I have no explanation lol. I'm just always going thru it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but here's the next chapter. please see the AN at the end

Speak in Riddles

The Germani who held my arms began to drag me out of the throne room. I tried to gain footing, but they were moving so fast, and I could still feel the exhaustion in my bones, on top of my chronic pain, it took me a few tries to finally right myself. Once I'd managed to fall into step with them, I jerked my arms out of their hands.

"I can stand on my own," I grumbled.

As usual, they didn't respond, and instead quickened the pace slightly and began leading me down the winding halls. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that I didn't know where Huixing and Ellery had gone to. I guess I was so used to them joining me on these adventures, I had figured they'd join our party at some point. That or it just communicated how tired I was.

Honestly, half my attention was strictly on trying to not let the prickles completely consume me.

But the longer we walked, the worse the feeling in my gut became. Perhaps I had been too flippant of Commodus. If he was punishing me by sending me to the oracle, how had he decided to punish them?

I felt cold panic seize me at that thought, my footsteps faltering, and my pin-pricks bursting. My stomach curled into a tight ball. I almost took off, back toward Commodus's throne room (not that I knew how to get back there) to demand he tell me what he did to them. But the Germani were faster and stronger than I was in this moment. My breaths were coming out in harsh gasps, and my steps were unsteady. I had a strong suspicion if I tried to knock an arrow, my arms would shake.

I still hadn't recovered from that first night. And I'd only stacked more on top of that, pulling that stunt, freeing Audrey II. Now, unfortunately, it looked like Commodus was going to push me to my utmost limit until my body forced me to rest.

Despite the cold stone growing in my stomach, I was forced to continue following the Germani and hope Ellery and Huixing were alright. Or would be alright. Eventually.

My day only got worse when we exited the tunnels into the underground parking structure and I saw Hargrave and a few of his mercs waiting for me. He looked absolutely giddy, though I was sure Commodus wouldn't give him the time of day, and that he had not seen Commodus at all since he'd gotten here. (Which, he couldn't have gotten here that long ago.)

The Germani left, brushing past me as soon as I'd stepped into the parking garage.

I frowned at Hargrave. I could feel a headache already starting to form behind my eyes. On top of everything else.

"Let's not keep the oracle waiting," Hargrave very nearly sang, grinning. He stepped aside and one of the mercs opened the back door of the SUV behind them. Hargrave gestured inside.

Huffing, I walked up and slid into the back. There was another merc sitting on the other side, so that relegated me to the middle yet again, as I knew Hargrave would take the other window seat.

"My, no complaints at all," Hargrave commented as he and the two other mercs got into the SUV. "That's not like you."

"Do you really think you need three guys to protect yourself from me?" I asked, buckling my seatbelt. "I'm flattered."

"There she is."

The drive was silent. I could tell Hargrave wanted to ask why I wasn't asking my usual questions when sent out on a mission without any information. But I found I was too tired to bicker with him. Especially since I knew he was just going to dodge my questions, or threaten to hurt Dan or Anya if I kept asking questions.

I wasn't sure how long we'd been driving, or how much longer we had to go, but my eyelids began to droop. I could feel the call of sleep beckoning to me, trying to pull me under, but I fought against it. I did not want to fall asleep where I was, of all places.

However, my exhausted body had other ideas. I think I may have dozed off several times, as I remember jolting several times throughout the ride.

I tried to breathe deeply, thinking more air might help me stay awake for some reason. I was half-asleep, could you really blame me?

But despite my best efforts, my body needed rest. And the lull of the SUV speeding down the highway pulled me right under.

My sleep was suspiciously dreamless, but I jolted awake what felt like only minutes later. Though, given how I felt, I knew must've been much longer than a few minutes.

I could still feel the weariness and the ache in my joints as I straightened up in my seat, but I didn't feel on the verge of collapse like I had been earlier. Which really wasn't saying much, unfortunately.

"Just in time," Hargrave said. "We've arrived at the oracle."

