We left the shop quickly after that. Thinking back, we probably should have stopped and questioned Castel. But we all had the idea that my dad was here and he was in trouble, so nothing else mattered.
You won't find him in time.
As soon as we got outside, I started wheezing. My lungs were still struggling to adapt to the sudden change in air quality. This may have had an effect on my endurance or my ability to fight, but we hadn't yet been in a fight where I could test that theory. There hadn't been any monster run-ins at all since we got back. I was grateful for that. I hoped never to have to fight another monster again.
There will always be another fight.
Before I could catch my breath, another monster appeared. Well, it didn't appear. It just popped up behind us and conked me in the head. I lifted my hand to the back of my skull and fell to the ground.
"Perseus?" Grover called out. My heart raced but I didn't have enough energy to realize why. The last thing I heard was Charlie yelping in surprise. Before I lost consciousness, I noted that he didn't sound very scared.
"Are you scared, Jason?" An eerie voice called from somewhere around me. I was in a dark room. The floor beneath me was smooth, cold. I could hear screams and screeches somewhere outside, confirming that I was still in Tartarus. I didn't feel the presence of the Arai this time, but I knew they were still in my mind, creeping at my fears.
"I'm not scared," I whispered. I must have been in the Mansion of Night, it was the only place that made sense.
"When a person experiences fear, your endorphins flood to the amygdala portion of your brain. Blood will flow to your limbs."
As it spoke, the stump of my arm began to ache, I could feel the beat of my heart at the end of the wound. My blood was flowing heavier, just like the voice had said. I did not admit this.
"Your amygdala overrides your rational reactions, causing you to become jittery or emotional."
I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to cry. My hand began to shake. This wasn't right. I usually didn't react to fear like this. I was a demigod! My fingers began to tingle.
"That feeling in your fingers and toes is a chemical signal sent to your hypothalamus, which triggers your autonomic nervous system. That is why you suddenly want to run."
I hadn't wanted to run before, but now I did. I managed to calm myself down enough to realize that I recognized the voice to belong to that of Cupid. I'd never heard Cupid before, but I somehow knew it was him.
"That feeling of exhaustion coming over you is your parasympathetic nervous system kicking in, lowering your heart rate and reversing the flow of adrenaline," Cupid kept talking as if we were in a college lecture and he expected me to be taking notes. I was definitely not his favorite student.
"What do you want from me?" I asked, slowly turning in a circle and trying to locate where he was.
"Love," he said, "is a dangerous thing. It may have given you strength to survive in a place of death and torture, but it can break you. It can hurt you more than anything else could. Are you prepared for that? Are you happy with your love?"
I felt my heart tighten, but I did not speak.
"Because I'm going to take it away."
Waking up, I first noticed that we weren't in the Mansion of Night, or in Tartarus. It was dark, damp, and something squirmy squished between my fingers. I didn't like the dark. Tartarus was always dark. As if I hadn't had enough reminders of that while I had been asleep.
The second thing I noticed was the depressing lack of a sassy latino boy in my arms. The quiet humming from somewhere nearby finally woke me up fully. The sound calmed me.
"Chuck, what happened?" I groggily pressed my fingers to the new lump on the back of my head.
The humming stopped. "So you aren't dead? That's good to know," Charlie sarcastically responded. His voice reassured me that Cupid hadn't gotten to him.
"Not yet. I would like to return to my question."
"Got attacked from behind. Grover said it was somebody named Perseus, but he wasn't happy about it. That was the last thing he said before we were all carted off to different cells. I've got two skeletons in mine. How about you? Nice change of scenery, huh?" Charlie's voice came from somewhere outside my door.
"We have different definitions of nice."
"It's better than Tartarus."
I shuddered, giving him that one. There was a faint light coming from somewhere in the room, maybe under the door? My vision was too blurry to tell for sure. I was beginning to miss my glasses.
There was a skeleton in my cell too, but it wasn't quite a skeleton yet. There was still some skin attached, as well as a dead rat scavenging around in the stomach cavity. I cringed and looked away. On the other side of the moderately sized cell was a person. Judging by the rise and fall of his chest, he was still alive. He had messy black hair, but that's all I could tell. I stopped breathing for a moment. I crawled forward.
I stopped a few feet away from the man. I was closer now, and he did not look like my dad.
You'll never find your father.
"Excuse me?" I called softly.
