Chapter Nine

Noe had returned to his room later that night to sleep. I couldn't sleep, nor did I try. I dressed and instantly went to my office, frowning as I entered to see that everything had been torn apart. I had forgotten my temper tantrum. I sighed, frustrated before I gathered everything up and began to return it to their rightful places.

In the mean time, I went through a list of people that Noe had come in contact with since the night he went drinking. Abel already doublechecked the bartender, the vendor, the imp. Who else could they have run into? He ran into Diodorus on his way out, but it couldn't possibly be him. I'd known him since he was a child and he'd never done anything to peak my suspicions. Then again, maybe that was what this little birdy was meant to do. Get in right under my nose in a manner that I wouldn't even notice.

Aside from Diodorus, I delved further into Noe's interactions. The female water daemon servant that had brought him his water. He'd woken up screaming that very night, but the servant had appeared very shaken, frightened. Could someone really fake that?

I brushed a hand through my hair, looking around in frustration as I tried to sort my thoughts. I went to my desk and sat down, opening my laptop and seeing a message from Malachi, informing us that the meeting had been cancelled. I cocked my head curiously at that. Why would he cancel it? He didn't even give a reason. I responded to the message with the question before I sat back, frowning thoughtfully up at the ceiling.

Who else had Noe come in contact with? Maybe he bumped into someone at the bar? But surely a simple nudge from a messenger wouldn't instantly give him the oracle virus. It had to be something well thought out, well planned. I gritted my teeth when my laptop blinked and I looked up to see that Malachi had replied, and very briefly.

Busy.

Busy? What could possibly be more important than figuring out how to keep the Titans at bay? Something was going on, but I didn't have time to worry about Malachi's personal issues. I stood up and shut my laptop, ready to fetch some prison logs when an ear splitting scream broke out. I cursed under my breath and quickly left my office, running down the hallway towards Noe's room. I threw the door open to see him kneeling beside his bed, crying into the sheets as his back split and crack open. I winced and came in, shutting the door quickly.

"Noe--"

"It hurts," Noe shouted between gasps, burying his face against the sheets, twisting his fists in them, "I feel like I'm being ripped open!" I went to the bathroom and soaked a towel in cold water before I returned to his side. I wanted to place the towel on his back, but his wings would just rip right through it. And from the looks of something that seemed to be trying to come out of his back, they would be coming soon.  A bloody gash tore down his back and he arched, gritting his teeth and stifling a scream of pain. I pressed the towel to his face as he panted for breath, sweat making his hair stick to his face. He trembled, glancing at me out the corner of his eye.

"Z-Zelios, I don't want to do this anymore." He choked, breathing heavily and resting the side of his face against the bed to look at me. I frowned, still dabbing the cool towel to his face.

"You're going to be okay, Noe, just hold out a little bit longer. Apollo will--"

"No," Noe cried forcefully, making me stare at him in surprise as he reached up and caught my wrist, pushing my hand away, "I don't want Apollo do to anything, not if it means that he's using you!" I winced inwardly. So he did manage to catch that part. I clenched my fists and wrenched my wrist away from Noe, returning to the process of wiping the sweat off his face as he choked out another agonized scream. The sound of tearing flesh sent a chill down my spine as I watched one of his wings rip out his back, splattering blood across the floor and walls. I looked at Noe, who was breathing hard.

"Noe, I chose to do this. I want to do this." I insisted in irritation. Noe surprised me by shooting me a dirty look.

"You want Apollo to do those things to you?" He demanded. I felt heat rising into my face at that, but I fought it down as I glared at him.

"I do not, but that's the price he demanded and I'm willing to pay it if it means that I can make you better." I replied. Noe gritted his teeth and turned his head to hide his face against the sheets. I frowned, but didn't want to argue further, especially when he was in this much pain. As if last night wasn't bad enough, or the first time his wings came in. I continued to dab the cool towel against his skin as his second wing tore out of his back, sending blood flying. I ignored the droplets that struck my face and went to work on cleaning Noe's room as he sat slumped against the bed, panting for breath and staring straight ahead through tired eyes.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out." Noe muttered, making me frown and look up from balling up a bloodied towel. I let it burst into flames and scatter to ashes on the floor before I turned to face him.

"What?" I asked. Noe sat up a little, then hissed past clenched teeth at the way his skin split open further and his wings fluttered against his will, as if they had a mind of their own.

