Authors note: Hello little Olympians!  Two things, as always.  One, sorry for the wait on this chapter!  Hope it satisfies your cravings.  Two, I HAVE A TWITTER!!!   Search either 'Elizabeth Pierce' or 'Thelast1toturn' and you'll find me :) 

On to the story!  Thanks for being such great readers!

When I exited the bathroom I found clean clothes waiting for me on the bed.  Black thick leggings, a grey high necked sweater with black knee high boots.  All of this along with a note that read 'Temporary clothes until we land.  Rest up.'  with a signature from Mars on the bottom.  I tossed the note to the side, not planning on following the directions anyways, so instead dressing myself.

I dressed myself unconsciously, with no one on my mind but Hades. He saved my life and I owed him now more than ever. I cursed myself for being so biased towards Ares, Hades is the one I should've been more concerned about.

I jiggled the door knob anxiously, wanting nothing more than to be free of this confined room.  I needed to see Hades.  Needed to know that he was okay and beg his forgiveness.  Hearing him say I was forgiven would surely ease my conscience and make building a strategy easier with a clear mind.  Not to mention make dying in a few short days a lot easier.

But none of this could happen if I couldn't even get out of my room.

I pounded on the door with my fist.  "Hello?!  Hello?!  Someone open the door!"  I yelled out to the other side.  No response.  This ship could NOT be that big.  Someone could definitely hear me.  The fact that they were ignoring me made me even angrier.  

I surveyed the room, looking for a nail, or a bobby pin.  But it looked as if no one had even slept in this room, let alone left accessories in it.  The desk in the corner of the room caught my eye.  On top of it lay a jar of ink and a quill.  Score.

I hurriedly snatched it up, eager to see Hades.  With the quill in hand I ran back over to the door.  I shoved it into the lock, trying my hardest to pick it.  Though usually I am capable of picking locks the quill was fragile, and snapped as soon as I made a small wrong move.  I cursed myself for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Damn it..."  I shook my head, disappointed with myself.  Just as my heart was about to sink, the ground I was standing on tilted to the side, throwing me against the wall as the lamp next to the bed crashed to the ground, along with the jar of ink and something in the bathroom.  I had almost completely forgotten we were on a flying air craft.

I listened to the noises coming from the hallway.  People were thrown around just like I was, and objects crashed onto the ground outside the walls.  A man with a deep voice was barking orders, telling everyone to keep calm and find a safe spot to sit just as the ship regulated itself, and everything was normal again.

"Sorry about that."  Hermes laughing voice over the intercom spoke.  "Flying this thing is way different than a chariot.  Everyone okay?"

"Give me that!"  Someone next to him yelled.  The were some muffled noises, but when a voice spoke again it wasn't Hermes.  "If you are okay, I need you to get to the nearest call button and report in with your name telling me you're okay.  If you aren't, sit tight and we'll send someone for you."  The intercom went off, and I scanned the room once more for a call button.  

I located it in the bathroom next to the light switch, but hesitated before pushing it.  If I didn't push it, they'd send someone for me.  I pulled my hand back, giving myself a smile in the mirror.

I waited what seemed like forever behind the door, so that when someone came in I could close the door behind me easily as I ran out.  

Footsteps finally came towards my door followed by a knock.  "Athena are you okay?  Why didn't you call in?" My fathers voice said.  When I didn't answer, he started unlocking the bolted door.  "Athena?!" He yelled bursting in.  I ran behind him, closing the door and locking it from the outside, hoping to get to where Hades was being held undetected.  

"Sorry, Father."  I whispered, turning on my heel and walking down the hall way I found myself facing.  White doors lined the dim gray walls. How did this ship even have so many rooms? I cautiously and quietly looked inside each room, finding them to be the same layout as the room I was just in.  No Hades inside any of them.  I rounded the corner almost running into people, but I quickly surveyed who they were as fast as lightning.

Aphrodite, who I knew had always hand a problem with the left side of her rib cage from being squeezed too tightly into corsets, and Hephaestus who's ankles have given him trouble lately.  The ground we were standing on was very hard.  Should they fall on it the wrong way, they would knock themselves out.  Mars stood behind them, but since I didn't know a weak spot on him I decided I'd deal with him last.

