AMETHYST

The clouds seemed to tell of an ominous tale, as the blackness of the sky was met with thundering noises and the light sprinkle of rain.

Even the gods themselves seemed to be quiet and the usually bustling streets of Athens were eerily quiet and hushed.

The unnerved atmosphere of the city appeared to be contagious, as everyone had a stern look on their faces and words were vacant as we began making our way towards the city, the tower looming in the distance.

It was surreal to me as we walked, that the streets were empty - with no person in sight. I made quick mention of this to Rose, who shrugged her shoulders in response. Something was certainly afoot here, and the lack of people was certainly not the only oddity that stuck out. There was this underpinned feeling of hopelessness that seemed to possess the streets of what was once a beacon of hope and inspiration for all demigods and Gods alike. Athens was a city renowned for its storied past and immense history, and Erebos' takeover of the city had dulled the spirit of the city.

We reached a three-way part of the streets, with worn buildings everywhere in sight. There were sidewalks paved along the streets, and there were only a few cars parked in the area.

Looking up at the large beam of light in the air, we ventured down the street, veering north and passing a series of small shops, ranging from coffee shops to clothing stores. We stopped dead in our tracks when we came across the first sight of life, a motionless, middle-aged man lying on the ground near a parked car.

"Is he dead?" Kai asked. Rose went to check on the man's pulse.

"No, he's not. It looks like he's asleep or something," Rose responded.

Geneva crossed her arms. "But why would he be sleeping in the middle of a street? Has Erebos put them all under a sleeping spell or something?"

Geneva's question made me recall Kronos' invasion of New York only a few years prior. Kronos had Morpheus, the god of sleep and dreams, put everyone around and near Manhattan into a deep sleep to supplement the invasion. It truly struck me just how rough the last few years had been for Olympus, starting with Kronos, continuing with Gaea and the Triumvirate Holdings, and hopefully ending today with Erebos.

"Could've had a really rough night," Alexander suggested quietly.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it certainly isn't good," I said. "We should stay focused. Let's keep going."

We walked past the man's body and continued our path down the street, spotting even more people who were either unconscious or just stood numbly, their eyes clouded and distant as they were under some sort of trance.

Eventually, after traveling through more streets and buildings, we arrived at a park, the large tower just a few blocks from us. The temperature seemed to drop as we got closer, the darkness of the sky preventing light from coming through.

The park was about the size of a soccer field, with a bountiful amount of grass and trees. There wasn't much wildlife, other than a small population of squirrels bounding around the park wildly and a few birds flying above the area and landing upon telephone poles. In the middle of the park was a statue of Athena, made out of old, gray stone that had a batch of roses sitting at the foot of the statue's base.

We didn't waste any time admiring the park, swiftly making our way forward.

Just as we passed the statue of Athena, a group of GHOSTs darted out of the trees. There were about seven of them, each armed with celestial bronze weapons and wearing heavy, padded armor. They made no effort to split up or try and form a circle around us and just dashed at us.

I lined an arrow on my bowstring and shot at a GHOST's leg, my shot scuffing the side of their leg and pausing their movement briefly. I turned around and leveled another shot at one of the GHOSTs, but they blocked the attack easily.

As my friends fought on, I took advantage of the time afforded me and quickly scaled up one of the trees, as I frequently did during our Capture the Flag games at camp. I nocked three arrows and shot them all at once, hitting one GHOST member with all three. Two of those arrows had hit exposed spots on the GHOST's body, and as such, they collapsed on the ground.

I continued this strategy repeatedly, hitting most of my shots and after a brief thirty seconds, we had prevailed. I hopped off the tree and regrouped with my friends.

"Well, we know the city isn't totally unoccupied," Alexander noted. "Just not in a good way."

"We're going to have to be a lot more wary of security as we go to Athens Tower, that's for sure," Rose advised.

We hurried out of the park and onto a long street, where the Athens Tower loomed above us, surrounded by a series of complex, smaller buildings and other historical buildings around it. The tower was near several boating docks and bodies of water, and had trees surrounding it that gave the city a summer type of look. In front of the tower was also a horizontal street, stemming from the very street we were currently traveling upon.

As we crossed the street to the entrance of the tower, a wave of heat trailed a large fireball that whizzed in front of us - setting the bushes on the street aflame.

"Hello, demigods. Going somewhere?" a voice asked.

We turned around to see where the fireball had come from and who had spoken.

The fiery red hair of the woman standing behind us along with the copper eyes made us immediately aware of who we were dealing with - Caca. I had never encountered Caca myself, but Geneva and Rose shared their experiences with her in Providence and I made sure to keep a mental note on who she was and what she could do.

Kai grunted. "You guys go ahead. We're running low on time. I'll stay back and hold her off."

"We're not just going to leave you to fight her on your own," I chided. "I'll stick with Kai. You three focus on freeing Hecate."

Caca began laughing maniacally, balls of fire growing larger in her hands as she prepared to blast them at us. "You really think that I'd let you do that? Think again."

Alexander looked like he was about to interject until Caca sent her balls of fire crashing into the tower behind us.

Another figure then appeared at the side of Caca, towering in size and stature - Caucus, Caca's brother and someone who we had encountered on our journey through the Sea of Monsters. Caca's smile seemed to widen and turn more maniacal as her blazing silhouette seemed to brighten.

"GO!" yelled Kai as he unsheathed his blade from his hip.

As the others rushed inside of the building, I drew out three arrows and pulled back my bowstring.

How fitting this family feud is going to be.