Rift Duology #2: Rift of Shadow

Chapter 29: Melago

—Leto's POV—

"We split up, we have to find the Rift Blade!"

I took all of the middle floors—20-50. Aspen took Floors 1-20, and Jayden took Floors. 50-70.

The Middle Floors had many circular rooms, all nearly identical. They had holding cells, each with levitating Obsidian Bars to hold the people inside. But, they were gone. The army was already made, although likely useless now.

After looking through all of the floors and finding nothing, I met up with Aspen at floor 60, where we all agreed to meet up when we finished. Jayden should've been almost done, so we wouldn't have to wait long.

"Leto, do you think we'll find it? What if Cassiopeia finds us?" Aspen asked.

"I dunno.. but we will find it. We have to. I promise, Aspen."

Around an hour passed, and Jayden returned..

with the Rift Blade!

"You did it! Now, we can close the Rift, right?" Aspen exclaimed, and just then, the building shook.

"Let's not celebrate too early. We still have to save Polaris, and what not." Jayden reminded and he blasted another hole in the wall.
Outside, the water gushed in.

"We're on floor 60, how is the water this high already?!" I yelled and we quickly ran to the stairs.
Below us, we heard another rumble. The wall must've broken, letting more water in.

We made it to floor 70, almost on the roof, and Jayden handed the Blade to me.

"You can do this. Aspen and I can hold Cassiopeia back, okay?" Jayden told me and I nodded.

"Got it. Be careful, okay?" I told him and ran to the other side of the roof.
The sheer amount of water genuinely scared me. It was an ocean, in the middle of a city.

Regardless of the dizzying height, I slashed a circle with the Blade pointing to the Moon.

"Leto, there's a saying you have to say. You know Mythian, right? You have to say it in it.
The English version is 'Rift, close on Moon of Blood, and destroy the Connection of Realms!', or something along those lines."

"Okay, got it." In front of Aspen, a huge giant emerged. For a second, I thought the stone giants arrived.. but it wasn't.

It was Cassiopeia. His head looked like a mere silhouette, his horns grew out of a hole atop his head like a crown, he had a bit of lines for a body, 4 large arms, and lava flowing from his ribcage.

In the water, it bubbled and boiled, making pillars of dark steam rise into the air.

"Leto, hurry!" Jayden urged and I went back to looking at the moon.

"Reta, Sieros un Munal fre Sanod—"
I chanted, and the circle glowed golden.

"Finish the spell!" Aspen exclaimed as she shot a thick beam of ice at the giant.

"—Ynd Destro ete Konekto fre Reynel!"
I shouted and slashed a single line in the circle, and it rose up to the moon.

The Golden Slash sizzled into the air, and the Rift aside the moon fizzled and shrunk a bit.

"NOO!" a voice boomed, and Cassiopeia swiped at the roof, making the roof cave in.

"Aspen!" I yelled, and beneath the rubble, Jayden emerged.

"Where is she?" He asked, and we frantically looked around.

Above us, Cassiopeia's head was looking down at us, smiling. He walked a bit forward, just enough for the lava to flow into the roof.

"Jayden, stop it! We have to leave, the lava-" I told him, and he shook his head.

"Cover me! I can free Aspen, I think I found her!" He yelled back and I nodded.

"Ilo!" I shouted, and a thick layer of ice formed above the three of us.

Once the lava reached the ice, it slowly slid of, not without melting a lot of the ice shield.

"Jayden, hurry!" I urged and he commanded a dark smoke to lift large pieces of rubble, and Aspen as well.

"Okay, let's go!" I exclaimed and yelled 'Stieda!', and a thick line of stone floated from the fallen rubble into a small staircase to the lower floors.

"What the heck happened to Cassie?!" I asked once we got to floor 63.

"I don't know," Jayden replied as he laid Aspen down on a bag of sand.
"I hadn't seen him since we ran away. Once he got up, he was in the form. Owen would've known stuff about this.."
He said and I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Jay. He just kinda- made himself do it? We had to find 14 Stones made from the essence of power from the Etherials.
That kind of power is too much for a mortal to bear..
and I didn't even get to see what happened. After the golden flash of light, he was simply gone." I explained, and he nodded.

"I know it isn't your fault, Leto. He did it for the right thing, and I guess he kinda just accepted the fact he would die.
But let's focus on our situation.." He continued and I listened.

"We practically finished our mission, right?" He asked, and I nodded.
"And since Polaris just disappeared.. we don't stand a chance against this new giant."

"Jayden, what are you saying?" I asked.

"What I'm saying is, we need more time. More time to plan.
You know about 'The Archos', right?" He asked, and I widened my eyes.

"You aren't saying—"

"Yes, I am. We have to. We can't just stay here, either. Who can help us? Camp Half-Blood is in Ruins, along with Canp Cetus,  and all the other pantheons are crumbling."
He replied.

"In The Archos, we would be safe. There's camps there, the original Camp Cetus, Taurus, and the rest. We could live with someone over there, and get help."

"So, you want to run away?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Look, Leto, I've lost too many people to die now.
My dad, both my siblings, my boyfriend, and now a close friend. I simply cannot lose anything else without snapping. Please, Leto. If you won't, it's fine, but I will." He explained and got up.
"So, what'll it be?"

"I.. yes!"