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Chapter Quote:
"People follow leaders by choice. Without trust, at best you get compliance."
~Jesse Lyn Stoner, Full Steam Ahead 
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Chapter 6: Welcome to the Mad House

Bryn

Bryn stared at herself, kneeling, bloody, beaten, and broken, empty eyes staring at her in the mirror. Something about the image gave Bryn a flashback to a nightmare she'd had a few years ago but for the life of her she couldn't think of what it was. Besides there were more important things to worry about at the moment.

"Bryn?" her mom's voice asked from behind. Bryn didn't move, didn't speak.

"Honey, she just lost all her friends. Her family. She just went through Tartarus. I don't... I don't want to say this but we might have to accept the fact that our daughter may never-" Michael trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

"No, I refuse to believe that. She's too strong for that," Penn snapped.

"Look at her!" Michael exclaimed. "She's been standing there for an hour without moving. She won't say anything, she won't do anything, she won't look at anything but herself in that mirror thinking the gods know what. I know she looks like your daughter, but that is not your Bryn anymore. That is a broken shell of your daughter and I wish-"

"Don't you dare say it," Penn growled.

"She's been given a fate worse than death. I guess the Fates chose our daughter as their ragdoll to do with what they please. I'm going to go cook dinner. Bryn, if you can hear us, dinner will be ready in an hour."

Penn kissed her daughter on the cheek and followed her husband out of the bedroom. Bryn simply continued staring. Suddenly figures appeared behind her: Luke, Silena, Derek, Brady, Bradley, and Hallie. They all were partially transparent as they approached her but she couldn't see the cause of their death. She couldn't remember the cause either.

Luke placed a hand on Bryn's shoulder, or tried to, but his hand went through her. She shut her eyes and swallowed down the knot in her throat.

"Bryn, it's okay," Luke said. "It was a quick death."

"Speak for yourself," Hallie muttered. "You try bleeding out."

"Not helping here!" Silena hissed.

"What, like yours was any less pleasant? How'd that arrow to the neck feel?" Brady countered.

"Can you guys shut up? It's not like she could stop it," Derek snapped. "Look at her. She's practically catatonic."

"She could join us," Bradley said.

"It'd end her pain and suffering," Brady agreed. Luke was about to say something when Bryn's was slammed in the jaw by an unseen force. It knocked her to the ground. Opening her eyes, she was confused to see two different worlds colliding, as if one had been overlaid on top of another. In one world was the one she'd just been in. In the other, Alec had a crazed look in his eyes as he stood over her with a dagger in his hand. The shock of it all jarred her back to reality from the madness that had overcome her. Her own madness disappeared, her sanity sank back in. Knowing she needed to immobilize Alec while he was trying to kill her, Bryn went for the foolproof area for any guy. She kicked upwards and Alec collapsed in pain. She scrambled away from him, standing up to get her footing. She brandished Keravnó, swinging it over her hand in preparation for a fight as Melinoë appeared in front of her, but rather than being angry, she was visibly confused and upset.

"How did you break free of it?!" she demanded, striding towards Bryn who pointed the tip of her sword at the goddess's throat.

"You could say I was knocked to my senses. Make sure that when you're making someone go mad, their madness doesn't include hating someone else in the room," Bryn pointed out.

"No, no, no, there's something else going on with you," she said. "No amount of cognitive recalibration should be able to break through my madness unless... you're being protected by something, aren't you?"

"You're not going to be able to find out." Bryn sent a small yet powerful blast of lighting through her sword directly into Melinoë's throat. The goddess flew through the wall of the shack onto the ground outside. As she was standing up, a sword embedded itself in her hip. The goddess let out a scream as she whirled around to face her new attacker, which turned out to be Isabelle, but by the looks of it, was seeing something that wasn't actually there. Bryn took the opportunity to fly behind Melinoë and stab her in the back. Literally.

"I can't kill you, but I can hurt you enough to incapacitate you. So leave us be or continue enduring my wrath," Bryn warned.