The guy's head lifted up as if controlled by a puppet string. There was a strained look on his face. My heart dropped. This man definitely wasn't my father.
You'll never see him again.
"Help," he squeaked. His lips barely moved, but his eyes were wide. He wore the same smile as Casel from the diner.
I scooted back a foot. "Are you ok?"
"Run."
My head began to clear. I realized that I probably should be doing what this man suggested to do, but there wasn't anywhere for me to go.
You'll never be free
I felt like rolling my eyes at the familiar depressing voices. It sent a chill down my spine. They'd been growing much more sarcastic since I got out.
My senses began to kick in. I felt the blood of the man in front of me, pumping to an irregular rhythm that couldn't be his own. He was being controlled.
"If I can get you back control of your body, can you tell me what's going on?" I asked softly. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I needed to figure out what was happening so I could get us out. I didn't even know where Luke and Grover were or if they were ok. I needed to escape.
Out of habit, I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer that they were alive.
The man nodded ever so slightly. I took a deep breath and let my powers extend to the man's body, to his blood. It wasn't something I wanted to do but it was to help, not hurt. I forced his blood to move regularly, and let his body go. I fell back against the wall in exhaustion.
The man let out a raspy gasp and clutched his face. He blinked and controted his face. He must have either noticed the look I was giving him or the strain in my eyes because he quickly stopped.
"My name is Perseus, son of Zeus. I was taken captive by some Poseidon scum awhile back. She's been using me to capture demigods and mortals for decades now. You must assist me in my escape," he said. He spoke like a side character in a video game, like if I was to say something he'd just repeat his statemeant.
I wasn't sure what to think about the whole Poseidon scum thing but I was too exhausted from using my powers to take offence to it.
"Whatever. How do we get out of here? I have friends somewhere here that I need to save first."
The man scoffed. "It is too late for them now, we must save ourselves!"
Leave them behind.
I glared. "Do you want me to give you back to whatever is controlling you?"
Perseus coughed uncomfortably. "Um… there is a lock on the door that can only be activated with water, or that's what I've seen anyway. There's no way for us to get out until she opens the door."
"Water?" I asked.
"Poseidon scum, remember?"
I rolled my eyes and forced myself upright. This Perseus guy wasn't making a great impression. I stumbled to the door and peeked through the bars at the lock. A face appeared in the door of the cell across the small hallway. Charlie's hair was matted to his head as if he'd been dunked by one of those buckets at the water park.
"You ok? I can hear talking," he said.
"I'm fine, met a guy that might be able to help us get out of here. Can you see the lock on my door?"
I hadn't missed my glasses in nine months as much as I missed them now. Charlie squinted and leaned forward to get a better look.
"Yeah, a bit. There's a bucket of mud hanging from the lock? Weird. Anyway, it just looks like a hole."
I nodded and formulated a plan. "Ok, I'm going to try to open it. I think I'll be able to get yours open too but I might pass out," I warned.
I summoned my remaining strength and focused it on the bucket of mud, pulling out the water. I formed the water into a small pencil-like shape and forced it into the keyhole. Nothing happened for a few moments. My vision grew fuzzy for the second time that day. Before I passed out (again), the door clicked open.
When I came to a few moments later, I could hear yelling. Perseus was standing over me, slapping my cheeks to wake me up. Charlie was berading Perseus for hitting me instead of just dousing me with the water. I groaned and rubbed my eyes.
Charlie huffed in relief. "You've gotta stop doing that, Jack! You're starting to live up to your name-sake."
I frowned. "What?"
"Didn't you say your uncle Jason always passes out when something important happens?"
I scoffed and painfully stood up. I stumbled to Charlie's cell and grabbed the bars on his door for support. He wrapped his hand around mine. A shiver went up my arm.
"Jase, leave it. You've already passed out twice. It's unlikely you'll be able to get this door open too. They took Luke into some kind of makeshift interrogation room and Grover is outside somewhere; I don't think they considered him a threat. You've got to get Luke first, I don't think they're just asking him questions. Come back for me after you've gotten him" Charlie ordered.
Leave him.
Cupid's threat echoed in my head. I'm going to take it away.
I shook my head. "No. I thought I've made it clear that I'm not leaving you behind. If I pass out, you can either drag me out, try to wake me up, or go on and come back for me later, but I am getting you out of this cage."
Charlie tried to protest but I ignored him. Instead, I picked the water back up and used it to open his door. Exhaustion rolled over me and I dropped to my knees.
