Apollo and I stood beside Portia's lifeless form. That ethereal quality she possessed in life seemed even more distinguished in death, surrounded by the brightly coloured flowers and further complimented by the serene look on her face. There was only one way to describe it, to describe both of them, as my eyes drifted to Adala beside her.

They were at peace.

"I tried, I just, it was like they were already gone," Apollo mumbled, his hand nearly crushing mine. "I know how important she was to you. To both of you."

I opened my mouth but the words didn't come out. I wasn't sure what to say; denying it would be a lie, and so far one Cain seemed happier to go along with than I was. Huntington had been important to me. My hand moved to my neck, resting on my collarbone as I imagined the pearls she always used to wear sitting there. The soft floral perfume of the flowers they had been laid upon brought back a memory of her office and the freshly cut blooms that she'd collected from the gardens. She liked red roses, the romance of them, and I'd roll my eyes and tell her she was a walking cliché that belonged in a romance novel which was both amusing and gross to consider since she was so old.

Portia had been important too. Despite her alliance with the Fates, she was always still around whether I wanted her to be or not. She was more guardian angel than the enemy, despite sometimes feeling that way. It was Portia who had tried to protect me as best she could from what was coming, that had been on my side time and time again in ways I never even knew. I saw the woman from the past that handed over Aion's staff, watched me stop Sobek-Ra and helped the Treaty gain its power. She'd been a sister who had watched her people be slaughtered - the creature that made it so I even existed.

I loved her and felt the ache and hollowness that now existed inside as my body and heart processed her loss. My brain forced me to stay logical, to avoid feeling that which was demanding I shut down and break now - I had enough. There was only so much it could handle, and I'd finally reached that point.

It was to be.

This had to happen.

Why?

Kara joined us, and Apollo let go of my hand. I looked down as the cool air of the room took over the warmth and connection he'd provided seconds ago while the ache of being alone crashed into me entirely as he stepped away no longer there to block it out.

"Has she said anything?" Kara whispered only it was so quiet her voice seemed to reach every corner of the room.

"No." Apollo sighed. "Are they coming here or are they expecting us to get her out?"

"I don't know. I think they want her to stay, Hades says it's safe and until Deimos and Cain are satisfied Themis didn't program anything else into Zane they're not eager to argue about it either. Circe and I have been with Hermes trying to find a way to contact Hecate, and he's also trying to find out what this now means for the Furies and Nieve."

"Just because it's safe doesn't mean it's a good idea. I can feel the dead around us, this isn't a place for the living."

Kara hums her agreement before taking the place where Apollo had been; an arm goes over my shoulders before she hugs me tightly against her. She takes a few deep, shaky breaths and lets me go before wrapping her arm through mine.

"I don't know why these things happen, but I trust there is a reason. There will be so I guess, just trust it." She sighs as I turn away from her. "I want to tell you it's going to be okay, but I can't. This sucks, we're still no closer to working out a way to end this and whatever this means for Nieve, it might all be over before it even begins now."

"Kara!" Apollo huffs, silencing Kara who just looks as tired as I feel.

"Worst pep-talk ever, Queenie," I mumble.

"Ah. she can speak." Kara smiles but I see the sadness it fails to hide. "How are you? Sorry, I know how you are, but you're usually easier to read and I'm not really getting anything from you. What's on your mind?"

She instantly cringes as she asks, and I'm not sure if she is expecting me to answer. Besides, what would I say?

Death.

Attempting to process another loss.

Giving up.

Hiding.

Facing Nieve to speed up the inevitable showdown that's coming.

"Where is Zane?"

"With Hades and the others. Things are complicated."

"And where are they?"

"In our prison, but not as a prisoner," She hesitates. "Technically it's where he belongs. He did kill two of the Fates, and well, with everyone on edge, it's safer this way."

"For who?" I wonder, a new wave of anxiety hit me at the prospect of what this actually meant for Zane before I remembered something else. "What had Hades so rattled before?"

Kara and Apollo shared a look, and with a shrug, Apollo took over. "It's more a gift, he doesn't have powers like us which is what we suspected. Hades is sure of it too, as so far it seems like Zane has no control and what he can do only springs up in a matter of life or death."

I freeze, finally feeling something else as new anger takes over. "Hades pushed him that far?"

"Zane swears it was all his idea and the idea was to push him to his limits," Apollo quickly defended. "From what we tied, Zane,"

"We?"

