Chapter Twelve

"Okay, try explaining to me again, exactly what happened."

No one could speak with more venom than Hades in the moment that Lea and I had informed him what had happened to the demon. Now we all had gathered in the throne room, including Niki, who was there probably in hopes of helping placate Hades, who glared at Lea and I as if it were our fault that the demon had decided to take flight.

"We already told you," I said heatedly, fed up with that accusing glare, "Lea and I were just talking and getting ready to leave when that thing lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree and disappeared. I'm willing to bet that Atlan gave up on his search for us and summoned the demon, which, by the way, will probably very happily lead Atlan right back to us." Hades scoffed at the mere suggestion and shook his head.

"Your father isn't stupid enough to come barging in here." He assured. Lea arched a brow, putting her hands on her hips.

"If he has the Demon of Destruction, why would he be fearful of breaking and entering?" She asked. Hades paused at that, cocking his head slowly before he perked back up, shaking his head.

"Nope. Not possible. Only the demon can get in and out of the barrier around my realm." He answered, making Lea frown skeptically.

"Even so, that's not a good risk," Dorean spoke up, making me look at him as he frowned at us, "What? Don't look at me like that. I can have opinions on this too. We need to find the demon and take it away from Atlan."

"How do we do that? It's the Demon of Destruction for a reason." Lea reminded grimly.

"Everything has a weakness." Dorean answered.

"And this one's is Atlan," Hades interjected, leaning his weight onto one foot and raking a hand through his hair, "I don't have a fully developed way to get the demon to stop obeying him, not yet. There has to be a way we can at least drain him enough to drag him back here and let me finish a couple tests to confirm a theory I have." Lea and I shared looks. I opened my mouth to ask him exactly what that theory was when the air around us rippled and sizzled with white hot power, causing everyone to stiffen. Hades's eyes widened and he whirled around just as the air snapped and a column of white smoke appeared to reveal Hermes.

And he looked awful.

His curly blonde hair was matted with blood near a gash in his temple, bright sky blue eyes flashing frantically. His lip was busted and he had a myriad of wounds marking his arms and neck, where a prominent puncture wound was visible. His brown leather armored suit was caked in blood and his trembling hand still gripped a sword.

"We need your help." Hermes managed, almost falling to his knees. To my surprise, Hades caught him before he could face-plant on the floor. Hades lowered him to the floor carefully as Hermes wheezed, blood oozing past his lips.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"I have a strong feeling it has to do with our demon." Hades muttered to me. Hermes's eyes darkened at the mention of the demon as he gasped for breath.

"Yes. If that's what you want to call it. I call it a fucking shitstorm on legs," He seethed in agony, tilting his head back as Hades made sure he didn't choke on his own blood while Hades placed his hands on his chest and began to heal the damage, "It came out of nowhere. It just started ripping things apart. One minute the waters of Olympus are crystal clear and singing with naiads and the next they ran red with their blood. The creature is like a fucking bulldozer. He's already plowed through most of our foot-soldiers. The gods are struggling to keep them at bay. Even Zeus is wounded. He was the one who managed to get me out of the creature's path and send me to get you."

"Huh," Hades said dryly, "I can't tell if I'm amused or not by the fact that Zeus is finally calling for my help without being a little bitch about it." Hermes only scowled at him, then grimaced as Hades finished healing him to stand up.

"We can't let that demon kill the Greeks," I told Hades, making him glance at me, "Let Lea and I go ahead and see if we can help. Gather up your armies and meet us there." Hades nodded and vanished to fetch them.

"I'm going with you." Hermes said, getting to his feet warily. He stumbled for a second and Lea touched his arm, making Hermes blink and stare at her curiously.

"Are you Atlantean?" He asked. Lea cocked her head.

"Yes. And you are Greek. Now that we are acquainted with races. I am Lea, goddess of curses and battle strategy." She said. Hermes stared at her in relief.

"Oh good. We need more gods like you. I'm Hermes. Currently the god of uselessness."

"Oh, I doubt that," Lea assured, then turned to me, "Let us go before there are anymore severe casualties." I nodded, and started to move, but Dorean caught my sleeve and pulled me to face him with a stern glare.