Charlie pushed his door open and caught me by the waist.
"Ok, stay awake now. You can do this, Jack. Just don't pass out. Easy, right? We've got to find Luke. Dig back in your mind and find some packet of adrenaline or something because I think we're dealing with some sort of child or legacy of Poseidon, and you're the only one of those I know how to deal with."
More of Cupid's words came to mind, somehow energizing me. I got my dagger out and forced onwards with Charlie's help. I wondered why our weapons hadn't been confiscated. In fact, there were many unusual things about our capture. Why was I put in the same cell as Perseus but everybody else was separate? Why were we captured in the first place and not just killed?
At the end of the hall was another large metal door but this one wasn't locked.
"Who are you?" A woman's voice resonated through the door.
"My name is Randy. Randy Chase. Listen lady, we're just traveling through town; I don't know what your problem is!" Luke yelled back. Luke didn't sound scared, but I heard a hint of worry or anger in his voice. It was hard to tell.
I tiptoed to the door and opened it as much as I could without causing it to squeak. Luke was tied to a chair in the center of the room. Across from him was a tall woman with cascading blonde hair. It was Casel from the diner.
Instead of her floral dress she now wore a long revealing purple gown. Her hair was loosely flowing past her shoulders and her eyes were shining much more green than blue, although I couldn't see them very well.
"I know that is a lie, you reek of Greek."
Luke huffed. "I don't know what you mean; I'm from Westport!"
The woman raised her arms and Luke suddenly began to choke. I frowned and motioned for Charlie to approach. I clenched my fists, breaking the woman's control over Luke. He dropped in his chair and coughed.
Look at what your powers could do.
You could rule the world
Just let us take over.
"What is this magic? How can you do that?"
Luke smiled, looking up but making sure to keep his gaze from the door. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. You're not the only one with connections to the god of the sea."
The woman let out a growling screeching sound and stomped her feet. "You will not say his name in my presence! That man is no god! He is no father, no role model, no god!"
I figured that this was a good time to step in. I pushed the door open and approached with my dagger outstretched.
"Who are you?" I asked steadily.
The lady was quick to whip around. Her hair flowed as if it were underwater.
"I am Rhode, daughter of a mother long forgotten," she said. Her voice oozed in regret and anger.
I groaned and shook my head. She was my aunt, daughter of Poseidon. Nobody knew who her mother was for certain but it was assumed that she was some water nymph.
"Poseidon may not have been the best father but he isn't the worst," I said.
"Is he your father? No. You wouldn't understand!" she hissed.
"He's my grandfather. Not that bad of a guy. Actually, I think I like him, maybe I even love the old dude, just a bit. He took care of my grandma when my dad went missing, helped my family out more than most gods do, and I'm pretty he actually cares about me," I said. I never thought I'd be at the point where I'd miss Poseidon, but here I was.
Rhode turned towards me and motioned angrily with her arms and I felt my body seize up. I felt fear swelling in my chest, the same choking feeling as when Achlys had killed me. I took back control of my body and stared defiantly.
"I am a descendant of Poseidon, you can't control my blood. Now, let my friend go before the daughter of Poseidon is introduced to some high density Hephaestus fire," I warned.
I couldn't see it, but I knew Charlie was smirking. His hand began to heat up on my shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, Jackson. Son of Hermes, remember? I got out of this like ten minutes ago," Luke said. He slipped his hands from the rope bindings and crossed his legs, making himself comfortable. "Right. So, why are you kidnapping random folks that wander into town?"
"Why won't you tell me who these people are?" Rhode responded.
That's why Luke had been separated from Charlie and I. Rhode had been questioning him. Luke stood up and carefully stepped outside the door with the rest of us. He stood behind me and poked at the bump on my head to see what damage had been done.
"Because he's a grandson of Poseidon, and Poseidon actually cares for him. I didn't want you to get jealous and go nuts," Luke said, shrugging.
Rhode glared menacingly towards me, a wicked smile taking over her features. She clenched her fist, and Perseus dropped to the floor. His eyes rolled in the back of his head and somehow, I knew he was dead. I could feel the blood stop pumping through his heart.
"I'm trying to hurt my father," she said.
Catching me by surprise, Rhode was able to use her powers to pull me forward a few feet. I regained control after that, but it was too late. She thrust her arm forward and the door slammed behind me, locking the others outside.