Chapter Eleven

The room Niki gave Dorean and I was huge.

The ceilings were tall and flat, black and gold drapes falling down the walls and old paintings hung up in between. A large arched door led to the bathroom, and the bed was big enough to fit at least ten people in it, a large flat screen television in one corner with a leather sofa and matching armchairs. The place looked more like a Hilton hotel suite than a guest room, but I didn't complain.

Dorean had showered and I had summoned some pajamas for him to change into. Meanwhile, I sat draped on the leather sofa, trying to focus on the news cast that was discussing the obscene weather changes in the mortal realm, probably brought on by my pantheon returning. The winters were lasting longer and were far more frigid than they had been, no doubt brought on by my uncle and father's rage over my betrayal, something that stuck deep in my craw.

Even now, knowing what my father was, what he'd done to that demon and to others, I still felt that insane need to run back to my father and apologize.

"You're too nice," Callias had once told me, all those years ago when he'd drop by to visit my temple, "One day, Xenon, someone is going to use that against you." It'd been one last ominous piece of wisdom he'd given to me before our pantheon was imprisoned.

And now, I knew who had been right all this time.

And all this time, I had cursed him and his very existence.

I clenched my teeth in pain, turning my head to press my knuckles against my forehead, frustrated to the core of my soul. I knew I owed Callias more than an apology, one that he'd probably throw back in my face after strangling me. But I couldn't bring myself to go with the intention to apologize. I didn't want to apologize. I didn't want to admit that he'd been right all this time, that our family truly had been insane with power.

No wonder the Source so readily agreed to Callias's bargain. The Source, the very universe itself, knew that the Atlanteans were nothing, but power-hungry bastards. It made my stomach churn.

I knew I had to go back and see Callias, to tell him everything that happened. To tell him what our family had done, what Hades was doing to help us, and Lea, and Zetnos maybe? Had Zetnos betrayed me too?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized probably not. The loathing for Atlan and Xanius in Zetnos's eyes was passionate. It reminded me of the way I used to look at Callias.

"Kitty, did you hear me?" I blinked, snapping out of my mental tirade to tilt my head up to see Dorean standing beside me, a plush towel resting on his damp head that was cocked in questioning.

"Sorry, what?" I asked. Dorean's expression melted and he leaned over the back of the sofa to put his arms around my neck, pressing his cheek to my head. His gesture comforted me and I leaned my head back against his chest as he stroked my hair.

"It doesn't matter," He told me softly, "It's okay. Do you want to talk?" I shrugged lightly, closing my eyes and savoring his very presence beside me. If my family had returned long ago, before I met Dorean, I was sure that I would have fallen for my family's trap and even killed Hades and his sons just because my father suggested it. Without Dorean, I felt as if I'd be returned to the mindless lackey I had been. I swallowed at that.

"Dorean, I don't know what I'd do without you." I managed. Dorean smiled gently and kissed the top of my head. He came around to the other side of the sofa and sat beside me. He let me lean against him, resting my head against his shoulder as he cradled me close. I normally hated falling apart like this in front of people, but Dorean was the only one I could trust enough.

"I'm such an idiot," I seethed, making Dorean tense in concern at my uncharacteristic self-loathing, "Callias had told me they were like this, so many times that I lost count. Hell, I had the balls to defend his lover's murderers to him, Dorean. Had the situation been reversed, I would've killed him for the mere thought of it. And somehow, he just managed to restrain himself, mostly."

"You didn't know," Dorean told me softly, "You wanted to believe they were good people. That's not your fault."

"I was stupid," I reiterated angrily, "I shouldn't have been so naive, so blind. If I had done something about it before, we wouldn't be in this situation. If I had just listened to him the first time he told me about this, he'd still have Dexius, Atlantis would still be alive today." Dorean tsked at me and took my face in his hands, giving me a stern glare.

