by Kate O'Hearn
Jupiter ran up to the Minotaur. “Help me,” he called to the others. “Their suffering must end now!”
Emily was already moving. She burned through the chains binding the Four Warriors to the ceiling. When they were free, the others were waiting to receive them.
“Mind the crystal,” Pluto warned. “It will be turning against us soon.”
“Oh no, it will not!” Vulcan cried. He approached the large round crystal and magnifying glass, hoisted it off the turntable, and cast it aside. It struck the stone floor and shattered into thousands of harmless pieces.
Behind where the crystal sat, they saw the light source. It was a very small fire no bigger than a fist. No fuel fed the flame. It was simply burning on a small marble plinth.
That is part of me! Riza called in alarm. I can feel it. That Flame shard landed here and has been the cause of their suffering. I am the reason for this terrible war.
“No, Riza,” Emily said. “It was the Titans. They found the fragments of Flame and figured out how to do this.”
“So that is why the Shadow Titans are drawn to you,” Agent B reasoned after Emily explained what Riza had said. “You carry the Flame within you—the source of their creation. We must extinguish it before they can do it again.”
Do not let them extinguish the Flame, Riza cried. Pull it into you. Perhaps this Flame shard will contain my lost memories. I ache to be made whole again and not remain in fragments scattered throughout the universe.
Emily approached the Flame and held out her hand. She didn’t need to do anything; the Flame leaped from the plinth into her outstretched hand.
“Em!” Joel screamed.
But Emily was smiling. “Joel, it’s okay. It feels strange, but really wonderful. Like a piece I’ve been missing has suddenly been found.” She could feel Riza’s joy. But it was tinged with sadness. The Flame shard did not contain her lost memories.
With the Flame secured deep within her, Emily turned her attention to the Four Warriors lying on the floor, moaning softly. One by one she reached out and let her healing powers work on their burns.
“How did the Titans figure out how to do that?” Joel asked.
“I have no idea,” Jupiter responded. “But it is truly a twisted mind that could conceive of such a hideous plan. Saturn’s malevolence knows no limits. This was nothing less than pure torture.”
When Emily finished healing the Four Warriors, she stood. “At least we’ve stopped it.”
“YOU HAVE STOPPED NOTHING!” a bodiless voice boomed.
A blinding flash filled the room as the Solar Stream opened. Huge figures burst from the light. Before anyone could react, a large net was tossed over Emily and Mike, and then Joel. They were dragged back into the Solar Stream and disappeared.
34
STELLA HEARD SHOUTS FROM WITHIN the chamber where the Four Warriors were held. Before Chiron and Briareos had a chance to charge down the corridor, Jupiter burst from the chamber.
“Titans have captured Emily and Joel! They used the Solar Stream to get in and out. They are gone.”
Chiron cursed. “How? Our powers do not work down here. Nor do the Titans’. How could they do it?”
“I do not know,” Jupiter mused. “Perhaps they have more of the Flame.”
“This will not stop us!” Neptune cried. “There is too much at stake.”
“But we’ve got to go after them!” Stella cried. “We can’t let Saturn hurt Emily or Joel.”
Jupiter cast his helmet aside violently, his face a portrait of fury. “Father has gone too far. He must be stopped!”
Agent B put a reassuring hand on Stella’s shoulder.
“Saturn can’t hurt Emily.” He paused and rubbed his chin. “Though she does have one very big weakness. Joel. He is still human and very vulnerable. They might try to use Emily’s emotions against her and threaten to hurt him if she does not cooperate.”
“How do you know this?” Jupiter asked.
“Because that’s exactly what the CRU planned to do.”
Jupiter started pacing the corridor. He pounded the wall with a fist and chipped pieces of stone. “We cannot go after her,” he finally said.
“What!” Stella cried. “We have to.”
Neptune looked at his younger brother and nodded. “Jupe is correct. Saturn wants us to abandon our attempts to get the weapon from Titus. If we waste precious time going after Emily, they will complete the weapon and launch it against us.”
“But it’s Emily and Joel!” Stella cried.
Agent B nodded. “They’re right, Stella. This is just a maneuver to distract us from the main mission.”
“But they’ll hurt them.”
“I do not think so,” Jupiter said. “At least not right away. Father has had his spies watching us for some time. He knows Emily has great powers, but I doubt he knows who she really is. Saturn would never knowingly try something like this against a Xan. In taking Emily, he has bitten off far more than even he can chew.”
“We should actually pity him,” Agent B said. “I have seen firsthand what happens when Emily loses her temper.”
Jupiter retrieved his helmet. “This could play in our favor. While Emily occupies Saturn, we must move on Titus. Let us make for the surface and get out of here.”
They had to fight their way out of the prison. On the surface they were met with more Shadow Titans. The now-healed Four Warriors stood with Jupiter.
Briareos was a wonder to watch as he took on hundreds of Shadow Titans at once. Not one of the warriors ever made it anywhere near Stella or the centaurs. With the Hundred-hander at their side, they beat back the Shadow Titans until it was clear enough for the Big Three to combine their powers and transport everyone from Tartarus back to Delphi on Earth.
