Trials of Tartarus

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“It’s really nice to meet you,” I say.

“It is nice to meet you too, I have heard about you. About your love, and your town,” Caltaya said. “I admit, I never expected to see you under these circumstances.”

“Okay,” I say. “Well I wish I could say that I never expected to be in this kind of situation, but that would be a lie.”

“Oh yes, I heard about your… gift,” Caltaya says slowly.

“You mean curse?” I ask.

“Is that what you want it to be? A curse?” she asks.

I shrug, “Doesn’t matter what I want, it’s what it is.”

She clicks her tongue, like she was disappointed in me, “Come now, the only curse we have in life are the ones that we believe to be true.”

“Well it’s certainly not a gift,” I say sharply.

Caltaya shrugs., but she doesn’t push the matter. I was grateful for that, but I still felt slightly defensive.

“So how are you supposed to help me?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Well I can’t actually go with you. But I can give you something better,” Caltaya says.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“I can give you your friends,” she says.

“Come again?” I ask after a second.

When she didn’t elaborate on that very, very terrible sentence. I wave my hand, inviting her to answer my question. She frowns at me.

“Not literally,” she says.

“Oh. Thank gods,” I mumble.

She rolls her eyes, “Just give me a list of your friends and what you like about them. What traits they possess that could help you.”

“Um.. Why?” I ask.

“Because you want to get out of here and go be with your wife,” she says.

“Fine,” I say.

“Start,” Caltaya says, a notebook appearing out of nowhere.

“Well, Lenzie’s the smartest child of Athena that I know. She can figure out any problem,” I say.

Caltaya nods, writing in the book before motioning me to continue.

“Derek’s optimistic and has his own way of thinking. Alex can defeat anything she encounters. James can make any situation better, and he delivers a great pep talk. Astrid’s been trained by the Hunters, her and Jordan’s senses are greater than anyone else’s. Quinn has an eye for detail, she can memorize anything, and figure out what someone might be planning. Bat’s knowledgeable on medical needs, he knows any injury, as well as how to fix it. And Moon’s love, her calm words and quiet support. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“That is all,” Caltaya says, it wasn’t a question. More like a warning.

I breath deeply, wondering how she was going to get them to help me. Without actually bringing them here.

“Drink,” she says, holding out a vial of liquid. It was different colors, black, blue, red, yellow, gold, silver, all swirling around inside the vial.

I reach out, fingering it slightly, before biting my lip and looking at her, wondering if it was safe.

“Trust me,” Caltaya says.

“Okay,” I say.

Without questioning it anymore I tilt my head back and drink. The taste was foul, and I ended up coughing and sputtering.

“Your first test is strength,” Caltaya says. “Not physical strength either

“What kind of strength?” I ask.

She looks at me sadly, “The kind that comes with having to choose which friends live, and which friends die.”

“You’re joking right?” I ask. “Please tell me that you’re joking, I really, really, really need you to be joking.”

“I’m afraid not,” she says, before reaching out and touching my forehead. “Goodluck.”

𝌀

When the darkness cleared I was left with an empty feeling. That was, until I heard them.

Do you think we could hurry this along? I’ve been dying for some Pizza, James says in my head.

I freeze, the pizza joke was obvious, but I had never expected for them to be in my head. Not when I gave Caltaya the names. But I was glad, so, so glad.

Thank you, Caltaya, I silently pray.

Despite not hearing a reply, I knew that she had heard me.

The room that I was in now was huge, and spacious. There was a table with little pieces of paper in the middle. Getting closer I see that the paper held names.

Quinn Shax. Alex Drevak. Moon Dragon. Derek Demos. Lenzie Smith.

Name after name, after name. I frown, not understanding, lining the walls were two more tables, full of bowls. Each bowl had a symbol in it. I look around, only the other side of the room there was a cupboard. Above the cupboard there was a message. It was written in blood.