"Stop it," He commanded, "Don't take all the blame on yourself. All of this happened for a reason, Xenon. I know you hate hearing it, but that is what I believe. All of the stuff that happened to me, happened for a reason too. It taught me to value what I have right here, right now, and that is you. If you want to fix the mistakes your family made, you have to focus on that. I know it hurts. And you want to cry, and that is okay too. Cry if it makes you feel better. And when you're done, focus on what you can do to make things right." I swallowed at his words and just dropped my head. Dorean sighed and pulled me against him.

We sat together for a couple hours in absolute silence, the sound of the television fading out as I focused on Dorean's heart beat and his hand gently petting my head.

He was right.

But he was always right.

I was angry and I was hurt about what my family had done. Agonized over the whole thing. I couldn't think of a family more dysfunctional, not even Hades's. But I could cry and scream over it all I wanted and it wouldn't change the fact that my family wasn't the family I thought they were, the family I convinced myself they were. I had to accept the cold hard reality that slapped me in the face.

And fix what went wrong, so I could make things okay for the people I had here. I had to make things right so I could go back to living that calm serenity with Dorean, go back to being summoned and helping people. I wanted to make things safe for Hades and his family, because despite all the baggage they had dumped on me when we met, it had forged some kind of bond that I hadn't really noticed until I thought about it.

All those years they summoned me to help them. I could still see that raw determination in their eyes, even Hades when he had summoned me during Ambrosius's birth. Despite his questionable parenting methods, Hades would have killed anyone to get his son. And he proved himself just a handful of years later during the Titan war. He'd been willing to give up his own dignity for the sake of his sons.

I hadn't met a group of people as strong as the Hades family since then.

And now, instead of them calling me, I needed them.

But first, I needed to repair things with Callias. If there was one person I needed right now, it was Callias. And it still made me bitter that I had to do this, because I was still simmering from what he'd done to our family and people, but his reasoning... and the fact that he'd been backed into a corner. He had to do something and he went with the first thing he could find.

Not to mention, I'm sure he'd be thrilled to find out that Hades might have a way to kill them off permanently.

The next morning, Dorean had gone off with Niki and Lea to Styx to purchase some new things considering our old stuff was probably destroyed. Meanwhile, I took that chance to run some errands before I could be summoned by any of the number of people who seemed to be running around with my coins.

I teleported from Hades's palace to Olympus.

It seemed to be a buzz with excitement when I arrived. Nymphs, fairies, and other creatures scurried by and I'm pretty sure I saw Hermes zoom past, but with his speed, he was a mere blur of vapor. Several other gods were moving around, running their own errands. A few of them raked me with disgusted sneers, obviously not pleased at the sight of an Atlantean on their precious Olympus. I was surprised no one stopped to ask if this meant I was launching a war on them, but I suppose not all of them knew the entire pantheon was back.

Not wanting to stick around until someone did really notice me, I went to Apollo's temple. Several of Apollo's attendants were scurrying around, carrying silks and other strange looking party favors. I ignored them and entered the throne room where Apollo was signing some kind of order form.

"I don't recall allowing you to show up here again, Atlantean." Apollo said when he noticed me, handing his form back to a demon, who took it with a nod and vanished with a sharp pop. I frowned, approaching him cautiously.

"I need to see Callias. It's imperative that we speak." I said. Apollo raked me with a less than pleased glare, curling his lip and folding his arms over his chest.

"I don't see why the fuck I should let you anywhere near him after your little scuffle."

"We're brothers. It happens a lot."

"Yeah, no, there's a difference between a simple fight and a catastrophe and you were borderline the latter, making it really difficult to stand your presence. You nearly marred my merchandise, and because of your stupid fight, Callias is making it really difficult to enjoy his presence."

"Apollo," I said, voice strained, "This is really important, and trust me, the last thing I want to do right now is beat the crap out of Callias."

"Ah," Apollo said, amused now, walking around me to scan me with an evil glint in his eye, making me narrow my eyes on him, "You know, it's kind of cute when you beg like that. Maybe I should just trade Callias in for you. He's too obedient for my tastes." I curled my lip.

