Typhon's Revenge

Chapter Forty-Five

FIRE

The rest of the day flew by. Mason had said there was nothing wrong with Kalani and that Andrew had probably been right about her being overwhelmed by Zeus's power. So the plan continued in motion as we had our last dinner in the castle. It was just us five, Noah was nowhere to be seen, not that I was complaining. I felt too overwhelmed to deal with him at the moment. 

After dinner, we headed into the kitchen to help the staff clean up and told them they could leave since we would take care of everything. Alessandro didn't fight me but I could tell he was intrigued as to why I was letting them leave early. Nonetheless, he didn't question me and soon, said something in Italian that sounded like, "Andiamo," and the staff quickly started to clear out.

"We'll be back tomorrow morning, princess. Goodnight, everyone," Alessandro said as he gave us a look that said, be careful with my kitchen, and then he disappeared after his staff.

As soon as they left, we stayed behind to grab food for our trip. We took as much as it could fit in our bags since we weren't sure how long it was going to take us to reach Olympus. Mason prepared us sandwiches for the following day while Alex and Kalani were taking out as many cans as they could find in the pantry. Andrew and I were on packing duty as we carefully stacked the food in each backpack and filled each of them.

Alessandro was probably going to be shocked and furious when he saw that we had raided his kitchen, but I would be sure to apologize the next time I saw him. He was a good person.

Once we were done, the five of us headed out of the kitchen with our backpacks full and heavy. While the others said they wanted to go to the common room before bed, I shook my head and pointed to the opposite hallway. "I'm going to go see my father first," I whispered as I came to a stop. The others turned to me but Andrew was the nearest to me.

He raised an eyebrow while he offered to take my backpack just in case my father wouldn't ask. I agreed and as soon as I handed it to him, he said, "are you going to tell him anything?" 

Shaking my head, I smiled. "No, don't worry. The fewer people that know, the better." And at that moment, I really meant it. 

He nodded his head as he took my backpack, "We'll see you where we agreed to meet tomorrow morning," he whispered and I nodded my head. I waved at the others goodbye before turning away and heading towards the other wing of the castle, as I walked I felt Andrew's gaze on the back of my head as he watched me walk away.

I knocked on my father's door and I heard him say, "come in," before I walked in. 

When he saw me, he smiled and stood up. "Aileen, you're back."

Chuckling, I nodded my head. "Yep, all went well. Which I think it's a good thing." 

Nodding his head, he smiled and motioned for me to join him on one of his black velvet couches. I stood on the lovers couch while he took the individual one in front of me. He was still smiling as he said, "Indeed it is. And how was your trip? Was it of any use?" 

I bit my lip as I recalled telling Andrew I wasn't going to involve my father in this even though a part of me told me I could trust him. If it weren't for the voice in my head being so adamant, I probably wouldn't have said anything.

"Father, there's something you should know," I blurted as I looked away from him. The words were out before I could stop them and he looked slightly taken aback by my remark. 

"What is it?" He asked slowly. 

Taking a deep breath, I knew that this was my last chance to back out. But I didn't. Instead, I told him everything. I told him about our trip. I told him about the Oneiroi and the cave in which they took us in and the message they had received. But most importantly, I told him about our plan to leave the Underworld. 

By the time I was done talking, silence fell over us as he looked at me with a non-expressive face and his body tense. I wasn't sure of what to say so I waited patiently for him to process everything and I looked away from his gaze and instead looked at my intertwined fingers on my lap. 

The first sound to cut through the silence was his chuckle and I looked at him in time to see him shaking his head. He was smiling but it wasn't because he was happy, he looked sad. 

"I knew that this day would come but I thought I would have more time to get to know you before you left. And just on the spring equinox, how ironic," he whispered and I knew he was talking about Persephone, his ex-wife. She was always so excited to leave as soon as the equinox was upon them.

I stiffened and slowly reached for his hand across the coffee table. "Father, I will be back. This is our destiny and we all have our part to play. I promise I will come back as soon as I can. It's not a goodbye forever," I whispered.

He nodded his head and smiled. "I know, daughter. I just find it very ironic how Zeus plays with time. He always knows how to get all of us riled up," he said with a chuckle and I smiled. 

He turned to look at me and cleared his throat. "If you're going to find Hephaestus first then I think it's time I give you something."

Tilting my head to the side, I asked, "what is it?"

Hades smiled and let go of my hands as he walked over to his desk and took out two vials with a dark, red liquid inside. I stiffened as my eyes widened and he handed them to me. "This is your mother's and my blood. Don't worry, it's not for something bad it's just something we had planned to use for your gift when you were formally introduced to the realm."

I looked at him in bewilderment as I said, "blood?"

