The Gathering

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chris POV

In our cells, Johnson and I talked casually, trying to pass the time. I saw Adrian and Westley talking to one of the people to their left through mouthing their words, while the other lated passed out on the bed. The Hecate twins were passed out also, so we were unable to talk to them. Around what I thought to be dinner time, each of our cells buzzed that same noise that had opened our doors earlier, and one by one, each of us were let out of our cells.

As we stood, waiting for instruction, Johnson and I were finally able to introduce ourselves to the two Hecate boys. After we introduced ourselves, they did the same, introducing themselves as Jonah and Alonso. Jonah was the perky one and Alonso was the sulky one.

"As you may have noticed, Alonso and I have some differences in personality to make up for our looks. It reflects our magic choice also. I pursued more of the healing and misdirectional magics and Alonso went for a more physical way of harnessing the Mist" Jonah told. As if in response, a sparkling gold spear suddenly appreared in his hand. He hoisted it up like he was about to throw it and launched it into the wall above the main door. Impressive. Jonah then held up his hands and then pointed them out at us, and the ground before us suddenly broke up and we were standing at the edge of a pit that looked like it led right down into the heart of Tartarus. Not only could we see it, but I felt the heat radiating from the hole and as I looked down into the hole, I saw a single bead of sweat roll off my forehead and down into the hole. Not only had he made the hole, but he gave it actual heat that caused me to sweat it was so hot. In amazement, Johnson and I looked up and saw Jonah's beaming, sweating face. The strain of altering the Mist so effectively must have taken a huge deal out of him.

"How long have you two been here?" Johnson asked, setting us up for telling them of our escape.

"About two months. They started out small, so we were able to work off each others strengths and get far but its getting to the point where we might be hitting our max" Jonah said.

"Well its a good thing my friends and I plan on escaping here tomorrow" I remarked with a grin.

"Bull. How in Hades do you think you're going to do that?" Alonso said, attention piqued.

"Not quite sure yet. But like you said, you guys are hitting your max. What do you have to lose?" I asked, knowing full well they didnt have anything else to lose.

"Who all are we escaping with?" Jonah asked, hope filling his hazel eyes.

"The hope is everyone. We were told that Johnson and I, along with our two friends, are starting off the morning, and we can bring four others with us. We talked to our guards on the way back, and they said if we open up a lane to get put, theyll release everybody else to follow us, and we'll all reach safety together" I said.

"Thats a dam risky plan. Are you sure it will work?" Alonso asked.

"Not even in the slightest. I can give you my word that we will keep you safe as long as we can, and i plan on making that time as long as possible" I told.

"Well we really dont have anything else to turn to, so you got us, it seems like. Am I right in assuming us two, and the two your friends are with over there are the ones that youre taking into battle with?" Alonso asked.

"Bingo. Let's go introduce ourselves" I said, turning to walk over by where they were standing outside their glass cells.

"We've got two more for the cause. How are you?" I whispered to Adrian.

"They're both fully on board" Adrian whispered back.

"Okay then I guess we should fill you guys in on why exactly it is we just came and are already leaving. As it happens, we're on a quest. A quest to gather demigods in the hopes to defend whatever force comes to stop the gods rise" I began.

I looked to see shocked faces all around, except for the red haired girl that had been sleeping when I first saw her, and she was sleeping now. She must be a daughter of Hypnos. Alonso looked slightly disappointed, like he expected a more noble or self benefiting quest, Jonah looked delightfully shocked and wanted to jump into song, if we werent in a place with so many people, and the other unnamed demigod looked stoic, like this was unimpressive to her.

"How do you know they are rising?" the stoic one asked skeptically.

"The hunters of Artemis found a newborn demigod in the ruins of Cleveland, where no baby should have been able to survive unless it was protected by a god, or in this case, a goddess; Athena. The hunters brought this baby to the Athenians and a group set off and recruited us to help. Which brings us here" Adrian explained.

"Its one thing to help you get us out of here, but why should we trust you with this story, and keep traveling with you" Alonso asked.

"Would I have a reason to lie? If I was going to lie, I probably would have picked a better one, a more believeable one, dont you think?" Adrian said.

"I believe you" Jonah squeaked.

"Thank you Jonah" I said, patting him on the shoulder. "Pease. If you come with us, I promise you wont regret it"

"I'm in. You seem like noble people, so I will trust you" The stoic girl said.

"Gods, im in. You better be telling the truth about this" Alonso finally said, after sevel stares came his way.

"Now for introductions. I am Adrian and this is Westley, Djaq, and Pype" Adrian said. Djaq was the Arabic girl who stoically came to our cause, and that left Pype being the sleeping mass on the floor. "Dont worry about Pype. She only really cares if there will be fire, which I told her there would be plenty of in our days in the country" Adrian said, answering our puzzlement of why she had skipped over Pype.

"This is Johnson, Jonah, and Alonso" I said, motioning to each in turn.

"Now what are we waiting in here for?" Westley asked.

"They bring us out here and then once our training room is ready they lead us to there and let us spar" Alonso answered.

Just then, the guards came in. One was Alex, and she gave me a nod, as if to show that she and Braxton had talked and were definitely on board now. Slowly they led us to our trainig room, and left us to our own devices, but locked the door. My head still hurt from all the white, but this room was a stark difference, painted almost all in black with a rusty orange trim. All kinds of weapons lined the back wall and so each of us made our way there to pick our weapons. I took a short broadsword and moved to the middle of the room to practice with Adrian, who had chosen a standard celestial bronze sword. In between our strikes, we got a word in so that we could also discuss our escape plan while we practiced.

"Did. You. Get. A. Good. Look. At. The. Supplies. Table.?" I asked, in between each of my hard downward strokes in attempts to knock the sword from her hand, ultimately resulting in defeat of that plan.

"Yes. I may. Be able to. Make. A bomb" Adrian said, in between slahes of her own, at my midsection.

"Grappling. Hook?" I asked. Adrian was the brains and I was the brawn in this situation it seemed, as her strikes had put her off balance and whilst saying "hook", i knocked her off balance, and she fell to the floor. As I lifted her up, she gave a little laugh, and playfully slapped me on the arm.

"Youre not supposed to hit girls. Especially ones that are your sister" She said with a laugh. From there, we navigated through the sweaty bodies trianing on the floor and made our way back to the isolated supplies table and weapons rack.

"Okay, so what can we make of this?" I asked quizzically, leaving it to Adrian to figure that out.

"I can defintely make a small bomb with this stuff, and since we're first up, it should still be here, and with this rope and axe head we have a grappling hook to climb up and over any walls they have, in case the bomb doesnt work" Adrian reported.

"This all rides on Alex and Braxton being able to set everything else for us, and making sure everyone else is ready to follow" I stated, even though I knew she already knew. From there, I practiced with Djaq who was a fierce, skilled warrior, and one I knew would be helpful to our cause. Once our alloted two hours of training was up, we were led from the room back to our cells and put to sleep.