Chapter Ten

 Epimetheus had stormed back to Theo's chambers with Rara in tow.

I could feel his anger and irritation boiling inside, giving me the sensation that I was once again trapped in an oven, even worse with all the hot walls closing in around me. I could only watch as he threw open the door.

Theo was still lying on the bed, but now his hands were thrust over his head, torn pieces of the sheets tying his wrists to the headboard. He wasn't looking so well either. His face was flushed, sweat making his hair stick to his temples. He was breathing hoarsely. It looked like a bad case of Recharge that was being ignored, not tended to. I writhed at the thought of not being able to do something, but it was no use.

I was trapped.

Inside my own body.

Epimetheus paced in the room for a moment, running a hand through his hair before pulling up short to look at Rara, who was frowning at Theo.

"All right," He decided, making her look up quickly, "Stay here. Do not try and heal him. He must stay like this. I'll go to the meeting in his sted. We still need more time. I need to find Prometheus and--"

"Do you really even have time for that," Rara demanded, making Epimetheus pull up short, the dismay stirring inside him burning, "You need to hurry. They'll begin to suspect and what then? They'll rip you away and throw you back to Tartarus. If I were you... Epimetheus, I'd flee. Get out of here while you still can." Epimetheus twitched, clenching his fists so hard, his nails bit into his palms as he seethed.

"Stop! Everyone keeps telling me to abandon Prometheus, and I won't do that! Prometheus is my brother, my twin. I am nothing without him. I will not leave him behind. He's the sole reason I even bothered to try and escape. I will not leave him behind." He spat, making Rara flinch at his venom. Epimetheus didn't seem to want to stick around much longer and vanished, teleporting us to Malachi's palace in Inferi. I instantly felt the dull ache of my powers waning as Epimetheus swallowed them, clearing his throat.

We stood just outside the doors, pausing to look up at the sky that was pitch black like velvet, rain pouring down in heavy loads. Epimetheus ground his teeth together and I scoffed at the boiling in his blood.

You can always turn back. You're backing yourself into a corner. I told him. Epimetheus seethed, clenching his fists and I felt a sharp bolt of pain slice through me, making me gasp.

Shut up. I know what I'm doing, and if you don't shut up, I'll swallow you whole-- whether you cause me serious indigestion or not.

With that, Epimetheus pushed open the doors and came into the main lobby where the others were already beginning to gather. Charon and Kyros were already there, but Charon looked oddly sick. His skin was paler than usual, dark shadows under his eyes. Kyros stood so close to him, I'm surprised they weren't joint at the hip. Cain was also there with Hannibal. Cain didn't look so great either. He looked chilly and for once, he wasn't dressed like a prostitute. He wore a long sleeved v-neck sweater and sweatpants, barrettes keeping his hair back from a pale, sleepy looking face. Hannibal stood beside him, watching him with a blank expression.

Zelios had also arrived, looking rather under the weather too with tired, hooded eyes and a thicker robe, his arms folded tightly as if he were freezing. Noe stood right next to him, gazing up at him every so often with a worried expression that Zelios seemed to try and ignore. Abel was also present, sitting on top of the desk with his knees cocked inwards, his elbows resting on top of them. He was shivering, coughing harshly every so often. Cerberus was leaning against the wall, trying to look like he was okay, but it was obvious that he was having trouble staying awake. Leon had to tap his shoulder every so often.

What's going on? I wondered with a frown.

Shut up. Epimetheus ordered, making me roll my eyes. Or, if I could, I felt as if I were doing so. I watched Epimetheus walk in, a couple members of the group looking up sourly.

"Where the fuck is Theo?" Cain asked dryly, pausing to cough harshly into his palm. Hannibal laid a hand on Cain's hip, pulling him closer in a very un-servant like fashion, but Cain didn't seem opposed to it, and if he did, he looked too weak to try and keep Hannibal away.

"Theo is in Recharge." Epimetheus answered stoically, making Cain and Cerberus scoff. Abel made a rude noise in the back of his throat, looking up with bloodshot eyes that were narrowed in disgust.

"Oh, please. If we can make it here while feeling like shit, so can he." He snapped.

