▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY ONE ▬▬▬

ESMERELDA HONESTLY HAD NO IDEA where she was going, which was no surprise since she was stuck inside the Labyrinth, after all. She didn't even know how much time had passed... Hopefully she hadn't been gone for too long. Sirius might worry.

She wished she had dressed up more appropriately for the underground weather. There was a breeze here, and it was making her cold. Then again, how was she supposed to know that she'd fall into the Labyrinth? Nevertheless, a flimsy tee-shirt and athletic shorts weren't very good clothes for the Labyrinth. She'd have to make a mental note of that for future references (though she really hoped she'd never come back here ever again).

After gods knows how many hours later, she finally ran into a boulder blocking her path. How annoying. Not wanting to go back a hundred yards, she gave it a good push with her telekinesis and got it out of her way.

Now she was standing before a twenty-foot-square cement room. The opposite wall was covered with metal bars. This was a prison cell.

I wonder how dad is doing... She thought as she stepped inside. Behind her, the boulder suddenly moved itself back in place.

Rather than bothering with it, she drew closer to the bars and unlocked it with her magic. She looked around, but all she could see were rows of cells in a ring around a dark courtyard. There were at least three stories of metal doors and metal catwalks.

She was in a prison. At least she wasn't in the Labyrinth anymore...

Suddenly she heard something from above. A deep sobbing sound that echoed throughout the seemingly empty building. It was followed by another sound, a raspy voice muttering something incoherent.

Quietly, Esmerelda walked around. That was when she spotted it.

There was a monster on the second floor balcony, across the courtyard. It was the worst thing she had ever seen. It was a cross between a woman from the waist up, and a dragon down below. The body was at least twenty feet long, black and scaly with enormous claws and a barbed tail. Her legs were sprouting actual snakes, hundreds of them that were each darting around like they were looking for food. The woman's hair was also made of snakes, like Medusa's. Around her waist, where the woman part met the dragon part, her skin bubbled and morphed, occasionally producing the heads of various animals—a vicious wolf, a bear, a lion, as if she were wearing a belt of ever-changing creatures.

Esmerelda quickly Mist traveled into a nearby cell before she could be spotted. She revealed her labrys and pressed herself against the wall to listen.

The woman's spoke in an ancient language. Whatever it was, it was older than Ancient Greek... but for some odd reason, Esmerelda could understand it*.

"You will work for the master or suffer," she snarled. She seemed to be talking to the sobbing man on the second floor.

The sobbing stopped temporarily as a deep, wounded voice responded, "I will not serve."

"Then I shall enjoy your pain, Briares. If you thought your first imprisonment was unbearable, you have yet to feel true torment. Think on this until I return." The dragon lady tromped towards the stairwell, but instead of actually using it, she spread out a pair of huge wings and soared across the courtyard. Esmerelda had to hastily use the Mist to keep herself hidden before she could spotted.

That monster called the sobbing man Briares. From what she could remember, Briares was one of the Hekatonkheires, the Hundred-Handed Ones. They were also the elder brothers of the Cyclopes. Both Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes were initially imprisoned and tortured by Kampê before Zeus killed her and freed them to fight against the Titans in the war.

With Esmerelda's luck, that draconic monster was most likely Kampê.

Swiftly, she hurried up to the second floor and located the cell Briares was in. It wasn't that hard for her to find since he had gone back to sobbing loudly.

She was pretty sure the Hekatonkheires were supposed to be super huge, but Briares looked to be about six feet or so. Human sized. He was also extremely pale and wore a loincloth like a big diaper. His feet were huge and dirty, but the top half of his body was downright crazy. He had a bunch of arms all around his chest and they were all tangled together kind of like spaghetti wrapped around a fork. Several of his hands were covering his face as he sobbed.

Esmerelda timidly cleared her throat.

He continued to sob.

She decided to speak up this time. "Um, excuse me? Briares... sir?"

Finally, he looked up. His face was long and sad, with a crooked nose and bad teeth. His eyes were completely brown, with no whites or pupils, or anything. It was like looking down a mug of coffee.

"You are a demigod," he said, then his eyes were drawn to her gleaming weapon, Glimmer. That seemed to have made even more miserable because a new set of tears started spilling his face.

Esmerelda panicked. "Oh no, sir! I'm not here to kill you, I promise!"

"No..." He shook his head, his many arms moving limply. "That labrys... was once mine. I haven't seen it in years."

