Chapter Nine

We left Olympus shortly before sunset.

I could tell Apollo was still more than reluctant to go, or let me go. He constantly checked over his shoulder, constantly reached for me beside him to make sure I was there, and would even stare at me to make sure I was actually there and he wasn't just dreaming. For a moment, I was aggravated by it, but relaxed when I realized he was just being paranoid again.

Part of me wanted something to attack us, for the sole purpose of allowing me to kill it, to show Apollo that I didn't need his help, that I didn't need to be treated as if I was fragile. I wasn't fragile. I could take care of myself, but it would seem the more I boosted about it, the more Apollo denied it, so I gave up and decided to wait until the time came to prove him wrong.

We teleported to the main temple on Atlantis for a quick pit-stop to let Zetnos know we were entering his domain. For some reason, Hannibal thought that was necessary, but no one argued with him.

The temple had changed significantly since Lea took over. It was no longer a cold dark temple made entirely of marble and gold and ancient carvings of battles and legends. It was designed to look like a Greek temple in front with the tall Doric columns and pointed roof, but it stretched into a walkway that led to an open entrance and the rest of the building was made of two large tiered towers, and a flat back end, probably home to the meeting hall while the rest of the temple probably harbored all the antiquities and such.

"I'll go ahead and let them know we're here." Arikos said when we arrived. We gave a nod and he went ahead. I frowned, glancing at Hannibal, surprised he hadn't gone in, even though he'd suggested it. He stuck near one of the columns and sat down on its pedestal while Menoetius milled around the ridiculously long steps that led up to the temple where Apollo sat, leaning back on his elbows to take in the hot Atlantean sun overhead.

Unlike Olympus, Atlantis was far more humid. The air was particularly thick and heavy, very warm and made me wish that our uniforms weren't made of black hydra skin. The sounds of a thousand insects rose up from the miles and miles of ancient jungle around us, birds calling out and singing in the distance. From our top on the highest peak of the Atlantean mountains, I could make out the scattered islands surrounding this one called Leanorius. The other islands, some home to merpeople and others to ogres, and even one owned by a Shade demon, an Atlantean demon that fed on the moonlight five days a month, and the other spent starving and angry.

A warm blast of air swept around the mountain top and I sucked in a deep breath, suddenly feeling nostalgic.

My time in Atlantis, all those years ago, hadn't been the greatest, but there were times when I stood in this very spot and thanked the Source that I was allowed to breath this fresh clean air, to listen to the sounds I'd never hear anywhere else. Whole different species of animals had gone extinct with Atlantis, the phoenix, the varg-leopard, the sabertooth panther, the list went on and it broke my heart that mortals would never be able to see these creatures, never have any true evidence of their existence.

As if on cue, a roar echoed through the trees, deep in the jungle and excitement rushed through me as I recognized the sound of a varg-leopard. Large cats that bore an almost uncanny similarity to the clouded-leopard, except these bore larger teeth and were generally found in neutral tones, grays and blacks and whites, in order to blend into the background of their environment, and their most prominent feature was the black mask that went over their eyes and flicked at the sides, dipping low on either side of their small muzzles.

"Do you miss it?" Apollo's voice made me stiffen and turn to see him standing beside me. I hadn't even noticed coming up to me. I looked back out over the jungle, rubbing at my arm.

"Sometimes." I admitted. Apollo studied the jungle for a while, then turned to look at me. I looked back at him curiously. I couldn't decipher the look on his face, his knitted brows and deep blue eyes that darkened. He looked like he wanted to speak, but Arikos coming out of the temple cut him off.

"Green light," Arikos called as he approached us, everyone gathering together to greet him, "Got the go ahead from Zetnos and Lea. Zetnos says the catacombs are mostly empty. He's allowed the gods Tila and Vinos back into the catacombs, but they shouldn't bother us."

Tila and Vinos, the goddesses of darkness and earth. They definitely wouldn't bother us. They hung out near entrances in order to get to the surfaces easily.

