Enjoy the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or RA. All rights go to their respectful owners.
It was a soft thumping sound that woke Alyssa up. She was instantly alert, her Ranger instincts kicking in. She glanced at Leo, who was still sound asleep.
"Leo," she hissed under her breath, shaking the boy violently.
An alarmed Leo jerked up, panic filling his eyes. "W-What's wrong?" he sputtered, rubbing his eyes.
Alyssa put a finger to her lips as an obvious sign to remain silent. She noticed the thumping sound getting increasingly louder. She stayed still, crouched in the corner.
A minute later, there was a muted clicking sound as a key went into the lock and turned.
The iron door was pushed open, and about ten creatures entered, two of them holding blazing torches.
They were empousa. They looked to be normal teenage girls, except for the fact that one of their legs was that of a donkey's and the other was like a robot. Their eyes were blood red, glinting in the firelight.
"I hope you rested well," the girl in the front hisses with mock concern. Alyssa and Leo rose to a defensive position, pushing up against the wall. The creatures were close, and Alyssa could smell their foul breath.
"Where are the others?!" Alyssa growled, glaring defiantly into the girl's fiery eyes.
"You'll just have to see," she replied icily, gripping Alyssa by her forearm. The Ranger jerked back, but three more grabbed hold of her, pinning her to the wall. Leo charged to her aid, when more empousa grabbed him. Their hands burned, literally. Alyssa
yelped in pain as their hands seared through her shirt sleeve.
Leo wanted to summon fire, but he wasn't sure he could take on that many enemies at once. His powers may be destructive, but it came with a price, and it drained his energy quickly.
"Come," the leader ordered. The demigods' capturers pushed them along. Alyssa really wished she had her knife to skewer them.
They dragged them through a small tunnel, with stone walls much like the prison cell. The only light illuminating the corridor were the two torches carried by two empousa.
From time to time, the empousa would shove them forward, their burning hands causing Leo and Alyssa to wince in pain.
Alyssa gritted her teeth. "One more shove, and I swear-" she began, but was rewarded with a hard slap upside the head.
"No speaking!" the one that had hit her ordered sharply.
The corridor extended for another hundred meters or so, and it opened up to what looked like a throne room. It was similar to the room they had first arrived in Hades' castle, but this one was furnished with a large, obsidian throne. On top of it was Hades, clad in his usual black robes, a black sword leaning against the wall beside him.
Beside him stood a young woman. Red particles swirled around her. She wore battered armour, and held a cavalry sword in her hand.
Will and Annabeth stood next to Alyssa and Leo, also surrounded by empousa. Alyssa's fists clenched. One of the empousa must have seen the movement, because the next thing Alyssa felt was cold metal pressed against her throat.
"Don't get any ideas," she snarled quietly behind her.
The girl next to Hades turned to the Lord of the Dead. "Now you must release me. You have to keep your end of the bargain," she chided.
Hades shrugged and waved a dismissive hand. "Yes, yes, I'll do as you request. But first, I shall have revenge on these demigods."
The god stood, and took his sword from where it lay against the wall. He marched over to Alyssa.
"Now, my girl, you'll get special treatment. Come along," he instructed. Alyssa stood her ground for a moment, before one of the monsters shoved her forward. Reluctantly, the Ranger followed. Hades headed towards his throne, and gestured for Alyssa to stand beside the over sized chair.
Alyssa hesitated, her arms crossed across her chest, glaring defiantly at the god. Hades snickered and spoke softly so that only Alyssa could hear.
"Listen, girl, I suggest you cooperate. Resisting isn't going to make things better. Besides, if it comes down to it, Melaina can force you to do whatever I want." He gestured to the girl that was still standing on the other side of the throne.
Alyssa cocked an eyebrow. "I'm sure she can," she replied dryly. Hades chuckled, but it was devoid of any humour.
"Fine, don't believe me," he replied with mock hurt. He waved for Melaina to come over.
The tall girl stared into Alyssa's eyes intently. Alyssa's eyes were unwavering, and seemed to be calculating every movement that her opponent made.
"Do you know who I am?" Melaina purred. Her voice was soft and melodic, but had a hint of malice in it.
Alyssa, tight-lipped, shook her head.
Melaina pointed an accusing finger at Will. "I'm his sister," she spat.
Alyssa's eyes widened. "But-"
Melaina interrupted before Alyssa got any further. "I would love to share how my brother betrayed me, but-"
"I never betrayed you!" Will shouted back, starting forward, but the empousa pulled him back.
Melaina gave Will a look of disapprovement. "No, brother. I wouldn't expect you to understand…," for a moment, she had a look of sadness cross her eyes, but it disappeared in a flash.
"Anyhow, you, my dear, won't face death," Melaina said to Alyssa casually. "Instead, I'll give you a worse fate."
Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Perfect. Just the thing to start off my day," she retorted back, sarcasm dripping from her words.
The whole time, Annabeth had been watching, cringing at every word Alyssa said. Shut up, Alyssa, just stay quiet! Your ego is going to get us all killed! Annabeth thought.
Melaina strode confidently to the group of captured demigods. She gripped Leo's arm, and dragged him forward. Leo had no choice but to follow. It's not like he could run anywhere, they were surrounded with Hades' minions. Leo stumbled a few paces, and soon he was face to face with Alyssa.