Choose four names and symbols and place them in the cupboard. Those people will DIE. Fail to do so, and they ALL die.

I swallow. No, they couldn’t ask me to do this, they can’t. I don’t care who they were.

Go ahead Mutt, you can do this, Moon says. Just choose.

No, no, no. I think, shaking my head. Please, I am not going to do this.

If you don’t we all die, James points out.

But- I start.

I’ll die, Alex says. I mean, I really can’t. Considering I’m the next fate of death and all. Not to mention, the daughter of death. I totally can’t die. And well. Even if I could, death’s an adventure. Do it Mutt. DO IT!

With shaking hands I stumble forward and pick up Alex’s piece of paper. Taking it over to the bowl with the skull in it, before placing both of them in the cupboard. They disappeared on contact.

Me too, Bat says. Stick my name in there, Mutt. I’m a doctor. I made an oath to protect people. This is me doing my job.

I close my eyes for a moment before doing the same thing with the Bat’s name and the bowl with the medical staff in it.

So will I, Lenzie says, her voice coming out strong. Quinn once told me that the most heroic death is to die, so that others can live. That the most honorable one was the one that you chose for yourself, remember?

Yeah, Quinn says cautiously, like she wasn’t sure if that was the right answer on a test.

Then I choose this death, Lenzie says.

With a sinking feeling in my gut I grab Lenzie’s name and the bowl with the owl in it. I knew who would volunteer next, and I wished that I could say something, anything, to keep her from doing that.

Oh what the hell, Quinn says. Might as well die now so that I don’t have to later.

I was already placing Quinn’s name and the trident bowl inside the cupboard.

The writing on the wall slowly changes, and I let out the breath that I had been holding.

Congratulations. It would seem that you passed. How… Wonderful. Sleep now, your next task will come. Soon. Very, very soon.

The next thing I saw before everything went black was a smirking creature looking at me.

𝌀

Was it possible to feel more dead while being alive than it was when you were actually dead? I wasn’t really sure. Sometimes I felt like it, especially now. I was awake, walking around, and very much alive. But I couldn’t help but feel more dead than I ever had before.

Sentencing my friends, no my family to death. It was something I had never wanted to experience. And I felt dead inside.

“Stop,” Caltaya mutters, touching my shoulder. “You couldn’t have done anything other than what you did.”

“I could’ve chosen to die instead,” I say, shaking off her hand. “I could’ve convinced whoever to take my life instead.”

“Do you really think that would’ve worked?” She asks, taking a step back.

“I don’t really care whether or not it would work!” I snap. “It. It had to have ended up being better than this. Anything is better than this!”

“If you had done that then all of you friends would be dead. Not just a selected few,” Caltaya says.

“That’s your brightside?” I exclaim.

“Do you have a better one?” she asks. “Because if you do, well, I’d love to hear it.”

“I-” I start, but the thing was, I didn’t. “There is no possible bright side, not to any of this.”

“Four lives for the life of an entire town,” Caltaya says. “How is that a question in your mind?”

“BECAUSE THEY ARE MY FRIENDS! They are MY family!” I shout. “And I know for a fact that if ANY of them KNEW why Alex, Bat, Lenz, and Quinn are going to die they would HATE me for making that choice!”

“They can’t hate you more than you hate yourself now,” she points out. “Besides, you didn’t choose their deaths for them. They chose them themselves.”

“No,” I say. “They did not chose it for themselves. Because they’re not actually in my head. It’s just their voices.”

“Just because it’s their voice doesn’t mean anything. I based that potion off of their personality. So I assure you, that if their voice volunteered to die then they definitely would’ve too,” Caltaya snaps, at the end of the sentence she growls.

It was an absolutely animalistic sound, one that I recognized, I had made the same sound seconds before I killed Tartarus.

“I know that,” I whisper. “I just. I can’t accept it.”