Oh gods, she had completely forgotten the story behind her new weapon. She had gotten it on the Princess Andromeda after Ethan saved her from being skewered by a dracaena, the previous owner. Some time later, Artemis informed her that Glimmer's original owner was Briares, who used it to slay the Ophiotaurus (now named Bessie).

"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Would you—would you like it back?"

She was quite fond of Glimmer, but the longing look on Briares' face made her falter.

"I..." He began, but was cut off by several voices.

"Essie!" Someone shouted, and she whirled around. Her eyes widened when she saw Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson heading for her with relief on their faces.

"Oh thank the gods, you're still alive!" Grover cried out.

"What do you mean 'still alive'?" She asked, her surprise upon seeing them momentarily disappearing.

The group tensed up and glanced at each other with uncertainty.

"Guys?" She said apprehensively.

"It's nothing," Annabeth assured. "Your uncle contacted us and told us you were missing. He and the Stolls will be happy to know you're okay."

"Wait, how long have I been gone?" She blinked in confusion.

"A whole day," she answered. "Time works differently in the Labyrinth."

"What?!" She squeaked. She had been gone for more than a day already?!

Percy took one good look at the man in the cell and commented, "Either the sky isn't as tall as it used to be, or he's short."

Tyson didn't pay any attention. He fell to his knees.

"Briares!" He called. "Great Hundred-Handed One! Help us!"

Briares looked up at him, absolutely miserable. The previous hope he had in his eyes when he saw the labrys had long faded away.

"Run while you can, Cyclops," he said. "I cannot even help myself."

"You are a Hundred-Handed One!" Tyson insisted. "You can do anything!"

Briars wiped his nose with five or six hands. Several others were fidgeting with little pieces of metal and wood from a broken bed. It was amazing to watch. The hands seemed to have a mind of their own. They built a toy boat out of wood, then disassembled it just as fast. Other hands were scratching at the cement floor for no apparent reason. Others were playing rock, paper, scissors. A few others were making ducky and doggie shadow puppets against the wall.

"I cannot," Briares moaned. "Kampê is back! The Titans will rise and throw us back into Tartarus."

"Put on your brave face!" Tyson said.

Briares' face then morphed. He had the same brown eyes, but his features were completely different. His crooked nose became upturned, his eyebrows arched, and he wore a weird smile like he was trying to act brave. But then his face turned back to what it was before.

"No good," he said. "My scared face keeps coming back."

"How did you do that?" Percy marveled.

Annabeth elbowed him. "Don't be rude. The Hundred-Handed Ones all have fifty different faces."

"Must make it hard to get a yearbook picture," he said.

Esmerelda sighed.

Tyson was still entranced. "It will be okay, Briares! We will help you! Can I have your autograph?"

He sniffled. "Do you have one hundred pens?"

"Guys," Grover interrupted. "We have to get out of here. Kampê will be back. She'll sense us sooner or later."

"Break the bars," Annabeth said quickly.

"Yes!" Tyson smiled proudly. "Briares can do it. He is very strong. Stronger than Cyclopes, even! Watch!"

But Briares just whimpered. A dozen of his hands started playing patty-cake, but none of them made any attempt to break the bars.

"If he's so strong, why is he stuck in jail?" Percy asked.

"Oh my gods, Percy!" Esmerelda hissed at him. "You can't just ask people why they're in jail!"

"Sorry," he shrunk a little.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. "He's terrified," she whispered. "Kampê had imprisoned him in Tartarus for thousands of years. How would you feel?"

Briares must have heard that though, because he covered his face again.

"Briares?" Tyson asked. "What... what is wrong? Show is your great strength!"

"Tyson..." Esmerelda said slowly. "I don't think he can do it. Not right now when he's feeling like this." She used her magic to unlock the door and opened it.

"Come on, Briares," Annabeth said. "Let's get you out of here."

She held out her hand. For a second, Briares's face morphed to a hopeful expression. Several of his arms reached out, but twice as many slapped them away.

"I cannot," he said. "She will punish me."

"It's alright," she promised. "You fought the Titans before, and you won, remember?"

"I remember the war," he said just as his face morphed again—a furrowed brow and a pouting mouth. That was probably his brooding face. "Lightning shook the world. We threw many rocks. The Titans and the monsters almost won. Now they are getting strong again. Kampê said so."

"Don't listen to her," Percy said. "Come on!"

He didn't move.