"I've been around in case anything bad happened and also gave it a go earlier." He swallows nervously. "Zane can block our Powers. He can't control it or make the power his own, doesn't even know it's happening, and it only seems to kick in as a life insurance policy when he's down to his final moments. I don't blame Hades for getting spooked, we end up powerless and he seems to take energy from us to restore his which is almost instant and could be long enough to prove fatal."

"Wait, you did it too?" Kara frowns.

"Zane asked, I obliged. It was simply to test it out some more. He's fine, that power swap completely regenerates him, and well, lucky for us he isn't about to end our lives until whatever it is he does wears off. I was three minutes, Hades was barely one. Cain too. Hermes took just over five. I checked us all over, we didn't need healing and during that time, I couldn't do anything for them either. They just felt mortal."

"No, fucking, way." Grabbing my arm with way too much enthusiasm as she gasped, Kara seemed thrilled with this news. "This is it then, this is how we win!"

"That's the general feeling at the moment, but he's also an extremely unpredictable ally right now. What if something else triggers an order from Themis? He even said he had no control over himself, he was aware and conscious but his actions weren't his own."

"This brings balance. Nieve gets powered up, and Zane can undo it. Fairs fair."

I felt dizzy and held onto the stone platform the bodies rested on. The earlier nostalgia from the floral perfume was gone as it turned toxic. Trying to suck in enough air was impossible as it now felt thick and heavy in the tiny space. I felt it surround me with the intent to suffocate.

"Bunny?" Apollo asks softly, suddenly closer as it was his larger, firm hand on my back; the other now covering one of mine as he tried to make me turn around.

My heart thumped loudly in my head, throughout my whole body as I now clung to Apollo's hand to keep some sense of balance and the room began to shake to the frantic rhythm of my heartbeat.

I can't breathe.

"You can breathe, Bunny. You're safe here. Just take it slow. Like this, okay?" He guides, and the whooshing sound of him breathing out hit my ears. I felt the cooler air brush against my hair. "Come on, your turn. One."

I manage to choke on my breath, reaching for my neck to make sure nothing had decided to tie around it even though I knew there wouldn't be. Apollo continued to talk, soft, calming words that I fought to focus on until I realised I was now sitting, awkwardly hunched over and slowly I became able to do as he instructed.

"Water?" Apollo offered.

I shook my head and looking around realised Kara had gone. "Thanks."

"You good?"

"Great." I groaned, dropping my head back against the chair as I took a few more of those slow breaths he'd been going on about a second ago. "Really in that, ready to save the world as we know it headspace. Obviously."

"Not avoiding any triggers here, but with Zane, how he is, you could sit this one out Bunny?" He asked cautiously.

"How he is, what does that actually change?"

"Elle?" Cain appeared, nearly knocking Apollo away. "Are you okay, do we need to see Doctor-"

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" That rage I'd felt a second earlier returned and with its friends at the sight of him.

"What?"

Kara rejoined the party, looking guilty and taking in the three of us, instantly frowning. "She's okay?"

"Just a panic attack." Apollo sighed.

"Oh." Kara hid her hands behind her back, looking anywhere other than me.

Standing, I poked Cain in the chest - hard. "You actually nearly killed Zane?"

Concern switched to guilt. "Hades did it first and it's not like I would-"

"I'm going to kill him." I decide, which seems like the most logical next step out of everything.

Hades is easy to find. He's at the prison and Zane is there too just as Kara had said. The pair were simply sitting outside on the limestone wall that drops down to nothingness and as far as creepy otherworld prisons go, this one ticks all the boxes. They each have a beer in hand, chatting away like old friends out there as if they didn't have a single care in the world. It's not like one of them had just killed two powerful beings not even forty-eight hours ago or had been so close to death he had to use the other's powers to regenerate himself.

Repeatedly from what I had just heard.

Hades is thrown backwards, the bottle spilling beer and foam in a perfect arch as he loses his grip on it in the process and leaving him hovering over the endless drop, upside down, the words he uses are not as friendly as he appeared seconds ago.

"Elise? What the hell are you doing?" Zane protests, jumping up as if he plans on stopping me.

In seconds he is mute, my powers are barely as tight around him as they are Hades since he can't fight back like this. Hades can, and he does. As Cain appears, I can feel the sweat running down my back, and the dampness on my forehead as my hair sticks to it yet I don't drop my focus. I had the element of surprise, and I wasn't about to lose it. I stood by the wall, looking down at Hades who was so close to breaking free that it only made me that much more determined even as Cain appeared behind me.

