Chapter 32

After Kayla had been injected with the Styx Ichor serum, she found her muscles turned to jelly for the first half an hour. Literally- Ethan picked her up and shoved her back into the cell, where she rotted for another five hours until more someone else came to greet her.

Kayla realised very early on in her Labyrinth vacation with Luke’s army, that she was being tested in rounds. Luke, or someone like Ethan would come up to her cell every few hours and try to convince her to join. If she said no, she found herself left to marinate in the cell for two more hours at a time or screamed at with threats.

They didn’t want to kill her. They couldn’t. She also knew that.

“This is… the eighth time, Kayla,” Luke gave a sarcastic smile as he pulled up a wooden stool to her cell. “Are you not hungry yet?”

“People last a long time without food.” She coughed, sitting herself up against the cold back wall of the Labyrinth.

Luke tilted his head, squinting his eyes in a pondering manner. “Are you not thirsty? How long do people last without water?”

She rolled her eyes, bringing a shaky arm up to wipe at her cheek where dirt lay on her face from sleeping. “You can’t kill me though.”

“Right. And how do you know that?” Luke brung out his dagger, sliding his finger across to top of it. “I could bleed you dry, make sure all your blood gets to Kronos’ fragments. But you know we only need a drop, there’s no difference. So… you should really consider joining me.”

“If i died before Kronos’ ressurection was complete, that would defeat the purpose and it would stop working half way through. You need me alive while using my blood. So there’s life and death within me.” Kayla explained groggily. “You talk too much, I can figure things out that way.”

Luke took a sharp inhale. She seemed to have humbled him, from her point of view. He looked away to sort out his expression. “You will have to, eventually.”

“You mean, you’re going to try before the time comes where you have to drag me out and slit my wrist for the ressurection, because I am so good to try and get on your team.” She replied, tilting her head up in pain. Kayla knew that was half the plan- yes. Except the other half would be if she didn’t join, he would simply throw her back in here afterwards and tell his men to keep her prisoner until… probably forever.

If she joined and faked her loyalty, maybe she could escape? Or did Luke really think this part through… even if she joined, would he still use the serum on her until she was fully trusted? What would he have her do to make sure he could trust her?

…It was the best bet, however. Either fake it till she makes it, or be used for her blood and then thrown down here for the rest of her days. Or maybe he’d simply kill her once the ressurection was fully complete. Yeah, why hadn’t she thought of that? Ofcourse he would.

“Well- look, I’m helping you here, am I not?”

Kayla huffed. Maybe. But that was because he was helping himself. He knew Kayla would be a good asset, and Kayla knew so too. Kayla had no clue what Luke knew of her abilities so far. But he probably knew everything she could be capeable of. Kayla did, too. Shadow travelling? She bet if she ever joined Luke’s army, she would go out mid shadow-travel from being forced to take too many people to so many places.

“I- I try to hold onto the fact that the majority of Camp is against Kronos. I want to be with them, and to fight for the- for what everyone is saying is good.” Kayla glanced up at Luke with very mild puppy dog eyes. “But it’s so hard, when internally I’m fighting to not agree with Kronos’ army in conversations, and- and trying to beat the allegations of supporting you all the time. I’m still trying. It’s not right, but…”

“You’re confused, just stop trying. This side isn’t bad, it’s… rebellious. There’s a difference.”

Kayla sniffed, nodding in understanding.

God, how stupid had all of that sounded?

“We are going to win this war, Kayla. And when we do- we can all be living how we want. Monsters and demigods, together. Do you not see this around you? Did you not see the Empousa when you woke up? Or the Cyclops, walking past? And the giants, having fun making weapons. You can hear them right now, can’t you? being accepted here, is really easy.”

Kayla swallowed, her body as stiff as a board as she tried to concentrate with the serum running through her.

Why did he actually sound truthful? The things he said just then- they did make sense. Monsters and his men did work together down here.

Kayla prayed for her conflicting thoughts to not make it any harder for her to get out of here. That was the last thing she needed.

“I know… I know you’re right. It would be nice for monsters and us to live in peace.”

Oh, she totally accidentally meant that. Why did he have to sound so convincing?

Luke smiled, standing back up. “Let’s give you a test run, huh? Not like you’re strong enough to escape for another few hours before another dose,” He mumbled, moving forward to unlock the cell. “Can you stand?”

Her eyes snapped up from their wander. She quickly forced herself to stand, hokding back a grunt. That Styx Ichor serum was lethal. Painful, disorientating. How doesn’t it kill you?

“There we go, need a hand?”

“No.”

Kayla walked behind Luke, who guided her through the Labyrinth halls like he knew this area like the back of his hand. Behind her, Ethan walked like a body guard, shoving her at times to pick up the pace. She was rather interested in the fact there were monsters stationed like sentries at the beginning and end of every corridor they walked through though.

