Lies

Chapter 22

**Thalia**

They took me and Zoë to separate cells, Zoë in her old one. Each day they drugged us so we couldn't use our powers and then tortured us. Zoë, being the kind, stupid idiot she was, pleaded with them to spare me from the tortures. They agreed, but instead I had to watch Zoë. They dressed me in red and purple gowns which I found extremely annoying and place a golden laurel over my head. They gagged me, the only sign that I was a prisoner not a princess. Zoë's t-shirt was torn to shreds in the process of her torture but she kept it on. Zoë was modest to the point of stupidity. Later on I realised it was the only part of the Hunters she had down here. Her jeans weren't much better—more rips than actual denim. Her body was bruised and bloody, her bandages torn off. She was presented to Tartarus in chains after an exceedingly brutal whipping. He was standing at the end of the throne room, dressed in armour, arms crossed, with a sense of royalty about him. Zoë was shoved into her knees with her hands behind her back. She struggled to lift her head, the drug fighting her every movement. An inch deep wound on her forehead had blood dripping down her face, splatting on the velvet carpet. Why does he even have a carpet? I noticed that her left ankle was sprained again and blood caked her clothes. Tartarus laughed cruelly and tore her shirt off. Zoë let loose a guttural scream as she watched it burn in the fire of Tartarus's palm. She sagged in her chains, tears rolling down her cheeks, cleaning the dirt away. She looked at me, her face filled with sadness. I tried to run to her but Tartarus's guards held me back. The dracaena dragged her away, Zoë still crying. When I was sent back to my cell I heard screaming in the cell next to me. Zoë. I looked through the window joining our cells and saw her backed into a corner with the dracaena trying to give her the antidote.

"Stop! Please! I don't want-" she screamed.

The dracaena ignored her. I locked eyes with her, horrified that she'd refuse the cure. Scared that she'd kill herself. Sad, because I knew how she felt. They forced her to swallow the antidote and then left.

"Zoë, please. I can't ask you to keep taking my tortures," I said.

"No," she said with effort. "Thee don't ... have a choice. Jason, he ... asked me ... protect you. I am ... going to stop pro ... protecting you till I no ... no longer can."

"No Zoë. Please, I've gone through barely any pain. Two weeks doesn't count for three and a half months, excluding the last time you were here," I protested.

Zoë didn't reply and instead rolled onto her side, not facing me. I sighed and paced the cell. I was wearing clean clothes, Zoë had barely any. I wasn't in pain, Zoë was in agony though she refused to admit it. I wasn't hungry, Zoë was starving. I couldn't let this happen to her any longer. The next day I was led to the same room everyday to watch Zoë be hurt.

"Thalia, don't. This is an order," Zoë said weakly.

"Aw, the little brat is protecting you," Tartarus teased.

Zoë glared at him. The whip came down, falling over her legs three times. After the fifty second stroke I spoke up.

"Stop."

Zoë's eyes widened and she tried to tell me to stop but she was to weak to speak, much less walk or crawl.

"Let me take my own tortures," I commanded.

They agreed and before long, I was dressed in my usual black clothes. The whip was dragged across my back harshly as if to make up for all those I missed. My screams mixed with Zoë's though hers came less often, after months of getting used to it. Two giants moved in synchronised timing and began punching us. Zoë was lying lay on her back and I was curled into a ball to protect myself. I heard Zoë's ribs crack and winced. The giant kicked my back and punched my face. After two weeks of enduring the pain, I slowly got accustomed to it, glad it wasn't hurting as much. Meanwhile Zoë was still rebelling against every action Tartarus made. I was glad and impressed but I couldn't find the strength to do the same, and Zoë threatened to cut off my tongue if I dared do it. I decided I'd prefer to keep my tongue and kept my mouth shut. I realised the lying flat on you back protected your spine and neck so I stopped curling into a ball. I soon gave up on being rescued after a year. Zoë was still more accustomed to the pain than me, but regular stab wounds, well, I barely felt them anymore. Tartarus ordered us to dance for his amusement to which we refused. Me because I hate dancing, and Zoë because she adamantly refuses every time someone asks her. Tartarus glared at us and commanded his guards to do a double torture, however they wanted. I was thrown into a pit full of muddy water, my chains making me sink. They electrocuted it and I gasped. Water filled my mouth and nose, going into my ears too. They pulled me out and I laid on the ground gasping for breath. Zoë was next in, though they electrocuted her for heaps longer. Zoë was unconscious when the monsters pulled her out, due to lack of air. They carried on doing that for the rest of the day. When they threw us back in our cells, I noticed my cell door was left partially open. I slipped out of my chains and quietly unlocked Zoë's cell. Zoë was skeletal thin from having one meal per month. I let her out of her chains and supported half her weight as we sneaked away from our cells. Our cells were eventually just dots in the distance. We'd covered enough ground to be a good way away from them but not far enough to be able to get away. I lifted Zoë to her feet and we staggered further and further away. It took us days, I think seven, to get to the Doors of Death. Bob was standing by them, probably waiting for any demigods. He opened the elevator and held down the button. We lean against the doors with all out strength to make sure they wouldn't open. Small Bob, Bob's cat was waiting for us at the other side. The air swirled around us and suddenly we were in midair. I could see the Hunters camp but sadly we would die if we hit the ground from up here. Luckily Artemis saw us falling and grabbed us around our waists. She flew slowly back down to the ground as the Hunters crowded around us. The infirmary was too far away to go before Zoë died from blood loss so Bianca ran off to get supplies and Artemis, Phoebe and Diana began to heal us.