"What would have happened if this, ability, didn't kick in? What if he died?" I screamed down at him.

"I told him to keep going!" Zane grunted out.

"Elise," Cain called a little too calmly for my liking. "Bring him up."

Not a chance.

"Like I told him to keep going when I thought we were just training and I was getting help from a friend when in reality he was only testing me? Did he fucking pass, Hades, or was it not an accident this got discovered? Another mistake you decided to get rid off?"

"He can't answer you like this." Apollo pointed out, "I would have helped Zane. I was ready to heal him if necessary. I know it's hard Elise, but he's okay. This gift is-"

"Is what?" I break my concentration for a second and it's all Hades needed. I barely keep him back, as he manages to get himself upright and is standing on the edge of the wall glaring down at me.

"It's powerful." Zane answers.

I return the look Hades is giving me, noticing the slight wobble as I am determined to send him flying into the abyss.

"You're being slightly irrational. If you take a second to think about it," Apollo isn't helping, and soon enough he finds himself as trapped as Zane.

"I don't need it from you right now," I snap at him.

"He came here for this. If you wanted him left out of it, you should have kept him in your realm." Hades' jaw is clenched, the words barely audible.

"I wanted to! None of this was my idea, this wasn't what I wanted!" I screamed back. "It's never about what I want. It never fucking has been and I try, I try to keep everyone safe. All I want is my family away from this, and now look at what has happened! Zanes is as cursed as I am now, Portia is dead and the Furies got what they wanted. I can't protect or save anyone, god or fucking mortal, no matter what I do, they get hurt. They die or they leave. They become another goodbye I didn't want."

I stopped fighting Hades.

I let Zane go.

Everyone is silent.

"For the record, I was only joking when I first suggested killing him." Hermes unhelpfully broke the silence.

"Sunshine, this isn't your fault, this isn't a curse and you don't need to protect me. If anything we just discovered I'm pretty unbeatable. I'm not mortal anymore." Zane slowly says, cautiously stepping towards me. I catch Apollo nodding, Hermes too.

"You are?" Zane nods along with them, missing my sarcasm so I take it up a notch. "Really?"

"I can't be killed by Powers. Whatever they throw at me." He boasts.

Fucking. Idiot.

"His reflexes have improved. Speed. Strength. Stamina." Hades mentions moving a safe distance from the edge but not too close to Zane.

Bigger fucking idiot.

"Yeah? You think you're pretty invincible now then, that I have nothing to worry about?" I ask.

"Yeah." Zane answers, daring to smile. "I'm power proof."

Hermes snorts with amusement, and with one look at all of them, I can feel the tension simmering between each of us. No one knows what to say to make this okay, but I know they want me to agree with them. They want my approval for this. Looking at Kara, I know where her mind is already at; she's coming up with a strategy on how to best use him and this power-proof gift we now have. I hear them telling me I don't need to worry, to calm down. They promise it's going to be okay.

A round of nervous laughter.

I glance at Cain who is standing patiently by Kara. I expect to see him agreeing with the rest, taking Hades' side. I wait to hear him defend the decision he and Zane made in our living room only days ago despite it feeling like lifetimes, only nothing comes. Our eyes meet and I feel nothing other than his agreement - with me.

Portia was important to him too.

I was once prepared to sell him, my soul, and give up my own life to save Zane's. He would have destroyed the infamous God Killer once and for all without having to do a single thing because of the former mortal standing between us. He took a huge risk, just like me to keep him alive.

Zane is important to us.

"I get it," I smile, causing everyone to go quiet again. "Must be these darn pregnancy hormones kicking in."

Apollo opens his mouth to say something but shuts it, looking more uncomfortable than anyone else and shifts slightly towards Cain. He looks worried, nervous. He should be.

"No, you care about your friend." Kara looked at me with more sympathy than my stomach was willing to handle right now. "Hecate even told you, he'd have to be pushed to his limits."

Move over Scar, you're not the only one surrounded by idiots.

"She did. I mean, everything she's said has just been so helpful and got us this far," I slowly nod. "So you guys really threw at him all you had hey? No powers too big, no powers too bad for Zane to freeze and take them all before you know, eternal sleep for the old man?"

