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. Thank you, he said,smiling at her.He held out ahand gallantly. Shall we toTartarus? Helen looked at his offeredhand and shook her headslowly. That wasn t actuallythe deal, as you ll recall, shesaid. I agreed to give youEveryland in exchange for myfamily s safety.I never agreed to go to Tartarus. Zeus sighed like heregretted Helen s decision. Ireally wanted to avoid a fight.You know I ll have to destroyyou if you do this, he saidreluctantly. How? Helen asked,backing away from him. Igave you Everyland my giftto you but I didn t give youits borders.Those I keep formyself. Zeus looked around in apanic.Helen knew he wastrying to open a portal andleave.She could feel it, but hecouldn t do it.And as long asHelen existed and heldownership of the borders, henever would be able to leave. Welcome to my Trojanhorse, she said with a tightsmile. Enjoy.You re goingto be stuck inside it foreternity. Helen saw Zeus face freezewith horror, and then she lefthim, locked in her heavenlyprison forever.Helen appeared on thebattlefield and looked aroundfrantically.A part of herexpected to find Zeusstanding right behind her,laughing at her insane attemptto imprison him, but hewasn t.She concentrated and could feel him in Everyland,screaming at the beautifulblue sky.He really wastrapped.Helen allowedherself one half-crazed laughbefore she started running.Helen negotiated the unevenground, trying to peer throughthe confusion of smoke,shouts, and combatantsrunning this way and that.TheKraken was still pounding thebeach with its tentacles, killing indiscriminately.Combatants from both sidesscrambled over the dunes intheir desperate attempt to fleefrom it.She stumbled forward, herfeet catching on somethingand sending her sprawling.When she looked back, shesaw that she d tripped over adead Myrmidon.Somethingmoved under her, and sherealized she d landed on another Myrmidon.This onewas barely alive, but he stillrecognized her. Tyrant, he hissed,clamping on to her wrists.Helen broke free andclambered off of him.Shelooked around and saw dozensof bodies Scions,Myrmidons, and strange seamonsters all entangled indeath after what must havebeen a huge skirmish.She climbed to her feet and ran tothe tent.Luckily, she foundher family there as she dhoped.There were several dozensoldiers left, gathered aroundthe map table, which they hadpulled out in front of the tentso they had room to gatheraround it.Lucas spotted Helen firstand ran to her. What happened? he asked, holding her tightly tohis chest. We heard youchallenge Zeus. Helen pulled back andlooked Lucas in the eye. Ibeat him, she said, still notwholly believing it herself.The other Scions groupedaround her, making shockedsounds. I tricked him andtrapped him in Everyland.Aslong as I exist, he s nevergetting out.What about the Myrmidons? she asked. We think there are onlythree left, Castor said darkly. Telamon had them retreat.They re done for today,anyway. We still have that Krakento deal with, Hectorreminded her, his face grim.Helen nodded and turned toOrion. Does Poseidon controlthe Kraken? she asked. Sort of, Orion replied. He can set it loose and call itback again, but once it s free,it mostly does its own thing. He gestured to the slapdashcarnage around them. All right, Helen said witha sharp nod. I guessPoseidon s next. Helen? Are you sure that sthe wisest Jason began, butHelen didn t let him finish. Challenge! I challengePoseidon! she shouted, somewhere in the direction ofthe ocean.Nothing happened. Damn it! Helen swore,turning to face the group. Does anyone have apumpkin? Cassandra went to one ofthe campfires and pulled a potoff the flame.She dumped theliquid out quickly and cameback to Helen, placing the poton the sand in front of her.Helen looked at the pot skeptically. Cauldron, Cassandra saidwith a shrug, like it was self-explanatory.The potdisappeared, and orange fireerupted in a circle as Hecateaccepted the offering.Poseidon came up thebeach, flanked on all sides byhis fellow Olympians.Hestopped just outside the ringof fire but wouldn t enter it.Hermes was at his side, speaking to him urgently. She did what? Poseidonremarked, his surprise makinghim loud enough for Helen tohear.He glanced back atAthena, and she nodded onceto confirm what Hades hadtold her. She defeated Zeus, Athena announced.Helencould have sworn she saw asmall smile tilt up the edgesof Aphrodite s lovely mouth before she schooled it straightagain. Poseidon.I m calling youout.Get in the ring, Helencommanded, trying hard toignore the fact that he lookedexactly like Lucas. And why would I do that? Poseidon answered with asneer. So you can send mestraight to Tartarus? I m noWorldbuilder.I can t controlthe portals like you can. That s right.I can controlthe portals, and none of youcan.You d better rememberthat, Helen yelled back, heranger rising until her cheekswere hot and her fingersdropped sparks from the tips,like her hands were spillingstars on the sand. And if oneof you even breathes on amortal the wrong way, I swearI ll hunt you down and sendyou to Tartarus.Now, get in the ring, Poseidon.Or forfeitthis fight, take all your smellymonsters, and get the hellaway from my family
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