ALEX’S BODY BURNED, but the sharp stab of pain emanating from his back felt like he’d been stabbed with ice. A strange combination. He had no other words in his addled mind to describe the agony filling every nerve, ligament, even bone of his body.

His skin ached. Someone had stretched it too far. Pain like a hundred thousand pins and needles spred up his spine to his shoulders and down his arms. Alex couldn’t move his fingers. The joints throbbed.

Sometimes the ache felt fuzzy, though no less painful. A numbness that wasn’t quite numb. As he wrestled with control of his consciousness, Alex felt nausea crash over him. It wasn’t normal. Not like food poisoning or the flu. Not from an illness. The nausea twisting his stomach in knots came from the agonizing pain all throughout his body. Too much pain.

After countless battles, fighting a war, dueling monsters, and even falling into the Underworld, he had never experienced pain like this. Overloaded with adrenaline, he wanted nothing more than to lie in a soft bed and sob.

He felt soft hands grip his head, massage his neck. He knew those hands. They were smooth, free of callouses and cold as ice. Ophelia’s hands provided such a balm amidst burning agony. But he didn’t dare open his eyes.

Alex wasn’t sure he wanted to look at Ophelia. What if she had gone through with her plan? What if she still wanted to slay the Olympians, corrupted by the images Eris put in her mind. That wasn’t the girl he’d fallen in love with. If he opened his eyes and found his girlfriend, mind lost to the darkness, he knew he couldn’t stop her. He'd stand in her way, but he could not draw a blade on her. She'd have to kill him.

“Alex, please.” She whispered in his ear, warm cheek against his forehead. “I need you. Please. This has to work. It has to work.”

Her hoarse voice stuttered with sobs, quiet gasps for breath between chilling tears. They fell against his skin and Alex shuddered. He had pain everywhere but his right abdomen. He felt nothing there.

Alex groaned as he tried to shift to look at his girlfriend. When he opened his eyes, he found himself looking into her blue eyes, the golden flecks dull. They glittered from the tears staining her cheeks and plastering her hair against her dirtied skin.

The shadows darkened as she sobbed and grabbed him to her chest. Alex tried not to protest. Every movement made his muscles ache. But he had little choice. He had to get up. He had to check his girlfriend. He had to find Kitty. Hopefully she’d run when she had the chance.

“Hey,” Alex said. He tried to smile. “Did you kick her ass?”

Ophelia let out a single laugh through her tears. She just shook her head, helping as gently as she could as Alex sat up. The River Lethe lay a several yards away from them. But the sight of blue hair in the dirt sent him scrambling.

“Hey! Hey!” Ophelia stopped him. It didn’t take much effort, with Alex crying out in pain as she touched his shoulders. “She’s ok. She’s just unconscious.”

Alex’s head spun. The world seemed to move a little slower than he expected at every turn. Another wave of nausea washed over him. He tried to remember what had happened, why he still lived. But whenever he thought back, he found himself faced with Eris’s beautiful and terrifying smile as she held him in submission by his golden blonde hair. He hadn’t even been able to speak. She’d driven her sword straight through his abdomen. She’d tossed him away. It replayed over and over and over.

He didn’t even try to stop his tears as he pushed away from Ophelia. He needed to think. He needed to breathe. He needed--

They weren’t alone. Alex saw Hermes and Hecate. His father wore a white toga, Vindication in sword form shining through the darkness. His father had come. Hermes had come. He'd fought Eris. Alex felt tears welling up in his eyes. They stung.

"What happened?" Alex said.

Before he could get a response, a deep, booming voice filled the space. "I would like to know the same."

Hades stood a couple of feet taller than Hermes and Hecate. Black robes sat beneath black armor, crafted from obsidian and ebony. Glowering, he stood ready for battle. Beside him, beautiful Persephone dressed in olive and brown, frowned at them as she held her husband's arm.

"You were forbidden from interfering with the Half-Blood's quest," Hades said. He faced the other two gods, brow knotting. "You act in defiance of Zeus on behalf of your children?"

"We saw a threat to the Underworld and assisted in stopping it," Hermes said. "I've never touched the Lyre."

Hecate nodded. "I would be remiss in my duties as a goddess of the Underworld if I did not defend your realm."

Hades looked about as convinced as Alex felt. Hermes and Hecate showing up just in the nick of time couldn't have anything to do with Eris. It was too perfect. His father had been watching. His father had saved him.

Again.

Tears ran down his face as he blocked out the bickering gods. Pain washed over him. Alex wanted to sleep for a thousand nights. He didn't want to do this anymore. He wanted to crawl under his covers in Cabin 11.