We started the trek toward the nearest entrance to Xandria, which was about a mile out from our position at another mountain peak that would lead into Atlan's dungeons, which according to Lea, were now all empty. Teleportation to the entrance, unfortunately, was prohibited in order to avoid people randomly showing up and trying to break in.

"How's she doing?" Hannibal asked quietly as he walked ahead of us with Arikos, who sighed, brushing his hair back from his face.

"She seems to be doing better. You should really go in there and talk to her, Hannibal. I can't be your messenger phoenix every time you want to see if she's okay."

"She doesn't want to see me, Arikos."

"Oh, come on, you're her kid. She'd want to see you even if you ended up destroying the entire universe," Arikos paused and there was a short silence between them before he spoke again, this time more softly, "She doesn't hate you, Hannibal, trust me. I know what that looks like on a mother's face and her face says the exact opposite. I think she's just waiting for you to come back." Hannibal said nothing to that, and his poker face didn't betray a thing, but something about the way those mismatched eyes swirled with emotion told me he was bothered. I wondered briefly what had gone on between them, considering how desperate Lea was to get him back. Now suddenly they weren't speaking?

Best of luck, Hannibal. Lea's good at holding grudges too.

The trek was hot and sweaty, and Arikos was happy to remind us every few feet how much he hated jungles and wished it would snow.

"I want to see snow," Arikos said huffily, trudging behind us now, unable to stay at the front with Hannibal, who just kept walking without a word, "I saw that movie, the one with the little girl and Santa Claus. I want to see snow like that. Is it really that cold?"

"If you want cold, you'll get it when we get to Xandria." Hannibal said dryly.

"It's cold down there?"

"Yes. Very."

"Ouch," Arikos winced, "And you were naked last time." Menoetius tensed every so slightly beside me and when I raised my eyebrow at him, he glared at me and pushed ahead to get away from me. I rolled my eyes and stuck closer to the front, away from Arikos and his complaints about the heat.

It wasn't long before we reached the rickety iron staircase with catwalks that led along the mountainside toward the top where the entrance to the dungeons was. It wasn't too far up, and we reached it in a few minutes. The entrance was a tall archway made of limestone blocks etched with ancient images of torture and misery, and at the top of the arch read, in Atlantean:

Beware those of tainted souls.

And somehow Atlan was allowed inside, I thought bitterly as we walked through the archway and into a dark narrow tunnel lined with more stones, these ones more jagged and menacing. The only light came from large stone stands that held bowls of blue crackling flames. We approached a trio of hallways all veering off in different directions.

"This way," Arikos said, pointing to the one to the left, making me look at him curiously, "Trust me. The dungeons were my second home." I grimaced and Hannibal winced beside me before moving ahead with Arikos, making sure to stick close to him. Apollo and I followed with Menoetius now taking up the rear as we headed to the hallway that broke down into a series of uneven stone steps that were crept over with moss and vines, vines that stretched up along the stone walls, weaving in and out.

We came near an entrance where two stone statues glared down at us. Gargoyles, but the Atlanteans referred to them as pitras teraos, or stone monsters. Unlike the gargoyles of Gothic architecture, these ones were more humanoid. Tall and standing at their full height of eight feet with large black wings akin to that of a bat's, folded up behind them, jaws opened to bare elongated fangs, horns coiling like ram's horns from long hair that fell down muscular backs, and long lizard-like tails that slid down around their feet with little jagged edges along the top. Large claws on hands and feet and tattoos of slavery done along their throats finished off their terrifying appearances.

"I feel like those things are going to wake up." Apollo muttered, eying the one on the left warily. Arikos slowed down near the one on the right and cocked his head.

"Kinda creepy, huh?" He asked, reaching out to touch the finger of one just as Hannibal hissed at him not to touch.

Too late.

The tunnel shuddered and iron gates slammed shut at the top of the staircase and at the bottom behind the gargoyles before we could do anything. We backed up into a circular formation, and much to my chagrin, I was at the center of this circle with everyone's back to me, facing the gargoyles as they shuddered with the tunnel and their stone shells shattered, bits flying at us as we lifted our arms to defend our faces.