I grabbed Aphrodite's upper arm and threw her down to the ground at Hephaestus' ankle, and onto her ribs.  Her head smacked the ground with a thud, and I swear it probably echoed.  Hephaestus fell over her, as his ankles were weighted down by Aphrodite's body, and landed on the ground hard on his arm. He laid there holding his dislocated arm as I looked up at Mars.

"Impressive.  How'd you know their weak points?"  Mars asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.  

"Quick thinking and a few million years by their side."  I answered, surveying him as my new prey.

"And why am I not laying on the ground beside them?"  He asked.

I cocked my head to the side, giving him one last glance over trying to think of his. Nothing. If he were Ares it would be his right shoulder, worn down from thousands and thousands of years of repetitive sword swinging. But this was not Ares. "Because I do not know yours."  I answered honestly, straightening myself up.  I walked past Mars, leaping over the two gods on the floor and headed towards a new hallway.  Abruptly, I was shoved up against a wall with a boom, and caged in by Mars' arms on either side of me.

"Where do you think you're going?"  He asked, a few inches away from my face.

"If the matter were any of your concern I would tell you I was going to see Hades, but it isn't.  So I'll be on my way."  I said, intending on continuing on my search for Hades, but Mars' lower half pressed against mine hard. I opened my mouth in pain, but contained my screech.

"And why would you want to go see him, huh?  To finish the job?"  Mars spat towards me, pressing harder against me.

"What job?" I said through clenched teeth.

"Now that he's weakened it'd be the perfect opportunity for you to finish him off now wouldn't it? Is that what your after? What Ares told you to do?"  He glared down at me, hoping to scare the answer out of me. "It's disgusting."

"I was actually seeking forgiveness!"

Mars held his position for a few moments, resisting me the few times I struggled against him.  The whole time he searched my eyes for even a hint of a lie.  When he finally realized he wouldn't find one, he backed away.

"You really want to see him that badly?"  Mars asked me calmly.  I nodded quickly.

"More than anything at the moment."  I answered honestly.  Mars' solemnly nodded, looking behind him to where Hephaestus was standing up, about to pick Aphrodite up.

"Take care of this will you buddy?  Looks like I get to be little miss Athena's escort."  Mars said tugging on my arm in the direction he had come from, not waiting for an answer from Hephaestus.  

He pulled me down a darker gray hallway, where the doors were no longer regular doors, but steel.  Each had a large window in them, allowing people to look in on the sterile white rooms with small white beds and a large medical machine.  But honestly, to me it seemed more like prison cells.

"This way."  He said tugging me further and further down the hall.  No one was in any of the rooms.  I was begining to think Mars was never going to stop pulling me along when I caught a glimpse of someone laying on one of the beds.  I looked closer and noticed it was Hades in a pair of white pants and no shirt.  Instead, ribbons of white bandage were wrapped around his chest, blood stained.  

"Is he going to be okay?"  I asked Mars, noticing for the first time that my hand was covering my mouth in shock.

"Yes.  But you're lucky.  An inch closer in any direction and you'd have to wait a long time for that apology of yours."  I spun around and faced Mars, concern spread across my face.

"It was just an arrow-"

"Poisoned." Mars interrupted, peering into the room with a disgruntled look on his face. "And meant for you." He looked down at me with an expression I couldn't quite read, but by his tone I understood. He was right, that arrow was meant for me, but Hades took it without a second thought.

"Will you be accompanying me in there?" I asked, breaking a long drawn out silence.

"No.  No, I wouldn't dare intrude on such an intimate moment.  Say what you need to say, and I'll be here to take you back to your room when you're done." Mars said, looking and sounding more and more like a soldier.   I was glad he came with us, though I would never admit it...

"Please don't take me back there."  I said, begging for him to listen to me.  

"It's not personal, Athena.  But I need to protect this family.  They're my only chance just as much as they are yours and quite honestly you're a threat to everyone here."  Mars said with little emotion.