"One game of rock, paper, scissors," Percy suddenly blurted out. "If I win, you come with us. If I lose, we'll leave you in jail."

Everyone looked at him like he was crazy.

Briares' face morphed to a doubtful look. "I always win rock, paper, scissors."

"Then let's do it!" He encouraged.

He pounded his fist into his palm, and Briares did so too, except with all a hundred of his hands. Esmerelda honestly had no idea how Percy planned to win with only one hand. In the end, Briares came up with a whole avalanche of rocks, a classroom set of scissors, and enough paper to make a fleet of airplanes while Percy... made a gun?

"I told you," Briares said sadly. "I always—" His face morphed to confusion. "What is that you made?"

"A gun," Percy said smugly, showing it to him. "A gun beats anything."

"That's not fair." He argued.

Percy just shrugged. "I didn't say anything about fair. Kampê's not going to be fair if we hang around. She's going to blame you for ripping off the bars. Now come on!"

Briares sniffled. "Demigods are cheaters." But he slowly rose to his feet and got out of the cell, nonetheless.

So far so good. All they had to do now was get downstairs and find the Labyrinth entrance.

But then Tyson froze.

On the ground floor right below, Kampê was snarling at them.

"Ohhhhh no," Grover moaned, which was a complete understatement of how bad the situation turned.

"The other way!" Percy called out, and they all bolted down the catwalk. This time, Briares was happy to follow them. In fact, he sprinted out front, a hundred arms waving in panic.

Kampê took to the air and was flying after them, snarling in her ancient language.

"She says she's gonna roast us on an open flame and eat our flesh!" Esmerelda helpfully translated.

"AHHHHHHH!" Braires panicked even more.

They scrambled down the stairs, through a corridor, and past a guard's station where Esmerelda saw a sign that she was sure read 'Alcatraz'. Hold on, she was in Alcatraz? That was so cool! She had always wanted to visit the famous prison island (excluding the vicious monster attack, of course)!

"Left," Annabeth shouted. "I remember this from the tour!"

They burst outside and found themselves in the prison yard, ringed by security towers and barbed wire. Even worse, it wasn't empty. About a hundred or so tourists were milling around, taking pictures. The cold wind whipped through them, making Esmerelda doubly regret wearing her current outfit.

"It's even worse," Annabeth breathed, gazing towards Mount Tamalpais. Huge storm clouds swirled over it. The whole sky seemed like a black top spinning from the mountain where Atlas was imprisoned. Esmerelda knew what it meant: the Titan palace of Mount Othrys was rising. The tourists were completely blind to it.

Annabeth continued to talk, "The storms have been bad all year, but that—"

"—Keep moving!" Briares wailed. "She is behind us!"

No one protested against that. They sprinted to the far end of the yard, as far from the cellblock as possible.

"Kampê's too big to get through the doors," Percy said hopefully.

Then the wall exploded.

Tourists screamed as the monster appeared from the dust and rubble, her wings spread out as wide as the yard. She was armed now, with swords—long bronze scimitars that glowed with a weird greenish aura, boiling wisps of vapor that smelled sour and hot even across the yard.

"Poison!" Grover yelped. "Don't let those things touch you or..."

"Or we'll die?" Percy guessed.

"Well... after you shrivel slowly to dust, yes."

"Let's avoid the swords," Percy decided.

"Briares, fight!" Tyson urged. "Grow to full size!"

Even Esmerelda tried to help out. She held out her labyrs for him. "Here! Take it! You have more experience with it than me!"

But Briares looked like he was trying to shrink even smaller. He appeared to be wearing his 'absolutely terrified' face.

Kampê thundered towards them on her dragon legs, hundreds of snakes slithering around her body.

Esmerelda cursed and thrust out her hand, a bright red light for the Stunning Spell shooting right at the monster. It struck her, but it only threw her back several meters. It definitely angered her though, which wasn't exactly a good thing.

There was no fighting this thing. Esmerelda realized that and paled. "RUN!"

No one argued with her. In fact, even the mortals seemed to agree.

They ran through the jail yard and out the gates of the prison, Kampê right behind them. Mortals screamed and ran, the emergency sirens were blaring. It was pure chaos.

They made it to the wharf just as a tour boat was unloading. The new group of visitors froze as they saw a bunch of kids, followed by a mob of frightened tourists, charging towards them. Esmerelda had no idea if they could see Kampê at the back of everything else.

"Uh, Essie, how about some Mist traveling?" Percy begged.

