After explaining the plan I had in mind, Raymond nodded and flew off towards the scene of the fight.

I hope this works. Because if it doesn't, I don't know what will.

I crept up towards them as stealthily as I could, careful not to catch Rhea's attention. Raymond was already at Eloise and Athena, with him helping the former to beat the latter.

Eloise ran out of arrows so she put Argentum down and pulled out a couple of silver knives from her sides. She sidestepped to strike Athena's side but quickly blocked it with her shield. Eloise swiped her leg sideways to hers, making her stumble. Aiming for her opponent's chest, Eloise stabbed her knives down but Aegis blocked her attack again.

While Athena was distracted from Eloise's attacks, Raymond dove from above and tackled her down. Athena landed on the ground, struggling as Raymond held her by her shoulders. Eloise was about to slash Athena when Raymond barked something at her. Eloise paused. A second later, she got to Athena's left side and helped him hold Athena.

Raymond looked up. As soon as he spotted me, he tilted his head to come over. Nodding, I rushed to where they were. Athena started thrashing around when I came close.

Gazing at me, Eloise tightened her grip on Athena's arm. "Your plan better work or I'll be forced to do something bloody to her."

I pursed my lips. "There won't be a need for that. I hope."

I was about to reach my hand to Athena when she growled, making me flinch.

"Let go of me!" she shouted. "You won't get away with this!"

"Athena, you're not thinking straight," I told her. "Snap out of it!"

She bared her teeth at me, her newly turned green eyes glaring.

"She clearly won't listen." Raymond shook his head. "Redhead, you gotta do that thing you talked about 'cause I don't think Alistair and Demetrius can hold on by themselves for much longer."

"You're right." I sighed. "I know you're gonna hate me for this, Athena, but this is for your own good."

Closing my eyes, I placed both of my hands onto Athena's head. I took a deep breath and focused my inner thoughts to one thing: entering Athena's mind.

A spotlight shone overhead, lighting up the darkness. Looking around, there was nothing in sight except for pitch black.

"Hello?" My voice echoed throughout the place, wherever I was.

Nothing.

I tried again. "Hello? Athena?"

Another bright bulb lighted in the distance, and there, I saw a girl with blonde hair rocking back and forth on the floor, hugging her knees tightly.

I walked over to her. "Athena? Is that you?"

The blonde girl looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Amelia? W-What are you doing here?"

"Athena! Thank god!" I sighed in relief. "I don't think you're aware of this, but you're being brainwashed by Rhea. I've come here to save you."

"Just leave me be. There's no point in saving me." She sobbed. "I'm worthless. . . I'm worthless to you and to everyone."

My brows shot up, surprised by her strange behavior. "What are you talking about? That's not true."

She shook her head. "It is true. Can't you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

Just as I said the last word, a dark, giant spider appeared out of nowhere and crawled towards us. I scrambled away in fear.

"Athena! Look out!" I screamed.

Athena didn't bother to look or move from her position. The eight-legged creature loomed over her, its red eyes staring at her.

"Worthless. . . Pathetic!" A hissing voice sounded from the spider. "You're nobody. No one wants you."

My friend shakily nodded. "I'm nobody. No one wants me."

Something's wrong. That's not like her to say at all.

It has something to do with the spider.

I took a step forward. "Athena, you've got to snap out-"

The spider hissed at me, baring its fangs. With one of its legs, it jerked me away from Athena, sending me flying to the other side of the place. I landed on the blank floor with a thud.

I winced. Where the heck did that spider come from?

Pushing myself up, the spider already spun out a huge web twice its size in front of it and Athena. . . the arachnid carried her upside down towards the web.

She wasn't doing anything about it. As if she didn't care.

"You are not good enough," the spider said as it climbed onto its web. "You do not deserve anything."

"Athena!" I sprinted towards them. "Athena, the spider's going to eat you! Get yourself out of there!"

"What's the point?" she sighed. "I'm not good enough to do anything."

The red-eyed spider placed Athena at the center of the crystalline-like web. As it crawled around her, white silk began to come out of its abdomen, spinning the sticky substance on Athena's body.

