I didn't know why all the clothes in this dammed city were so... itchy. Well, at least it was something other than hospital gowns. I shouldn't complain all the time. They looked nice at least. The suits light blue coloring looked nice while the sun went down on the horizon. It's simplicity was beautiful in a way. I just didn't know why everything beautiful needs to be annoying too.

Nikolai arrived next to me smiling widely. He was dressed in the same suit as me, just the color was dark red instead of blue. It annoyed me that my first thought I saw it was my mom and her beautiful curly hair that I hadn't never seen in its natural color, just in this dark red, that one had one side braided neatly.

"Looking better than I could have imagined. You ready?" I nodded, even tough he walked past me before getting the reaction he asked for. I quickly walked behind him from the giant golden doors.

We were soon in a living room that had a grand view to the city, that gave the otherwise colorless room a pop of color. My eyes spotted a man looking outside the window, his hair as grey as the suit he was wearing. There was two women in the almost grey looking sofa. I recognized them immediately. Neela was dressed in a strapless dress which shined brighter than the sun itself. She and the graying man were in a midst of a conversation. The other woman, who I think was Andi's mother, had her eyes glued to the floor. She was wearing a boring grey jacket and her hair was in a loose bun. I may not be a genius, but she looked like she was in her personal hell.

"There you are. I was wondering, if you weren't even coming." Dad came from outside of my field of vision. Before I could say anything else, he tapped me on the shoulder and started dragging me towards people without giving me anything to warn me what was going to happen or what I can't say. He was just throwing me towards the lions. I tried to stop him, but before I knew it, I was in front of the graying man.

"Ah, Pegasos is finally here in flesh and blood." When I saw the man's face more close, I felt weirdly starstruck. Poseidon, the one of the creators of all of this all around me, was right in front of my eyes. I was so stunned I couldn't even ask about why he called me Pegasos. I wasn't ever given a code name.

"Poseidon, I'm glad you didn't fall dead yesterday." Dad and Poseidon shook their hands, me still in front of my dad. "Everything is fine in the dining room by the way." Right next to the living room was a huge dining room where couple of more people. I had seen all of them at the party but all of their names escaped my mind.

"Oh, I couldn't have left this earth without talking to your son in more detail." Poseidon's laugh was the weirdest I have ever heard. It almost sounded hollow, even tough his face looked genuine.

Poseidon reached his hand towards me. After dad tapped me on the shoulder, I shook his hand, bowing a little. I felt too awkward, but Poseidon looked he was impressed by me. "It's great to finally talk to you, Poseidon."

"Manners, who would have thought?" Poseidon smirked at dad. I didn't know if I should take his words as compliments or insults. Poseidon had a aura around him that every word that came out of his mouth was meant to be a leash around you. He, thankfully, was too busy to notice while being focused to the older boy behind me. "Aeneid! You need to come in these things more often. I don't see you anymore these days, and now your parents are saying you want me to come work under me."

Nikolai bowed politely. The change in him was quick. He was soon the most polite man you can ever meet, full opposite of the cocky kid I have talked this whole time. "I didn't think of anything better to honor my dear grandmother than to work with her old partner."

Poseidon smiled solemnly. "There isn't and never will be a greater woman." I would have had few points to argue that opinion, but the people started to walk towards the dining room so I was just forced to go with the flow. As everyone was walking, my gaze spotted Andi's mom. I wanted to make a joke about them being the underdog with me, but she looked like she never wants to hear a joke.

The dining room was giant and tacky space, that only had a huge dining table that was colored in gold and silver. Every person my eyes spotted had been in the party, or at least looked as rich that they were there. I tried to hold myself not to grow a fear inside me that this night was the same as the last one.

Every fear I had disappeared when dad waved at me to come sit next to me. Neela on the other side of him wasn't that happy. Her hand was wrapped his arm. She whispered something in his ear. As i sat down, I could feel Neela trying to stab me with her stare.

Nikolai sat down right opposite of me, next to two people who looked weirdly like a clone of Nikolai, so the best guess from me was that those were Nikolai's parents. I remembered them at the party. They both had that over confident feel Nikolai had. Nikolai's dad had the same nose bridge and icy look as Neela, and the mother looked almost identical to her son. They both were as light as snow.

Poseidon sat at the end of the table. When he sat down, i noticed the giant pictures in both sides of the chair. The side of Nikolai's parents was a picture of an older woman who looked like Neela as an older woman. The other picture was... odd. I could clearly tell that there was a picture in it, but I couldn't figure anything about him. Both of them had a name plaque under them. The woman had "Hades" under her potrait. The weird person was Zeus.

"Is there a reason why no one is using their real names?" I tried to be as quiet as could when I whispered to dad, but of course Neela heard it too. She rolled her eyes like a teenager, her head leaning on my dad's shoulder.