"I know you won't take me with you," He said, making me bite my tongue to keep from shouting of course, "But you better be careful. Come back as soon as you can." I nodded, leaning down to give him a kiss before I stepped back. Dorean swallowed hard, watching me go as Niki came over to stand beside him and touch his arm comfortingly.

We teleported from Hades's palace to Olympus.

And it truly did look like one of the biggest shitstorms I'd ever seen in my life. Not only did bodies litter the ground, but it looked as if the demon had taken them and torn them apart like a rabid animal. Blood soaked the soil and stained the grass. The white gold laden steps of the temples were drenched in blood, some buildings and parts of the forest burning, and nymphs and fairies screaming as they made their way for the nearest hiding places.

Loud explosions came from nearby, indicating the battle that ensued there. But honestly, my first thought was Callias.

"Go ahead," I told Lea and Hermes, heading for Apollo's temple, "I need to check something, I'll be right back." They nodded and took off without me. I sprinted for Apollo's temple, cursing at the sight of the once beautiful and proud white temple laying partially in ruins. I didn't give two shits for the temple or the god who owned it. I ran inside, dodging falling columns and burning drapes. The throne room was destroyed, like the demon had just taken a fucking chainsaw to everything.

I ran to the garden, pausing to hiss through clenched teeth. The magnificent hyacinth garden was completely uprooted. Pathetically destroyed flowers lay scattered and the fountain beheaded. Callias was nowhere in sight.

I ran down the hallway past empty destroyed ruins.

The demon didn't just come here to kill the gods. It came here to completely lay waste to the whole of Olympus. Not a single thing lay unscathed and my heart was pounding so hard that I swore it was going to fly out of my chest.

I rounded a corner in time to hear a shout and barely had time to duck before almost getting my head sliced off by a sword. I slammed into the ground and looked up to see Callias standing there, breathing hard and holding a sword. Gone with his sensual attire, he was now decked out in a black and red battle suit with a red sun design on the back and biceps. His long red hair was coiled into a tight ponytail and his eyes had turned to their regular shade of white. He caught himself before almost slicing me.

"Xenon," He stammered as I scrambled to my feet, "What're you doing here?"

"Making sure you weren't dead," I said, ignoring Callias's surprised stare, "Where's Apollo?"

"He went to face the demon. He ordered me to stay in the temple. I can't leave here, but there's no way I'm going to let some demon come in here and kill me. Not after everything I've done." He added bitterly. I frowned.

"For once, Apollo's a genius. You have to stay here, Callias," I said, watching him scowl, "That demon will destroy anyone who betrayed Atlantis and when Atlan finds out what you've done to the pantheon, let's just say that you'll be at the top of that demon's hit list."

"Oh joy," He said sarcastically, stepping back and sheathing his sword, "Well, I'm forbidden to leave, so go, get out of here. Find a way to get rid of that demon." I nodded, giving him a quick salute and teleporting toward the source of the battle.

I appeared just on the open side of the mountain where a large arena was set up for the gods to come and watch battles for show. It was the perfect place for a large scale battle, especially given how spacious it was and left room so that innocents weren't harmed.

However, it looked like the Olympians were completely getting their asses kicked. The gods lay scattered on the arena's dirt floor, breathing heavily and oozing blood from their wounds. Lea and Hermes stood in some of the partially ruined stadium seats, dodging attacks with Zeus and Poseidon by their sides. My eyes lifted to the demon itself that hovered in the arena, its large black wings beating the air. 

Its eyes glowed a brilliant shade of white, its tattoos still lit up. It opened its mouth to reveal a pair of deadly fangs, giving an angry war cry that shook the arena. It threw its arm out and a giant fire dragon appeared out of nowhere, careening toward the remaining gods in the fight. I cursed and moved quickly, darting out of my hiding place, summoning magic to keep me afloat in the air as I threw my arms out and sent a flood of fire magic shooting across the sky and throwing off the attack.

The demon screamed in frustration and whirled on me, shooting through the air. I barely had time to react as the demon slammed into me, its claws slicing through my jacket and right into my skin. I cursed as the demon sent me flying into the stands. I managed to catch myself before I could cause some real damage.