"Pipsqueak's right," Cerberus agreed, making Abel scowl, "Tell him to get his ass over here. If we have to suffer, so does he."

"He's unconscious." Epimetheus replied shortly. That made everyone go quiet and look away, disgruntled. They hardly seemed to care that Theo was extremely ill. It made hate boil inside me so harshly that it burned. How could they let this happen to Theo? What of Cerberus? Hadn't he protected Theo when he was a child from his mother? Of course, my opinion didn't matter before and it mattered even less now as Epimetheus just came away from the door to rest in one of the arm chairs, folding one leg over the other.

We all sat in silence for a while before the doors to the inner part of the palace opened to reveal Malachi looking extremely sick, maybe just a bit green in fact. Adrian was walking close beside him, looking uncomfortable and nervous.

"We have a problem." Malachi stated first.

"Really," Cain exclaimed sarcastically, stepping away from Hannibal, who raised an eyebrow at his master, "No way! I didn't notice seeing as we all look like we're on the verge of total Recharge!"

"Nobody asked for your commentary, fucktard." Abel snapped, making Cain curl his lip to face his twin, who mimicked his expression nearly perfectly.

"And nobody asked for you to even be alive, now did we? I killed you twice, I can do it again." Cain threw back. Abel fumed and hopped off the desk, heading for Cain, who looked ready to beat the living hell out of him until Hannibal caught him under the shoulders and Adrian came out in front of Abel, putting his hands on Abel's chest to stop him.

"Please," Adrian pleaded gently when Abel protested, "Stop, we don't have time for this. You're sick. In fact, all of you are. That means there's something going on, something bad and I think it has to do with the Titans." Abel looked like he wanted to keep fighting, but he suddenly looked extremely exhausted and instead slumped to the floor on his knees, shivering. Adrian winced, then stepped back to look around at all of us, his eyes locking on Epimetheus.

"Where's Theo?" He asked, frowning.

"He's struck with Recharge." Epimetheus replied, sounding impatient. Adrian hesitated at that, glancing over at Malachi, who narrowed his eyes in thought. I could feel the suspicion and alarm going off inside Epimetheus. He could tell Malachi and Adrian knew something. They were up to something and I found myself praying to the gods that they could do something about it because right now, Theo was suffering alone. No one was helping him.

No one was tending to him or watching him to make sure he didn't slip into a coma. No one was feeding him or bathing him. Jobs that had all fallen on my shoulders over the past years. Agony tore through me and I writhed again, but it was hopeless.

"Are you guys connected at all?" Adrian asked at last. Cain cast Adrian a disdainful glare, folding his arms over his chest as Hannibal narrowed his eyes with a frown.

"What do you mean connected? We're sons of Hades." He responded dryly.

"He means if our souls are connected, dimwit," Cerberus snapped in irritation, surprising us with how annoyed he sounded as he rubbed his temples before peering up at the lights on the ceiling, "Turn those off. I'm getting a migraine."

"Me too." Charon whispered, reaching up to clutch the sides of his head, ducking his face down to hide from the lights. Kyros pulled Charon's hood up and kept his hands on Charon's shoulders to support his weight as he seemed to sway for a moment. Malachi nodded and snapped his fingers loudly, making everyone groan before the lights flickered and dimmed considerably.

"I need to sit." Cerberus mumbled at last and slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. Leon knelt beside him, looking surprisingly concerned as he touched Cerberus' forehead, then hissed and withdrew his hand sharply.

"He's got a fever." He informed, rising to his feet again.

"Malachi does too," Adrian murmured, scanning the room, "Are all of you experiencing Recharge?"

"Recharge symptoms," Cain admitted under his breath, reaching up to press a palm to one of his eyes as if it were causing him considerable pain, "But my powers are still intact. I can feel them pulsing."

"I can too," Zelios spoke up at last, his voice hoarse, "But the symptoms are still there and getting worse by the minute. Pretty soon, we'll all be unconscious and unable to move. Something's happening." He turned to Adrian, who looked at him curiously.

