Chapter 119: Hugs! I love hugs!

(Percy POV)

"This should be it," Hazel said, changing and forcing the labyrinth to bend to her will takes a lot out of her. She was covered with stone dust. Her curly brown hair fell around her shoulders but it was more grey than actually brown thanks to the dusty corridors of the labyrinth.

The corridor we were standing in was lit by a tiny fireball in my hand. We were forced to speak softly, so we wouldn't gain unwanted attention.

The long dark corridor ended into a dark prison cell.

After we had left the hunters, Zoë had given Hazel a set of Roman armor. Some kind of gift after helping them out and me healing the hunters.

Katie and I were not so fond of armor since it restricted our movement but Hazel wasn't an experienced fighter, so she gladly accepted the armor. Why did the hunters have a "spare" set of armor? I don't even want to know.

We had to leave early, so I hadn't gotten the chance to meet Artemis, not that I had a particular reason to meet the goddess but maybe she could've given me some advice on Medusa's child and how to find her.

However, when it became, clear Artemis would be back late we had left the Hunt and searched for an entrance into the maze.

I had given Hazel the place we were trying to reach and within a half hour we had reached it.

"Alcatraz," Katie said, sounding disgusted, "Out of all places you have to choose this one."

I grinned, "Come on. It's not that bad of a place."

"It's a prison," Hazel said. "Even I know about this place."

"And there are no plants here," Katie said seriously, "You have a serious disadvantage here."

"Okay," I said, trying to stop the girls from complaining, "After Alcatraz we go to a nicer place. We go to Hazel's roots."

"Alaska" Hazel guessed, "New Orleans?"

I shook my head, "Where all the roads lead to. Rome."

Katie shook her head disappointed, "For one minute I thought you were going to a nice place."

I chuckled, "You know me."

"So what's the plan boss?" Katie asked as she rolled her eyes.

I shot a glare at Katie while Hazel snickered.

"I want you to stay here while I go inside Alcatraz."

"Percy," Katie said, "You are not going inside that place alone."

"I guess I'll have too," I said, "If my plan fails, I need you two to stay here and keep the tunnel open for me."

"Hazel can stay here," Katie said determined, "I'll go with you."

"No," I said sternly, "There's a chance a random monster wanders out of the tunnel and attack Hazel."

Hazel paled a bit at the idea but nonetheless said; "I can do it."

"No, I'm going in alone."

And without waiting for their response I turned around and walked out of the corridor, behind me Katie muttered something about me being crazy.

A few seconds later I stepped out of the corridor and stepped into a small twenty-foot-square cement room with the opposite wall was covered with metal bars.

Behind me the entrance to the maze was still open, if my plan would fail I would run into the corridor and ask Hazel to make the entrance crash down.

I peered through the metal bars, and I could see rows of cells in a ring around a dark courtyard. There were at least three stories of metal doors and metal catwalks.

Somewhere above me, deep sobbing echoed through the building.

Briare, the last Hekatonkheire.

According to the stories they were once mighty creatures who could topple mountains with their hundred arms. But the one above me was emotionally broken, I hoped I could release him today but it was a side quest. I was here for the other monster.

I stepped closer to the metal bars and touched them, ice began to spread over the metal bars, a thin layer at first but it was spreading like an ink stain.

A moment later the bars were so cold that they snapped, the sound of ice shattering echoed through the prison and a second later I stepped through the broken prison bars with a smirk, I had just made my dramatic entrance.

The prison was dark, only a few dim fluorescent lights flickering above me, I really hoped I looked cool because I really had to make a good impression.

And just as expected, someone noticed my entrance.

I heard a demonic screech and in front of the balcony I was standing on a figure flew up.

I grinned, which was probably the last expression I was supposed to have on my face when facing this monster. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was just crazy like everyone said I was.

The creature that flew in front of me looked like a Centaur with a woman's body from the waist up. But her lower body was a dragon, yes. A fucking dragon! [I know, cool right!]

The dragon part of her was at least twenty feet long with black scales and a barbed tail. She had enormous claws that would make Wolverine lose his shit.