“We’ll start you off easy, okay? There’s this section- oh, and don’t walk through that door, that one will kill you. But, there’s this section,” Luke opened some old, wooden door that lead to a giant room in the Labyrinth. It had nothing in it but a giant table that a bunch of Cyclopses were using to play a game of cards on.

The walls were the same as this entire section of the Labyrinth, ofcourse. Plain sandstone. The table looked to have been dragged in here like it belonged in the mortal world in a house with a white picket fence. To be honest, everything did. The random shelves in some other places she had walked by, wooden types and metal shelves. Or the torches that were bolted to every single wall. The prisoner chains thst were also bolted to some of those exact same walls refrained Kayla from doing anything even remotely wrong. Luke and his men knew this place way too well. That was for sure.

“Let’s just have you as… one of the assets. You know? You can just relax, fetch a few things every now and then. You don’t need your powers for that.”

Kayla stared at hum blankly. “How do you know a wall won’t shift on me?”

He snickered. “Don’t go past the cylopses that guard some of the halls, unless you wanna starve out there.”

Kayla very quickly got used to what not to do of she wanted to live:

Do not go near the Telkines unless she wanted to be threatened on sharing her magical knowledge and her opinions on Kronos.

Do not make eye contact with the Dracanae. Full stop.

Do not fall for anything the Empousia say, no matter how amazingly beautiful they look and sound. If Kayla looked hard enough, she could see their true form. And it was not beautiful.

Do not stand too close to any of the giants. This can cause severe boot shaking, rapid heart beat, possible migranes from loudness and death.

Kayla made a mental list and stored it away. She found her duties somewhat easy. Another thing about the Styx Ichor Serum; it made her comply very, very easily.

Bringing crates full of food for the Cyclopses was no biggie. Or cleaning up the aftermath of some odd experiments. Like rooms that had been used for rituals.

Luke didn’t allow her to go far, and for the reason of the serum, she complied.

She snapped herself out of her dull thoughts when a cyclops pushed past her, telling her to watch it.

“Demigod!” He bellowed. “You are no demigod… a monster?”

Kayla’s eyebrows furrowed as she regained her balance.

“Speak, woman!”

No, Kayla thought. He would imitate her voice. But she didn’t seem to have a choice as he put an arm out to grab her. “What do you mean?”

His arms retracted. “You do not look like a monster. But you do not smell like a demigod.”

Ah- that must have been her parentage. The slight smell of death that lingered with her wherever she went. She had found alot of the monsters always gave an odd look at the air whenever she walked by. Maybe they could smell it just like they could smell the scent of a demigod? Odd, but useful.

“I- I am neither.” She mumbled. “I’m- I mean, I’m a new species of monster. A monster human.”

The cyclops looked at her in confusion. “Useful trick. Means lots of demigods will fall into your hands.”

Kayla nodded. Did the monsters only like the demigods on Kronos’ side? “They already do, I’ll spare you some next time.”

The cyclops nodded in approval before continuing his walk.

Eventually, she was escorted back to Luke’s ‘office.’ Some room in the Labyrinth that had a few shelves, an old, wooden desk, a matching chair, and a bunch of paperwork that was piled up.

“Look at you, huh? Still here. Are you seeing what I’m saying? It’s pretty good down here. Take a seat.”

Kayla lowered herself gently, her eyes drooping as her legs finally relaxed. “Tired, huh? The Labyrinth tends to do that with the time warping thing down here. Don’t worry, you get used to it. Ethan has something for you. Do you remember him, from camp?”

Kayla glanced behind her, where Ethan stood silently, hands behind his back. “No more serum, please-“

“I said, do you remember him?”

“I- yes, vaguely. He never spoke much,” She mumbled. “I recognised his face, but not the… eye part.”

“There, Ethan. You have your answer,” He glanced behind Kayla, nodding at Ethan. “Your presence is helping, Kayla. You’re gonna keep this world down here from devouring us, really. You know, your presence, it’s going to prevent anything out there that isn’t with us, that can’t communicate, away. That’s the beauty of your perentage.” He added.

“Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Up there, you’re tolerated. Down here? You’re essential. You know that, and I figured that. No one likes the word death.

“But the thing is, the only reason no one likes it is because they don’t understand it. Thanatos isn’t cruelty. He’s mercy. He’s the hand that closes eyes when the pain is done. You carry that in you. That’s not darkness, Kayla. That’s kindness the world tries to be too optimistic to see,” He explained. “And so did you, didn’t you? Always so optimistic, you forced yourself to hate your own parentage. Yourself maybe. Everyone saw it. How you were so unhappy after finally being claimed. After three years of waiting and hating how you weren’t claimed. It was like a cruel joke, wasn’t it? Maybe, if you tried hard enough to hate yourself, people would feel pity for you, and understand you a little, instead of backing off in dislike. With me, there’s no need for any of that. You’re a gift.”