"I'm the one who's supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around." He growled out past clenched teeth. I frowned.

"Noe, there's nothing wrong with me helping you--"

"Yes, there is," Noe insisted, then winced as his wing twitched sharply as a reaction to his anger, "There is! The other righthands are always putting their lives on the line for who they serve, but you won't let me do that. You're the one who's putting their ass on the line for me, literally." I glared at him for the reference, clenching my fists, then unclenching them in an attempt to rein in my temper. I didn't want to shout at Noe, not again.

"My brothers feel differently toward their righthands than I do. That much I can assure you." I responded tightly. Although, admittedly, that wasn't true considering Theo and Sept seemed to have quite a relationship going on, but I kept that part to myself as Noe scowled at me, obviously confused.

"So, what, you don't think I'm capable of protecting you?" He asked. I flinched.

"Noe, that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" Noe pressed, staring at me intently. I caught myself before making a dangerous mistake. Noe didn't know how I felt for him, despite it being a bit obvious, and I preferred it that way. My father would be furious if he found out. The fact that he was oblivious to the relationship between Sept and Theo was astonishing, but it would be just my luck that Hades would find out about Noe. Even worse, Hades would find out that Noe was an oracle and I was giving payment to Apollo. Suffice it to say that the two did not get along, especially after Hades made a big deal about trying to take away one of Apollo's favorite lovers, Hyacinth.

At the same time, it was getting exhausting trying to hide this all from Noe. I loved Noe. There was no other way around it. When he was a child, that was all I saw him as. A child that I had to take care of. The moment he became an adult, things changed. I started noticing his habits, his smiles, his laughter, his beautiful periwinkle eyes, his porcelain skin, everything. My body ached every time we were together and it took everything I had not to take him into my arms and hold him until the end of time.

What if we could keep it from Hades? What if we could be like Theo and Sept? What if it was possible? Maybe luck would side with me for once?

"Zelios?" Noe asked, snapping me out of my train of thought. I looked at him. He'd managed to get onto his feet, his black, bony wings folded up behind him. He only stood a couple feet in front of me, a curious frown on his face.

Tell him. Tell him!

If I did, Hades...

Who gives a fuck about Hades? He barely pays attention to you as it is. He'd bite his own tongue off before marching down to Tartarus just to hassle you about your love life.

That was true. He very rarely came to Tartarus. Even when he did, it was a short visit simply to remind me to do my job, or when it was time for a prisoner to be erased entirely from existence, and even then, he'd skip out if Persephone was visiting.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Noe asked, looking a bit guilty.

"No." I answered shortly. Noe looked down at his feet, rubbing at his arms, grimacing.

"I know you were just trying to help, Zelios. And thank you so much," His cheeks filled with color as he cleared his throat, "But... I can't stand the idea of you having to go through something like that for me, especially when we can't even trust Apollo. He might just be using you and then I'd get in trouble for gutting a god." I almost smiled at that, looking down at Noe. The fact that he was especially bothered about my situation with Apollo was endearing.

"Does it bother you that much?" I asked. Noe's cheeks reddened even more.

"Of course! I don't like the thought of Apollo touching you. It pisses me off." He responded, then looked even more embarrassed at swearing in front of me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why does it upset you so much?" I asked. Noe squirmed under my gaze.

"Uh, just... Just... Just cuz." He mumbled. This time, I couldn't resist smiling. He was incredibly sweet, and his hesitance intrigued me. Part of me wanted to believe it was because maybe, just maybe, somewhere inside he might feel the same way. He'd never particularly shown it, aside from his desperate attempts to seem just like the other righthands and his embarrassment when he said something he thought was out of place. What if all this time he felt the same way for me, as I felt for him? Should I even hope for such a thing? And there was really only one way to find out.

Tell him.

I opened my mouth when the door to Noe's room burst open and a gasp left my lips. Noe yelped and jumped to hide behind me, his wings tensing as they folded up behind him. I whirled around, ready to yell angrily at whoever had managed to get in when I saw a trembling servant there, her eyes welled up with tears.

"L-Lord Zelios, your brothers are here. Your father... T-They killed Edwin and they forced me to come fetch you and Master Noe to the throne room." She choked, my eyes widening. What? What was the meaning of this? What gave them the right to kill my footman and to barge into my home like this? I gritted my teeth when the realization sank in like an ice cold brick in my stomach.

They knew.

