Dark-Hair, Sea Eyes

9

"Our father is dead." Thalia Grace spat from the other side of the prison bars, her brother Jason Grace sitting on the murky floor of the prison.

Boman had come in to give them their bread and water after they had refused Order's offer. He also had asked them why.

"Even so, taking up the task would mean rescuing whoever is in Chaos' clutches. Demigods like you." Boman said, but this time the younger one answered.

"No one in their right mind would tango with Chaos. It's suicidal. We don't even accept jobs from him, much less jobs that would mean attacking him."

"And yet you're not opposed to taking a job from his sworn enemy?" Boman questioned, placing their trays in the dungeon.

"Chaos has never been one for death by association." The girl said.

"Yeah. Just death." A new voice said.

"Lukas, why are you in here?" Boman asked sharply, but there was no real bite behind his words. ''Well if you guys are afraid of Chaos, Perseus is the assassin we're looking for," Luke said, leaning on the bars.

The boy frowned. "We're not afr--"

"Your name is Jason, right? Do you know Perseus?" Luke asked.

Jason didn't respond to the prince, an offense that would usually give him trouble if his sister hadn't answered for him. "Yes. Almost everyone recognizes him because of his targets." Thalia said.

''Really? So he normally goes for well-known people?" Luke asked.

"He has done in people of high status, including kings, queens, and high viziers. He's done little things too, such as stealing an artifact once or twice, but no one knows what he looks like. Except, of course, his employers," Thalia said grimly.

"His clients tend to disappear after working with him-- we know, we've looked-- and those who are alive are loyal to the contract agreement. Very loyal, almost religiously."

Jason scoffed. "Anonymity is the only thing he's got going for him. He's sloppy. He kills too many."

"Isn't that something that is needed to be an assassin? You can't do your job correctly if everyone knows who you are. Isn't that why Storm failed?" Luke asked, the question directed at Boman.

The truth is, Boman didn't know why Storm failed, as he had been comforting Yvette after Order had made the poor girl scrub the assassin off of the floors.

"Storm? Storm failed?" Jason asked, a new interest in his eyes.

"Yes. The last mistake he's ever made." Luke said, almost proudly. It had been his mother, after all, who'd given the command. "Wait, what do you mean?" Jason asked.

''You killed our brother! What the hell is wrong with you?" Thalia screeched through the bars. "Your brother? That's... unfortunate." Boman said.

"Teacher, I didn't realize that Storm had any relations to the Graces. Did you?" Luke asked. "No, I didn't," Boman said. "Are you connected by your father, the king of the gods? I heard he got around a lot," Luke asked.

The Graces fell silent. "Is this the grieving you spoke about before in the lessons, Teacher? I expected more... tears. Theatrics, maybe? I heard that their father breathed drama," Luke said, in a hushed whisper that could still be heard by the Graces.

Boman shook his head at the prince, patting his shoulder awkwardly.

"Can I have the room, my boy?" He asked, and the prince shrugged.

The old man turned his full focus to the two demigods when he heard the dungeon door close behind him.

"I'm sorry, for your loss. I was not aware that Storm was your brother." Boman said, though there was not anything he could say about it. Maybe, if his Empress was in a better mood, the situation would've been handled differently. But Boman couldn't see her keeping him alive for long as it wasn't immediately that they had set their sights on the two siblings, and wouldn't have found him useful unless they had managed to find out about their connection sooner.

The brother and sister said nothing. They stared at him, their eyes sparkling with electricity. The dungeon was made specifically for demigods and their special abilities so Boman was safe, but that didn't make the sight any less unsettling.

"Perseus. You said he was sloppy? What do you mean by that?" Boman asked.

It was silent for several moments, and Boman didn't think he'd get an answer.

"He'd get a target, sometimes more than one-- four people, tops-- but dozens can end up dying before his targets are dead. We're not saints, we kill people for money, but his death rates are unnecessary. He'd have several hundred names in his book on his targets alone, but he's killed several thousands." Jason said.

"Not to mention he accepts jobs from regular people," Thalia said. That line confused Boman. "What does that mean?"

"Regular people-- middle class and down. People who can't pay much if they want to continue feeding their family or paying for their homes. They'll probably scrape pennies to him, and he'll take the job. He dirties our brother's name. We kill for a living, but he simply kills for fun." Jason spat.

Brother's name? Perseus was a son of Zeus, and he had already died when that planet had been raided.
Perseus had been an old hero. What possessed this Perseus to take up a hero's name?

"You hold a lot of hate for him, don't you?" Boman asked, leaning on his cane. The two assassins said nothing, but the sparks in their eyes raged brighter, lighting up the dim dungeon.

Boman knew that he'd get an earful later as soon as he came up with the idea, but he had decided to give it a shot.

"You two know how to track his jobs, correct?" Boman asked.

Silence.

"If you want to get out, you'll answer my questions." The old man said sternly.

"Yeah, we learned how to follow the trail of carcasses and the smell of bloodlust. Why?" Jason asked.

"You are capable of high levels of drama. Order has a great interest in finding this assassin. You bring him back in one piece, alive, and you'll be handsomely compensated for your time. Not to mention, Order will more than likely kill him," Boman said.

"You said you could get us out?" Thalia asked.

"No, I didn't. In fact, I didn't say anything at all. See, in my old age, my legs nor my eyes are what they used to be. I didn't examine the lock when I came with the prisoners' food, but if I had, maybe I would've noticed a young guard's mistake of improperly locking the lock. I didn't know they'd take a dragon-- take the dragon, not the griffin, not any of the horses or pegasi, the black and yellow dragon-- and disappear."

Boman walked to the side of the dungeon and pushed in a stone, and a stairwell opened up.

''Deal?" Boman asked.

"Deal." Jason and Thalia said at the same time.

"Swear on the Styx," Boman said.

"Okay, we swear on the Styx." There was a sway underneath the castle, where Order had kept the river.

"Good. Now careful. You don't know what happens to people who break that promise." Boman warned.

He opened the dungeon, and the two demigods raced out.

He pulled the stone he had pushed and closed the doorway to the stairwell as they went down.

The guard standing outside the dungeon door didn't spare Boman a second glance.

It's five am in the morning on a Saturday but sleep is overrated.

Hoped you enjoyed this part, see ya!