10

The doors to the temple opened behind Emerson and she whirled around to see Mason and Vanessa run out. Mason was holding a golden box in his arms.

"Where's Caleb?" Keith asked.

"He was pulled into a hole." Vanessa whimpered. "We got Pandora's box though."

Emerson frowned. "Hold up. Pulled into a hole? You guys didn't try to get him?"

"How?" Mason hissed. "You're going to move a two-ton statue?"

"Ok, let's not panic. We might not be able to get to him, I'll wait up for him. You guys go on ahead and see what clues you can get from the box." Keith said.

Before anyone could move a screech from outside startled them. Emerson whirled around and saw Typhon tackle Kampe to the ground.

"Go now while she's occupied!" Keith shouted.

Emerson threw her bow over her shoulder and followed after Mason and Vanessa as they raced toward the exit.

Keith ran inside the temple.

Typhon and Kampe were rolling around on the ground fighting. Emerson and her friends ran past.

Kampe threw Typhon off and Kampe got to her feet and let out a loud scream. Emerson covered her ears and fell to her knees.

She knew what Kampe was trying to do, she was calling for help. If she didn't do something now they would be surrounded preventing her and her friends from getting to safety.

Emerson got to her feet and pulled her bow from her back. She cocked in an arrow and pulled back, she knew that a normal arrow would not have penetrated the creature's skin so she was using one of her magical arrows.

Mason turned. "Emerson, come on!"

She ignored him and shot the arrow, then she turned and ran, not even bothering to check and see if the arrow hit the target.

Emerson caught up to Mason and he grabbed her wrist and dragged her behind him.

"What were you doing?" Mason hissed. "Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No, I was trying to prevent her from calling for some help." Emerson snapped back. "I saved your life. You're welcome."

Mason scowled back at her.

When they reached the four caves they sat down on the rocks and Mason put the gold box on his lap.

"What do we do with that?" Vanessa asked, wrinkling her nose.

Emerson shrugged. "I'm not sure. We can't open it, can we?"

"I mean, all the evils have already been let out into the world, right?" Mason said, frowning.

Vanessa scowled but didn't say anything.

"You could try to open it." Emerson shrugged.

The sounds of battle in the distance echoed through the caves, making Emerson edgy she couldn't tell if Typhon and Kampe were getting close.

Mason had unhooked the lid and shot a nervous look at Emerson. "Are you sure about this?"

Emerson nodded.

He flipped open the lid and Mason frowned. "Uh." he scratched his head. "It's a jumble of letters."

"Thaepesus?" Vanessa muttered.

Emerson got up and looked over Mason's shoulder. "What does that mean?" she glanced at Vanessa. "And how were you able to pronounce that?"

"Maybe we have to unscramble it?" Mason offered.

"Thaepesus," Vanessa whispered. She gasped and her eyes widened. "Hephaestus! It's Hephaestus!"

Emerson blinked. "Okaay. But why would he have created weapons for Kronos?"

The three friends look at each other as an uncomfortable silence fell over them.

***

The girl had left Pandora's temple hours before.

She ran back to where Kronos was in hiding, hoping she wasn't too late to save her family.

When she reached his cave, the creature standing guard sniffed down at her. She was taller than she was by a few inches and instead of human legs, she had the legs of a hawk. Huge purple wings sprouted from her back. "Ah. So you've returned, hm? I still don't know why Kronos is trusting a demigod, of all people."

The girl bared her teeth. "He wouldn't want to use you because you're nothing but a toy to him. Not let me through."

The creature gave her a glare before stepping aside and letting her walk past.

The cave opened up into a large clearing where Kronos was sitting. Her family was still chained up to the walls.

Kronos was a beast of a man with a grey beard and hair. His arms were long and muscular, and he wore a tattered white dress and golden sandals. He spotted the girl, and he cocked his head.

"Returned already, have you?"

"Yes. I have what you want. Now let my family go."

Kronos smirked. "Hm. Not so fast, girl. First, give me the map." the girl hesitated before handing him the rolled-up brown paper.

Kronos snapped his fingers and a cloaked figure appeared beside him with a body of a boy thrown over its shoulder.

"Tie him up."

The figure dropped the boy to the ground with brief ceremony and tied up his wrists. The girl frowned and glared over at Kronos.

"What are you doing? I am not going to kill him." she snarled. "Keep your deal and let my family go."

"Or what?" Kronos mocked. "Will you stomp your feet and scream like an infant? It won't do you much good."

The boy groaned and started to stir. He opened his eyes and looked around with a panicked expression on his face.

"Where am I?" he spotted Kronos and choked. "Holy-"

"Hello, Caleb. Pleasure to meet you." Kronos grinned.

Caleb scowled at him. "What do you want? Let me go! Where is my mother?"

The clocked figure started shaking, and the girl had the feeling that he was laughing. "You mean the illusion? It wasn't real, boy."

Caleb roared and made to charge at him, but the ropes held him back.

"Let him go, Kronos. He has nothing to do with this."

Caleb stopped struggling and glanced over at her. He scowled. "Hello, Nola."

"Caleb, I'm sorry. He threatened to kill my family if I didn't do as he asked." Nola stammered. "Please don't be upset!"

Caleb gave her a dark look and turned away.

"Lovely!" Kronos exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business."

The cloaked figure stepped toward Nola and she tried to take a step back but her feet wouldn't move.

"What are you doing?" Nola asked. "Stop!"

"I'm not quite finished with you yet, dear," Kronos said. "Do it."

The cloaked figure reached out a pale hand toward her, and Nola gasped. She looked down at her hands and saw her skin was paler and her hair was shorter.

"No," Caleb whispered. "No, No, NO!" he roared. "You can't do this, Kronos!"

Kronos shrugged. "I already have."