Chapter Ten

We teleported to Apollo's temple directly.

It smelled heavy of grape wine, honey, and brown sugar. Honey was the natural scent of nectar and brown sugar the scent of ambrosia, food of the gods, and demigods, to keep their immortality up to par. The wine smelled intoxicating and delicious, a tug that was difficult to fight, which meant it must be wine handmade by Dionysus. Howeve, we hadn't arrived to join the party Apollo was obviously having.

We entered the main throne room. Sure enough, Apollo was in his usual spot on the lounge chair, laughing as he held a young man draped on top of him, riding him while a woman was hungrily kissing him and drinking wine, pouring it into Apollo's mouth from her own.

"Apollo!" I said loudly. Apollo twitched and curled his lip, shoving the woman back by pushing his hand on her face. She fell back on her button the floor, pouting. Apollo sat up and made the man on top of him moan. He pushed the man on the chest, though, so he was forced to get off and sit back at the end of the chair with a displeased scowl. Apollo sat up and glared at the orgy around him.

"All of you leave." He ordered. They whined and complained, but obeyed him instantly, gathering up their things and left, half of them stumbling drunkenly. Apollo cleared his throat and got up, conjuring a pair of white leather pants and a matching v-neck. He raised an eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest.

"Oh, goody, you brought friends." He said sarcastically, frowning at Abel and Malachi, who shared annoyed looks. I frowned.

"Apollo, Hades knows about Noe." I stated. Apollo seemed surprised for a moment, then shrugged.

"Well, that's not my problem." He answered. A fissure of anger rode hot up my spine at that. I wanted to slap the smug look right off his face and then slit his throat, bathe in his blood, but I swallowed the blood thirst down and forced myself to speak.

"It is," I informed sternly, making him eye me in irritation, "Hades took Noe to his palace, he won't allowed him to stay in Tartarus, but that's exactly what Phoebe wanted. Phoebe plans to drive Noe insane enough to destroy the barriers around the House of Hades. When he does that, he'll go let them free from Tartarus. Around that time, I'm assuming it'll become your problem when the Titans come here to rip your apart." Apollo paled at that, clearing his throat and averting his eyes. He cursed under his breath in Greek, then turned his head to eye me warily.

"And you want me to "adopt" your oracle." He said, making quotations in the air with his fingers. I glared at him.

"Yes, I do." I said past clenched teeth. Apollo stared at me for the longest time before a smirk curled the corner of his lips, his arms folded over his chest.

"Okay, but our deal is still there." He stated. I twitched. Malachi glared at him.

"Apollo, the deal is that if you save Noe, you don't die. You don't have hold on Zelios anymore." He snapped. Apollo shot him a dangerous glare and I felt the crackle of his rage slice through the air around us, making the hairs on my arms stand on end.

"You don't tell me what to do, demigod. The differences between our powers is too great. This isn't a Hollywood movie where your willpower can give you strength over me. I'm stronger than you, so know your place, hybrid. As for you," He turned to smirk at me and I grimaced, "I'll save Noe, so long as you uphold our bargain. Each time Noe comes for a feeding, I take you to my room and fuck you until the oracle recovers from the feeding."

"What is with you and sex," Abel grumbled, "Can't you just ask for, like, the newest video game or something?" Apollo scoffed.

"I don't play with mortal toys. Besides, sex is a fun hobby for me." He answered dryly, then cast me a hungry stare that went from the top of my head down to my feet, then back up again. I felt a shudder of revulsion at that. Malachi glared at him.

"Apollo, if you don't agree to help Noe, you're going to die. All of us are." He seethed past clenched teeth, but still, Apollo didn't relent as he snorted.

"Oh well. We can all blame it on the person who didn't want to have sex with one of the greatest gods in existece." He responded with an innocent shrug.

"Thor?" Abel offered. Apollo pinned him with a withering stare that made Abel take a step back and behind Malachi, who ground his teeth together and touched my shoulder.

"We don't have to do this, Zelios," He warned, "We can find another god. There has to be someone else from our pantheon that has control over oracles." Apollo nodded, putting a hand on his hip and flashing us a charming smile that made me sick to my stomach.

"Yeah, Zelios, go ahead. And good luck finding a god of oracles and prophecy in the next couple days, or maybe even hours. Gosh, who knows?" He added with a helpless shrug. I ground my teeth together so hard, I'm surprised they didn't shatter.

