Chapter 19
Alcatraz Island
Topaz Sabrina
We got off the ferry at around 1 pm and the island nearly took my breath away. Despite every bit of available space being occupied by pelicans, it was still amazing. When we got off, we were facing a long grey building and a guard tower.
What amazed me about Alcatraz wasn't that it looked good, but that it had stood the test of time for so long. The history of this place...I was surprised Snow wasn't already getting visions.
"So are we going to actually tour the island or just look around aimlessly for the youth fountain?" Percy asked.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Percy, if we're looking for something, it's not aimless. But yes, I think we should buy an audio tour."
"So where's the reception desk?" I wondered.
"Let's just follow the crowd." Caspia suggested.
"Ugh so many people." Nico complained.
We finally found a room with lines a mile long and a desk at the front of each with TVs advertising different things about San Fransisco and pictures of the prison. After what seemed like an eternity, we got to the front of the line, and there was a far too friendly receptionist who had obviously had too much plastic surgery and a poster that had the price of entry per person.
"39.00 a person." Blade observed.
"Yeesh, that's steep." Leo said.
"So 361.00 total, don't worry I've got this." Snow handed the smiling receptionist a roll of 20s.
She handed us each a headset and a handheld device. "Have a nice day!"
"Wow, so much Botox," Leo commented once we were out of earshot.
"She looked like a clown." Percy added.
"True." Caspia said.
"Okay, everyone put your headphones in and listen. There might be some kind of clue as to where the fountain is." I said.
"I would say that it's probably underground, where the tourists wouldn't find it." Annabeth guessed.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that they might be in the place the monsters used to conduct the experiments." Snow suggested.
"I think you're both right. We should see if we can find the basement." Percy said.
"If they were doing experiments on the prisoners, it would probably be close to the cells." Caspia said.
"Let's find the cells then." Nico said.
We walked to the main cell house, which was lined with cells, 3 rows from top to bottom. "Why don't we try that no trespassing door?" Snow suggested.
"Okay, but when we get arrested, it's on you." Sapphire said.
It turned out to be a dark hallway, and we had to get out the head for some of us to be able to see. At the end there was a staircase that seemed to go on forever. When we reached the bottom it was still dark, but there was a slight reddish glow that seemed to come from nowhere.
"So do we have any sort of plan at all?" Sapphire asked. "Uh, no not really." Annabeth said, looking down. Percy grinned. "I thought Athena always had a plan."
"We find out what was happening last time and what side they're on and if they're on the wrong one we'll have to fight them." I said.
"Well that's not very nice." Came a voice from the darkness.
"Someone should really teach you some manners." Said a second voice.
"Maybe we could do the honors." Came the first again.
"Who are you?" Caspia called out.
"Hmmm, you'd think they would have guessed by our obvious twinness."
"They're the Anglin brothers." I said.
"You are correct."
"And very pretty as well."
"Forgive my brother, he's a terrible flirt."
"You appear to be twins as well."
"Yes, I'm Snow Sabrina and this is my sister Topaz."
"Who are the rest of you?"
"Sapphire Banks."
"Blade Roberts."
"Caspia Kelley."
"Leo Valdez."
"Nico di Angelo."
"Annabeth Chase."
"Percy Jackson."
"My, my all the famous demigods, the Heros of Olympus."
"I've only not heard of two of you."
"Caspia and Blade are new to the camp." Percy chimed in. I glared at him. Why would he mention their limited experience to someone we could potentially fight?
"That must be it."
"You must be wondering which of us is which."
"Yeah." Blade said.
"I'm Clarance," said the one with the higher pitched voice.
"I'm John," said the other.
"Let us show you around." Said Clarance.
We were led into another dark room with what looked like an extremely long dining table in the center of it, lined with plush red chairs.
"The others should be here soon, why don't you sit down?" John suggested.
We all sat down, but most of the chairs were still empty.
"So, tell us about your quest." Clarance ordered.
"Why don't you tell us about yourselves first." Snow said.
"Well, our story would be better told by Frank, he's the best storyteller of us all. So who is your storyteller?"
"Annabeth, why don't you?" Percy urged.
"I think we should wait till everyone's here, so they can all hear."
"Fair enough." John said.
"I'll go tell them to hurry up." Clarance said, then got up and then sounds of him climbing the stairs followed.
