Forgotten prophecy

Chapter 22

It took only a few minutes for the Amazons that Ryker had escaped from to catch up to him, throwing open the door to Hylla's office and entering with weapons drawn. Ryker, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, raised an eyebrow. They immediately spied him and began to advance when Hylla called out, "Stand down!"

They looked at their queen with surprise and incredulousness but they obeyed her nonetheless. "My queen," One said uncertainly, glancing around the room. Hazel, Nico, and the others were no longer restrained and were sitting calmly on chairs lined in front of Hylla's desk. "Th-the prisoner escaped." She finished lamely.

Hylla raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ryker. "You don't say?" She said cryptically. "And here I thought that you just decided to let him wander around the factory."

The Amazons lapsed into silence and Ryker chuckled quietly. They glared daggers at him and he winked at them. "I did tell you not to hit me." He reminded them reasonably. "It isn't my fault you didn't listen."

"You are free to go." Hylla told them. "They are not any danger."

"That one is." One of Ryker's former guards objected, pointing at him with her sword.

"I'm flattered you think so highly of me." He laughed darkly again, just to further antagonize them.

"Ryker." Piper said warningly. "We need them to help us on this quest."

The Amazons filed out of the room leaving only the demigods, Hylla, and her two guards. "You didn't actually kill any of my people did you?" Hylla asked hopefully. "Because then I would have to execute you."

"No, none of them are dead." Ryker confirmed.

"Well then," Hylla folded her hands in front of her. "My sister tells me that you need our assistance on the quest you are on? What is it you are trying to do?"

"We're trying to free the Oracle of Delphi." Annabeth told her. "We know Python has taken the Oracle back to where it kept her last time. We need to know where he is. Do you know?"

"Any other information would be really helpful as well." Will added. Hylla looked at him like she wasn't quite certain what to say and he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but it's my first quest. I want to know what we're walking into."

Hylla blew out a small sigh and met Annabeth's eyes. "We do know where the Oracle is being kept." She admitted. She paused uncertainly and Ryker narrowed his eyes. "But it's not information we can simply give away freely."

"Why not?" Hazel asked indignantly. "You've heard of what's happening to demigods right? We need to get the Oracle back so we can stop them from being taken."

"You misunderstand me." Hylla quickly said, "I will of course help you as much as I possibly can, but I can't tell you the information that you want because we do not know everything either." She scooted her chair back several feet and pulled out one of the drawers. She rummaged around inside for a moment before withdrawing a laptop. She closed the drawer and pulled back up to her desk, booting up the computer.

"What's that?" Ryker asked curiously, staring at the laptop.

Hylla looked at him with the same mixture of annoyance and grudging respect that she had when he first walked inside the office and answered, "This is a record of everything the Amazons have on every quest that has ever taken place." She glanced to Annabeth. "I don't suppose you would be willing to come back sometime and detail your trip through Tartarus?"

"If we survive this, sure." Annabeth offered. "I'll give you every gruesome detail."

"Excellent."