The left one roared, a terrifying sound that started deep and guttural and became louder, more dinosaur-like. The right one joined in, and oddly enough, they harmonized a sound of utter beauty and terror as they stepped off their pedestals, standing over us.

Apollo's mouth came open, but no sound escaped. Hannibal turned his head to glare at Arikos, who was gaping up at the creatures before he did a double-take to realize Hannibal was glaring at him accusingly.

"What? How was I supposed to know they would wake up if I touched them?" He demanded. Hannibal didn't say anything, continued to glare at Arikos made a noise of distress, but the terror was short lived when the left one, the one with hair cut in a sharp black bob froze and instantly dropped to one knee, bowing his head. The right one appeared startled until he realized why his friend was bowing and he did the same.

"Are they supposed to do that?" Menoetius asked in a whisper. Arikos shrugged. The left one lifted its head to stare up at us with insidious green eyes.

"We are honor bound by the Source to bow before the King of Atlantis." He said, voice slightly lisped by his fangs, and even more so by his thick Northern Atlantis accent. His friend nodded quickly in agreement, then bowed his head again.

"We apologize, lord and master, for frightening your friends. We are blind in our slumber." He added quickly. Arikos stared at them, then looked at Hannibal, who was just staring at the creatures as if he were unsure what to do. Menoetius elbowed Hannibal in the ribs.

"Go on, King of Atlantis. Tell 'em to move." He said. Hannibal scowled at him, then looked at the gargoyles with a frown.

"What are your names?" He asked. The left one rose to his feet, bowing his head respectfully.

"My name is Kilius."

"And I'm Resivus," The right introduced, "And we are the guardians of this chamber."

"Oh." Hannibal paused for the longest time, and another elbow, this time from both Arikos and Menoetius, made him grunt a "cool" under his breath. I smiled lightly at that.

"Hey, we need to get past here," Arikos said to the gargoyles, "We're on official, uh, Xandria business. So, you know. Go back to sleep or something." Kilius scowled.

"You. You have eyes like Atlan." He said, making Arikos stiffen as if he did not particularly like to be reminded of that. Resivus instantly hissed and glared at his partner.

"Don't speak his name!" He snarled. Kilius winced and shied away from his partner. Hannibal frowned.

"He's not here, is he?" He asked. Resivus shook his head.

"But it could attract him. There is power behind names, my King. We speak only those of good faith. The previous king is a banished King and is no longer accepted into Atlantis by the Source itself. Only the true King of Atlantis can enter these chambers," He paused when Hannibal gave him a blank stare, "You, my King." Hannibal grimaced.

"Just call me Hannibal." He answered. Resivus actually blushed at that.

"R-Really?"

"Are you sure," Kilius asked warily,. "Because the banished king told us that once and he almost tore off my wing when I did. I like my wings. They're fun to decorate for the holidays." Resivus gave him a sour glare. Hannibal shook his head.

"I'm not the king of Atlantis. Just call me Hannibal." He said. Kilius made a whine in the back of his throat.

"Why not? I like you."

"Kilius," Resivus snapped, then turned to Hannibal and bowed, "We respect whatever decision you make, my- Uh, Hannibal." Hannibal looked uncomfortable with the attention and just nodded while Arikos cleared his throat and made an opening gesture with his hands.

"Uhm, giant creepy gate, guys." He reminded. Resivus nodded and went to the gate with Kilius at his side. They gripped the bars together in their fists and the gate burst into smoke and vanished before they turned and climbed back on their pedestals.

"Good luck on your," Resivus paused to wrinkle his nose, making his fangs look longer, "Uh, official Xandria business, my k- Hannibal." Hannibal just nodded. A second later, the shattered stone pieces on the ground disappeared and reappeared to encase the gargoyles. Arikos started on ahead and Menoetius grimaced as he stuck near Hannibal, who made his way through the exit.

"That was friggin' weird. Atlanteans are weird." He muttered.