She shook her head. "I can barely travel with two other people!"

"The boat?" Grover suggested.

"Too slow," Tyson said. "Back into the maze. Only chance."

"We need a diversion," Annabeth panted.

Tyson ripped a metal lamppost out of the ground. "I will distract Kampê. You run ahead."

"I'll help you," Percy said immediately.

"No," he shook his head. "You go. Poison will hurt Cyclopes. A lot of pain. But it won't kill."

"Are you sure?"

"Go, brother. I will meet you inside."

Percy obviously hated the idea, but as of now, they truly had no choice. He, Esmerelda, Annabeth, and Grover each took one of Briares' hands and dragged him towards the concession stands while Tyson charged for Kampê.

Using Tyson as a distraction had worked. She'd been glaring at Briares, but focused on Tyson the second he nailed her in the chest with the pole, pushing her back into the wall. She shrieked and slashed the pole to shreds, poison dripping down in a pool all around her and sizzling into the cement.

Tyson jumped back as Kampê's hair lashed and hissed, and the vipers around her legs darted their tongues in every direction. A lion popped out of the weird half-formed faces around her waist and roared.

Before the others reached the cellblocks, the last thing they saw was Tyson picking up a Dippin' Dots stand and throwing it at Kampê. Ice cream and poison exploded everywhere, all the little snakes in Kampê's hair dotted with tuttifrutti.

They finally reached the jail yard.

"Can't make it!" Briares huffed.

"Tyson is risking his life to help you!" Percy yelled at him. "You will make it!"

Judging by the angry roar they heard, Kampê had reached them by now. She was plastered in ice cream and T-shirts. One of the bear heads on her waist was now wearing a pair of crooked plastic Alcatraz sunglasses. Tyson was just a few feet ahead of her.

"Hurry!" Annabeth called out to him.

They finally found the cell they had come in, but the back wall was completely smooth with no boulder in sight.

"Look for the mark!" Annabeth ordered.

They scrambled around the cell looking for it. Esmerelda was just about to say 'fuck it' and bombarda the wall until Grover cried out, "There!" He pointed at a glowing Greek ∆. He hastily pressed on it and the stone wall grinded open.

They hurried inside just as Tyson and Kampê drew closer. Tyson wasn't going to make it in time. Not without help at least. Panicked, Esmerelda racked through her brain for a spell that could help and the first thing to come to mind was that ice spell Alabaster taught her years ago back when he was still a decent person whose guts she didn't hate.

"Um,  G-Gelu Semita!**" She cried out, and the whole prison building went cold. Large chunks of hail began to fall out of nowhere. The last thing she saw before everything turned misty was Kampê getting pelted down.

"Tyson!" She hissed under her breath before diving into the cold mist. She immediately bumped into a large body. "Tyson?"

"Essie?" His familiar voice responded.

She quickly grabbed his hand. "Come on, this way!"

Hastily, she led him towards the maze entrance (or where she hoped it was. She felt several arms grab them and tug them forward.

"In here!" Annabeth said, yanking them inside the threshold.

They made it into the maze safely, just as the stone door closed and its magic sealed everyone in. Kampê's presence was still obvious since her pounding caused the whole tunnel to shake. They didn't stick around and raced into the darkness of the Labyrinth.

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They didn't stop until they reached a room full of waterfalls. The floor was one big pit, ringed by a slippery stone walkway. Around them, on all four walls, water tumbled from huge pipes. The water spilled down into the pit, which looked to be endless. Esmerelda felt a cold shudder rack through her body.

"I feel like we're close to Tartarus." She whispered. She only felt this awful, oppressive sensation whenever she went to the Fields of Asphodel or Hades' Palace, since the entrance of Tartarus was closest to them.

"We are," Briares said. He slumped against the wall and scooped up water in a dozen hands to wash his face. "This pit goes straight to Tartarus. I should jump in and save you trouble."

"Don't talk that way," Annabeth told him. "You can come back to camp with us. You can help us prepare. You know more about fighting Titans than anybody."

"I have nothing to offer," he said. "I have lost everything."

"You still have this," Esmerelda said quietly, showing him the adamantine labrys that she grew to adore so much. "You can have it back. It was yours to begin with, anyways. You'd be a much better fighter with it than me."

He stared longingly at it, before he shook his head. "No... I have lost the honor of wielding that great weapon."

"What about your brothers?" Tyson asked. "The other two must stand tall as mountains! We can take you to them."

