I stood at attention on the side of Nyx's throne, anxiously playing with the end of my braid. Armani stood next to me, looking confident as ever. Then Phoenix, who absolutely couldn't care less about the situation and causally leaned against the wall. Next came Nevaeh who just stared down at her feet, and Aria, who was nervously fidgeting with her fingers. Lastly, there was Nico, looking just as confident as Armani, hands behind his back.

The seven demigods, plus Calypso, were all kneeling on the ground before us. They each had a golden power dampening collar around their neck with a chain connecting to the ground, keeping them there. The demigods were a combination of scared, broken, and angry. Didn't they know it was pointless anyways? They weren't getting out of this, there was no way. No way.                              

Calypso was sobbing. Dressed in her black and white maid uniform and chained to the ground, she looked up at Nyx pleadingly. "Please," She begged, "I-I don't know why I'm here! I've always followed your rules, my Lady! Please just- just let me go!"

"It's too late for you," Nyx said. She looked up. "For all of you. Leonidas has three minutes before the deadline is reached and I finally kill each one of you. It's about time. The clock is ticking."

"I'd rather die than have whatever you want to do with Leo be done," Hazel spat, gathering all her strength as she struggled to sit up straight.

"How... honorable. And for what?" Nyx mused. "And must I remind you? Don't speak out of line."   

Nyx snapped her fingers, and a jolt of electricity was suddenly sent through Hazel from the magic of the collar, causing an ear piercing scream from Hazel to erupt as she crumpled to the ground in pain, trembling.

"Hazel!" Frank yelled, jerking against the chains and trying to reach his girlfriend. I bit my lip, looking at Nyx. She showed no hesitation. Ever.

"STOP!" A new voice suddenly cried out, the doors to the throne room slamming open. "Stop! I'm here! Don't hurt them!"

It was Leo.

He had come. And with only one minute and forty-six seconds on the clock.

"Leonidas," An eerie smirk crept across Nyx's face. "You've come."

"Of course I did," Leo said. "Now let my friends go."

"Let them go?" Nyx chuckled. "That wasn't part of the agreement. I just said that I wouldn't kill them. You really should pay more attention. Guards?"

Five of Nyx's guards dressed in black armor rushed towards Leo. Leo's eyes widened and he quickly lit his hands on fire, but froze when his eyes landed back on his friends. He sighed, slumping his head in defeat and distinguishing his fire. He guards grabbed onto his arms, causing him to tense, but he luckily didn't fight back.

He had given in.

They put the power dampening cuffs on each of his wrists and one of the golden collars around his neck. They attached a golden chain onto the collar so they could drag him around like some dog, laughing and shouting insults at him as they did, and not exactly being gentle.

"Oh, and Leonidas?" Nyx said. Her tone in her voice definitely did not suggest anything good. Leo blinked, solemnly looking up at Nyx. "You didn't really think I'd let you go free of punishment, did you?"

Leo's eyes widened, but before he could say a thing, Nyx raised her hand, facing her palm out, and sent a black lightning bolt in the direction of Calypso. It hit Calypso square in the chest, causing Calypso to scream and collapse to the ground.

She had died. There was no doubt about that. And it appeared Leo knew that as well.

"CALYPSO!" Leo screamed. He tried to run towards her, but the guards held him back. That didn't stop him from keeping on trying. The guards began to drag him away, but he continued to struggle, tears streaming down his face as he continued to scream for his dead girlfriend.

"And that's not even the worst of what's to come for you," Nyx said, clearly enjoying herself, her voice echoing throughout the throne room.