"Yes," Hermes said slowly. "Can we move on from this now? Nieve is unstable with her newly acquired power. Before she gets a grip on them-"

Cain barely even moves when everyone is thrown back. Powers that Zane is clearly capable of surviving when pushed to a near-death limit pick him up and slam him onto the ground with a sickening thud. He groans in pain, barely moving for a second before attempting to get up. That would have hurt, but not enough to kill him.

"Sorry, did you need a warning to get that newfound strength, speed and what was it, stamina fired up? Should we get you a t-shirt that says no surprise attacks, k thanks bye?" I taunted, circling around him. "Thing is, not every power attack will be one to the death, and they won't be with your friends, training, with magic hands over there ready to step in and make your owies go away."

"I know." Zane grunts, getting up.

I'm tempted to kick him back down, but let him stand and take in everyone currently blocked out from reaching us. I glance at Cain, who looks bored more than anything as Apollo yells at him. Hades watches, Kara and Hermes do too but they look more worried and less assessing that the Underworld King. How's this for a fucking test, Hades?

"What are you doing, Elise?"

"Seeing exactly what those limits are for myself, Zane."

"I'm not fighting you." His eyes move to my bump and I roll my eyes.

"Because of this?" I point at my stomach. "Oh don't even worry about it. I'm not. Get your sword."

On command, it appears in his hand. "Elise."

"Zane." I raise my sword, preparing myself. "If you hold back, I will know and I will hurt you for it. Ladies first."

"Funny." He sighs. "You really want to do this?"

"I like to prove points in the hardest way possible. Come on Zane, I'll even let you go first."

So he does. Sword raised, he brings it down like he's expecting to chop wood and shaking my head, he meets only the resistance of my powers as I shield myself.

"Do you want it to hurt Zane? I didn't realise you were such a masochist."

My blade finds his and the first few attacks quickly wake him up after I gladly slice his bicep and his leg as he doesn't fight me properly. Now he's trying and getting his head into this game, I change the rules and let my powers work for me. Not once does he even come close to reaching me, and as I slam him back down for the fourth time, he's starting to get pissed off.

"What are you even doing?" He grunts, getting back to his feet.

"I told you, proving a point. Hades was right, you are like a more enhanced version of yourself. If I wasn't fucking with you, or you know, powerless, you could very well be kicking my ass right about now."

"Good to know. Point proven?"

"No, did you miss the part where I am just fucking with you?"

"Can you get to the point then? It's already been a long day."

"Fine."

In seconds he's bound, my powers tightening around his hand to the point where he has no choice other than to drop his sword. Weaponless, immobile, I stand behind him and drop one arm over his shoulder to pull him down and back closer towards me, while raising Apollo's dagger to his throat.

"None of them can help you, Hades would be the one you'd want to bet on but I've never seen him and Cain really go at it to know if that was even going to be of any benefit." I give a little wave in Hades direction which only makes him roll his eyes. "Powers have a terrible habit of also only doing what's best for them. Do you think he cares enough to even attempt to save you?"

"What are you doing?" I felt it then, as the first little pinch of the blade against his skin was felt; fear.

"Did you know gold is deadly to us? The worst yet best-kept secret when you think about it. If you're cut with it, die from it, get tiny little flakes flowing around your body, not even Apollo can save you." I move around his side, inspecting the cut on his bicep that still bled freely. "Hm, looks like this little allergy might extend to you as well or maybe the cut wasn't deadly enough for this amazing talent of yours to kick in?"

Zane doesn't answer. His resistance against my powers grows, but he is not in any position to even think he is able to break free of the hold I have on him. In seconds I have him on his knees, the dagger back at his throat as I tilt his head back to expose the area clearly.

"Still feel invincible or should we really test this theory?"

"You've proven your point." Zane grinds out, a mixture of fear and anger pouring off him.

"Not all will use powers to destroy you, some will use both, and they don't hesitate. If I were anyone else, any of our enemies, you'd already be dead. Whatever experiment has been going on only shows how big your ego has gotten. I know it's exciting that you have this ability, but be smart, be Zane about it." I let him go and reach out to take control of the chaos that was going on outside of this bubble.

The second I feel Cain's power against mine, everything else comes back into focus and forcing each of them to be silent as it happens I make sure they all hear me too.

"You are not invincible, none of us are." I turn towards Cain, yet I'm being stopped as Zane grabs my arm and on instinct, we both look down to see Reece's name looking back at us. "Please don't make me wear your name. I've lost so many already."