Hundreds of snakes were darting around her legs, so many I couldn't possibly count them, it looked like they were eager to bite me. Somewhere my ADHD mind wondered if she controlled every single one of those snakes or if they had a mind on their own. If this was the case, would they be annoyed with each other's company?

She had a human face, which would make talking to her a lot easier in the future, she had long red-orange flaming hair and fangs, like a vampire and two green reptile eyes that seemed to be calculating and threatening at the same time.

Around her waist, where the human body transitioned into a dragon body, her skin bubbled and morphed, occasionally producing the heads of animals; a vicious wolf, a bear, a lion, as if she were wearing a belt of ever-changing creatures. From her back sprouted two demonic wings, and when I say wings you have to imagine dragon wings. Black majestic wings with scales that made me feel like I was close to death herself.

Kampê, the original jailer of Tartarus. When Ouranos decided to ditch his kids and threw them into Tartarus, she was the one who had to guard the entrance.

Zeus later killed her on his journey to release the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires. Now she had reformed and joined Kronos.

Kampê snarled and said something but to me it sounded like growling. But I knew she was speaking in an ancient language. It sounded like a gravel being crunched and swirled around in a blender, it was kind of terrifying.

Luckily, I came prepared.

The language she spoke was called The tongue of the old times. The language Gaia used when the world was just created. The language she spoke to the Titans and her other first children.

I didn't need a translation to know she was planning to kill me within the next minute, but I had a translation. In fact, I perfectly understood what Kampê.

Thanks to Chaos I could fluently speak and understand the language of the earth mother.

In fact, Kampê just said she was happy a new meal showed up. But with more colorful words.

I smirked and said in the same language, "Well, that's not a nice way to greet a guest."

I could almost feel her shock in the air, her eyes widened, and she gasped.

"How do you know the language of the Earthmother?" Kampê asked in her own weird language.

"There are things older than Gaia remember," I responded, making sure not to sound scared or impressed.

"Who are you!" she hissed at a demanding tone.

"I am Percy Jackson," I responded making sure not to break eye contact, "Son of Poseidon."

'You know,' Lyssa rudely interrupted, 'I think you just enjoy saying, "I am Percy Jackson" it's turning into some kind of "I'm Batman." cliché.'

'Shut up.' I mentally shouted.

Kampê hissed when I told her my name, she clearly recognized it. "The Demigod Kronos told me about."

Her majestic wings were flapping behind her back, it was almost like she hung in the air, I realized that she could end this conversation anytime she wanted and instead spin around and simply killing me with her large wings, though I made sure not to show this.

"You really want to die?" Kampê asked, "Are you that stupid?"

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm not here to die."

Kampê glared at me, or maybe it was just her default expression, "Then why are you here?"

"I'm here for you." I replied.

Kampê laughed, a thunderous laugh that made Alcatraz shudder on its foundation. "You want to kill me?"

I grinned, "No Kampê. I'm here to talk."

Kampê frowned. "You want to talk to me? You know that I can kill you within a second."

I shrugged, "I know, that's exactly why I wanted to talk to you."

I was pretty sure this was the most confusing conversation Kampê ever had, her face turned from surprise to hate to anger to surprise.

Kampê hissed. "Speak up Perseus Jackson, say what you need to say."

I locked my gaze on Kampê's snake eyes, "I'm putting together a team. A team consisting out of powerful monsters and demigods."

Kampê grinned, "You want me in your team?"

I nodded, "Yes, you are one of the most powerful monsters. You would be a great addition to the team."

Kampê, "And why do you think I would join your team? Why would I switch sides and join a demigod?"

"Because I have something to offer," I said, "You really think Kronos trusts you? He's to scared of you. He considers you a threat,same for the Hekatonkheire. So he keeps the two of you busy with each other. "

Kampê huffed, it was clear she was no fan of Kronos plan. "He locked you away in a prison guarding a Hekatonkheire. He is clearly afraid of what you are and what you can do."

Kampê scowled. "The Titan Lord is indeed a fool. But why would I side with you? I eat demigods for breakfast."

I shrugged, "What do you think will happen after the Titan war? Do you think Kronos will let you roam around free if he wins? Hell no! And what if Kronos loses and the Olympians win the war? Zeus will probably smite you."

