Age of Heroes

2| Sadie

I shot upright with a loud, "Mnemosyne!" Frustration filled every syllable, making the enunciation of the name heavy.

My chest heaved as I struggled to take in air and I panted, tugging at the thick blanket that kept me to the bed. The green sweatshirt I wore adhered to my moist skin. Sweat dripped from my face and I groaned, kicking away the blanket to reveal my shorts-clad legs. The stupor slipped away, slowly being replaced with brief bits of understanding. I groaned again as the memories caught up to me. The ship. The transatlantic cruise. Mnemosyne. The weird tourist. And Oceanus.

A small whimper sounded through the room and I twisted, finding Lily strapped to a wooden chair with her arms bound. And she was gagged. Okay. The sight took me off guard because I thought I'd dreamt her up whilst I was concussed. But there she was, those bright amber eyes wide with alarm as she tilted her head towards the front of the room, still making peculiar noises. I frowned, following her gesticulation. My breath caught in my throat at what I saw.

The Reggie guy was back, still as grim as when I'd first laid eyes on him. He stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall whilst staring at me with evident mistrust. His features were gnarled, making it clear that he didn't like me. Not one bit. His icy eyes stood out almost violently against his tanned skin. The outfit wasn't helping either, making him look like some sort of pirate. The corners of his mouth were downturned, and they lowered further when he met my gaze.

It was just the three of us in what was quite clearly a bedroom. One quick glance at the frame on the bedside table told me it was Reggie's room. "Where are we?" I asked, squinting at the window that was next to Reggie. From what I could see, there were just endless trees.

His eyes narrowed as if he thought I was trying to come up with an escape plan. I wasn't. Not yet. "My house. Even if you try and escape, you'll get lost in the forest." A sardonic smirk was granted to me. "And Alcideans don't exactly take lightly to intruders."

"Escape," I scoffed. "There's only one person in this room who's restrained and it's not me." Lily mewled in consensus and I found myself saying, "Release her."

A shiver ran down my spine and unease danced across my skin as my gut told me I needed to find a way out of the situation. My fingers jerked when I detected a dagger placed right next to Reggie's picture of him and a guy with dishevelled black hair.

"You're not in a position to be barking orders," Reggie sneered, glimpsing between me and Lily. He must've seen the anxiety in my stare because he raised a brow and tutted. "I'm not going to hurt you, but time has repeatedly proven that Galilea over here remains impetuous when it comes to matters of the academy's welfare." His nose wrinkled. "I'm just being cautious."

The bound redhead made a sound of affront. I scrutinised Reggie's words, watching for any hints that he was lying. When I found none (probably because he was a literal stranger), I questioned, "And what is there to be cautious about?" If anything, I had to be cautious about them.

They were the ones that had a pegasus. They were the ones that had weird pills able to knock you out and heal smashed hands. They were the ones wearing leather, of all things. That couldn't have been comfortable. And this was coming from the girl who had lived through a storm, a murder attempt and almost being drowned by the original titan god of the sea—in a daisy bloody bikini.

Reggie merely countered my inquiry with one of his own. "Do you know where you are?" I shook my head although I remembered Lily telling me. "You're on Alcides. Do you know what that is?" Lily made another sound.

I shook my head again and Reggie looked prepared to call me out on my lies, but I articulated again. "I know who that was." That silenced both him and a frustrated Lily. "Alcides was a son of Zeus. When Hera tried to kill him and his twin brother, Iphicles, Alcides was renamed Heracles in an attempt to appease the queen. He went on to perform his twelve labours and was eventually granted immortality as well as a place on Mount Olympus."