Helen Brave and The Sun Titan
Chapter 12: Iapetus

I slowly woke up, feeling safe and warm, then frowned when I remembered the excitement of the day before. Lifting my head, I found that I was bundled up and Elei was still sleeping in her bed. I shifted a bit and looked around before noticing that my phone was vibrating. I shifted over and grabbed the device then answered the call, yawning as I did so. “Hello?” I said lowly, rolling over.

“Helen! Hey are you okay?” I heard Amanda ask.

“I’m good. Just woke up, where are you guys?” I asked, sitting up and wiping some drool from the corner of my mouth. Elei shifted in her bed before her eyes slowly opened and she looked to me in confusion, a frown on her face.

“A little bit outside of North Dakota. Your parents insisted we continue for a few more hours,” she complained. I grinned before shaking my head and shoving my covers off. Elei was yawning and beginning to get up while I rubbed at my head and did the same.

“Elei and I are in Minnesota still. We’ll probably grab breakfast then head out. What time is it?” I asked tiredly, stretching while Elei stumbled off the attached bathroom.

“6 in the morning,” Amanda grumbled. I scowled before crouching near my clothes from the day before and pulling the crest off the inside of the jacket and grabbing the new clothes. I put it into the jacket and stood, sitting on my bed to wait for Elei to finish. She came out not too long after and tied her hair up into a high ponytail while I grabbed my things and hung up on the ranting Amanda. Sometimes she got to into her complaining. She’d understand. After a quick shower, I dressed and brushed my teeth before heading out and watching as Elei glared at the TV. I walked over and winced when I found the news was broadcasting a police report from the gas station from yesterday.

“We need to start moving again after we get breakfast,” she said. I nodded and we quickly packed up before heading out, thanking the two hotel owners. They waved us off and wished us luck on our quest while we headed over to the car and into it, heading down the street and towards a diner. We got out and headed inside, replaceing a spot in the corner of the place and ordering when a waitress noticed us.

She was pretty and took our orders with a smile before heading off to the kitchen. “So we get breakfast then leave,” I said, watching as Elei scanned the diner before her eyes narrowed and she growled. I frowned and looked over my shoulder, replaceing a thin and rakish looking man was looking at us. He was grinning, yellow teeth flashing, and his bony hands lifted in a wave. His face had tons of tattoos on them, but they sagged since his skin was marred with wrinkles and lines. He was wearing baggy clothes and looked homeless actually. I felt a wave of unease and nervousness hit me and turned back to Elei, who was grinding her teeth and clenching her hands.

“Iapetus,” she hissed. I stiffened and turned back, restraining the scream that threatened to escape when I found he was by out our side. He took the seat next to Elei and winked at me, leaning his chin on his hand while looking me up and down.

“Hello children,” he said cheerfully. I frowned at him, but he ignored me and sat back, playing with a silver pocket watch while humming lowly.

“What are you doing here?” Elei growled out, Iapetus looking from her then me.

“I’m here to give you some...help,” he said softly before his eyes narrowed. I felt warmth enter my body, but it wasn’t soothing; it was harsh and burned uncomfortably. “I hate my son and would love to be the king of Titans, but that’s not within my future. Eucleia and Typhon are within my son’s pocket, but my other son, Prometheus, and I have made a…pact of sorts. He warns you from Elysian while I keep one of the more blood thirsty monster from tearing you apart limb by limb,” he said before his eyes rolled over to Elei.

“What monster?” she questioned. The waitress seemed to suddenly return and awkwardly asked Iapetus for his order, but he waved her off and turned back to us. The waitress nervously looked from him to me then Elei before gently grabbing my arm. I winced and looked up at her, stiffening when her eyes flashed brown then red.

“Ma’am may I speak with you about your order?” she asked.

“Come off of it you charity freak!” Iapetus suddenly laughed, the waitress flinching and glaring at him hatefully.

“I don’t know how you escaped, but-,” she began, but he waved her off before looking back to me.

“One of your other disgraceful sisters. Philophrosyne,” he said. She winced before growled slightly and looking to me in concern.