"Hmm." I hummed, still waking up. I absentmindedly checked my jacket for my throwing knives. "You should've just woken me up."

"Scared we'll steal your weapons?" Hargrave commented, ignoring me, as the SUV slowed to a stop.

"You don't scare me at all," I mumbled, readjusting my jacket, and trying to shake off the last remnants of sleep. The energy I'd gained from sleep felt nice. I wondered how long it would last. Especially considering that my prickles remained about the same.

"Then perhaps the oracle will," Hargrave said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the SUV. I followed suit, knowing if I didn't move fast enough, the merc next to me would shove me out.

I squinted at the sudden onslaught of light (as, of course, the windows of the SUV were tinted), and looked around.

We were in some kind of nature park, as far as I could tell. I was surprised to see people milling around, families with kids running and laughing. It was brisk, since it was still winter, but everyone was bundled up and enjoying themselves just fine. I almost felt like I'd just been flown out of the country, it disoriented me so much.

I guess I'd gotten so used to those dark tunnels and having a guillotine hang over my head for so long, I forgot that life continued. That regular people lived their regular lives. Played, laughed, traveled places.

I was…envious.

"This way, Victoria," Hargrave said, breaking me from my musings and starting down a path. The other mercs had exited the SUV, and they began to heard me in Hargrave's direction when I didn't move fast enough.

I sped up my pace, zipping up my jacket from the cold, and fell into step next to Hargrave. As mentioned before, winter was always hard on my chronic pain.

I kept watching the people around us—not hypnotized, just oblivious—practically enchanted by their normal lives.

"You're not going to ask about this oracle?" Hargrave asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

I blinked and looked over at him, getting pulled back into my demigod world.

"Why waste my breath if you're going to speak in riddles," I said. "Honestly, you're as bad at the gods."

"And you're not curious about your…friends? Ellery and Haley?"

I pursed my lips, my hands curling into fists in my jacket pockets.

"I highly doubt you'll tell me where they are," I managed through my teeth. "More so than if I asked about the oracle."

Hargrave gave me a side-long glance. "You're not even going to try?"

I looked away, at a family talking to someone who looked like one of the park's employees. My heart ached for something I had never really had and could never really achieve.

"It's not worth it," I said quietly. I tore my eyes away from the family. "A waste of time." And energy. And my sanity.

Hargrave said nothing more. Instead, he continued to lead me through the park.

He flashed some badge at one of the employees as we got nearer one of the entrances to the caves. The employee nodded and gestured us through, looking pleasant as customer service workers were obligated to, but it only thinly disguised his boredom. Which, I couldn't blame him for.

As you'd expect, it got colder as we stepped through the cave entrance.

"This is the main entrance," Hargrave explained. "We'll take you down to the path that will lead you to the oracle, but after that, you'll be own your own."

"Fine."

Hargrave hummed and I glanced over at him. He was giving me an odd look. Amused? Confused? Intrigued? I wasn't really sure, and in the dim lighting of the cave, which threw shadows across his face, I didn't think I would be able to tell.

I did take a moment to brace myself though. Both for my prickles—which would undoubtedly get worse now that we were in an even colder, and damp, place—but also my mental state in general, as these caves were far too reminiscent of the Labyrinth.

I let Hargrave lead me through the cave system. I shivered as the cold tried to creep in through my jacket, and the echo-y sounds bouncing off the cave walls.

As we got further in, I felt the exhaustion start to wash over me alongside the cold. My vision would occasionally fuzz, and a violent shiver would rock through me, aggravating my pin-pricks.

It was all very slow, like rolling fog coming in from the sea.

Just as I started to wonder if these caves were part of the Labyrinth, we stopped in front of a roped off path with a sign that read, EMPLOYEES ONLY.

"Enjoy," Hargrave said, gesturing to the narrow pathway. "My men will come retrieve you after about twenty minutes have passed if you don't come back up on your own."

I frowned, not liking the sound of that. Some part of me thought about finally asking what this oracle was and/or did, but I knew it was too late. Not that I retroactively thought Hargrave would've told me.