We sat in silence until we heard them descending down the staircase. Two figures emerged. Only two.
"Where's Allan West?" Nico asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be here."
"Oh, he'll be along." Said a deep voice I assumed to be Frank Morris.
I felt his gaze shift toward my sister. "Do I know you?"
"Hmmmm...maybe. I visited the prison a lot."
"Um...why?" Nico asked.
"I, uh knew one of the inmates."
"Which one?"
"Al Capone."
"Whoa, really?"
"He was a family friend back in the 40s."
"Wow, that's cool."
"Uh-huh."
"So Allan should be here soon. Then we can exchange stories, yes?"
"Sure." Percy said.
There was a silence. Then loud, oddly rhythmatic clopping down the stairs.
"Ah, there you are, Allie."
Leo laughed.
I swear I could feel his murderius glare in the darkness.
"What have I told you about calling me that?"
"Don't ever do it unless you want to have bones up your-"
"Don't say that. Most of them are just kids." John chided.
"So anyway, tell us about your quest." Frank urged.
"Well, okay. Go ahead Annabeth." Percy said.
"Okay, but I think we would be able to build off your story better."
"Alright. Back in the 40s, it was a good time for criminals. Tensions were high, after the last Great War, and there was talk of a second one. A lot of gangsters arose, and many of them were demigods. We obviously had a huge advantage over the puny mortals, and the gods decided we were out of control. They decided to get some powerful half-bloods, who were cops, to track us down and throw us in the slammer. They picked an isolated place to put us, an island way out in the San Fransisco bay, so that you would have to swim miles to escape. Naturally, we couldn't have mortals guarding the prison, so they summoned monsters to do the job. They were never awfully nice, but one day we started notice prisoners going missing. After a while they came back, but they were not the same."
"They were scarred by the experience they claimed to be brutal torture. Many of them went insane. Later we came to know what had happened. You know how monsters reform after they've been killed, right? You three," he pointed at Percy, Annabeth, and Nico.
"Have been there yourselves. But only one of you did it out of bravery. You saw the way they have to reform. I'm sure you know how painful it is. Well some of the monsters decided they would stop dying. I think Pheme told you how we were used as lab rats, yes? Well their plan was really quite genius. They found a way to attach their essence to the human souls, and were able to return quickly, the spirit mending them. Their plan was to have a soul for every monster, so that they would be impossible to kill. It would be chaos. Monsters ruling the world. Can you imagine?"
"But alas, the gods remained blind until it was almost too late. Many tried to escape, but we were the only ones to succeed. We laid low for a while, at least, the twins an I did...Poor Allan here didn't make it out in time and we would have been bloody stupid to go back for him, friend or not. It would have been impossible to rescue him. Not only would we fail, but we would be imprisoned again. Allan escaped on his own, and rather opened the gods eyes about what was happening. Alcatraz was closed in the sixties, and we rejoiced, because we thought it was over with. But, the real police department was still searching for us, so we hid in the last place they'd look: Alcatraz itself."
"But alas, we weren't getting any younger, an we had no desire to go to the Underworld, so we acquired a tool to keep us young forever. We found it deep underground, in if you can believe it, the catacombs in Paris. There is a chamber, which held the youth fountain. It was said to be a gift from God to the Christians that hid from the Romans when the religion was still illegal. We took it, Allan here shadow traveled us and the fountain back here, where we've been living young and healthy ever since."
"Told you he was a good storyteller." Boasted Clarance.
"How old do you think you are exactly Clarance? You act like you're their 4 year old son." Leo said.
"I do not! You freakish little midgit!"
"Whoa. Feelings."
"Now, I've held up my end of the bargain, so now hold up yours. Tell us about your quest."
"Okay, so...we believe something similar is happening now. The staff of Hades has been stolen, and we think that the monsters are going to be risen with it, and that the Titans are using it to bribe the monsters into joining them so they can come back to power...to put it simply." Annabeth said.
"Interesting, interesting. Do you know who has the staff?"
"No, not really."
"You should since your mom is Athena." Leo taunted.
"I will gut you."
"Well I shall tell you. It is being guarded by the one Titan who survived the last Titan war without being punished."
"Prometheus?" Annabeth asked.
"Indeed. Though it was stolen by someone else, a demigod of the Titans if you can believe it."