"I'm sorry. I understand, I really do and I got caught up with everything going on." He admitted. "I can't explain or fix what happened with Portia and Adala, and I really am sorry. I want to believe that whatever gods there are beyond all of this, really are on our side and this is all happening for a greater reason."

"They're never on our side, only their own and sometimes our paths cross. That's all."

"And so the Empress has spoken." Hermes muttered, rocking slightly as he looked the most uncomfortable now.

Apollo shook his head. "Themis did this for a reason, Elise."

"I don't care."

"Of course she doesn't." Grabbing Apollo's arm, Hermes leans up to whisper something in his ear that Apollo clearly doesn't like as he pulls away. "It's been a big day, how about we end it here before anyone says or does something they may regret later."

The pair disappear.

"We should go too, Circe had requested some of your time earlier. She's been in the library so may have found something I missed." Deimos looked at Kara who, like Apollo, clearly had a lot more to say than what was currently being said. The look on her face told me this wasn't over. "Kara, should we go?"

"If it's anything useful, I'll come find you otherwise dinner tonight." Kara waited for me to agree, and I wasn't planning on it.

"Dinner then." Cain answered for me.

No one moved once they left, not right away anyway. Hades did so first, bravely choosing to sit on the wall that I nearly threw him off and Cain moved to join him, either to try and prevent it from happening again or because he figured the worst of this was over.

"That tantrum aside, if we plan this right, he is an asset." Hades carried on.

"I agree, but as I said before Kara came, this all ends now." Cain decided, right as Zane disappeared. "He stays out of this until the right time."

"And you get to make those decisions, since your last big one worked out so well?" Hades raised his eyebrows slightly as I glared at Cain, lingering on the edge of another tantrum. I'd be sure to stomp my feet this time. "Where is he?"

Cain hesitated, looking around as I shivered. "He's safe."

The feeling that we weren't alone hit and my stomach sunk. Cain and Hades shared a look before all seemed to gravitate closer together. I was not in the mood for any of this, and they chose the wrong time to interrupt us. Closing my eyes I felt out around and picked up nothing, yet the feeling of being watched only grew more intense.

How long had they even been watching for? Almost instantly I thought of Ullr, remembering how he'd watched us for days completely undetected and thinking that could have happened again sent a cold trickling of fear down my spine.

"Are you sure he's safe?" I whisper, wondering what exactly this watcher may have seen.

"Promise."

"It's not Nieve." I was sure of it.

Hades nodded. "No, it's not. She'd be giving off a lot more power than this."

"Go get Kara." Cain ordered, looking surprised when I just stood there glaring at him. "Please? Not my kingdom anymore, remember? She might even already know."

"He has a point. Don't let her get her crown all twisted." Hades taunted. "Again."

Both looked way too amused by this. "Assholes."

Kara is exactly where she said she would be, which made me thankful that library and research had no other meanings like it did while I was at the Academy. Circe smiles, perking up as she spots me and Deimos stops talking about a portal as he notices me too. Kara stands up, one hand on her hip as she slaps the other one onto her forehead.

"You did it, didn't you. You threw Hades over the edge? No, Cain, both?"

Circe laughs. "What have I missed?"

"No. Not yet anyway."

"Really?" Kara shakes her head at Circe who looks ready to jump into that conversation. "Zane?"

"Hidden away. Safe."

"Huh. Not how I saw any of that going." She sat back down.

"Good news though, looks like I'm your intruder alert system if you haven't already been given a heads up." Kara is standing again in an instant. "Cain and Hades are onto it. I think? It's not Nieve, and I'm like ninety nine point nine percent sure it isn't' the Furies, so whatever."

"Elise!" She groaned.

"What? I told you! I could have just sat back and down and let them deal with it."

Kara disappears and Deimos does too.

"Are we rushing off with them?" Circe asks.

"Why bother?"

"Has to be better than this."

"Doubt it. What was your big discovery?" I move around the table, seeing what looks to be a map laid out where Kara had been. Three large circles all overlap each other yet are clearly different worlds based on the images and icons on them. "Badly drawn Disneyland?"

"It's evidence of the cross roads' existence. The first map outlining its whereabouts."

"Where the sky, earth and sea meet." Now each circle made more sense. "So, we can go back without a key and you know, new moon, astrology stuff?"

