Typhon's Revenge

Chapter Thirty-Seven

EARTH

I shiver of discomfort ran down my spine as three pairs of eyes landed on Andrew and me. The three brothers had a haunted look in their eyes that made me think that whatever they were going to say next wasn't good. 

"Time for what?" Aileen's voice rang through the silent room as she walked back inside with a skeptical look in her eyes. She made her way to stand next to Andrew and me, but her eyes remained fixed on the daemons before us.

"Zeus is weakening rapidly. In fact, we couldn't find him in Olympus. His daughter, Athena, was the one to answer our call. She says Zeus has been missing for quite a while now and without him, it's almost impossible to get a message out into the Underworld. She tried to reach out to her son, but something was blocking her powers. In fact, we did struggle to make contact with the surface, something dark is poisoning the Underworld. You must get out of here while you still have the chance, Elementals," the eldest brother, Morpheus, said with an anxious look on his face. 

Andrew stiffened next to me and closed his hands into fists. 

"And where are we supposed to go? Where did Zeus go? How do we know what our next move is?" He demanded, clearly losing his patience. We were all on edge. If Zeus was missing then that meant this war could end sooner than we anticipated and not for the better. 

If something were to happen to the King of Gods, then we would lose without a doubt.

Gulping, I tried to make Andrew's body relax with my abilities, but he quickly turned to face me and shook his head. "Don't. Right now my frustration is what's making me think clearly," he murmured.

In my mind, I felt Aileen reach out to me and in my mind, she placed her comforting hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. Andrew almost never loses his patience. Let him have this moment to blow off some steam. Sometimes it's good. And he's right, he always thinks better when he's on edge," she whispered softly and I nodded my head slightly.

The three brothers had remained silent as if waiting for Aileen to finish talking to me in my mind. 

"You will need to leave the Underworld without anyone knowing. From this point on, you will not trust anyone but yourselves. I can tell you now that it won't be easy," Phantasos replied seriously. 

"Head over to the River of Acheron. It's the only way you won't be detected. Fire, child, don't use your powers until you're all out of here. You will be watched. Once you're on the surface, head over to the nearest volcano. You will not miss it. There you will find Hephaestus, the God of blacksmiths. He will guide you to Olympus and leave you in proper hands. Be careful, young ones. What's to come is not something to be taken lightly," Phobetor warned as he looked at each of us before making his way out of the room. 

His other two brothers followed without another word and Aileen and I shared a look before quickly following the out. Aileen illuminated the way as we rushed to the entrance of the cave. The brothers were sitting down at the center with their legs crossed in front of them and their eyes closed peacefully. It looked as if they were meditating. 

"Should we disrupt them?" I whispered to Aileen who shook her head. 

"No, let's just get out of here. We need to get to the castle. Neither Alex nor Kalani are safe by themselves there," she said with urgency as she ran out of the cave.

Following her closely, I ran after her and gasped as soon as we were out in the open. Not only was it dark, but it was also raining. Quickly, I turned to Andrew who shook his head and shrugged. "It's not me," he yelled over the sound of thunder.

Aileen, who now had her wet hair on her face, was the one to reply, "can you stop it? I think we can still make it to the castle in time, but not with this rain."

Andrew shook his head and then let out a deep breath, uncertain. "Let me try."

Raising his arms, Andrew faced the storm head-on as he tried to stop the rain. A moment passed and a rumble of loud thunder rolled around us and I couldn't help but flinch. I hated thunderstorms, and this looked like an ugly one. 

"I can't!" Andrew yelled after another minute. A bright flash of lightning illuminated the sky before another thunder echoed in the distance. "I'll try again," he said, more determined this time.

Aileen stiffened next to me as she watched as the clouds around us darkened. In an instant, I quickly reached for her hand and she tightened her grip around me. Trying to reassure me that everything was going to be fine.

"I didn't know you didn't like rain," she murmured in surprise. 

I chuckled and shook my head. "It's not rain that I don't like. I don't like thunderstorms. That's the oldest memory I have. Of a woman leaving me in the orphanage as it was pouring out. Now I know that woman was Artemis."

Aileen's eyes widened as she turned to me in bewilderment. "You remember that? That's not possible. You were only a couple of days old."

I shrugged and shook my head. "I don't know how I remember. I just do. And since then, I can't stand thunderstorms. It makes me panic and go through those feelings of abandonment again," I confessed. It was something I had never said to anyone. Not even Alex, but it was true. That was my greatest fear, of being alone again. 

