Trials of Tartarus

Chapter Eighteen 

Mutt’s POV

It was weird. I was about to die, and all I could think about was cake. Maybe that was normal. I didn’t think so though. Caltaya left, hopefully to get cake, the minute the door closed behind her though, I turned back to the desk.

I lean over it, placing my hands on the chair, and bowing my head. There had to be something here that gave me the chance to get ahead of her. Obviously I knew that she was going to press the joining her thing. I couldn’t do that though. Never.

I wasn’t sure if I could do the other option either. Despite Caltaya’s flaws, she had been a friend. She had helped me, for her own reasons though.

“What am I gonna do?” I mumble to myself.

Whatever you think is right, duh, Alex’s voice says in my head.

Yeah, obviously, Lenzie adds.

Can’t do anything else but that, James agrees.

My head jerks up, the voices only came during a trial. Is that what this is? Just a trial? Maybe I’ve been wrong and the Trial Master is trying to get me to turn against Caltaya. Could it really be something as simple as that?

Could Caltaya have been blackmailed or threatened into doing what she’s doing? Do I really know her enough to make that assumption? That has to be it! It’s the only thing that makes sense!

Because Moon, no matter what life she was in, would never wrongfully kill someone. Especially not someone her friend was in love with! Is the previous life thing even true?

What of Themis’s warning? If this was all just a hoax and another trial, why would Themis warn me of something relating to an actual friend? And the prophecy. ‘The friend is a liar’, that had to be referring to Caltaya. She was the only friend I had down here!

I hated to admit it, but this wasn’t just another trial. All the evidence points to it being Caltaya as the villain. Was that true? Or was all this evidence just another trick?

Was Themis working on the opposite side? Or was she really a friend? I didn’t know. And there wasn’t any way for me to get out of here and figure it out.

I shake my head, no, Themis was on our side. She had to be! Because if she wasn’t then I was alive just to fulfill the enemies wishes.

Maybe she brought you back to life then so you can die now.

The voice that said that wasn’t any that Caltaya had put inside my head. It was my own voice. Speaking words of apparent reason, except there wasn’t any reason within this whole situation.

Could it be true? Could I only be alive now so that I can die right here and right now? Was I willing to physically die?

No, I wasn’t. I wasn’t willing to die anymore. Not like this. There was no way that I was too far gone. Not yet. I still had reasons to fight, so that’s what I was going to do! I was going to fight.

Because if I didn’t then what was the point of love?