Camp Half Blood: One "Salty" Adventure

Camp Half Blood: A Salty Sequel//Chapter Thirty-Five

Myra's POV:

I stared up at my mother's castle, dread building in my stomach. Cole's hand was tightly holding mine and at the moment, it was my only source of comfort. Ben lead the way into the castle. I knew he didn't know the way, but I wanted to stay hidden by Cole's side for as long as possible. The icy door slammed shut behind us when we walked in. Everything here felt surreal to me. Like a fading nightmare. Ben walked down the flight of stairs. I didn't protest even though he was walking away from the throne room. Just a few more minutes without Khione... A few more minutes to hide behind Cole and pretend that nothing bad will happen. Nathan had walked through a different door, leaving us to find the demigods. He said he'd see us later and that what he had to do wouldn't take long. Then, Ben walked over to a set of doors and opened them. The silence between us all was suffocating. He walked inside and we all wordlessly trailed after him.

The room itself was circular almost. Four doors each with a symbol engraved on them. It was clear that this was meant for us. Ben looked frozen with terror. I pushed past him and started to investigate. The first door had two squiggly lines, one drawn over the other. The universal sign for water. I looked back at Rose, only to see her gaze was already locked on the door. Moving to the next one, a heart was etched into the ice. Ben was staring at the floor. I left him alone and moved to the next one. The engraved sun on it made my skin crawl. I don't want Cole to be separated from me. Then I looked back at him, he gave me a sad smile and looked at the one door I hadn't seen yet. A single snowflake design glared back at me.

"Frostbite, it'll be okay. We can handle this. I know we can." Cole's calming voice rang out beside me. His voice was always level and as smooth as honey. I wish I had the confidence that he did.

"I-I don't want to see her again... She's done awful, twisted things to me, Cole." I buried my face into his shirt, trying to hold back tears. He rubbed my back slowly, willing me to calm down. After a few minutes, I reluctantly pulled away and walked over to Ben and Rose with Cole at my heels. We stood in grim silence for a moment. "We all know what we have to do." I started off, gaining everyone's attention. "We've gotten out of here before and we can do it again. Let's go in there, face whatever she has planned and meet Nathan." Rose nodded and gave me a small smile. Ben still looked like he was going to be sick and he didn't look like he was paying attention to a word I was saying either. Cole squeezed my hand lightly. I turned to him. "Stay safe, Badger." I stood up on my toes and kissed his cheek.

"I will. Be careful, Frostbite." He said. I shrugged and left his side, walking over to my door. As soon as my hand touched the handle and then I opened it and walked inside, I heard Ben start to protest behind me. Without looking back, I closed the door.

It was dark. It took my eyes a minute to adjust to the dim lighting. The door slammed shut behind me. I knew it was locked without turning around. A single chair was facing the right wall and a door, almost identical to the one I entered through, was on the other side of the room. I didn't trust the chair, so tested my powers on it before sitting down cautiously. As soon as I did some type of projection appeared on the wall in front of me. It was the room Rose was in. She was carefully scanning her surroundings with her glaive in her hands. I watched her wander over to the other door in her room. As soon as her back turned, a shape began to materialise behind her. "Rose! Watch out!" I tried to stand up and warn her, but suddenly I couldn't move. I struggled against whatever invisible force that was holding me back, but to no avail. Rose couldn't hear me. The shape turned into a woman who looked a lot like Rose.

"M-Mom?!" Rose yelled in surprise. She surged forward trying to hug her mother. I watched from the chair, still weak from the lack of sleep, and rendered completely helpless by invisible chains. Rose's mother sidestepped the hug and took a slash at Rose with a golden dagger. She hardly dodged it in time.