"Allan, do you think we should help them?"
"Hey, why are you asking him?"
"You know EXACTLY why, Clarance."
He huffed.
I felt him studying us, as if trying to pick our thoughts out of our heads.
"They know how the youth fountain works. Or specifically, the blonde with the midnight eyes does."
Midnight eyes...I hadn't heard anyone call them that in a long time.
"You...had a vision?" John asked.
"Yes." Snow said, knowing there was no sense in lying.
"Well we may as well tell them. I suppose Pheme has already told you how the fountain works. I must now reveal out true intentions."
Leo gulped. "Which is..."
"Well, we're rather running out of sacrifices. Plenty of young people come to Alcatraz, but if a lot of people disappeared here, people would stop coming. We always have to go to the mainland, which is much more risky. We need one of you to purify the water."
I frowned. "What do you mean, purify it?"
"Well once the freshly made water has all been drinken, it fills itself with a greenish liquid, which is toxic. Once you put the sacrifice in though, it degrades it from the bottom up, kind of like your modern day blenders. It saps away their life source, and turns into the youth potion. We need one of you to do it. Preferably one of the males. That's what we always use. Don't want to risk changing ourselves. We just need one of you. We don't ask for more, because we would like for you to succeed on your mission. Decide among yourselves. Might I suggest, one of the less valuable assets, the annoying Leo Valdez."
"Hey!"
"You should draw straws." John suggested.
"You go over to that corner and decide. You have five minutes."
We all walked over there frantically. "We're not really going to let them kill Leo, are we guys?" Sapphire asked.
"Of course not," Annabeth said. "We need a plan."
Everyone looked to where Snow and I were standing.
"Hey, Annabeth had plans too." Percy argued.
"Yeah, but they have magic." Blade said.
"Yeah, that's true."
"So what should we do?" Caspia asked desperately.
"Okay, so they said the water is poisonous before its purified, right? So if we can trick them into thinking that they added Leo, they'll die. The only problem is making the water look believable. Topaz, that'll be your job."
"Okay," I said. " Should be easy enough. But what does it look like?"
"Give me your hand." I complied, and an image flashed through my head of what the water is supposed to look like.
"Okay, so how do we hide Leo?" Blade asked.
"I would say shrink him down and put him in your pocket, but that West guy worries me, I think he'll see through that." Annabeth said.
"We have no choice. We have to try." Caspia said.
"I don't know...I don't really feel right killing my brother." Nico said.
"I don't either, man but we have to do this. They're bad guys." Percy said.
"I-I guess you're right. Okay, Snow make our fake Leo."
Snow shrunk him down while simultaneously pulling something out of him and constructing a replica of him. It looked exactly like him, couldn't tell the difference.
"Percy, you hold him."
"Kay."
We all turned around. "Okay, we've decided. You are right, Leo is the most useless member of the quest. You can have him." I said.
Fake Leo nodded. "I agree, it's in the best interest of the quest for me to go, so we can avoid dying in a fight with you guys. But it's okay if I scream while I'm dying, isn't it?"
"Sure Leo." Everyone surrounded him and said their goodbyes.
We all walked over to the pool to witness. Some of us were feigning anxiety biting lips and took a deep breath, and jumped in, and fake Leo squealed as he was dissenegrated. I changed the waters color and appearance until fake Leo was gone, and he was replaced with water so clean and clear it was almost a light purple color.
The four of them grabbed cups and scooped out glasses full of it. They drank to the last drop, and for a scary moment, nothing happened. Then, starting with John, they all fell over, gagging as their insides melted away. It kept going until their whole bodies had melted away.
"Well, that was gory." Caspia said plainly.
"Bring Leo back!" Sapphire insisted.
"Okay, Percy put him on the ground."
She proceeded to make him grow back to his normal size, then turn fake Leo into a glowing smoke and it flew into his chest.
He gasped for air. "What the Hell was that?"
"The small piece of your soul that I used to make your look-a-like."
"Whoa, back the truck up. You tore my soul in half?"
"No...more like fourths. And at least I returned it to you. I could have kept it for leverage."
"She's got ya there." Nico said.
"Yeah, so what did we learn exactly from this horrific endeavor?" Leo asked.
"That Prometheus has it. But the question is: Where is he?" My sister asked.
"I don't know. We'll just have to find out." Annabeth said.