The Underworld (The Atlas Series Book 3) (24 page)

The large group kept swimming, hands still clasped together. Kala thought what an odd sight it would be to see a couple dozen people holding hands in a line at the bottom of the ocean.

Luckily, just like when she was immersed in the River Styx, Kala was able to hold her breath endlessly. Not even the water pressure bothered her. She may be part human, but being Gaia’s daughter obviously protected her from “science.”

Rotoph!
Kala called out.
You’re the teleportation-blocker expert. Do something.

I’m… trying,
Rotoph responded. His voice sounded strange, as if he was rattled by something more than being stuck at the bottom of the ocean. Then he added,
If it’s Cronus, he’s hiding himself well.

Or someone
else
was hiding him, most likely Oceanus.

Kala mentally prepared herself to face Oceanus. At least they had Poseidon with them this time. She hoped that would make a difference if they had to fight.

Then she saw them.

All of them.

Eleven Titans. Only Rhea was missing, trapped in the Underworld with her son.

Oceanus was front and center.

Kala felt very small in that moment.

Even Poseidon looked dwarfed compared to the twenty-foot Titans. Apparently they could grow in size, Kala observed with annoyance. Cronus was no longer in his sharp black suit. Like his other siblings, he now wore a traditional Greek tunic embroidered with designs and symbols, though the details were lost in the ocean darkness.

Swimming in a group with the Grigori, the Olympians and Asmodeus didn’t give Kala the confidence she thought it would. Her Atlas memories must have been infiltrating themselves into her consciousness because seeing the giant Titans in front of her actually made her afraid.

But it also made her angry.

After everything Kala had just been through in the Underworld, to be stopped by the Titan Brigade was… annoying. Why couldn’t they just mind their own business? Kala was losing her sense of guilt about her mission to trap Cronus by the second. In fact, she was almost looking forward to it.

Cronus spoke to them all through telepathy,
Surrender now and we won’t harm you.

Owen’s voice was low and angry in Kala’s head as he responded to Cronus,
You are not capable of harming us, Cronus. Not any more.

Kala wondered if Rotoph had more than one magic red-ball-of-renewal for any supernatural being that was sliced by a Grigori blade. She also wondered if at any point they were going to stop holding hands. The action was bordering on absurd considering the circumstances.

We’ll see
, Cronus answered with venom.

Oceanus sent hundreds of spinning whirlpools in Kala’s direction.

Bracing for impact, Kala released her hands from Talan and the other Grigori angel next to her.

Before the whirlpools hit their party, Poseidon swam faster than any fish or vehicle Kala had ever seen. His body absorbed all of the swirling drills of water, then he pushed back with his hands creating a vortex so large it looked like it would consume all eleven Titans in one blow.

But Oceanus was ready for the attack, he held out his arms and the vortex dispersed into harmless bubbles.

Kala had the sneaking suspicion this battle would take a while if left to the two ocean gods to fight it out.

Though no Titan, Grigori or god had full power when immersed in water, that didn’t stop them from joining in the fray.

Green, purple, white and black fire burned through the ocean’s depths on both sides.

Not one to be overshadowed, Asmodeus turned into his true demon form matching the Titan’s size, his deep blue scales reflecting all raging fires around him. Using his black leathery wings like fins, Asmodeus took on Cronus himself and the two of them tumbled further down into the ocean’s depths.

Kala had no idea how to access her fire skills, though from her Atlas vision, she knew she’d be learning soon. Since no one seemed likely to offer her a tutorial at the moment, however, Kala had to do her own thing.

This was becoming an impossible task, though: Poseidon and Oceanus were moving the water surrounding the battling groups at impossible speeds and force. Kala was hit by an underwater wave the size of a truck, knocking her backwards. She fought off motion sickness, almost gasping for air out of habit. Luckily, she remembered where she was, but it was difficult holding her breath when being bounced around so violently.

What was becoming more and more obvious to Kala was the fact that she had no idea what she could do. Brute strength seemed pointless since it was almost impossible to throw a punch in water, fire was out because she had no idea how to use it, and the dome-of-air trick she’d used before would hold Poseidon back as well. And since Poseidon seemed to be the only one doing any damage to the Titans, Kala didn’t want to ruin a good thing.

So, she ended up treading water, watching the battle unfold, feeling completely useless.

Surprising her more was the fact that with all the brouhaha over how much of a threat Kala was, none of the Titans were paying her any mind. Not even Cronus appeared interested in a confrontation; he was too focused on trying to annihilate Asmodeus. It only showed Kala that this war was ancient. Ancient and petty. There were thousands of years of resentment between all parties: The Grigori for their imprisonment, the Titans for the betrayal of their children, the Olympians for the betrayal of their parents and Asmodeus for… well… for being his Demon-y self. The bitterness ran deep and the human part of Kala wanted nothing to do with it. Ironically, neither did her Atlas side.

Think strategically…

The Atlas-mission countdown clock was ticking and Kala knew they had to get back to the Compound. The only way to do that was to teleport. Cronus was preventing it. Rotoph was the only one who could stop him.

Trying to find Rotoph amongst the chaos was a challenge. It was only after scanning every silhouette and supernatural being through the darkness of the ocean that, on the brink of failure, Kala finally spotted the Grigori. Rotoph was fighting off Atlas’s father, Iapetus, along with Clymene and Theia. Three-on-one. These Titans definitely knew Rotoph was the key to their escape plan.

Kala swam through the blazing fire that lit up the water in small spurts of colors. No one seemed to notice her as she made her way toward Rotoph.

As she neared the Grigori, though, his voice called out to her inside her brain,
Kala, leave me. I can take care of this.
Rotoph’s voice was insistent.