Briares's expression morphed to something even sadder: his grieving face. "They are no more. They faded."

"What exactly do you mean, they faded?" Percy asked hesitantly. "I thought monsters were immortal, like the gods."

"Percy," Grover said weakly. "Even immortality has limits. Sometimes... sometimes monsters get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal."

"I must go." Briares said as he rose to his feet.

"Kronos' army will invade camp," Tyson said. "We need help."

He hung his head. "I cannot, Cyclops."

"You are strong."

"Not anymore."

"Hey," Percy grabbed one of his arms to stop him from leaving. "Briares, we need you. In case you haven't noticed, Tyson believes in you. He risked his life for you."

He started talking about everything he had learned so far. Esmerelda listened intently, since she had been gone when all of this was discovered. He spoke of Luke's invasion plan, the Labyrinth entrance at camp, lastly, Daedalus' workshop.

But Briares just shook his head. "I cannot, demigod. I do not have a finger gun to win this game." To prove his point, he made one hundred finger guns.

"Maybe that's why monsters fade," Percy said softly. "Maybe it's not about what the mortals believe. Maybe it's because you gave up on yourself."

Briares stared at him with sad brown eyes. His face morphed into shame. Then he turned and trudged off down the corridor until he was lost in the shadows. Tyson sobbed.

"It's over," Grover hesitantly patted his shoulder.

Tyson sneezed. "It's not okay, goat boy. He was my hero."

Finally Annabeth stood and shouldered her backpack. "Come on, guys. This pit is making me nervous. Let's find a better place to camp for the night."

They settled for staying in a corridor made of huge marble rocks.

"We must be close to Daedalus's workshop," she said. "Get some rest, everybody. We'll keep going in the morning."

"How do we know when it's morning?" Grover asked.

"Just rest," she insisted.

Percy took first watch and everyone else fell asleep. After being lost in a maze and getting chased around Alcatraz by one of the worst monsters ever created, Esmerelda just wanted to fall into a blissful sleep.

Naturally, that didn't happen.

In her dream, she was standing in one of the rooms of the Princess Andromeda. There was a golden sarcophagus just inches away from it, the same one Percy had described. It was glowing magnificently, but there was something sinister about it.

The sarcophagus was open, but there was nothing inside it.

"So?" She nearly jumped at the voice. She turned and saw Luke standing right next to her. He was grasping the edges of the coffin tightly, his knuckles turning white. He turned to her. "You gonna get in there or not?"

"W-what?" She stuttered. She wanted to step away from him, but something kept her rooted to her spot.

"You need to get in, Essie." He told her. "There's no way I'm gonna do it, so you go."

"No way!" She exclaimed, but her body was moving on it's own. She grasped the edges of the golden coffin and began to climb in...

"I'm sorry," she heard Luke say. He actually sounded genuinely sorry about this too. "But I can't do it, Essie. I can't. I'm... I'm too scared."

She was fully inside the coffin now. She lowered herself down until her head rested against the bottom. Above her, she saw Luke's scarred face, staring down at her with sorrow. Then, he grabbed the lid and began to close it...

She woke up just before it could happen.

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For breakfast, they settled with having granola bars and juice boxes. Percy was kind enough to share some of his food with Esmerelda since she pretty much had no food on her when she first fell into the Labyrinth. After they were done eating, they continued traveling. Esmerelda stayed silent through it all, too freaked out by her dream.

The old stone tunnels changed into dirt with cedar beams, like they were in a gold mine or something. Wherever they were at, it was agitating Annabeth.

"This isn't right," she said. "It should still be stone."

They reached a cave where the stalactites hung low from the ceiling. In the center of the dirt floor was a rectangular pit, like a grave.

Grover shivered. "It smells like the Underworld in here."

Percy backed her up. He shined his flashlight into the hole and saw a half-chewed cheeseburger floating in brown carbonated muck.

"Guys look," he said. "Nico was summoning the dead again."

Esmerelda had no idea what he meant by that, but she didn't care. 

"We need to find him!" She exclaimed, and darted into the tunnel without waiting for them. She heard them call after her, but she ignored it once she saw a light up ahead. By the time they caught up with her, they were now staring up at daylight with a set of bars above their heads. They were underneath a steel grate made out of metal pipes.

"Where are we?" Percy wondered.

Then they came face-to-face with a cow. It mooed down at them. It looked like any normal cow except it was as red as a cherry. She was pretty sure cows didn't come in that color. The cow mooed again and stomped on the metal bars, then backed away.