"Adrian, you asked if our souls were connected. It's not our souls exactly. Hades made it so that we can't harm each other any more. Harm to one does harm to the others. He did it very recently in fact." He informed. Cain glared at him, clenching his fists and pushing Hannibal away to start toward Zelios, but he stumbled and Hannibal caught him under the arms.

"You bastard," He seethed, "You never told us that! And neither did Hades!"

"No," Zelios agreed, "He did not. I was also ordered not to say anything about it. He did it shortly after you attacked Abel."

"Which time?" Abel asked dryly.

"The fourth." Zelios responded. Cain, Abel, and Cerberus groaned out loud in pain. Cain couldn't stand anymore and Hannibal gently lowered him to the floor on his knees, making sure to keep himself around Cain like a human shield. Abel was still shivering and slowly lowered himself to lie down on the floor, his cheek against the floor as he breathed heavily.

"Then that means one of you is suffering from Recharge." Adrian answered. All eyes locked on Epimetheus, who went absolutely still. I could hear the panic in his mind, his blood kicking into overdrive and his heart beating down on top of me vigorously like a jack hammer, sending pain bursting through me. I groaned and writhed, squirming as I felt like I was being pushed own on by a heavy wall.

"We need to see Theo." Adrian told him. Epimetheus rose to his feet slowly, frowning.

"Lord Theo ordered me to keep everyone away. He does not wish to be seen." He replied firmly, folding his arms over his chest. Desite the calm in his voice and the placid look on his face, I could feel everything inside of him exploding in panic and hysteria. I didn't feel sorry for him, though.

He deserved whatever they were ready to dish out. I could only hope that Theo's brothers would be determined enough to go see Theo, finding him bound to the bed and unconscious.

"We need to see him," Adrian pressed, reaching up to brush hair out of his serious face, "We need to know what's going on and why Theo of all people would be suffering from Recharge."

"Yeah," Cerberus agreed with a snort, "As shocking as it may be, Theo uses his powers the least of us all. The fact that he would be suffering from Recharge, and so harshly, means he's had to use his powers big time."

"Cerberus is right," Zelios spoke calmly, making something in Epimetheus roar with annoyance, "Theo is very conservative of his powers. If he wants something done, wouldn't he simply send you to do it anyway?"

"Yes." Epimetheus answered automatically. This was ridiculous. I wanted to shout and pull my hair out, do something, anything to get their attention. How could they not realize that Epimetheus was a fraud? Surely I didn't act as he was. They should know my loyalty for Theo was unwavering and eternal. And yet, no one seemed suspicious.

Then again, they were demigods, not full gods. They couldn't tell. They probably felt a fissure in the air, but that was it and a fissure of power could mean anything to them. Although, there was something about the way Adrian was looking at Epimetheus that made me hopeful. Surely he could sense me writhing inside my own body, trapped behind Epimetheus.

"Then we need to find out if he's all right." Cerberus declared and slowly got to his feet, struggling by the second as Leon assisted him in standing. Epimetheus' eyes flashed and I felt his panic heighten, but to his credit, he didn't betray it on his face.

"I must tell him then. He's not physically presentable." He didn't even wait for them to respond as he vanished and we reappeared in Theo's chambers again where Rara was pacing before she jumped at the sight of Epimetheus, who rushed to the bedside, pushing her aside as he untied Theo's hands.

"What're you doing?!" She demanded incredulously.

"The others are on their way to check on him, hurry! Get the cooks to start preparing something to heal him. Slip something into it, though, so he stays unconscious."

"Like what?! What kind of drug effects a god?"

"Demigod. And there has to be something, just go! There's no time!" Epimetheus snarled and Rara flinched, hurrying from the room with the door clicking shut behind her. Epimetheus whirled back to Theo, who was still slumped in the bed, straining for breath, his hands dropped on the pillow over his head. Epimetheus pulled them down and laid them over his chest before grabbing up the blankets, pulling them over Theo vigorously. He stepped back and looked up, just as the others came into the room, appearing all at once.

"Holy shit." Abel managed, struggling to stay standing as he leaned on the end of the bed, grimacing. Cain blinked, looking surprised as he stared at Theo, who lay on the bed, struggling for breath.

