Page 44 of The Demigod

“By their sister.”

“Ah, Nemesis and her scales.”

“Yeah. Anyway, she suspected that their other siblings had… done something to Nemesis.”

“Ah, and have they?”

“Yes. We found her in a cave.”

“Locked up with magic somehow.”

“Yes. She was in this glass tank full of blue gel. And the glass itself sent me flying across the room. Would’ve killed anyone else.”

“Hm,” Arick said, thinking. “Where’s the witch? Or warlock?”

“What?”

“Gods have their own powers. But they don’t typically work the Craft. They have a witch or warlock working for them. A reasonably powerful one, to be able to trap a god. Find the witch or warlock, you find out how they did it. And how to undo it.”

“But what if they are loyal to the gods?”

“They won’t be.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because our powers, our education, it is what keeps us independent. Free. None of us want to be used as puppets. None,” he added, sensing my uncertainty.

“What if the witch or warlock is being held… magically?”

“They won’t be. The closest thing to magic you will find is, for example, if Poseidon was keeping a warlock under the ocean in an air bubble. Or Hades keeping someone surrounded in flames in the Underworld. But if this is just Nyx’s siblings, my best guess would be this person is only being kept through mental torture.”

“How the hell can I get them free then?”

“You take them. Grab them and take them as far and fast as possible. The connection will break. Then, once they recover a bit, they can tell you how to free Nemesis.”

“They have to be keeping them inside the estate. They almost never leave.”

“Well, they are gods. One would assume they are lazing about, drinking, fucking, all the usual self-indulgent shit.”

“Okay…”

“Drug them.”

“With what? I can’t imagine some Special K in their drinks is gonna cut it.”

“No,” Arick agreed. “How is the veil between this plane and the Underworld right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when you were sucked through, it was from a witch’s spell, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s my understanding.”

“Is it still working that way, or can you just… go there? Seems like the veils are very thin right now.”

“Okay. If they are thin, if we could go down, why would we?”

“The River Lethe. The waters from it cause people and gods to forget who they are. Or there are Underworld Poppies that would cause severe hallucinations. Either would work slipped into their drinks.”

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