I stopped just a few steps from the web. The spider didn't bother to look at me as it continued to spin silk and whisper hurtful words at her. Athena had her gaze on me, but her eyes were glossy all over from the tears she had earlier.

"This isn't you Athena!" I told her. "I-It's Rhea! Your own mother's making you think that you're useless to use you!"

She blinked, and for a split second, her eyebrows furrowed. "I never told you she was my real mother."

Wait. Did I hear her right?

"What. . . did you just say?"

Her lips curled into a frown. "I said I never told you she-"

"Silence!" the voice from the spider boomed. "Who told you to speak for yourself?"

Athena's head drooped. "True. I don't have the right at all."

Oh great! Now she's back at being negative about herself!

I've got to get her out of this. . . nightmare, and I have to start with getting rid of the spider. But how? Every time Athena talks to me, the giant thing's coming at her with discouraging words that she somehow falls into.

The spider was done wrapping a sulky Athena around with its silk when it turned its gaze at me. It bared its fangs and jumped.

I willed for a magic barrier to protect me but I didn't feel power rush out of my system. The eight-legged monster slashed one of its legs but I scrambled away in time. As I sprinted, I sensed the spider following me as it made a scraping noise with its legs on the nonexistent floor.

I dared to look behind me. The spider hissed and spat a chunk of silk to my direction. I veered to my left to evade it but it produced another one. A second later, I found myself in a ball of stickiness, shuddering at the weird substance I was stuck in.

The creature shadowed over me, and I gulped as its crimson eyes gleamed. Using its mandibles, it carried me back to the large web and put me beside Athena. She lazily looked up, her messy blonde hair covering half of her face.

"Oh. You're here too," she muttered. "Glad you could join me."

I groaned. "Now's not the time, Athena! You've got to wake up from Rhea's brainwashing!"

She turned away. "I said it before and I'm going to say it again, there's no point. You don't need me, I'm useless."

"Yessss," the spider whispered. "You are indeed useless."

"That's definitely not true!" I insisted. "Look, everything that's happening right now is not real. It's literally all in your head! Rhea. . . she must be using something in your mind to keep you in control."

Athena didn't move.

I squirmed from my glue-like restraints. "There's got to be a way to get us out of here! Athena, you know your mind more than anyone else. Do something!"

She scoffed. "Why don't you use your amazing mind powers and save us from this mess?"

"Hey! I tried, okay?" I said. "But it didn't work! Apparently, getting inside your mind is as far as my powers could go."

"Well, why don't you just get out of my head and leave me alone in this miserable place?" she grumbled. "You can stop Rhea without my help anyway."

I looked at her incredulously. "Athena. . . I can't do that. You're my friend, and friends help one another."

Athena forced out a laugh. "Me? Your friend? That's ridiculous! Who would want to be friends with someone who's cold, antisocial, has weird anger issues and especially has no powers at all?"

"You can't be seriou-"

"I mean, I'm basically a nobody who happens to be a so-called Chosen of my namesake and a smart ass for some reason," she continued. "I also happen to be lucky to have siblings who are the Chosens of the two most powerful gods of the Olympian pantheon!"

I paused. "Athena, I-"

She turned her head to me, her eyes filled with tears. "And you know what's worse, Amelia? What's worse is that my whole life has been a lie! Everything I thought I knew about-my world, my family, myself- it was just all make-believe. It was just a made-up story so I could be used like a puppet for a bigger story that's still in the beginning."

"W-What are you talking about, Athena?" I asked. "I don't understand. . ."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you don't. You weren't thrown away by your real family when you were barely a year old."

My breath hitched. "What?"

She. . . The way she acted around Rhea. . . That's why she was so harsh towards her.

"Y-You're adopted?"

Athena rolled her eyes once more. "Bravo, Amelia. I wish I could give you a round of applause, but as you can see, my hands are tied down."

"Since when did you know?"

"Rhea told me when you just got to Olympian High for the first time," she said. "She said she wanted to tell me for so long, but I got mad. . . confused. I don't know anymore, to be honest. It's been a long time since that happened."

"That's why you looked grumpy when I first came into the dorm," I said as the memory of my first day popped in my head. "Not that it wasn't out of character now that I know you more."

