[audeamus/ let us dare]

"Coast's clear," Kaden whispered, peering around a small wall. He turned back to Tessa behind him, his green eyes luminescent in the dark of the night. "Come on."

            Tessa nodded, and the two continued on. They'd been hunting their demonic prey for the past half hour, and the villains ahead of them weren't leading them anywhere in particular. They needed a location, a hint, anything that would aid them on their quest and so far, Lamia and her henchman weren't telling them anything.

            "Do you think they're lost?" Tessa asked as they shuffled down the San Francisco street.

            "It's either that, or they know we're on their trail," Kaden quipped, but with a quick look from Tessa he smiled. "Let's hope it's the former."

            Tessa shook her head, a smile laced onto her lips. They continued down the sidewalks, and the smell of salt water filled the air. Tessa grabbed Kaden's wrist, pulling him back from following their prey.

            He looked at her in confusion. "They're gonna get away."

            Tessa shook her head. "We need to give them some leeway for a minute. Do you know where we are?"

            Kaden glanced around and realization filled his eyes. "Back at the pier."

            "Exactly," Tessa noted. "The smell of the sea and the smell of my blood will confuse them enough that we'll be able to sneak up on them even better. But we still need to be careful."

            Kaden nodded, and they waited for a moment, hiding behind a post card stand as they watched Lamia and her henchman slink down the pier. Tessa hoped that Theseus wouldn't be in any sort of danger, but then again hoped that for an immortal son of Poseidon, he could handle himself if necessary.

            Tessa turned her attention back to their targets, and after waiting a few seconds, she grabbed Kaden's hand and pulled him forward. She tried to ignore the arc of electricity that shot up her arm at their locked hands, and tried more to focus on getting information out of her enemies.

             The two demigods ducked behind shops and restaurants, following Lamia. However, their trail was running low. The vampiress and her cohort had approached the very edge of the pier.

            "What are they doing? Enjoying the view?" Tessa whispered, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

            As soon as she spoke, they moved. They seemed to catch glimpse of something in the distance, and took a sharp right. Tessa and Kaden lurched forward, peering around the nearest shop to see where they were going.

            Lamia and her henchman were walking down the secluded part of the pier, reserved for those with port access to the boats parked outside the pier. Light pierced the late-night gloom of the harbor, and it took a moment for Tessa to process that the villains had a ride to who-knew-where. The boat pulled up to the side of the path, and Lamia and her henchman stepped aboard, disappearing belowdecks. As soon as the boat had appeared, it had begun to pull away.

            "Come on!" Tessa hissed to Kaden, taking off down the path.

            The demigods reached the place where the villains once stood. They took a moment to catch their breaths and regroup, desperate for a plan.

            "Alright, what now?" Kaden asked, running a hand through his hair. "They got away."

            Tessa exhaled, looking around. She needed to figure out where the boat was going, but it was too dark and too far away to discern any writing on the ship. The sounds of the water sloshing at the wooden poles beneath her feet shook her out of her reverie, forcing her to concentrate on its lull.

            "Tessa?" Kaden asked.

            The sea flows through your veins, in your heart. It will do whatever bidding you ask it to.

            Her father's words echoed in her head, clearing away her panics. She got down onto her hands and knees, stretching a hand down to the fathoms below. She shut her eyes and flexed her palm, building the connection that formed within a few seconds to the waves. Its power rushed through her veins, and she concentrated her will onto the water until she could sense the path the boat was taking, and where exactly it was going.

            "They're headed to 37.8267 degrees north, 122.4233 degrees west." Tessa exhaled, standing up. "We've gotta follow them."

            Before Tessa could leap into one of the boats parked at the opposite end of the dock, Kaden grabbed her arm. He whirled her around, peering into her sea green eyes with his emerald ones. "Tess, are you sure about this?"

            The memory of what had almost ensued between them had Lamia and her henchman not showed up came to the forefront of Tessa's memory. She hoped her blush wasn't visible in the gloom, but she met Kaden's gaze. "Do you trust me?"

            "Of course I do," Kaden said without missing a beat.

            "Then let's go." She spun out of his grip, flying down the steps to the boats parked nearby.

            "What do those coordinates even mean?" Kaden called from behind her.