You look like you could use some help.
Kala wasn’t sure why the Grigori would refuse her aid.

Rotoph barely evaded the yellow fire bursting from Iapetus’s hands as he swam to the right.
I mean it, Kala. I’ve run from my destiny long enough. It’s time.

Kala remembered what Rotoph had said to her once:
I had a destiny I didn’t want to fulfill, so I banished my own people.
She had always wondered what he meant by that. What had caused him to work with the Titans to imprison all his brothers and sisters? Kala was about to find out.

I find it hard to believe that fighting Titans in the ocean was the reason you sent your people to prison.
Kala ducked as a beam of yellow fire was chucked at her by Theia. Kala had been noticed at this point and the Titan looked more than happy to try and take her down.

Rotoph sent his own bolt of blue fire at all three Titans, but only one shot found its mark. Blue fire must have been some kind of freezing magic because, hit by Rotoph’s fire, Theia stopped in her tracks and began to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Kala, please. Just let me do this. Go take on Cronus if you want to help,
Rotoph pleaded.

I’m going to help you whether you like it or not.
Kala didn’t like the tone of Rotoph’s voice. He sounded defeated.
We need the teleportation embargo lifted and you seem to be the only one who can do that, so I’m going to kick Atlas’s dad’s ass. Trust me, I’m satisfying both parts of my personality here.
Kala swam as fast as she could at Iapetus, landing her fist on his ten-foot chest. To her disappointment, the impact only shoved Iapetus back a few feet. He was definitely more annoyed than injured, but at least Kala could move the Titan away from Rotoph. Then Rotoph would only have to deal with Clymene, and Kala was sure the Grigori could handle her solo.

Besides, Kala was tired of all this
destiny
talk. Ever since
prophecy
and
destiny
entered her life, it had gone to the crapper. She didn’t need Rotoph to do something crazy because he thought it was his fate.
She
was the Fated One, after all, and she was just fine shouldering that burden alone. Rotoph might be annoying, but Kala had grudgingly grown fond of the angel since he had joined her side. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to him.
Rotoph, just take down that teleportation block and let me handle the rest.

Rotoph wasn’t answering her anymore; he was busy trying to evade Clymene as she swiped outward with a Grigori blade. With all the fire being shot around like it was a flamethrower convention, Kala had barely noticed that most of the twenty-foot Titans were also carrying the crippling blades. She had also forgotten that she held one herself. Pulling out the knife she’d taken from Rhea, Kala swam down as Iapetus launched a round of yellow fire at her. Her arm was nicked by the flames and searing pain shot through her body. Seriously. Ouch.

Yellow fire equals pain: check.

Kala took advantage of Iapetus’s moment of triumphant gloating from actually hitting a target and sliced the Titan’s thirty-inch sized toe.

It was enough.

Iapetus tried to send more flames in Kala’s direction, but the blade’s magic rendered him powerless.

PUNCH!

Iapetus’s giant fist made contact with Kala’s face and she flew back through the water at a sickening speed. Iapetus may not have magic, but he still had brute strength.

The one good thing about Iapetus’s attack: Kala grabbed Clymene’s hair as she passed by, pulling the Titan away from Rotoph. Clymene was so surprised, her arms flailed in the water, trying to gain back control. Taking full advantage of Clymene’s disoriented state, Kala reached down to the Titan’s barrel-sized neck and sliced it open with the Grigori blade. Blood poured into the ocean, making it even blacker than it already was. Clymene’s body went still as Kala released her, sending her down to the bottom of the ocean to join Theia.

Iapetus roared in rage. Even though it was muffled by the water, it was still terrifying. Kala used her smaller size to her advantage and swam underneath Iapetus’s legs to reach his backside. Slicing throats seemed to be the only way to stop a supernatural being, at least temporarily. And Kala needed Rotoph free so they could all teleport out of there.

Just as Kala reached out to cut Iapetus’s neck, Iapetus reached behind and grabbed Kala in one hand, tossing her away from him.

I could use a little help, please
, Kala directed her thoughts at Rotoph.

But Rotoph had moved away from Kala’s battle with Atlas’s dad. At first Kala was relieved, since this meant he could break Cronus’s teleportation block in peace, but when Kala saw Rotoph floating in the water with a blank stare on his face she knew something was wrong. She’d seen that look on many soldiers before: frozen from fear and unable to fight.

I said leave me alone.
Rotoph’s voice was small and scared.

Every cell in Kala’s body told her she needed to do something to help him. There was no logical reason why. Experience told her that Rotoph was reverting back to his true self: a coward. Faced with eleven of the twelve Titans, the boy had snapped. That was the logical explanation.

But Kala knew it wasn’t true. Whatever Rotoph’s
destiny
was, it was paralyzing him.

Since Iapetus was the only Titan in her way, Kala needed to get rid of him fast if she were to truly help Rotoph. It helped that Iapetus didn’t have any of his magic, but the Titan was still five times her size, not to mention the fact that he was lightning fast and supernaturally strong. And she couldn’t use stealth: the Titan was staring right at her. Kala was just grateful all the other Titans were occupied fighting her team, but she needed help.

Asmosdeus.
Kala called out to the Demon.
I need you to distract Iapetus. I’d take care of him myself, but I think something’s wrong with Rotoph and I need to get to him right away.

On my way.
The Demon’s voice sounded all too eager to help, swimming back up from the depths of the ocean.

Kala kept Iapetus focused on her, making him believe she planned to attack him full-on. Out of the corner of her eye Kala could see Asmodeus swimming towards Iapetus. Kala swam toward the Titan, forcing him to keep his attention on her.