Poseidon Rising (Sequel to TDOTSG)

Dead Ends and People

John's POV

"Admit it." Jason snaps harshly. "We lost her."

"We didn't lose her. We just... temporarily misplaced her." I offer.

"Nope. I'm with him." Paige says, hysteria rising in her voice. "We lost her!"

"Well then we'll get her back." I snap. "We're heroes. It's what we do."

Jason glares. "I wouldn't really call us heroes."

"With him on this one too. We're like anti-heroes." Paige adds, unhelpfully.

"Look. I get that things kinda suck right now. But we just have to pretend they don't. Or we'll never get Jess back."

Jason sits down on the floor and puts his chin in his hands. "How. We have no idea where that son of a bitch took her. How are we supposed to find them?"

"I dunno. Magic?"

Jason shakes his head. "Someone like Cyron wouldn't leave behind a magic trail."

"No." Paige agrees, but there's a maniacal gleam in her eye. "But if he did use some kind of glittery hocus pocus, it would've left a radioactive signature! This thing is trackable boys. But we're going to use science to hunt it down and not our gifts from our parents."

"Science and me don't click." I announce.

Jason punches my arm. "Don't worry bro. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. We'll be back in an hour."

"Actually," Paige grins and claps her hands. They suddenly disappear and my eyes widen. But then they reappear. "We're done."

She's holding a crudely fashioned device in her hand that beeps when she holds it near where we last saw Jess. "Like it?"

"Woah. Hey, I'm impressed." I clap, grinning widely.

"Goody!" Paige cheers sarcastically. "Resident oaf is impressed. Rah rah. Want me to do a dance?"

"Why are you being such a bitch?" Jason frowns.

"We've got eleven hours until this thing runs out of battery. So Jason, please. The window."

"Huh? What's going on?" I ask.

They both ignore me. Jason picks up an armchair and carries it back to us. Then he hurls it out the window. "Brace yourselves."

Then we hurtle out the window. I scream just a little bit because even though I'd never admit it, it was totally freaky to be thrown from out the window. Paige on the other hand, has no qualms about screaming her head off and screams so loudly I start to get a bit of a headache.

We slow down just inches away from the ground and two thirds of us land hard. Paige glares at Jason. "Ten hours and fifty seven minutes guys. Let's get this show on the road."

+++

"It's incredible, really. Seeing you in front of me again after your betrayal. You really are quite the beauty." he grins, stroking my face.

I glare at him, my eyes burning holes into the sides of his face. I may be strapped to a table, my body limp as a noodle, but I will not give him the satisfaction of my defeat. Therefore, my eyes stay open, burning hate craters into his face.

"But you asked me how was I going to experiment on you." he says, snapping back into focus. "I already have."

He grins again, seeing my mask crumble away to confusion and fear.

"Technically, I haven't completed it let though. Which is why I need you here."

He walks over to the sink and fills a syringe full of water. I try thrashing, but as usual, my body doesn't respond to my brain signals. Cyron walks back over, syringe in one hand, antibacterial wipe in another.

"Now, I know what you're thinking. I can tell by the look on your face." he frowns condescendingly. "You're a daughter of Poseidon. Water can't hurt you."

He rips the wipes open with his teeth and starts to clean my neck. My eyes follow him suspiciously. I want to say that he's wrong, that's not what I'm thinking, but it's true. If he's going to experiment on me, why would he use plain old tap water from the sink?

"And you're right." he continues, the grin settling back onto his face. "The water doesn't hurt you. It heals you. And in this case, I found a way to increase its healing powers. I call it aqua effectum"

Before I can even blink, he's injected the needle. I squeeze my eyes shut, taking huge, frantic breaths. But nothing happens. As usual, it calms me, relaxes me, like water always does. Then I notice the changes.

There's a blue light, glowing under my skin. It circles my entire body, sometimes stopping. And when it does stop, my skin becomes translucent, allowing you to see the bones underneath. And it turns my skin blue. Then it starts again and my skin returns to it's normal shade, the blue light traveling through my body. I want to puke.

"Right?" Cyron laughs manically, clapping his hands together. "The water heals you. And now that's inside of you, mixed with your altered blood, you are virtually indestructible. Not even water's opposing element, fire will hurt you! See?"

He takes a lighter to my arm. This time, I feel the burn. And it hurts like hell. But that's only for the first few seconds. Almost immediately, the blue lights comes over, making my skin translucent again. The burn fades and I start to regain feeling in that arm. The numbness eases away, telling me that I'm starting to have control of my body again.

"And check this out." he nods.

Motionless, I watch him pull a switchblade off a table. He makes a long gash across my left arm while keeping the lighter to my right.

Again, I feel the sting of the cut. But only until the translucency spreads. It heals the gash, painlessly knitting my skin back together while keeping me from feeling the effects of the lighter.

Fifteen seconds later, when the wound has closed, Cyron takes the lighter away. Instantly, my skin becomes it's normal olivey shade again. It's not even red to hint that I had a flame held to my arm for a good three minutes.

Cyron's expression is absolutely ecstatic. "Isn't it amazing? As soon as I get my hands on some roman blood, you will literally be indestructible. The most powerful weapon known to mankind. And it will be all-"

He never finishes his sentence. I break free of the bonds and tackle him.

~~~~~~~~

Author's Note

Hope you liked the first chapter! I'm pretty happy with it :)

As a reminder, Jess was just kidnapped by Cyron and Larissa is working with him. When TDOTSG started, Jess was 17 and John and Jason were 19. These first chapters are going to be a bit shorter than you're used to so I can get back into the flow of things. Thanks for reading!

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