"You are really not my type." I responded heatedly. Apollo scoffed.

"Fine, then you can go find a brotherly companion somewhere else."

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me," I snarled, whirling to face him and making him pull up short to give me a quirked brow, "I'm not some whore to be bartered. In case you're too stupid to realize, I'm a god as well and I can easily beat your ass. I don't have a curse restraining my powers." Apollo smirked.

"And that's exactly why I like you, Atlantean. While you piss me off to no end, I feel like angry sex with you would be great."

"You seriously need to stop overdosing on the testosterone, asshole. Let me see Callias."

"Let me see you naked as compensation. You can have five minutes."

"No."

"Then no deal," Apollo said with a wistful sigh, shrugging as he approached a long gold ornate table covered with bowls of fruit, and he plucked an apple out of the bunch to roll around in his hand, "I don't do things for free either, Atlantean. You cost me quite a couple days of decent sex because Callias has been bitchy lately. He's normally pretty compliant, which also pisses me off, but its better than his condescending tone. A tone that should be used with you."

"Then let me see him," I stressed, clenching my fists, "Trust me, what I've got to say will either get me killed or he'll at least relax." Apollo shook his head and took a bite out of his apple.

"Nope, not without a little compensation for getting in my way and being an over-confident dick. I think your ego needs to be knocked down a size."

"I don't have time for this!"

"That's all right," Apollo said with a shrug, "I can take them off for you."

"Touch me and it'll be the last thing you ever do."

"You can't kill me," Apollo said snidely, leaning back on the table and chewing his apple, arms folded over his chest, "I'm a god, and not just any god, but a god of the sun. You kill me and the humans might suddenly find themselves in eternal darkness."

"There are other suns god." I assured venomously. Apollo smirked.

"Not for Greece." He replied. I clenched my teeth. I should've known dealing with Apollo would be the hardest part about seeing Callias. Worst of all, I couldn't just go through the temple looking for Callias. Apollo would order Callias to get out of my sight and Callias would have no choice, but to obey. And I knew Apollo's little attempt at a deal here wasn't about anything sexual. He just wanted to humiliate me because Callias was angry with me, thus taking it out on Apollo. I tried to be angry at Callias, but I really couldn't. I'd been the one to start our fight in the first place.

And I didn't have time to play these games. I had to get in there and see Callias. I had an itching sensation I would need Callias's help.

"Fine," I seethed, watching Apollo smirk behind the apple before taking another bite, "But I'm not going further than that."

"We'll see." Was all Apollo said as he settled against the table, staring at me intensely. I wanted to grab that apple and stuff it down his throat until he choked on it. He reminded me of those pigs with the apple stuffed in their mouth. Resisting the urge to make that mental image a reality, I used my powers to disintegrate my clothing until I was standing stark naked in the middle of Apollo's temple.

Worst of all was how cold the damn place was. I hadn't even noticed with my layers, but now that I stood bare naked, I felt goosebumps creeping across my skin.

"Sunglasses too." Apollo sang mockingly. I clenched my teeth and made the sunglasses disappear. Apollo sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth and took a slow bite of his apple before setting the fruit back in the bowl, much to my disgust. He approached me and I tensed.

"Oh, quit it," Apollo drawled, then paused to bite his bottom lip, his eyes scanning me slowly from foot to head, "Damn, you are incredibly blessed." I said nothing to his comment about my cock and just glared at him. I started to take a step back so I could conjure my clothes back, but he grabbed my jaw and forced me to look at him.

"Don't fucking touch me." I snarled, slapping his hand away. Apollo smirked.

"God, I wish it had been you that was cursed to be my slave. It'd be nice to name you something along the lines of slut." He said mockingly, folding his arms over his chest.

"And you are so lucky that I need to see Callias right now, otherwise, I would make you a goddess of the sun instead." I threatened. Apollo narrowed his eyes.