Without another word, I stepped over the rope and began carefully picking my way down the tunnel. It wasn't necessarily steep, nor was it treacherous. But not knowing what waited for me at the end made me, understandably, hesitant to move quickly.

Not to mention, the walls were much, much narrower here. I felt them brush against my jacket with every step. I tried to take deep breaths through my clenched teeth, using a grounding technique Rowan had taught me, so as not to devolve into a panic attack.

I could feel it thrumming behind my chest, though, as claustrophobia fought for a place next to my chronic pain and weariness.

My only saving grace was the tunnel was still lit. Not nearly as nicely as the main cave system, but enough I could see and didn't have to feel my way through the dark. If it had been completely dark, I would've demanded a flashlight, anyhow.

After what felt like too long, I began to doubt what was going on. Did they actually send me to the oracle, or did Commodus have some kind of double-speak? Had he changed his mind? Was he trying to just get rid of me? Have me killed in the caves, where no one would find me?

I looked back at the empty, winding pathway, wondering if I should try to head back.

But maybe that's why Hargrave had said 20 minutes. Because it took 10-15 just to get to the oracle. And I didn't think getting a prophecy would take all that long, either. (You'd think I'd know this intuitively, since I was a child of Apollo, but I didn't.)

Exhaling long and slow, I forged ahead. Not that I trusted Hargrave, or Commodus, but it seemed like the best bet. I didn't think Commodus would've changed his mind—not with the look he'd given me when he told the Germani where to take me. Besides, Hargrave had been waiting for me in the parking garage, which meant Commodus had called him in while I'd been unconscious. He'd made up his mind. If he'd wanted to truly punish me, he would've flown Dan and Anya in, too.

Eventually, I felt rushing air hit me, and I knew I'd finally made it to the oracle. I picked up my pace, exiting into a large chamber—about sixty feet in diameter. An underground lake covered the entire area, except for a small island of rock in the center. I looked up at the domed ceiling littered with stalactites, and a shiver shot through me again.

I quickly looked back down. It reminded me too much of the underground chamber in the House of Hades, where the Doors of Death had been tethered after Gaea had taken control of them.

Covering the island and the surface of the water was a writhing sheet of serpents. When I realized this, I instinctively took a step back, sucking in a small, surprised gasp. There had to be thousands of them.

They didn't seem to notice or pay any mind to me. To my relief. But what was I supposed to do now? I looked warily at the rock at the center. Was I supposed to get to there? My gaze drifted back to the snakes. How?

I didn't trust them to not be venomous, so I had a feeling if I got bit, that would be it for me. Was that what Commodus was hoping for?

I examined the cavern again, noticing that there was a ledge about 3 feet wide that covered the entire circumference of the place. No bridge to the island that I could see. I edged to my right, thinking maybe it was just hidden, but hit a pebble which skittered and then splashed into the water. I winced at how loud it sounded, despite being such a small thing, and immediately froze.

My breathing stopped.

Too late. The splash also brought the snakes' attention to me. They turned their heads, opening their mouths, which were white inside. The ones closest to me easily lifted themselves out of the water and onto the ledge, nosing me, sticking their tongues out to see me.

I inched back until my back hit the wall, my stomach tightening. My pulse racing out of control.

Shit, what was I going to do now?

I looked to my right, wondering if I could make a sprint for it or if the snakes would move faster than I could run. Even if they couldn't, if there was no bridge to the island, they'd catch up eventually. Could I outrun them long enough for Hargrave to come retrieve me?

Well, that didn't make much sense either. If Commodus wanted me to see the oracle…where was the oracle, then?

I didn't have enough throwing knives to kill all the snakes. Despite being able to summon them back to me. I wouldn't be fast enough before one got a good bite in.

So, I did the only thing I could do in that moment: I took a deep breath and began to sing.

"Beautiful Dreamer" by Stephen Foster, but did Roy Orbison's rendition of it.