I healed the cuts on my arms and changed my clothes with the wave of my hand. I changed into a black armored battle suit with a waist holster loaded with weapons, and used my powers to tie my hair back into a tight braid down my back.

"Here, demon, demon, demon," I mocked, watching the demon's eyes glow menacingly, "Come to papa." It bared its fangs and lunged through the sky at me, reaching its clawed hands out. It sent a god blast at me, but I deflected it and leapt up, doing a flip and landing further up the stands.

The demon snarled and landed on the seats in front of me, standing at his full height and snarling. It took a step toward me, only to have a blast come out of nowhere, sending the demon flying through the stands, hard enough to send the stone seats exploding.

I turned to see my aunt Lea appearing near me with Hermes and Zeus, both of whom were decked out in armor with their sacred symbols sewn onto the back. Hermes with a pair of wings and Zeus with his lightning bolt. I took quick notice that their new and improved battlesuits looked a lot like the ones Hades had invented for the Titan battle, the battlesuits that now Hades and his entire army wore officially.

Yeah, that was gonna give him an ego boost he didn't need.

Lea had also changed into a similar black stitch uniform with burgundy undertones, the symbol of a dragon stitched into the back.

"Where the hell is Hades?" Zeus snarled at me, approaching me. I glared at him.

"Gathering his army, asshole. Keep your panties on. We need to subdue the demon long enough for Hades to get here and capture him, or at least figure out a last minute way to control the thing." I explained. Zeus curled his lip.

"About as dependable as toilet paper for a diaper." He sneered, making Lea give him an odd stare and I glared at him.

"What about you? From the looks of it, you're getting your ass kicked twice as hard. If I didn't care so much about the innocent creatures caught up in this, I'd let that thing kick your ass." I returned. Zeus took a step toward me, but Lea got between us, facing Zeus. 

"Touch my nephew and the demon will be the least of your problems." She warned in a low voice. Zeus curled his lip.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Lea, goddess of curses and battle strategy."

"And Atlantean," Zeus sneered, raking her with a disgusted glare, "You know, you people seem to be the root of all of this. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should just kill you and maybe the demon will go away." Hermes grimaced.

"Father, let's not and say we did, all right? We don't have time to quarrel amongst ourselves. We--"

"You'll speak when I fucking say you can speak," Zeus snarled at Hermes, who clenched his teeth in frustration, and Zeus turned back to Lea and I menacingly, "I don't see what I'd lose by killing you both right here, right now, anyway."

"Uh, yeah, some valuable allies." A voice said. We turned to see Hades standing there with all of his sons lined up behind him.

From oldest to youngest, that would be Charon, Cerberus, Zelios, Cain and Abel, Malachi, Theo, Ambrosius, and Nikias. All of them were decked out in black stitched armored uniforms with their own symbols stitched into the biceps of their outfits and the symbol of Hades on the back, being a skull and crossbones stitched in pale blue. Seeing them all standing there together, I suddenly noticed the striking resemblance of them and their father, even Charon who was technically adopted. The only ones who stuck out like sore thumbs were Zelios and Theo with their blood red hair.

And Hades stood at the head of them in his black stitch uniform, his long black hair done in a neat braid over his shoulder, his bangs swept back from his face.

"Hades," Zeus sneered at him, "I'm surprised to see you defend the Atlanteans knowing what they've just done." Hades scoffed as he hopped down a couple seats to get closer and his sons followed, scanning the area.

"I don't have time to deal with your paranoia," Hades told him, then turned to his sons, "Zelios, Charon, and Malachi, go tend to the wounded. Cerberus, you and the twins set up a barrier around the arena to make sure the demon doesn't take off. Ambrosius, Nikias, and Theo, stay here and keep an eye on ol' uncle Zeusy to make sure he doesn't do something stupid." His sons nodded and vanished to their designated positions.

"Oh, with pleasure," Theo said, raking Zeus with a disgusted sneer, "I really hope you do something stupid so I have an excuse to rip your balls off." Zeus glared at him.

"You touch me, infant, and I will slit your throat." He threatened. Theo shuddered as if the words gave him a hard-on and he flicked his tongue over his lips, red eyes blazing.