Kayla found her eyes widened in interest.

It was true, what he said. People she considered friends had scattered from her like she was the Balck Plague once she had gotten claimed. She considered all of around four to five people her friends now.

“We’re recruiting more, Kayla,” He nodded. “We need the word to get around. There are people you would never imagine in camp to be with me. Confederates. When the word gets around, people will understand what we aim for. Our reasons.” He inclined his body, resting hid hands on the desk.

Kayla’s voice trembled. She managed to sit up in her seat slowly. “Is… Clarisse- Clarisse La Rue, is she one of them? Or Malcolm Pace?”

Luke sighed, shaking his head solemnly. “No, but they could be, once we get word round to them. It should be soon. We have people in Athena cabin, alot from Hermes. So on.”

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding- hopefully Luke saw it as one of disappointment.

“How about we show you back to that cell? It’s all done up, don’t worry.”

Kayla was guided back to the cell from earlier. Indeed, it was done up to the state of how you would expect a bedroom in the Labyrinth to look. Unwelcoming.

It held a metal framed, fold up bed with some old bedside table. That was about it.

“It’s not much, but, the Labyrinth is a temporary source of hideout. We’re making it work.”

…

That night, if you could even call it that, Kayla surprisingly got some well needed sleep. She woke up feeling groggy. Her right should blade hurt, the same feeling like when she had that Serum shoved into her arm before. She could barely walk, her words were slurred, and her memory…

What had yesterday been about?

“Good morning, Graves. Eat up.” Luke shoved a bowl of porridge into her room-cell. The door had been trustfully left open all night.

“I- I can…”

“You can…?”

The only expression Kayla managed was a snarl with the one side of her face she could move. She tilted her head so far that she ended up back in bed.

“Something kill you in your dreams?” He joked in confusion, walking into her cell. “What has gotten into-“

The pause that Luke did gave Kayla her suspicions on why she felt the way she did. More of that serum? Was she right?

“You should come to your senses, it’s the time down here… waking up at first, it can make you insanely groggy.”

Kayla made a sound like a dying whale, accepting her fate as she closed her eyes. Yeah, no way was she attempting to get up.

Luke walked out without another word, barking orders at his men once again.

She could hear him in the distance. Or… was that the distance, or just outside the room?

“-Too much of it,”She heard Luke whisper.

Another voice. Ethan?

“-Told me to do it, Luke. You know the consequences.”

“We cannot have her…”

The words seeped in and out of her hearing vicinity, which was incredibly annoying.

“Enough. It comes to trusting her completely, no more of that,” Luke finalised in a sharp tone. “It’s stronger than we thought.”

When Kayla was asked to sit down amongst a pile of used weapons and sharpen them, she complied effortlessly, like a robot. Her speech was… less that efficient all day. Her body, too.

To help, she imagined Clarisse had dumped her pile of daggers for them to both clean and sharpen, like the girl had done a few times before. How she would describe the job like it was a wound that needed sorting. Clean, disinfect, bandage. “Clean, then sharpen, then polish, Kayla.” She would say.

That was done while being locked in the room that contained her redesigned cell.

Kayla quickly understood his manipulative behaviour. Speaking so highly of her capabilities then locking her in a room to dust off weapons?

Luke was smart, yes. He was doing it to make sure Kayla wouldn’t escape. And she wouldn’t. She didn’t even know how. Down with Luke, in this corner of the Labyrinth, she was safe. Safe as someone could be in the Labyrinth. It wasn’t like revealing her scythe would be a good idea. Luke had seen the necklace earlier this morning. Luckily, he figured one of his men had handed it over so she could show her loyalty to Kronos. He was pleased she would already accept to wear something so meaningful.

She did not argue otherwise, smartly.

Even if she got Luke alone and had enough energy to kill- no, to… disarm him. What about all the monsters that followed him without question? She wouldn’t be able to take all of them on.

Days were repetitive. She woke up- some days feeling better than others- and was ordered to do some meaningless job. She couldn’t find her usual stubbornness in her to say no. They had stopped with the serum, so why did she still feel like a robot? She had asked herself that multiple times.

Luke had started making her walk with her wings out.

He really didn’t have to say much, because ever single time, Kayla mindlessly complied.

Luke explained to her how it showed authority- showed who she was when walking the halls. “A symbol of why you’re with us.” He had said. Apparently they made her look all the more deathly.

Kayla hated being compared to death.

Luke’s words were stupid- it did not show authority or make her look any more important when walking around. Monsters- cyclops, Dracanae, giants, demigods- always thought it was funny to pluck one or two feathers out as she walked by. The cyclops especially loved stroking them and calling them “cute big winged birdie feathers,” often making her stop walking so she didn’t get them ripped out of her back by an unhappy cyclops.

Please vote!!

Big chapter of just Kayla here i have got so many chapters stacked up its insane. I hopr you’re all enjoying it so far!!