The place they returned to looked nothing like the Delphi they had left. The ground was littered with Shadow Titan armor and dead monsters. There was still fighting, but it was in the distance. Stella looked over to the mountain across from the temple. The two Hundred-handers were standing tall above the trees and stomping and tearing their way through the forces of the Shadow Titans.
In just a short time after their arrival back on Earth, with the renewed Olympian forces, the Cyclopes, and the Hundred-handers, the battle was turning. Though the Shadow Titans were not surrendering, they were taking heavy losses. It was only a matter of time before they were all destroyed.
“Our success here will mean nothing if the Titans launch their weapon,” Jupiter said. “We have no time to waste. We must leave now for Titus.”
Everyone volunteered to go on the mission to Titus. But the Big Three were very selective about who should go with them. Agent B and Stella would bring the golden box, accompanied by Vulcan, Briareos, and the Four Warriors.
Once again the Big Three united their powers. Standing closely together, they lifted their heads and shouted, “Titus!”
35
IT WAS DARK AND SILENT as Emily and Mike emerged from the Solar Stream. No sooner had the Solar Stream opened than Emily and the dog were cast out and it closed firmly behind them. Whoever or whatever had taken them from Tartarus had moved faster than she’d imagined possible. She hadn’t had time to get a good look at her attacker, let alone fight back. All she’d seen was something large in black.
Nor had she been able to see Joel. Fear clutched her heart that he had been taken somewhere else.
“Joel!” Emily shouted. “Joel, are you there?”
The only sound was Mike’s whining. Emily knelt down and patted the dog. She raised her other hand and summoned the Flame. But no matter how large the Flame grew, nothing drove back the oppressive darkness. Beneath her was a cold stone floor, but she could not see or feel walls. There was no wind, no sound. Just blackness.
“It’s okay, boy,” she assured Mike. “We’ll get out of here.”
> Emily rose and fired a blast of laser light. She followed the glow as it traveled through the darkness until it faded away in the distance. Somehow the place felt limitless. Her next attempt was to lift herself and Mike up to try to fly out. That didn’t work either. There seemed no end to the darkness.
“Let me out of here!” Emily howled. She fired an even more powerful blast into the darkness. It did nothing. She spun in the air, firing blasts of Flame in all directions.
Emily, stop, Riza called softly. Do not speak aloud to me; they are listening. Just settle down on the ground and hear me.
Emily stopped firing and landed on the dark floor.
Sit, child, and listen. You are in a very special prison called an Energy Void. I cannot remember the details of where or when, but someone dear to me was once trapped in such a place. They learned that the more powers they used, the larger and stronger the trap became. It is like a black hole. Energy goes in but never leaves.
“But—” Emily started.
Shh . . . , Riza said. Do not let them hear you speaking. Just listen. There is only one way out of an Energy Void. But this may prove impossible for someone like you.
Emily wanted to ask how.
Hearing her thoughts, Riza continued. Emily, you feel things very deeply. But here in this prison, your emotions are your greatest enemy. Like your powers, emotions feed the trap. Your fear for Joel strengthens the walls. Your suffering over Pegasus and Paelen secures the roof. Worry for the Olympians keeps the locks solidly in place. All these thoughts contain you here. The Titans do not need to do a thing to defeat you. You are defeating yourself.
How do I fight them? Emily thought.
This is where escape will be difficult. You must renounce your emotions and lock your powers deep within yourself. Think only of those things that give you a sense of quiet. Mentally go to a place of peace, where your emotions are at their calmest.
Riza was right. In this dark and frightening place, finding a way to peace and calm would be impossible while the war raged on without her.
Then the Titans have already won.
“EMILY.” It was the grim voice she’d heard in Tartarus. Mike started to growl and then bark.
“Who are you?” Emily demanded.
“Some call me Cronus. You know me as Saturn.”
“Let me out of here!” Emily shouted. She stood up and tried to find the source of the voice.
Up ahead the tiniest spark of light seemed to pulse and then grow into the shape of a man. But it wasn’t solid—more like a fuzzy image from a poorly received television station. The image was large and imposing. But the face was familiar. She could see glimpses of the older Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto.
Mike charged Saturn but ran right through the image. Finally he returned to Emily’s side, growling softly.
“I will not release you until you tell me who you are and where you come from.”
Emily frowned. “How can you speak my language?”
“A secret language cannot remain secret if one has good spies,” Saturn said casually. “And I have the best.”
“They’re not that good if they don’t know who I am.”
“Perhaps not,” Saturn agreed. “So, who are you? Why are you here?”
“I’m here to help the Olympians,” Emily said. “But I shouldn’t have to. They’re your children. Why are you trying to kill them?”
“Yes, they are my children!” Saturn spat as his face twisted in fury. “Yet they show me no loyalty. They seek to overthrow me and would see me imprisoned in Tartarus.”
“Isn’t that where you locked them up?”
“You do not know what you are talking about,” Saturn said dismissively. “I will defeat them just as easily as I have defeated you.”
“You haven’t defeated me,” Emily said. “You just think you have, but you’re wrong.”
The image shimmered and sparkled. Emily knew he was growing angry.