            Tessa did a quick scan of the dock and bolted for the boat that was parked at the very end of it. A small speedboat, capable of being powered by the daughter of the sea god. "Not sure, but we're about to find out."

            She leapt into the speedboat, Kaden behind her. They braced themselves and with a push of will from Tessa, the boat ignited to her command. The two demigods raced away from the pier and into the gloom.

            "So what's the plan?" Kaden asked from beside her.

            Tessa made a face. "Well, we follow the boat to wherever it's going, get information in some way, then head back before they even knew we were there," she mused. "Piece of cake."

            Kaden sighed, sitting down. "I hope so." He twisted the golden ring around his finger anxiously.

            Tessa watched him, trying to build up the confidence to ask what's been on his mind lately. She wanted to know why he was acting so strange ever since they had set foot in California. However, before she got the chance, light emerged from the darkness.

            Tessa whirled around, watching as an island grew out of the darkness and into her line of sight. As soon as she laid eyes on it, she understood where exactly the enemy boat was headed.

            "Alcatraz," she muttered, unable to tear her eyes from the flickering lights atop the island or the jagged shores surrounding it.

            Kaden stood, in as much of a trance as Tessa was in. "So that's what the coordinates meant," he figured. "But why Alcatraz?"

            Tessa scanned for the enemy boat, and slowed the speed of her own as she followed it in to port. "I mean, it sort of makes sense," she said. "Top prison for the enemies of old makes for a great meeting place for the enemies of even older."

            She stopped the boat at a reasonable distance, watching as their targeted one began letting its demonic passengers off. There only seemed to be a cluster of them, and they moved up and into the island quickly. However, Tessa knew that if this was Deimos' hideout, there would be a whole lot more of them inside the prison.

            She pulled the boat into port, and she and Kaden hopped out of it in silence. The only noise to break the silence that the abandoned prison cast over the island was the sound of the demigods' swords materializing.

            As they prepared to break, Tessa noted the formerly dormant lighthouse fill with light. She couldn't see the group of monsters that they had followed in from Pier 39, but she knew that they were in the prison somewhere. The whole atmosphere made Tessa feel as if she were an escaping prisoner from when the island was active, which only fueled her adrenaline.

            "Think we'll get caught?" She asked Kaden, who was finishing tying his shoes. She tossed his odd gold sword back to him, and he caught it without looking.

            The son of Aphrodite smirked at her, whirling his sword around in practice. "Darlin', getting caught's half the fun."

            And with that, the two demigods locked eyes with one another and took off down the path.

~~

            Finding a gathering of monsters was harder than Tessa originally thought. As she and Kaden maneuvered through the island, it was increasingly more difficult to locate them. All of the cells were empty, as was the recreation yard, and Tessa was getting a little frustrated.

            Kaden sighed. "They're gone." He slumped against one of the walls.

            Tessa joined him and looked around. They were back on the central floor of the cell block, in what must have been the dining hall. They'd searched everywhere that anyone could think to have gone, and found no sign of an enemy army.

            "Maybe they knew we were coming," Tessa sighed, running a hand through her hair.

            Kaden suddenly perked up. Tessa knit her eyebrows, but realization dawned on her as she listened closely. She could hear muffled voices and footsteps coming from the central cellhouse, just out the entrance to the dining hall, where they were now.

            Kaden held a finger to his lips and crept over to the entrance. Carefully, he poked his head outside and listened. Tessa held her breath, waiting, until Kaden motioned for her to follow, and quickly.

            Tessa joined him at the doorway, and they watched as what looked like two telkhines disappeared into one of the aisles of cells. Rapidly, she and Kaden hurried after them.

            The two demigods rushed after the two monsters, following them down the aisles of the cellhouse until they entered a stairwell. Tessa nearly followed, but Kaden's arms encircled her from behind, holding her back. He clamped a hand over her mouth and shuffled backwards, back behind one of the corners.

            Tessa poked Kaden's hand with her tongue, causing him to remove it from her mouth. "What the hell was that?" She hissed.

            Kaden didn't answer, he only tightened his grip on Tessa and she got the memo. Shut up and listen. So she did.

            "What are you on about this time?" A barking voice echoed off the walls, surely one of the telkhines they had followed.

            "I could have sworn I smelt a halfblood!" The other telkhine whined.