Kampê bared her fangs in rage as she realized she what I was implying, "What do you have to offer? Why would I join you? A demigod?"

"If would join my cause I would make sure the Olympians nor any of the camps will hunt you down after the war."

"And you can stop the Olympians?" Kampê asked sarcastically.

"Yes I can," I smirked, "Almost the entire council is in my debt. If you would join my team I would make sure you could roam around the world and do whatever you want."

Kampê crossed her arms, "And what do you want from me?"

"I want you in my task force and come to my aid when I call you. That's all I ask from you. Side with me. Unlike Kronos I wouldn't waste your power." I responded.

Kampê seemed to consider it for a moment. Her eyes narrowed, and she growled, "Why do you want a monster in your team? You know we are dangerous."

"Because the things we're going to do are also dangerous." I said, "I need a task force that can save the world."

"I'm not a hero." Kampê hissed.

"I don't want heroes, You are one of the worse monsters out there."

Kampê smirked proudly.

"I think you can do something good. I need your monstrous powers for the threats we are facing. I can promise you it will be more fun than sitting here."

I thought it was a pretty brave thing to ask. Considering she was one of the oldest monsters in the world.

Kampê smirked, "You are either really brave or really crazy. Asking the most feared monster to join your side."

I shrugged, "That depends on the outcome, so what is it? Yes or no?"

My heartbeat slowed for a moment, I really hoped Kampê would accept my offer. True, she was a chaotic monster, but she would make a great ally.

Kampê had an evil smile on her face, "Before I join your little team I want to know if you are a reliable ally. Beat me and you made yourself a great ally. Fail and I'll feast on your flesh."

I grinned, "I'll accept the challenge."

I take a few steps back. Kampê frowned, "You're running away?"

I took a deep breath and said, "Nope, I am about to board Kampê airlines."

Kampê gave me a flabbergasted look, perfect.

I took a final breath and charged forward, Kampê's eyes widened as I leaped onto the railing of the metal catwalk and jumped towards her.

This jump surely would've killed me, seeing I was three stories above solid cement. As I flew through the air I thought, 'This would look great in slow motion.'

Next second I screamed and tried to grab onto anything that resembled some kind of grip.

I crashed onto the flying monster, just as I had hoped...I mean calculated.

I swung my arms around Kampê's neck and tried to embrace her as tightly as I could, because If I lose grip I would drop down, and I was pretty sure I would die.

Holding onto Kampê was uncomfortable to say the least, for one. Her upper body had the appearance of a woman. But Kampê didn't wear any clothes...so you can imagine the situation. Second, she was screeching in shock, unable to see anything because an annoying demigod was hanging around her neck. Reason number three, suddenly a wolf head popped up from her monster waist and tried to bite me in my side. I kicked the wolf in the head, since that was all there was, and yelled a "Sorry!" while I hugged her tighter, making sure to cover her eyes.

As I had planned/hoped Kampê was unable to fly with me hugging her like my life depended on it. Which it was.

Kampê airlines crashed down along with her one passenger. Her enormous dragon body crashed down onto the courtyard, and she broke my fall.

Her face slammed into the concrete and I internally flinched as I could imagine the headache it would give.

I muttered an apology and jumped of Kampê.

She was still conscious, Hundreds of snakes slithered around her legs, her eyes shot open, and she let out a thunderous growl.

I flinched but nonetheless started pouring water out of the air and made it swirl around me like an octopus.

Kampê got to her feet and shot me a grin, "You are a formidable foe."

I returned the grin, "Yes. do you yield yet?"

In Kampê's hands two swords materialized. She was holding two swords. Long bronze scimitars that glowed with a weird greenish aura and I knew the poison would be deadly.

"Let's play." Kampê snarled and charged at me.

Instead of running away I stood my ground and wielded the water to fly towards Kampê.

She froze as the water began circling around her like a miniature tornado. The snakes around her legs lashed out at the water stream but I didn't matter.

Kampê growled and lashed out at the water but it went straight through her. If Kampê had the time to think about it she would've ignored the water, but she was distracted by it.

Normally she could've shattered the water flow with her massive wings, but I had disabled them by crashing her down.

