"Queen Hylla," a voice greeted, and it nearly made Hylla jump out of her skin. She turned to study the demititan standing not far from her. "What can I do for you?"
"I was looking to talk to you, actually," Hylla began as she corrected herself from the initial scare. Sarah watched the Amazon queen, her face obscured by her cloak. The demititan was a child of Lelantos, and Hylla wasn't quite sure how she felt about the woman or the group in general.
Her first dealings with the demititans were when she had been charmspeaked by Circe and tricked into almost going to war against them. Things didn't get much better from there. The demititans worked with them, but it always felt like their relationship had an axe hanging over it. One wrong move and the strands of their relationship would be chopped.
There were times when it felt like the demititans only worked with them out of fear, like the gods would come down and punish them for their uncooperative actions. Would the demititans work with them now, or were they still scared of what the gods might do? They needed all of the allies they could get.
"Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" Hylla asked as she glanced around the room they stood in. There were only a few demititans around, and they seemed to have made this as some kind of makeshift hideout. Sarah nodded and led her towards a closed door. She pushed it open, and there were a few cots inside the room.
Hylla followed behind her, and Sarah closed the door. The demititan turned to the queen, "Something's wrong."
"Yeah," Hylla confirmed, shaking her head. "Really wrong."
Hylla shrugged the backpack off of her shoulder and placed it on the table. She dug out the picture and handed it off to Sarah. The demititan studied it quietly. Her body tensed as she seemed to recognize it. Hylla spoke, "I found this in a cave near Mount Othrys. What do you know about it?"
"Alex wanted to keep an eye on Camp Jupiter," Sarah began softly, examining the picture. "She had this grand idea of restoring the power of the Titans. Starting with the old mountain near San Francisco. It was just a dream, one that I knew wouldn't come true. She knew the same, even if she wouldn't admit it."
"Alex thought the mountain was important for some reason. It wasn't just it being the base of the Titans or a symbol of their power; it was something more," Sarah continued. "I'm not sure whether she thought some weapon or some other item had been kept there."
"I never went with her to find out. She spent a month or two scouting it out, but I don't think she ever found anything," Sarah explained as she dug through the backpack. She pulled out a few journals and flipped through them. "You don't want these back, do you?"
"No," Hylla replied. "It's all yours. Do you know anything else?"
"I don't. I'm sorry," Sarah confessed. Hylla nodded and turned away. She started to walk out, but as her hand grabbed the door handle, she turned back toward the demititans.
"What of Tartarus?" Hylla began. Sarah stiffened and slowly looked at her. The warmth seemed to be sucked out of the room. Sarah slowly pulled back her hood and made eye contact with Hylla. "What do you know about it?"
"Only stories," Sarah revealed. Her face held an uncertain, maybe even scared, expression. "Why?"
"My sister," Hylla whispered. She closed her eyes. "They banished her there. Cast her away."
Upon opening her eyes, Hylla found Sarah staring at her. Hylla continued, "I don't know what the fuck the gods are thinking, but I have to save my sister. Please. There has to be something you can tell me. Something Alex researched."
"I'm sorry," Sarah exhaled as she shook her head. "I don't know anything."
"Thank you for your time," Hylla said with a defeated sigh. Sarah held up her hand.
"If the gods are willing to do that to the person who saved them multiple times, what are they going to do to others? Especially children of their enemies," Sarah pointed out. "You and I may have our differences, but I hold nothing against Reyna. She's saved our asses multiple times. If you need help, I'll do everything in my power."
"We may need that help," Hylla said softly. A sad sigh left her, and she turned away. Hylla had to find a way to save Reyna, and while she wanted to just find the gates of Tartarus and storm down there, she had to be smart. Hylla left the room.
A silence fell over Sarah as she was left alone. The demititan stared at where Hylla had been standing. A million thoughts ran through her head, but she never had time to sort them as there was a shift in the air behind her. Sarah turned towards the shadows.
"Demititan," a woman greeted. She stood in the shadows, and the darkness cloaked her like a second skin. Sarah's hand hovered near her bow as she studied the woman. "I suppose you know who I am."