            "Bah, you thought a chair was a dracena the other day! Come on." The first telkhine sneered. "Besides, the only demigod around here is the one that's giving us orders."

            Tessa's eyes widened and she met Kaden's gaze. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing: the spy.

            "I don't know why they want us to keep supplying them with Greek fire," The second telkhine grumbled. "Can't they do it on their own?"

            "No! Now shut up and come on. They've probably all left already," His buddy replied.

            Complaints and rapid footsteps filled the air, and were receding until Kaden let go of Tessa's waist. They hurried down the stairwell, in chase of the monsters.

            "You heard what I heard, right?" She asked as they flew down one set.

            "Yep," Kaden managed. "Deimos and the spy are in league more than we thought they were. But why would they need Greek fire?"

            Tessa stopped in her tracks. The memory of her dream of Flynn and Amelie back at camp filled her mind, and she couldn't keep it to herself any longer. "They're planning to attack camp," she said. "They already have."

            "What do you mean they already have?" Kaden asked.

            Tessa took a breath as they continued down the stairs. "I had a dream the other night that I'm pretty sure was more of a vision than a dream. There was an explosion at camp, that's all I know."

            Kaden cursed under his breath, running his free hand through his already tousled hair. His grip on his sword was white, and Tessa could almost feel the tension radiating off of him. "Come on," he grunted. "Before we lose them."

            Tessa nodded and they continued down the stairwell. It led into a dark hallway, filled with puddles and cracked pavements. The light from Tempest and Kaden's gold sword was the only thing offering illumination as they headed down this odd maze of demolition.

            "What is this place?" Tessa asked, casting Tempest's light around. It caught the shattered remains of cell bars, rusted over from years past. It looked like larger, more ghastly cells, which sent a shiver down Tessa's spine.

            "I'm not too sure I want to find out," Kaden responded, the light from his sword cutting into a cell that seemed to have rusty red stains splattered across it.

            Tessa clamped her lips shut, forcing her gaze ahead. The eerie conditions and her overactive imagination were causing her fears to come into play, and if it was one thing she needed to practice, it was getting her fears under control.

            She and Kaden turned a corner, and found themselves a few paces behind the telkhines from earlier. They quickly dove back around the way they came, straining their ears to listen.

            "I told you they left without us!" The first telkhine shouted.

            "It isn't my fault!" The second one protested. "I swear!"

            The first one growled, but the sound of a door whirring open filled the hallway. "Come on, maybe we can catch up with them. Where were they headed again?"

            "Crystal Cave, I think the name was. Some place in the woods," The second telkhine responded.

            "Why are we using this blasted maze then? If its so close, why don't we walk?" The first one grumbled. "The last time we used this thing, we ended up in Kalamazoo."

            Their voices disappeared as a door hissed shut, and Tessa and Kaden waited a moment before emerging into the hallway.

            "Woah..." They marveled in unison.

            Before them, carved into the rusty brick walls of the dungeon chambers, was a modern silver door. A blue Greek delta shimmered in the center of the metal, filling the end of the hall with odd light that reminded Tessa of Theseus' aquarium.

            "What is that?" Kaden asked, approaching the door. He reached for it, but Tessa cut him off.

            "Kaden, no," she interjected. "I wouldn't risk it." She cast a look at the door, wondering just what it held on the other side. "Besides, we have a location now. Crystal Cave."

            Kaden took a breath. "Alright." He sighed. He smiled sheepishly at Tessa. "We done playing Prison Breakout now?"

            Tessa laughed, a noise that this part of Alcatraz had probably never heard before. "Yes," she said. "Now let's get out of here. This place creeps me out."

            "You and me both." Kaden chuckled. He met her gaze and smiled. "But hey, if you're afraid, I'm here to protect you."

            Tessa made a face and they laughed as they walked back out the way they came. "Oh, please. I can protect myself just fine."

            "Right, hurricane." He winked, causing Tessa to blush. Kaden hadn't called her hurricane in a very long time. The nickname had gotten its name from the first time Tessa had used her abilities to their fullest, controlling wind and water into her very own hurricane. The memory was able to calm Tessa's fears, and for the first time since she stepped foot into the abandoned island, she wasn't afraid.

            "Come on." She grabbed Kaden's hand and lugged him forward, back to the stairwell and the world above. However, a glimmer of something shiny caught her eye on the ground. She averted her attention to it, and her heart nearly stopped when she did.