"That's beyond Recharge." Cerberus breathed, coming to the other side of the bed to lean over Theo, who looked like he was in severe pain. Something that had once made him shiver in delight and now had him trembling, gasping for breath and sweating with a fever so harsh that his cheeks were flushed red and sweat soaking the sheets.

"Why isn't anything being done?" Malachi demanded, locking his sights on Epimetheus, who blinked.

"We're doing everything we can," Epimetheus answered, keeping his voice level, "We've been trying to feed him, but he can't hold anything down. He's also unconscious in case you haven't noticed." Malachi looked surprised at the jab in Epimetheus' voice before he looked at Adrian, who was staring at Theo, looking pale.

"He looks... so fragile." Adrian said at last.

"Anyone is when they're suffering from Recharge, especially when it's this strong." Charon said softly, studying Theo with a pitying stare as he leaned against Kyros for support.

"Whoopdee doo," Cain snapped coarsely, folding his arms tightly over his chest, "But we need him to get better, otherwise, we're all going to end up in comas and the last thing I need are souls trying to escape my domain. A bunch of boring bastards alone are nothing, but together, they're like a Black Friday mob at Macy's."

"We can't force him to get better, Cain," Malachi muttered dryly, "He needs time to recover. And we need to know what he used his powers on. Whatever it was must have been extremely powerful, and dangerous. This is the worst case of Recharge I've seen in a long time."

"Psh," Cerberus snorted bitterly, reaching out to touch Theo's forehead, then withdrew sharply, cursing in pain as he shook out his burnt hand, "You're telling me. I'm older than dirt and I haven't seen it this bad... Not since..." He stopped to stare at Theo, who seemed to squirm a little in his sleep.

"Cerberus?" Cain asked.

"Ssh, he's dreaming about something." Cerberus ordered and leaned over the bed toward Theo, placing his ear near Theo's face to listen. I could feel Epimetheus getting panicky again as he stared at Theo so hard, I thought he was going to burn holes through him. Everyone looked at each other curiously and leaned toward Theo, who twitched and gasped for breath.

Suddenly, the bedroom door slid open loudly and everyone jumped, glaring at Rara, who had opened the door, holding a tray of warm soup and nectar. She blinked owlishly, confused before a bloodcurdling scream tore through the room, making everyone snap their heads back to see Theo shoot up in bed. Cerberus went to calm him down, but Theo shoved his hands away and tried to get out of the bed, but Epimetheus caught him around the torso and Theo writhed, thrashing and kicking, tangling the sheets and flinging them at the twins.

"Nooo! Get off me! Stop! Stop hitting me!" Theo shouted, flinging his fist at Cerberus, who just barely dodged it before catching it.

"Theo! Stop! Nobody's trying to hit you." Cerberus scolded, but Theo was lost. In fact, his red eyes were wild, flashing around the room as if he were seeing things that we weren't. Epimetheus narrowed his eyes and tried to push Theo back on the bed, but that only caused Theo to go into another fit, thrashing and kicking out, ripping his fist away from Cerberus and trying to hit him again, only to have Cerberus catch it just an inch from his nose.

"Stop hitting me! Stop touching me!"

"Theo, nobody's trying to hit you!" Cerberus exclaimed, but Theo didn't seem to hear him as he screamed in frustration and not being about to hit anyone. My heart throbbed and I wanted so badly to wrap my arms around him the way I had when I was holding his soul, but I could do nothing. Epimetheus was still in charge, trying to push Theo back with much difficulty. So much so that Malachi had to come in and try to help. For a demigod suffering Recharge, Theo was unbelievably strong.

"Let me go! Stop! Mama, stop! Stop hitting me!" He cried, gasping for breath, trying to pull away from us, but Epimetheus finally managed to shove Theo back down on the bed. Of course, by now, Theo was hysterical and fighting back desperately, like he was fighting off the hands of Death. Zelios finally stepped in on Cerberus' side of the bed to try and hold him down. Cain, Abel, and Charon watched with wide eyes along with Hannibal, Leon, Kyros, and Noe, who looked stunned to see Theo reacting this way.