"A peacekeeper," Sarah stated. She lifted her chin in defiance. It had not been that long ago that Sarah worked with the Sixth Legion to assure that the peacekeepers failed in their mass assassination attempt. "I guess you're here to kill me. Or just following me. Maybe both."
"Neither," the woman replied. "My name is Camila. Daughter of the lord of the dead."
Sarah tried to make out the features of the demititan, but she was unable to. A small frown settled her lips, "Why are you here?"
"We have kept a close eye on the demititans," Camila replied. "You and your compatriots have been hidden for a very long time, staying in the shadows. It wasn't until the war god's shield was stolen that you were forced out into the spotlight. I know you want to fade back into obscurity."
"The demigods have used you and threw you aside like trash. How long are they going to keep doing that? How long are you going to let them?" Camila interrogated. Sarah remained silent and kept her hand near her bow. "I do not plan on harming you, Sarah."
"We never wanted to hurt the demigods either. We were being forced to by the goddess of peace. She thought that peace could only be obtained by the demigods being killed. After all, the gods do all of their dirty deeds through them," Camila continued. "Burza and Theo could have killed you and the lieutenant, but they didn't. They were never going to. We just had to make the attempt look good enough to get our strings."
"Strings?" Sarah repeated, confused. Camila held up a hand, and a golden string hung from her fingers. It looked as if the thread had been cut directly from a ball of yarn.
"These are our fate," Camila said softly. "Our power and our life. The Fates usually keep these, but there are times when the gods steal them. When a demigod gets their hands on a string, their power doubles. Maybe even triples. We can even match the gods with that power."
"We were given our strings, and we want to complete our original goal: take the place of the gods and ensure peace for the demigods. No longer do they have to fight and struggle just to live a normal life. The gods will no longer use them as pawns."
"And that is what the demititans have been reduced to," Camila stated. "Pawns. Not just for the gods, but their children as well. Alex wanted to change that, didn't she?"
"Don't," Sarah warned as anger flooded her veins, hindered only by the pain in her heart. "You didn't know Alex."
"No, we didn't. But we believe in her goals. To just be able to live your own damn life without the gods breathing down your neck and directing every move. She wanted to cut the strings that made her a puppet," Camila preached as she lowered her string. "Until she died defending a puppet master."
"Alex died because of Metis," Sarah hissed harshly. She glared at the shadows in front of her.
"Primordial. Titan. Olympians. They are all the same. The only difference lies in the name and when their story started. If we get our way, their story will end at the same time," Camila claimed. "We want to offer an alliance to the demititans."
"If we don't, you'll just kill us," Sarah assumed. Camila chuckled.
"We have no interest in killing our fellow kind. We may have to shed the blood of some demigods, but we want to give them the chance to be allies first," Camila explained. "Truthfully, we want to work with you. If you don't want to work with us, we will leave you alone. Unless you stand against us with the demigods. From there, I don't know what will happen."
"An alliance doesn't mean you have to be our comrade in arms. It could simply mean that you sit back and watch as we do the dirty work. Or, you could muddy your hands and help," Camila stated. "In the end, bystanders will not be harmed. Allies will be protected."
"Just think it over," Camila suggested as the shadows wrapped around her. The room became cooler as Sarah was left alone. The demititan swallowed painfully and moved her gaze to the photo of her and Alex. The two of them had been so close, despite all of their differences. Sarah missed her so much.
Sarah took a deep breath. She would bring this up to the other demititan leaders. Normally, she would just tell the others that they needed to stay out of it, or do what the gods said. But, this was different now. Casting someone who had saved their lives into Tartarus was just insane. What the hell was wrong with the gods?
Reyna was not the most stable person in the world, but she had saved them. She had nearly died multiple times against Ouranos and Metis. A scowl came to Sarah's face as she thought of the Titaness that had killed the love of her life.
And the gods didn't even bat an eye. They buried Alex with the rest of the demigods that died defending them. How much demititan blood had to be spilled for the Olympians? Sarah didn't need some kind of grand reward. She just wanted to protect her family. That was why she worked with the demigods in the first place. War benefited no one. It just seemed that they could not escape it.
Sarah closed her eyes. She needed time to think and talk it over with the other leaders. Something told her this would be the final war. One way or another.