GENEVA

GHOST members seemed to attack us from every corner as we made our way through the tarnished rubble of the tower.

The inside of the tower was in complete chaos, with ceiling tiles everywhere on the floor, destroyed columns holding up the roof, and shattered glass distributed throughout the floor. It was clear and obvious that the tower had been raided a long time ago - with cobwebs being present in all crevices of the room and a foul odor that was repugnant and smelled of rotten eggs.

Towards the back of the lower level of the tower, there was a defunct elevator that was out of service. Interestingly, this seemed to be the only untouched thing on the whole floor, and a prominent omega symbol was shining on the floor - this must have been the old location of Olympus.

Just as we made our way to the stairway, leaving a trail of GHOSTs in our wake, a sharp pain shot through my leg as an arrow lodged into my left thigh.

I yelped in pain as I dived for cover, and reached for my daggers. I peaked over the desk that I was behind and caught sight of the GHOST archer who had his bow loaded.

Alexander quickly scanned the area for the nearest weapon and grabbed a chair that was resting beside him. He chunked with his full force at the archer, and it hit him squarely in the chest - knocking him back several feet.

I winced in pain, as I reached for the emergency ambrosia that I was carrying. I tended to the wound and snapped off the point of the arrow - still leaving it inside of my thigh.

"Hey, are you gonna be able to walk?" asked Rose worryingly.

"Yeah I'll be fine, let's just get this over with," I said as I limped off the ground and led the way to the stairwell.

The stairs seemed to go downwards forever, but as we progressed further and further a greater sense of dread seemed to creep over me. I didn't seem to be the only one feeling this as Rose's face seemed to speak of the same story.

"We are going to save her, you know."

Rose weakly smiled as her mind seemed to be set out on something else. There was something she wasn't telling me - I knew that because that same tendency to hide and put on a mask is something I'd known all too well.

After a few more levels of stairs, I finally asked her the question.

"Look before we go in there, I need to know what's on your mind. I don't want you going down there with a clouded mind - it could get you killed."

Rose made eye contact with me briefly before stopping in her tracks and looking down at the floor.

"There was another line to the prophecy that I never told you guys about - except for Kai."

Alexander paused as well as he looked up in curiosity.

"I'm supposed to die today, or fall 'into darkness midst' - and if I'm being honest, I'm scared. Not just of death, but also of failing you guys and my mother in this quest. What if all of this is a trap?"

The words piled on my shoulders like a backpack carrying the weight of the world. Could it really be that I was destined to lose another person in my life? How many people around me have to die?

I fought against the tears that had gathered in the corners of my eyes, and I exhaled a heavy sigh as I composed myself.

I couldn't have saved Arthur.

But I can save my friend, and keep her alive.

I embraced Rose with my arms, and gave her the best assurance that I could.

"You are not going to die on my watch, and you have been such a great leader for us on this quest. What you did for me by bringing me along on this quest, when I was at my lowest, is something that I will always be in debt to you for."

Alexander seemed left out, and joined in on the hug as he goofily picked both of us up with a back-crushing hug.

"I love group hugs! So warm and fuzzy," he said as he suffocated us.

Rose's spirits seemed to be lifted, as she looked at both of us with great gratitude.

"Thank you Geneva for all that you said. I guess instead of moping around here, we should get to saving my mom from that troll downstairs."

That embrace might actually have been our last, and deep down I felt that we all felt that.

With a few more flights of stairs left, light creeped in from below and glimpses of a cavern began showing - likely the same cavern we would find an imprisoned Hecate and a battle-ready Erebos.

Near the top of the staircase, I heard heavy, rapid footsteps accompanied by hard heaves and pants.

"Guys, we may have company," I said, turning around and pulling out my daggers.

Alexander and Rose stopped in place and turned around, similarly summoning their weapons.

After a brief passage of time, we caught sight of the people responsible for the footsteps - and thank the gods.

It was Kai and Amethyst. The former had tattered clothes, sweat traveling down his chin, and scratches and bruises covered his body. The latter's hair was tangled and messy, accompanied with minor burn marks on her arms and legs and torn clothes.

"Hey, Kai and Amethyst are okay!" Alexander exclaimed with relief.

"Depends on what you consider 'okay' to be, but whatever," Kai commented.

Rose chuckled softly. "Well, at least you guys are here."

The two siblings quickly arrived at where we had stopped and we continued our path down the stairs.

The cave was only a flight of stairs down when Alexander asked, "Are we all ready for what's about to happen?"

I shook my head. "I don't think any of us could truly be ready for.. You know, this."

