Will you prevail, or will you fall?
Those words, so simple yet hold a deeper meaning. The words that reverberated in the hellish surroundings of Tartarus. Cressida couldn't fathom the words as they echoed in the vast blackness of her hemisphere. Will Cressida fail? Fail on her quest to the path of finding the one thing that connects her to her destiny? Or will she prevail? Yet, what will reward her if she had finally decrypted the prophecy? What will be the results…?
"What do you desire, child of The Night?" A ragged voice said. "What do you wish for?"
Will you prevail, or will you fall?
A ripple appeared, opening to a life Cressida could have. There she was, dark haired, that button nose and demure smile that was full of life and wonder, bent down on the table writing on notes. She was laughing. This Cressida – in some alternate universe – was laughing as a woman, who resembled so much like Nyx, yet in human form – came over to her, leaving some snacks as she watched her daughter with pride.
"What do you wish for?"
Flashes of memories erupted from the surface. Memories of times when pain, torment and loneliness was her companion. Isolated in the wooden ramshackle of her foster home as they spat at her, called her useless. Silent as she sat at the back of the social worker's car, ready to be shipped off to a home that didn't give a penny about her wellbeing. She belonged nowhere. But when the sun melted in the horizons and the stars appeared, the darkness was only there to provide her solace.
"I could give you whatever you wish, whatever you desire, give you opportunities that no one else can give."
And the ripples dissolved, along with camp half-blood, along with the countless foster homes, along with the bullies who enjoyed watching her suffer, along with the world that gave her nothing but a godly elusive parent and a camp that would try to give her so much, but yet, wasn't enough. Then a light appeared – a door to the life she could have. Normal parents, friends that she could share nonsensical secrets and crushes about boys from school and go out and enjoy the sun and the breeze and the leaves of the tree that slowly faded within the e seasons. A life where she wouldn't have to worry about what the universe would offer next.
But it all felt wrong. Because life wasn't a garden variety, happy go-lucky place. There had to be a balance. Good and bad. Maybe all bad – but it was never perfect.
"Daughter of the night… cave in, abandon the people you call your friends. They are nothing but senseless foes, striving to a quest that will only end miserably. Cressida… take this wish and this will all be gone. Poof."
She woke up, opened her eyes and fought hard against Caerus's influence. It was all wrong. Acid burned at her eyes and mouth as she struggled.
"Don't fight it," a foreign voice, mellifluous and insidious, whispered. "Just open your eyes."
She opened her eyes.
Cressida staggered as the overwhelming effort to break through took a toll. The demi-gods went to her aid and Cressida heard a collective hiss around her. She managed to get upright, swatting hands away. "I'm fine," she said. She felt ill and strangely shaken.
"Impressive."
The demi-gods looked at Caerus, who had a mocking smile. The dryads were behind him now, all ethereally beautiful with their leafy-green chitons and long tresses. They didn't look friendly, though. They had this gleam in their eyes that made you feel small.
Hazel narrowed her eyes. "What kind of evil are you plotting? What do you want from us?"
Caerus winked with his red eye. "Oh you mortals, so perceptive yet so…" He tried to look for the right word. "Foolish."
Nico put a protective arm over Hazel and stepped forward, his free arm veering toward the sword at his hip. "You're not here to help, are you? All you gods always have something up your sleeves, because your needs always come first. Don't they, Caerus?"
The dryads stepped forward, moving to a stance that hell of a lot looked defensive and ready to strike. Caerus, though, put a hand up to ward them off. They stayed the same. Caerus fluttered over to the pond on his feathered feet, the demi-gods stayed out of his way. "You see, I have limits to my powers, too. I'll tell you a story about how Zeus stripped a part of me," He went on, gazing at the creatures in the fond with a malicious look. Everyone, including Cressida, stayed glued to the floor, unable to move. "So, Zeus, very tenacious on his throne, sought out potential godlings that could potentially have the power to usurp him. So when eons ago, I did a little trick to this one mortal, whom I loved, Zeus saw and felt threatened. This mortal was a demi-god, too and Zeus was sooooo envious because he had his eyes on her. So he slayed her and took away my greatest power of all, to give life and grant the greatest opportunities that would eventually change all mankind. But, there was a cost, too. In order to have a tiny glimpse of my power, I would have to make a sacrifice…" He turned away from the pond, outstretching his arms to the trees and the butterlifes and the waterfall towering above.