"It's a cattle guard," Grover said.

"A what?" Percy asked.

"They put them at the gates of ranches so cows can't get out. They can't walk on them."

"...How do you know that?"

Grover huffed angrily. "Believe me, if you had hooves, you'd know about cattle guards. They're annoying!"

"Didn't Hera say something about a ranch? We need to check it out. Nico might be there." Percy said aloud.

Esmerelda crinkled her nose. "You talked to Hera?"

"Yep, before we went on our quest. You've met her?" He guessed.

"Yeah, she voted to kill me twice."

"Ah."

Tyson got them out by hitting the cattle guard with both hands. It popped off and went flying out of sight and it may have hit a poor cow.

They climbed out and looked around.

"What is Nico doing in a ranch?" Esmerelda blinked. All around them were rolling hills stretched to the horizon, dotted with oak trees and cacti and boulders. There was a barbed wire fence that ran from the gate in either direction. The cherry-colored cows roamed around, grazing on clumps of grass.

"Red cattle," Annabeth suddenly said. "The cattle of the sun."

"What?" She asked.

"They're sacred to Apollo."

Percy snorted. "Holy cows?"

"Exactly. But what are they doing—"

"—Wait," Grover cut in. "Listen."

At first there was nothing, but then they heard it: two dogs baying and getting closer. The underbush rustled and the dogs burst through, but it wasn't a regular dog. It was one dog, but with two heads, similarly to Cerberus but this dog didn't exactly look happy to see her...

"Bad Janus dog!" Tyson cried out.

"Arf!" Grover told it, and raised a hand in greeting. Whatever he said didn't seem to placate it.

Its master finally arrived, lumbering out of the woods. Esmerelda gulped upon seeing him. He didn't exactly look friendly. He was a huge guy with stark white hair, a straw cowboy hat, and a braided white beard. He wore a pair of jeans and a 'DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS' tee-shirt, and a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off to show off his muscles. He also had tattoos of a crossed swords.

He sauntered towards them with a gigantic wooden club over his shoulder. She could see that there were six-inch spikes sticking out at the other end.

"Heel, Orthus," he told the dog. The dog growled at them, then circled back to his master's feet. The man looked them up and down, keeping his cub ready. "What've we got here? Cattle rustlers?"

"Just travelers." Annabeth said. "We're on a quest."

His eye twitched. "Half-bloods, eh?"

"How did you know—" Percy started to say, but Annabeth shut him up.

"—I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena. This is Percy, son of Poseidon. Essie, daughter of Hecate. Grover the satyr. Tyson the—"

"—Cyclops," he finished. "Yeah I can see that. And I know you're half-bloods because I am one, sonny. I'm Eurytion, the cowherd for this here ranch. Son of Ares. You came through the Labyrinth like the other one, I reckon."

"The other one?" Esmerelda chimed in. "That's Nico, right? Can you take us to him, please?"

His face hardened. "Forget about him. I'm only going to say this once, demigods. Get back in the maze now. Before it's too late."

"No," Esmerelda refused. "Not until you take us to Nico. Then we'll leave and we won't bother you again, I promise."

Eurytion grunted. "Then you leave me no choice, missy. I've got to take you to the boss."

— author's note —

* The old ancient language that Kampê spoke that Essie could understand is the ancient language of the titans. In the book, Tyson could understand it and describes it as "The tongue of the old times. What Mother Earth spoke to Titans and...her other children. Before the gods.". So yeah, since Essie's technically half titan, I figured that she (as well as her siblings) can understand/speak the super ancient language that the Titans spoke.

** Gelu Semita is a cold-based spell that generates the cold. Here's the wiki description: "This spell generates allows the caster to make a path for themselves and ice is the method of travel which allows them to obscure their location, making it hard for their attacker to attack or anticipate their next attack. It also makes the temperature drop thirty degrees and get colder and hail starts to fall. It is a type of translocational spell."

I'll be honest, I don't get it AT ALL. The description makes no sense to me and I don't understand how the spell works. I tried to figure it out, and I guessed that it makes the area hail and cover it with ice and mist???? So that you can't be seen???

FOR MY QUOTEV READERS (or if you're a Wattpad user with a Quotev account too): Do backup accounts really work? I've read that when Quotev deletes an account, they also delete the other accounts sharing the same IP address so when you're main account is deleted, so would the rest of your accounts. Is that true or????