The snakes responded, swaying and bobbing to the melody. They did not, to my disappointment, move away from me, however. But I continued my song to keep them at bay while I tried to think of a way out of this situation.

I glanced at the entrance to the cave again, wondering if I should just take my chances going back through it. Would they just send me back down here to be bitten by venomous snakes?

If Commodus had truly wanted me to meet the oracle, why wouldn't he tell me anything about it? Especially if there were deadly snakes residing in it?

Suddenly my voice reverberated, echoing off the walls of the cavern, and rushing straight back to me. I turned my head back to the cave and would've gasped in pain and shock, but when the echoes of my voice hit me, I felt some invisible force constrict around my throat.

All the snakes had disappeared and the cold waters of the lake seemed to be boiling.

My knees buckled and I clawed at my throat as the invisible force began forcing lyrics from my vocal cords—the song I sang for Luke when I was fighting against the giant, Asterius in Italy during the Second Giant War, which morphed into the song I sang to Styx, herself, in a desperate bid to save my brother when he was on the edge of death.

Every time I went to get more air, I gasped so hard my diaphragm cramped painfully.

More lyrics were forced from my chest. I couldn't stop.

Visions flashed behind my eyes: of Luke dying in front of me, of Dan nearly dying in front of me, of my baby brothers dying because of choices I had made. Of Nick, lying in one of the cots in the infirmary because we hadn't been able to hold last rites yet.

I instinctively curled up further, still clutching my throat. Tears streamed down my face, but the invisible force kept pushing words from my throat, which now felt raw.

I wanted to sob, to scream, but more lyrics came out instead.

At some arbitrary point, the force released my throat. I fell forward, just barely managing to catch myself with one hand. I gasped for air, retching and yelping in pain, as my stomach cramped.

I was trembling—no, shivering violently, like whatever had just grabbed me had also taken all the warmth in my body when it left.

Blinking away the rest of my tears, I sunk forward, my breath shaking as much as my body. Darkness began to encroach my vision as a wave of exhaustion crashed over me, but I struggled to fight it.

I had to stay awake. I had to.

For a while, the only sound that echoed inside the cave was my labored breathing as I painstakingly pushed myself up into a sitting position. And then promptly fell back against the cavern wall behind me. But I was still conscious. (I really should have just let my body knock me out, though, given my prickles were now threatening to engulf me, too.)

Finally, I glanced back at the island and jolted. I had nothing left in me, so I didn't feel any adrenaline rush. Just cold dread as the exhaustion sunk deeper and my pin-pricks roared.

Over the island, hovered the apparition of a man. But he was mostly made of dark smoke that glittered with visions of the worst memories I had just been forced to relive.

Despite my still-trembling body, I felt a flash of heat burn through the cold, seeing that. Feeling strangely possessive of those memories—they were mine. No one else had any right to them.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice cracking, hoarse, and weaker than I wanted it to sound.

The apparition chuckled but I wasn't in on the joke. "Well, our father certainly is something, isn't he? Sending you as well."

I regarded it through dropping eyelids. "…me as well?" I asked, though I wasn't expecting an answer, and to be honest, didn't really care about one, either. "Commodus sent me." My words were starting to slur.

There was no expression to read from smoke shaped like a person, but if I had a guess that did give this apparition pause.

"…you truly do not know who I am?" it asked.

I slowly shook my head, my drooping further. No! Not here!

"I…don't know of the other oracles," I admitted, my voice fading out. "I've been too busy…learning about the emperors…."

My vision went fuzzy but I forced my head back up and my eyes to focus, taking a deep breath to try and keep awake. Then wincing because of the echo of my cramping diaphragm.

When my vision cleared, I was staring at a man in place of where the apparition had been. At first, I thought I was going crazy, making up things where they had not been, but the longer I looked, the more I realized this was the apparition.

He was classically handsome for Ancient Greece, with dark, curly hair, and an angular face. Around him swarmed…bees? I think they were bees, but only based on the buzzing sound that started echoing softly in the cavern. Whatever was swarming and hovering around him just looked like floating dust bunnies. Or those sprites you saw in Miyazaki movies.