They knew about Noe.

Whoever this little birdy was had also informed them about this, otherwise, there'd of been no way for them to discover it.

The servant looked even more terrified when she saw Noe's wings. She withdrew a few steps, then ran down the hallway. I cursed and turned to look at Noe, who swallowed hard and looked up at me.

"I guess this isn't all bad," He said quietly, "Now you won't need to sleep with Apollo." Pain lacerated my heart at that and I shook my head vigorously, grabbing him by the arm and leading him to his wardrobe.

"No," I said forcefully, "You're not going anywhere and you won't be meeting with my family." Noe looked at me incredulously as I grabbed handfuls of his clothes. I summoned a suitcase and it appeared on the bed just as I tossed his clothes into it. Noe managed to wriggle his wrist away from me, but he didn't leave, just stood there, staring at me in horror.

"Zelios, you can't hide me, especially when they already know! They'll torture you!" He cried. I shook my head as I threw the last of his clothes into the suitcase and stepped back, shutting the wardrobe.

"They can torture me all they want, but they cannot kill me. My life is connected to my brothers. Hades won't risk losing all of his wardens because of something like this. He can't sire seven more children in time to take over the sections of the Underworld." I informed, heading to the bed and shutting the suitcase. Noe was right on my heels, trying to pull me away from the suitcase.

"No! No, Zelios, that's not fair! It won't work! I'll still be an oracle and I'd rather die than stay like this another day!" He shouted at me. I shrugged off his hand and turned to him, glaring fiercely.

"I will not let you die. I promised you that I would fix this and that is what I will do. I'll continue to pay Apollo as we agreed and he will give you his blood to keep your powers in check. I won't have them kill you, Noe, I won't." I snapped. Noe stiffened, staring at me.

"Why?" He managed at last. I stared at him.

It was now or never. If I didn't tell him now, I may never get the chance. One of us could die and I wasn't willing to risk it. I stepped up to Noe, reaching out to cup his face in my hands. He looked stunned at the contact, lifting his eyes to meet mine. Perwinkle orbs searched my face as if I held all the answers, but there was only one answer I was willing to give him.

"I love you." I breathed. Noe's eyes widened at that. I leaned down and gave him a firm kiss on the forehead, then pulled back, releasing his face and taking a step back.

"I've loved you the moment you hit adulthood. I loved you as more than just my ward. You became so much more to me than that, Noe. It's why I've always been so afraid to have you defend me at the cost of your life. If you were to die, I wouldn't be able to live anymore. I love you so much." I told him quietly. Noe blinked a few times, obviously still trying to comprehend what I was saying, but we didn't have time for him to understand. I went to grab his suitcase when a strong wave of power slammed into me and sent me slamming into the floor. I hissed, the side of my head colliding with the marble floor. I could feel blood oozing down the side of my face from the gash. I reached up to touch it, blinking away the dizziness it caused.

"Zelios!" Noe cried and went to approach me, but a second later, Cerberus was behind him and wrapping a wire around Noe's wings. Noe yelped in pain and went to grab it away, but Cerberus caught him by the wrists and twisted them behind his back, tying them down too. I heaved myself to my feet.

"Get off him!" I snarled. Cerberus looked momentarily surprised at my aggression, but he didn't cease tying Noe's hands behind his back. A second later, the rest of my brothers arrived along with Hades. I froze at the weight of his immense power suffocating me.

Hades was an incredibly tall man with long black hair, much like Malachi's, flowing down over his shoulders. He wore his form fitting black armor beneath his smokey black cloak, where the faces of the damned seemed to appear, then fade away. His pale blue eyes were like shards of ice as he looked at me.

"I have to admit," He said, his booming voice cold, "I would never have expected you to be the type to not only disobey me, but shame me as well? I'm extremely disappointed." I didn't know what to say to that. His anger only fueled his power even more. My brothers all seemed to grimace under the weight of it. It was even enough to cause Noe to sink down to his knees, breathing hard.

"Let him go." I heard myself say at last, voice strangled. Hades's eyes narrowed sharply.

"Are you fucking stupid, boy? Does being an oracle mean nothing to you? Even worse! An oracle in Tartarus? Do you have any idea how many gods are here? You can stuff griogora up their asses and they'll still have the ability to speak through the oracle. They're powers are fed into him. He's their fridge! They'll keep storing it inside him and using him to find ways out of our system. Do you have any idea what kind of catastrophe that would lead to? The world as we know it could end, and just because you were a selfish little brat." He sneered, then turned to Cerberus, who had his hand resting on Noe's head, gripping his hair, so Noe couldn't get away, not that Noe was making an attempt.