Aileen smiled and gently leaned on my shoulder. She was just as wet as I was under the rain. "Mason, you will never be alone again. Of that I am sure. We're family and I'll always be here for you. I would never, ever abandon you," she whispered and I felt my head start to spin. "Trust me. This rain is going to pass and we'll be with the others in no time," she said reassuringly and just then, Andrew let out a cry of frustration as his muscles tightened and his eyes glowed bright blue.

A clap of loud thunder echoed all around us and the rain stopped for a moment... and then, everything continued as if nothing had happened. 

Gasping, Andrew shook his head and turned to us with an exhausted look on his face. "I'm sorry. I can't. There's something blocking my powers. I can barely make a connection with the rain."

Aileen nodded and smiled warmly, "then we'll just have to wait. Let's go back inside. It's obvious we're not going to get to the castle anytime soon."

Andrew's head dropped in defeat and Aileen grabbed his arm and mine as she led the three of us back inside. 

Her orbs of fire still illuminated the room and the three brothers were still sitting at the center of the room as if nothing had happened. 

As soon as we were out of the rain, Aileen raised her arms and evaporated all of the water from our clothes and the sound of water sizzling filled my ears as a shiver ran down my spine. Once the cloud of steam had cleared, Aileen made her way towards the brothers and took a seat in between Phobetor and Phantasos.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think we should stay here until the rain clears. I hope that won't bother you," she said softly and Phantasos opened his eyes and smiled down at her.

"Of course not, Princess of the Underworld. This is your realm, you're the one who makes the rules."

Morpheus huffed and opened his eyes but didn't say anything. 

"We were just resting. You see, we normally sleep during the day and work during the night," Phobetor said with a smile and Phantasos rolled his eyes.

"In theory. My brother forgets that while one part of the world is awake, the other part is sleeping. So in reality, we never rest," Phantasos said with a sigh.

"Yes, we do. Don't deceive the poor child. When the humans wake up without knowing what they dreamt of it's because we decided to take the day off," Phobeter explained and Phantasos chuckled.

Aileen smiled and nodded her head. "I get it and I'm sorry to interrupt. You can continue with your duties," she whispered before getting onto her feet and walking towards us. She seemed calmer now in their presence but I could tell she was still worried and anxious for what could be happening in the castle. 

"I think we should take watch and get some rest. As soon as that rain stops, we're getting out of here and heading towards the bridge so that at first light we're able to cross it," she said in all seriousness and I nodded my head.

"I'll take the first watch," Andrew said, beating me to it. He didn't meet Aileen's gaze nor mine and I guessed that had something to do with how ashamed he felt for not being able to stop the rain.

"Are you sure?" Aileen asked slowly as she eyed him and he only nodded his head. 

"I'm sure."

With a tense nod, Aileen made her way to the wall as she leaned against it and curled onto a ball. 

Once she was gone, I turned my attention back to Andrew who still wasn't looking at me. 

"Hey, Andrew," I began softly and it was a moment until he turned to face me. His eyes looked at me expectantly and I cleared my throat. "Don't beat yourself up for not being able to stop the rain. We don't know what we're up against but we definitely can't beat it alone. It's going to take all of us to get through this. Okay?" 

Andrew nodded his head and I smiled warmly at him before saying, "I'll take the second watch," and then heading towards my cousin who was already breathing slowly as she slept. It always amazed me how quickly Aileen seemed to fall asleep. It was rare that she'd have any trouble sleeping, normally that would only happen at night because she was normally more tired during the day. I guess that had something to do with who our parents were. 

While my father, Apollo, was related to the sun and the day, her mother, Artemis, was related to the moon and night. They were two sides of the same coin but they were still the same coin. Aileen may not be my twin sister, but I still saw her as one, and I was glad she had been there to calm my nerves during the storm. I was glad the gods had granted me the opportunity to have an actual sibling, even if it was only by title. 

Looking up at the ceiling of the cave, I closed my eyes and thought, Thank you for bringing us together, up onto the surface. I didn't know if anyone would be able to hear my message or if it would only ring in my mind, but if someone did hear it, I hoped it would be my parents. I was anxious to meet them and a part of me felt relieved and excited for finally being able to leave the Underworld. 

Aileen and Andrew had already met their parents, and Kalani said she met hers too when she was little, so now I wanted my chance to meet mine finally. Face-to-face. 

With a sigh, I wrapped my arms around me and tried to make myself as comfortable as one can leaning against the cold, rough surface of a cave wall. Distantly, I heard someone move and I figured Andrew had taken a seat as he kept watch on the exit. 

The sound of rain and thunder seemed to fade away, and being so close to Aileen made me feel warm since she was practically irradiating heat in a meters radius. Finally, I was able to drift off into a peaceful sleep and I let go of all the worries I felt. I needed to rest, I was also very tired and I needed to keep my strength up for when it was time to take Alex and Kalani out of the castle.