"Tell me about it." Apollo agreed.

"Says the guy from a pantheon who turns people into animals and kidnaps them," Arikos scoffed from ahead of us, "In our pantheon, when we want someone, we go for it. Snatch 'em up, take 'em home, boom. You got yourself a consort. No animal games." I said nothing to that, wishing it had been that easy for me.

Arikos was correct, about most of the other gods. Our pantheon was a little more straight forward in our desires. If a god wanted a human, normally they would bless the human and take them as a consort whenever they wished and the human would be revered.

Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case for my Dexius. He'd slept with a virgin god. It was the ultimate defilement, the ultimate shame and form of hubris. Humans who sullied a god's purity was punished with death, a slow and painful one. It made my heart bleed all over again and I swallowed back the sob that threatened to come forth.

Stop crying, damn it. You're about to see Dexius for the first time since he died.

The thought was both exciting and nerve-wracking. Was he upset about what I'd done to him? Would he ever forgive me? Or was he as excited to see me as I was him? I wasn't sure. I just wanted to see him, and part of me prayed to every deity in existence that he could hold a solid form so that I could take him in my arms and hold him tight.

Oh my god, I need to see him.

A renewed panic to see Dexius drove me forward more quickly as we navigated the tunnels, until we came into a large dome-like chamber. It was incredibly tall with a peaked top that lay open to only the tiniest bit of sunlight that streamed like a laser point to the center of the dungeon.

Cells upon cells lined the walls with iron bars preventing the prisoners from escaping, not that they could considering they wore collars that restricted their powers. Iron steps and catwalks led all the way to the to top cells reserved for more animalistic inmates. Of course, now it was empty.

"Come on," Arikos said, moving across the chamber, "The entrance to Xandria is just down here." We followed him toward a flat stone wall, making Menoetius scowl.

"There's nothing here." He said. Arikos grinned.

"Not yet. Watch and learn, puppy." He said, turning back to the wall. Menoetius wrinkled his nose in a rare display of... oddly adorable displeasure, and I quickly dismissed it to avoid finding another attachment. We watched as Arikos cracked his knuckles and closed his eyes, holding his hands out toward the wall.

"Voska mialoskia tua musla tia dos... dos... dos..."

All seeing eye of the cosmos, open... open... open...

His voice was a slow murmur, hypnotic and his thick Atlantean accent sent a shiver of nostalgia through me. A second later, the wall rippled in front of us as if made of water before the ripples spread out and revealed a streak of light in the wall. Arikos came forward and pushed on it, causing it to open slowly and Hannibal came to help him push it open to reveal a row of flaming lanterns all the way down a winding staircase.

Arikos led the way down and the further down we went, the more noticeably cold it was and I was thankful for the thick stitching on our uniforms. I couldn't imagine Hannibal wandering these tunnels in the nude. It was a miracle he hadn't died of hypothermia, then again, given his curse, it was probably the only thing that kept him alive down here. That and his incredible willpower.

We came to another stone door, but this one opened without a key phrase and it opened up to a corner in the catacombs. A sense of deja vu fell over me as I recognized the skull walls and skeletal torches from my dreams. The cold packed dirt crunching beneath our boots as we filed into the hallway that went left and right. I noticed Arikos staring at one of the torches that was just a skeleton with its head tipped back and a black candle in its jaw with the hot black wax dripping down along its spine and over its ribcage.

"Wow," Arikos said at last, "No wonder Zetnos lives with Lea."

"I think it's more than the landscape." Menoetius said dryly. Hannibal stared at him, as if the idea of thinking of his mother and the god of the underworld made him uncomfortable before he looked around with a sudden frown.

"We really shouldn't be here." He said. I frowned.

"Nothing you say will make me turn back." I said firmly. Hannibal swung around to give me that intense stare of his that I swore was burning my insides up. There was something in those mismatched eyes that told me very strongly disagreed with this plan... but not because of something I knew. I wasn't sure what he was hiding and probably any other time, I would've grilled him on it, but now my mind was set on a single track.

