Clarisse

I felt horrible.

I felt guilty. I felt ashamed. I felt confused. I felt so many things, I didn't know what I felt at that point.

There was something wrong with my siblings. They all completely accepted the notion that Azra was a spying monster from the enemy without any hesitation. I know that we might be bloodthirsty, but we usually think before we spring. This time was not the case. 

I thought they were just trying to gain Ares' favor, but they kept up the act for hours after Ares left. Even the Mars kids acted like that, and I knew that Ares hadn't changed a thing about his argument. The Mars kids were supposed to be reserved, ready to fight, but they needed a purpose.

I then had a thought. Someone was influencing them. Not Ares. His Mars from wouldn't have passed the message on to his kids. Not without evidence.

As if to make me suspect them more, they acted downright cruel. They used Azra's fear (claustrophobia) to force her into submission. They experimented on her by locking her into the smallest closet they could find that still fit her. They tried scaring her even more by putting Phobus in there with her, but they soon learned that putting him in there lessened her fear. Phobus told us that he showed her a mirage of her friends turning on her for her weaknesses in an open field, but it seemed to bring her more courage than terrify her.

They also learned that leaving her in her fear made her human side come out. Ergo, the part of her that didn't have power. The part that wasn't primordial. That's why she hadn't smashed her way out of the closet and killed us all yet.

To summarise, they were torturing and experimenting on her. A 13 year old girl.

I had already given up on trying to make them see what they were doing was wrong, and Phobus himself had the key to the closet. I would have tried to smash the lock off the door, but the guards stationed at the door of the room wouldn't let any weapons in the room. 

I needed to get the poor girl out of there, but I couldn't do it alone. An idea formed in my head. It was wild, and the chances of it working were slim. But it was all I had. 

There was only one child of Ares/Mars that I could trust now. I didn't know where he was, but I had to get to him. I crept towards the door just as it swung open. On the other side of the door stood Frank Zhang. His red eyes were fading back to normal. He looked at me and his eyes hardened. He grabbed my collar and pushed me into a wall. "Where is she?" he growled. 

"Hold your fire. I was trying to find you to help me get her out." I replied, shoving him away. 

"How can I trust you?"

I thought about that for a while. "You're just gonna have to, I'm afraid."

Frank nodded. "What about the others? Can they come in?" He beckoned to the group outside. The youngest, a boy I didn't recognise, waved shyly at me.

"I'm afraid they're gonna have to stay outside. I don't know how to break the barrier at the door. It only lets Ares' or Mars' children through."

Frank sighed. "Just our luck. Now come on. Lead the way."

I walked toward the room. "I need to see this... monster for myself." Frank commanded through gritted teeth. "The demigods at Camp Jupiter want to know whether or not we should destroy the monster." 

The guards seemed to approve of the idea. They nodded and opened the door, letting Frank and I to walk through.

The room was completely bare and was painted top to bottom in black. The light from the hallway was the only thing letting us see the room. In the very middle of the room was a closet. It was small and was glowing with red symbols, probably stopping the girl from escaping. The edges of the closet seemed blurry, almost as if the edges of the closet were fused with the dark shadows of the rest of the room. I had a feeling why. 

We slowly walked towards the closet. Frank tugged at the handle, trying to open it. When he realised that it wasn't going to work, he gently knocked on the door. "Azra? It's Frank. Are you in there?" He asked her softly. 

"No. It's just some other child they locked in here." She replied sarcastically. Her voice sounded brittle. Not a good sign.

"We're gonna get you out, ok? just hold still."

I inspected the symbols closely hoping that they could reveal a clue on how to open the closet. On a second view, I realised that they symbols were small carvings, almost like doodles. One was a tarantula. Another was a clown. This one was tiny. The most prominent one was a closet. It was identical to the one holding Azra. I realised that these were her fears. All of them.

"Azra, listen to me." I said. "I know how to get you out. The cupboard is made of your fears. Literally. I know it's hard, but try to think of anything. Anything but your fears. What's your favourite memory?"

"Watching the New Year's fireworks with my cousins." She mumbled back.

"Think of that moment. Even the tiny details. Let yourself be in that moment again."

I heard her take a deep breath. The carving's glow already started to fade. Not by much but it was a start.

I heard a loud crash as the door shut. I jumped as the room was plunged into darkness.

"Clarisse, look out!" Frank yelled.

I whirled around. Someone came at me with a knife, aiming at my throat. I dodged just in time to see a pair of glowing red eyes pierce the darkness. The knife was glowing in the darkness, but it seemed blinding in the darkness. 

"Clarisse. Frank. Three children of the war god in the same room." A deep voice called. Phobus.

I could still see the carvings outlining the closet. I carefully crept towards it, glancing at the glowing knife every couple of seconds. I rested my hand on one of the carvings of the closet and gasped as I was sucked into a whirlpool of colour. 

A scene unfolded in front of me. A memory, I realised. Azra was sitting in a closet. She was a lot younger in the memory. About 6 or 7. She was hiding under a blanket, giggling. Someone a couple of rooms away yelled "Ready or not, here I come!"

Hide and Seek. A useful yet dangerous game.

A door opened and someone with heavy footsteps moved toward the bed. An adult? I could hear Azra's thoughts in my mind. Please don't sit on the bed. 

All of a sudden, someone sat on the top of the bed and Azra's hair. She screamed, trying to twist away. The blanket seemed to muffle her, closing in on her. The person came up just as Azra's vision darkened and I returned to the real world.

I opened my eyes. The carvings had completely faded and disappeared. The closet was fading. I stepped back as Azra flew upwards, light pulsing from her body. Her eyes were fiery. Golden phoenix wings burned on her back. The light got more and more intense with every pulse. But it didn't seem to affect me or Frank. It was targeted solely at Phobus.

"Phobus." Azra boomed. "You call yourself the god of fear. But have you ever felt fear? You can't control what you haven't experienced. Take this as lesson." 

She pointed her arm at the minor god, and a stream of reds and blacks shot at him. His red eyes faded. He screamed and cowered, slowly sobbing. Whatever he was seeing was terrifying him.

After about two minutes, Azra lowered her hand. Phobus stood in shaky legs and teleported away, sniffling.

Azra sighed. "We'd better go." She said. "I've had enough of this place." 

With that, she flew out of the door, which burned around her. I followed her.