            "Tess, what's up?" Kaden asked.

            Tessa ignored him, crouching down as she reached for the golden necklace with trembling fingers. Despite the necklace being cold, Tessa knew the necklace from clasp to pendant.

            After all, she had been the one to buy it for her mother to begin with.

            Without another word, Tessa stood, stuffing her mother's necklace into her pocket. She took a shaky breath and blinked away tears, storming up the stairwell with Kaden in tow.         

~~

            "So let me get this straight," Mark said, his arms folded across his black t-shirt. "You two were out training when you ran across Lamia and her henchman, followed them all the way to Alcatraz, which should have been overrun with Deimos' minions, and got out alive?"

            "Not only did we get out alive, but we have a location as well." Kaden ruffled the son of Iris' hair, flopping down onto the bed he was standing near.

            Mark blinked. "I'm unconvinced."

            Tessa sighed, taking a sip from her water bottle. "Mark, it happened. The island was somehow abandoned when we got there, and the only two monsters around were the two telkhines we told you about."

            "And what, you had a chat over tea about where to find their army?" Mark asked.

            Tessa gave him a look. "We eavesdropped on their conversation and followed them into some weird part of the prison that must have been a dungeon. They mentioned Crystal Cave and its proximity to the city, yet they still took some odd exit."

            "What kind of exit?" Reese asked, looking up from the laptop on the desk. The son of Apollo had gone a bit overboard with the battle preparations, dressed in an odd mixture of black and armor. He had on a black t-shirt and cargo pants, with bronze greaves on his arms and leather shooting gloves on his hands. A black bandana was tied in his blond hair, and war paint was smeared on his cheeks.

            Tessa shook her head a bit at the boy before responding. "A silver door with a blue delta on it."

            Reese knit his eyebrows together. "Delta? But that's the symbol of Daedalus. It hasn't been used since..." Realization filled his blue eyes. "Oh."

            "What?" Dale asked from her spot atop the bed. She was finishing up tying her hair into its signature fishtail braid with a black hairtie, matching the theme for their battle prep.

            Reese shook his head. "That wasn't some funky exit, guys." He pressed his lips together. "Never mind, I'll tell you guys later. It's irrelevant."

            Tessa met the gaze of the others and sighed. "Alright," She continued. "Deimos is located somewhere in or around Crystal Cave. Now, according to what Theseus told us, we need to be ready for anything. He's going to try to use our fears to his advantage and we have to be in control of them."

            "You more than the rest of us," Mark said. "The nereid told you that he was going to try to drown you, right?"

            "Thank you, Mark," Tessa said briskly, pinning Mark with a withering look.

            Mark held up his hands proudly. "It's what I'm here for." He unsheathed his katana from its spot on his back, pulling out a handkerchief and polishing it. The image reminded Tessa of what she had seen in her vision, of Mark surrounded by the bodies of their friends, frozen in place as he held up his katana.

            Tessa forced the image away. She couldn't afford to be distracted, especially given the circumstances. "Not only that, but the telkhines mentioned the spy having more of an influence in Deimos' forces than we thought."

            "What do you mean?" Dale asked.

            Tessa took a deep breath. "There've been more attacks at camp, which most likely are caused by Greek fire. The telkhines said something about having to supply the spy with it, which I figure are for this purpose."

            "How do you know there have been attacks?" Reese asked, standing up. A flicker of fear rippled across his eyes, and Tessa knew why: Flynn.

            "I had a dream of your brother and Amelie. They were training Amelie to add to the camp's defenses, but an explosion cut them off," Tessa admitted.

            Reese sucked in a breath. "But they're okay?"

            Tessa bit her lip and nodded. "As far as I know."

            Reese nodded, running a hand through his blond hair. "Okay." He grabbed his bow from where it lay on his bed and got to work on restringing it.

            Kaden glanced over at Dale, who was watching Reese sadly. "Think you can keep being our navigator, Dale?"

            Dale nodded, a proud smile on her lips. She turned the laptop away from Reese and got to work at clacking away the enemy's location and how to get there.