"I'll take you with me!" the goddess screamed. Knowing what she was about to do, Bryn shoved her aside and clapped a hand over Isabelle's eyes while shutting her own. She felt the heat of the goddess's true form for a moment before silence settled over everything.
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Alec

The last thing Alec remembered was Bryn placing a hand on his head before blacking out. Now that he was awake, he realized he wasn't in that decrepit shack anymore, nor was he in the hot, humid environment of Mexico. So where was he?

Voices sounded to his left, but rather than risk giving away he was awake, he kept his eyes shut so he could figure out what was going on.

"- rescue them before something happens to them," Bryn's familiar voice said. "So that's the story. Listen, thank you for letting us crash here for a bit. They're in bad shape and I need to figure out our next move."

"They're not the only ones in bad shape."

"I'm fine, Cora. I've been through worse than this."

"Bryn, you look like you got hit in the cheek by a bulldozer. I mean really, who hit you that hard?"

"Alec. I'm not sure what his madness made him see but either it had something to do with me or he saw me as something else. It wasn't his fault. He had no control. Besides, it jarred me back to my own senses so I could stop that goddess and find a way to get us here."

"Yeah, about that. How did you find a hellhound, let alone a friendly one?"

"I'm honestly not sure how Mr. Jackson came to be the owner of Mrs. O'Leary, but it comes to Luke and Silena's whistles and out of desperation and no cell service, I whistled for her to come, praying she would. Maybe she knows me well enough and could sense my distress about her friends that she came to help. I'm not sure, but I'm grateful for her. Where is she now?"

"She's sleeping under a tree near the stream, waiting for you I think."

"Once these two wake up, I'll go check on her."

"You should get some rest yourself."

"I'm fine. I just need to get to my family."

"Something's different about you, Bryn. What happened down in Tartarus?"

"Things I really don't want to talk about. My main concern right now is making sure Alec and Isabelle are okay, and then getting the Eidolons out of my family."

"Very well. I must go check on some things, but I'll be back later."

"I understand. Thank you again, Cora. This is the second time I owe you for something."

"You saved us and the world, Bryn. Besides, you're my friend. You owe me nothing."

Footsteps passed in front of Alec's bed before receding off into the distance until the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of birds outside.

"Mum?" Bryn said. "No, no, I'm fine. A bit battered, but fine. I'm at Camp Jupiter right now. I'm going after Brady and Derek. They were the closest. I'm not sure who's closer after that, but I'll get them... no, I don't need help. I have two demigods helping me... Isabelle and Alec Greenwood... children of Ares. They're not as aggressive as the ones back at camp but- well, maybe Alec is but that's another story. Anyways, they're good fighters and I trust them. We'll get the twins and everyone else back... I love you too."

"What have I gotten myself into?" she mumbled. Now Alec opened his eyes to find Bryn sitting down in an armchair near a window, head in her hands.

"Where's Isabelle?" he asked. Bryn jumped in surprise at his voice but replied, "In the bed next to you. She's still sleeping. We had to give you something to help get rid of the magic Melinoë put on you that influenced your madness."

"What happened to your face?" he stared at her red, swollen cheek. There was a big, black bruise too in the shape of a fist which was probably what the bruise was from.

"I don't know what you were seeing. I was already wrapped up in my own madness I think, but you saw me as an enemy of some sort because you punched me out of the blue which jarred me out of my madness. So thank you."

"I-I was seeing my brother. And I saw you there watching me and Simon kept telling me to take care of the person who was the cause of his death. Simon would never have told me that. He was innocent."

"I'm sorry for not being able to be there when your brother was killed. I should've upheld my word."

"I'm sorry for accusing you of something you didn't do. Isabelle was right. You were focusing on the battle in New York, the main one, and if you hadn't won that, we would've lost a lot more... what did you see?"

"My family, the ones we're trying to rescue. They were dead. It was after Tartarus. I was the only one that survived and I was broken..." At this, Bryn glanced down at her hands, twisting a ring on her finger. It wasn't her bronze one that turned into her sword, but a silver one with a dark amethyst surrounded by small diamonds and white opal. "They were saying things that, in hindsight, I know they would never tell me. In fact, they'd be disappointed in me if I did what they were asking of me."