Dexius. Dexius. Dexius.

"I haven't seen Dexius in several thousand years," I said, struggling to keep my voice from shaking with my anger and impatience, "I am not leaving until I see him."

"And what will you do," Hannibal asked, voice montone now, "Take him by the hand and run away together? He's dead, Anexius." His cold words sent a spark of anger rushing through me and I clenched my teeth, taking a step toward him, but Arikos was there to push me back with one hand while the other gave Hannibal a shove that barely budged him.

"Nice tact there, sparky," Arikos told him with a scowl, then turned to me, "Anexius, he does have a point. I get you want to see Dexius, but what can you do? Zelus is dead. Zetnos doesn't have the power to bring someone back. And Atlan... Atlan won't do it, we both know that. Doing this might just hurt you more than it'll help you." I ground my teeth together so hard it was a miracle they didn't crack. I was surprised by the urge I had to smash Arikos's head against Hannibal's.

A sudden wave of malevolence cast over me and my muscles pulled taut, rippling and itching to hit something. A strange hunger for violence, for blood, consumed me and almost suffocated me. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time, like skydiving.

"Enough," Apollo's snarl snapped me out of my glare with Arikos and everyone looked at him surprised as he glared at Arikos and Hannibal, "Is it too much to ask for fucking closure? Obviously you people don't know what it's like to lose someone that was your entire life. You think he can just walk away from that, from thousands of years of pain? Before you open your damn mouths and act like you know what you're talking about, stop and think about what would happen if you lost the person you cared about and someone told you to just walk away." Arikos appeared startled by that and Hannibal frowned slowly as if he were considering it. Menoetius didn't seem to care much because he'd moved away from the group...

In fact, I'd say the Titan was distracted by something that was down the hallway.

"Look," Apollo continued, "I'm just saying to have some common courtesy. Obviously this is a dangerous time to be doing something like this, but we might not get another chance. Anexius knows he can't bring this prince back from the dead, but to at least get some closure would be nice and having you people condemn him for something when he rarely asks for anything is just fucking cruel." Hannibal gave him a sour glare, a silent look that said Hannibal still hadn't let go of the fact that Apollo struck me on occasion, not that it bothered me.

There were times I honestly welcomed Apollo's abuse... No, abuse would signify that I didn't like it. I welcomed it because it was a constant reminder that I'm alive, when I felt dead inside most of my life. It was masochistic and I had accepted that quite a few years into my servitude.

My eyes drifted away from the group again and I froze as I stared at the spot where Menoetius had been standing.

"Where's the Titan?" I demanded instantly. Hannibal hissed and whipped around. He muttered a curse and went to the spot where Menoetius had been standing to scan the surrounding area. Arikos followed him, looking around in confusion.

"Where'd he go? He was right here a second ago, wasn't he?" He asked, turning a full circle before going to the nearest corner that broke off into three other tunnels and he made a noise of distress. Apollo and I approached with a frown, looking up and down, but there was no sign of the Titan, or anywhere he could've been.

"Could he have found some kind of entrance? Like the kind in Scooby Doo where you just lean on it and you fall through a hole into a pile of dirty laundry?" Apollo asked. Hannibal gave him a strange stare before looking away.

Yeah, no one would have suspected the great powerful sun god to be a fan of a cartoon, but Apollo tended to watch them more than anyone I'd ever known and Hades had his fair share of favorite animated films.

"It's possible," Arikos offered, but he still looked wary as he scanned the surrounding areas, "Or... Do you think a ghost might have found him? Or one of those poltergeist things?" Hannibal scanned the walls, moving over to press his hand against one of the skulls, his fingers dipping into the sockets. He gave it a tug, but it remained encased amongst other skulls as if they were held there by cement. He pressed his hand flatly against the skull and looked up at the ceiling, then down at the ground.

We watched Hannibal move up and down the hallway, moving his foot out in front of him to search for trap doors, hands moving against the skulls on the walls, and he even threw his hand up and sent a knife into the ceiling before it held his hand out and caught it after loosening it with a blast of magic.

