Lies [Sequel to Secrets]

Part Forty-Two:

Part Forty-Two:

Zoe and Charlie broke apart to the sound of someone clapping.

Zoe turned her head to see Jaz and Alex hovering on Festus next to them above the pit. Jaz wiped her eyes and then continued clapping. Alex, however, was scowling at Jaz.

"That was beautiful! Encore! Zarlie is my new OTP!" Jaz cried.

"Shut up." Alex spat. Jaz gave Alex a look of annoyance. "Now get in, losers." Alex manoeuvred Festus so that Zoe and Charlie could climb on, and then they soared upwards to the top of the cliff.

"I get it now." Zoe said, looking down at the abyss one last time. "That was the entrance to Chaos. I'll bet you anything that we're close to Tartarus."

"Agreed." Charlie nodded. When they landed, Michael and Sammy were waiting. The six of them shared a quick team hug before Alex clambered back onto Festus.

"I feel like Festus needs to be in the final battle." She said. "Don't you, boy?" Festus roared and spewed fire in response. Sammy jumped on behind Alex.

"Lets go!" He said.

"Wait, Jaz needs to lead." Zoe said quickly.

"Oh, yeah." Jaz nodded.

"Can you even produce fire?" Alex asked sceptically, as they set off.

"Yeah." Jaz opened up her palm. A small, purple flame was dancing across it. "Hecate blessed me, so I've learnt some cool tricks."

"Neat." Charlie said.

Jaz held Zoe's map in her hand. She directed them towards what looked like a garbage dumpsite.

Mountains of rubbish awaited them, full of discarded goods and metals. Some were stacked so high, they reached into the blood-like vapour clouds that darted above them.

Zoe looked on the ground before her as she entered. She spotted what looked like a laptop and a backpack on the ground ahead of her.

"Hey guys, check it out." She said, kneeling down to open the laptop screen.

But this was no ordinary laptop. Where the company logo should've been, there was an ancient greek symbol: A delta. Zoe opened up a file and gasped. She found a picture of what looked like her parents, only much younger, probably teenagers just older than her.

"Who are they?" Jaz asked, peering over Zoe's shoulder.

"My parents..." Zoe whispered. She shut the laptop. "This must've belonged to them. We should keep it."

"Look at this stuff." Charlie had gotten the backpack and was searching it's contents. There was a celestial bronze knife, an empty water bottle, what looked like some ambrosia and a box of matches.

"Whoa." Zoe breathed. Suddenly, it was as if the temperature had dropped ten degrees. Zoe felt colder than she should've been, and as she whirled around to face the others, a voice spoke.

Demigods... The voice was gruff and deep, but Zoe could tell who it was.
Standing before the group, was the god who they had been searching for.

Tartarus.