"You just earned yourself another minute of this, unless you want to get the hell out of my temple." He warned. I glared at him, but bit my tongue to keep from talking. This was the stupidest thing I've ever had to do, and even worse, just for five minutes of talking to Callias when I was sure I needed more than that. Once upon a time, I would've told Apollo to shove his offer some place real uncomfortable and just leave, but I owed it to Callias to speak to him right now, and if that meant satisfying Apollo's sick little power play, fine.

Apollo moved to stand beside me and I tensed at his nearness. A chill stole up my spine at the feel of his hot breath against the back of my neck. I felt his fingertips brush ever so slightly up my back to my hair, pushing it over my shoulder so my neck was exposed to him. I felt my fangs throb in my gums at his threat to rip my throat out.

Unable to stand it anymore than this, I spun around to glare at Apollo.

"Let me speak to Callias. Now." I snarled. Apollo huffed.

"You are absolutely no fun. Fine, harlot, go see your brother. Christ, I swear, all you Atlanteans are a bunch of stuck up little bitches." He complained. I ignored him, summoning my clothes back onto my body and my sunglasses to hide my eyes.

"He's out in the garden." Apollo said with a huff, heading to his half-eaten apple. I rolled my eyes and quickly left the throne room, my skin crawling the entire time I made my way to the hyacinth garden. I couldn't fathom how Hyacinth had ever fallen in love with a lecherous piece of shit like Apollo. Not even the horniest of frat boys could out do the god Apollo. I was grateful the bastard hadn't asked for more, otherwise, I'd have to just flat out leave. It just wasn't worth it, especially for only five minutes of conversation.

But it didn't matter.

Because I had my chance to speak to Callias and that was my main focus.

I walked into the garden, assaulted by the many bright flowers gently swaying in the breeze, the sound of the fountain trickling. I scanned the garden until I spotted Callias sitting on a stone bench with a snake delicately wrapped around his arm while he pet the top of its head gently. I moved across the garden and Callias didn't even look up at me as he spoke.

"I'm surprised you're not at home celebrating the return of your family." There was enough ice in Callias's voice to freeze the entire mountain. But I understood, so I managed to leash my temper. I took a deep breath.

"I don't know what to say," I admitted honestly, making Callias frown and arch a brow in irritation, looking up at me with that pointed glare of his, "Aside from the fact that I've been a stupid idiot and you had every right to be angry with me, you still do. The only reason I was pissed is because I wanted to believe that there was still some good in our family, the family that I convinced myself I'd grown up with, but it's only because I lived my life in denial." Callias stared at me dead-on now, letting the snake slither off his arm to the ground below.

"What're you talking about?" He asked.

"Atlan," I forced myself to speak without my voice cracking, "I found the so-called secret weapon of Atlantis. And when I did, Atlan... Let's just say that he finally revealed his true colors. My name is part of his hit list now." Callias's eyes widened as he rose slowly to his feet.

"Xenon." I wasn't sure what the emotion in his voice was, but it sounded suspiciously like concern.

"You were right," I said at last, "You were right about our siblings, right about Atlan. Right about everything. I was too blinded by my faith to even realize what was going on around me. I kept convincing myself that everything would be okay eventually. But it won't, especially if I keep denying it the way I have been. So... I'm accepting the truth. That Atlan is a fucking psychopath and so is the rest of our family. The only ones I can count on now are you and aunt Lea."

"Aunt Lea?" Callias asked, eyes widening slightly.

"Yes. She helped me escape Atlan and she's currently staying with Hades. Dorean and I are there as well. I had contact with Zetnos there for a while. He was the one who practically shoved all of this in my face. But I had to leave Leanorius, otherwise, I'd be killed." I explained. Callias bit his bottom lip for a while there, studying my face. His expression softened.

"Xenon, I'm sorry," He said at last, making me look at him in confusion, "I didn't want you to find out like this, and the fact that you came here and tried to keep your calm about this whole thing... I really am sorry. Nothing is more disappointing than finding out your family is... well, our family."

