Typhon's Revenge

Chapter Thirty-Six

WATER

The tall figures of the Oneiroi stood before us. Their cold eyes scanned us and lingered on my sword briefly before their scowl deepened. One of the Oneiroi, the one who seemed to be the leader, stepped forward. "Who are you?" His voice rumbled, making the cave shake slightly. 

Aileen didn't respond right away as she stepped forward to meet the daemon halfway. "We did not mean to disrupt you. We're Elementals, I'm fire. This is Earth and he's water," Aileen finished as she pointed to me. I raised an eyebrow at the way she had introduced us. That's a first, I thought to myself but kept my eyes alert on the daemon.

He seemed surprised by Aileen's remark and he shared a look with his brothers behind him before speaking. "So I guess the time has come. Tell me, what brings you here, fire? And where is the fourth member, wind?" 

This time, Mason was the one who stepped forward to stand next to Aileen. "Wind is unable to come at this moment. She was hurt and she lost her memory. Temporarily. We were hoping you could help us-"

But before he could finish, the creature was already shaking his head. "We cannot restore her memory, only the Titaness, Mnemosyne, can help you," he said as he started to turn away.

"Wait, we know you cannot restore her memories. You're the Oneiroi, the gods of dreams, that's why we're here. Wind and I have been having strange dreams that we cannot remember as soon as we wake up. What does that mean? Why can't we remember?" I demanded as I raised my voice and stepped to stand next to the others.

The daemon who had been at the front of the group looked intrigued as he turned around to face us. "Phobetor, what is the meaning of this?"

One of the brothers flinched at the sound of his name and he slowly made his way to the light. Now that they stood side by side, I could tell that Phobetor was shorter and more scrawny than his brother. 

"I-I-" he started to mumble and the bigger brother swatted him across the face. 

All of us flinched in surprise as we watched Phobetor reach for his cheek and avert his gaze from his brother. "Speak, you imbecile," the older brother said.

"Zeus is wrong to keep them in the dark. I was just trying to get them to ask questions about this whole war. My intention was for them to go to Olympus and confront Zeus into revealing the truth. Only then can this battle end. You have seen how the world above is like, brother. This war needs to end soon or else it's going to cost the lives of millions more," Phobetor urged and his brother only scowled.

"You had no right to interfere, Phobetor. Zeus didn't tell us to contact them. He told us to stay out of it," he murmured darkly but Phobetor shook his head.

"No, Morpheus. I'm done with that. I may be the one that controls nightmares, but I am not a heartless being," Phobetor said with a determined look as his gaze met his brother's.

Morpheus looked shocked as his brother met his gaze without backing down. "I think he is right, brother," the other Oneiroi stepped forward and I tried not to flinch as he came into the light.

His face was twisted in a weird angle and his features seemed disproportional, unreal. 

"Phantasos? You're siding with Phobetor?" Morpheus asked in shock as his other brother nodded his head.

"It is time, brother. We must contact Zeus," Phantasos said.

Clearly outnumbered, Morpheus sighed in defeat and nodded his head. "Alright." Then he turned to us with a serious expression on his face, "follow me, Elementals."

Aileen and I shared a look of discomfort but Mason was already walking ahead while she and I took the back.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" She whispered as the orbs of fire started to follow us.

Shaking my head, I held my sword firmly, "I don't know. But I think they're on our side."

Aileen didn't respond and Phobetor's voice broke the silence. 

"I did try to reach you, son of Poseidon. As did I try to reach the daughter of Zeus since both of you have a connection to the greater gods of Olympus and since the daughter of Hades already has direct contact with her father. What I didn't expect was for you to forget your dreams as soon as you woke up. That wasn't meant to happen, which means that something or rather, someone is trying to block them," he said thoughtfully and I stiffened.

If this person was able to block out and erase our dreams from memory, then that meant he or she also had the ability to wipe out our memory. Like it happened with Kalani. 

"Unfortunately, we cannot recover your memories. Like my brother said, only the Titaness Mnemosyne can and she's been missing for centuries now," Phantasos said with a shrug. 

"We're here," Morpheus said after a moment as we reached a deeper part of the cave and a heavy stone door was in front of us. The three brothers pushed it open and groaned at the weight of it. 

My eyes widened when I saw what was inside. It was bright and filled with shimmers of light that went of ever so suddenly. At the center of the room, was a white, shining stone over a stone column, just floating in midair. 

"This was a gift from Hades when he gave us a place in the Underworld. After the great Titan war, my brothers and I were pardoned for helping the gods, and Hades in exchange gave us this stone. It's a portal that connects all the realms. We can see and intervene in different universes as well as connect directly to Olympus," Morpheus explained as he stood on one side of the stone and his brothers on opposite sides from each other. 

That's when I realized the stone wasn't a normal stone you would find on the ground. It was a prism. Carefully polished and cut so its three edges all pointed to one brother.