"If Hades finds out you're still doing this to him, he'll kill you." Malachi threatened, but it only made Apollo laugh.

"Totally," He agreed coolly, "And when he does, Zeus will pitch a fit along with my sister and considering she's the goddess of the hunt, I hope you're better at hiding than a deer is, because she's never missed. And neither has Zeus." Malachi gave him a dirty look. But in all honesty, there was no other way around it. Apollo was intent on keeping our deal. I didn't understand why. Why in the world was he asking it from me?

"Why do you want me as your lover so badly?" I demanded at last. Apollo stared at me intensely, sending a chill up my spine. It was almost like he was trying to read my mind, and part of me wondered if he could, which only unnerved me further. He finally broke his gaze to look down at the flower bed of hyacinths there. He stared at the various colors of the petals, from pinks to whites to the eye catching indigo. A frown worked itself onto his face as he glanced at me.

"Why would anyone want a lover so badly?" He asked. I frowned, looking down at the flowers for a moment, then back up at Apollo.

"Then find someone you love." Malachi told him with a frown. Apollo tsked and turned away, getting beside the garden and getting down on his hunches. He reached out to touch the petals of one of the flowers that seemed to quiver under his touch. I knew the tale of the Hyacinth well. Supposed Hyacinth had been a very beautiful Spartan prince. Apollo instantly fell in love with him and they became lovers... No, more than that. Our pantheon had never seen Apollo in such a good mood as he was when he was with Hyacinth. Unfortunately, not everyone was happy for Apollo. Zephyr, the god of the west wind, also loved Hyacinth and in a fit of jealousy, while Apollo and Hyacinth were playing with a discus, Zephyr sent a gust of wind that threw the discus off course and it struck Hyacinth so hard in the skull that it split open and he died. Apollo had grieved heavily. He refused to let my father take Hyacinth's soul to the Underworld, so he instead made flowers from Hyacinth's blood. Now, in the flowers, lived Hyacinth's soul. It was a classic tragedy that Apollo had never forgotten, judging from the way he had the flowers planted all around his temple.

"I'm not changing my mind," Apollo ordered at last, turning around to face us, "I'll save your oracle if you give me what I want." Malachi opened his mouth to protest again, but we were running out of time and we could waste it here all day arguing with Apollo and never get anywhere.

"Fine." I agreed sharply. Apollo relaxed at that and Malachi looked at me incredulously.

"Zelios--"

"We don't have time to waste and this is nothing compared to what could happen if he doesn't. It's a small price to pay for saving Noe." I interrupted him sharply. Malachi grimaced, but didn't argue any further as Apollo nodded and waved his hand.

"Unfortunately, I can't go down to the Underworld to do it. If I do, there'll be a week of darkness on earth and it'll kill them, which kind of defeats the purpose of my going down there in the first place. Bring Noe here and I'll let him feed from me." He responded. Malachi glared at him.

"You think we can waltz into the lair of Hades and politely ask for Noe back?" He asked bitterly. Abel snorted, making us glare at him as he held his hands up.

"I can see how this is gonna go," He said, then changed his voice to sound exactly like Hades's, "Oh, sure, my loveable group of sons, no problem. I'll give you the key to the destruction of the universe. Hey, while you're at it, wanna just open up all the cages and let those captured souls free? Yeh, let's do that." Apollo stared at Abel as if he had grown a second head.

"I'm really beginning to hate you." He said in a tight voice. Abel shrugged helplessly.

"I'm a thorn in everyone's ass. You should see how easily Cain gets pissed at me." He answered, making Apollo scowl. I cleared my throat to gain the attention back. Once all eyes were on me, I looked at Apollo.

"Let us deal with Hades. Just be ready when I come here with Noe." I informed him. Apollo smirked wickedly now.

"Sure, no problem. And don't forget that gift I sent you." He added, making me glare at him. Malachi scowled, putting his hand on my shoulder, then taking Abel's hand so we vanished from Apollo's temple and appeared in my office in Tartarus, which made me frown.

"How did you do that? Tartarus prevents teleportation." I said, making Malachi step back. He looked down at his palm, confused, then looked up.

"I have no idea... You don't think he broke the barriers already?" He asked uneasily. Abel swallowed hard at that, glancing around. I frowned, averting my eyes. It still felt like the barriers were in place, but then again, I didn't have my god powers to assure me.