“Do not try my patience, child,” Saturn warned. “I know how much you care for the human boy. I will not hesitate to hurt him.”
“I’m warning you, Saturn,” Emily challenged. “The Gorgons once threatened those I love. I melted one of them and the other turned to ash. If you hurt Joel, I swear I’ll do the same to you!”
“Threats from a child!” Saturn laughed.
It was hard for Emily to hate him with a face so much like Jupiter’s. “No, Saturn,” she said calmly. “A promise from a Xan!”
Emily, no, Riza hushed. You must not tell him any more.
“Xan?” For an instant Saturn’s image flickered. Then he burst into harsh laughter. “There are no Xan. They were myths created by our elders to frighten us.”
“Oh, really?” Emily continued. “And I suppose that Flame you used to make the Shadow Titans was created by you rubbing two sticks together.”
“It came from a dying star that crashed on Titus,” Saturn said. “Nothing more than that.”
“It came from me!” Emily shouted. The Flame flashed in her hand brightly. “Does this look familiar?”
Emily could feel Riza’s distress and hear her warnings. But she and Riza were different people from two very different worlds. Riza was from Xanadu, a world of calm and peace. Emily was born and raised on the tough streets of New York City. No one threatened her friends and got away with it. Even if they happened to be the leader of the Titans.
“You are lying,” Saturn insisted. “I do not know who you are or where you come from, but you are no Xan. They are just a myth.”
“Are you willing to risk it?” Emily demanded. “I don’t want to hurt you, so I am giving you a choice. Return Joel to me. Release us and end this wretched war.”
“Or?” Saturn said.
“Or I can lose my temper, and things will get very ugly very quickly.”
Saturn hesitated, but only for an instant. His image became solid. “If you are truly Xan, your powers will keep you trapped here forever. I will give you the boy as a gift to show you I can be generous. But I will not release you or end this war. My treacherous children will be punished for their defiance. I will launch my weapon against them and be done with it. Then we will discuss how you are to serve me.”
The image of Saturn vanished.
“Serve you?” Emily cried furiously. “Never!” She fired blast upon blast into the darkness, trying to break out of the void.
Emily, stop! Riza cried. You are only fortifying the walls of your prison. Control your temper now before it is too late!
Emily’s temper flared as she thought back to Riza, I know you said I shouldn’t destroy a Titan. But I swear, if Saturn launches that weapon against the Olympians, it will be the very last thing he does!
36
“EVERYTHING IS DEAD.” STELLA LOOKED around Titus.
The moment they arrived on Titus, Stella noticed how much it looked like Olympus from the brief glimpse she had seen of it from the future. The air felt the same, and just as in Olympus, there were magnificent marble buildings and structures.
“It’s just like Olympus after the CRU sent the weapon there.”
The trees around them were dry and withered. The grass was brown, and no birds, animals, or insects could be heard.
“This is what Olympus looked like after our attack?” Agent B said in quiet shock.
Stella nodded. “It was so beautiful and yet so dead.”
“Olympus and Titus were magnificent twin worlds,” Jupiter said sadly. “In creating that weapon, Saturn has destroyed this world just to defeat us.”
There was something in his voice that caught Stella’s attention. Jupiter didn’t sound right. He didn’t look right either. He was starting to hunch over. She looked around at the other Olympians—they too were looking ill.
“What’s wrong?” Agent B removed his Blackbird helmet and checke
d on Jupiter.
“We are near the weapon.” Jupiter gasped. “Minerva warned us, but I did not believe it would affect me as quickly as it has. We must find it before it kills us.”
The Minotaur snorted and pounded the ground. The Turtle Warrior pulled himself inside his shell and squealed in pain while the Blackbird Warrior cawed and the Dragon Warrior roared. Even Briareos was having violent reactions to the proximity of the weapon.
Stella wheeled her chair over to Vulcan and touched his arm lightly. “Can you feel where the pain is coming from?”
“Everywhere,” he groaned.
“Be more specific,” Agent B ordered sharply. “We can’t stop the weapon if we can’t find it!”
Vulcan balled his hands into fists. He stood upright and removed his helmet. His face was pinched in terrible pain. He turned in a slow circle and pointed at a beautiful pillared building rising in the distance.
“It is from in there, Saturn’s palace.”
“Of course it would be,” Agent B moaned. “Look. That’s where all the Shadow Titans are posted.” He checked the sky around him. “At least I can’t see any flying Shadows. They’re probably on Earth for the final battle.” The CRU agent drew his flame-sword. “I hope you Olympians can pull yourselves together, because Stella and I can’t fight them all alone.”
Pluto was doubled over in pain. “I have no powers with that weapon exposed,” he said through gritted teeth. “But at least I can still wield a sword.”
“So can I,” agreed Jupiter, drawing his own weapon. “We must move now before that thing finishes us.”
Stella pulled out her own flame-sword from its sheath mounted on her wheelchair. “Maxine, I need your help,” she said to her chair. “Please take me to Saturn’s palace. We must get to the weapon.”
Beneath her, her chair reacted to the request. The wheels started to turn as the chair moved forward.