“This man is bad news Helen, you shouldn’t be near him,” she began, but he snorted before leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Me bad news? I’ve been keeping you two from having to deal with the Hydra,” he said. Elei suddenly began coughing and I looked to her in alarm, moving to pat her back, but Iapetus did it for me, cackling slightly and getting looks from the other patrons.

“HYDRA?!” Elei squeaked out in panic, her eyes wide in shock and mild horror. Iapetus chuckled and nodded while Elei rubbed her face nervously before swallowing. “We need to move now,” she said quickly.

“You can’t just leave right now! Several possessed Argonauts are waiting for you outside,” Philophorsyne warned. Iapetus nodded before leaning back in his seat and waving a hand. I looked out of the large window to my left and found three thickly built men were walking around, eyes scanning the front of the diner. They looked like bikers and were moving close to the car we had taken.

“The gods can only clean up so much of this mess before the mortals begin to catch onto the fact that something is seriously wrong,” Iapetus said, getting my attention. I frowned at him and he grinned before leaning forward. “So I’ll help the two of you here and when we get to Seattle we part ways. I’ll return to my hole in the wall and you two will do whatever your quest calls for,” he said.

“Don’t trust him,” Philophorsyne said quickly. He gave her a glare and I looked to Elei, who was frowning out of the window to our side.

“Elei, I’m not the only one here, what do you think we should do?” I asked. She turned to me after a moment before looking around and nodding towards the kitchen.

“We’re going to cause a scene and head out of the back of the diner. We…should let him help,” She almost bitterly. He eyed her then me before smirking and shrugging, slowly getting up and sneering at Philophorsyne.

“Your cousin is crazy Helen, remember to aim low when fighting him,” he said before waving a hand then heading out of the diner. The three bulky men barely spared him a glance, their eyes scanning the diner before locking onto Elei and I.

“Now what?” I asked, looking to Elei, who shrugged.

“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t do anything,” she said lowly. The kitchen suddenly caught fire and we looked to one another before following the now panicking crowd out of the diner. We quickly slipped in and Elei started the car before taking off.

We drove for several hours, eventually stopping at a sleazy looking motel just outside of Washington. We quickly headed to our room and I groaned tiredly, rubbing my face. We had been tracked for the first three hours after we escaped, but lost them in Montana. We had rushed through Idaho, but we really needed sleep and food. Elei glanced out of the window in front of our room and I yawned before sitting up and rubbing my stomach. We hadn’t exactly eaten all day and she sighed before giving me a smile. “Alright. I’ll go get food and you stay here okay?” She said. I nodded and she grinned before grabbing her wallet and heading out of the room, leaving me to my own devices.

Twenty minutes later, I was in the middle of investigating some kind of wet spot near a closet when a knock came from the door and I frowned deeply. Who was it? I moved over to check when the door was kicked in and a thickly built man marched in, his head turning in my direction. “Finally found you, leave it to Jason and the others to miss you,” he sneered before pulling a crossbow off of his back and aiming at me. I grabbed the shield charm on my choker and it appeared right in front of me as he fired. I stumbled back from the impact and he moved into the room, sneering down at me as I tried to gather my bearings. “This almost isn’t worth my time,” he said before front kicking into my shield. I was knocked off of my feet and wheezed when he stepped down on the shield and aimed at my face. I kicked uselessly before wiggling my right arm free and pointing at his face, firing off a blast of fire. He yelled out and fired, the arrow narrowly missing my face. I scrambled back and stood, lifted the shield before running at him, slamming it into his side.

He stumbled off balance and I ran out of the room, ducking under the arm of another person. I hit the railing that kept patrons from falling off of the second story and looked over, ducking down when the arm headed right back for my head. “Hold still!” The person snarled before I was grabbed by the back of my jacket and hauled up. I struggled violently, swinging the shield and cutting into my attacker’s hip, and causing him to yell. I was released and ran for the stairs, yelping when I was hit from behind and thrown down the stone steps, hitting each one on the way down. I grunted when I got to the bottom and pushed myself up, wincing as my back pulled uncomfortably. I looked up and swallowed as a black boot slammed into the side of my head and hit the ground face first, slowly beginning to fade out of consciousness. I heard yelling then tires screeching before everything went dark.