To 8Ball3- Uuuuuummmmmmmmmmm... O:)

To An-Unnamed-Goose- who's taking whose lungs now? XD


"You don't want to lose any more friends now, do you?" Mr. Greaves' new form grinned at her. She could not see past him to the others, could not even hear them for the thumping in her ears. She blinked, hard, a shiver tumbled down her spine. She only managed a shake of her head, a minimal movement she hardly felt, but enough to communicate. "So, what will it be, little demigod?"

"Lou, no!" Ruby cried. Mr. Greaves' smile twisted into a snarl, fury blasting through his eyes.

"Quiet!" He raged, snapping his fingers. Ruby screamed, thrashing on the floor of her cage. The cave bounced her own terror right back at them.

"No!" Huxley shook the bars again. "No, leave her alone!"

"Stop it!" Raijin pleaded. "Stop it!"

"No." Louisa coughed, squeezing her eyes shut as her mind teetered around at dizzying speeds. "No." She repeated, relieved to hear her voice coming out steadier, albeit only a fraction. Mr. Greaves turned back to her, lowering his hand. Ruby's screams dwindled into spluttering coughs and sobs. The boys called to her desperately- answer us, are you ok, can you hear us?- while Louisa stared up at their captor. Shadows wriggled around the edges of her vision; it was taking all she could muster to focus on him. "Don't… don't hurt her…"

"You agree to my terms?"

"Who…?" Louisa blinked, wheezing. The chains clinked around her chest, her shoulders were smarting, straining to move. "Who are you?" She croaked, blood spilling down her chin. Mr. Greaves loomed closer, studying her face with a morbid sense of curiosity.

"I am Polybotes, giant bane of your father." Louisa's head lolled, squinting at him blearily. "I was created to be his exact rival, his instrument of defeat. In addition, I also aim for his demigodly offspring. They are rather amusing to torment."

"Leave… my friends… alone. Please."

"Then you agree to train under my instruction?" Louisa sniffed. He had a funny way of talking.

"You won't hurt them?" He didn't answer. She battled to lift her head, spitting out more blood, summoning the fiercest glare she could.

For a moment, he only looked at her, running his thumbnail over his lip in thought. Louisa strained to keep her head up. Hot pins were stabbing down her arms now, bristling across her back. Numbness lurked in her feet.

Ruby groaned. Polybotes turned at the noise, rising smoothly, all the time in the world. Louisa blinked again, tears striking her cheeks. She started to speak, a breathless cough beating out her words.

"An interesting fact about me, daughter of Neptune," Polybotes announced casually, resting his hand on Ruby's vat of water, "all it takes is a single touch, and I turn water to poison."

"Neptune?" Raijin echoed.

"Poison?" Huxley chimed in. He was on the left side of his cage, as close to Ruby as he could get. Polybotes smiled at them. He was tall enough to simply reach into the vat, hand gracing the water's surface, the clear liquid rippling with blues and greens. The venomous stench wafted up on the same steam that had got them into this situation.

Ruby pushed herself up on her elbows, trembling and swallowing sick. From her vantage point, she could see a halo of poison beneath her. It boiled in her throat, thick tears welling.

Louisa tried leaning forward, hardly gaining a millimetre in her efforts. Polybotes spun on his heel, neatly tucking his hands behind his back.

"You have not answered my question." He forced a smile, but there was no cheer, no amusement this time. "You are trying my patience."

"I… you… you won't hurt them?"

"No." His smile grew into a taut grin. Louisa's head bobbed in what she hoped came across as a nod. Polybotes hummed. "I don't believe you."

"Wh-? No… I- I will… I'll-"

"One last chance, I will give you one last chance." He held up a finger, a snarl pushing at his features. "You want me to let your friends go, you swear on the River Styx that you will remain here and adhere to my training."

Louisa opened her mouth- yes, yes I swear, just let them go.

An invisible hand clamped around her throat. Her words dwindled into a rasp. Polybotes cocked his head, studying her curiously. She tried again, could hear the words in her mind, could almost taste them she was so close to speaking…

But no noise. No speech.

"Lou?" Raijin called. "Lou, what's wrong?" She threw her head back, slamming against the metal pole. Bright stars flashed across her gaze. "Lou!"

"What did you do to her?" Huxley demanded, glaring at Polybotes.

"Lou?" Ruby's voice was not as strong as the boys'. She hardly heard herself. Her arms shook as she shifted her weight onto them, lifting herself enough to look at their friend, way down there. She could see her shaking her head, gagging, lips moving.

Green light bristled around her, faint at first and then sharpening painfully when she screamed quietly in frustration, smacked her head again.

"Oh?" Polybotes said, keeping his distance but leaning forward inquisitively. "What's that you have there?" Louisa glared at him, spitting out blood once more. Her lips moved again, brow creasing as she began to cry at her silence.

"What's wrong with her?" Raijin looked over at them. "Has she lost her voice?"

"No." Ruby struggled to sit up, bile searing her throat. The boys focused on her, their concern flowing over her. Raijin's knuckles were white on the bars. Huxley tried to reach her, his hand falling a few feet short.

"She's not lost her voice?" Raijin asked softly, eyes shining. He wiped at his face, sniffing.

"I don't think so." Ruby shook her head. "I think…" There was a flash and the green light vanished. Louisa squeezed her eyes shut, the air whistling around her, her own little hurricane. She glowered at Polybotes again, the ground cracking beneath his feet. He just simply laughed, stepping away from the breaks.

"A noble effort, Louisa," he mock-praised, "but my mother is the earth itself."

"What do we do?" Raijin squeaked. He looked to Ruby, then to Huxley behind her, bottom lip trembling. "What do we do?"

"We have to get out of these cages."