His dark eyes bore into me.

"You have not even drunk from the springs," he commented.

I sighed wearily. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The man ignored me. "But you are a child of our father," he said, intrigue in his tone. Without warning, the bees swarmed. I barely had time to gasp before they were in my face and then—

I tried to let out a scream but was choked by the cold, stinging sensation of the smokey bees flying down my throat, into my ears, up my nose, and even into my eyes. (A stinging sensation that was somehow still different than my chronic pain.)

I tried to get away, but my body was too weak to do much of anything except fall over to my side, where I writhed on the stone floor, unable to make a sound.

Mercifully, I passed out.

Or at least…I no longer felt the stinging, tearing sensation of smokey bees entering through every orifice on my face. Because as soon as that sensation went away, I found myself kneeling on the crackled marble floor of the gods' throne room on Mount Olympus. Before me lay Luke's body, unmoving, eyes glassy.

The ghost of my prickles burst and I reeled back, sitting down hard with a gasp, at the sudden sight of Luke, having not expected it. I had scarce pictures of him that I would occasionally look at, but having his dead body presented to me was, obviously, a shock to the system.

Before I could even comprehend the wave of emotions that washed over at seeing him again, the scene morphed. My bother, Dan, took Luke's place. And we were now in Greece, at the Acropolis. Dan's leg was entirely black, tendrils of poison working their way back up his leg.

His breathing was ragged.

"Dan!" I gasped, leaning forward again, despite this having already happened. Despite knowing he was fine (or was going to be fine after this point). Still, compulsively, I began to look for Apollo around the Acropolis. I needed his help!

But what I saw were the faces of the Seven of the prophecy and the gods who'd joined the fight to defeat the giants. Except their faces were off. Almost blurry.

You know how if you see someone you recognize in a dream but wake up and you can't properly picture their face but know you know them? That's what it felt like looking at them around the Acropolis.

The scene changed again, and I was on the Williamsburg Bridge in Manhattan. This was during the war with Kronos, when he was trying to get to the Empire State Building.

The bridge shook and groaned and I looked to my right to see my brother, Michael, lose his balance and fall off the side of the bridge.

"Michael!" I screamed, stumbling over and reaching for his hand, only to just barely miss and have to watch him fall into the waters below.

The scene shifted yet again, and I stumbled back into a wall at the sudden change. It was dark and it took my eyes a moment to adjust to near-complete blackness. Once they had, though, I saw the rows and rows of cots that now held bodies covered in shrouds in the Big House infirmary.

This was right after I'd returned to camp, after Gaea was defeated. We hadn't had time to do last rites that night, so we had used the Big House infirmary to lay the demigods who'd died until tomorrow, as it was one of the only places that could fit this many bodies at once.

When I looked at the cots immediately to my left and right, I saw the uncovered faces of Nick and my brother, Reed.

Guilt shredded through my guts seeing them again, and an involuntary sob escaped my throat.

These visions cycled through again, but I couldn't understand why I was seeing them, nor what their purpose was. I couldn't really figure out how to break away from them, either. If I tried to stand and move away, the scene would simply shift and I would be back where I started.

I couldn't tell you how many times I was forced to relive some of the worst memories of my life when, as I was looking around the Acropolis, I spotted something that stood out against the blurry faces of everyone else. Something, or…someone, who was more defined than the rest of them.

"Hey!" I gasped, standing and quickly walking toward them, pushing the faceless bodies out of the way.

The scene tried to shift again, but I focused on the figure in front of me, determined to follow. Determined to get out of this cycle.

Darkness began to encroach on my vision. I began to hear the buzzing of bees, feeling the stinging, tearing sensation they caused, but I grit my teeth and pushed forward. In this dream-like world, despite feeling my pin-pricks, I was surprisingly able to concentrate.

Well…the stinging of the smoke took its place.

