Chapter Thirty

“Nope, really wasn’t,” Clato says.

“What are you doing here?” I demand, standing. “You’re supposed to be trapped on Ahtytela. Zeus sentenced you there after you betrayed us all.”

“I got bored,” Clato says simply. “Then I heard a rumor that you were stuck here. So I decided to come and have a chat. Your girlfriends mighty pretty you know.”

“Leave Moon alone,” I say. “I swear to Thanatos that if you hurt her I will kill you.”

“Whatev,” Clato says with a smirk.

“I swear Clato, I am not joking,” I hiss.

“Honey, you’re trapped in a room, surrounded by water, wishing, no waiting, to die,” Clato says. “Your threat is childish.”

“And you’re a traitor that “Two years. It hasn’t been that long, and I did nothing wrong!”

“You LED AN ARMY AGAINST THE GODS!” I scream.

“And your point is what exactly? Is Quinn not doing the exact same thing as we speak?” Clato snaps.

“No, she’s not. Because you nearly destroyed Godville. You nearly killed every single one of us. Your friends. Your family. People that cared about you. People that loved you!” I shout. “Against me.” I whisper that part, turning away and cursing the way my voice broke.

“Mutt-” Clato whispers.

“People trusted you,” I say softly. “We all trusted you. We let you into our home. Our lives. And you led an army to murder us.”

“I asked you to join me,” Clato whispers, a weak defense.

“But you knew what my answer would’ve been,” I say. “So why did you ask?”

“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!” Clato shouts. “Loved,” she corrects.

“I-” I start.

“Mutt!” A new voice cries, cutting off my answer. It was Moon.

I turn to look in the direction of the voice. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew that she was there.

“Moon!” I shout back, not thinking about it.

There was a ‘whoosh’ so I look back to where Clato had been standing. But she was gone.

“Mutt! Oh thank heaven! Are you okay?” Moon calls.

“Um, yeah,” I reply. “Are you?”

“Um, yeah,” Moon says, I could hear the smile in her voice.

“That’s great to hear. Um. Where are you?” I ask.
“I think I’m above you…” Moon says.

I raise an eyebrow at the way that sounded, but I don’t think that she noticed.

“Well, I’m okay with that,” I say with a grin.

Sadly, Moon still didn’t get it.

“Mutt, you can’t be okay with that! We need to get you out!” She says.

My face scrunches up, there was no way that she just didn’t understand what she was saying. I sigh dramatically and decide that it would be best to be serious and bring it up later.

“All I can see is darkness. Everything’s black,” I say.

“Yeah, it looks like you’re in some kind of room made out of water,” Moon replies. “And the water is surrounded by a lake of fire.”

Ooo, so that’s what Quinn meant.

“Where fire meets water,” Moon whispers.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing,” Moon answers. “Can you do something Poseidon-y and get out of there?”

“Duh,” I say, except I was standing right beside her.

She jumps, “Don’t do that!”

I grin cheekily at her. Trying to sort out how I actually got out of the room. Because I hadn’t even attempted to use my powers. I had just thought about getting out and then I was out.

Which never happened. Never in demigod history had someone been THAT lucky. Ever. It just wasn’t a thing. Never had been, so there was no way that it suddenly was going to be.

“Um,” Moon says, frowning slightly. “Are you okay?”

“What do you mean?” I ask, turning to face her.

“I’m not really sure what I mean, if we’re going for honesty,” Moon starts.

“Which, of course we are,” I interrupt.

“It’s just that, you don’t seem as normal as you used to,” Moon says.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” I ask.

“Well, did something happen? You don’t have to tell me if it was bad. I just, I just want you to be okay,” she says.

“Yeah, well, thanks for that,” I say, slightly unsure.

“Hey, talk to me,” Moon says.

“Abouuut?” I ask, drawing out the word.

“What’s bothering you? I can tell something’s wrong,” Moon says.

I blink in slight disbelief that she had even asked that. What’s WRONG? Biscuits, I don’t know… Where should I start.

“Oh nothing really, you know, just the usual. Stuck in Tartarus. Mentally dying. Seeing ex-girlfriend. And imaginary friends. Just a nooormal day for good ol’ Mutty boy,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Ex girlfriend?” Moon demands, her voice thick with jealousy.

“Is that seriously the only thing that you got out of anything that I just said?” I say. “What about the part where I’m going insane?? Shouldn’t you be worried about my health instead of my old sex life?”

“SEX LIFE?” She explodes.

I sigh dramatically and turn around. Walking away.

“Excuse me?” Moon shouts behind me. “Where do you think that you’re going?! WE ARE NOT DONE HERE! MUTT! Damnit get back here! I wanna talk to you!”

“And I don’t wanna stand still and wait for death,” I grumble under my breath.

“What was that?” Moon asks.

“What was what?” I ask, turning and giving her a grin. “Did you think that you heard something?”

“Depends. What did you say?” She asks.

“Who me?” I ask innocently.

“No, the boogeyman,” Moon says sarcastically.