"I'm not sure," I admitted grimly, "But right now, we need to find a way to get Noe out of Hades's place and to Olympus."

"Which is gonna be a bitch," Abel muttered, "Hades is gonna be on the look out, and not to mention, if he sees you, he'll make you regret it. Even worse is Cerberus. He's guarding the gates and while I'm sure he doesn't agree with all of this, he was created for the sole purpose of protecting the gates."

"There's more than one entrance," Malachi said, making Abel and I look at him in surprise, "After my mother gave birth and died, Persephone took me out of the palace to avoid Hades trying to kill me. She used a secret passage way that only she and Hermes know about. We should be able to find the entrance again and use it to get into the palace without running into Cerberus." I nodded thoughtfully. It made sense that Persephone would have a secret way to get out when she needed to. While Hades loved her more than anything in the world, including his sons, and she loved him as well, she was also furious at him for randomly kidnapping her those eons ago, so she'd probably want a passage way to help her escape.

"But," Malachi muttered, making us look at him, "Hades will instantly pick up on Abel and I being there because of our god powers. And while he could probably keep tabs on you, Zelios, it'd be harder without your god powers giving off the vibes. Abel and I will have to stay behind while you go inside."

"Why do I have to stay behind," Abel complained, "My god powers are half drained anyway since Hades demoted me."

"But you still have them," Malachi said dryly, "Not to mention, you don't shut up. You'll get him caught with your constant nagging."

"I'm sorry, did I order a McDouche? No? Then why are you here?" Abel answered flatly. Malachi glared at him and looked about one step away from slaughtering him before I cleared my throat to get his attention.

"Then we need to go straight to the entrance. We don't have time to mess around. Noe needs me." I stressed. Malachi nodded and touched my shoulder, then grabbed the back of Abel's neck roughly, making him squeak like a mouse. We vanished from my office and appeared on the other side of the Acheron River, the river of woe. The river was murky and black, reflecting the lights of Hades' palace brightly.

Hades had a very large home built into the side of a sheer cliff. It was jagged and foreboding. Lining the shores on the other side at the foot of his palace were human bones, or maybe even god bones. It was styled with a mixture of gothic architecture and large Greek columns towering straight up to hold up a roof with a sharp, pointed steeple. The front doors were made entirely of human skulls that seemed to open their jaws in silent screams.

"Wow, this place just makes you want to shit rainbows, huh?" Abel asked meekly, studying the place. Malachi scanned the river up and down, frowning before he waved us to follow him. We stuck close behind, walking alongside the river where it abruptly dropped a few feet and continued on just a mile or two to where Charon was surely preparing to take the next ferry of souls. A pair of stairs led down the drop and we took them down.

"I hate this river." Abel muttered, glancing into it uneasily. It made sense. It had been the river that Cain had tried to drown him in the second time. One dip and Abel had been in unbearable agony, both physically and mentally. I hadn't been there to witness Cain's cruelty, but according to Charon, he could hear Abel screaming from his home and it was the most chilling sound he'd ever heard.

For the ferryman of souls, that was saying something.

"It should be around here somewhere," Malachi muttered, eyes searching the cobblestone path, "It's kind of blackish." Abel stared down at the black stones under our feet, then looked at me.

"I sometimes wonder if he was born that stupid or if someone hit him with a rake." He told me. I gave him an odd look. Sometimes I wondered if Cain's constant betrayals had driven Abel insane. According to the ancient ones, the people from around Abel's time, he had been a hardworking man, friendly and polite. I wasn't even sure if that was true considering how inappropriate and crude he could be.

"Shut up, Abel," Malachi scowled, then snapped his fingers and approached a round stone near the shoreline of the river, "Here it is." Abel gave me a droll stare, then shrugged as he came over to stand behind Malachi as Malachi tapped his foot against the stone a couple tomes. There was a short silence as nothing happened. Abel opened his mouth in the beginnings of another mocking comment when the ground shuddered and clicked. The stones twirled and spun before coming together to form a sort of platform. Malachi gestured for Abel and I to step closer, which we did. And then we were sinking into the ground.

I frowned curiously, looking up as we were lowered into a small compartment beneath the path. The ground closed over top of our heads, but no stones or dirt fell down on us. It was completely pitch black, but I could smell moss and other odd water dwelling plants. A blue light flickered and I turned to see it forming as an orb in Malachi's palm.