He just sat there on his knees, staring down at the floor, shaking. His wings shuddered and squirmed against the wire Cerberus had wrapped around them quite tightly, enough to surely cause him pain.

"Take him to my place. Stick him in a cage until we can decide how to get rid of him." Hades ordered. Cerberus nodded and pulled Noe up to his feet by his hair. Rage erupted inside me at the way he handled him. I bared my fangs and hissed at him. Cerberus bared his fangs back, but I was hardly intimidated. I went to grab Noe away from him when I felt a pair of hands grab both my arms and heave me back. I looked around incredulously to see Malachi and Theo holding onto me, both of them frowning at me with expressions that both seemed to speak of pity, but I didn't care for it.

"Let me go or I'll rip your arms off." I threatened dangerously. Malachi shook his head, giving me a hard stare.

"I'm sorry, Zelios. I know how much you loved Noe, but you can't risk the rest of us." He responded quietly. Theo even had the heart to look guilty, but he said nothing, just stared at me intently, tightening his grip on my arm. I prepared to attack when a sharp blast of power struck me hard in the chest and I snarled in pain, struggling to stay standing. I looked up to see Hades holding his hand out to me, his eyes narrowed.

"Your powers are revoked until further notice. Get back to the job I gave you, Zelios." He ordered, but I still seethed, jerking at Malachi and Theo's grip on me.

"Get off me! Leave him alone or I swear to the gods, I'll kill myself if you touch him!" I shouted, breathing hard as the last of my powers were drained and sucked into Hades's palm as a small glowing gold orb. He crushed it in his fist and it disappeared into a flurry of glittering dust. He shook his hand out and pinned me with a withering stare.

"If you kill yourself, you kill your brothers." He stated. Pain cut through me at that. As much as I hated my brothers right now, I couldn't bring myself to actually kill them. I looked at Noe, who grimaced as Cerberus pulled on his arms, reeling him back.

"It's okay, Zelios," Noe managed, "It's okay."

"It's not! Stop saying that! I took care of you," I gasped, struggling against the blinding pain in my chest, "I saved you! I raised you! You're mine!"

"Zelios, enough," Malachi exclaimed, looking surprised, "You can just get another--"

"No," I jerked vigorously at his grip, wanting more to slap him than get away now, "I don't want another!"

"Good," Hades declared, "Because I'm not permitting you to have a righthand anymore. You obviously got too close to him. I mean, really? A servant, Zelios? Come now, you're a demigod. You can do better than that." Theo looked down at that to avoid his father's eyes. I glared at Hades hatefully, wanting so badly to rip his tongue out and wrap it around his throat. I had never felt so murderous in my life. My blood felt like lava rushing through my veins and if I had my powers, Hades would have spontaneously combusted.

"Take him out, Cerberus," Hades ordered, turning to him now, "The longer he stays, the more chance the prisoners have of saving their abilities and finding a way out." Cerberus nodded and grabbed Noe up around the waist, having the temerity to apologize under his breath. Noe winced, panting in pain as his wings fluttered and shivered in protest at the rough treatment.

"No! You can't take him!" I yelled, trying to grab him. Noe looked a little frightened, but he swallowed hard.

"I'm okay." He managed. Why was he doing this?! Why didn't he understand?! He couldn't leave me! I'd done everything for him! My life had been an absolute misery before him! I'd finally found the light in this damned abyss and now they were taking him away from me! Frustration choked me at the fact that I could do nothing. I was as weak as a human. I couldn't kill myself, because I'd kill my brothers, and I couldn't do that to them, no matter how angry I was. And I couldn't kill Hades, because my god powers were gone and I'd have to absorb his powers once he was dead, and his powers would kill me. I wasn't strong enough to contain them.

Cerberus carried Noe out, letting Cain, Abel, Charon step aside to let him out. For once, Cain and Abel weren't even arguing. Both of them looked uncomfortable as they avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. Charon simply stared at me, as if he were confused as to why I was reacting this why.

Why wouldn't I react this way?

They were taking Noe away!

My Noe!