"We can do it," Amethyst said confidently. "We have to - for Timmy, for Arthur, and for Olympus."

We all solemnly nodded in response, recalling our losses for a brief moment and raising our spirits up in the hope that their deaths weren't in vain.

"Let's - and I mean this is the least cliché way possible - do this," Kai said.

We ventured down the last flight of stairs, an overwhelming feeling of anticipation in the air.

We arrived at the bottom of the staircase, the cavern only a few inches ahead of us.

The inside of the cave was fully dark. The only speck of light seemingly coming from a blue monitor near the back of the cavern.

Amethyst and I gave each other firm nods as we all took our first step into the cave. The sound of our footsteps echoed off the wall, an eerie silence subsequently following. Kai's hand burst into flames as the cave was illuminated slightly and we got an idea of our surroundings - a limited one however.

We were stepping upon rocky terrain and the cavern ceiling was dotted with sharp stalactites that hung from above menacingly. An awful smell filled my nostrils as I pondered what was awaiting us in the shadows.

Suddenly, a massive ball of purple energy zoomed above our heads and collided with the ceiling, rocks and stalactites of varying sizes crashing to the floor somewhere behind us.

The cavern then brightened immensely as the full contents of the cavern came into view.

To our west was a long rack of weapons and armor stretched across the cavern wall, protected by a baseball fence-esque structure that required some kind of key to get past. Sat upon those racks were typical celestial bronze and imperial gold swords, wooden bows, stacks of arrows, and long metal spears.

To our east, a lot of monitors and screens were set up paired with vacant chairs - this was likely where Rose had seen Aldric for the very first time in her vision.

At the far end of the cave, a blonde, frail woman - Hecate - clung against the bar of a metal cage. The cage was surrounded by a regal, timeless woman whose eyes radiated with malice and anger and a fair skinned woman with long dark hair and striking green eyes. I recognized these two women as Pasiphae and Circe, two prominent sorceresses and loyal servants of Erebos.

Obstructing our path to the cage was a fifteen-foot tall woman wearing ironclad armor with a silky black dress underneath said armor. Ash and smoke enveloped the majority of her body, especially her face, as I couldn't make out much about her facial structure.

And behind her stood a line of heavily-armed, immensely-geared cyclopes and eight-foot tall giants carrying metal clubs and heavy duty boots. There were about five of each species, each awaiting the woman's commands.

When I spun around to investigate what had happened with the energy blast from earlier, I saw that the entrance to the cave was now closed off by rocks - meaning we likely wouldn't be able to exit until after we finished off all of our adversaries.

"It took you heroes a while to arrive here," a voice boomed from deep within the earth.

Erebos.

"Yeah, but I'm sure we can make do of the time we spent trying to get here," Kai retorted cockily.

Erebos laughed, the ground beneath us rumbling slightly. "I see. And you believe you can beat me and my forces, even without the shoddy potion maker you so carelessly let die?"

Kai growled in rage. "Don't bring Timmy into this!"

"I happen to remember yet another of your allies that died tragically - what was his name again? Oh yes. Arthur LionsWorth." Erebos seemed to be enjoying himself, laughing at his own statement.

Kai seemed to want to dash forward, but Rose firmly placed her hand on Kai's chest to stop him.

"Don't do anything rash, Kai. He's taunting us. He wants us to do something stupid," Rose warned.

The fifteen-foot tall woman spoke. "I'm afraid you've already done that, sweetheart."

"Go, my minions. Make this as quick as possible!" the woman exclaimed, turning her head towards the line of cyclopes and giants that stood behind her and beckoning them forward.

In a large - and noisy - bout of yelling and roaring, the cyclopes and giants darted towards us, their weapons up and at the ready.

We readied our weapons in response, awaiting the monsters' move.

The cyclopes and giants attacked in a frenzy, wildly and erratically swinging their weapons around as their heavy armor worked against them. One such instance is when one of the club-carrying giants went for an overhead swing at me, missed, and left its side exposed. I swiftly jabbed my dagger into an unprotected portion of its skin and pulled it out, inflicting massive damage to the creature. The giant again swung and missed, giving me another opportunity to jab it in the side, which I so graciously accepted, slaying the monster.

I then took the time afforded me and scanned the fight to see where I might be of the most help - and quickly saw my chance to aid one of my friends. Amethyst was being pinned down by two cyclopes at once, and while she had no difficulty dodging their largely inaccurate swings, her bow shots were ineffectual against the armor of the one-eyed giants.

