Sorry guys, this one might be a bit boring. Promise I'll do better next time.

She finally cools down, like trying to figure out what to do. She turns to me, but I just float there crossing my arms with a sarcastic look.

It's like I'm sending a telepathy message, 'I told you so.'

She rolls her eyes, like able to read my mind, she gives me an expression of 'Not now!'

The water seems deeper than before, now it's around three meters deep. How is that even possible? Before it only reached around my chest.

I look around in the water, it's calm in here. Nothing out of the ordinary, no monster or anything like that. The water is clear and calm, but the surface is raging like a beast.

I try to think calmly, but the air leaving my brain and body is not helping one bit. I'm going to suffocate very soon.

I swim back up to the surface. I get out of the water, and inhale as much as air as I can. The waves quickly drown me back into the water.

Is it trying to kill us? But why let us reach for air, even for just a moment.

It hits me then, this is a torture. They're trying to deprive us of oxygen bit by bit, slowly but surely suffocating us. Then again though, whoever or whatever that is doing this, it hasn't asked any question. So it is also possible that this is not a torture but simply just an action to give us a slow painful death by suffocation.

Thalia reaches for the surface again, quicker than before, and then the water drowns her back in. Her body is lacking air, and the time she has on the surface, gets faster than before.

Thalia pauses all of the sudden. It scares me for a split second, thinking that she might have fall unconscious, but she turns to me. She gives me a signal to follow her. I nod, and then she swims forward.

Thalia swims in a hurry, she propels her legs even faster. She's running out of air, but so am I. I try to reach the surface again, but this time the water doesn't even allow me to get back up. The moment the top of my head gets out of the water, the water pushes me back in. I guess they're done playing around with us.

It starts to get really hard to hold my breath. Slowly, I'm suffocating, and Thalia is getting farther and farther. Not long after that, I finally couldn't take it anymore. My body is screaming at my mouth to open and breathe. I give in, and when I open my mouth, cold water rushes in and fills my mouth in seconds.

It fills my mouth and then into my throat, shutting off completely my mean of breathing.

Just when I thought I was about to die, someone grabs my shirt and then pulls me out of the water onto the floor.

Water just starts flowing out of my mouth and nose. I cough it all up, and then I inhale until I can't inhale anymore. I lie face up on the ground.

I look around, Thalia is right beside me. Her hands and knees are on the floor, she's breathing heavily. She was the one who pulled me out.

'I'm the comically funny guy.' I mutter.

Thalia, still panting, looks confused, 'What?'

'My character is always the first one to die.' I reply weakly.

'I should have left you then.' She replies.

I could detect a hint of seriousness in her voice, which makes it really scary.

'Now, what do we have here?' An unknown voice says.

I get back up, still sitting on the floor.

A young woman is standing there, radiant as the moon itself, like literally radiating moonlight. She's wearing a long blue thin gown. She has a long wavy golden hair, with a couple of seashell hairpins, setting her bang aside from her face in a beautiful and elegant manner. Her eyes are the combination color of blue and green. She looks like she's in her late 20.

'Two demigods, and they're cute.' The lady smiles at us.

Even though she looks young, her voice somehow resembles an old british elegant lady in the movies.

I smile back, 'Let me guess… You're an immortal.' I reply weakly, still tired from spending all that time in the water.

'It's very obvious, I suppose.' The lady looks at me in the eyes.

Man, she's really pretty, and elegant too. Not like Selene who is seriously hyperactive, this lady here actually acts like a lady.

The lady shrugs, 'I'm sorry, I felt your presence in the water and thought you were intruders. It's just I got a little bit excited because there has never been an intruder before.' Even though she's apologizing, she doesn't seem sorry at all.

I grumble, 'That's a great reason to almost kill us.' My breathing is back to normal.

Thalia's eyes are fixed on the lady, she's cautious, 'Who are you?'

The lady seems amused, 'Child, it is not polite to ask someone's name without first telling yours.'

Thalia and I glance at each other, and then we get up. We look at the lady again.

'My name is Thalia Grace.' Thalia says respectfully.

'Matt Grey. 'Sup?' I put my hands behind my head.

The lady smiles kindly, 'That's better.' The lady places her hand elegantly on her chest, 'I am Thetis.'

Thalia looks shocked, like her eyes are ready to pop out at anytime. I can't say that it doesn't surprise me as well that the elegant lady in front of us is Thetis. Even I know who she is, the mother of the greatest Greek warrior of all.

'You're THE Thetis!? Achilles's mom?' I ask, surprised.

Thetis smiles, she seems proud, 'I see that you are familiar with my son. Then again, the whole world knows who he is.'

I roll my eyes, 'Lady, your son is an international world-wide celebrity. Well… He's dead, but guess he's that famous because he's dead.'

Thalia elbows my arms.

'Forgive him, Lady Thetis. He doesn't think when he says.' Thalia humbly says.

Thetis smiles gently, 'That's quite alright, child.' Thetis examines Thalia with her eyes, 'Thalia Grace… Yes, they've told me about you. A daughter of Zeus.'

'Forgive me, Lady Thetis. But we must leave now, we're on a very important quest.' Thalia blurts.

Thetis' smile fades, 'Yes, I know. A quest to save Olympus.' There's a hint of anger in her voice.

Nobody makes a sound for a moment, everything is quiet.

'So… Are you going to let us pass?' I ask with a smile.

Thetis turns around from us, she seems to be thinking. She turns back to us, and then she has a strange smile on her face.