It wasn't until I thought my vision had gone completely black did I realize it wasn't my vision, but the surrounding area that had gone completely black. Because I could still see the figure in front of me.

Another rush of determination swept through me, momentarily shoving away any pain the bees caused, and pushed myself forward.

I reached out and grasped at the figure. As soon as my hand connected with his arm, I was thrown into a different vision.

It was a dark night. Glancing up at the sky told me there was a new moon. Only glittering stars filled the midnight blue sky.

To my left loomed a building of rough-hewn stone with flecks of fledspar, stretching hundreds of feet upward. Not nearly as big as any skyscraper you'd see in New York City, but it was certainly taller than I was expecting for some reason.

To my right were woods, the breeze rustling through the leaves and branches. The distant cries of owls breaking through the rustling every now and again.

There was a sound of stone grinding against stone to my left and I turned back to see someone crawl out of a hidden trap door, hauling a heavy sack behind him. He turned to gain more leverage to pull the sack from the trapdoor, and hissed, "Come on," to someone in the tunnel.

The sack clinked as he pulled it from the trapdoor—had he stolen something? A lot of something?

Once he had fully extricated the sack from the underground tunnel, he straightened up and turned toward me. I jolted, recognizing the face of the man in the cave. Before I could do much of anything, let alone fully comprehend what I was seeing, someone else emerged from the trapdoor.

But he got stuck, his shoulders much too wide to fit through the tunnel exit. I was surprised to see the man from the cave call this other man "brother" because they didn't look anything alike, but perhaps they were half-brothers or something of that sort.

They joked around about him getting stuck, but when the man from the cave went to help his brother, I watched in horror as their humor quickly turned to panic. For the man set his large sack down on a trip wire.

In a nearby tree, a mechanical bow fired a shrieking flare skyward. I winced at the brightness of the flare, my eyes snapping back to the two brothers when I heard a giant snap from somewhere inside the tunnel. The stone collapsed on the man still in the tunnel exit.

The single arm he had managed to free flailed, and he gasped as the stone crushed his ribcage. The other man cried out, rushing to his brother's side and grasped his wrist, trying to pull his brother free but that only made his brother scream in agony.

"Leave me," his brother rasped, coughing blood.

"I won't," the man sobbed. "This is my fault. This was my idea! I'll get help. I'll—I'll tell the guards—"

His brother shook his head. "They'll only kill you, too. Go. While you can. And brother, the king knows my face." He gasped and whimpered as the stone shifted. "When he finds my body—"

"Don't talk that way!"

His brother ignored him. "He'll know you were with me. He'll track you down. He'll declare war on our father. Make sure my body can't be identified." To punctuate his statement, he fumbled for the knife at his brother's belt.

The man from the cave looked to the sky, letting out a wail of despair. In the distance, I heard guards shouting.

His head still facing the sky, the man cried out, "Take me instead! Save him, Father, please!"

There came no reply.

Sobbing, and with shaking hands, the man from the cave drew his knife from his belt. He knelt next to his brother, running his hand through his brother's hair, then kissing him on the forehead, before bringing the blade across his brother's throat.

I had to look away, squeezing my eyes shut, my heart twisting painfully in my chest.

"Agamethus," a familiar voice said.

I opened my eyes again to see the man from the cave standing before me. We were back in that strange black void.

"That was my brother's name," he said, his voice ragged with grief and rage. "I am Trophonius, son of Apollo; the Dark Oracle," he continued, his voice stronger. "I dwell in the darkness. I give prophecies to those who seek them. For a price." He met my eyes. "For your deepest fears."

I studied him for a long moment before I shook my head slightly. "You can't hurt me in a way that matters."

Trophonius's lip curled up cruelly. "No?" His image flickered and I saw Luke, which did, admittedly, send a sharp pain shooting through my chest.

But I took a deep breath and concentrated hard. Trophonius's figure flickering back to himself.

"No," I repeated, my voice steady. "Because if you know my deepest fear, then you know you could never hurt me with it." I paused. "Because you have already lived it." I paused again. "Because we would do anything for our brothers, wouldn't we?"

