He would have been better off without you. You should have just given up in that river before this all began.

Charlie would never be able to feel normal again. He would never be able to walk around the city without a hand close to his weapon or walk down a street without looking over his shoulder. He wouldn't be able to stay home all summer and sleep in and play video games. He would be worrying when his dad went off on "business trips" or when he saw something strange lurking in the shadows. He was stuck with this life now, forced into it. My parents had been training for years. They could control their powers and could fight by each other's side easily. They weren't prepared for Tartarus, but they were more prepared than Charlie. He didn't even have shoes when he arrived. He didn't know how to properly hold a sword.

But now he was a warrior. He'd been forced to be a soldier. I had forced him to be a soldier. He shouldn't even be here. He should be with his mom and dad at home. He should be happy.

Then he shouldn't be with you

That night (or day, I don't really know what time is was) we weren't disturbed. Nothing found us that night. We weren't attacked. It was a small thing, but it provided Charlie and I with adequate rest. I mean, mostly. We only slept for a few hours each time we took a break but our bodies had gotten used to the change. We could function without the sleep. We could fight.

"Ready?" Charlie asked.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I guess. Where are we even going? We don't have anything to follow," I pointed out glumly. Charlie smiled and pulled me to my feet.

"I know, but we need to drink the lava stuff."

I groaned, "Fine." I hated the fire water. I despised it. We were stuck in Tartarus, the least we could get is airplane peanuts. A vending machine would be nice too. Yup, I was definitely losing my mind.

My arm was throbbing. Charlie and I had tried to shove it back into place so it wouldn't heal wrong but it didn't seem to be working. I could still barely lift it and you could see bone where bone was not supposed to be. I wondered where that curse had come from. What cursed me to have a badly broken elbow? And what cursed me to be helpless during a fight? I assumed the Minotaur was the one to blind me, and Khione was the one to curse Charlie with her ice. My ribcage almost seemed to be healing, but judging by the pain I guessed it wasn't healing correctly.

We arrived at the river bank. I had learned to tip my head back and slide the fire down my throat as quickly as I could. I would never complain about badly tasting medicine again.

I wondered how Casey was doing. Was that the real Casey I saw in my dream? If so, I hoped she knew what to do. Casey was smart, one of the smartest people I've met. If I told her the cyclops were a trap and Nyx was coming, she'd know what to do.

"Do you really think we've been gone for six months?" I asked. Charlie shrugged and kicked a small rock.

"I don't know. It doesn't feel like it but at the same time I feel like we've been here for years. Like Bob said, time is different here. I know it sounds weird to hear it out loud, but when you think about how long we've been here, what do you think?" He said.

"It's like this is our life now," I answered. "It's like I don't know anything other than this. I've forgotten what it's like to sleep for more than a few hours at a time or close my eyes without the images of death. I'm beginning to forget the voices of those I love. I'm forgetting what my little brother looks like. I don't even remember what I look like, and I doubt I'll recognize myself if we ever get out of here." I ranted, not noticed the Arai's thoughts influencing me. "It's like I'm becoming a whole new person."

I nodded in agreement. We had changed so much in the past months. Charlie has become my only source of humanity, of comfort, of happiness. Since we arrived, he has never been out of my sight unless he was out with Bob. I couldn't stand to even think about life without Charlie. Without him, I wouldn't be able to get up after each nightmare. The voices of the Arai would take me over and the curse would become the death of me. Without Charlie, I may have given up long ago. But I promised my family I would come home. I had to. But if Charlie wasn't getting out, then neither was I. I was not going to leave Charlie behind. If he died while we were in here-gods forbid the thought- I would carry him out. I would find the physician's cure that saved his father and I would do whatever it took to keep him alive and to get him out of here. When my parents reached the elevator, Bob and Damasen held the button so they could escape. But I'd sent them ahead. Just in case. If there was a button, or anything that meant somebody had to stay behind, I had to make sure it was me. I would fight until he was safe, until everybody I loved was safe. If that meant staying here, then so be it.

You will never leave

"Hey, let's keep going," Charlie said softly. He took my hand and lead me away.

I was beginning to realize just how much my dad loved my mom.

We found a small pack of Empousa to follow. They sounded like a stereotype high school girl but if you listened closely, you'd notice that instead of boys they liked, they were talking about ripping mortal's insides out. Charlie and I were quiet for the most part. Just in case, we didn't want them to hear us.

We both snapped to attention when we heard the vampires scream. They sounded scared, which scared us. Two giant creatures I didn't recognize jumped out from behind the rocks and began tearing the empousa apart limb by limb. They screamed in agony and pain as they died to the point that Charlie and I covered our ears.

"I've never really felt bad for a monster before…" Charlie muttered. We should have just run in the opposite direction. We should have ran far far away, but we didn't. Maybe because we're idiots, or maybe because that was our only lead to get out of here. We crept backwards and watched, hoping it would end soon. In the end, there was nothing left but blood. When monsters killed each other they usually aren't using Greek metals like our weapons were made of, so they didn't burst into golden dust. Much more disturbing.

"Titan," one of the creatures spoke. They were covered in scales but somehow looked more like giant makers than reptiles. Where their gums should be where large bone plates stained red with blood. They had no lips, nothing to hide their saw blade-like teeth.

"Did it just say titan? Like Bob?" Charlie asked.

My eyes widened and I pulled him backwards. "No, Charlie. Titan like you!" I whisper yelled.

"Oh, shit!"

This is when we began to run. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the creatures were chasing us. They were faster than we were. Quickly, the creatures had caught up. Charlie raised his sword and we stood back to back as they circled us.

"You, small titan." They only acknowledged Charlie. "Come with."

Charlie tilted his head in confusion. "Uh, what?"

"Come," the monsters repeated. They didn't sound like they were threatening him.

"Uh, sorry I'm busy. But you go ahead," Charlie squeaked.

"You come!" The both sprang forward, surprising us both. One of them dug its long teeth into Charlie's shoulder and dragged him forward. He screamed in pain and I jumped up.

"CHARLIE!"

While one monster trotted away with Charlie in its mouth, the other attacked me. I couldn't pay attention to the fight. I could hear Charlie screaming. I swung at the monster and ran after Charlie but it turned around and scraped its claws across my back. I could feel the three individual claws ripping my skin open. I dropped to my knees but kept fighting.

"JASE!" Charlie never stopped yelling. I could hear the pain in his voice.

I was frantically trying to get away from my attacker to get to him, but I wasn't trying to protect myself because I was too busy trying to get to Charlie. I glanced back up and noticed the beast's clawed hand coming down on my head. I weakly raised my sword but I caught the attack too late, the pain from my back clouded my mind.

"JASON!" Charlie's voice faded as I lost consciousness.

No, I couldn't black out! I needed to stay awake! Who knows where they could take Charlie and what they could do to him while I was unconscious or dead or whatever it was going to do to me.

You can't save him