"Now, Alyssa, kill the boy," Melaina ordered, her voice was firm and clear, as if she were disciplining a child.
Melaina flipped the sword she carried around, so that the hilt was facing Alyssa. Alyssa stared at the blade, then flicked her eyes back at Leo, then back at the blade. It seemed as if her limbs weren't hers, as they seemed to have a mind of their own. With shaking hands, she clasped the hilt.
Leo noticed that Alyssa showed no sign of defiance like she had earlier. No, she wasn't herself anymore. She was under the influence of Melaina.
"A-Alyssa, please," he pleaded, raising his hands in a defensive gesture.
Alyssa, the sword point still down, cocked her head to the side, as if she didn't know what to do.
"Go on," Melaina chided. "He means nothing to you. If you kill him, I'll reward you greatly."
Alyssa nodded, her face still deadpan, and slowly brought the sword up. This was Leo's last chance.
"Alyssa! Snap out of it! She's lying! She's manipulating you. She's just going to kill you, anyways. C'mon, Alyssa, please!" He practically shouted the words, his eyes filled with hopelessness.
"Oh, please! He's bluffing! You think I would hurt you? No, I'm protecting you, dear," Melaina said, her eyes sparkling warmly.
Alyssa mumbled something unintelligible, and her eyes wavered from Leo, to Melaina, and back to Leo again. Leo saw an apology in her eyes. Her hands shook violently as she slowly lowered the sword point. She looked into Leo's eyes and stared. There was no emotion in her face, just a blank stare.
Annabeth and Will watched helplessly. "She's using some form of manipulative mind control," Annabeth commented.
Will nodded, biting his lip. "I gathered that."
Will and Annabeth both winced as they both got a firm kick to the shins. "Shut up!" the empousa snarled.
Alyssa eyes slowly clouded over. What was she doing? It seemed like she was in a dream, watching herself. In her mind, she screamed to tell her body to stop, but she had no control. She could hear Leo shouting, but she it was all slurred and distant. It sounded like she was listening to them while underwater.
"Do as I say, Alyssa. If you do, I'll bring you back to your family in Araluen," Melaina said sternly.
The word Araluen seemed to click. All signs of confusion clear, Alyssa slowly raised the sword in a two-handed overhead position, preparing to bring it down in a deadly arc.
Leo was frozen. He didn't know what to do. Even if he could summon fire, Hades could overpower him easily. He didn't want to hurt Alyssa, but then again, what choice did he have? He could just imagine the gruesome sight of Alyssa kneeling over his dead body, with a bloodied sword in her hand, and wondering what had happened.
Leo's hand shot out and grabbed Alyssa's wrist.
"Listen!" Leo began, pouring out all his power and emotion into his words. "Remember being a Ranger? You told me Rangers are supposed to protect people. Remember how you would tell me about your mentor, Will? You'd tell me stories of the time he made you sleep in a pine tree, or when he tricked you into trying coffee for the first time. We'd sit in the strawberry fields, and I always enjoyed it when you talked about Araluen. Do you really want to give all that up?"
That struck a nerve. Alyssa's heart rate quickened, and her breathing became shallower. Black spots danced before her eyes, and it felt like someone had flipped the entire world upside down. She looked between the blade and Leo again. Her eyes were wild.
It was too much for her to take. Her eyes glazed over and she slumped to the ground, the sword falling from her nerveless fingers.
Annabeth screamed. "Watch out!"
Leo turned, and saw Melaina had picked up the fallen sword, and now swept it over-hand. He rolled over to the side, the blade nearly missing his head. Coming to his feet, he saw Hades had his Stygian sword in his hands, and he now pointed it to Annabeth and Will.
"Kill them! Kill them all!" he snarled. The empousa grinned maliciously at Annabeth and Will. They backed up, fear apparent in the eyes.
Hades swung his eyes toward Alyssa's unmoving body, and advanced. His sword rose, the point just above Alyssa's chest, ready for one, killing stroke.
"No!" Leo cried. Acting on instinct, he summoned fire in his hands and sent a column of white flame towards the god, but Hades deflected it easily with his sword. He threw back his head and laughed.
"Fools! What good will a scrawny demigod be against a god?" he taunted, knocking Leo off his feet, sending him sprawling.
Annabeth and Will were unaware of what was happening. They were playing a game of cat and mouse with the empousa. The demigods jumped out of reach of the monsters' flaming hands. The empousa snickered each time their hands came into contact with their prisoners' skin, causing them to yelp and jump back. The empousa were spiteful creatures, and they would play with their victims just for the fun of seeing them suffer.
Leo felt a blade touch his neck as he tried to stand. He looked up to see Melaina towering over him.
Leo tried to run away, but Melaina held an iron grip on his shoulder. The sword pressed deeper into his flesh. Leo's vision blurred with tears. He saw the point of Hades' sword rise again, about to pierce through Alyssa's heart.
"Alyssa!" Leo screamed. He struggled as hard as he could, but the blade cut even deeper. He could feel a slight trickle of hot blood run down his neck.
There was a loud rumbling sound that shook the whole room. And Leo saw what he had never expected to see…
Hope you liked that cliffhanger *laughs evilly* I think after the next chapter I'll go back to Percy and Will in Araluen ^^
Thanks for reading :)