"This will only take a moment," Phantasos said as he closed his eyes and took his brothers' hands.

The three of them stood with their eyes closed and their heads tilted to the roof. They started to chant in mumbling voices and it was difficult for us to interpret what they were saying. A moment later, the stone began to glow brightly. So bright we had to squint and look away so it didn't hurt our vision.

The brothers' chant sounded more distant now and I could almost hear the cave vibrate with energy. Aileen stumbled next to me and I quickly moved to stop her from falling. 

As soon as our skin touched, I felt her body react as a shiver ran through her body and she sent me a quick thankful look as I caught her. "Thanks," she muttered before quickly turning away with a slight blush on her face.

I smiled and slowly moved my hands away. I knew that that didn't mean anything. She was just reacting to our bond. 

Suddenly, the bright light was too much and I closed my eyes as it illuminated the whole room and then... it was all dark again.

Opening my eyes hesitantly, I saw the three brother lying on the ground, unconscious and unmoving. My eyes widneed as I made my way towards them, unsure of what to do. They couldn't be dead, could they?

"Mason, do you think you can check to see if they're okay?" I asked without turning to look at him, but in a moment, he was by my side in an instant. 

"They're alive. I can feel their life force. But the stone must have drained them from their energy and they can't wake up until they've recharged a bit. I guess we will just have to wait," he replied with a shrug and Aileen walked towards us.

"Do you know how long? We can't stay here for much longer. If we want to go back to the castle in time, we need to leave soon," she said nervously.

Mason shook his head and shrugged, "I don't know, Aileen. For all we know, it could take days. Maybe we should leave them and then come back tomorrow."

Aileen opened her mouth to say something but I quickly butted in. "No, we've come all this way for answers. We might as well wait for them. It doesn't matter if we miss our chance to go back to the castle today. We can always cross the bridge once the sun rises."

Aileen and Mason shared a look but neither of them said anything. 

It wasn't until a couple of breaths later that Aileen sighed and nodded her head. "Alright. I just wish there was a way to contact Alex."

Mason raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You're the Princess of the Underworld and you don't even know if there's a way to do so? There must. Or a portal or something."

Aileen chuckled and rolled her eyes. "I don't know anything about the Underworld yet. I'm still learning. But as soon as they wake up, I'll ask them."

With a sigh, Mason nodded his head and leaned back against one of the walls of the room. "Well, since we're going to wait here. We should eat. That soup I ate for lunch wasn't enough," Mason murmured as he headed out of the room. A moment later, he returned looking embarrassed. "Um, apparently this is the only room in the whole cave with light so, um, Aileen could you come with me?" He asked nervously and his cousin rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, come on. You're such a scared cat," she teased and Mason and her were too far away for me to hear what he responded. 

As soon as they were gone, I sat down on a rock and put my blade away. There was no need for it now. 

My eyes remained fixed on the deamons in front of me as if they would rise all of the sudden with the answers. Somehow, I doubted that would happen soon. 

Aileen and Mason came back holding three bags with what I guessed were sandwiches. Aileen handed me one and shrugged. "This is going to be our last meal for a little while. I only packed two extra sandwiches for each of us. Just in case," she said with a smile.

I thanked her and the three of us ate in silence as we looked around the cave. I was too lost in thought that I almost didn't hear Mason ask, "what stone do you think that is? What does it do?"

Aileen shrugged and looked at the stone that was still glowing faintly on the stone column. "I think it's a dream stone."

"It is," I replied without turning to them. "They're very rare and they help the Oneiroi channel their powers to communicate with whomever they wish. I'm guessing they were trying to contact Zeus but he was too far away that it drained them of their powers," I said with a sigh as I put the bag away. 

Aileen and Mason nodded their heads and sighed. "Well, I'm going to go search around the area and see if there's anything that could help us wake them up," Aileen said as she got to her feet, wiping away all the dirt.  

Surprisingly, Mason didn't offer to accompany her and soon, she was gone. 

I didn't turn to face Mason, I was guessing he had stayed behind for a reason. 

"So, what do you think is going to happen after this? After the Oneiroi wake up and tell us what they found out," Mason said as he sat down next to me.

I chuckled and shook my head. "I can't say. I don't have all the answers, Mason."

Mason chuckled and nodded his head. "Of course I know that. But I also know you're rational and perseptive. I know that much because I have noticed you digging around, looking for information about Noah."

Instantly, I stiffened. Had he stayed back to tell me that I was crazy for thinking there was something wrong or missing with Noah? 

Shrugging, I tried to remain neutral. "I'm just following a hunch."

Mason nodded his head and raised his hands in defeat. "And I know, I get it and support you. We all do, actually. Not even Aileen trusts him completely now."

Those were news to me.

I turned to him with a raised eyebrow and opened my mouth to ask what he meant when suddenly, the three of brothers sat up and gasped simultaneously. Instantly, their eyes landed on us and the first words to come out of their mouth were, "it's time."