"Can't we just bust a hole through the wall?" Apollo asked dryly. Hannibal shook his head.

"You'll piss off the spirits. And if a poltergeist did grab Menoetius, we don't want to risk angering the others anymore than we already have." He responded. Apollo scowled.

"What did we do?" He asked.

"We live," I murmured, approaching one of the skulls that was relatively small, making my heart ache as I traced the child's skull, "Death is unfair. Of course they would be angry to have one of the living intrude on their territory." Apollo frowned at that, approaching the wall beside me and touching his hand against one of the cracked skulls.

"But why don't they attack the other gods that live down here?" He asked. I shrugged, backing away from the wall to stare down the hallway that seemed like an eternal dark hell.

"They're gods. Even ghosts can't avoid the gods for long. Besides, Zetnos can easily punish them if they should retaliate." I responded.

"I wanted to ask about that," Apollo said, looking around, "Most ancient hell realms have a placed for the damned, the saved, and the regulars. Hades has Tartarus, Elysium, and the Fields of Asphodel. What do the Atlanteans have?"

"Well," I started, frowning as I came to a corner of the hall and peered down one of the tree extra tunnels, "Xandria technically has three levels. This level is Trikos. The one below this one is Amunka. The final one is called Mialosk. Trikos is the level for the regular souls, the middle one is for the righteous, and the bottom one is for the damned, but sometimes souls get lost and will drift through the different realm. It's Zetnos's job to make sure the souls stay in their appropriate level. Too many damned souls in the other realms could disrupt the balance and because Xandria is filled with raw Source power, it could implode and destroy the entire realm."

"Sounds like you're living on a ticking time bomb." Apollo said uncomfortably.

"Zetnos does his job well enough so that no one worries." Hannibal said, walking past us down the hallway. Apollo arched a brow, folding his arms over his chest.

"You seem to hold an incredible confidence in a god that got captured by the bad guy." He said. Hannibal turned to pin him with a withering glare before he looked back down the hallway. He closed his eyes and I felt a tiny pulsing shock wave that indicated Hannibal was sending his magic out to feel for Menoetius. I frowned.

"How can you do that?" I asked. Hannibal opened his eyes to look at me.

"Do what?" I asked. Arikos smirked.

"Your little magic thing," He answered, then looked at me, "Hannibal's a special case. Zetnos is pretty much his guardian. While the rest of us can't use the feeler magic around Xandria, Hannibal can. His magic pulls from this place."

"It's rare that Zetnos should soften his heart for someone," I said, looking at Hannibal in awe, "You must be really special." Hannibal actually blushed at that and stepped back as if to hide in the shadows, then cleared his throat and turned his back to us.

"I think I sense his power down this tunnel. Stay close, because something else made my magic tingle." He said under his breath. We nodded and drew closer together, moving down the hallway toward the source of Menoetius's power. The air was steadily becoming thicker as we went on, yet it got colder to the point where our breaths came out as clouds and there was a sudden heaviness of dread.

We came out of the tunnel and into a large empty chamber, save for a rickety iron bed frame and Menoetius was tossed across it like a discarded corpse. I tensed as Hannibal broke away from the group and ran to him, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

"Menoetius." Hannibal said gruffly, giving him a hard shove. Menoetius didn't move. Arikos joined Hannibal at his side while Apollo and I gave them space.

"Hey, wake up, big guy." Arikos urged, reaching out to grab Menoetius's shoulder, but this time, Menoetius whipped around and grabbed Arikos, throwing him down on the floor and climbing on top of him to reach for his throat.

"Shit!" Hannibal cursed, moving to grab Menoetius to throw him off, but Menoetius let loose an animalistic snarl that made everyone take a huge step back. Menoetius glared at us, but it wasn't him. I knew the moment those eyes pinned the rest of us with a terrifying glare. Eyes once dark pools of melted chocolate were now smoldering black coals with flecks of orange and red. His fangs elongated and he bared them at us.

