Mortal Power: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Chapter 24

Through the crack under the door I can see, like the silver room I saw, a room of diamond. Everything is made of diamond, except for what I can see of the large cage at the back of the room.

Are they Orca's trainers? And Drake's? I squint to get a better look, but I can't see much. I take a deep breath. Now is the final time to turn back.

I ever so slowly ease the door knob around, hoping that any guards can't see it. I bite my lip, praying my dumb plan works. Isn't that what all the heroes are supposed to do?

I whip the door open and slink through before easing it closed again. Thank gods, no one seems to have noticed. I scurry behind a pile of crates.

"Oi, what are you doing?"

I freeze. Did I speak to soon? But it appears I wasn't the one being spoken to. A guard, who looks dirty and stupid, stomps over to the cage. My breath catches when I see Orca and Drake.

"Just having a good old chat about breaking out," sighs Drake. "It's boring in here."

"Yeah," agrees Orca. "Maybe we could fight? To pass the time? Just let us out and give us our weapons."

The guard scratches his head, then shakes it. "No, I won't fall for it."

While the guard is distracted I creep around the crates, searching for any resource I could use to break my friends out. The guard surely wouldn't have the key; he seems low on the ladder of evil henchmen. Speaking of, where is the leader?

"Goon! Stop talking to the prisoners!"

The guard, Goon, lumbers away at the command. He stands away from the cage and facing the door. Too late, Goon.

I look to where the voice came from. I discover a door which leads off to a separate room, where a murmuring if several voices is leaking from.

I survey the high ceiling that ascends beyond my vision. Must be nice, living in an open palace. I frown when my heart clenches with longing.

Aside from the ceiling, the room is gigantic. This room alone could be an excessively large house. Large piles of diamonds are scattered around the room, made up of gems ranging from the size of a tic tac to the size of a dining chair.

I keel over. Again I feel hopelessness, like I felt coming here, but one hundred times worse. I peek around the crates further...

Hades looks slightly terrifying. Aside from the faces of the damned occasionally popping up for a visit on his cloak, he looks hella mad. Probably because he's chained up in some massive links, which seem to be glowing.

I gulp and inch forward. Should I try to communicate with him?

"Only a hero would be foolish enough to follow my power," the god murmurs.

"Oh, so it was you who was sending out the happy vibes." I glance at the guard, who's distracted by a glittering diamond. "Well, thanks for the beacon. How do I get you out?"

The god scowls deeper and I cringe away from him. "I do not know. I fear there isn't a way without defeating those souls."

"Oi!"

I backtrack behind the crates as Goon stomps over to Hades. "What were you talking for?"

"Naturally, I was chatting to myself. It's the only way I can have an intelligent conversation with you around."

I hear Drake's laugh from the cage. "That'll be a bad burn for him; he's never heard that before."

Goon growls and swings his stick at Hades. When it makes contact, instead of hurting him, it sticks to the cursed robes. Ice travels like quicksand up the staff, reaching the guard within seconds and engulfing his hand in blue flames.

Goon howls in pain and terror. "How did you-" his back arches as the flames climb across his body.

"You may restrain me, but you cannot restrain my power," says Hades quietly as Goon writhes in front of him.

I notice a whiff of pomegranates when I hear the commanding voice from the side room exclaim, "what's going on out there?"

A woman storms out and her eyes narrow at the scene. "Goon, you fool! We have a situation!" She calls back into the room.

A couple of others trail out; two men. They advance toward Hades and the pained guard.

That's when the woman's eyes turn toward the pile of crates I'm hiding behind. I quickly withdraw, but too late.

"There!" She points at me. "Grab the girl!"

I scurry around the side as the two man advance on me - but why don't they follow? I poke my head up and see them dragging a struggling girl. I breathe a sigh of relief.

In a flash, the men have clamped her in the same chains Hades is bound in. I squint at her face: the girl is none other than Persephone, queen of the Underworld.

"Persephone, you fool!" As soon as the god realises his wife is as doomed as he is, the blue flames die and Goon crumples to the floor. "You should have run when you had the chance. You should have called for help."

Persephone sobs. "I thought I could do it. Especially with those ratty heroes just in case; they always manage to save the day."

Hades grunts. "Not always, but we still hope for them." I don't have to be looking at Hades to know he's talking to me.

"Quiet, prisoners!" Says the woman as Goon drags himself to the corner. "We have won. Be quiet as we return the worthy ones to life."

Well, I guess that's my cue. I have no back up in a room filled with who knows how many enemies who have four hostages, and I have no plan. The hero's starter pack.

Perhaps I could sneak over to the cage and free Drake and Orca for help. Perhaps I could work at the bonds trapping the two gods. Perhaps I could sneak into the side room and assassinate the other enemies.

But instead I decide to execute the most cunning and heroic plan: I jump to my feet, sword extended, and yell, "let them all go or there'll be trouble!"

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Yo! Hope you like this chapter (: worked extra hard on it. Thanks for being so patient and thanks for 1.7k reads! So happy with you guys.

Please leave any comments containing the toughest critiques and appropriate praises. Really appreciate those as well as votes. It warms my heart when I see them! Love you guys.

Will Audin free her friends? Will she discover the evil plots of the enemy? Will she discover her own secret?

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K.C. Bailey