"You're wrong, Mars.  I listened to what you said... I took it to heart.  I'm back on track, and I want to help more than anything!  I can help... Please just trust me.  I'll prove it to you, I promise."  I offered.  Mars gazed down at me, thinking. "I want you to come with us, please. Help me. Don't leave after were in the clear, stick around, please."

"Alright.  Fine."  He said moving closer to me slowly.  I backed up until my back hit the door, but still Mars came closer.  He cornered me just as he had before.  And all I could do was look up at him.  "But believe me when I say this Athena;  Should you slip up, should you stand in my way, should you disobey one of my commands for your own selfish purposes... I will lock you in the coldest, darkest, nastiest prison cell I can find where dreams do not exist.  You shall never again see the light of day, nor will you ever feel the warmth of a fire, or the touch of a lover."  He added stroking my cheek. I flinched at his touch, legitimately scared.  "You will always be under my watching gaze.  And you will never know freedom again.  Am I clear?"

My breathing hitched as I nodded, staring into Mars' scary eyes.  I felt Mars hand run down my waist until I no longer felt it at all.  Instead I heard a small beeping noise before I was pushed into the white room, and the door was shut behind me.  

I looked through the window accusingly to Mars.  He nodded at me before turning and walking down the hall. It was no surprise to me now that he and Hades got along so well.

I turned to Hades, who was laying across the room with his arms at his side and his eyes closed peacefully.  His black hair was rustled, and his body was scratched up from running through the forest.  What was calming about his appearance was the rising and falling of his chest.  He was breathing.  He was alive.  And if that was not something to be thankful for, I don't know what is.

"Are you awake?" I whispered loud enough for him to hear if he were.  No response.  He was asleep, and I wouldn't wake him.  I knew he would need his rest.

I sighed, walking over to the bed and watching him sleep.  He looked so peaceful.  I would give anything for him to be this calm when he was awake.

I glanced over my shoulder and found a wooden chair, which seemed out of place in such a white room.  Regardless, I pulled it over to the bed and took a seat in it.  I rested my elbows on the bed, and took Hades hand in my own.  He didn't stir.  He was obviously a heavy sleeper.

I placed my lips on Hades hand.  If there were ever a time to say the things I was so uncertain about saying, now would be the time, if only to clear my conscious.  I closed my eyes for a moment, tears already threatening to spill out, and silently praying that the right words would come to me.

"I'm so sorry, Hades."  I started, looking at his peaceful form.  I thought about not continuing.  Just walking out and perhaps coming back later.  But there was so much on my mind, so much to be said.  I had to say it at least once, gods only knew if I would get the chance later.

"I remember when we first met... It seems so long ago, now. I was so young, and free spirited in that time of peace.  My favorite flowers, the blue hydrangeas, do you remember? By the fountain on Olympus? They died as fall faded into winter, of course. It was silly of me but  I cried, knowing I wouldn't see anymore of them until the spring.  And then you appeared out of nowhere, and asked me what was wrong.  And when I told you, you smiled and crouched down to ground.  You placed your hand on the earth and suddenly the flowers bloomed again.  And I just remember being so shocked and happy."  I laughed quietly, reminiscing. "But when I turned around to thank you... you were gone. Always disappearing on me." I kept replaying that day over and over in my head. What would I give to be that young and free again.

"Listen to me talking of such foolishness, as if you died and I'm at your funeral... That's not why I'm here." I paused, shaking my head.  "No, I'm here because... I'm sorry, Hades."  I repositioned myself in my chair, moving closer to the bed and gripping his hand a little tighter. 

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be a better wife, the wife you need, the wife you NEEDED." I said shakily, wiping my tears on his hand, realizing I would never get to prove myself a good fiance/wife.  For Hades and I would never be married.  I didn't have that much time.  