"As for you," Hades said, turning to me slowly with narrowed eyes, "I don't really care if your lovers are male or female, but the fact that you whored yourself to Apollo is reason enough for you to disgust me. Apollo? Really? Not even the incest of that bothers me. Not as much as it being Apollo." He spat my cousin's name as if it were a curse. Shame built high inside me, riding hard on the heels of my anger. Actually hearing someone say it out loud, and in such a way, made me feel even dirtier than before.

"Noe," I managed, "Apollo said he can rein in his abilities! You never killed the Oracle of Delphi! No one did!"

"Because the Oracle of Delphi was already Apollo's," Hades deadpanned, "Apollo may have been able to rein in Noe's abilities, but only for so long. Noe was like an outlet to the prisoners. They can feed their powers into him for storage until they figure out a way to escape, through Noe, and they would have completely destroyed everything we have built. I will not have Zeus rain a temper tantrum down upon my head because you were too stupid to think with your head for once. But we're going to solve the oracle problem. Right now, I'm debating how to make you realize how stupid you were." I couldn't think of anything to say. Words kept reppearing and disappearing in my head as rage and shame and agony burned through me like the flames of the sun.

My heart felt like it had been forcefully torn from my chest and crushed into oblivion. Making matters worse was the fact that Noe wasn't fighting them, even after I had told him how I felt. He still thought it was best that he die.

And I was going to be alone again.

There was going to be no one. I would have no one to talk to. I would never again hear Noe's playful jabs or weird stories or bitter rantings. I would never see his periwinkle eyes staring at me as I were the only god he'd ever look to. I would never hear his voice again. The pain of that cut me so hard, I could barely breath.

"Father," Malachi spoke up suddenly, "Aren't you punishing him enough? Zelios obviously loved Noe. He wouldn't have turned him in. No one would have." Hades curled his lip, giving Malachi a pointed glare.

"So, your selfish desires come before the fate of the world? Is that really how you were raised?" He asked. Malachi glared at him.

"Considering you didn't raise me, yeah." He responded sharply. Hades narrowed his eyes and Malachi winced as a fissure of power shot out and slammed into his chest, making him stumble back and hit the wall. Theo instantly released me to take a step back, avoiding Hades's wrath.

"I may not have raised you," Hades sneered, then cast sour glares at each and every one of us, "But I expect you to work on common sense. You all know as well as I do that had Noe remained here, the world would have ceased to exist. He would have died anyway, as well as each and everyone of you. The Titans would take no mercy. Take it from someone who spent the first years of his life drowning in his father's stomach acid. They kill anything that they're afraid of, anything that could be a potential threat." No one said anything now.

Malachi just clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Theo grimaced, avoiding eye contact with us by looking down at the floor. Charon lowered his eyes, but kept his head up, expression blank. Cain was rubbing at the back of his neck, frowning as if Hades's words disturbed him. Abel was staring straight ahead before a shudder cut through him and he shook his head, probably having imagined what the world would have been like had the Titans escaped.

And yet, for some reason, I couldn't find it in me to be guilty had I let the rest of the world collapse. If it only meant I could have Noe for eternity, I didn't care. Even if we were dead together.

"Enough," Hades snapped, making us look up at him, "Zelios, you are not allowed to have anymore righthands. In fact, your servants will also be revoked and sent somewhere else. You will only have access to your guards in time of danger. You are to return to work, and you cannot leave Tartarus. I forbid it. Should I feel your presence anywhere else, I will throw you back down to Tartarus where you belong." He vanished an instant later, taking with him the heavy power that had been crushing us all. And yet, I still fell to my knees.

I was alone now more than ever.

Noe was gone.

Even my servants had been taken away. I would have no one.

"Zelios, what were you thinking?" Cain asked at last. For once, he didn't sound snotty or cruel. He sounded... pained. I tried to find the words to answer that, but I felt that if I spoke, I would scream and I hadn't done so since my birth, so I only pursed my lips. Theo scoffed, making Cain look at him with a scowl.

"You wouldn't get it, halfpint," He muttered bitterly, folding his arms over his chest and looking down at me as if I irritated him, "When it comes to that one person, nothing else matters. To the depths of Tartarus with the rest of the world. So long as you could have the one thing that makes you feel sane."

"I'm surprised you understand," Cain returned icily, "You're pretty coldhearted yourself." Theo pinned him with a fierce glare.

