"The...chain!" Nyx shouted. "I think...we'll...get choked."

Kairos struggled in Candy's grasp. And then, he pulled out his razor and cut her upon which she screamed.

"Where do you think we are gonna get a chain?" asked Kairos, trying to wrestle Phantasos away.

"Like hell I am supposed to know!" Nyx said, pushing her grandson off. She heaved a huge breath and then slapped him. "You know you are one stupid grandson! Get off before I disown you!"

That stopped Phantasos. "The music was good."

Candy nodded, rubbing her arm. "You cut me."

"You choked me," said Kairos, rolling his eyes.

And then, Candy fell deep into the sand. "Quicksand! Get away!"

But soon, they were all waist deep, trying to get out. Nyx spoke out. "Okay, I got this. We are going deep down."

"We'll..." said Phantasos.

"Shut your trap, before I rip your tongue," said Nyx, closing her eyes.

"Grandma is creepy..." he said.

They couldn't disagree.

In the deep mists of darkness, Nyx woke up. Her dark eyes glimmered more than darkness itself. "Anybody here me?"

She didn't hear anyone. A rabbit leapt out from somewhere, its red eyes glittering. "So, you thought your great darkness will save others?"

"Or so I planned," she said, becoming one with the dark.

"I can't see you, but I am not innocent, lady," he looked around.

"So, you say. I never said so," she laughed, pride coating her voice. A stupid white rabbit was going to defeat her, was it?

"White eliminates dark always," he said.

"Not if you don't have a candle," she retorted.

The rabbit scowled.

"So, you need a chain?" asked Nyx, stretching her fingers as the rabbit jumped smartly out of the way.

"Yes. A pocket watch always needs one."

"Greedy little rabbit," she mused amused.

"You think you're so wise, Nyx," sneered the rabbit.

"Oh, no, Alice. Are you jealous?" she muttered, humming. The rabbit did remind of her of the one in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

"My name's not Alice," he snapped. "It's Cunning Pierce."

Nyx guffawed. "Nice. So, where's she?"

"Like I'll tell. Don't play me."

"Maybe. Maybe not. So, a real chain, huh?" she frowned.

Cunning Pierce kept his mouth shut.

"Or is it something more...abstract?"

His eyes slackened. "It's time."

Nyx rested, feeling too lazy to continue. The pillow of darkness cushioned her head and she yawned as her stomach grumbled. She just wanted to sleep. Amoris didn't matter anymore. Who the hell cared about some girl who wanted love? She felt heavy and her eyelids felt like weighty rocks.

"I want chocolate!" she sputtered.

"No compromises in a game," Cunning raised his eyebrows, and then disappeared.

"I want-want one!" Nyx bawled like a little child. The feeling was getting stronger. She wanted food. Badly. The hunger was waging a war inside her tummy. Like a the Battle of Waterloo. 

"No!" Nyx noticed someone, a child have chocolate and Skittles. She wailed, pointing. "No! He can't! First comes first!" Envy coughed inside. And then, regained its strength. Green was the only thing she could see. That would be an understatement. She saw some another food as she hurried and began stuffing everything in her mouth. The hunger passed, but the sight of food made her only want to eat more. All the pasta, the lasagna, the cream cookies, the chocolate fude and pastries...she had to try them all.

Besides, it seemed this buffet was free. 

Cunning came back and then looked at her solemnly. "You have time until the pages turn and the book snaps shut."

"What book?"

And then, she saw her other. Her one. Erebus. He came out of nowhere. And he was now here.

How could he? How dare he face me? "Where were you?!"

Her eyes blazed wild. Like an ever growing unstoppable wild forest.

"I'd gone to bring you this," he said softly.

A black rose stood on his palm as she took it. "Aw, thank you."

Nyx slapped him hard, the anger was boiling inside her. After all those years, he'd come back. The fool had come back.

She jumped up and hugged him. Nothing mattered anymore. Not Amoris, not her idiotic grandson, the boy with a syndrome, the girl who loved.

Nothing. Only him. She knew why most people loved the dark then. Because, they could hide. Because they could be in its folds without anyone knowing. She kissed him, her hands getting tangled in his waves of dark. He responded happily, tracing the skin under her cloak. They were becoming one, the world zoning out. She pulled back, breathing heavily, her eyes turning darker as he took off his cloak, a tattoo of the moon on it. She ran her hands across it.