Thetis points to Thalia, 'Did you know? Your father feared me.' Thetis grins, 'Zeus and Poseidon fought each other for my hand, but once they heard about the result of the union between either of them and me, they changed their mind.'

Thetis continues on, 'As the result, they wed me with a mortal, Peleus.' Thetis smiles; she seems distant, like reminiscing. 'Thus, Achilles was born. I can still remember the way his little hand held my finger.'

Thetis sighs, 'But alas, I know of his fate as a warrior, and of his demise. I love him so much that I could not bear to lose him.' Thetis clenched her fists, 'So I dip him in the Styx, to make him invulnerable, to make him un-killable.'

Okay, never a good sign when someone starts to tell a sad story about their beloved. Especially people that are still not determined whether they're the good guys or the bad guys. Usually they ended up to be the psychopathic murderer.

'Achilles grown into a fine warrior, better than anyone in the history. I was so proud of him.' Thetis smiles proudly, but she's smiling at the sky instead of us.

Thetis's smile fades, 'The Trojan war happened. A war that has been foreseen where Achilles will lose his life.' Thetis looks sad, 'I begged him not to go. I told him that he can have a better life, that he doesn't have to pursue the glory in Troy. He can have as much glory as he wants in Greece.'

'You were lying.' I blurt out.

Thalia elbows me again, and then I groan in reaction. Thetis just smiles sadly.

'Yes. I lied to him. The glory that he was going to gain in Troy was immeasurable, but it would cost him his life.' Thetis replies. 'Achilles knew that the glory was going to make his name be heard throughout the world, but he did not believe that he would die.'

Thetis turns to Thalia, 'Do you know what killed Achilles, child?' Her voice becomes grimmer.

Thetis puts on a scary serious face. It makes me nervous, and she's not even looking at me.

Thalia hesitantly answers, 'Prince Paris shot an arrow to Achilles' heel. His weak point.'

'Guided by Apollo himself.' Thetis seems to be really upset now, 'Do you know how the Trojan War even started?'

I'm guessing that isn't rhetorical.

'Uhm… Cause Paris took Helen from that Spartan dude, right?' I answer.

Thetis looks angry, 'Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera, asked Zeus a question. They asked him, who's the fairest one among them all. Zeus dreaded this question because whoever he chose would mean making enemies out of the other two.' Thetis' voice has become seriously grim, 'So Zeus threw the decision to Paris, letting him to decide the answer to a divine question. Paris thought it was an honor, little did he know it was Zeus throwing him into the lion's den.'

Thetis'Thetis' eyes brighten up, 'Paris chose Aphrodite, and in return, Aphrodite gave Paris the most beautiful girl in the world, Helen. That was the beginning of the Trojan War.'

Thetis stomps the ground in anger, 'The Trojan War started because of a silly little quarrel of the gods! If it wasn't for that, Achilles wouldn't have died at a young age!' Thetis screams.

She's a bit messed up, her arguments don't make much sense, it's like she's senselessly blaming the gods for everything that has happened to Achilles. Then again, Thetis is a mother. She loved her son so much, that her truth becomes distorted. It's not that weird that she blames the gods because of the simplest and smallest reason.

'Tell me, child. Why should I let you pass? The Olympians deserve to be obliterated.' Thetis says.

Oh boy… This looks super bad.

'Achilles died not because of the gods. He died because of his own arrogance.' Thalia says clearly with a straight tone.

I slap my own forehead. This is it. This is where we're both going to die.

'Achilles believed himself to be greater than the gods. He feared no one, not even the gods. He didn't believe that he could be killed by anyone, that's what got him killed. You're blaming the gods because you do not know who else to blame. Forgive me, Lady Thetis, but you know that it's true.'

Thetis' eyes glow in anger, 'Your father loves you dearly, does he not?'

Thalia looks confused.

Thetis grins, 'Maybe I should turn you into dusts so that Zeus might understand how I feel, even if it's just for a tiny bit.'

I shudder, Thetis is definitely crazy. I can tell that she's dead serious.

Thalia draws her weapon, and so do I. If I remember correctly, she's a nymph, so technically we should still be able to kill her. Although, I doubt that it's going to be easy. Thetis has a wicked smile on her face, her eyes glow.

Suddenly she looks up, it's like she's listening to something.

'Are you sure?' Thetis mumbles, she doesn't look too happy.

Thetis pauses again, and then she suddenly smiles. She laughs right after that, and then she turns to us. Her eyes return back to normal.

'Go ahead then, you may pass.' Thetis says.

I look at Thalia in confusion, like asking her what did she do. Thalia looks a bit confused as well though. I was expecting her to chop our heads off.

'You're letting us go? Just like that?' I ask.

Thetis shoots a murderous glare, 'Trust me child, if it were up to me, I would not let you two pass. But they think that it would be much more interesting to let you two pass. Besides…' Thetis grins, 'You two already saw what the elder gods planned to unleash.'

I gulp. I remember exactly what Selene showed us.

Thetis glows brightly, 'May you feel despair when it stands before you.' Thetis maliciously says.

I close my eyes, and when I open them, Thetis is gone.

The portal is right in front of us. Finally, an exit from this place.

I turn to Thalia, she looks worried, 'You okay?' I ask.

Thalia looks down, and then she looks at me, 'Yeah.'

I smile, and then I look at the portal, 'Let's really hope this isn't a trap.'

Thalia snorts, and then we walk into the portal.