Chapter Quote:
"Everyone's true colors show eventually."
~Unknown
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Chapter 20: Good To Be Back

Alec

"Bryn? What are you waiting for?" Derek demanded. "We have to go!"

Bryn glanced up at them, terror etched onto her face, a split second before her eyes flickered to gold and back to hazel. She stumbled backward, clutching her stomach.

"Amara, you- you promised!" she gasped. Alec watched helplessly as her eyes continued to switch back and forth as Bryn battled the Eidolon for control.

"I did. I never promised I wouldn't change my mind," Bryn responded to herself, but he could tell it wasn't her. Her voice sounded too... ancient.

"You swore on the Styx!"

"I swore on my knowledge at the time. My knowledge has changed, thanks to you. Now, I do not want to hurt you, so I would like to request you stop fighting me."

"Go to Tartarus," Bryn hissed. But her hazel eyes switched to gold, and they didn't change back.

"Amara?" Balthazar took a hesitant step forward.

"My beloved warrior," Amara said with a radiant smile. She cupped his face and pulled his lips to her, sharing a passionate embrace that made everyone turn away. Well, almost everyone.

"Get out of my girlfriend!" Luke shouted, charging the two Eidolons before anyone could stop him. Alec wondered how a guy who'd been imprisoned and zapped of strength for almost two weeks could suddenly take on two immortal beings. But then, remembering how Bryn acted for her family, it didn't seem too implausible after all.

With a flick of her hand, Amara sent Luke flying back. Silena was there to meet him when he fell, frantically checking to make sure he was okay.

"Give us back our sister!" the twins demanded simultaneously, elongating their swords. The other demigods armed themselves, preparing themselves for a fight. How they were going to get Amara out of Bryn without any ichor, Alec didn't know. Still, he also wasn't letting the Eidolon win.

"Cute," Balthazar mused.

Derek let out a battle cry and charged, the others right behind him. Amara clenched her fist in the air, and almost immediately, Alec couldn't breathe. It was like all the air had suddenly been sucked out of his lungs as he collapsed to the ground, desperately trying to catch his breath.

"Wha-" Silena wheezed out.

The air returned to him in a rush, momentarily making him light-headed.

"What in Hades' name was that?" Derek gasped.

Amara turned Bryn's hand in the air. "Incredible how she's possessed this power and never knew about it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Please. Children of Poseidon are not the only ones with the ability to control life. They can control the blood in your systems. Children of Hades can control the minerals in your bodies, ones you rely on to live. And children of Zeus can take your breath away, literally."

"You promised you wouldn't backstab her," Isabelle snapped. "You promised on the Styx."

"I did. But being in Bryn's head, watching her dreams, listening to her thoughts, seeing her memories, I realized the horrific things you were put through because of your divine parents. They are having you fight their wars, leaving you to fend for yourselves. What kind of parents are they? Learning what I did, I changed my mind. I never promised her I wouldn't do that."

"Demigods are the protectors between monsters and men. We handled Tartarus; we can handle you too," Derek spat. "Now, give us back my damn sister!"

"In time. Balthazar is not the only one with a corporeal form," Amara said. She smiled at something behind the demigods, and Alec dreaded to look. He had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what it was.

"You two took your sweet time," Balthazar said, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"I like to be fashionably late," a man with glowing yellow eyes responded.

"Neither of us had as much time in our hosts as you did," the second man added. His eyes were blood red, sending shivers down Alec's spine.

"Demigods, meet Phlegon and Damianos, my other two generals," Amara introduced.

"What are you going to do to us?" Silena asked.

"You're free to go. Go return the weapons to the gods. We have no need for them anymore. We're powerful enough without them."

"Why get them in the first place?"

"Because we needed to get Amara here. We couldn't do that unless the six of you were taken, and we knew Bryn would be the best fit for her host," Balthazar said. "We had time to plan this since we took over you in Tartarus. You were all so traumatized by that, you never knew we were in you."

"There has seriously got to be a better way to put that," Derek muttered.

"You're welcome to leave, but I know you won't. And I suggest you don't use the weapons on my comrades or me. I don't want to do more to Bryn than I have to," Amara said.

"You hurt her, I'll kill you," Luke warned, his eyes blazing with fury.

She smiled at him. "I hope you know how much she loves you. All she wants is another night like Paris. The date night. She really hasn't been able to keep it off her mind."

Luke flushed furiously while the twins breathed, "We knew it!"

"I'll have one of my generals get some food for you. I know you won't go anywhere as long as I have control of Bryn, so make yourselves at home. Gentlemen, follow me." Amara strode off with her generals behind her, and the demigods shell-shocked.
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Over the next week, the demigods bided their time, waiting for an opportunity to strike against the Eidolons. Derek went with Silena and Brady to return the Master Bolt, Trident, and Helm to Zeus, quietly getting more ichor to stock up for an attack on Amara to get her out of Bryn.

"I don't get it," Isabelle said as they all sat around under the shade of the banisters in the pavilion. "Amara originally was helping her. Why did she turn?"