"This is creepy." Abel mumbled, looking around at the walls around us as we descended deeper and deeper into the wet ground. Sure enough, the walls were coaked in a thick layer of moss in numerous shades of green, little sprouts of red here and there. There were even a couple of white and purple flowers scattered there, and a tree branch that we had to duck. A tree branch that housed shriveled up pomegrantes.

"That's an eerie reminder." Abel commented, referring to the fact that it was a pomegrante seed that had led to Persephone's imprisonment in the Underworld. Malachi frowned, watching the tree branch fade into the darkness over our heads.

"She fell in love with Hades," He said quietly, "She needs to remind herself why she needs to visit her own mother for half the year."

"Ouch." Abel muttered. Malachi nodded grimly before the platform came to a halt. The ground opened up in front of us to reveal a tunnel made of grass and moss, flowers and vines coiling up the walls and ceilings.

"This is where Abel and I have to leave you," Malachi said, turning to me, "Hades will be able to pick up on us if we go any further, but we will wait here for you and Noe. Be quick." I nodded and headed into the tunnel. The ground behind me closed up, so I was truly alone in a tunnel obviously decorated by Persephone. Along the walls were white lilies opened up to reveal glowing pale green orbs of fire.

I let the lights guide me through the tunnel, the sound of the moss and wet grass beneath me squishing softly. Little insects sailed from one side of the tunnel to the other, buzzing softly. I ran my hands along the walls, feeling the soft tickle of flower petals and moist leaves wet my fingertips. The tunnel seemed to go on for eternity until I found myself smacking into a wall at a short turn. I scowled, taking a step back to stare at the dead end.

Impossible. Malachi said it let out. Did I really need my god powers to open it?

I didn't have time for this!

Noe needed me! Where could he even be? He couldn't be in the throne room. Hades was already disappointed when Persephone remodeled it. There was no way he'd make Noe an addition to the decoration. Was there some sort of dungeon? Was he truly that old fashioned?

A second later, the wall in front of me popped open to reveal a hallway lined with cells. I stared, mouth dropping open.

Apparently he was that old fashioned.

I came into the hallway, wincing as the opening to the tunnel shut behind me. I frowned at that, then shook my head and continued down the hallway. This one was lit rather dimly with lanterns containing red fire. The first couple cells were empty. One contained a skeleton, which made my stomach churn. Another one housed a man with a long scaled tail that poked out from his cell. He was curled up into a tight ball on his side, a pair of leathery black wings tucked behind him. His hair was incredibly long, almost to his ankles, a tangled mass of black. He only wore a pair of tight black boxers, and his eyes were closed in slumber. Why would Hades keep this kind of creature down here? I wasn't even sure what it was. But I wasn't here for him. I kept going until I came to another cell, two cells down from the oddling.

Inside, Noe was sitting with his back to the bars, his bony wings still tied at a painful angle behind him, his wrists being steadily cut open by the wire tied there. My heart clenched at the sight of him and I approached the bars, laying a hand across them.

"Noe?" I whispered. Noe jerked his head up and whirled around to gape at me.

"Zelios?" He managed, struggling to his feet. I gripped the bars, giving them a useless tug before cursing under my breath. I stuck my arms through the bars and gestured for him to come to me. He managed to get to his feet and ran to the bars so I could embrace him through them. I hugged him tightly, relieved to have his scent filling my senses, his voice in my ears, his periwinkle eyes gazing at me adoringly.

"Are you all right?" I asked, slowly releasing him to scan him up and down. He mostly looked the same from the last time I had seen him, save for his dirty bare feet. Noe grimaced.

"That doesn't matter. What are you doing here?" He asked. I stared at him in surprise.

"I told you before. I'm not leaving you, Noe. I went to see Apollo--"

"You what?" Noe's face instantly darkened and his eyes narrowed. I glared at him impatiently.

"Noe, he's promised to help you and he'll still go through with it, but he can't come to you. You need to go to him." I insisted. Noe's expression contorted into one of extreme displeasure as he stepped away from the bars, shaking his head.

"I'm not going to go to him if he's still going to do those things to you, Zelios! It's not right! If I have to choose between that or dying, I'd rather die." He snapped. I glared at him. I just about had it with his constant fussing over the fact that Apollo was using me. It didn't matter. As long as Noe was okay, nothing else mattered.

