Cruelty of the Gods

As Luke and Lucifer decided to assist Thalia with her 'quest' to find what Amaltheia wanted her to find. The magical goat led them into quite a few dangers. Monsters, traps and Lucifer saw quite a lot as he was led up and down the country.

A man in a trench coat wielding a wooden stick, a large cyclops eating in a McDonalds like a regular customer and a glowing chicken with the head if a man flying through the skyline.

'We are not the only weirdness out there.' Lucifer thought to himself.

This time the goat was closer than it had ever been. It usually appeared in the distance and vanished as they got closer. As the goat stayed still as we approached Thalia went and knelt by Amaltheia and asked.

"What do you want me to do Amaltheia? Did my dad send you?"

"What makes you think Zeus sent the goat? It doesn't look extremely special to me?" Luke asked. The giat looked angry at that with narrowed eyes as Amaltheia looked up at Luke and bleated angrily.

"Dont worry Amaltheia he didn't mean to insult you. And she is Zeus's sacred goat. When Rhea hid him as a baby Amaltheia looked after him in his cradle." Thalia said. "Amaltheia where do you want me to go?" The goat glared at Luke for a minute. Turned to Lucifer and seemed to recoil in disgust. The goat shook her head and pointed it at a house.

A creepy house. Red brick and covered in ivy. Framed by oak trees that were strangled with moss. The bright sunny morning did nothing to disguise the aura of gloom and depression around the place.

"Not to be the bearer of bad news." Lucifer said slowly. "But that places practically screams Danger Lots Of Monsters Inside." The goat huffed at that, baaahing at Lucifer with revulsion before disappearing. "And was it just me or did the goat seem revolted by me?" Lucifer questioned.

"No doubt about it Nick." Thalia said smirking. "Anyway I am going in are you guys going to follow or not?"

Luke and Lucifer said in sync. "We promised to help you even to demonic looking places." Thalia shot them a glare that spoke volumes.

"Why can you not stop doing that creepy physic thing."

"Because we don't want to." Luke and Lucifer said again smirking at Thalia. She huffed and started walking over to the house. In the middle of the charcoal black door was a bronze door knock. In the shape of Medusa's face.

"If that isn't a bad omen I dont know what is." Luke said. He pushed to the front tried to open the door before cursing and pressing his hand against the lock. The lock clicked open as Luke smiled in success.

"I'll take point." Thalia said, drawing her spear. She pushed the door open slowly and entered. Luke followed her with his knife drawn as Lucifer followed weapons out.

Inside the house was worse than the outside. Broken sword hilts. Arrowhead and armour scraps were littered across the hall. Dotted in between were bones. Human bones. The door slammed behind them and they jumped. Luke rushed to the door pressing his hand against the lock before stepping away with a curse.

Thalia ran to the curtains trying to pull them open but screamed for help as the curtains slowly enveloped her arms with tar like tentacles. Luke ran to help her pulling her out and exclaimed seeing her blistered hands. He pulled a bottle of nectar from his bag and rinsed her hands with it. Blisters faded and the redness shifted to healthy pink.

"Guys." Lucifer said. "We have other problems." Lucifer was staring at the gloomy halls and the red orbs that glowed from a shadowy cover.

"Up here." Came a mans voice from the stairs. "Hurry." The word repeated from the right with the same voice. Luke and Thalia did a double take.

"It seems like a trap." Said Luke. Clacking sounds came from the glowing eyes.

"Go take the stairs." Lucifer said. "Now." Luke and Thalia jumped on the stairs, leaping up them without looking back. Lucifer followed them with his shield out. Angry snarls came from below and a red furred lion leaped and Lucifer. He batted it away with his shield and hurried faster.

"Last door on the left. Quickly." Came the mans voice again. Luke and Thalia yanked the door open holding it for Lucifer to hurry in before slamming it closed. Angry howls came from the corridor outside as they turned to see the room.

The first thing that came to view was a man dressed in snakeskin boots and a suit of the same material. Tall and gaunt with wild grey hair he looked sickly like a strong wind would make him fall.

To his left was a cage with a floor littered with bones. The sole occupant caused the trips hearts to almost leap from their chests. Like the creatures from below it had the body of a red furred lion and horses hooves. Bone plates caused clacking sounds that reminded Lucifer of downstairs.

Luke exclaimed. "Who are you? What's that thing in the cage?" The man grimaced and the monster spoke.

"My name is Halycon Green and I am very sorry but you are the ones who are caged. This creature is a leucrota."

"Wait." Luke said looking confused. "That's your voice and by your I mean the dude in the snake skin suit."

The leucrota sighed heavily. "Yes I am 'the dude in the snakeskin suit' and such is my curse. As I said I am Halycon Green and I am a son of Apollo."

"You are a demigod." Thalia exclaimed. "But your so old."

"Old. That I am. I was born with the curse of seeing the future. Apollo warned me to keep quiet but I saved a young girls life from an accident. This meant I have been cursed to be here ever since.

"You said you saved a girls life and your father cursed you for it." Luke said angrily.

"The gods do not want mortals meddling with fate." The monster said. "My father forced me to wear these clothes. The skin of Python to remind me I was not an oracle. The gods then set the leucrotae to guard me. They keep me alive as bait to feast on demigods. It was Apollos way of reminding me my voice would only lead to doom."

'Halycon curse was plain evil' Lucifer thought. 'Why would the Gods deliberately try to kill their own children!' He thought angrily.