            The boys engaged in yet another conversation on their strategy, but Tessa stood and hurried into the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror, making sure she had everything she needed. She was clad in a black t-shirt, her dark-wash jeans, and combat boots. Her long brown hair was tied up into a high ponytail and braided from there. A black sheath was strapped to her left forearm, containing her spare celestial bronze dagger that she had packed. Tempest's scabbard hung at her waist, while the sword itself was in pin form in her hair. Her father's gift was on her left wrist.

            Tessa tapped the bronze bracelet, watching as it grew into a large shield. She stared at it for a moment, trying to find any sort of deformity that would impair her fighting, but found nothing. She tapped the rim of the shield and it materialized back into the bronze bracelet.

            A knock at the bathroom door shook Tessa out of her thoughts. She opened it and faced Kaden, who watched her carefully.

            "You okay?" he asked softly.

            Tessa pressed her lips together and nodded, even though she was far from okay. If okay was across the hall, she was across the world.

            Kaden's visage fell, and concern filled his green eyes. "We'll find her, Tess."

            "Don't." Tessa held up a hand. "I can't afford to think about that right now. I need to focus on leading this quest and defeating Deimos. If I don't, then I'll break."

            "Tessa, you're not an automaton," Kaden said. "If you feel something, you need to let yourself feel it."

            Like what I feel for you? Tessa thought but forced it away.

            "You've led us well, Tess. We'll find Deimos, get his sphere of power, defeat him, stop the war among the gods, save camp, and your mother." Kaden smiled. "Piece of cake."

            Tessa snorted. "I'll hold you to it."

            Kaden smiled at her, offering some of his strength to her through it. Maybe it was Tessa's imagination, but she felt more confident with Kaden at her side.

            Tessa nodded, and they emerged back into the central room together. Everyone was flying around the room, grabbing belongings and smuggling snacks out of the mini-fridge.

            "What's going on?" Kaden asked.

            "Dale's got the location locked." Mark nodded to the daughter of Demeter, who was hurriedly packing her backpack. "Operation: Face Your Fear is a go."

            "Operation: Face Your Fear?" Tessa repeated, falling from Kaden's side to grabbing her backpack from the foot of her bed.

            "It's catchy, is it not?" Mark retorted, zipping his backpack up to punctuate it. "Exactly."

            Tessa rolled her eyes, but slung her pack over her shoulders. She had made sure she had everything from the minute she woke up, and despite her nerves bouncing off the walls, she was ready.

            "Everyone ready?" Reese called, standing by the door. Kaden, Mark, and Dale flocked to his side, watching Tessa as she did one last scan of the room.

            Tessa looked back to them, and felt her confidence grow. A confident smirk grew onto her lips, adrenaline overpowering the nerves in her body. "Let's go face some fears."

~~

            As it turned out, Operation: Face Your Fear was somewhat delayed. Kaden had to charmspeak another cab driver to take the five of them all the way to Sequoia National Park, nearly five and a half hours south of San Francisco. While they had only been in the car for thirty minutes, traffic made it feel like they'd been there for hours and hadn't moved. They were somewhere in Oakland when things began to look somewhat promising.

            "Finally," Reese groaned. "I thought we'd never get out of here." He glanced out the window. "Where are we anyway?"

            "Just past the Caldecott Tunnel," The cab driver responded, to which Kaden tensed. He looked to the back of the car, where lines of traffic were leading east, in the direction of the tunnel.

            Tessa knit her eyebrows. There he went again, with his odd triggers and reactions. What was up with him?

            Kaden seemed to relax after a moment, but he was still anxiously tapping his fingers against the arm of the seat. He was in the passenger seat of the car, where Tessa was seated beside Reese in the center of the van. Dale and Mark got the backseat, and while one of them would normally be asleep, they were still alert.

            Tessa gave Kaden a look and he nodded, despite the confusions towards him she was harboring in her head. The son of Aphrodite turned to the cab driver at his left. "Keep driving to Crystal Cave and disregard anything you hear us say in the meantime." His voice took on its silky qualities as the charmspeak took effect.

            Tessa sighed. "Alright, are we set on the strategy?"

            Dale nodded. "Yes, but—"

            "Are we set?" Tessa interjected fiercely. She looked at her best friend pleadingly, silently begging her not to bring up the dreams from camp. Even if the others knew about them, she couldn't handle an argument about it now.