I swiftly changed into a gorilla and bounded over to Amethyst, slamming an oblivious cyclops down to the ground like a rugby player. I reverted to my normal form and stabbed the cyclops right where it hurt - its singular eye, dusting it on impact.

I turned around and set my sights on the other cyclops Amethyst had been dealing with and morphed into a gorilla once more. I creeped up behind the unaware cyclopes after it missed one of its attacks and held it completely and utterly still, allowing Amethyst to get a precise shot on its eye and kill the monster.

"Thanks for the assist," Amethyst said, quickly moving on.

I looked over to see what Kai, Alexander, and Rose had done and was pleased to find that they had made light work of the monsters, seeing a field of monster dust and zero monsters. The disorganization of the monsters and their general lack of coordination worked against them, and we took advantage of that.

Onto Erebos and his other lackeys, I suppose.

The woman sneered, slowly clapping her hands together. "Look at this. One minor victory and you think you're set for gold."

"Settle down, Nyx," Erebos chided. "Well done, heroes. Seriously. It takes some skill to get past my untrained forces. But how will you fare against the rest of my legion?"

From near the cage, Pasiphae and Circe levitated in the air and dropped down to the ground, each taking a side next to Nyx. Then came a twenty-foot tall, dragon-legged giant clad with stygian iron armor and brandishing a long, stygian iron sword. The giant had blue eyes, similar in appearance and luster to diamonds, accompanied with braided hair.

Originating from the very earth, a shadowy figure emerged, around six-feet tall and with intense purple eyes. His appearance sent chills down my spine and a feeling of despair crept over me.

"Nyx, protogenoi of the Night, Circe and Pasiphae, the Immortal Sorceresses, and Clytius, the bane of magic. Against a group of rash, fourteen year old demigods," Erebos said. "You will be punished for your brazenness and insolence, heroes. Prepare to face a world of hurt."

The shadowy figure dissipated into nothingness as chaos unfolded.

Nyx raised her arms upward and dark spikes jutted out of the ground. We narrowly dodged before Clytius, the twenty-foot tall giant, slammed the butt-end of his sword into the ground, shaking the ground and causing us to fall. When the quake subsided and we slowly got off the ground, we were hit by a wide wave of purple energy that sent us flying backwards.

Stalactites from the ceiling came down at us at an alarming pace, but Rose telekinetically stopped their course of movement and threw them at Circe and Pasiphae, who flicked the stalactites aside easily. This bought the rest of us time to get up and prepare for what was going to be thrown our way.

"Split up!" Rose commanded.

I recalled my promise, my solemn vow to Rose that I would make sure she didn't die and took her side as we faced down Clytius.

Alexander and Amethyst were paired against Circe and Pasiphae, and Kai squared off against Nyx - a very unfavorable match-up for him but the one that made the most sense. Kai was easily the best equipped to face someone of her immense power out of all of us.

Rose casted a fire spell, but as it was about to connect with Clytius' armor, it dissipated. She did this again, but the same outcome occurred.

"I am the bane of all magic," Clytius said. "So do you really think that your measly spells will work against me?"

Rose grunted as she reached for her daggers, making the swift realization that this fight would not be fought with her magic.

Clytius stepped forward and slashed his sword downward at us, being easy to dodge but upon hitting the ground, shaking us off our feet. Rose fell flat on her back, but I was able to maintain balance. I morphed into a cheetah and dashed at Clytius, slashing his thigh. Drips of golden ichor spilt on the floor, but Clytius seemed rather unbothered by the damage to his thigh.

I reverted back to normal and darted at Clytius, looking to hit him once again, but he spun around and sliced his sword up, the edge of his blade brushing over my hair and narrowly missing my face. This interaction caused me to miss my attack and stumble forwards, getting caught on a rock and tripping.

Clytius raised his blade above his head and brought it down, about to make contact with my body when Rose attacked his side with one of her daggers, and in a knee jerk-like reaction, Clytius brought his blade away from my body and allowed me time to roll backwards and recover.

More golden ichor dropped from Clytius' body, but he couldn't care less. In a matter of seconds, his thigh injury had healed and I expected the same to happen with his side. In other words, we hadn't done anything to Clytius except waste his time and almost die.

I positioned myself next to Rose and brought out my daggers for round two when Kai came flying and collided with me, causing the two of us to collapse to the ground. The two of us recovered quickly from the ground, but when I looked up, Nyx stood next to Clytius - Kai's fight with Nyx had now merged with ours against Clytius.