"Oh, baby, when you talk like that, I get so horny." He said obnoxiously. Zeus grimaced and glared at Hades, who grinned as if Theo was the most amusing person here.

"He has your whore genes." He said. Hades shrugged.

"We're all whores somewhere deep, deep down inside. And while I'd love to just stand here and chat about how fucking awesome me and my kids are, we have a more pressing matter at hand and he's watching us like a shark watches bloody kittens." He explained. We turned to see his indication. The demon had recovered and didn't even looked wounded as it rose up onto the seats, breathing hard.

Its wings shot out and it screamed. But it sounded more like it was in pain than like it was angry. It threw its head back and screamed in agony.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Ambrosius asked warily.

"I don't give a shit what it does," Zeus snarled, "What're you waiting for? You came here to get rid of it, didn't you? So get rid of it!" Hades came forward to stand beside me, watching as the demon writhed and screamed in pain.

"Shut up," Hades told Zeus, making the king god's eyes blaze hatefully, but he didn't dare make a move with Theo and Nikias watching him closely from behind and Ambrosius and Lea watching him from the sides, "There's something wrong with him."

"Yeah, it's trying to level Olympus." Hermes said from beside Zeus.

"No," Hades muttered, "I think he's trying to fight Atlan's orders."

"Why?" I asked. Hades shook his head.

"I don't know, but we don't have time to dance around him. We should grab him now while he's flipping his shit," He said, then reached into a pouch on the back of his holster, taking out several small syringes and handing them to everyone, except Zeus, who glared at him, "Don't give me that look, thunderfuck. This sedative is strong enough to keep Cerberus out for days. Trust me. He was the test subject. Stick this into the demon and keep it in. Once he goes down, I need someone to tie him up and keep him under control with Alexion's god restraints." He waved his hand and conjured the heavy gold shackles created by the infamous primordial god killer, Alexion, and Charon's current husband.

"I can do it," Lea said, fascinated by the shackles, "I've always heard rumors of those restraints and I wish to see them work just once." Hades nodded and handed them off to her and she gathered them up into a leather backpack she conjured and hefted onto her shoulder.

"So you're going to leave me completely unprotected," Zeus said angrily, glaring at Hades, "I am your King and you will give me something to protect myself." Hades gave Zeus a look of pure hatred.

"Yeah, I don't think so. You can just stand there and look pretty. For once, Zeus, keep your goddamn mouth shut. This thing is gonna gun for you if you keep shouting that you're the king of the Greeks. Seriously. That's like going to a middle school and shouting that you're part of One Direction. You're gonna get mauled." He said. Zeus spat a curse in Greek that made Hades laugh.

"Uh, yo, heads up, looks like the demon is getting ready for another blast." Nikias warned, getting our attention. We snapped back toward the demon as it seemed to partially recover from its freak out mode. It screeched and hurdled toward us, sending a blast of fire that we dodged by rolling out of the way. Nikias and Hermes stayed behind to deflect the attack from Zeus, who leapt away.

I rolled across the seat and shot to my feet, running across the narrow set of seats, keeping the syringe tight in my fist. The demon snarled, catching sight of me first. It lunged for me and I leapt up, dodging its attack and spinning through the air, bringing my foot around and kicking the demon in the face, slamming its head into the stone seating. I swore I heard its skull crack, but it was up on its feet and lunging for me again.

I sent a powerful blast down through my feet, shooting off the seats and flying through the air to get some distance. While it went after me, Hades shot up and grabbed onto the thing like a friggin' cat attacked a ball of yarn.

They went down together and exploded into the seats, sending rocks and metal flying everywhere. Lea and I landed together while Ambrosius and Theo landed on the other side. Hades shot out of the crater in the seats and through the dust that had been thrown up. The demon screamed, rushing after him and sending a blast at him that he deflected.

Hades threw his hand out and sent a god bolt at it. The demon actually opened its mouth and caught the bolt right in its mouth like a dog caught a stick. It landed on all fours and snapped its teeth down on the bolt, shattering it and causing sparks to fly.

