ATN 3: THE JAR IN THE MAZE

HOPE SPREADS

We ran into the Citadel, and found it in a bad state, not exactly the way we left it. The throne's shade was broken. The cabins had been stormed, and nothing else exactly looked good.

In front of us, everyone, I repeat, everyone was imprisoned. Dadai, Abhro, Delilah, Lucy, Trent, Alyssa, Rahul, Actaeon, his werewolves, the Atlanteans and the Amazons. Even Iris. Her ropes seemed made of very powerful magic. Perhaps they were built by Medea while she was alive. There were harpies, cyclopes, wild centaurs, the undead, or the earthborns roaming around. And right around the island, there were big men. Big men with furry legs, about twenty feet tall, all roaming around. Right next to the cabin, my friends were all tied up, from head to feet. And more scaring was that, on Delilah's throne, who lay tied up to it's right, sat Jared Wilson, invulnerable and powerful enough to destroy the gods. To his left was Elisha, standing by her brother.

"Well, well, well." Jared said, with a sly smile, "Look who have come home. Petty little sorcerer who thinks he can beat me, his thick headed girlfriend, the girl who's not sure about what she is, and the self sacrificing blind one."

"You know," Elisha said, "Indians and Pakistanis can't combine."

"Oh," Urwa said, "What do you know?"

"And they have the box." Jared said, "However, I have an army."

"We have a Jay." Tina said.

But this was no movie. I knew where Tina had taken that from, but this was real life. I was not even sure if my magic could penetrate Jared's skin. I looked at the giants who had risen. All of them were wearing weird prison clothes, with their names on it. One of them had a hammer on his hand, a huge metallic one, and he had donkey legs. That was Mimas, anti Hephaestus. Theodamus had blades sticking to hands, and legs like a reptile. Ephialtes, anti Dionysus, was brewing some poison. He too had hairy legs. Phoitos, anti Persephone, was touching flowers and drying them up. Aristaius was practicing archery, with a huge bow and arrows. So was Gration. Apparently, those were anti Apollo and Artemis. And Enceladus, the wise of them all, was just sitting there, rubbing his axe to a stone.

"You know," I said, "I still don't Porphyrion."

"For your good, you better wish you don't." Enceladus said, "Our king won't exactly be liked by you."

"Enough of this." Jared stood up, "I have a lot to get to. Just snatch that box, and throw it in the sea."

The centaurs shouted, cheered and raced at us. I put the jar down, stood between the three and the centaur, and clenched my fists. The creatures screamed in pain, and when I flicked my fingers, they flew into the sea.

And then, lightning cracked. We felt someone behind us. All the gigantes left what they were doing, and kneeled. Elisha did the same. Jared stood up. We turned.

Three gigantes of same size as the others appeared in front of us. The one to the right had black eyes, a huge staff on his hand, and wore long black robes, so long that it covered his polar bear like legs. To the left, stood a gigante with toxic green eyes. His face told me that he was a psychic. He had dragon legs, with scales, and was holding a huge trident, made of brass. And in the center...

The gigante had a dominating look on his face. He had red eyes, wore golden braces on his arms, and held a scythe whose blade had a purple aura. His legs were normal human legs. The three jumped over us, and landed by the other gigantes. The earth shook.

"Let me guess." I said, "Alcyoneus." I pointed to the one with black robes, "Polybotes." I pointed to the one with the trident, "And Porphyrion." I pointed to the one in between.

"You wanted to see me." Porphyrion said, "Here I am. Now, how do you want to die?"

"I think I should be asking the same question to you now." I said.

The gigantes laughed hysterically, as if it was ridiculous. So, I did what I should have done a long time ago. Gods knew why we hadn't done it sooner. I got hold of Gerard, who was standing right next to the box, and put his hand on it. He nodded, and opened Pandora's box. And out came Hope.

Once outside, Hope took the form of a girl, though fully white. She whispered to Gerard, "Thank You!" and shot straight up. Her white aura mixed with the clouds, and started to spread. I looked at the gigantes. Porphyrion clenched his fists. Jared hit his foot on the ground in frustration. The gigante king shouted to the minions, "Kill them!"

The scores of minions attacked us. Tina was ready with her swords, Gerard started to use his instincts to determine the position of the minions, and Urwa pointed her spear at them. However, a screeching sound made them all stop.

We all turned to see. Right behind us, about eight hundred empousai stood, their fangs and claws ready to tear enemies apart. Right behind the minions, stood at least five hundred Machai. Shining battle armors, axes, swords, scythes, spears, tridents, glowed in the twilight Sun. They were just waiting for orders to pounce. I looked at Tina and smiled, as both of us screamed in unison, "Attack!"

That was all that was needed. The empousai and the Machai pounced on the minions like hungry tigers. My army bit and tore, Tina's army stabbed and slashed. But they were doing pretty well. Inside the main Citadel, the giants started walking towards us. Porphyrion was saying, "We will kill you ourselves."

That is exactly when, I had a feeling. I felt a sudden burst of auras around me. Different ones, and still a little far away, but powerful auras. Moving very quickly towards the war zone.

"Any moment now." I said, as I felt them coming. What can I say? I always felt them around me.