"I'm sorry I wasn't stronger.  I'm sorry I wasn't myself and that I wasted these past six months with you being emotionless and uncaring but I truly, truly couldn't help it.  I'm sorry I was so stupid, and... and selfish!" I yelled, frustrated with how long the list of my mistakes was.  "I'm sorry I you invested so much time into me when all I ever did was spit it back in your face.  I'm sorry I could never prove my love to you, or show my faith in you.  I'm sorry you'll never know that I DON'T hate you.  And most of all... I am sorry that as much as you want to, we'll never be married... I'm so sorry."  I said, balling my eyes out.  I bowed my head down onto the bed and muffled the sound of my sobs into the mattress.

I sat back up and leaned back in my chair, still holding his hand in mine.  I shook my head at my nonsense.  "The truth is Hades... I'm so very scared."  I admitted.  "I'm scared I'll slip up; Let my emotions show to strongly again or not at all again, and then Mars and my family won't trust me.  I'm scared that were going to lose this war because I don't know where to go from here, I have no idea..."  I said, saying it out loud seemingly scared myself even further.  

"I find myself in a predicament, you see. I've been alive millions and millions of years and not once did it ever cross my mind that there was an end to my existence.  My times running out, now.  5 days is seconds compared to millions of years, and I feel I'm grasping out, trying to hold on to every minute but it's slipping through my fingers like sand and I-... I don't know. I'm just scared of dying.  I'm scared that maybe I won't come back.  I'm scared to be alone; without you or anyone for that matter.  I'm scared of the pain.  Of the darkness."  

I paused, waiting until my throat would un-close, allowing me to continue.  "I'm scared that you'll be angry when I'm gone.  Angry at me, or at the other gods... Angry at the world... But this was my fault."  I said, standing up and gently placing Hades hand at his side.  I wiped the rest of my tears away, feeling better about coming clean even if Hades wouldn't know what I said.

"If I could do it all over again, I would choose you."  I stated.  I leaned down, giving him a small kiss on the lips.  I lingered for a moment, making sure he didn't wake up and then exited the room quietly.  I closed the door just as quiet, with only a faint click signaling it had closed.  

I heard a door slamming shut and looked to the side of me to see Mars still holding the door handle and storming off without sparring me a glance.  I wondered what could have made him so mad, and walked towards the door he had come out of.  This door had no window.  

I curiously turned the handle, looking around me to make sure no one was around to see me snooping, and walked inside.  

Ares was tied down to the bed in what looked like gold shackles and gold chain.  Which made perfect sense since Ares weakness was gold.  Pain was spread across his face, along with a thin spread of sweat.  Next to his bed was a tray of needles, filled with some sort of red gel and gold flakes that would no doubt weaken him.

"Well look who it is.  I was wondering when I'd get the honor of having LADY Athena in my quarters."  He spat, putting extreme emphasis on the 'lady'.  

I pursed my lips and shut the door behind me, walking over to the bed slowly knowing he was a danger but not caring.  I couldn't be afraid of him.  Not anymore. All I felt towards him was anger and betrayal.

I dragged the chair identical to the one in Hades room over to the bed, but before sitting down I landed a hard blow to Ares jaw, causing him to cry out.

"Holy shit!  WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"  He yelled.

"Payback for shooting my fiance, asshole. Now, I think it's time you and I had a little talk."  I answered, getting a cold stare from a scared Ares.

Hades POV

I opened my eyes, a tear falling down my cheek from the pain now squeezing my heart and making it hard to breathe.  Pretending to be asleep was the most difficult thing I had ever done in my long, long life.

Athena apologized in the most sincere, heartfelt way anyone ever had.  Of course I would forgive her.  I regretted not opening my eyes right then and there and admitting all my sins as well as comfort her in her time of need.

Hearing that she was scared made my heart sink even further.  Why didn't she just tell me?  I would have listened!  I would have helped...  Did she not trust me enough to tell me?  That made me feel even worse.

Athena was dying.  Something happened.  But I couldn't confront her about any of this!  She would know I was pretending and be embarrased or mad.  Maybe even both.  No.  I would act like this had never happened, which would be hard, all while trying to figure out how to save her.

"My love is dying." I whispered to myself, letting another tear fall. And then another.  And then another.

Hope you liked it guys!  Next chapter to come soon, hopefully!

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