6

Caleb glanced at his father. "It's in Tartarus?"

Hades nodded.

"Hades, will you guide them?" Zeus asked.

"I will, but I cannot follow them into Tartarus. They will be on their own from there." Hades twirled his beard. "But I must warn you that Pandora's box is being protected by Kampe, be careful how you speak to her or she'll rip you to shreds."

Caleb glanced over at Keith and saw his eyes had widened a fraction. Making his blue eyes seem brighter.

He's cute. Caleb thought.

He saw Mason glaring at him, and he looked away face burning. It's not like he wanted to leave Mason. His father made him.

Besides, the boy his father had pushed on him left him because he said Caleb was boring.

"Alright, children, come," Hades said, beckoning Keith, Mason, and Emerson forward. He nodded toward Caleb.

Hades and the other kids stepped into the shadow of the fountain in the middle of the square and vanished.

***

Keith would not advise shadow travel if you are afraid of the dark and cramped spaces. When they arrived, they were standing at an entrance to a cave.

Whenever Keith looked at Mason he thought of the kiss and his cheeks would get warm. Whenever he was around him he got butterflies in his stomach. He never felt this way about anyone, not even a girl.

Keith squinted his eyes, it was too dark to see anything inside.

"Here we are, children," Hades said. "The entrance to Tartarus."

Caleb appeared next to Hades looking winded.

Emerson wrapped an arm around his waist to steady him. "So, is there like a map we follow to find the box?" she asked.

"A map?" Hades barked. "Of course, there isn't. What's the point of hiding it if it could be found easily with a map?"

"Is there something that'll help us see better? A torch maybe?" Keith asked.

Hades reached in front of him and pulled two flaming torches out of thin air. He handed one to Caleb and the other to Keith.

"I wish you the best of luck, young heroes," Hades said, then vanished.

Caleb snorted. "Heroes?"

"Well," Emerson sighed. "We're on our own now."

Once Caleb was stable on his feet they started their journey into Tartarus. While Mason was talking with Emerson at the front of the pack, Keith caught up to Caleb.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Caleb glanced at him. "What would be the purpose of asking to ask a question?"

"So, is that a yes?" Keith muttered.

"Sure, whatever."

Keith took a deep breath and wondered how he should bring the topic up to him. "I saw you in a dream. We were in the courtyard. Were you listening to the giants?"

"Oh. That." Caleb snorts. "Yes. Kids at camp have been having that dream for weeks now. But this is the first time I've seen someone in mine."

"So, were you there before me?"

Caleb nodded. "Yeah. They were talking about attacking Olympus."

"What?" Keith exclaimed.

"But I never could find out when they were going to. They kept changing the subject, they could smell me."

Before Keith could reply, Emerson said, "Hey guys, come check this out."

Caleb and Keith exchange a look before they run to catch up with them. The cave opened up into a large area where ghosts roamed.

Leading away from the large space were four more tunnels.

"Maybe we should ask a ghost for help?" Mason offered.

Emerson stepped into the large room and walked toward a woman who was sitting on a rock, looking at the ground with a blank look on her face.

"Excuse me, miss?"

The ghost didn't move.

Keith and the other boys join her. Caleb crouched in front of the woman. "Maybe I can help."

He reached out and touched her arm. "Try again, Emerson."

"Excuse me, miss?"

The ghost looked up at them and her eyes widened.

"Woah! How'd you do that?" Keith asked when Caleb pulled his hand back. "That's cool. Can you, like, communicate with dead people?"

Caleb nodded. "Yeah."

Keith glanced at Mason and saw that his arms were folded. Keith didn't see what was so bad about Caleb, he seemed nice.

But Mason did have a reason to hate him the way he did.

The ghost looked at them all and blinked. "Hullo there. Who are you?

"Hello. I'm Emerson. These are my friends, Caleb, Mason, and Keith." Emerson beamed. "We're looking for Pandora's box. Do you think you could help us?"

"Pandora's box?" The ghost looked confused. "Why would you want to look for that cursed thing? That should remain hidden. It's because of her that I'm here." the ghost said, folding her arms.

Emerson blinked. "What do you mean?"

"My name is Vanessa Lovely. I used to be a mother and a wife. I lived with my husband and my two beautiful children." Vanessa tugged at her silver hair. "When the evils were released into the world, all kinds of diseases came with it. On my son's fifth birthday I was ill. Too ill to even get up and wish him a happy birthday."

"Then what happened?" Keith asked.