"Only one person is allowed to see the me that was kicked in the face as a child. And you're not one of them." He snapped, then vanished a second later. Cain narrowed his eyes, curling his lip before he disappeared a second later. Charon disappeared along with them, leaving only Abel and Malachi. I barely noticed them for the pain in my chest. I reached up, sinking my nails into my shirt, tearing through it and cutting into my skin to draw blood, but even that didn't ease the pain. I wanted to reach in and rip my own heart out to see if it was really as broken as it felt. I had never felt this kind of agony in my life. It was difficult to breath, to see, to focus.

All I could think about was Noe.

And the fact that I was helpless to save him. For once, I knew how Noe had felt all these years. He thought he was protecting me. And I had always thought I was protecting him. It wasn't working.

"Zelios," Malachi said quietly, "I'm sorry. I really am... I don't know how Hades found out. We didn't know either until he came to grab each of us before we came here."

"Yeah," Abel agreed with a grimace, "He just told us he got an anonymous tip and threatened to castrate us if we asked anymore questions." I didn't know what to say to that, but the anonymous tip...

"The messenger," I choked at last, making them look at me as I ran a shaking hand through my hair, "Phoebe. She took possession of Noe last night. She said... She said something. Someone. Someone had passed on the information about Apollo. Someone who knew about Apollo. Someone who had contact with Noe, and myself. I just... I don't know who it could be. It would have to be someone who knew Hades as well, but I can't..." I stopped talking before my voice cracked. I swallowed hard, covering my mouth.

"Someone who's working for the Titans," Malachi breathed suddenly, making us look up at him, "Phoebe must have had contact with someone, somehow. She sent them in to cause discord amongst us. To distract us. That has to be it." Abel's eyes widened.

"Distract us? What you mean? Distract us from what?" He asked uneasily.

"From something big," I managed, getting to my feet slowly, "Phoebe's planning something much larger than just the oracle.... No, she's using the oracle. She's using Noe... She knew this would happen. She knew Hades would find out about Noe, about Apollo, about everything. She planned it. She needed to get Noe into the House of Hades." Malachi stared at me.

"But for what? Why? No one can use their god powers in Hades's house without his permission, which means no gods can get in contact with Noe while he's there. It's got a barrier around it." He said. Abel grimaced.

"It wouldn't matter if there's enough god powers fed into Noe right now. If Noe has enough strength, he can destroy the barrier and return to Tartarus, to let the Titans out, just like Hades said. Once he destroys the barrier, Phoebe can possess him again with her reserved strength inside him. She can make him come and let her out, and because of the amount of god powers poured into him, he can kill anyone who gets in his way." He finished in horror. Malachi cursed and I stepped back, feeling goosebumps creep over my skin at the realization.

"We need to get to Apollo." I ordered. Malachi and Abel stared at me incredulously.

"Why Apollo?" Abel asked.

"He can gain control over Noe, if for just a few moments. It would be enough time for Noe to feed off him and settle his abilities and enough time for Apollo to claim him. Apollo said he could take Noe from Phoebe, especially when Phoebe is almost completely drained. The only powers she has left are in Noe. If Apollo can get Noe before he breaks down the barrier, he can absorb what's left of Phoebe's power." I explained rapidly. Malachi frowned.

"How do you know he's telling the truth?" He asked warily.

"Mal's got a point," Abel agreed grimly, "Apollo's a slimy bastard. He could've just said all of that so he could sleep with you. Which is still a weird thought, by the way. I heard he's kinda kinky nowadays." I made a face at that.

"Don't remind me," I muttered, subconsciously rubbing at my lower back before I shook my head, "We don't have a choice. It's the only option we've got and we need to try it. If not, Noe's going to release the Titans. They may not be able to get to him while he's in the House of Hades, but he'll still be able to hear their voices as well as those of the rest of the gods. That's how they go insane. They hear the voices of the gods inside their heads. If they can drive Noe to the brink, he won't know what he's doing and he'll go through with the plan to release the Titans."

"Shit," Malachi cursed, "Then we need to move now before it's too late."

"But Zelios can't leave." Abel reminded. Malachi glanced at me, frowning for a momoment before he approached me and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly. I hissed as a spark of power shot through my veins.

"That should be enough to cloak your presence of Hades, but we need to move fast. Hades will go to check on you and when he can't find you, he'll flip." He warned. I nodded as Abel clapped his hands together.

"Fantastic, then let's go visit our creepy kinky cousin before the world ends."