"Are you forgetting the water-to-poison thing?" Huxley hissed, jabbing a finger downward. Ruby looked down, seeing the halo of poison beneath her prison.

"Come on, now," Polybotes was saying, taking a step closer to Louisa, "all this song and dance and you still can't make a simple vow?" Louisa tried shouting at him, sobbing, desperate, shaking with fury. They saw her try to push against her chains, saw her try to move her legs. Polybotes smiled.

"Why can't she do it?" Huxley breathed.

"I think someone's stopping her." Ruby answered, determinedly watching Louisa as the other two stared at her.

"Wh-what? Him?" Huxley pointed at their captor. Ruby pressed her lips together, shaking her head. "Who then?" She could only shrug. She didn't like the ideas she was getting.

"But…" Panic floundered behind Raijin's eyes, brain supplying him with answers that he didn't want. "But if she doesn't swear…"

"We die." Ruby confirmed.

"No." Huxley gripped his bars. "No, I won't let that happen. We have to do something." He pulled on the bars again, gritting his teeth. He thought of his mother, the daughter of Kratos. She was far stronger than he was; he had seen her lift fallen trees, pull cars out of harm's way, balanced a sofa on her chin… he could at least bend these bars, he had to bend these bars. "Come on, come on, come on…" He grumbled, straining. He had never met his grandfather, but now he prayed to him. Just this once, he thought, please, just this once, help me.

A creak, then a groan of metal. He opened his eyes, seeing his hands pull the bars into crescents. He allowed himself a bitter smile, achieving a gap he could squeeze through. Polybotes was still watching Louisa shift through her abilities. She fumed behind her tears, still trying to take the vow. Huxley slid his legs through the gap, scooting himself out. He gripped the bars, taking a moment to look down. In his mind, he saw himself leaping down, landing on the edge of the vat and then another jump to the floor. In reality, he hit the vat's side and flopped into an untidy front flip, landing heavily on his back and thoroughly winding himself.

Polybotes turned.

"What are you doing?" He spoke as if Huxley was no more than a wayward lab rat. Louisa froze, staring at her friend. Huxley managed a feeble thumbs up, only able to breathe in tiny, sharp intakes.

Polybotes took a step towards him. Louisa panicked, angered. Green light flashed over her, filling her eyes. The giant looked over his shoulder, halting his advance on the winded boy. "Mm." He mused. "Strange." He stomped back to Louisa, swatting away the beginnings of her hurricane.

Huxley rolled onto his front, suppressing a groan. He checked his pocket, shoulder complaining at the movement, but Polybotes had taken their weapons. He looked up, inwardly grumbling. He really hadn't thought this through.

Raijin waved at him, a frantic flap of the hand to get his attention. Huxley shrugged- what? Raijin stuck his tongue out, pointing at something just to the left of his vat, Huxley's right.

With a quick glance back at the giant, Huxley made a run for whatever had caught Raijin's eye.

The three cages were suspended by thick, bronze chains. Said chains had come together and were tucked into a ring embedded in the ground.

"Before you do anything stupid," Ruby hissed, "may I remind you that there's a large pot of poison between me and freedom?"

"I know!" Huxley hissed back. He considered the vat, rubbing at his chin. "Hold on." He ran behind it, squaring his uninjured shoulder against the metal and taking hold of it as best he could. Ruby tutted.

"Is he trying to push it over?"

"Super strength?" Raijin shrugged.

Louisa screamed. The noise broke her silence, filling it and the cave with tortured echoes. Polybotes chuckled to himself, his forefinger resting on her forehead. Huxley couldn't see what was happening, but the others yelled at the giant, desperate to defend their friend. He pushed against the vat with all his might, squeezing his eyes shut as he flung prayer after prayer, thought after thought, to Kratos.

"Stop it!" Ruby screeched. Huxley's foot slipped, quickly regaining purchase. The vat began to groan. Louisa's screaming dropped into ragged, hiccupping sobs.

"Where's the other one?" Polybotes asked.

"What other one?" Raijin feigned.

"There were three of you. Where-?" Polybotes got his answer in the form of his own poison flooding the floor. The vat struck the rock with a hollow clang that shook through their skulls. Polybotes cursed in a language they didn't recognise, splashing through the flood as his reptilian skin hissed and blistered.

There was just one problem.

It got Louisa too.

It washed over her legs, crested against her stomach. Her hands were tied behind the column, fingers barely above the ground. Her head jerked, green light flickering around her, desperate to stay, but afflicted, weakened.

Huxley didn't have time to think about it. He lunged for the chains, yanking the ring from the floor. He grasped the chains, arms nearly yanked out of their sockets with the effort to stop them freefalling.

He got them to the ground. Then Polybotes had him.

One enormous swipe of a hand, the little finger of which was as big as Huxley himself, and he was snatched up. "You!" The giant raged. "One little legacy causing me all this trouble?!" Huxley gave a wobbly grin, about to speak. Polybotes' face coloured with fury, and he began to squeeze.

"No!" Ruby cried. She had wriggled out, an impossibly tight fit between the bars, her ribs and shoulders bristling with varying degrees of pain. Raijin was two seconds behind her, skinnier and smaller than she was, merely side-stepping out. "You said you'd let us go! You said you'd let us go if she swore on the Styx! You saw her trying to!"

"Ah, but she didn't, did she?" Polybotes smiled. "I do love a technicality." Huxley was steadily going from red to blue in his grasp. "Your friend did not save you in time. You are mine." His hand jolted. A series of cracks. Huxley's eyes widened.

Polybotes dropped him. Huxley fell, unmoving before he even hit the ground. He landed on his front, staring at them with empty eyes. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Polybotes stepped over him. "Who's next?"