“On the bright side, Mutt, you know as well as I do that those four people have the best odds of facing death and defeating it. If anyone can beat the Trial Master’s Death Squad it’s them,” Caltaya says.

“Yeah,” I mutter. “If they were together maybe. If not then they’re going to be easy pickings.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Caltaya whispers. “They are just as strong together as they are apart.”

“In different things. Bat’s a medic and great at archery. Lenz’s smarter than anyone I know. Quinn is great at battle, and Alex is fearless. Together they make an army. Alone they make ¼ of a person that can barely stand by their own two feet,” I mutter.

“They’re strong. They’ll be okay. Whether they’re together or apart,” Caltaya says, trying to reassure me.

But I was already confident on the fact that they would die, and it was that knowledge that made me queasy.

“Is there anyway to warn them?” I ask.

“Make it out of this alive, the Trial Master won’t do anything unless you live,” Caltaya says.

Immediately I perk up, “Say that again?”

I had just found a way to everyone to live, all I had to do was verify it by her one more time.

“You can’t purposely die Mutt, he’ll know,” Caltaya whispers.

“He?” I ask.

“You hadn’t guessed already? I’m surprised. Yes. He,” she says.

“How will he know if I try to die?” I demand. “On purpose I mean.”

“Because he can hear your thoughts,” she murmurs.

“What?” I ask.

“As long as you are within the walls of the Trial House and within the trial, he can hear everything you think,” Caltaya says.

“That’s really, really creepy. Doesn’t this guy have a life of his own?” I ask. “Can he hear your thoughts?”

“I know, yes, and no,” Caltaya answers.

“Then can you guard my thoughts?” I ask.

“I wish I could,” Caltaya whispers. “But alas, I am no god.”

“You sound bitter,” I whisper. “Were you a god once?”

“I was,” she whispers, her voice filled with sadness.

“How?” I ask.

“Just like any other god, I was born a mortal,” she says.

“Gods are mortals?” I ask, confused.

“No, gods were mortals. They no longer are however,” she explains. “Every mortal has the potential of turning into a god. It just depends on how much a person believes in that mortal.”

“Someone must’ve really believed in you then, huh?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says, the sadness in her eyes causing me pain.

“What happened?” I ask, I knew that I was pushing at a subject she wanted to forget, but I couldn’t help it.

“They stopped believing in me,” she says.

“Why?” I press.

“Because I let them down,” she says, looking at her shoes. “When you become a god there are certain things, rules, that you have to follow. Rules that you don’t want to follow. Rules that I couldn’t follow and still have the belief of my greatest friend.”

“So what happened?”

“I followed the rules until the rules broke me,” she says, turning away from me and walking out a door that disappeared the second she stepped through.

I sigh, hanging my head, I never had wanted to push her to such a point where she left. I didn’t think that she would just walk out, but at the same time I knew that’s exactly what she would do.

Because it’s what I would’ve done. Not that I could’ve left, because the door seemed to be controlled by Caltaya. I sink to the floor, pulling my legs up so that my knees were resting under my chin.

So what if I was wasting away in Tartarus. So what if I had just lost the one, and only, friend that I had down here. None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the girl that haunted my dreams, my thoughts, every waking and sleeping hour of everyday.

Her blue eyes were etched into my mind, so full of love, hope, sadness. Sadness and hurt. Two things that I gave her. I put those emotions into her eyes. But no matter what happened, the love in them had never lessoned. The love in her eyes had outshined every other emotion.

She still loved me, she still believed in me. Even after what I did. I hang my head. Would she still love me after this? Would she still love me despite the person I have to become to survive? Would she still love me if I lost myself?

I knew the answer, it was as simple as yes, but it was an answer that I was weary to accept. Either way, it was that answer that steeled my nerves and allowed me to rise from the ground and lay down on the cot at the far side of the room. If this Trial Master wanted to bring baloney to me, well then, he might be surprised about what he gets in return.

Because I was ready to fight. For the love of my life, I would fight.