"Something in Bryn's thoughts and memories made her change her tune. Amara made the promise under a different mindset. She never promised she wouldn't change her mind along the way if she decided her opinion changed," Silena said.

Alec frowned. "That seems like a flimsy loophole."

"Flimsy or not, she's an immortal. So even if she did break it, it's not like the broken promise is going to kill her."

"I don't like sitting here doing nothing."

"I'm with grumpy cat on this one," Luke agreed, making Alec roll his eyes. He wondered where the Jackson boy had gotten that name from, or if he and Bryn were just exceptionally good at using the same nicknames for people. "We need to do something. The longer Amara is in Bryn, the worse it's going to be for her... I'm going to go talk to her."

Luke pushed himself off the ground, walking purposefully towards the makeshift throne room the Eidolons had taken over. Alec, Derek, and Silena hurried after him. The twins, Hallie, and Isabelle hung back.

"What exactly are you planning to do?" Silena demanded.

"Bryn was able to get through to me when Balthazar tried to hurt her. So, I'm going to antagonize the Eidolons until they hurt me, and let her use the opportunity to maybe regain control," Luke said.

"That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard," Alec remarked, stopping in front of the staircase.

Luke whirled on him. "You've got a better idea?"

"Don't get pissed off at me just because you're mad about the Eidolons. I'm not happy about the situation either, but we risk hurting Bryn more than we do ourselves if we go with your plan."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm worried Amara is doing mentally to Bryn. You didn't see her at the beginning of the quest. The difference between her then and when we reached you was miles different. She wore herself paper-thin to get to you, so her ability to fight back is weak, if nonexistent."

Luke took a threatening step forward. "You've known her for less than a month. You don't know her like I do, so don't presume that you do. Bryn is stronger than any of us."

"What is going on here?" Amara inquired, making the group jump in surprise. Balthazar, Phlegon, and Damianos stood behind her, eyeing the demigods suspiciously as they stopped in the middle of the stairs.

"I want to speak to Bryn," Luke demanded. "I want to make sure you're not hurting her."

"The poor girl hasn't slept since you were kidnapped. I suggest you let her get her rest. Where's the rest of you?"

"That wasn't an answer. Let me speak to her!"

"No."

"I will end you. I will end all of you, I swear on the Styx if you hurt her."

"Luke!" Silena squeaked.

"Brave words for a boy who can't do anything to save his girlfriend. What exactly is your plan to end us all?"

"Let's just say I have you right where I want you to be," Luke growled. In the blink of an eye, he whipped out a syringe of ichor, aiming it for her arm. But Amara saw it coming, and faster than Alec could've believed, intercepted his wrist midair.

She smirked. "Nice try, handso- Ah!"

An arrow embedded itself in her arm. Everyone turned to see Derek poised behind a statue, bow aimed at the Eidolon.

"That's for my sister, you witch," he snarled. Alec waited for the ichor to start taking effect, but to his horror, Amara began laughing. "I swear to the gods, I'll shoot you again if you keep laughing."

Amara casually pulled the arrow out, chucking it away. "I told Bryn the ichor would get the Eidolons out of her family. What I didn't tell her is that it makes us strong enough to have a corporeal form. Thank you for speeding up my process."

Luke lunged at her before anyone could stop him, but with the flick of her wrist, she sent him, and everyone else flying back with a gust of air. Alec groaned, pushing himself into a sitting position. He checked on everyone around him. Other than having the wind knocked out of them, they appeared to be in one piece. In fact, Luke was already standing back up, preparing for another attack when a golden aura started pulsing around Amara. Alec couldn't tear his eyes away from it.

Balthazar, Phlegon, and Damianos backed away, giving her space as the aura shifted away from Bryn's body, causing the daughter of Zeus to collapse down the stairs. Luke reached her in the nick of time, just before her head hit the steps. He cradled her protectively in his arms, whispering things to her in a desperate attempt to wake her. Bryn's eyes remained closed.

"It is good to be back," Amara said. Alec tore his eyes away from Bryn's body to the fully-formed Eidolon at the top of the stairs. If he didn't know what she was capable of, he would've found her ethereally beautiful with her gold hair, golden skin, and gold eyes.

"We need to go," Derek said. "We need to go now."

"Why? The party has just begun," Damianos said with a malicious grin.

"Shut up, assbutt!" Alec's feet moved on their own accord. Grabbing ahold of Isabelle and Hallie, he dragged them over to Luke. They linked hands save for Luke, whose arm was in the death grip of Silena. The world went black, and suddenly they were at a camp full of kids staring at them in shock.

"Chiron!" Silena shouted. A centaur came galloping over with six adults behind him. Had Alec not been so worried about Bryn, he might've begun to freak out a little that he was in the presence of Percy and Annabeth Jackson.

"We need the infirmary. All of us," Derek groaned.

"Bryn?!" a woman exclaimed frantically.

"She's just unconscious, mum," Brady said softly.

Chiron grimaced. "Let's go. Tell us everything that's happened."