"Well, shit." Hades declared. Lea smirked at him and I grimaced. The demon lunged for Hades, but this time, Theo moved and ran right at the demon's back, latching onto it and slamming his syringe down into its throat. The demon shrieked and started to buck and thrash. Theo moved quickly, doing a backflip and moving away before the demon could attack him. The demon whirled, lunging for him, but Lea flung her syringe so it shot into the demon's back leg.

The demon screamed and swung around, throwing a blast of fire at her, that I deflected before it could make impact. It rushed us and we quickly broke our circle formation, breaking off in all directions, shouting at once.

"Over here, you slimy shit!" Theo shouted. The demon whirled for him.

"No, over here! Come over here!" Ambrosius called to it, sending a blast of purple magic twirling through the sky over his head. The demon whipped back around, but it hesitated as if it were confused by all the shouting and magic shows going on around it. It bared its fangs and screamed at us, its wings shooting out.

"Watch out, he's about to take off!" Ambrosius warned.

"Not on my watch." I muttered, watching the demon slowly lifting itself into the air. I dropped my hands and spread my fingers, summoning black throwing needles between my fingers. I swung them up and sent them flying so fast at its wings that they caught fire. They slashed through the demon's wings and it screeched, slamming into the stone steps.

It tried to take off again, but its wings bared burnt slices through it, unable to hold its weight with proper balance. It struggled to move before screaming again and sending another stream of fire out at us, but Hades caught the blast and deflected it. I took my chance and ran right past the demon, slamming my syringe into its side.

The demon wailed this time as if it were in agony and collapsed to its knees.

Everyone was breathing hard with a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing we could handle as Hades waved for us to hold our positions. We stood around in our circle formation again as the demon fought to get to its feet. But whatever sedative was in those syringes, it was working over time.

The demon breathed hard, holding itself up on its hands and knees, the light in its eyes and tattoos flickering. Hades took a step toward it and the demon hissed at him, throwing its hand out to try and send a blast at him, but magic only sizzled and sparked from its hand. The demon slumped forward onto the steps, panting and whimpering. It dug its feet into the ground and clenched its fists against the stones, trying to lift itself, only to slump back down.

Hades waved for us to start advancing. We moved toward it cautiously, listening to the strange sounds it made.

It sounded like it was sobbing, but there were no tears.

"I thought it couldn't feel emotions." I told Lea, who shook her head.

"That's what I thought. It must have been locked away for so long that the emotional curse weakened," She said under her breath, "Curses begin to weaken if no one is there to enforce them." I hesitated at that, wondering if that were the same for Hannibal, not that I should worry. Hannibal wasn't exactly suicidal anymore, rather homicidal instead. I shook my head at that and focused on the task at hand.

The demon was writhing as if it were in extreme pain. It finally rolled over onto its back.

"Now." Hades commanded Lea, who nodded and came forward. She clasped the shackles on the demon's wrists and moved back quickly. The demon whimpered and tilted its head back against the stone in distress.

"Holy shit," Ambrosius breathed, wiping sweat from his forehead, "That thing was a bitch. It took almost all of our sedatives to actually just weaken him. He's still conscious." Theo grimaced.

"I wish it'd stop making all those noises. It sounds like a kicked puppy." He muttered, folding his arms over his chest. Hades glanced at them, then back down at the demon as he crouched down, taking out his own syringe. He studied the demon, who tilted its head to the side to stare up at Hades. The demon gave a pathetic whimper and Hades stuck the syringe gently into the side of the creature's neck. The demon squirmed uncomfortably before its eyes rolled up in its head and it went unconscious.

"Kill it," Zeus said, approaching us and causing the sons of Hades to roll their eyes in disgust, "Get rid of it permanently."

"If we do that, it'll rupture the universe," I said in irritation, "Did first demon of the universe not fucking mean anything to you?"

"I'm getting really irritated with you."

"Oh, trust me, the feeling is mutual."

"Okay, ladies," Lea drawled, putting her hands on her hips, "We can bicker some other time. Right now, we need to get this demon somewhere it can't escape, or at least somewhere Atlan can't get a hold of it." Hades stood up and turned to us.

"I have a nice cozy place he can stay at while we figure things out. Some place Atlan hopefully won't think of if he hasn't done his homework on me."