"Tell me about it," I muttered, "And I have more news. The weapon of Atlantis. It's one of the first Demons in existence. The Demon of Destruction." Callias's eyes widened at that.

"You're joking." He said.

"No. Supposedly Atlan tricked the demon and corrupted him. The demon went on a killing rampage and his siblings locked him in a comatose state. Only the god who used him can summon him and put him down again. I contacted Hades and we now have the demon in our custody. Hades is trying to figure out a way to change the demon's initial kill-everything setting. If we can do that, we'll have the weapon on our side to threaten the Atlanteans with. If they make a move, we'll be ready." I explained. Callias stared at me.

"You mean kill them. As in, really kill them." He stated. I clenched my teeth before speaking.

"Yeah." I answered. Callias grimaced.

"I'm sorry."

"Not more than I am right now," I replied, "I shouldn't have attacked you."

"Nor I you, brother," Callias murmured, then hurried when I started to speak, "And I know this doesn't mean our relationship is repaired. I have come to accept that you will never see me the way you used to, and that's all right. We have plenty of time in the future to categorize our relationship, but right now, we need to focus on keeping the majority safe. Keep me updated on the demon's condition and your progress. And if you can, let Lea know I'm... sorry for what I did to her."

"She doesn't know," I admitted, watching Callias raise an eyebrow, "I didn't think it was my place to tell her what you did."

"Thank you."

"Yeah, well, I did it for her sake. Nothing's gonna hurt her more than knowing her nephew imprisoned her for eternity. Anyway, I should probably get out of here. Apollo's in a really shitty mood and it's enough to actually make me feel sorry for you, Callias. I hope after this is over, we can find a way to break your curse. You may piss me off to no end, but I could never wish that kind of a prick on you no matter what you've done in the past." I muttered. Callias offered me a sad smile, as if he were just accepting my words and wasn't convinced there was a way to break his curse. But not wanting to argue with him further, I gave him a nod before teleporting away from Olympus.

I flashed myself to Styx in Hades, where I proceeded to buy some groceries that I dropped off for the kids in the slums, then stopped by some of the shops to grab Dorean some new clothes, even though I was sure he bought plenty on his own today. I expected to run into him in Styx, but he must already be at home.

I teleported back to Hades's palace and dropped everything off in my room, where Dorean was absent. But passing by the main den, I saw him in there with Niki, both of them enjoying a marathon of some mortal show. After a quick stop-in to see how they were doing, they informed me that Lea had gone to check on Hades.

I headed for the laboratory, spotting Lea inside with Hades.

"That's impossible," Lea was saying when I entered, "There's simply no such device. How could mere humans invent something so complex?" She was sitting on one of the counters, wearing low ride jeans and a long black sweater, her hair twisted up into a ponytail. Meanwhile, Hades was peering into a microscope, using his magic to stabilize whatever he was looking at. His long black hair was held back by a hair clip, and he only wore a tight black t-shirt that read Your Worst Nightmare and a pair of black plaid pajama pants.

"You've been gone for almost eleven thousand years," Hades scoffed, leaning away from the microscope, "You've missed out on a lot. The mortals can not only travel into space, but they invented something called the Internet."

"And just what the hell is that?"

"Sister, you have a lot to learn. Here, let me start you off," Hades said, conjuring an iPad and handing it to her, watching her eyes light up with interest, "This is an iPad. The humans use it for a number of things, including the Internet. The Internet is a global system of connected networks, used for communication, research, cat videos, and getting into random fights with strangers."

"Cat videos?" Lea asked, bewildered.

"Oh yeah," Hades said in a tone that was less than complimentary while he shut his microscope light off and moved to the other side of the counter, "The Internet is a massive place of complex entities, but people mostly use it for cat videos. You should look up something called the no no no cat. It's the most obnoxious piece of shit I've ever seen." Lea stared at him, then at the iPad and cocked her head.

"How do you work this thing?"