A cold hand touched his own. He heard the crunching of fine gravel as Ophelia crawled towards him, her own face wet with tears. As she dragged herself to sit next to him, she hung herself around his neck.

"I'm so sorry," she said, muffled by his torn sleeve. "I'm so sorry."

"How am I alive?"

Ophelia shook her head as she leaned against him. But she sat back, gesturing to the massive gash in his shirt. Alex carefully peeled it away. What he saw made his stomach lurch.

The skin had turned slightly grey. Spidering out from nearly two inch cut where the sword had driven through him were lines of black, like dark scars. Ophelia gingerly reached out. When she touched him, he didn't feel it. No pain, no warmth or cold, only nothingness. What had she done?

"I can't feel you," he said.

Ophelia scrunched her face up, trying to stop tears. "I—I think Necromancy healed you."

Necromancy. He looked up at her. She had turned back to face the gods as their bickering continued, minus Persephone. He didn't even know what to say. The hatred she felt towards the Olympians didn't fade. He could still see it. He'd seen it on Luke's face every day for years.

Alex moved away from her. He couldn't deal with this right now. He wanted to sleep. But first he had to check on Kitty.

At first he couldn't stand. Alex dragged himself onto his knees, ignoring the way the rocks dug into his already bloodied knees. What was a little more pain? He had to keep moving. If he stopped, he feared he'd pass out again.

But he had to get Kitty. She lay on the ground not far away, the Lyre shining beneath her body. He blocked out the shouts of Hades, the snide comments from Hecate. He focused instead on the blue hair matted in ash.

By the time he reached her, his body screamed for a rest. His knees had fresh blood running down his legs. It reminded him of his childhood, skidding on the asphalt as he tried to learn to ride a bike for the first time. His mom had been so proud. She'd helped him up after every fall. She kissed every scrape.

He cried as he thought about her. Alex wanted to sleep but he couldn't. Not yet. Not until he knew Kitty would be okay. When he reached her, he eased her on her back. No wounds that he could see other than a few superficial scrapes. Always a lucky one.

But then he saw her leg. Her sock and shoe, soaked through. His heart stopped as Alex looked up at the River Lethe. The river of oblivion.

She couldn't forget. She couldn't. Alex pushed away his tears. Instead he turned back to the gods. Persephone had turned to look at him, eyes wet with tears. Again, she seemed lost in memory. Before he could speak, she turned to Hades.

"They defended your realm, Hades. Do these children look like they received aid?" She frowned. "No."

None. No help down here. Dark madness had filled their minds as Eris corrupted his girlfriend. He glanced at Ophelia several meters away, half kneeling, half sitting in the dirt of the Underworld.

Hades glared at Persephone. But as they all fell silent, he just grunted. "Fine."

But Alex wanted more. He pushed back all his pain, all the agony crashing over his burning body. He tried to stand. He couldn't. So he crawled towards them, cheeks stained wet.

"Please. She stepped in the River." His stomach twisted in knots as he looked up at the Queen of the Underworld from down on bleeding knees. "You have to help her."

Surely the goddess of Spring could heal. Surely she could help. If only she would. He didn't want to fight anymore. He just wanted the Kitty he knew to live.

Persephone offered him a small, sad smile. She reached out and placed a hand on his cheek. He could see tears in her eyes as she glanced from him to the Lyre.

"The instrument you have been sent to retrieve has a long and sad history." She glanced briefly at her husband who had also fallen silent. "I still hear Orpheus's melody sometimes."

Alex felt himself wavering. But the goddess's presence helped. Each breath felt clean. It felt new. He relished it.

"That Lyre deserves to be seen again," she said. Her voice hardened. She didn't look back, stepped past him and kneeling beside Kitty. "It deserves to be remembered."

Hades's gravely voice cut through the darkness. "Persephone—"

"I do not care what my father thinks."

Alex sat down again, exhausted. He felt so tired. As Persephone ignored her husband's protests, he looked back at his father. Hermes caught his eye. With a tiny smirk, he winked and began to walk past.

For a moment, Alex saw them. All of them. Travis, Connor, Chris, Luke. The same mischievous expression had graced his brothers's faces so many times. His breath caught. Without even realizing what was happening, Alex felt Vindication, a small bracelet once more, hit him in the chest.

Hermes disappeared without a word.

Alex looked at Ophelia. Vacant but quiet, she sat amidst the darkness. Hecate had gone to stand beside Persephone. Standing to the side, Hades just glared off in the distance. But Alex focused on Kitty, praying to anyone listening that Persephone could do something for her. Anything.