"He's hallucinating," Zelios told us, keeping one of Theo's legs down with great effort, glancing up to look at us as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his nose, "His fever is extremely dangerous. If we don't cool him down, his body will start to shut down. If that happens, we'll all die."

"You," Cerberus barked, glaring at Rara, who mouthed me in response, "Go! Draw a bath and fill it with ice, immediately! Move quickly if you don't want me to cut your tongue out!" Rara squeaked and threw Epimetheus a quick glance before she fled to the connecting bathroom to fill the tub before fleeing to the kitchen to gather the ice.

"Stop," Theo gasped, clawing at Epimetheus' arms, making Epimetheus hiss past clenched teeth in pain as blood oozed from the wounds, "Make her stop! It hurts!"

"Theo," Malachi barked, trying to get his attention before he reached out and grabbed Theo's face in his hands, trying to force him to look, "Theo, stop, it's us. Stop moving around, you're going to hurt yourself." Theo didn't even seem to see him as his eyes darted around everywhere like he was trying to follow a fly in the room that no one else could see.

"Where is he?! Where'd he go?!" He demanded desperately, trying to catch his breath in between screams of anger. Malachi, Cerberus, and Zelios ignored him, though, as they looked up at each other in alarm.

"We need get him to the tub," Zelios stated, glancing at his brothers, "We need to move quickly. Don't let him leave and make sure you don't hurt him. Whether out of the kindness of your heart or purely for the fact that you don't want that pain transferred to you, just do it." Malachi and Cerberus nodded, struggling to stop Theo from thrashing around. Epimetheus immediately stepped away as Malachi managed to catch the sheet under Theo, Cerberus tossing the other side to him. Malachi struggled to wrap the sheets around Theo, who only panicked even more as he writhed against the sheets.

"Agh, nooo! No! Get out of me! Fuck! No! I can't breath! I can't move!" Theo tried to bite at Cerberus, who had wrapped the other part of the sheet over Theo, but Cerberus pulled back and Malachi quickly pulled Theo up into his arms, wrapped in the sheets. Theo writhed, gasping so harshly that I could only guess that he was hyperventilating. His claws tore through the sheets, bright red and razor sharp, but Zelios caught Theo's wrist before he could slash at Malachi.

"Now." Zelios ordered. Malachi nodded and altogether they rushed to the bathroom, Theo bundled in Malachi's arms. Theo seemed to have ceased his attempts to attack anyway and was now trying to struggling to stay conscious, his eyelids fluttering and closing before flying back open again as he gasped sharply, as if he were in pain.

You can't do this, I said, my voice strained in my skull as Epimetheus merely watched in silence as they tried to get Theo in the tub, he's in pain! He could die!

That doesn't matter to me, Epimetheus snarled, his voice echoing around my soul and suddenly making the walls around me icy cold, he is nothing to me. In fact, better should he die. He'll take his brothers with him. Less problems for me to deal with.

You can''t let him die! You can't!

And why not?

Because! Hades will slaughter you!

That's not the only reason. If you can't even say it--

I love him, goddamn it! I love Theo! Stop standing around! Don't let him die! Please... Please! Everything inside me ached and I suddenly felt smaller as I squirmed underneath of Epimetheus' heavy soul. If I could cry, I knew I would be. I hadn't cried since the day of my birth. I came so very close when I saw Theo sitting on that cold throne all by himself, little and frail. And now, everything felt like it was falling apart again as I watched Theo struggling for air, struggling for life.

Agony tore through me at the fact that I was standing there. I could do something, I know I could! I could fight Epimetheus, but I wasn't working hard enough! Epimetheus wasn't letting me do anything! Frustration and pain coursed through me like I'd never felt before.

Malachi managed to place Theo in the rub. Theo's teeth started chattering and he tried to climb out, but Cerberus caught him by the shoulders roughly and slammed him back down. That only made Theo angrier as he clawed viciously at Cerberus' arms, blood and loose skin running up and down his once smooth, muscular arms. Zelios pulled the belt off his robe, glancing at Noe and nodding. Noe flinched and vanished in a sharp pop before Zelios whirled back to Theo, grabbing his wrists.