            "Yes," Reese finished for Dale. "We'll enter the cavern and scout out where Deimos is. You'll go in first to distract him in a fight, and then we'll come in to help you out and ultimately capture his sphere of power."

            Tessa nodded. "Now remember, he'll know we're coming. He'll try to make you all see what you fear most, and you have to remember that it isn't real." She glanced at Kaden, who was watching her like he knew something about her fate that she didn't. She tore her gaze away; her orders went for her too.

            "Understood?" She addressed the group. They met her gaze with nods, and with that, Tessa turned back around and tried to relax.

~~

            Crystal Cave was a scarcely populated tourist attraction in Sequoia National Park, which was just as well, considering the battle that would ensue within it. Only a few families monitored the stalagmites and rock fixtures within its gaping hole of an entrance, their cars parked where the cab driver had spit out the demigods from his van. However, that's all that Tessa could find: tourists.

            No monsters, deities, or god of panic was stationed within the cave. They'd done a full rotation of the cavern, following every path to the same end of the cavern, where the rock dropped off into a pool of turquoise water. There were no paths shielded by the Mist, or any others of their world to be found.

            "I think we've been Punk'd." Mark stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around the cave casually as they walked outside.

            "You don't say. Kaden sighed. He glanced at Tessa apologetically. "Maybe the telkhines knew we were following them and gave us a false location?"

            Tessa shook her head. "If they knew we were following them, they would have attacked us." She looked up and around as they emerged from the cave, sunlight and fresh air filling her vision and lungs. "It just doesn't make any sense."

            Dale opened her mouth to speak, but her vision caught on something in the distance. Her face was distorted in what looked to be fear and disbelief.

            "Dale, what is it?" Tessa asked. She followed her best friend's line of sight, and was just as taken aback when she saw it.

            From the crumbling slopes of earth around the cave and the small waterfalls located around them, a hole began to form. It was like watching a sinkhole open up into pure darkness, sucking all of the gravel and clay and dirt into some gap. It wasn't until the gap opened up into a tunnel that Tessa's heart stopped.

            "He knows we're here," Reese said. The familiar sound of an arrow being strung filled Tessa's ears, but she couldn't tear her gaze from the path opened up a few yards before her.

            She walked towards it, stopping at the entrance. It was dark, filled with odd noises coming from the distance. She unsheathed Tempest and waved it around the entrance, the light from the bronze illuminating the rocky walls.

            Tessa took a breath and turned around. She met the gaze of her friends, and forced away all of the emotions that were telling her to run. "This is where I leave you," she said, taking a ragged breath. "Ten minutes, and you come in after me. You understand?"

            Her friends nodded. Only Kaden who didn't do anything. He was staring at her like she was disappearing like the earth that had faded into a tunnel. Tessa tore her gaze from him, addressing the others.

            "This is it, guys. I believe in you all. It's been one hell of a ride, but...this is it. Fight well. I'll see you in this lifetime, or gods forbid, the next." Tessa nodded, trying to keep her voice from cracking. She gripped the hilt of Tempest and prepared to embark on her journey.

            However, a hand gripped hers and turned her back around. She was jerked into Kaden's embrace, and he looked down at her with that same look. "Tessa, if this is the last time I'm going to see you when we aren't fighting for our lives...well, I just want to tell you—" He cut himself off by leaning down abruptly, pressing a passionate kiss to Tessa's lips.

            Her sea green eyes widened, but fluttered shut as her heart overrode her head and she kissed back. Tempest clattered to the ground and she wrapped her arms around the son of Aphrodite's neck, kissing him until she felt like her heart would burst from...relief? Joy? Sadness? Something that she couldn't place, but was overshadowed by what she felt as Kaden kissed her again and again. Something like a whoop of victory sounded from the world around them, undoubtedly Dale, Mark, and Reese. Tessa didn't care, however.

            Just as swiftly as Kaden had initiated it, he pulled away. He looked almost sheepish, but when Tessa looked into his emerald eyes, she only saw love in them.

            "Go make his life hell, Tess." He smirked.

            Tessa bit her lip, awkwardly picking up Tempest. She forced away a blush as she glanced back around at her friends, who only watched her with pride and belief and faith in her.

            With one last deep breath, Tessa turned around and embarked into the cavern, hoping that her erratic heartbeat wasn't a reflection of the time she had left being alive.