"Just touch whatever catches your eye. It's a touch screen," Hades told her, then turned to see me approaching them, "Oh, look. It's tall, dark, and intimidating. You know, we're inside a mountain. You don't need sunglasses and I know what your creepy ass eyes look like." I rolled my "creepy ass eyes", reaching up to push my sunglasses on my head, leaning on the counter.

"Yeah, says the guy whose eyes glow like fucking nightlights in the dark," I said, making Hades smirk as he moved with a small vial of red blood to his microscope, "What is that?"

"Demon blood." Hades stated. I blinked.

"Wait, the demon blood?" I asked warily. Hades nodded, working the device and peering down into it, and clicking a button on the side. It took me a moment to realize he was taking a picture of whatever he was looking at. Said pictures were being sent to a computer monitor not far from us, and sending the images up onto a massive projection screen across the room.

My eyes widened at the sight of it. I didn't know much about biology or whatever this stuff was, but something about those pictures told me that blood looked creepy as hell. It was just a jumble of demonic red looking circles with gold and blue lightening shaped things moving.

"Is that normal?" I asked, appalled by the sight. Hades shrugged, leaning away to glance at the screen.

"You tell me. Our blood is incredibly similar to a human's blood. Same with the demons. Just a bit brighter, a bit cleaner, and a bit stronger. This blood is demented. You think that's creepy? You should see these." Hades moved away from his post, passing by my aunt, who was staring in awe at having just opened up a link to YouTube. I followed Hades to his computer. He typed a few things in, opened a whole new set of files and put them up on the projection screen.

"What the hell am I looking at?" I asked, baffled. It just looked like a bunch of blood and tissue and strings.

"Well, first of all, our demon suffered from something called Broken Heart Syndrome," Hades said, making me arch a brow skeptically, "That's a real thing, neophyte. It's brought on by severe stress, trauma. Looks like your dad's a real heart breaker."

"That's not funny." I deadpanned. Hades scoffed.

"I thought it was hilarious. You're just pissed that your dad's a dick. But hey, that's fine. My dad was a dick too." He added with a wistful smile. I could tell he was just daydreaming about ripping the Titan king's heart out and devouring it like a kid ate Halloween candy. I shook my head at him and looked back at the screen as Hades flipped through all the photos, describing each one.

From the sounds of it, the demon was literally the most immortal thing to have ever walked the planet. From the tests, Hades could even give me a short list of the demon's powers.

"He heals like a mofo and is immune to pretty much everything on the planet, except, I'm assuming, the word of your father. Once Atlan says the word, and by the word, I mean says the demon's name, he can summon him into being and trigger his kill mode. Once the demon's awake, he'll find his master, and kill all those he's commanded to kill and anyone else who gets in his way. The demon is virtually indestructible."

"There has to be something we can do." I said, looking at Hades as he shut off the projection. He paused, turning to stare at the demon, who remained inside his cozy pod. Hades had managed to fit a few wires into holes he drilled through the pod that were now stuck inside the demon, who didn't even twitch.

"The only thing is for Atlan to call him off. For now," Hades said when he saw my glare, "Christ, don't look at me like that."

"You're the one who told me to take off the sunglasses."

"Forget the sunglasses, put a bag on your head," Hades scoffed, moving back over to pack up his supplies, "This is actually a lot further than I thought I would get, so don't act all pissy now. I still have plenty of time to get more information. I managed to pull some out of his head before a block came down and nearly turned my brain to jelly, which by the way would not be a fun thing. You think I'm irritating now, just see me brain-dead for a couple hours before it heals itself. Anyway, I'll have more information by tomorrow."

"Did you at least find out what the demon's name is?" I asked, pausing to stare up into the pod. Hades glanced over his shoulder, then looked away.

"The name Xiphrus came up a few times during my research." He replied. I frowned.

"Xiphrus?" I asked. He nodded and went back to cleaning everything up.

"Hey, can I borrow this?" Lea asked. Hades shrugged.