"Get the fuck off me! Stop touching me!" Theo shouted angrily, but Zelios managed to force Theo's wrists over his head and used his belt to tie them to the steel faucet. Theo hissed, baring his fangs angrily, writhing and splashing ice cold water everywhere. It took a while, but the water was slowly growing warm from Theo's fever. I could see the way Cerberus flinched when the water splashed against his legs.

"It's not working." Malachi snapped, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"We need the ice," Cerberus cursed, then whirled to look at the door where the others had gathered to watch, "Where the fuck is that servant?!"

"I'll go find her." Adrian volunteered.

"I'll go too." Abel agreed and took Adrian's hand, both of them vanishing at once. Epimetheus swept his eyes back to Theo, who was still struggling, but more weakly now. He was trying to catch his breath now mostly, eyelids heavy and chest heaving, his cheeks still flushed.

"What do we do?" Cerberus demanded, glancing at his brothers, who all shared looks before they came to a conclusion that set Epimetheus' blood on fire.

"Hades." They said in unison. Epimetheus slowly backed toward the door, eyes narrowed. I writhed, trying to shout to them, but they hardly noticed Epimetheus stepping out of the large bathroom. They were busy muttering on how to get to him quickly enough when Malachi noticed Epimetheus first.

"Where are you going?" He demanded. Epimetheus hissed like an angry cat and quickly threw his hands up, barking a few words in Latin. It took me a moment to realize what he was doing, until Malachi slammed into an invisible shield around the door. He stepped back and tried to teleport, but he wasn't going anywhere. Epimetheus smirked.

"Wow, that was easier than I had hoped. But, think of it this way. At least you can be with your precious brother in his final moments. Oh, wait, that's right," Epimetheus snapped his fingers, laughing out loud as he folded his arms over his chest, "Thanks to your special daddy, you're all connected aren't you? One of you dies, all of you die. I feel like I just won the fucking lottery. This is great."

"You son of a bitch!" Cain spat at Epimetheus, who snorted.

"Sept, why are you doing this?" Malachi demanded.

"Yeah," Cerberus agreed hatefully, clenching his fists as he took up position beside Malachi at the doorway, "I thought you were Theo's loyal dog. What happened to that?"

"Oh, right," Epimetheus exclaimed, glancing down at himself before looking up, "He is supposed to be loyal, isn't he? Whoops. Guess my acting isn't so great after all."

"You," Malachi barked suddenly in anger, placing a hand on the invisible shield so it rippled, "You're the Titan that wrote the message!"

"Guilty as charged." Epimetheus exclaimed and thrust his hands up, narrowing his eyes with a wicked smile. Slowly, and painfully might I add, the message that Adrian had read to us from the card that Xenon had given him appeared on the palms of my hands. Malachi cursed and slammed his fist into the barrier that shuddered for a moment, then recovered.

"Nice job," Epimetheus added with a snort, "You didn't even know that the whole time I was actually hiding in Theo's body. Why do you think he's dying? Only one soul can occupy a body, and Theo's was extremely delicious and now with this Egyptian's god powers restored, I'm on fucking steroids."

Zelios' eyes widened and he snapped his head to glare at Epimetheus, turning to face him fully.

"You were devouring Theo's soul... Epimetheus." As soon as he said the name, his brothers bleghed and whirled on Epimetheus, who glared at him.

"What the fuck? How did you know it was me?" Epimetheus demanded.

"I didn't," Zelios replied dryly, "But I do now. Though, I had suspicions. You had a habit of going weeks, even a month without moving or eating just to spite us. I figured you were doing that again. And you just told me." Epimetheus twitched and I could feel the blush warming his cheeks as he bared his teeth. Cain snorted, giving Epimetheus a dirty smirk.

"This is why no one likes you, Eppy. You're an idiot and a disgrace to the Greeks." He answered. That only fired up Epimetheus' temper, boiling me again so that I had to squirm harshly, trying to shrink away from the hot walls, but it was no use.

"Fuck you, you arrogant little shit," Epimetheus sneered, flashing his fangs, "You're not even from our pantheon. You were born because your mother was a stupid slut that mistook Hades for Satan."