There was a stretched silence. Nico's moment of bravado was hiding away, Hazel's golden eyes dimmed and Dominique averted her eyes to the dryads. Cressida's mind calculated from his words… a sacrifice? She glanced at the others; saw that Jack's face had turned purple. Literally, purple.
Dominique suddenly gasped. "A sacrifice." It was like her fear was tangible because Cressida's heart suddenly pounded.
Caerus cackled as Dominique thrust Jack, shaking him.
"Jack! Jack! Oh my god – " She yelled, eyes full of fear. She pointed a finger at Caerus. "You – you – you're- "
"Jack cannot hear you. In a matter of seconds he will morph into one of my little minions, a creature in my pond. Then, I will suck the blood out of you demi-gods to retrieve my power. And you – " He grinned at Cressida. "Your blood is very valuable to me. You will stop this curse Zeus has burdened me with!"
Hazel removed her spatha from her back and pointed it at Caerus. Nico had his stygian sword in his hands too; Dominique went to aid Jack, slapping him as if it will help. Cressida, blood running cold, added two plus two together. "I remember reading about you… you suck on mortals blood and feed on them to gain power. Then you turn them into creatures… You're vile." She spat out the words, this new character diving out of her. "I will end you."
In about milliseconds, she had her bow in her hands, arrow in the notch ready to draw back and shoot the arrow right in his godly heart. But then clawed hands wrapped around her, piercing her skin. Cressida kicked and shoved and soon enough a dryad was on the floor. An array of dryads lunged at Nico and Hazel and they all fought back in tandem.
Hazel was a born warrior. It's as if years of training came out of the surface. Cressida tried too, and she managed to shoot as many arrows in the dryads forcing their way through. They were all on the floor, some retreating back to their tree form.
Nico huffed. "There's more where that came from. Now, Caerus, you tell us how to stop Jack from turning into a fish!"
Caerus stared at the fallen dryads and looked up. "As if that will sway me. Go ahead, mortals. Fight me!"
Cressida has her bow drawn, aimed at Caerus and his bald head. "You tell us now. Because if you don't, the arrow head on this is specially made for you and will make you feel pain like nobody's business. Want me to demonstrate?"
Caerus eyed the bow, gulping. He gazed at all the demi-gods in turn then jumped and bolted to the waterfall. "Get him!" Dominique shrieked and put an arm around Jack. He was already growing fins.
Cressida shot Caerus in the back before he could make an escape. Guess gods weren't so easy to take down, hey? Nico ran to him as Caerus fell on the grass. He pointed his sword between the god's eyes. Caerus was cornered.
"I won't tell you, scum mortals."
Hazel cracked a laugh. "Oh you will, or I will harness all the gems beneath the earth and stick it right in the place you wouldn't expect an object to enter." Caerus widened his eyes.
"He won't tell us, but I can make him." Cressida stepped over and Caerus seemed to cower away as she got closer. Nico gave her a questioning look, as if to say: I got this, shoo.
Cressida felt the darkness claw out of her, through her veins and out of her fingertips. She hardly knew what she was doing, but her mother wasn't called the Mother Of All Terrors, for no reason. Caerus's eyes popped out of the socket and Hazel and Nico both gasped. Cressida knew with no doubt her eyes had started to sparkle.
"Guys, Jack's eyes are rolling back!" Dominique's panic voice shouted.
"Okay, okay, okay, I'll help him!" Caerus whispered, his voice dripping with defeat. He huffed in pain as he tried to move and pointed feebly at his back, where godly ichor was seeping through his tunic. "My – my blood-" he whispered.
Nico and Hazel exchanged a glance. "Is this one of your little lies?" Nico asked, glaring at the god.
"No, no, I swear by the river Styx." That seemed to do it.
In no time, Jack was back to his normal self, a little ashamed of what he gotten himself into. Caerus, however, wasn't so lucky. Let's just say he got what he deserved and wouldn't suck on another mortal's blood again… for a while. As the demi-gods were about to leave this island on Santorini, Cressida watched the pond, full of once-mortals and now turned creatures.
"Can't we help them?" She asked to no one in particular, feeling the weight of the day's toll.
"We can't, and if we do, who knows who these mortals were in their past life," Nico replied, shouldering his bag. "We need to go, Cressida. We have a prophecy to fulfil."
And just like that, they were off. Cressida kept wondering about Caerus's offer, even if it was a dud, she wondered if he could really grant her a life like that, with no flaws. She shook off the thought but another kept clawing it's way in… words, words that haunted her every waking hour… Will you prevail, or will you fall?