"Where's that from?" Alec asked, nodding towards the ring.

"Luke got it for me for my birthday one year. We all did a family trip to Colorado to a town called Estes Park, and there was this cute jewelry shop in there. A lot of them were made up of my birthstone, amethyst. He bought it and saved it for my birthday. Matching necklace and earrings too."

"He sounds like quite the guy."

"The best. He got through to me in a way that no one else had, not even Derek..."

"We're going to find them. I won't let you go through what I did."

"I'm sorry, Alec."

"I'm sorry for being an ass to you. Look, Isabelle calls me grumpy cat for a reason. She also said at one point that the reason you and I were butting heads was because we're a lot alike. I'm beginning to agree with her."

"Oh I'm so sorry. I'm a horrible person to be like," Bryn remarked with a tinge of amusement.

"I don't know. You're not so bad. Loyal, kick ass, smart... there are worse things to be."

She gave him a small smile. "I'd say trust me when I say I have a lot of flaws, but I've given you no reason to trust me."

Alec hesitated for a moment before placing his hand on top of hers. "I'm pretty sure you just saved my life and my sister's. I trust you."

"Don't trust me too much. People who do tend to get in trouble. Just look at my family." Bryn stood up and said, "I need to go make a few calls. Get some rest and let me know when Isabelle wakes up."

Alec watched her walk away, shutting the door quietly behind her. He wondered what she meant by people getting hurt who trust her. She didn't seem untrustworthy, she didn't seem like a backstabber, so what on earth did she mean? Alec decided to still keep his guard up around her, but she had still saved his life and his sister's. He started to believe that like him, she was harder on herself than she should be. That she punished herself more than she needed to for things that weren't necessarily in her control. That she tried to take a bit of the world off of everyone's shoulder without even considering letting others take some of the world off her shoulders.

"Alec?" Isabelle's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see his sister waking up, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "What on earth-"

"Got a dose of madness thanks to a psychotic goddess. Bryn got us to safety to some demigod camp I think," he explained, sitting up. "How are you feeling?"

"I saw our parents... I saw you and Simon when we were running to camp. I relived that nightmare and I ran my sword through one of the monsters responsible for it. Who... who did I run my sword through in real life?"

"Let's talk to Bryn. She managed to break through the madness and save our skins. She's outside." The siblings got up to go find the daughter of Zeus. They found her sitting underneath a giant oak tree, leaning against a massive black dog. She was talking to someone on the phone, her face grim, but it lit up a little when she saw them approaching.

"Mr. Jackson, I have to go... Sorry Percy, after what happened this summer... I still feel guilty about it... I will. Thank you. I'll call you when I have some better news." She hung up and said, "How are you feeling?"

"I've had better days. Alec said you saved us. Thank you."

"If he hadn't punched me, I might not have been able to."

"You punched her?!" Isabelle exclaimed, whirling on her brother.

"It was the madness. It knocked me to my senses, literally."

Alec made a face as it dawned on him what kind of dog Bryn was leaning against and asked, "Why are you leaning against a Hellhound?"

"Oh, this is Mrs. O'Leary.  She's friendly, don't worry," she remarked, scratching the dogs head.  Alec reluctantly believed her.

"She's cute," Isabelle mused, sitting down on the grass.

"Who were you talking to?" Alec questioned, taking a seat next to Bryn. The Hellhound turned its massive head around to see what the newcomers were doing. Deeming the Greenwoods as non-threats, it rested its head in Bryn's lap.

"Percy Jackson, Luke and Silena's dad," Bryn answered, stroking the Hellhound. "He was asking about the progress on the quest."

"Percy Jackson as in... the legend Percy Jackson?" Isabelle stated.

"Yes?" Bryn responded in confusion. "Why?"

"You're on a first name basis with Percy Jackson?"

"I mean, yes, but-"

"Oh my gods, that's amazing! What's he like? Is he a total badass? Is he strong? Is he a total romantic? Is he good looking? Is that sword of his insured?"