Trophonius's face rippled with a tsunami of emotions—too quickly for me to get a read of any of them. But he was as stubborn as I was (possibly something we'd both inherited from our father), and his expression settled on a sneer.

"Fine, then you shall have what you came for," he snarled. "Let's see if your unprepared mind can handle it all at once."

Before I could ask him what he meant, the ground beneath me collapsed and I gasped as I fell into…I don't even know what, but my mind was suddenly assaulted with what I can only describe as a supernova of voices. Or…not even voices, but the idea of voices. The idea of everything—of the world, and the future. The best way I could describe it was I had just been dropped into a physical manifestation of entropy, of Chaos.

And it was burning me alive.

Much like if I were to take a dip in the River Styx, I thought of my brother. How he needed me. If I died now, the emperors would only look to him to fulfill whatever twisted thing they thought they were still owed because of Luke.

I would not allow that.

I would not subject my brother to that.

So, I kept him clearly in mind—as clear as I could—and used him as my anchor, to center me against the onslaught of what I was sure now, was the divine being of Chaos. The infinite being that the Fates pulled and wove thread from. That the Fates, themselves, were born from.

Much like with the visions Trophonius had shown me, I don't know how long I floated there, purposefully letting myself burn and reassembling myself for the sake of my brother. Time…didn't really exist in Chaos, I didn't think.

But suddenly, I felt an icy cold hand grip my arm. I may have gasped at the contact as I was violently thrust back into my mortal shell. The burning now my chronic pain, though I could feel myself still on the edge of Chaos.

I had a split second to comprehend this and the fact that I was still in the cavern before I was assaulted with visions of a man—I first saw him beside me; he was the one who was currently holding my arm, hauling me to my feet. Then time fast-forwarded (the best way I could describe it) and suddenly I saw him shooting at Apollo in what looked to be a football stadium. Another fast-forward and I saw him standing before Commodus's new prefect (though I had no idea where Literyses had gone), who was swinging a sword at his neck as he struggled against the Germani holding him.

I felt my right shoulder connect with the cold ground and let out a startled and pained yelp. The visions stopped, but I had to force myself away from Chaos.

Blinking through the fire, forcing my eyes to focus, I saw the man standing over me with his gun drawn. His eyes were wide and, it could've just been the cavern, but he looked pale.

It took me a moment to realize that a familiar voice—Hargrave?—was shouting at him.

"Do not shoot," he said, his voice strained but firm. "You have your orders. Put your gun down. Right now. That is your last warning."

The man looked extremely reluctant, but he eventually lowered his gun before shoving it back into the holster at his hip. He wouldn't take his eyes off me, though, and for once that indifferent mask had broken into something…terrified.

What had I done to do that, though?

"You," I heard Hargrave bark. "Get her to her feet. Emperor Commodus wants her back before noon."

Had not even half the day gone by? I felt like I'd been in this cave for weeks, possibly longer.

When no one moved, only glanced nervously around at each other, Hargrave let out a frustrated growl.

"I have to do everything myself, I see," he muttered. "I'm docking your pay this month and all of you will be on desk duty until I say so."

I could tell this pissed them off, and for a moment, I thought they were going to rebel and just shoot Hargrave. There were more of them. Surely, with guns, they could overpower him easily.

Words, like a fiery line of lit kerosine shot up my throat. Before I could really think to stop them, I gasped, "He's too fast."

I could see it, pulled straight from Chaos—the thread that would lead to blood tinging the water of the cavern a terrible pink and five dead bodies. They may have had guns, but demigods, though half-human, were also half-god. Stronger and faster than any human could imagine.

Then I had to spend the next however long pulling myself back from Chaos again.

"She's right," Hargrave said, breaking through the roar of the fire. I winced at the overstimulation.

There was a tense moment, where I could tell they were going to risk it anyway, but the man who had grabbed me threw another glance my way before looking back at his comrades and shaking his head. Had he seen what I'd seen? Gotten a glimpse of his own future?