Without a moment's hesitation, Nyx snapped her fingers and stalactites came flying at us. Rose tried lifting her hands up to cast them aside, but Clytius' presence nullified any move Rose wanted to attempt. Kai ignited Scorcher and sent a large stream of fire at the stalactites by jabbing his blade upwards, making the sharp ceiling rocks drop to the ground.

Clytius followed up by stomping his foot on the ground and causing yet another quake, and while Rose and I fell down, Kai hovered above the earthquake using his fire to boost him up.

"Can you two hold them off?" Kai asked as Rose and I picked ourselves off the cavern floor. "I have an idea."

Before either of us could say anything, he said, "Thanks", and ran off.

Rose and I turned around to face our foes as we attacked with the sole goal of giving Kai time to do whatever crazy idea he had in mind. I lunged at Nyx and tried slashing at her wispy legs, but she summoned a sword made of purple energy to parry my attack. She then went on the offensive, unleashing a flurry of slashes at me which I was thankfully able to dodge.

I transformed into a gorilla - an animal which I steadily had gotten comfortable changing into - and leaped upwards, swinging my arm at her face and getting a good hit in, making Nyx stumble back and groan in pain. I turned to see what Kai was doing - and was suddenly filled with hope.

Kai was currently melting the bars on Hecate's cage, exactly one or two seconds from freeing the Mist goddess and fulfilling the prophecy.

Then I heard Rose say, in a strained tone, "Help, Geneva!"

I whirled around and saw Clytius' hand on Rose's neck, Rose being lifted into the air as the giant choked her. I sprinted to help her, but Nyx raised her hand up and my movement was halted, now frozen in midair.

Clytius reached for his sword, ready to do the deed and finish off Rose.

I tearfully yelled, "No!", as the realization that I had failed to deliver on my promise hit me like a truck.

Arthur's death, I had no control over. Timmy's death, I had no control over. But this one was all on me. I promised Rose - one of my closest friends and lifesaver - that I would keep her safe.

And I had failed miserably. The daughter of Hecate would indeed fall into darkness' midst.

But then Clytius' sword turned into a bar of soap that slipped out of his hands immediately.

"What?" Clytius asked.

Then a cloud appeared in front of me and Hecate entered the battle scene - newly freed and brimming with power. Hecate cast a large fireball at the giant which hit him back and made him drop Rose.

Nyx sent a ball of dark energy at the goddess of the mist, but Hecate flicked her hand and the ball was sent back at Nyx with double the power. The ironclad protogenoi hit the ground, and when she tried to get up, a Taser arrow pinned her right leg down, followed by another arrow hitting her left.

Alexander and Amethyst, having defeated Pasiphae and Circe, grouped with us, Kai arriving only a few seconds later as we reveled in victory.

"Perhaps it's time we get out of here," Kai asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hold hands together," commanded Hecate, as the ground below us started to tremble greatly.

"FOOLS!" boomed the voice of Erebos as it cascaded through the walls of the cave.

"NO DEMIGODS SHALL ESCAPE MY WRATH!"

We grabbed each other's hands as we tried to keep ourselves balanced on the shaking floor above us.

Circe appeared to be back on her feet as she angrily made her way to stop Hecate from casting her spell. Just as she was within a few meters of us - she froze in place with a look of horror in her eyes.

"But lord, I can still stop them from escaping. They won't get away with this," she yelled desperately.

The booming voice of Erebos was now even more merciless and cold than before.

"Your mission is completed. I have no use for you anymore," Erebos replied coldly, as horrifyingly the ground underneath Circe began to part and suck her in.

She scratched and clawed to escape, but the force was too much and within a few seconds - her whole body was consumed by the ground below her.

Rubble from the cave started to crack and fall from the top, and an odd sensation was felt in my stomach as suddenly we were absorbed into the ground like a puddle of mud.

Within a moment's notice, we were out of the cave and back on the streets of Athens - with the eerie quiet replacing the mystical echoes. We glanced at each other for a few moments, and a great sense of euphoria was felt by all as we marveled at the feat that we had just accomplished.

We all embraced in victory, as we held on to each other for dear life in what was somehow a more suffocating group hug than the grip of Alexander. This felt so surreal, we had actually done it - we finished the quest and somehow fulfilled the prophecy.

Rose seemed to be having an important conversation with her mom, who was now bent over in great exhaustion. Leaving her to it, I was about to make mention of our ride home, when the ground of Athens began to shake vigorously.

"YOU HAVE TESTED MY HAND FOR THE LAST TIME, DEMIGODS. WITH ALL OF YOU HERE NOW IN ONE PLACE - I SHALL FINISH YOU OFF BY MY OWN HAND," thundered the voice of Erebos as it spread through the streets of Athens.

