Reconnected [Book 3]

8 - Guilt

Adelia literally stumbled over the second Titan.

After entering the storm front, they plodded on for what seemed like hours, relying on the light of Percy's Celestial bronze blade, and on Bob, who glowed faintly in the dark like some sort of crazy janitor angel. And Adelia who tried to keep one palm lit with moonlight at all times, but she was struggling. Tartarus seemed to dampen her powers and it took all of her energy to keep them going

Adelia could only see about five feet in front of her. Thick fog surrounded ear and she couldn't help but compare it to the industrial side of New York.

Rocks loomed out of nowhere. Pits appeared at their feet, and Adelia avoided falling in. Monstrous roars echoed in the gloom, but Adelia couldn't tell where they came from, she was constantly on edge her moon lit palm swinging around for protection. All she could be certain of was that the terrain was still sloping down.

Down seemed to be the only direction allowed in Tartarus. If Adelia backtracked even a step, she felt tired and heavy, as if gravity were increasing to discourage her. Assuming that the entire pit was the body of Tartarus, Adelia had a nasty feeling they were marching straight down his throat. Yay, she loved being a snack.

She was so preoccupied with that thought, she didn't notice the ledge until it was too late.

Percy yelled, "Whoa!" He grabbed for her arm, but she was already falling. She let out a yell before a grunt as she hit the floor.

Fortunately, it was only a shallow depression. Most of it was filled with a monster blister. She had a soft landing on a warm bouncy surface and was feeling lucky—until she opened her eyes and found herself staring through a glowing gold membrane at another, much larger face.

She screamed and flailed, toppling sideways off the mound. Her heart did a hundred jumping jacks. She scrambled backwards her hands being, once again cut.

Percy helped her to her feet. "You okay?"

She didn't trust herself to answer. If she opened her mouth, she might scream again, and that would be undignified.

She was a daughter of Artemis, not some shrill girlie victim in a horror movie. Get it together. So she gave a nod

But gods of Olympus... Curled in the membrane bubble in front of her was a fully formed Titan in golden armor, his skin the color of polished pennies. His eyes were closed, but he scowled so deeply he appeared to be on the verge of a bloodcurdling war cry. Even through the blister, Adelia could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Hyperion," Percy said. "I hate that guy."

Adelia's shoulder suddenly ached from an old wound. During the Battle of Manhattan, Percy had fought this Titan at the Reservoir—water against fire. It had been the first time Percy had summoned a hurricane—which wasn't something Adelia would ever forget. "I thought Grover turned this guy into a maple tree. He was nice like that"

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Maybe the maple tree died, and he wound up back here?"

She was about to suggest that they burst Hyperion's bubble before he woke up. He looked ready to pop out at any moment and start charbroiling everything in his path.

Then she glanced at Bob. The silvery Titan was studying Hyperion with a frown of concentration—maybe recognition. Their faces looked so much alike....

Adelia bit back a curse. Of course they looked alike. Hyperion was his brother. Hyperion was the Titan lord of the east. Iapetus, Bob, was the lord of the west. Take away Bob's broom and his janitor's clothes, put him in armor and cut his hair, change his color scheme from silver to gold, and Iapetus would have been almost indistinguishable from Hyperion.