"Possibly. I found the map. You don't expect me to decipher it, do you?"

"Not a hidden talent of yours then?"

"I have many of those, don't you worry, but alas, this is not one of them."

"Where did you find it?" Maybe there was something else that would do it for us.

"Your little Guardian friend found a couple of things when he unearthed Themis's book." Circe pointed at it in the middle of the table. "Not sure how I got put on full time library duty. Apparently going through all these things is now up to me when I only even came by to flirt with the mortal."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that part," She smiles back at me, sitting back in the chair looking rather pleased with herself. "You know Hecate, you spent time with her. The way she has been working on all of this is nearly as much as the Fates had been, is there anything at all you can think of that might help us? Help me?"

"I'm sorry Elise, I am. It was a long time ago." Circe sighed, looking at the map. "Deimos raised the question of Hermes and that other little time traveller being able to portal there. Could be worth something?"

"Maybe." We weren't getting any closer to anything, except a battle I had no idea we would survive. "Wanna come with me to see what's going on with the crew?"

"Of course." We end up finding everyone in a different part of the prison. We're inside, it smells like urine and in about ten seconds I'm holding onto Circe's arm in an effort to stay standing and not throw up. "I take it back. The library is more appealing than whatever this is."

I manage to gain some level of clarity and see a very pissed-off Kara in front of a mammoth creature. Well, something big and hairy with horns.

"What is that?"

"Where's the Guardian?" Circe asks instead, looking around for Zane.

The creature turns around at our voices and I'm positive I'm looking at a different version of Thor; the beard is unmissable, yet everything else is just disproportionate in size. Did they do a Frankenstein monster edition on him or something with a yeti and an elephant?

Maybe he had a twin?

I leave Circe and find Cain, who seems relatively calm beside Hades. "Please tell me that's not Thor?"

"It's not Thor." Hades answers simply.

"Oh."

"Son of Thor, Módi." Cain gives me a little more to go by but already I don't care enough to ask anything else. "Out to avenge his sires death at the suggestion of three women who sound a lot like the Furies. It took him weeks to gather the courage to go through with it and well, now he's Kara's problem."

"So much for being peaceful and not being associated with the lesser powers we've been coming across recently." I watch as Kara slaps on those golden cuffs and after talking quietly to Deimos and one of the guards here, the son of Thor is led away. "Are we placing bets if more will come?"

"Furies or not, more will. Kara's not yet had a true challenge for the throne." Cain points out. "Most are too distracted at the moment or will wait for her to overcome this threat for them."

"Or maybe you already killed off all the ones who would have tried." Hades smirks.

"Well this was a disappointment." Circe pouts as she joins us. "I guess I'll be in the library, reading or whatever helps pass some time?"

The look she gives Hades makes me look away so I don't laugh while he only stands a little taller.

"Enjoy." He gives her nothing.

She winks at him, not bothered. "You know I will."

How she manages to make it sound like such a dirty promise manages to even turn me on, so how he just brushes it off is beyond me.

"If I wasn't already knocked up, pretty sure that would have done the trick."

Hades looks at me like I have just grown another head while Cain shakes his. It doesn't last though, as the second she leaves, something changes in the air and it's not just the growing smell of decay as the door out of here opens for the guards to take Módi away. Kara pauses as we all do, not quite sure what's about to happen until it does.

Módi chose then, with his powers bound, to start a fight or try again. Maybe it took him this long to realise what was happening or the smell got to him too. The guards were easily knocked away, cuffs or not his arms were strong and he knew it. The chain snapped easily, giving him free movement and stupidly, he then turned to us with bared teeth.

"Clearly he inherited his fathers brains." I pointed out.

"He shouldn't have been able to snap those." I heard Deimos tell Kara, who instantly sent a nice big plume of his darkness towards the man-hulk.

Deimos's great observation only improved as the cuffs were ripped away as if they were more of a decorative bracelet. Glancing up, lightning ran across the roof and the roar of a scream he released gave me goosebumps. I didn't need to see him to know how angry and worked up he was getting by Deimos giving him a great big serve of his mind games; only whatever Deimos did didn't seem to be enough as Módi soon emerged looking even more feral and slightly Berserkery.

"Deimos!" I screamed, realising his eyes were closed as he concentrated on the attack yet as I reached out something blocked my own powers from reaching this moron.

He barely moved in time as one of those oversized fists sliced through the air towards him, but the follow up didn't miss and he was knocked away with a brutal thud.