Thunder boomed above as rain began to pour heavily. The ground continued to shake like an earthquake, and to our horror - people marched in from all sides with decrepit, gray skin and dull eyes that seemed inhuman in nature.

We were surrounded.

We were tired.

We had no escape.

This was the end.

Kai raised his blade, as Rose took out her knives. Even though this was the end, I was happy to be fighting alongside those that I love.

"After this fight, I'm definitely gonna have to vacation for a while," Kai mumbled as his blade was set aflame.

"Be careful what you wish for, young mortal," Hecate said as a renewed sense of energy seemed to fill her and she rose again.

The zombie-esque army was now completely around us, but halted in place - as Athens Tower began to shake vigorously.

As if blown up by a bomb, the tower exploded into thousands of fragments as a large, shadowy figure stood in its place.

Erebos had taken the form of a giant and was now looming over all other buildings in the vicinity in his shadowy form. His purple eyes communicated a sense of enragement, as he lowered his gaze directly towards us like a pile of ants.

"This is the end of your prophecy," he said calmly as he gave the command for his army of soldiers to attack.

With one last look at each other, we prepared to go down swinging.

The army of undead soldiers charged at us at blistering pace from all sides, and it was really only then that I realized just how massive this army really was.

We were not just vastly outnumbered.

We were completely, hopelessly, overwhelmed.

Hecate dropped to the floor behind us, as it seemed like she was throwing it all in - and Rose let down her guard as an arrow flew into her stomach.

Before I could scream, the soldiers were upon us, and I had to turn around and defend myself against the mob of hundreds.

I transformed into an elephant and swung my trunk around at the mob wildly - hitting the undead soldiers up into the air with each swing of my trunk. But for every undead soldier I hit aside, two more would take its place and overwhelm me.

Pain shot up across my legs, as I reverted back into my normal form - a large gash having developed across my right calf.

There were far too many of them.

A larger soldier swung his arms at me and struck me in the chest - sending me flying back a few feet, and knocking the breath out of me as I laid on the ground.

It took every fiber of my being to stand back up, as more soldiers began to filter into the battleground from the city.

I glanced to the right to see Kai engulfed in flames as he tore through the ranks of the soldiers, and was backed up by Alexander, who was swinging his hammer through fields of soldiers. They were doing well, but not close to enough to eliminate the vast numbers the army had.

In front of them was both Rose and Hecate who were being covered by Amethyst. I tried to make my way to them, but the soldiers kept coming in and the wear of the battle was becoming overwhelming.

The rain seemed to intensify, and the clouds above were roaring with thunder - as it seemed like even Zeus felt the tragedy of this battle.

An arm wrapped around my throat, as I was being choked by an undead soldier from behind me. With his other hand securely placed on top of my head, I stabbed at his sides over and over again - but his grip never loosened.

Consciousness started to slip from me, as I felt deep down this was the end. In my final moments I prayed that the gods would save my friends from the same fate, and that they would go on to live without me.

Memories of the NYC Carnival flashed through my mind, as I thought of when Arthur and I rode on that ridiculous roller coaster that sent my phone flying from the top. I remembered his smile, his arms around me, and the feeling of happiness that I hadn't felt in such a long time.

Perhaps I was on my way to see him.

Just when I felt like the last moment of my life had passed, white lightning from above struck everywhere on the undead soldiers - as electricity jumped from soldier to soldier shocking them into ashes and dust.

The soldier who had been gripping me turned to dust, and was blown away by a gust of wind so powerful that it sent waves of undead soldiers with him.

As I fell to the ground, I looked across to my friends who were all lying on the ground, and the undead soldiers who were quickly being demolished by the wrath of the skies.

The towering shadow of Erebos was more enraged as he stepped out and screamed at the skies.

"ZEUS, YOU COWARD! COME DOWN TO FACE ME YOURSELF!"

The flashing, white lightning ceased as the rain continued to pour heavily on us.

A brief period of quiet was suddenly interrupted by a great lightning bolt that struck down in front of us, and in front of Erebos himself.

Standing where the lighting had struck, was a shirtless figure who had a dragon symbol burned into his chest - with a large longsword that shined in contrast to the dark skies above.

The figure turned around to look at me straight in the eyes, and my heart seemed like it was going to explode.

Those stormy blue eyes always seemed to have that effect on me.

With electricity emanating off his chest and sword, Arthur LionsWorth floated off the ground and faced Erebos as blue filled his eyes.