Lost in Time (Forgotten Daughter part 3)

Punishment

Ali glared at the coffin. "I'm not going to help you. Better not to waste your time."

Kronos' laugh resounded through her mind. "So strong-willed. So... foolish." The last word echoed in her thoughts. "Your friends' cause is lost. It's only a matter of time before I crush them."

Her heart skipped a beat at the threat.

"But, if you join me, and pledge your loyalty, I will spare you." His voice was sickeningly smooth as he spoke in her head.

She clenched her fists. "I don't care what you do to me. My life is worthless. No one would notice if I disappeared."

He chuckled. "Of course. You care more about others than you do about yourself even though they don't care about you."

Ali dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Why do you do so much for the ones who would not do the same for you?"

Her hands quivered. His words were haunting, but, even scarier, they made sense. She closed her eyes and turned away. "No." But her voice didn't sound as strong as it had.

He noticed. "See. You know I'm right. You know they don't care. You know they never will. Just give in. A few words and you'll have power beyond imagining, the life that you deserve, everything."

She took a deep breath and glared at the sarcophagus as if she could burn a hole through it with only her angry gaze. "I don't want everything." Her voice cracked. "I don't deserve that. Now. Get. Out. Of my. Head."

The Titan growled and a shockwave launched from the golden coffin. It collided with Ali, throwing her violently against the back wall of the vast room. Her vision flashed white before everything went black.
* * *
Ali woke up in her cell. There was a pounding at the base of her skull and her back hurt. She was lying on her cot. Someone had at least had the decency to put her on the sorry excuse for a bed. Her whole body ached as she sat up. Rubbing the back of her neck, she swung her legs off the cot. Experimentally, she tried to stand, but her head spun and she had to sit back down. There was a good chance she had a concussion. She leaned back and rested her pounding skull against the cold stone wall. It actually helped ease her pain.

A key rattled in the lock of her door. Luke threw it open with a loud squeak, which ripped painfully through Ali's head.

She pressed a hand against her left temple, trying to calm the searing pain. She glared at her captor.

Luke glowered back at her, a streak of blood running down the side of his face.

She smirked. "Wasn't he happy with your failure?"

He growled, clenching his fists, but he wouldn't hurt her. Kronos still wanted her, still needed her. He took a deep breath and his fingers slowly uncurled. "He wanted me to give you one more chance." He massaged his shoulder like it was stiff. What had Kronos done to punish him? "Pledge your loyalty, or suffer a fate worse than death."

Ali stood, ignoring the pounding in her skull, and got right in Luke's face. "Bring it on, traitor."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "As you wish." He smacked her across the face so hard, she collapsed to the ground, cradling her head in her arms as it pulsed with fresh waves of unbearable pain.

Luke walked out, closing the door as slowly and loudly as possible.
* * *
The beam of the flashlight stabbed Ali's eyes as Luke led her down a dark hallway. Finally, they stopped and he touched a Greek delta that was carved into a boulder at the base of Mount Othrys. Ali hadn't realized that they were in San Fransisco, but it made sense.

A black hole opened before them.

"What's this supposed to be?" Ali raised an eyebrow.

Luke gripped her forearm. "A fate worse than death." He shoved her forward into the pitch black pit.

Ali slammed against the hard ground. The wind rushed out of her lungs and she coughed and heaved, trying to catch her breath. She lay there for a moment, sucking down long breaths.

The floor was made of smooth cobblestones. The air was damp and musty. Her nose burned with the smell of old rotting wooden beams. Where was she? Another dungeon? She felt along the floor and found the hilt of a dagger. Running her hands along the engraved hand guard, she realized it was hers. Why would Luke give it back to her? If she escaped, she would be armed.

Deciding not to question it, she slipped the knife back into its sheath strapped it to her thigh. She stood and walked forward, keeping a hand on one wall. She was waiting to smack her face against the side wall of the cell, but she didn't. She just kept walking, unobstructed. It wasn't a cell. It was a tunnel. Her heart leapt into her throat. No. She had to be wrong. If Luke knew about that, if he had access, then camp was done for. She started running, hoping to find some sign that she was wrong, that she wasn't where she thought she was, but the tunnel sprawled out before her, branching off and changing its construction.

She stopped at a intersection. One of the tunnels was dark, a similar style to the one she'd just come from; another was lined with bright white subway tiles and illuminated by buzzing LED lights; the third looked like a natural tunnel, walls made of dirt, hair-thin roots sticking through the ceiling.

"No." The single word echoed through the trio of passageways. This couldn't be happening. Luke couldn't know about this. The fate of camp relied on that, but she couldn't deny it. The proof was right in front of her - the varying tunnels, the crossroads, the delta Luke had pressed to reveal the entrance.

Ali dropped to the floor, her head buried in her arms. She was in the Labyrinth.

A/N
Hi!
Sorry for not updating yesterday. It was another busy day and I just got The Lost Hero so I needed to start that. 😅
Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. Time for some mind-bending torture. 😈
I'll try to update again tomorrow.
Until next time.
-Cheshire