Camp Half Blood: Magic and Vice

Chapter 24

Ben's POV:

It's been too long since Rose had said she was coming back. At first I had thought that her mom wasn't able to give her that ride and she was traveling on foot. After a few days, that thought became terrifying. Then I thought, okay she's just tired. She's taking breaks along the way. Then a couple more days passed, and my worry and fear became terror. I was out of my mind. I didn't know if she was dead or alive and that's what absolutely tore at my soul. I was beyond out of my mind... I made the decision to pack a bag and go looking for her. If she was hurt, she'd need help. She'd need me... Myra shook me out of my thoughts as I rummaged looking for everything id need in case I found Rose in a bad way. "Ben?" She asked. I turned around quickly, just glancing at her. I did a double take, though, when I saw the expression on her face. I turned around fully.

"What? What's wrong? Is it Rose? Is she here?" I started rapid fire asking her questions. She shook her head.

"No, no calm down. She's still not here." She said. I could hear hesitation in her voice. I was even more confused now. I gave her a questioning look, urgent for information because I knew if it wasn't Rose, that means she still needed to be found. "It's someone else. Two people actually. They came here saying they needed to talk to... uh..." she said, waiting for me to look at her again. I rolled my eyes, getting slightly agitated that she was distracting me. I decided to hide that as I turned back around, patiently waiting for her to continue,

"Who? They need to talk to who?" I ask. Myra looks down at her feet and then back to me. My heart began to race. Myra's never acted like this before, which means this is serious. Whoever these people are have definitely spooked her.

"They said they needed to speak to, quote, 'Rose's group.'" I felt the blood drain from my face. My feet moved faster than my head as I stormed out of my cabin. I went straight to where I saw a group of campers were surrounding. They'd only do that if something out of the ordinary was going on, and two unknown people showing up out of the blue would definitely count. I heard Myra run after me, following me back to where she, presumably, came from. I saw a girl and a boy both standing there. The girl was pretty, blond with blue eyes. She reminded me of Rose. But she had a colder look to her. Hardened by the world. Maybe Rose was too... maybe I hadn't looked at her close enough... the boy had black hair and bright blue eyes. He looked very young. An innocent and even terrified expression on his face. He stayed close to the girl, seemingly protective of her but I could tell she was the one in charge. I went up to her, pushing through the crowd. I saw that Cole was already standing there with Corbyn and Myra making there way into the area. When we were all there, I began to speak.

"I was told you were here to speak to us." I gestured to my friends. They all nodded and looked to the girl for a reply. "I'm Ben." I held out my hand to her. She looked down, examining it and looking me up and down.

"Hmm." She let out a soft grunt. I tried to be patient, but it was getting increasingly hard. "Vex. This is Maddox." She gave me a firm handshake. I was about to speak, but Vex cut me off. "Is there anywhere..." she looked at the crowd of campers "private... I could speak with you guys?" She asked. Her expression softened. I nodded and gestured for her to follow me. We made our way to Rose's and Myra's shared cabin. Percy was there, and followed us down to Rose's room, eager.

"Ben, what's going on?" He asked me in a whisper as everyone got settled. I got close to him.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." I said quickly. I stood there, Vex and Maddox in the middle of the room. I stood in front of her with my friends all around the room in various seating arrangements. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, ready to get down to business. It was silent when Vex spoke up.

"This is going to be difficult for you all to hear, but I'm going to need you to listen. We don't have much time." I felt a lump in my throat and a shiver run up my spine, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "We're here from Ayrith. I was running with a group you may know of. Specifically, Olthen." My jaw dropped and my face heated up. I saw Myra cuddle closer to Cole as she whimpered. He rubbed circled on her back to get her to calm down. Damian and Corbyn stirred at the name as well. I became more terrified than I'd ever been... "I'm not sure how he did it, but Olthen found Rose. He ended up taking her mother hostage and her as well. Rose was uh..." Vex became uncomfortable. She looked at each of us, seemingly coming to a realization of what she was saying. She took a deep breath and continued. We were all on the edge of our seats, holding our breath like it could be the last time we got to breathe. "Sorry." She said quickly, under her breath. She cleared her throat and continued, her voice strong. "Rose was given a nearly lethal dose of the serum I was told used on Myra. As of now, her memories have been wiped and replaced with ones of Olthens creation. He's been training her and conditioning her for the past few days." She stopped, giving us all time to comprehend everything she had explained. I couldn't even begin to describe all of the emotions running through my body. They were burning through my veins and I felt myself started to get overwhelmed. I felt Myra by my side, a hand on my shoulder. I looked at her and saw tears in her eyes and falling down her face. Similar expressions could be seen on each and every face in the room.

"We need to go." I said, wiping my face rapidly, and beginning to walk towards the door to go to Rose. She needed me. She needed us now.

"Wait." Vex's voice boomed. I stopped in my tracks, unable to move even a muscle. I shook it off after a few seconds and turned around. I looked at Vex, confused. "That's not all. Yes, Rose needs your help, but Will and I also need your help." She said. I knew that name. I knew Will. The same Will Rose cheated on me with. The same Will she... "Olthen is Will's brother. But he's also my boyfriend. And we care about him... and we know we can stop him. And we know we can get him help and we can only do that with the resources you guys have." Cole shook his head and spoke up.

"No. He needs to be killed, that's what Olthen needs. He-he tortured Myra. And Rose! And me... he ruined all of our lived and he needs to die." He said. Vex took a step towards him, but I saw Maddox grab her arm. She looked at him, annoyed, but her face softened into a sense of desperation. I had almost forgotten he was here.

"Listen, I know you won't believe me but he's changed. He's changed enough for me to know he has at least a chance at being saved. Regardless, he's going to need to be stopped anyways and if we can get both Rose and him out of this alive, I'm going to need you to trust me." I heard Damian laugh.

"Olthen? Changed? We're talking about the same sociopath, right?" He rolled his eyes at her. "And why should any of us trust you? For all we know, this is a trick. You could be leading all of us into a trap." Damian finished. I saw Corbyn nod, agreeing.

"Even if it is a trick, that still means Rose is in danger." Myra spoke. I looked at her. She looked at me, worry spread across her face. I felt it too. I was conflicted, to say the least.

"How can I convince you? I'll do anything I just... I want this to end well, you know?" Vex spoke again.

"You said this was yours and Will's plan? Does that mean you're close with Will?" Damian asked. Vex nodded.

"He's like a brother to me." She said.

"Okay... then tell me something only he'd know." Vex thought for a moment. She looked at Damian and Corbyn.

"You're Corbyn, right? Walkers brother. Shadow and Walker spoke about you guys a lot on our way to Ayrith." Damian perked up.

"Shadow? Wait is she-" Vex nodded.

"She's alive. Walker is too. They spoke in whispers on our travels. They miss you guys. A lot." She said kindly. I looked back at Damian and Walker for a reaction. Damian thought for a long time before he spoke. The silence was deafening.

"Let's say we believe you. Let's say we want to help you. What are we walking into?..." Damian spoke slowly. Vex looked at him, relief painted on her face. She was serious now, and ready to talk.

"Olthen is planning on opening a portal. His biggest one yet. I'm not sure what exactly he plans on getting in the end, but whatever it is is going to be... awful. Like end-of-all-times awful." She spoke.

"To where?" Myra asked, curious now. She was no longer in flight mode. She was all fight now. Vex hesitated before she replied. But the two simple words that eventually left her mouth could shake the earth.

"The Underworld."