you," she breathed.

He grabbed her arm and she felt as if her body was breaking into molecules and joining back together. It was dizzying when she was back on the ground. Her feet stumbled but the man helped her stand. Her two friends looked relieved and jumped at her and embraced. "We thought you were going to die in there," Diana's eyes were red and puffy.

"Never do that again," Taz whispered. "I won't," she promised.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made us remember the man. "Who are you?" Taz asked suspiciously.

"Aw," the man put his hand where his heart is in mock hurt, "I didn't think you would forget me so soon, little bro."

Then it clicked, the familiarity of his voice. Ari lunged at him and hugged him tightly. "Percy!"

"Percy?!" The other two echoed. One in excitement and the other in confusion. Taz also hugged him. "Um, guys do you know this random super-strong stranger?" Diana asked.

They reluctantly pulled away and explained," This is our guardian. He is the one who brought us to camp and taught us to fight."

Percy then did something unexpected, he flicked off his hood showing his raven hair and startling sea-green eyes. "Hello, Diana. I am Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. Nice to meet you."

Diana's jaw dropped comically and her eyes widened when he mentioned his name. She then looked at Taz and Ari. "Your guardian is Percy freaking Jackson. The same guy on whom everyone's thoughts changed and wrongly banished? The one that we were trying to find the mirror for?"

"Yes?" Ari said meekly.

Diana looked to be in shock and processing the information given to her. Ari let her be and instead asked Percy, "Now, you can come to camp right? The mirror's influence is gone, your banishment will be removed."

Percy sighed sadly, "No, Ari, I cannot go back to camp. The memories are too fresh and I don't think most gods would be too pleased to see me. I am going to find a new purpose for me, maybe outside of this planet. But I promise I will visit or call you two from time to time." He looked at them both and they reluctantly nodded. They understood that this was for the best of their older brother.

"Diana," he then called out to the seemingly frozen girl. "Huh?"

"I want you to keep my identity, existence, and involvement in your quest a secret from everybody else."

"I will," she promised. "Good, now everybody hold hands and do not let go no matter what."

They grabbed each other's hands and made a circle. The sensation of her splitting into molecules came once again. When they were on solid ground, she noticed that they were close to Long Island already.

Her friends were stumbling from the disorientation. She looked at her brother and saw him dissolving again. A small sad smile on his face as a goodbye. The place he had stood in once was empty.