"Um... he's really nice, he's a badass but you wouldn't necessarily think that until you saw him fight. He's very strong and if Luke got any of his romantic tendencies from his father, then I'd say yes. Yes, he's good looking, and I don't know about the insurance. I never asked him. You can ask though when you meet him."

"I'M GOING TO MEET HIM?!" Isabelle practically screeched.

Alec made a face and said, "She's a fan of him."

Bryn chuckled. "I noticed."

"When am I going to meet him?" Isabelle demanded.

"When we finish this quest and get everyone home."

"Oh gods... I don't..." She started going off in Portuguese about everything that could happen when she met him. Upon seeing Bryn's perplexed expression, he said, "Don't worry, she's just fangirling. So where are we?"

"Camp Jupiter. It's the camp for the Roman gods. We just now got on good terms with them after the war," Bryn explained.

"Who's Cora?"

"Praetor. I see you were eavesdropping earlier."

"I wanted to know where I was."

"I don't blame you. I would've done the same."

"What's the plan now?"

"I called in a favor from Hermes. He was supposed to help me out with something else but then I changed it and I'm pretty sure he doesn't mind at all. I'm just waiting back on word from him before we go. We should hear back in the next twenty-four hours which should give us enough time to recuperate from everything."

"How are we going to expel the Eidolons from your family's bodies? We still don't have any ichor."

"Before I called Mrs. O'Leary, I got the ichor that had fallen from Melinoë's body onto the ground when Isabelle stabbed her-"

"Thank god I stabbed that witch and not anyone else."

"You did try and stab me," Bryn remarked. "But I knocked you out so if you have a headache, that was me. Sorry..."

"At least you didn't try and kill me."

"No, but I might've given you a slight concussion because I may have hit you when you tried to stab me..."

"Girls, back on track. So you have the ichor?" Alec interrupted.

"I have it. We need to put it in syringes which I'm going to get from Cora. There's enough for three syringes and enough to coat three arrows as backups. Alec, considering you're the best marksman, if Isabelle and I distract the Eidolon host, you fire them with an arrow if I tell you the syringe didn't work. I have a feeling that method will have to be used on Luke... we're all pretty evenly matched in our fighting skills but Luke has powers that the Eidolon might use against us and we have to be prepared for that."

"What exactly is this skill?"

"Something that could kill us. He hates it but the Eidolon will love it."

"What will Derek do?"

"He can raise an army of the dead on his command. It takes a lot of energy but the Eidolon will probably have some extra strength to fight with being immortal and all. He can also create and control fire, including hellfire and Greek fire. He's immune to it."

"Okay, Bradley, what do we need to watch out for with him?"

"Lightning. Basically anything I can do, he can do as well."

"And Luke?"

"Anything liquid as long as it's in liquid form. He's also surprisingly good at strategizing but it's more improvisation of strategies than anything. He might be Poseidon and Athena but he takes on more after Poseidon. Listen, we should head into New Rome and get something to eat, then head to bed. By tomorrow, we should know where Derek and Brady are located. That's when the adventure begins."

Isabelle snorted. "As if this whole thing hasn't been an adventure already."

"You'll find that the adventures my family and I have tend to be even more extreme than this."

"Oh. Great," Alec muttered.

"Thank you both for helping me. As much as I hate to admit this, I couldn't do this by myself," Bryn said.

"You're welcome," Alec replied.

"Who wants food? I'm starving," Isabelle piped up. The three demigods stood up. Mrs. O'Leary stretched out on the ground, ignoring where her friends were going. Alec waited until Isabelle was slightly farther ahead of them when he whispered to Bryn, "What did Melinoë mean when she said something was protecting you?"

"What are you talking about?" Bryn responded casually.

"I was out of it, don't get me wrong, but she said you were protected from her madness, that no one had even broken free of it before."

"She must've been talking about my Hecate powers. The magic from that must've somehow protected me from the full wrath of her powers. Don't worry about it. It's in the past. Let's just focus on what's ahead, because that's going to need all our energy."

"All right. I trust you."

Bryn smiled up at him. "Feelings mutual."

Maybe this quest wouldn't be as bad as he thought...
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