“OH NO! NOT THE BOOGIE MAN!” I shout. “YOU’VE SEEN THE BOOGEYMAN?? OH GODS THIS IS SO BAD! WE HAVE TO GET OUTTA HERE NOW! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT YOU SHOULDN’T MESS WITH THE BOOGEYMAN!”

To further my point I opted to running around waving my arms above my head and screaming like a girl. Moon stared at me like I was by far going insane.

“Why are you looking at me like that?!” I demand, eyes wide. “Actually, I don’t care! The better question is, WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING THERE?! IF THE BOOGEYMAN IS COMING FOR US THEN WE NEED TO GET OUTTA HERE!”

“Mutt, calm down,” Moon starts.

“CALM DOWN?” I cry. “YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN!!! THE BOOGEYMAN IS COMING TO EAT US ALL ALIVEEEE! AND YOU WANT ME TO BE CALM?”

“Ummm,” Moon says, almost hesitantly.

“HOW ARE YOU NOT FREAKING OUT?! WE’RE ABOUT TO BE KILLED BY THE BOOGIE MONSTER?!” I shout.

As if on cue there was a woosh and then, “BOO!”

And like any mature guy would do, I screamed my head off like a little girl. Shrieking like a banshee.

“Sooo, why you guys talking about the boogie man?” the voice asks again.

Once again, all I can do is jump up and down and scream my head off.

“Mutt!” the voice snaps.

“NOooooooooo! The Boogey man knows my name!!! I’m dooooneeee foooorr!!!!!!!!!! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy meeeeeeeeeee??????” I shout, dropping to my knees and clasping my hands together. Throwing them in the air in a praying motion. “Please! Spare me! I promise I will be a good boy!!! Don’t let the bogeyman eat my brain!! Or me at all! Have mercyyyyy!!”

“Muutt!” the voice says again.

I roll into a ball, sobbing, “Noooo! I swear to you! I shall be a good boy!!!”

“Hey! Mutt! It’s Alex,” she says.

Almost immediately I stand up. Clearing my throat and straightening my shirt.

“Oh, hey Alex,” I say, completely straight faced. “How’s it going? Having a merry time in Tartarus or what?”

“Um, well it seems that you’re having more fun than me. You know, screeching like a girl and everything,” Alex says, crossing her arms.

“What? Who?” I ask. “Me?!”

“No, the boogeyman,” Alex says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“Wait, what? Where?!” I ask, looking around with wide eyes.

“Nowhere, it was a joke,” Alex says.

I scrunch up my face, “A joke? You call that a joke? A joke is supposed to make me laugh not pee my pants!!”

“Okaaaaaay,” Moon interrupts. “Let’s not fight.”

“You think we’re fighting?” Alex asks, her voice a cloud of disbelief. “What planet are you from?”

Moon opens her mouth, looking like a fish for a minute, before closing it again.

“This one?” she says uncertainty.

“You don’t sound that sure,” Alex says.

“Hey, leave her be,” I say. “We were having a very important discussion on the boogeyman!”

Alex smiles slightly and glances at me.

Before she can say anything however Moon says, “Actually before that we were having a more important conversation on your ex-girlfriend!”

Alex frowns, “Who? Clato? Why would you talk about her?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe cause she’s HERE!” Moon snaps, yelling at the end of that.

Alex laughs, falling to the floor and laughing. I don’t think she realized she was doing it, she probably couldn’t help herself. Moon fumed with anger, I half expected smoke to come out of her eyes. I mean, she is the daughter of Zeus, for heaven’s sake.

“Come again?” Alex asks, her voice coming out in a rushed gasp.

“Clato. Is. Here,” Moon enunciated, glaring at Alex.

“Right and so is the boogeyman,” Alex says with an eye roll.

And that was my cue.

“WAIT! WHAT? WHERE? NOOOOOOOOOOO WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! AND WE DON’T EVEN GET ANY CAKE AS A LAST MEAL! I DEMAND TO SEE MY LAWYER!” I shout.

“But you don’t have a lawyer,” Moon says.

“What? Really?” I ask.

I had meant for it to come out sarcastically, but it really just sounded like I was honestly stupid.

“You realize that we’re in Tartarus right?” Moon says.

“Oh really?” I ask. “Mhmm. I hadn’t noticed.”

I place a finger on my chin, tilting up my head and pretending to think. Finally I shake my head.

“I don’t know what could’ve possibly have given you the idea that we were in Tartarus. Was it the hot atmosphere? The fact that it’s depressing? The fact that I told you this already? Ah, nooo of course not. Why in the world would any of those things mean we were in Tartarus. Pfft,” I say, waving my hand at the end.

“That’s it,” Alex says. “I think he’s cracked. The heat must be getting to him.”

“Are you seriously trying to start a fight with me?” Moon demands, ignoring Alex.

“Umm, no,” I say.

“Good,” she snaps.

“Not because I think that you’ll beat me, but because you’ll lose, and my mommy taught me to never hit a girl,” I say, with a grin.

“You know what?” Moon snaps. “If you’re just going to be a dick then forget it. I don’t need you anyway.”

She turns around and starts walking away. Alex gives an overly dramatic sigh.

“Must you guys start fighting like a married couple now?” She grumbles.