"This is an official dinner with the highest members of the government. We don't call each other our real names in the events like this. You either call me father or Perseus, and you call this beauty Atalanta-" She kissed her fiancee to the cheek. Neela smiled widely. "Your new friend is Aeneid."

When I looked around, I realized that there were only three or more families from the last nights party. They were quiet and proper, but they looked like even one toe was richer than me. I didn't know if I liked the feeling that pulsed around me.

Thankfully only thing I soon thought was utter terror. The painting that looked almost inhumane, turned fully black. Poseidon stood up. From the darkness, a shadowy figure moved in the darkness. It was like the monster from the deepest nightmares, or the figure you would see while having a sleep paralysis. I involuntarily gasped. Poseidon laughed.

"Zeus and me wanted to say we are happy that you all joined to our monthly meetings. Enjoy the food, and the company." Poseidon looked at the shadow smiling.

"Let's remember too all of the people we lost in the brutal attack 15 years ago. We lost many good people." Voice that came out of Zeus was almost robotic. it didn't sound human. Everyone looked like it was perfectly normal, even tough a monster stared right at me.

I could feel some of the people's stares on me. I didn't want to think about it, I couldn't. Dad probably saw me being uncomfortable because he tapped me on the shoulder. I tried to remember that they lost people too even tough I couldn't care about their own misery.

After that small moment, the night went suprisingly okay. No-one asked about me about mom, not even anything about Gorgos and Tartaros. I had fun, which was very odd thing to say. I talked almost all night with Nikolai. I got to chat with his parents too who were suprisingly fun. All of them were powerful people with interesting lifes across Asphodea.

Neela became funnier when she had drunk few glasses. She started telling me about her life as a young kid in Asphodea after Nikolai gave her a glass or two. Her family has always been crazy rich. She had been crushing on my dad since she was a young kid. She also told me that she had made the first move. In exchange, I told her about the time mom almost broke two buildings accidently.

The whole mood of the party changed when Neela got a glass that was one too much. As people were talking, Neela wobbled to the middle of the living room, where people came after the dinner. Me and Nikolai laughed about her mumbling. My smile vanished when Neela tapped me on the shoulder and smiled. "Pegasos, I was so wrong about you honestly. I thought your bitch of a mother sent you as a spy but you are a smart kid. I have to admit."

Everyone around me froze. People looked at each other and I felt like the smallest person in the room. My eyes were glued to dad. He tried his best to take the focus off his fiancee. He grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her away. "I'm gonna take Neela home. I'm going to come back later to get the kids."

Dad nodded to Poseidon as a goodbye and him and Neela disappeared. After Neela was gone, everyone was focused entirely on me. I could sense the questions every single one of them had. I just needed to give them something. That was the only way to make them accept me and not look at me like they did right now.

"Okay, three questions. I'll answer three questions. Nothing more, and nothing less." I tried my best to be as charismatic as mom or dad. I just felt... weird in the moment. Everyone started whispering to the person next to them, maybe figuring out what they were going to ask, or just laugh at the boy who got left alone.

"Well, can you give a proof that you aren't just Medusa's spy?" Nikolai broke the silence. Maybe the hours spent with him made it easier for him to talk. He smiled at me with his normal smirk, which made me relax.

"I don't know how but I promise to make sure to get that trust from you. I want to proof be my desperation to get to know my real father and the fact that I don't want the people closest to him to not trust me." Couple of people around me relaxed. Poseidon nodded smiling. "Two questions left."

Nikolai's mom, whose code name at least was Megara, stepped forward. "Pegasos, I want a concrete evidence that you are on our side now. Give us a secret Medusa is hiding."

"What do you mean?" I fucked up. I was stunned and my head was shaking. I couldn't just... My head kept replaying that phrase Cassandra said. "I don't know any war plans or stradegies. I'm 14 years old."

"What's the biggest secret of Tartaros itself" My heart jumped when I heard Poseidon speak. He smiled gently at me. There was a certain answer to this and it might make some people's life at risk. Still, I couldn't leave this scenario if I didn't answer.

"I... The size I think. Have you ever wondered how there are so many people in Tartaros, which is a very small area? Beneath Tartaros is an area that grows larger every day, Troy, filled with people who have fled from here to there. Mother takes in everyone who asks for help. He would probably rather die than deny asylum to someone. She cares way too much about those people.” I was talking, but inside I just wanted to stop. I wanted to be quiet and disappear from this party, and find my father. Still, those words came out of my mouth. I told everyone in the party about Troy.

Everyone in the room was silent. I could hear them all breathing. They heard my breathing. We just stared at each other. Nikolai's smile had disappeared. He slowly walked over to me. He grabbed me by the shoulder and started carrying me out the door. "It's getting pretty late now. Maybe it's good to go home."

It's good I had other places to go, because after this, I wasn't sure if I was allowed back Tartaros.