I groaned as more visions flooded my mind at these questions—I could see him trying to decide if deserting would help him live longer. It would. The emperors didn't care about their human mercs; they wouldn't send forces out to hunt them down. Though, if a merc knew too much, they would send the hounds, if only to keep their secrets, secrets.

Hargrave grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet.

Barely giving me time to gain footing, we began stumbling out of the tunnel I'd entered. But we didn't even make it a few steps in before I was assaulted with more visions. This time involving Hargrave, all culminating to…

Run. Run. Run. Run and never look back.

I stumbled into the cave wall as Hargrave released my arm, recoiling from me. I reached out to steady myself, though my knees were shaking.

My free hand went to my forehead, rubbing my temple, trying to relieve some of the headache was beginning to form at everything happening. As if I could relieve the pressure of Chaos by rubbing the side of the my head.

I blinked to clear my blurry vision and looked over at Hargrave. For a split second, he had that same, terrified expression on his face as the merc had. But I blinked and it was gone. His face was now a neutral mask, though I could see the tightness around the corners of his eyes and the edges of his lips. I almost started to ask myself why he had responded that way, but was able to stop myself before I was bombarded with answers.

"Move," Hargrave ordered through unmoving lips.

"What?" I gasped, still rubbing my head.

"You can clearly walk on your own," he said, gesturing up the tunnel. "Walk. We'll follow."

I frowned and squinted at him, confused. But since I didn't have any other choice, and it was apparent no one wanted to touch me, I faced forward and began to slowly stumble my way back to the park.

I thought for sure my slow pace was going to piss off Hargrave—especially considering he'd talked about how Commodus had wanted me back by noon or something. But to my surprise, no one said a thing. No one got impatient. No one shoved or pushed me to make me go faster.

When we finally emerged from the cave tunnel, I felt like I'd been hiking for hours. My…well, everything hurt. And I was fighting the visions, my chronic pain, and my exhaustion. It honestly felt like a miracle I hadn't collapsed yet.

Though, perhaps I spoke too soon, for as soon as I stepped over the red rope that'd partitioned this tunnel off from the public, I was bombarded with…I'm not even sure what. All I knew was that I was suddenly overwhelmed with what I could only interpret as questions.

Chaos washed over me, eager to answer all these questions. And it was too much. I wasn't ready for the onslaught of inquiries, or trying to hold back the urge to form something when I had everything to work with.

Even focusing on my brother was just barely enough to keep Chaos from ripping me to shreds. But I was concentrating so hard on just that, I was unaware of anything else going on around me.

And it wasn't until I wasn't having to fight so hard did I realize that, at some point, they had loaded me back into the SUV and we were driving back to Commodus's palace.

I was leaning and trembling in the backseat, against the door on the driver's side. Hargrave was sat in the middle, but he and the other merc sitting in the back with me, were leaning into the door on the passenger's side. Even the merc in the front passenger's seat was leaning against his door. I glanced briefly at the driver but quickly flicked my eyes out the window. I focused on my brother, trying to empty my mind, despite it being filled with creation.

So I have most of the next chapter written, and I'm going to do my best to finish that and get it posted next week, or two weeks from now. but after that I think I'm going to try and write out the rest of this act before I post any more chapters.

We're actually very close to the end of this act if you've been following the timeline of TDP, so I think it might work better for me if I just write the rest out in one straight shot, then post those chapters weekly.

While I do that, I'm hoping to start writing the third act, which will take place in TBM (if you hadn't guessed lol). Hopefully that won't keep you waiting as long as you have for this chapter. I'm going to play it by ear—I might post a few Act 3 chapters, then write the rest and post in weekly. Or, what I'm hoping, is writing all of Act 3 while I post the rest of Act 2 for you guys, that way you'll have a more steady flow of chapters.

But you know me and my plans by now. so again, I'm just playing it by ear.

as always, hope you enjoyed. comments are greatly appreciated!

thank you for reading,
thebrightestnight