Elemental

Shadow

We climb up so many flights of stairs that I lose count. We would have taken the elevator, but we all agreed it was too dangerous to be in such a confined space. "Here we are," Max pants as we stop at a door. "Top floor." I see what looks like a scanner, probably for an ID card of a fingerprint. Max scans his sun, and a door opens—in the ceiling.

"Anybody have a ladder?" Percy asks jokingly.

"Nope," I say, grinning. "But watch this." I pull out my wand, and without a word from me, a rope ladder hangs from the ceiling.

Max and Percy stare. "How did you—" Percy begins.

"Magic," I say. I climb up and open the trapdoor. "Whoa..."

"What?" Max asks.

"Nothing," I say, "it's just—this is enormous! Way bigger than the actual Washington Monument could possibly hold." Nyx, or whoever this is, is good.

Percy and Max follow me up. "Yeah, this room is huge," adds Percy.

"I've been waiting!" a voice booms.

Everyone jumps back. I search for the source of the voice, my heart pounding.

Apollo appears in front of us. "Relax, it's just me," he says teasingly. "Thanks for coming. That pin of yours is the key to this room, Max. I don't even know how I got here—I just woke up here—"

"Wait," I say, putting out a hand as though they need a gesture to understand. "Something's up. I don't know what, but something's up."

Percy frowns. "Yeah, what happened to your usual haiku?"

Apollo looks up, then meets Percy's gaze. "Of course:

Desert winds do blow

Softly across Egypt far.

Hot and sandy storms."

It seems legit to me, but Percy appears to think otherwise. Turning to our third partner, he asks, "Max, have you ever actually met your dad?"

"Of course not," Max, who has turned to leave, replies. "Why?"

"Because that was good," Percy tells Max. "But I probably know your dad better than you do, and he would never write a poem about desert winds."

I feel a sudden chill. He's probably right—he must have been on tons of quests. So that can't be Apollo—or if it is, something's really wrong with him. But if it isn't Apollo, who is it?

"Apollo" snarls. Definitely not good. Whoever it is, his voice becomes like the one we'd heard when we first walked in. "You think you have outsmarted me? Think you have weakened me by seeing through me disguise? Well I have planned for this. And now you are trapped!"

He becomes nothing but shadow. That's what he is—simply shadow. "I am the forgotten Shadow!" he booms.

"Isn't there already—" Percy begins at a desperate attempt at humor.

"Shut up! I am simply"—he pauses for dramatic effect—"Shadow! And now I will rule the world! But first..." He looks at us maliciously. Oh, no.

Two trapdoors, which no one had even seen before, open—one underneath Percy, one underneath Max. "HEY!"

"You forgot someone," I say nervously. Because something tells me he didn't.

"Oh, did I?" he asks, playing along. "Shadow never forgets. Shadow never leaves you."

He pulls out a wand—oh, gods, I'm no match for a wizard and a Greek god, or whatever he is. This is it, for real. I've faced the Avada Kedavra once before, but Shadow no doubt knows about the cursed curse. He can kill me.

"Now, let's see," he says. "Shall I torture you first, or just kill you? Hmm...decisions, decisions..." Oh, very clever, Shadow. Tantalizing me by making me wait. Trust me, it's working.

"Let us out!" Percy and Max yell in unison.

"SHUT UP!" yells Shadow.

I pull out my own wand and point it at the trapdoor, shouting out every spell I know that I think will help, but it's useless. Nothing works. It's enchanted. Just like everything in this room. Fantastic.

Then, an idea strikes me. Can you hear me? I ask Percy and Max.

Yes?

I'll explain later. Do any of you have any magical powers or anything? I mean, uh, dumb question.

Does water work? Percy, obviously.

Yeah. Can you do your stuff?

Do my stuff?

Yeah.

Sure.

I'll tell you when.

"...I will take you to my lair, where I will decide whether to kill you or keep you to help me," Shadow is saying, whirling me back to reality.

"Wha—what do you mean, k-k-keep me?" I ask, trembling and stammering for effect, basing my appearance on victims from bad horror movies.

"Why, to use you of course. Elements are incredibly valuable, you know." I do know. Voldemort has taught me that. "Perhaps sell you."

"Like a slave?"

He looks at me like he's got me, not even dignifying me with a response. And that's my cue:

"I can do this," I say aloud. GO! I tell Percy.

Then there's a large BOOM! as Percy and Max appear in front of me. They appear to be surfing on water without a board, I guess is the best way to describe it. "Come on!" Max says, smiling, as he reaches out his hand to pull me on.

The water surges forward as I—I'm embarrassed to admit—am forced to cling to Max to avoid falling off and drowning. Shadow, caught off guard, is completely submerged. He isn't saying anything, and I can't bring myself to read his thoughts.

"Bye, Shadow!" says Max. "Enjoy Tartarus! Oh—sorry," he adds quickly to Percy.

The only part of the Washington Monument that was destroyed was that secret room, so we head down the stairs.

"So, if the whole mission was a trick--" Percy starts to ask.

"Why did they want us to come up here?" Max finishes.

"Oh. That." I hoped we wouldn't come to this, but it was inevitable. Unless I died. And I'd rather answer an awkward question than die.

Does this answer your question? I ask.

"Wha—oh," says Max. "That's cool. And freaky. And scary."

"Yeah, just like THIS!" Percy pulls out his pen/sword. I scream and duck.

"What—was—THAT?" I shriek, blushing with rage.

Percy looks very uncomfortable. "Um, I had to check, sorry. Chiron—if that's even who it was—sent us on this quest, and he might have sent you, too."

"I don't think so, but I don't know," I realize, troubled. Should I use Veritaserum on the boys? Or should I trust them?

I don't trust anyone anymore. Not after Ralph.

Not after Juli.