"Yeah, sure," she muttered. "I guess the only reason Rhea told me that is to control me while I was vulnerable because of my emotions."

I still can't believe that, of all people, Rhea turned out to be bad. I don't understand why and how she could be this cunning and manipulative.

I hesitated. "Does. . . Poseidon and Zeus know?"

She shook her head.

"Okay. Athena," I began, "I know you're, um, emotionally exhausted right now, but we have to get you out of here. Rhea's using you, Zeus and Poseidon to fight us, and I think. . . the only way you can free yourself is to face your fears."

The spider, who was watching the both of us the whole time, suddenly let out an ear-piercing screech. I squeezed my eyes shut as my ears rang in pain.

"No one is going to escape the web of fears!" the spider declared. "No one!"

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Athena gape at the eight-legged creature, frozen like a block of ice. A moment later, she shook her head vehemently and looked down.

"I-I can't do it!" Her chin trembled. "I can't!"

The spider cackled. "Yes! Succumb in your pit of misery! No one can save you, not even your friend!"

"Athena, don't listen to it!" I said. "You've got to believe in yourself!"

It hovered closer to Athena. "Lies! She pities you only because she cares to use you to defeat the enemy."

I glared at the wicked creature. "No! You're the one who's lying! And you are the enemy!"

Hissing, the spider grabbed me from the web and brought me closer to it, just a few inches from its fangs.

"Amelia no!"

Struggling, I tried inching away from the spider's rancid breath, but it only moved me closer to its face. I gasped.

"Savor this moment as it will be your last. . ."

Athena tried to break herself free from the web but nothing budged. "Amelia! No no! D-Do something! Get yourself out!"

I gazed at Athena. "Tell me. What makes you afraid the most?"

Her eyes bulged out of her sockets. "Now's not the time! I've got to get you out! You have to get yourself out!"

As the spider moved me slowly to its huge jaws, my eyes only narrowed at Athena. "What is your biggest fear?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. "I-I can't tell you. . ."

"You can't or you won't?"

"I. . . I won't, okay?!" she shouted. "I don't want anyone to know!"

"Tell me."

She shook her head. "No."

"I said tell me."

"No!"

"Athena, trust me on this," I said. "You've got to tell me."

"Fools." The spider laughed. "Your time is now out. Say goodbye to your friend."

"NO!" Athena yelled.

I was spun around and all I could see was a large, cave-like maw. I suppressed the urge to puke as I came face-to-face with the spider's foul mouth.

This is going to be disgusting. And painful.

"Please stop!" Athena cried. "Don't hurt her!"

The spider paused, tilting its head at Athena. "And what are you going to do? You yourself are helpless in my web. You cannot do anything!"

Sighing, her head drooped. "That's true-"

Turning at the spider, I thought I saw it grin widely.

"-but that's okay."

"What?" the spider said, its tone surprised.

"I. . . I understand now." She perked up. "I don't have to do anything that's beyond my capability. I don't have to prove my worth to anyone."

I felt the spider's grip on me loosen.

"With that said, that doesn't mean I can't do anything or I'm useless," Athena went on. "I am imperfect, and there's no problem with that. I've been too hard on myself for far too long. I've always pressured myself to know everything so I could do anything. But not anymore."

She twisted her body around and to my surprise, the threads of silk that bound her fell off her body. As she leaped down from the web, her steely gaze didn't waver at the spider.

"How?" The eight-legged creature took a step back. "How is that possible?"

Athena smirked. "The only reason you were able to tie me down is that I let you, my dear fear, get the best of me, and I won't let you do that again."

In the blink of an eye, the gigantic spider vanished, leaving me hanging in the air for a second. Thankfully, a light wind blew around me and gently brought me down to the ground beside Athena.

The moment I landed, our surroundings changed from dark and empty into a vast land of ruins. Around us, tall marble columns stood proud on the cracked tiled floor, their weathered tops almost touching the clear blue sky.

I raised a brow. "What is this place?"

Athena frowned. "We're still in my mind obviously."

Well, Athena's back all right.

"Thank you, Amelia, for believing in me," she said. "Now let's get out of my head, shall we? I don't want you spending a second longer to pry in my thoughts."