Hades chuckled and shook his head. "Not exactly. Hephaestus needs our blood to be able to mark the weapons he creates. Take these two vials to him and he will make you any weapon you desire. You're strong my child, but this will make you stronger. Look at it as if your mother and I would always be by your side."

I didn't know what to say. It was kind of scary how I had just been thinking a couple of hours ago that I wanted to have a weapon with at least one of my parent's mark. I was too shocked to react and the next thing I knew, I was rushing towards him and hugging him tightly. "Thank you," I whispered into his shoulder. 

"It's my honor to be able to give this to you, daughter. I'm sorry we didn't do this sooner, but your mother thought it would be best as a coronation gift. We always thought you would be crowned as Princess of the Underworld long before this war escalated so quickly. Sadly, that wasn't the case. 

Now go rest. You will have a long journey ahead of you, but I'm glad for the time we have been given. After sixteen years, I was finally able to see you again and that has been the greatest joy of my life," he whispered and I began to tear up. 

Ailee, pull yourself together. Everything is going to be fine, I scolded myself in my mind.

So I hugged him tighter one last time and then pulled away. We smiled at each other and I murmured a "goodnight" as I headed towards the door and walked out. As soon as I closed the door, I let out a deep sigh. That was certainly something I hadn't expected when I came to say goodbye.

"You okay?" 

His voice made me jump and my skin crawl and I quickly looked at him. Noah was standing a couple of feet away from me with an expression I couldn't read on his face. His posture was relaxed and he placed his hand behind his back like he usually did. It was a habit of his. He was wearing black pants and a red jacket over his usual white shirt. 

"Hey, Noah. I had been wondering where you've been but I'm kind of tired to talk now. I was just going up to my room to rest," I said as I plastered a smile on my face.

Noah raised an eyebrow as his eyes looked at my face as if scanning me. 

Discreetly, I placed the vials of blood behind my back. I wasn't sure why I did that but I knew it was the right decision. I didn't trust Noah with them, I wasn't sure if he knew what they were for but I was guessing he did. He was cunning and clever.

"Hello Aileen, I understand. You've had a very long journey and I will be happy to hear it at any time that you want to share," he began and I only smiled in return. "Very well. Then please, let me escort you to your room," he continued as he motioned for me to walk in forward. 

I smiled and followed his lead as I thought to myself, play along.

It didn't take us long to reach my room and I was glad because the silence between us was making me more uncomfortable. He wasn't usually this quiet, especially not around me. 

"I can take it from here," I said as we stopped at my door. "Thank you for walking me, Noah. I'll see you tomorrow and we can catch up. Okay?"

He nodded his head and smiled. "It was my pleasure. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, my lady."

Then he turned away and I held my breath until he was gone. It seemed that every time he made me warier and warier and I wasn't sure why. He just seemed to turn up in the most unexpected moments and it was as if he were a step ahead always. I wasn't sure why it was a bad thing since he didn't seem like a person who would even harm a fly, but I was an expert when it came to my instincts. I always knew when there was something going on. Something bigger than what they were letting on. And Noah had secrets. Big secrets.

I was just glad I wasn't going to stick around to find out what they were, at least not until I got back. Until then, Noah could wait and I could focus on what was really the problem.

Walking into my room, I headed towards the closet, wanting to find something comfortable to sleep with. It was my last night here, after all. 

The good thing was that I had already packed the clothes I was going to take on our journey and the ones that I was going to use tomorrow were already neatly folded on my bureau in front of my bed. 

Once I decided what to wear, I walked into the bathroom and took a long, warm shower. I was definitely going to miss this the most. Then I changed into my pajamas before heading to bed. The lamp on my nightstand was on and I looked around my room. Never in a million years would I have imagined ending up in a place like this, with parents like the ones I had. It all still felt surreal at times.

The two red vials with my parents' blood were on my night table and for some reason, I didn't feel comfortable leaving them there. They felt too exposed and even though there wasn't supposed to be anyone else here, I could never be too careful. So I grabbed them and put them in a small wooden box that I had found in my closet and then gently placed them under my fluffy pillow as I laid down. 

I wasn't really tired and I wasn't sure if I would be able to fall asleep after all the events I had witnessed. Kalani's reaction to the blade had left a certain scar in my mind and I couldn't help but wonder why that had happened. There had to be a reason we didn't know about. But Mason didn't find anything.  So only time would tell if there would be consequences. She had died. Or at least her heart had stopped beating, but in my dictionary, that meant dying. 

Shaking my head, I cleared the thoughts and worries away, I knew I needed to sleep. And as I looked at my clock, I realized I had already wasted an hour just thinking about things I couldn't change or answer. So I closed my eyes and willed my mind to rest. 

After a while, I was able to calm down enough to feel my consciousness slip away, and then I fell into a deep, deep sleep.