"Fuck you," Cain exclaimed, "She was the first human!"

"And the first idiot."

"I beg to differ, assfuck, if anyone's the first idiot, it was you, retard! You're the one who couldn't do a simple task!"

"I did my task!" Epimetheus argued.

"Yeah, at the last minute. And you become the god of afterthought and excuses. Oh, sorry, were those words too big for you? I meant the god of stupidity and lies!" Cain returned, succeeding in making Epimetheus scream in anger. Cain stuck his tongue out, which only made it worse. If I weren't trapped inside my own body, I would ask Cain very, very sternly to stop anatagonizing him because I felt like I was blistering. Even Apollo wouldn't be able to sit in this hot tank.

"Quit arguing with him," Cerberus snapped, then glared at Epimetheus coldly, "Hades will realize we're not around and kill you, I hope you know that. I'm only allowed to leave for an hour at a time."

"By the time he notices," Epimetheus drawled heatedly, clenching his fists and leaning them against the door frame, "He'll be dead. Because he's going on my hit list."

"Oh please," Malachi responded icily, narrowing his black-blue eyes at Epimetheus like someone who spotted a bug on his shoe, "Hades is the god of the Underworld. You don't stand a chance."

"Bite me," Epimetheus shot back angrily, "I'm a Titan and I pretty much just drained the soul of a demigod and right now, I'm about to drink every last bit of this Egyptian god's soul."

"God? Sept's a god?" Charon asked in disbelief. Zelios grimaced and gave a short nod, to which Cerberus glared at him for.

"What the fuck, man? I thought we were a team. Why are you holding out on us? Anything else you're forgetting?" Cerberus demanded. Zelios gave him a bored stare, then looked back at Epimetheus in annoyance.

"What are you planning to do exactly? To release all the other Titans? I doubt Cronus would appreciate it." He told Epimetheus flatly. Epimetheus curled his lip in repungence at the mere mention of Cronus' name.

"Fuck Cronus," He sneered hatefully, "I'm not going to free any of those leeches. They can rot in Tartarus for all I care. I'm doing this so I can get Prometheus back."

"Prometheus," Charon echoed with a frown, lowering his head to look at Epimetheus in confusion, "But Zeus is the one who punished him, not Hades. You'll run into Zeus if you try to free Prometheus."

"Good," Epimetheus responded with a sneer as he stepped away from the door, "I'd love to rip him to pieces for what he's done to my brother. Prometheus wasn't hurting anyone with what he did!"

"That's a big fat lie," Cain snapped, making Epimetheus spit at him, but he dodged and looked back up angrily, "His introduction of fire to the humans destroyed their innocence. They think they're gods now that they can create it."

"They were dying of hypothermia!"

"And that's how they die off! Humans are not immortal and are not allowed to be! That's the rules, you fucknut!"

"I'm tired of arguing with you brats," Epimetheus snarled, "I'm leaving. And by the time I get back, well... That won't matter to you. I'll just have to clean up whats left of your corpses. Because your brother is about ready to take his last few breathes. They whirled around to Theo, who'd stopped fighting and was now violently trembling in the water, teeth chattering as he tried to breath, skin pale and wet.

No! I cried out, watching Cerberus run to Theo first, ripping the belt from around his wrists. He reached into the tub and pulled Theo out, holding him close. Theo looked small and frail now, the same way he did when I had seen him in the throne, but he remained the same age. Cerberus flinched.

"He's freezing now. I need something to warm him up." He ordered, looking at Malachi, who was already taking off his cloak and throwing it to Cerberus, who wrapped Theo up and put his arms around his brother tightly, taking his trembling cold fingers into his hands where he breathed hotly against them and rubbed them in his own hands. Cerberus jerked his head up, his eyes glinting threateningly as he locked eyes with Epimetheus.

"Just you wait," He seethed, red eyes glowing insidiously, "You're going to regret ever touching one of my brothers." I could feel the sliver of uneasiness go through Epimetheus, but he said nothing in response and vanished from the room.

Leaving Theo to die slowly in Cerberus' arms.