"Noe, listen to me, please," I pleaded, "I told you before, I can't let you die... I... I love you." Noe's cheeks colored as he lowered his eyes, then swallowed hard and looked back up at me, his periwinkle eyes shimmering.

"Yeah, well, you ever think the reason I don't want you to do those things with Apollo is because I feel the same way?" He managed at last. I blinked, staring at him and taking a step back from the bars.

He what? Was he saying he loved me too? I felt silly for asking myself that when the answer was obvious, but those words had never been used for me. Not even my mother had the chance to tell me she loved me before she was killed. Granted, her actions were enough to assure me that she cared for me, but it wasn't the same as hearing the three words that I had heard so many other people use with each other. I'd even heard Theo say those words before, to Sept.

But to me? It felt almost foreign.

"I was afraid to tell you," Noe stammered, looking embarrassed as he lowered his eyes, "I thought you saw me as a son and I didn't want to gross you out or anything."

"You could never disgust me." I murmured, stepping up to the bars again and reaching through them to cup Noe's cheek. Noe sighed, rubbing his cheek against my palm as he came closer, pressing his face in between a pair of bars to look up at me. A tear threatened to trail a hot path down his cheek, but I leaned in and kissed him under the eye gently to catch it before it fell down his face. He sniffed, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I'm so sorry I waited until now to tell you. I should've told you sooner, but..."

"No," I whispered, "No, it's okay, Noe. I was also afraid to tell you, for a similar reason, and I too apologize for that. But it's okay now. Let me take you to Apollo. He can fix this." Noe's features contorted and he stepped back again, shaking his head vigorously.

"I told you, I'd rather die than let Apollo put his hands on you! I just told you I loved you, Zelios! I don't want you to sleep with that... that..." He seemed to have difficulties coming up with an insult and growled low in his throat. I frowned, concerned as I watched him shut his eyes and wrestle with the voices in his head, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of his face before he tilted his head to look up at me desperately.

"Please, Zelios. I can't stand the thought of Apollo doing those things to you. Find something else to give him, anything. He can even have me if he wants."

"No," I shouted, making Noe wince and I grimaced before continuing more quietly, "No, there has to be a different way. Apollo just wants a lover and I just happen to suit his tastes, Noe. If I could change it..."

"What are Lord Apollo's tastes?" A voice asked. Noe and I turned to see that the stranger from the cell further down had gotten up. His flowing long hair fell over his shoulder, his tired eyes a piercing shade of indigo that reminded me strongly of the petals of the hyacinth flowers.

"Excuse me?" I asked with a frown. The man, now revealing his full height to be just barely that of Noe's and his body just as slender and dainty, cocked his head to peer down the hallway at me.

"You are looking for someone to take your place as Apollo's lover, so that you may be with your own lover." He murmured. Noe stared at him.

"Are you offering? Do you even know how sick Apollo is?" He asked. The man didn't seem affected by that as he stared at us calmly.

"I assure you that I've probably experienced far worse things that Lord Apollo can give me." He responded monotonously. I frowned, taking a few steps to look into the cell. His long scaled tail, in shades of gold and orange and red, was coiled behind him. His wings fluttered slightly at the way I was staring at him. He wasn't hideous. He made wings and a tail look quite erotic, but I was still uneasy.

"Why are you offering?" I asked cautiously. The man looked at me.

"I've been locked in here for," He paused and turned to look at the wall where thousands of claw marks looked like tallies, then he turned back to me, "Six decades. You could offer me death and I would surely accept that as well. So long as I don't die in this cell, in the house of the man who killed my brother."

"Your brother?" I asked. The man's eerie indigo eyes glinted in the lanterns lights.

"That is a story for another time, which you are steadily running out of. Do you accept my offer, or will you let your lover die?" He asked. I hesitated, glancing at Noe, who chewed his bottom lip in contemplation. I had told Noe that I would do anything to keep him safe, and he would do the same for me, I knew. I reluctantly nodded and the man relaxed as he placed his hands on the bars.

"Then we have an accord. There is only one thing that I wish for you to do for me." He added, making me narrow my eyes at him.

"I've not had very good experiences with making deals." I muttered dryly. For the first time since I saw him, the young man smiled quite beautifully. It was... erotic. Just a simple smile was enough to have me paying attention. While I would never choose him over Noe, even a fool could see that this creature was one of beauty.