"I know your tricks." Módi growled, sizing up Kara who instantly held her sword ready as she faced him. "You will not stop me. You will die little Queen."

Cain moved first and I grabbed his arm. "Let her do this."

"Crown. Knot." Hades added unhelpfully.

"Go help Deimos." I shoved him in that direction instead, keenly following Kara's movements as she took on this oversized gorilla with practised ease.

She took on three of the Fury at once; she had this.

Kara didn't hold back, but I wasn't sure if this was going to be a fair fight for long as one thing became very clear. Looking up at Hades, he was clearly thinking what I was.

"He's blocking our powers."

"Wonder if anyone else has been going around handing out gifts?" It's then that rams the hilt of her sword into the side of his face; his hand is on the blade and he lets go as he stumbles to the side. Módi spits something out of his mouth, the blood making me instantly heave as the smell down there gets too much. "Was that teeth?"

My stomach wins and spinning around I'm heaving up what little that was in my stomach.

"Elise?" Cain called cautiously.

"I'm fine." I got out, giving him a thumbs up before coughing and gagging all over again. "Blueberry, we gotta work this out."

Taking your kid to war day was going to prove pointless if this was how I handled blood now. Then again, I'd managed when Zane stabbed the Fates; the memory now setting me off once more.

The gust of fresh air that comes by is exactly what I needed as I'm back outside and now heaving up over the edge of the wall into the nothingness below. My head spins and I lean back, taking in a few deep, clear breaths while cursing every second of this new hell. Finally feeling back in control, it's Hades that passes me a cup of water which I carefully sip.

"Thanks, but we should go back in and-" Hades shakes his head.

"Really?"

"Really!" To prove a point he holds up his palm and a small knife, slicing his palm that has me half spitting, half vomiting up the water. "Fine. Guess we're all making points today."

The moment of serenity passes as another roar reaches us and turning around, the creature smashes through the door and outwards us.

"You." He points at me.

"Oh, hey. Sorry, I don't do blood very well right now. Wasn't skipping on watching you get your ass beat or anything." This further enrages him as he slams his fists back into the wall behind him making the whole building tremble. "Wait, how are you here?"

Módi takes three big steps towards us and I put down the water.

"Careful." Hades warns.

"How immune to powers is he really?" I wonder, growing anxious over the state of Kara, Cain and Deimos now.

"Let's not find out the hard way, so if this doesn't work, promise you'll leave. Go to Apollo and get out of here until we find you."

"But-" Hades holds up his now healed palm, and I roll my eyes. "Fine."

I stay back as he circles around Módi, who only smiles red. "King of the Underworld."

"I get a, you, but he gets King of the Underworld." I mumble, making his attention snap back to me.

"I know who you are, Empress. With this, you will fall like all the rest." He pats his stomach, but as he turns to look back at Hades, something glistens on his chest. "Your friends go first."

Yup, I had it right earlier. Surrounded by idiots and catching Hades' eye, he nods. He saw it too.

"Why? Shouldn't I go first? I mean, isn't it like etiquette or something. Empress before Queen. Definitely before King."

"Not in the condition you're in. I'll take my time with you." He snarled.

Delightful.

"Pretty sure your Dad said something like that too. Imagine if he had succeeded, I know it's hard to do, but humour me. You'd be calling me Step-Mum by now." I get his attention once again. "Funny to think he thought he actually stood a chance at beating us, beating me. I can still hear him begging for his life, helps me sleep at night."

I saw it then, a small glass bottle tied around his neck or possibly to his beard - it was hard to tell. We didn't need to fight him, not really; just do enough to get that off him. It rolled back and forth across his shirt, and throwing off his fur coat, he appeared to grow even bigger as he really got his Hulk on.

"We could have been family." I glance at Hades, who gives a little nod before disappearing so it's just me and the big guy out here. I distract, he grabs. Simple. "Super dysfunctional but then again aren't they all. I could try poisoning you all every holiday and special event, which wouldn't have been hard since my cooking is terrible. That's beside the point."

"You think you are stalling me?" His laugh was deep and chesty, rolling into a cough as he ended it. "I'm going to break every bone in your body."

"If I had a dollar!" I stepped back, faking my fear which seemed to make him smile as we circled each other slowly waiting for the first move to be made. "I'm not stalling. How about we make it a challenge, see who can do it first? A good old fashioned bone breaking palooza."