Arikos took his chance and landed an uppercut to Menoetius's jaw that sent him skidding across the dirt floor. The creature possessing Menoetius scrambled into a crouching position as Arikos flipped onto his feet, also poised and ready to defend.

"What's going on?" Apollo demanded.

"Poltergeist," Hannibal seethed, "They're the only ones strong enough to take possession of someone."

"But a Titan?" Apollo asked, baffled.

"Technically, he's not a Titan anymore," Arikos said grimly, "He's an artificial. He's not like Cerberus, though. Where the hound is equivalent in strength to a god, Hades refused to give Menoetius a fully functioning body, limiting his gods abilities so he couldn't hurt anyone in case he went rogue." Apollo seemed more baffled by the fact that his uncle could make artificials bodies.

Menoetius snarled and his coal eyes flared a brighter orange as if they were on fire and he threw his hand out, sending a blast of power that tore across the room as a flaming torpedo, but Arikos spun out of the way and Hannibal darted out to catch the attack. I moved back slowly, watching Menoetius advance on Arikos and Hannibal, who ducked and dodged and sent attacks of their own, but Menoetius just sent them blasting into the ceiling, causing it to shudder.

Good thing cave-ins weren't possible in Xandria with the Source holding it together.

Menoetius's stray attacks probably just felt like a gentle spring breeze to the Source.

In the mean time, I backed up until I was at a good angle and held up my hand to concentrate a warm blue energy through my fingers, making it glow faintly. As a god of protection, most of my powers were for healing and, well, protecting, but every ability could be corrupted. My disdora move was meant to pull out poisons and illnesses... possessions should be along that same list.

Menoetius started for Hannibal again and this time, I ran up behind him and slammed my hand into his back. He screamed in agony and threw his head back, back arching as I sent my power pushing through his body. His eyes flashed from black to brown, then back again. He shrieked and stumbled forward, slamming into the ground, writhing in the dirt in pain. I reached down and shoved him onto his back, charging up my disdora again and shoving my hand against his chest, right over the place where the soul resided.

Menoetius screamed and arched his back, squeezing his eyes shut. His nails morphed into long black claws and his teeth sharpened for a moment, then slowly returned to normal. I fished around with my powers until I found the invading poltergeist.

An Atlantean demon called a kiska. They were concentrated monstrosities of evil. Their sole purpose was to corrupt and take advantage of a person's weakness, to use it against them. Of course, they normally preyed on people with a history of mental illness or weak minds. Apparently Menoetius had a very weak mind.

"No," Menoetius moaned, throwing his head back against the dirt, breathing labored as his eyes flashed open to stare up at me in horror, "Stop! Get the fuck off me!" For a split second, I thought I was dealing with the demon, but something about Menoetius's eyes told me it was really him... and he was really terrified.

I leaned away, yanking out the rest of the demon until it was nothing, but a orb of black dimly glowing soul floating in my palm. I stood up and Menoetius scrambled away from me. Hannibal reached for him, but Menoetius hissed at him and shot to his feet, backing away from us and rubbing at his arms frantically. His eyes darted around frantically as if he were looking for something we couldn't see. I frowned at that, then looked down at the soul.

"What was that?" Apollo asked.

"A kiska," I replied, studying the hot pulsing soul in my palm, "They're Atlantean demons of evil. They were created by the dragon master, Minos, when his wife, a nymph, refused to love him. They were created from the blood he drew from her throat as revenge for not loving him."

"And here I thought the Greeks had a fucked up history." Apollo said dryly. I nodded grimly in agreement, then clenched my fist around the soul and a tiny screamed emitted from it before I opened my palm to let dust pour out onto the ground. I looked up to see Hannibal and Menoetius staring at me and Arikos's eyes widening.

"Did you just-"

"Yes," I said emptily, "I destroyed his soul. Now let's find Dexius." I turned away from the group and went for the exit to the next tunnel.

Nothing is going to stop me from getting to Dexius.

Nothing.