"Keep it. I have like twenty more of those." He answered. Lea looked giddy at the thought and clicked a few things on the iPad as I came over to frown at her poking the screen. Upon closer inspection, I realized she was just getting a kick out of poking everything on the screen, changing windows and opening up enough tabs that it was any wonder the poor device didn't crash on her.

"Uh, Aunt Lea, I think you need some help." I offered, reaching for her, but Lea waved my hand away.

"Don't pull a mind meld thing on me," She said sternly, "I want to learn all of this on my own. This is incredibly fascinating." She opened yet another tab and almost hit a download link when I caught her hand, gently this time.

"At least let someone help you. You're just opening tons of stuff. Tell me something you want to do with it and I'll show you how to do it." I said. Lea paused, cocking her head before her eyes brightened.

"Is it possible for me to... look someone's name up and find them?" She asked. I hesitated. I knew she was referring to Hannibal. There was no way she could find him using this. Hannibal wasn't connected to the Internet.

"I don't think that'll work." I said.

"Oh," The disappointment on her face felt like a hot lance through my heart, "Well, how about a video then? May I see what that is?"

"Yeah," I said, showing her how to close all over windows and to cancel any downloads she may have made in the process, "Here, click this and type in the on-screen keyboard."

"I don't know these letters."

"It's English."

"Shit."

"Yeah, shit," I agreed with a light laugh, "Are you sure you don't want me to just beam you all the information?" My aunt seemed to ponder the thought. I just smiled, amused by her interest in this current time.

And then a cold chill crept down my spine. I looked up, then turned to stare at the pod where the demon sat in slumber. He still looked like he might as well be laying sprawled on a bed, oddly comfortable and serene. His tattoos still held a dull blue color, a look that said they would probably glow if he was conscious. His black hair seemed to float around him. The longer I stared at him, the more nervous I got. It was a strange creepy feeling, the kind you got when someone was staring at you.

I looked up at his face and froze, my stomach instantly dropping like a cinder-block.

A pair of clear white eyes stared back at me, surrounded by thick black lashes, absolutely no sign of pupil or iris.

"No," Lea said from behind me, "I think I'll just research the language myself... Xenon?" I felt her move behind me and gasped sharply, dropping the iPad to the floor. She came to stand beside me, gaping at the demon inside the pod.

"Is it supposed to do that?" She managed.

"No," I replied cautiously, keeping eye contact with it, "Which means Atlan must have summoned him."

"Shit." Lea cursed. No sooner had the words flown from her mouth did the demon blink. It tilted its head back, as if the casing around it had suddenly turned into a liquid. Its blue tattoos began to glow brightly, a sharp contrast to its caramel skin, and a crack formed across the pod's surface.

Lea and I yelped, scrambling back and ducking behind the counter just as the pod cracked and exploded, sending shards of rock and that strange gooey substance within, all across the room. I winced as some of the rock shattered jars on Hades's shelves and goo splattered across the wall.

"Hades is gonna kill us." I muttered.

"Not if the demon does first." Lea hissed. I nodded, then paused as I heard heavy breathing. I managed to turn and slowly peer over the counter top. The demon stood there, stumbling for a moment as if trying to catch its bearings. It shook its head slowly and looked around the room, long black hair now settled over its shoulders and face. A second later, it made a strange screeching sound as if it were pain, causing several jars around the room to splinter and explode, test tubes bursting, and mirrors cracking. A second later, gigantic black bat-like wings shot from its back and blood splattered all over the room and I ducked to avoid getting rained on before perking back up to watch.

The demon moaned low in its throat, then gave an animalistic whimper.

And here, Hades was thinking this thing had a personality.

From the looks and sound of it, it was just another hunting dog.

It screeched again in pain and a second later, it shot up and went right through the ceiling without destroying it. Lea and I slowly stood up, gaping at the ceiling.

"Think Hades will believe us when we tell him what happened?" Lea whispered.

"Gods, he better, because we have a rogue homicidal demon on the loose."