Vanessa sighed. "I died the next morning and the next thing I know I was floating over my own body. My husband and my two boys ran into the room. No matter how loud I tried to scream, they couldn't hear me."

Caleb frowned. "So how do you know that it was Pandora?"

"Because before that box was open, everything was fine. There was no disease, death, no evil." Vanessa shook her head. "If it weren't for her I'd be alive, celebrating my son's fifteenth birthday. All I can do is watch them from afar. I want to hold them and kiss them so much, that it hurts."

Keith shared a look with Mason.

"I'm really sorry about that miss, but Kronus has risen again. We're trying to stop him before he can come back to full power." Mason said.

Vanessa stared at him. "You don't plan to open it again, do you?"

Caleb shook his head. "No, we shouldn't need to."

"I don't know." Vanessa bit the bottom of her lip. "It's very dangerous to wander."

Emerson took the woman's hands and gripped them. "I know what happened to you was horrible, and I wish I could change what happened ten years ago. But I can't. We need to find that box, the world is depending on us."

Vanessa blinked tears from her eyes and nodded at Keith. "You dear seemed to have been touched with this dark magic." she nodded at Emerson. "I'll help you."

"Dark magic?" Mason stuttered. "What are you talking about?"

"Keith knows," Vanessa answered.

Vanessa got to her feet and brushed invisible dirt from her gown. "Well, let's begin our search, shall we?"

***

When Vanessa, Emerson, and Caleb walked ahead, Mason tugged on Keith's arm.

Keith gave him a confused look.

"What was Vanessa talking about?" Mason asked. "What dark magic?"

Keith stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Does it have something to do with what attacked you? Who did that to you?"

Keith tried to tug his arm from Mason's grip but Mason just gripped him tighter. "Mason, we need to catch up with the others!"

"Not until you tell me what happened to you."

"I can't Mason, he told me not to."

Mason raised an eyebrow. "He?"

"It sounded like a guy, ok. I don't want to talk about this anymore." Keith pulled his wrist free. "Come on, Vanessa waiting for us."

Before Mason could protest, Keith raced ahead to where Vanessa, Emerson, and Caleb were waiting. He stuffed his hands into his pocket and shuffled after them.

"I haven't traveled out of this area for years." Vanessa was saying. "But I do know where Zeus has hidden this box. It's in Pandora's temple."

Emerson's eyes widened. "Well, then it shouldn't be too hard to get, right?"

"Don't you remember what my father said?" Caleb asked. "It's being protected by Kampe. Even if we do manage to get inside, she'll try her best to rip us to shreds."

Mason folded his arms. "He also said to be careful how you speak to her. Is she moved by anything? Gifts?"

Vanessa cocked her head. "Not that I know of. Keith you'll need to be very cautious, she doesn't like Zeus's children."

"Why's that?" Keith asked.

"Well, he killed her and freed the cyclopes and the other beasts she was guarding." Vanessa blinked slowly. "Once we arrive I can no longer be of any assistance."

"That's alright, we're grateful for your assistance," Emerson said. "So, how do you know which cave to go down first?"

Vanessa shook her head. "You don't. We'll have to split up."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Keith muttered.

"There are four tunnels and five of us. One of you can come with me while the other three explore the other three caves." Vanessa points at Caleb. "Since he can communicate with the dead, I'd be more comfortable traveling with him."

"Solid math." Mason nodded, receiving a glare from Vanessa.

Emerson glanced at Mason and Keith. "I'm game. Are you guys alright with that?" she pulled the bow from her shoulder. "Just be cautious. We have no idea what we'll run into."

Mason wasn't sure splitting up was the best idea, Keith was still new to all of this and could get lost or hurt. He'd also heard tales about Kampe.

She had an upper body of a woman, a tail of serpents instead of legs, and instead of hair, she had a head full of poisonous snakes. Kampe was known for being ruthless and heartless.

Mason shrugged. "I'm not sure. How will we stay in contact with each other?"

"Shouting?" Caleb suggested.

Emerson rolled her eyes.

"Well if everyone's alright with that let's get started." Vanessa hooked her arm through Caleb and they skipped into the cave in the middle. Emerson took the one next to that.

Keith glanced at Mason and gave him a quick nod. "Good luck."

"Keith-"

Before Mason could finish his sentence, Keith closed the distance between them and crushed his mouth against his. Mason was so shocked that he barely had time to respond before Keith stepped back and took off into the third cave on the left.