I closed my eyes and wielded the water to fly straight into her throat.

What happened next was one of the most terrifying things to watch, water began to pour itself into Kampê's throat, and she was choking. Her face turned red and she began to choke. It was horrifying to watch, more to know that I was actually doing this. I silently promised to never do this again and snapped my fingers, the water immediately vanished.

A second later Kampê dropped fell to the floor, her limbs were limb and for a second I was afraid I had killed her.

The snakes on her legs had closed their eyes and no more heads were popping up around her waist.

I hurried towards her and grabbed her hand, trying to feel a pulse. I was not sure if monsters had a heartbeat at that moment I was not thinking about it.

After a long two seconds I felt a heartbeat and I let out a sigh of relief.

I focused on my healing powers and placed both my hands on her arm, golden light shone through my hands and soft small flames crept up Kampê's body, engulfing her in soft golden flames.

Her bruised wings began to repair themselves. Bruises from crashing down began to repair them self too and a minute later she was all fixed up.

She opened her eyes. Her snake like eyes scanned her surroundings and I saw her wondering why she was lying on the ground.

She rose to her feet and studied her arms, seeing all her bruises were gone, she flapped her large wings and smiled. "You healed me?" she said in perfect English.

"Wait, you speak English?" I asked.

Kampê shot a glare at me, "I shall continue to speak your language," she said in fluent English, which so weird after having an entire conversation in Gaia's language. "You have honored to speak in my language. Now I shall continue to speak in your language."

I blinked. "Well, that's a surprise."

Kampê shrugged, her massive wings faltered. "So you won." she said it was like she couldn't believe it.

"You were not bad yourself." I replied.

"You cheated," Kampê said accusingly and for a second I was afraid she would kill me. "I like it."

I grinned, "So does that mean you're in?"

Kampê narrowed her eyes, "Yes. I will aid you if you request my help, in return you aid me when I need your help."

"Deal." I said with a wide smile.

"But," Kampê said, "I'm not a hero. If I detect one moment of weakness. I'll kill you."

I frowned, "You just had to ruin the moment didn't you?" I shook my head and offered my hand.

"Welcome to the team."

Kampê reluctantly shook my hand, the heads at her waist growled at me but never actually tried to bite me.

"I hope we don't regret this later." Kampê said. "So who's in this team of yours?"

I grinned, "Well, Medusa promised me to help me if I needed it. Cerberus and the Nemean Lion are available too. There's a demigod daughter of Thanatos and I'm still recruiting."

Kampê whistled, "That's quite impressive for a demigod."

"Call me Percy."

She hissed, "Fine. So does this team have a name yet?"

"No," I admitted, "I don't have a name yet. I considered X-force, Legends and the TartarusFire club. But none of them really fits."

"Those are horrible names." Kampê agreed.

"Katie calls it Percy's stupid-monster-suicide squad."

"Suicide Squad," Kampê hissed Triumphantly, "I like that."

I shrugged, "Suicide Squad sounds nice."

She grabbed the two scimitars lying on the ground, "So let me kill the Hekatonkheire quickly, then we can-"

"Please don't kill him," I yelled.

She frowned, "And why can't I kill him?"

"Poseidon," I said quickly, "I want him to go to Poseidon's forges. He can help in the war preparations."

Kampê raised an eyebrow but nonetheless said, "Fine. You can take him. I'll tell him he's free to go."

She spread her wings to take off.

"I think it's not a good idea," I said thoughtfully.

"Why not?"

"You tortured him. I think it's better if I talk to him." I explained.

Kampê crossed her arms in front of her chest, "If I can't kill somebody, then what should I do?"

I grinned, "Well since you're free to roam the world now. Ever heard of Indianapolis? There's an Oracle that might be protected by an army. Could you capture it?"

"Are there demigods to kill?" Kampê asked with a smirk.

I sighed, I knew that what I was doing was not the typical hero thing, but it was necessary.

"Yes."

Kampê spread her wings, "Consider the mission done."

She flapped her wings and flew up, breaking straight through the ceiling and walls of the prison block.

I let out a sigh of relief.

'I think we just got ourselves a new ally.' Chaos said.

'Yes we did it.' I agreed.

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