"I am sorry, love."

She laughed, the moon on his chest glimmering like the moon in the sky, him running a finger on the side of her collarbone, as she took off her cloak, standing bare in the dark, but still visible to him, turning around. The comet zoomed on her back, as he pressed a kiss to it. She giggled. It'd been so long. She turned, wrapping her arms around him. 

A thousand thorny light beams pricked her eyes and she squinted her eyes shut. "What the hell are those?"

"Finally!" she heard a chirpy voice.

"I had to close my eyes..." muttered Phantasos.

"Wait, what?" she asked, frowning. "You weren't there."

"You asked us to trust you. Well, we did. Kairos found metal from a place. I mean, it is s desert but...And then, he reached you when I placed him there."

Nyx understood how. Phantasos could work with the mind. And visions. No wonder.

"So..."

"Basically, yes. When I saw the watch, I knew nobody had seen it inside. The seven sins were free. Unbound. So, thank me folks..."

"How was crying for candy?" asked Candy. "Lollies are nice, right?"

"That's the chain?" Nyx asked, looking at a floating chain. It didn't look like it was made from metal but a series of floating memories. She saw herself, crying for the candy, getting angry, being haughty, the sloth overtaking her...

"Yeah," said Kairos casually. "Man, carving with a razor is not easy."

He took out his razor, looking at the chipped edges.

"I seriously had to close my eyes. At the end..."

Nyx turned red. "Let's go."

"Grandma's blushing. Someone take a picture!"

"Shut it, Phan. Let's go. Love needs us."

Hera stood over the lake, looking up, meeting Eric's eyes. He was resting and looking at her. Eric suddenly remembered why he like this certain goddess. Her ability to stay in a marriage that was so flawed, even though her husband cheated her was astounding. He knew she could move. But she didn't. It surprised him that she decided to change.

Change. It seemed to be a tight rope from which he was hanging.

His thoughts reached her. Not about her, but the one about Serafina Niles. The beautiful nymph.

"Thank you," she said to Veronica.

Athena felt like throwing something at them. She squinted. She had to think calmly or the plan would fail.

"You. This means that everyone is here."

Veronica smirked. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Her fatal flaw.

Athena raised her lips in delight. It would be useful some other time.

Hera saw Eric's mind. She was surprised to see herself in him. A disgusting version. Her lips folded like crumpled paper. Thrown. Used. Unknown. She smiled and then waved at Athena. "See your dad next season, wise one."

"If she didn't come, you wouldn't have won."

"Oh, I would have. It's not just me," she countered and then vanished.

Wait. If she meant what she did...that means this game is a rivalry like no other. Suddenly, she wondered whom she could trust.

A fly crept by and she swallowed it. Her frog form was still the same. She didn't change because nobody believed that it was her in the Nymphs' Garden.

Veronica saw her reflection in the Styx. Beautiful, with long silver brown hair. It'd been long since she'd seen herself properly because when the Nymphs had abandoned her, she thought that everything, including her beauty, except for her ability to reach other world by leaving her body behind had been taken away.

She didn't imagine it. Not when she'd glanced at the mirror in Eric's room every day. That she'd be beautiful like this.

She stared, touching her cheeks.

"Do you think she'd gonna stay there?" asked Mirabel.

"I mean, yeah. She fell in love with herself?" asked Zest.

"Woah," commented Hans. "Se-Seems to be so."

"They might find us," said Mirabel. "It could be dangerous. If they found out about what she'd done."

"Yeah, but we'll be safe," frowned Zest. "You don't harm souls."

"I hope-hope ev-ev-everyone is a good actor," said Hans, his mane turning yellowish orange, indicating that he was scared.

Athena looked at Apollo, and beckoned him over. He said something to Hades and then to Poseidon.

"Is Hades on our side or theirs?" whispered Mirabel. "It doesn't seem like he's rooting for his daughter."

"That or that he's good at pretending," said Zest.

"We don't have a plan, do we?"

They all sighed. 

*****

So, here it is! This is practically unedited, so if you find anything that doesnt connect, let me know. And i am gonna keep this a novella.

So, au revoir!

Bye bye!