"Keep talking, it amuses me you think you can stop me this way." He wipes his nose with the back of his hand, coughing and spitting in my direction. "You could not stop my sire. You do not scare me, and you, Empress, are nothing without your powers. You are young, weak, more so now you are burdened with another's young. I will gut you before-"

"Now you're just pissing me off there, oh mighty son of a very dead god."

Módi hesitates, reaching his limit of small talk before charging forward and just when I'm about to doubt Hades and I were on the same wavelength afterall, he appears between us.

He isn't alone.

The earth opens and a small army emerges. The first few are trampled, barely stopping Módi in his charge until Hades shouts something I don't quite hear over the dead's moaning and Cain is suddenly grabbing hold of Módi's left arm with a large golden chain while Hades does the same thing to the right. Kara replaces the space that Hades stood in, and she doesn't just cut the cord of the bottle but makes a nice big slice in the middle of Módi's chest.

Hades and I were not on the same page at all, but you know - this works too and I'm all for team work.

Everything goes still and calm as the guys release their hold on the giant and Kara removes her sword. Picking up the fallen bottle, she stomps it under her boot and my powers connect to Módi instantly. I start with his toes; he screams as best he can, but Karas work is making that a little too hard for him to manage easily. I go higher, looking into his eyes as I feel his knees crumble, and the roar of pure agony is something else as I reach his hips.

I stand over him, yet he can't focus on me, on anything, and as I make it up his spine, each one splintering at my order, I don't think he's even alive to feel it anymore.

"Elle," Cain says softly as if I'm fragile and about to break.

My eyes leave Módi's blank face, the life gone from his eyes as the reality sinks in and it takes barely seconds until I'm back throwing up nothing into the air below.

"Who would make something like that?" Kara questions behind me.

"Someone powerful." Hades tells her. "I don't even think the Furies could manage this."

"Uranus." I suck in a big breath. "What about him?"

"Who would put a spell into a trinket to wear? Seems more like a witch thing than power."

"Hecate?" We all stop to look at Hades. "What? She's a powerful witch."

"She's a lot of things, but I doubt she'd do this. What is there to gain from this?" Kara snapped.

"Maybe Zane was supposed to be here? She might think she was helping."

Zane.

Shit.

I look at Cain and we leave everyone behind. Fresh air is replaced by flowers and death. Zane is sitting against the wall in the corner and quickly gets to his feet as we arrive. He looks pale, guilty, and my earlier frustrations return as I spin away from Cain.

"You sent him here?"

"It's safe and I figured no one would even think to look for him with the dead." And I instantly understood. It was a punishment; guess they wouldn't be sitting back having beers and a good old chat about it anytime soon. "Hades will be sending them on anyway, and it won't be permanent. He can go back to the mountains, Hades and I will put up some new wards."

Speak of the devil. "We will?"

"This is so fucked up." Zane groaned, rubbing his face yet his eyes never left the former Fates. "I didn't. I never, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry and I know that's not enough."

"We know and I'm glad you're okay. I'm sorry for you being left here." I stand by him, resting my hand on his arm as Cain turns his back on us and moves to stand at the end of the table. "We just dropped in to deal with and we think it might have been intended for you."

"It's been long enough and an even longer day. Let's get this over with since we're all here anyway. Have you both had your time to say goodbye?" Hades looks at the three of us and I realise what he meant.

"Now? Really?" He shrugs.

Was there ever enough time?

I nod, taking Cain's hand as he offers it to me. He kisses my knuckles and I let him pull me closer, slipping under his arm as I turn to look back at Hades and Cain remains like a statue beside us.

"Once this is over, I'm taking you home. Hades will watch Zane." Cain whispers.

Hades is doing something, and I shiver, while Zane moves closer to us as the spirits around us become even more active, not so keen to hide themselves as they had been earlier. Various shapes and symbols appear around the bodies, on the walls and like Deimos, a darkness starts to spread towards them that comes from Hades.

"Can I have a bath?"

"Whatever you want." He promises.

Hades stops, looking confused before he puts his hand on Adala's stomach, then Portia's. Cain slowly lets me go, heading towards Hades as the room settles back into the nothing it had been when we arrived.

"What's wrong?"

I'm not sure I want to even know as Hades looks up at us. I've never seen him look scared before, or this open with any kind of emotion which is terrifying in itself.

"They're not dead."