"I have no use for your body, my lord. No, what I ask for is a small silver coin. The one to summon the creature called Xenon." He said. Noe and I glanced at each other surprised, then turned back to the man.

"I can obtain it for you in two days." I informed. The man smiled.

"Excellent. Then you can let us out now. Hades has picked up on your aura and is headed here right now." He answered. My eyes widened at that and I cursed, going back to Noe's cell.

"Noe, Hades took my god powers. I need you too break out. Can you do that?" I asked. Noe snorted.

"Can I do that," He echoed, "Yeah, I can do that." He gritted his teeth and sent a fissure of power cutting through the wires on his wrists. He flexed his hands, then grabbed the bars and bent them horribly out of shape before stepping through, grimacing at the wire on his wings. He cut through that as well, letting his wings flutter and flap freely as he made his way to the other man's cell.

"What's your name?" Noe asked as he bent the bars open, allowing the man to step out in front of Noe. He gave him a blank stare.

"I'm whatever you wish to call me." He responded. Noe gave him an odd look before the sound of a door banging open echoed down the hallway. I cursed, grabbing Noe by the elbow and pulling him behind me to the entrance to the tunnel with the other man close at our heels. I noticed that, as he walked, his long tail was slowly becoming shorter and shorter until it vanished as we reached the tunnel. It opened a second later and we darted inside, letting it close up behind us.

"Okay, that was seriously cool," Noe commented, "We should get our own like that in Tartarus."

"We can remodel when we get home," I replied, "Right now, we need to hurry. Hades is going to send Cerberus after us if we spend too much time here. Malachi and Abel should be waiting at the end of the tunnel to take us to Apollo's temple." We hurried down the hallway, Noe and the stranger behind me as I led the way, frowning at the way the tunnel seemed to twist and turn much more than it did on my way through it before.

"So, what, I can name you?" Noe asked after a while. The man shrugged.

"Until Apollo accepts me, yes." He answered. Noe scrunched up his nose.

"What are you?"

"Whatever you want me to be."

"You ever heard of free will?"

"That is something I'm not allowed to have, unless you want me to have it."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't have to. You're only my temporary owner."

"Oookay," Noe drawled, then snapped his fingers and pointed at the man, "I know, I'll call you Callias. Until Apollo names you or whatever." The man nodded.

"Then I am Callias." He responded. Noe seemed pleased with that until he smacked into my back and stepped back, frowning up at me.

"Zelios?" He asked. I searched the mossy walls in front of me, cursing as I ran my hands along the walls.

"I can't find it." I hissed. Noe frowned.

"Can't find what?"

"The entrance," I insisted, "Or exit, whatever. I cannot find it." Noe opened his mouth to respond when the sound of an angry roar cut through the air and caused the ground around us to shudder. The flowers wilted and closed up in fear. The lights flickered and the plants closed it on themselves to hide from the fury that I recognized as none other than Hades's. Even worse was the sound of people coming down the hallway a good ways down, but drawing nearer and nearer.

Noe snapped his head around to stare up at me in alarm.

"Well, we better do something fast because they're gaining on us." He whispered uneasily. I grimaced, looking back at the wall, hands moving across it. How had it opened for me before? What had I done to cause it to open? Why weren't Malachi and Abel opening it?

A second later, the door shot open to reveal Malachi and Abel staring at us, wide-eyed. We bolted inside the space that was so cramped that Noe was pressed flush against my body and Callias squeezed in between Abel and I while Malachi stood in front of us, waving his hand and the ground closing up just as the first soldier of Cerberus's army appeared at the end of the tunnel. Then it was shut and we were ascending.

"How did you open it?" I demanded, turning to Malachi, who looked at me a bit sheepishly.

"I forgot to tell you that it opens when you say the name of the person you're trying to seek out at the end of the tunnel. Kind of like the saying, the light at the end of the tunnel?" He offered. I glared at him in annoyance for forgetting a piece of information that would have been incredibly helpful before.

"Well, that's great and all," Noe said uneasily, looking up over our heads, "But, ah, I have this strong feeling we're gonna do that thing where we pop up in the middle of gigantic army."

"Not unless I can teleport us before we reach the top," Malachi muttered, taking Abel's hand, then mine, as I took Noe's and he took Callias's, "Man, Persephone's gonna kick the crap out of me when she finds out I gave away her hiding place."